When distance is no longer...

The internet is an interesting thing.

I have "met" some wonderful people through this blog. People who share similar stories, and most of all, are adoptive parents like ourselves. It's this little "insider" connection, a wonderful support system, and so many of you have really made an impact in my life.
But it's also a "safe" way to connect with people, because you only know certain aspects of someone's life. You don't meet regularly, you don't get on anyone's nerves, and others don't even know your bad habits!
It's easy to be likeable and to like others.
And that's kind of nice, I admit!

This week, however, a wonderful family, and me and my three younger kids chose to step out of that comfortable "virtual friendship" zone and go on a "blind date" in the real world. It was a little nerve wracking and exciting at the same time....

It was wonderful!
You may know Linda from her Blog, and you may even remember our connection from this post.
We just had a very, very nice time together, shared a couple of delicious meals, and the kids hit it off and played nicely at the park and in their "infamous" backyard pool.
Thank you so much, Linda and Bob and girls for opening your house and your hearts to these almost complete strangers!
Until next time!

PS: No, we do NOT live THAT close. Nothing is close in our part of the country (except for Super WalMart *LOL*). Visiting Linda's family was a 2 day adventure, with driving time of close to 5 hours one way :-))

Forever and ever our kiddo...

Nina's readoption hearing was this morning.
We did NOT miss it *ha*...
It took the little girl a loooong time to decide what would be fancy enough to wear, and she finally decided on her brown skirt and a purple blouse she had not worn before (this child has way too many summer clothes!!). I fixed her hair to her liking, and even bought her a dozen roses. She felt very lady-like!!

The future of this blog

It's been just a little over 2 years ago since we started the journey to find our daughter.
Wow, 2 years.
I cannot imagine our family WITHOUT Nina anymore. Sometimes when people give me those curious "hmmm, why does this lady have an asian child?"glances, it strikes me as odd, just because I don't see her as THAT different anymore. Of course I'm aware that she looks nothing like me, but it so doesn't matter to me. She is my daughter. End of story.

We have done all the official steps, and tomorrow our state will recognize Nina as its "own" as well. I have been talking with her about what's happening tomorrow, and the most important thing to her is that she gets to wear something "fancy" (what more can a girl wish for :-)) ).
I told her that we will be going to the big building across the street from Daddy's office, and that they will tell us that Nina Gabriella FuBo is our kiddo forever and ever and ever! She really likes that too....

With this last requirement also comes another milestone...

I will be closing this blog pretty soon, as it has had Nina's adoption as its focus.

Don't despair...

I'm too hooked to the blogging world and love my bloggin' buddies, plus it's a great way to keep friends and family all over the world updated and "in our living room".
However, our new blog will be password protected, and anyone who would like to stay in touch through our blog, will need to get invited. How do you do that? You simply send me an email to wyochinagirl@gmail.com.

This new blog will not happen overnight, as I need to find someone who will come up with a cool Blog design (any suggestions??).
I also need a new NAME for the blog, and I would love to hear some fun ideas from you all!
If you know us personally, then I would just kindly ask you to refrain from any ideas that include our last name, or the city we live in, as I have been trying to protect the privacy of our family in this blog (more or less successful)

Off to bed I go, so I'll be ready to listen to the judge tomorrow, as he will remind us that Nina Gabriella FuBo is our kiddo forever and ever....

Another funny one...

This happened a few days ago....
I was sitting at my laptop, either feeding my blogging habit, or actually doing some "real work" - don't remember which one :-)
Anyway, Nina was sitting right next to me, and she kept asking me if I would play a game with her. Oh, now I remember, I think I was finishing writing an email. I had told her "just a minute" at least once already, but that statement ususally goes completely unnoticed. So after a few more "Mama, will you play this game with me?" in quick succession, and obviously getting frustrated with my lack of answering, she did the funniest little thing: She curved her little finger, tapped her knuckle on my cheek a couple of times and chirped: "Mamaaaa - knock, knock!!"

Sadest thing ever....

I'm going to be a little mean, but since Anya is going to camp today, and won't see it for a while, I'll post them....
Almost as soon as we got back from vacation, we had a family come and pick out one of our kittens. Well, they decided on getting the "snuggly one", which means it was Spooky, the girls' favorite.
Imagine the drama, and the pain in those sisters' little hearts. I know the kids had secretly hoped they could keep the kittens after all, but that was just not an option. I admit though, that Spooky was a cute little thing!
The pictures below were just too much ~ I assure you, Anya smiles at them now, too!
She is just a "feely" girl. Her emotions are always so intense, so real, so all-consuming. And while I love that about her, it also makes for incredible drama.
That Nina fell apart, too, surprised me a bit, but I'm thinking seeing her big adored sister be so sad had a lot to do with it!
Sweet daughters ~ I love you!

