Update ....Update......Update.....

A very rare picture of me, especially one without make-up on....ugh!


Anyway...an update from Gladney came yesterday...Surprisingly to me, I received another update from another family that just returned from Ethiopia!!!! Thank you so much Karen for this update:

"I wanted to let you know that I met both of your adorable children. Oh, they are SO precious.
Little S is just a wonderful, happy, energetic (yes, energetic!) girl. The caretakers love her. They told me she is so smart and acts like she is at least 4 years old. She is something special.

As for Big S, oh, what a doll. My husband, David, and I spent a lot of time with him. He is so personable, adorable, happy and just loving. He has a lot of friends there. He is so observant and quick thinking. The day after Christmas, Gladney took the older kids to an indoor amusement facility - kind of like a Chuck N Cheese -with games and a carousel. The kids all took a van there and it was in a local mall. I think Little S was too young to go, but we spent a lot of time with Big S - waving to him as he rode the rode the carousel, clapping when he won tickets at the skee ball. He is a ball of happy energy. We loved watching him have a blast. When the afternoon was over, the kids all got in a van and sang We Wish You a Merry Christmas and Row, Row Row your boat. Big S gave us extra kisses and hugs and we blew him kisses as the van drove away.

And Ryan's update is:

Little S is such a sweety. She was very attentive while the social
worker, Terhas, showed her your letter and explained the pictures to
her. She really seemed to understand what it was all about, and wore
an ear to ear grin the whole time. She is excited to meet you all
and join the family.

Big S was in school, so we are still waiting for an update from Ryan on him. Karen's update was more than enough to sustain us! Again, Karen,,,,thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Updates are really what keep you going in the post-referral stage. Life seems somewhat suspended...you know the clock is moving, but oh it feels like you can feel every second tick by. We've started a few new family traditions. Tuesday night is movie night. At least until daylight savings time and we can be outside more! Thursday night is now game night -- last Thursday we played my all-time favorite game....the game of LIFE!!!!

We still don't have a court date...but should hear something in the next few weeks. This is definitely a longer process than when we got Pickle's referral 18 months ago.