Thanks and Giving

We were truly blessed with a bountiful Thanksgiving this year. We spent the holidays with both the Lydic and Gipson families; eating great food and way too much of it! The boys are on Chad and my mind's more than ever. We were truly hoping to be in Russia by now visiting with the boys. Last week our coordinator in the region of Russia we are adopting from emailed our agency to let us know we unfortunately will not be able to travel for our first visit until early 2011. We were terribly disappointed to have yet another bump in our path. After we had a few days to process through the news, we realized that we had forgotten a very important thing. This was that we are not in control of how our journey unfolds. This has been determined by God and we must continue to put our faith in Him that things will come together exactly when and where he feels they must. So, we took a deep breath and realized the importance of recognizing the joy of this time of the year and how important it is that we be available to celebrate with our girls. Callie asked last night about the magic of Santa Claus, and if he disappears back up the chimney if the dogs see him. She was concerned our Great Dane would scare him away with her lumbering size. Apparently, Callie saw fit to let everyone at church know she would like a kitty for Christmas; we will have to disappoint her in this regard. However, I am sure she will be well taken care of in the gift department with all of her grandparents, aunts, and uncles! We have been fortunate to be able to refinance our home in Cameron to assist in paying for our adoption expenses. We were reluctant to have to seek loans for our adoption as we have saved and fundraised for all monies thus far. Refinancing made the most financial sense from an interest rate point of view. Security Savings Bank has been such a wonderful institution to work with; they truly embrace their motto.. part of your community, part of your life. Our loan officer saw my determination and passion, that's for sure! We continue to stay busy as most people this time of the year. Chad and I continue to coach Samantha's sixth grade basketball team. I think the girls are having fun and it is nice to see them begin to progress in their fundamental skills. If they start to set picks during their offense, I will be one happy coach! Yesterday I spoke with my friend Anna D. about starting up our club volleyball program in the next two months. I know coaching takes a lot of time, but I do enjoy the kids and seeing how athletics helps instill important life skills. I am hoping Anna and I can find a coach so I may step into more of a role as the director of the program. Callie has her first Christmas program at school this week; they are including the Pre-K for the first time this year. This past weekend we went shopping for the girls' Christmas dresses. Callie is very opinionated already regarding what type of dress she wants to wear! She definitely knows what she likes. Now that Callie is five, she feels an adjustment in her bedtime is appropriate. After some discussion, she determined a bedtime of 8:29 instead of 8:30 was fair. Sam has happily agreed with the arrangement, although she has a huge grin on her face every time we talk about it! Samantha is a great big sister for Callie (most of the time), and I think Callie will enjoy having the new role of big sister soon. We hope everyone enjoys the holiday season. I will be posting fun videos on Facebook soon, so check them out.