(By now, all kittens have found new homes)

Almost missed it!

We had started our re-adoption paperwork a few weeks ago.
Basically, the re-adoption doesn't really change anything, but it allows Nina to have a Wyoming Birth certificate. This will make things much easier for her down the road, as I don't want to imagine having to request a BC from China in 20 years or so. Nightmare in the making....
Anyway, when we signed all the forms needed, the gal at the law office (who is a Tastefully Simple client of mine) told us she would send us the stamped and signed forms in the mail, and then they would notify us of our court date.
Well, about a week or so ago I received an envelope from the law office, and since I ASSUMED it was just our copies of the forms, I never opened it.
Yesterday at the fair I ran into her, and she told me that someone different from their office was going to represent us at the court hearing. I looked at her and said: "Oh, so you have found out about a court date then?". She gave me THE look and answered with a gasp: "Did you not receive our letter?" I confessed I had but had not opened it (yet).....
She said that the court date was INCLUDED in that envelope.
AAAHHHHHHGGGGGGHHHH!
The only senile question I had left for her was asking if we had missed it aleady....
She assured me we hadn't.

Guess what?

It's on TUESDAY morning. In THREE days, and we almost missed it.
THAT would have been embarrassing!

But thank God HE knew we needed a gentle little reminder, and yes, I will post pictures of the last official milestone in our journey to Miss Nina....

I saw her, I saw her!!!

Okay, that was almost too ordinary.....

We attended the 4H sponsored pancake feed this morning, as they were setting up for Jesse James' stage nearby. I saw a dark haired lady walking around, and thought that it "may" just be Sandra. So I followed her (slick, huh!!).

It wasn't her.

But I ended up speaking with another bystander, and when I asked her if Sandra was here, too, she pointed to the playground and said calmly: "She is over there."

OVER THERE??? Are you KIDDING??

Armed with my best mothering skills, leaving my kids on their own, finishing their breakfast, I trotted over to the playground. Except, what do you really do at a playground if you don't have kids with you??

Yep, there she was.

Beautiful, but oh, so ordinary. Shorts, T-Shirt, no makeup, hair in a ponytail. Playing with her step-daughter. Doing what all Moms do.

Later on, she watched the local kids showing pigs. No one bothered her. Ordinary Wyoming people were sitting right by her, and acted as there was nothing special about her. I like that about the people here. Sure, we stare, we whisper, but we're very much leaving her alone. My friend got an autograph, but I was too chicken to approach her. Oh, well!

I witnessed a pretty cool exchange though. The local county Miss approached her (her Mom did) and asked for a picture. You know what she said?

"I don't take pictures today. Today it's all about my husband, and I'm just here as his wife. That's it."

Cool!

Well, I did take some pictures with my super zoom lens *haha*. I admit, they are
horrible pictures. But that's as courageous I got....

GUESS WHO IS IN TOWN!!!!!

You're never gonna guess!!!!

It's Fair time, and this year they really scored with a celebrity...
Well, it's actually her hubby who is the hired one, but I had no idea who he was (after all, did he not get shot a long time ago???)
Allright, I know you won't guess it....
SANDRA BULLOCK!!!!!!!
There have been several sightings of her yesterday and today, in very fancy and world famous places like Applebee's, Albertson's and Wal Mart (Do you think she EVER shops at WalMart???)

I'm so excited..... I really want to see her!!!!
Trust me, I will be toting my camera around tomorrow!!!!!
Gosh, I'm so glad I moved to Wyoming!!

Summer vacation!

Here is my first ever video - it took me quite a while to get it done (haven't done much of anything else while at it, either *ha*), and I know it will be such a fun memory for all of us!
Enjoy!
Now, of course I did not include all the unpleasant details, like Anya eating too many Smores (they did not look pretty a few hours later), or me wiping out on the forest floor when I tripped over a tent string (I'm still sore!). We've learned many valuable tent-camping lessons (we're pretty new at this!), and we're looking forward to next time!

(Wow, Youtube really downgraded the quality of it, but oh well!)

Beautiful...

From tonight

What keeps kids entertained in the backseat

While I'm working on my first ever little movie thing with our vacation pictures, I just have to show you this.

The kids' favorite entertainment in the car was taking pictures of other cars driving by.

Yes, you can laugh.

It was comical to listen to them. Elia was usually on the lookout for more cars. He would announce them loudly, and then Anya would take the picture, and they'd all cheer.

Repeat.

Needless to say, Anya had a BUNCH of blurry car pictures on her camera, and we think it's hilarious....

