We Ran for you Today Grandpa!

     Today the kids and I participated in the Terry Fox Run at school today. Before the run we watched a short video to explain that Terry Fox at the age of 22 ran a marathon everyday for 143 days. He had cancer and had his leg amputated. He was raising money for cancer. Read more of his story http://www.terryfox.org/Foundation/The_Marathon_of_Hope.html 
It is an unbelievable story.

     But how Ironic is it that today is the day that my Grandpa is fighting cancer with chemo meds, is in the hospital today having his foot amputated. It was hard for me to not get teary eyed watching the video at school of Terry Fox and thinking about my Grandpa.

     Then tonight I get an update from Mission of Tears and most of the news is not so positive: adoptions will cost more, referrals will take longer, fewer children are available, referrals may start again in late Novemeber. So I am feeling a little discouraged.

     I must admit that tears have been shed tonight and I don't cry that often.

     Then as I am writing this I read "Don't give up" on the Terry Fox site and on T.'s TV show I hear, "Never give up". So Grandpa, Auntie Lisa, Me and everyone else that needs to hear it never give up! I know God has a plan. He knows what he is doing even when it makes no sense to us.
Love and Prayers, Dilly

     The kids have started the extra curricular activities. K-man has started hockey and can't wait to play a game. Jumping Jack is taking ballet and jazz this year. She is excited because in school band she is playing the clarinet. Our local movie theater was playing the movie Grease sing a long yesterday so we went to that as a family. It was fun as this is one of my favorite movies. Both the kids enjoyed it and yes I did sing a long!
     I went to a stamp a stack on Saturday and made Christmas cards. I know it's early but Christmas is a busy time and it actually feels really good to have them done.
     Last weekend Jumping Jack and I went to Justin Bieber!! She LOVES him. so I went among all the screaming girls with my ear plugs and Advil. Does that mean I am getting old? He is a really good dancer and did put on a good show.

Adoption news:
-We got our first round of travel vaccinations
     1 needle for Jumping Jack
     1 needle for K-man
     2 needles for T.
     2 needles for me
then we go back in a month for more! fun times.

-Our Homestudy is in the hands of the government right now waiting for the official seal of approval. It should be back in 4 weeks or so.

-our Profile is finished but it seems that every place we get it printed it prints out differently. The colours are too dark or the pictures are too orange or the font is unreadable. So we are working with our local print shop to get it the way we want it.

-I talked with our agency and they said we don't actually have to wait until the citizenship part 1 comes back before we can send our dossier to South Africa. so that makes me happy because that form was going to take 27 weeks.

-We were told that I need to get a psychological evaluation because of my experience with postpartum depression. At first I was shocked and kind of unsure of what a psychological evaluation was. They want to know my personality, about our marriage, emotional health and how I cope in stressful situations. I am not really sure why they don't just ask our doctor? as I have already included a doctors note. Whatever just another hoop for us to jump through and more money to spend.

So once we finish all this we will be officially waiting.

     I have met a really nice lady from South Africa (S.A.) that owns a local coffee shop here. She was a few S.A. options at her shop. I have tried a S.A. tea and we tried a dessert milk tart that is sort of like cheese cake. Jumping Jack said if the food S.A. tastes this good she can't wait to go. I wonder if she will think that after we try the curry?

Please keep praying for my Auntie Lisa. She has better days and worse days.
Please pray for my Grandpa Carl as he had an operation on his legs.

Thanks for reading, Love, Dilly

3 am Tea Parties

My mom recalls a time when I was 2 or 3 years old and had woke up and was having a tea party in my room at 3 am. Last night I couldn't sleep so I went down to the kitchen to have some tea. I guess K-man heard me because he got up too, so we had tea together at 3 am.

Back to school. How Exciting. I love that staples commercial that plays the Christmas music, "it's the most wonderful time of the year." I find it fitting as the last week of summer my kids just kept fighting with each other. It's nice to be forced back to routine and earlier bed times. But I am not enjoying making lunches!

Adoption news- I received a letter regarding citizenship part 1. I was excited thinking that maybe they have completed it already. Well NO...They state that they have received my application and the It should be done by 27 weeks.

27 weeks is like 6 or 7 months. Ugg. I can't wait that long.. I really do not want to wait that long for one document before we can send away our dossier to South Africa. I phoned them to see if it will go quicker because I am a Canadian citizen and it is for adoption. The lady said no. That the pile my application is in, is for people that are adopting. She said that there is no way to fast-track it or pay to speed it up. She did say that 27 weeks is the longest it should take. I really hope and pray that it's quick.

We are still waiting for our homestudy to be government approved.

But our profile is done. so check that off the list. It looks really good. T's sister did an amazing job. She spent a lot of time making it perfectly reflect our family and life. The profile was a really big stress for me because it is what you are picked from. I was having a hard time making it all flow and using the right words. Plus I don't know how to use the computer to make it. So I am glad that it is completed.

Please continue to pray for my Aunt and their family.
Love, Dilly