We're home, and a couple of changes to the blog

Not like I have totes and sleeping bags and coolers to put away, or do 2 more loads of laundry.....

NO!!

My first project is messing around with the blog. Go figure this blogger's priorities *LOL*

I just added the "Wyoming summer" pictures on the left hand side (almost at the bottom, just in case you have not noticed that section before).

But what I have been wanting to do for a while is highlight all the milestones in our adoption journey. Those are like the "pearls" of adoption that are mixed into a lot of family "stuff". To ME those are super important, but if someone wants to come here and read up on adoption, it's more relevant to find those milestones quickly.

YES, we have been on vacation, and trust me, I have lots of pictures and stories to share.
This was our first TENT CAMPING trip (we have camped before, but chose the little "kamping kabins" while the kids were smaller).
Gosh, we had fun!!
But more on that tomorrow.
And on the not-so-fun episodes too (I'm still sore!!!).
Well, I guess I can't leave without at least one picture, right??This was taken by my very talented young photographer Anya!!

The Singer

Nico participated in a choir camp for the last couple of weeks. He is always singing, so we thought he might enjoy that. And he did, for the most part (not enough boys there for his liking!)

We let him ride his bike to the camp at the High School and back, and he really enjoyed that. He did a great job getting ready in the morning, making sure he had enough time to get there and lock up his bike. This is the first time I've let him do that, and I think he will be ready to ride his bike to school if he wants to. It's only about 1 mile to the High school (but then I'm a horrible guesser), and about another 7 blocks to his Elementary school.

They had a concert today, and it was very nice. I really liked the songs they learned (all Broadway songs), and it looked like they had fun. Performing is NOT Nico's favorite thing (too much like his Mama, introverted and all), so this was quite a stretch, and I'm very proud of him!

I took these pictures with my new camera (duh :-) ), and the amazing thing is that I did not use a flash! I also took all of them from my seat in a good sized auditorium, so the zoom on the camera is awesome! About half the pictures ended up blurry, but I was still pretty impressed how well the others turned out!

Determination, and the power of LOVE...

A son asked his father, 'Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?' The father who, despite having a heart condition, said 'Yes'.
They went on to complete the marathon together. Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying 'Yes' to his son's request of going through the race together.
One day, the son asked his father, 'Dad, let's join the Ironman together.' To which his father said 'Yes' to.
For those who didn't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island.
Father and son went on to complete the race together.
View this...

For more information, go to the "Team Hoyt" website. Read the "Who we are" section to get their entire story!

Out of the mouth of babes...

They crack me up!

Today is a nice and warm, and very pleasant morning. Perfect for a little bit of gardening before breakfast.
While I'm digging up an unwanted groundcover I had planted last year (and didn't like, obviously), Alex and Elia are sitting on the rocks, talking to me.

With all the elections going on, this is a topic we cover frequently, as their Grandpa is running for a seat in a County government position.

So here we are, digging in the dirt, when the discussion goes like this:

Alex: "Mama, who do you think is going to win?" (the election, that is)

Elia: "Grandpa, of course"

Then they are silent for a few moments.

Alex: "But I don't think Grandpa can run very fast..."

Also ihr Schweizer, ihr seid doch "Jammeri's" :-)))

Hier ist das Rezept auf Deutsch, extra fuer euch uebersetzt und gewogen!!!!

8 Aprikosen (450 gr), in kleine Stuecke geschnitten
60 gr Zucker
2 Tassen (a 250ml) entsteinte Kirschen, ca 225 gr.
1 Essloeffel Mehl
(es darf bei bei beiden Fruchtsorten auch etwas mehr sein, ich habe gerade drei Portionen eingefroren, und "e Hampfle" dazugegeben)

140 gr Mehl
85 gr. Maisgriess
Echli Salz
1 1/2 Essloeffel Zucker
abgeriebene Schale von 1/2 Orange
2 Teeloeffel Backpulver (8 gr)
70 gr kalte Butter
187 ml Milch (Haha, moechtet ihr's noch ein bisschen genauer??)

Aprikosen und Zucker vermischen
Kirschen und Mehl vermischen (nur mit dem 1 EL Mehl!)
beiseite stellen

Alle "trockenen" Zutaten vermischen (inkl. Orangenschale), dann Butter in Stuecke schneiden und beifuegen, verreiben. Milch einruehren.

Fruechte in eine Auflaufform geben, Teigmasse darueber verteilen, bei 180 Grad backen (25 - 30 minuten)

Mit Puderzucker bestaeuben. Warm servieren.
Schmeckt sehr gut mit Vanilleglace!

YUMM!!!

I was able to purchase Cherries and Apricots from Colorado (by the case - I look forward to this every year!)
On my quest to find great apricot recipes, I came across this cobbler, and made it this afternoon.
It was to die for!!!!
So, so good!
I thought I'd share, in case you need a great summer dessert recipe. I doubled it, fed 4 adults and 5 kids, and had about 1/4 of the pan left over.
Here you go:
(My comments are in red)

Apricot Cherry Cobbler
8 fresh apricots (1 LB), sliced
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups pitted fresh cherries (1/2 LB)
1 tbsp flour
(you can easily use more fruit)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 tbsp plus 1 tsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
5 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled
3/4 cup low-fat milk

Heat oven to 375°F.

Combine apricots and 1/3 cup sugar; set aside.
Combine cherries and 1 tbsp flour; set aside.
Combine dry ingredients; reserve 1 tsp sugar.
Stir in orange peel
Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Add milk; stir just to moisten dry ingredients.
Combine fruit in buttered 1-1/2-quart baking dish; spoon batter over top.
Sprinkle with remaining sugar. (I omitted this step, and dusted the cobbler with powdered sugar before serving instead. Makes it look very pretty!)
Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool slightly and serve.Makes 8 servings (For the double batch, I ended up baking it for 45 minutes)
Nutrition information per serving: 255 calories, 4 g protein, 42 g carbohydrates, 205 mg sodium, 9 g fat, 21 mg cholesterol, 3 g dietary fiber, 1190 IU vitamin A, 309 mg potassium.

You asked for the close-ups :-)

And here are a few - well, I had three, so I added a cute picture of Nina to the collage!
I got my new camera yesterday, and there is so much I need to learn, and a lot of the technical stuff sounds chinese to me. Love the "Auto" function, where is does all the thinking for me, while I learn more about the details!

Will you be my prince of peace...?

I love that song.
Makes me want to cry every time it plays on the radio.
I really, really need that peace...

My new toy, a "superkitten", post placement and more from the orthodontist front

I'm so excited - I ordered myself a new digital camera last week! My little point-and-shoot camera died several weeks ago when a boy who shall remain name-less kept messing with the shutter, and managed to ruin the same part.

I have been using Anya's camera for quite some time now, and although she has been very gracious about it, it annoys her. It's hers, and she got it as a gift from her aunt Kami.

I understand. I so understand!

Thank goodness, the awesome direct-sales company that I'm a consultant for (and have been for four years) has a cool reward points program, and since I have been saving my points for a long time, I'm now able to "buy" a pretty nice camera for FREE! Wohoo! I'm sure it will be a learning curve, but I'm excited about this new photographic adventure!!
This camera is said to have a huge zoom lens on it, and I'm looking forward to playing with that. I LOVE close-ups! Someday I would like to get a VERY nice camera, but that's just not a priority right now. I just gave myself an early Christmas present. Gotta do that every so often :-))
As far as the direct sales company goes, you are more than welcome to take a peek here. I'll be happy to give you the link to my personal website, but I can't do it on a public blog (company policy AND my personal privacy concerns). Email me if you would like me to send it to you!

********************

On a happy and sad note - Gandalf the gray left us today and joined her new family. They are good friends of ours, and we're all happy that we will be able to see this cute little furball in the future. Her new name will be "Ophelia" (their kids came up with that one :-) )
One of Gandalf/Ophelia's sisters however had some "superkitten" ideas today, although I really don't think it was intentional that she hurled herself off our 10 foot plant shelf. I heard a big "thud", and the only thing out of place was a dizzy little kitten. I guess "Rocket" was the right name for her after all. So far so good - she seems to be okay, and we are sure happy about this!

********************

We had our last post-placement visit yesterday! I really, really like our social worker, and she has always been very encouraging and understanding. All we have left now, as far as formalities go, is the re-adoption procedure. We have the paperwork filed, and will have it all completed in hopefully a few weeks.

**********************

Anya started her orthodontic journey earlier this year (poor girl has NO room for her lower teeth), and was recently fitted with a bottom retainer to keep things from getting worse, until she has more of her permanent teeth. She will have braces after that. We assumed we would get a break for a while.

NOT.

I took Alex for his cleaning last week, and he had his first set of XRays taken. He also JUST lost his first 2 teeth within the last couple of weeks. He thinks he is pretty big now. Well, his XRays revealed that he has 2 permanent top teeth MISSING! Ughhh! Does this poor kid EVER get a break???? He has the 2 front teeth, but then the 2 right next to it are simply not there! Needless to say, they strongly recommend to see the orthodontist right away, so they can develop a treatment plan before he actually loses the affected baby teeth. He is quite excited about seeing the orthodontist, as he has heard all the cool stories from his siblings, and can't wait to try out all the video games at their office himself!! Gotta love the perspective of a 7 year old!!