It’s a great thing this internet business.  You get to meet the nicest people.  On Monday I moseyed over to Vernon to my friend K’s house.  Gina was also in town visiting her family and she had her cutey daughter Samara with her.  It was fun just watching the kids play… even though K’s daughter E was having a “grumpy day” (according to K!), it was still really enjoyable seeing her and her brother interact.  She is such a darling. Thanks for the conversation and the company, ladies!

Jrock and his friend K went to elementary school together… He was the best man at our wedding and he’s always up for a good time!

This weekend J and K went skiing/boarding up at Big White and then we introduced him to the wonderful world of wine tasting.

K and J both got discounted lift tickets – for different reasons! (Actually, they found J’s on the slope…)

Locking the liquor cabinet… Out listening to blues at the Blue Gator… Getting the hang of tasting… and a delicious dinner thanks to K!

You are welcome anytime! And thanks for the pictures… you are the only person I’ve met who takes more pics than me!

My mom and I spent a nice day away – slowing winding down the valley through Peachland, Summerland and Penticton.

We had lunch at a lovely bakery – Bliss Bakery in Peachland.  Check out that pink cupcake!

We visited Summerland Sweets to buy some jams and syrups… and found out there was a trestle bridge for a walk just a few hundred meters away. So I put on one of Dad’s jackets from the truck and we took Mom’s dog Tori for a hike across the bridge.  Poor Tori was so nervous looking WAY DOWN the canyon in between the rail ties… but she made it across.

My mom (and briefly dad) was in town so we took a cruise up to Vernon to visit my Aunties – they are actually my Grandpa’s sisters.  They are hilarious and lots of fun.  You’d never imagine they are 89/93. Thank goodness I have that Polish/Ukrainian blood in my veins – I’m going to live for  LONG time

My sis has been living without her husband since January when he moved 1/2 their household to the Rockies.  She’s moving at the end of the school year to join him, but for the meanwhile it was a happy reunion in Kelowna today.  It’ll be nice to have them about 5 hours away – it’ll be the first time in 10 years that we’ve lived that close.

So the da was spent taking pictures on the beach, enjoying coffees downtown with the dogs, eating Indian food and Jrock’s annual Nintendo session with my brother-in-law.  I’m reminded why we don’t have one of these things.  Still, it’s pretty amusing in small doses.  Some pics and video for your enjoyment.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/YkndT50SOVU]

THANKS to Haze and Rhonda for taggin’ me.

I suppose this wold be considered peer pressure – must proceed with game or else! Juz jokin.  Let’s see if I can come up with something.

…

…

ok.  I went and asked J to help me.  He is fountain of weird facts about me:

1. My hair has been the following colours: various shades of red and orange, dark brown (current), light brown, blond, black, purple streaked, pink (all over),  apricot – that was a mistake -, and bright green.
2. Jrock and I’s first Christmas together we went to the Czech Republic – a little town called Cesky Krumlov. The sites include the village itself – the whole thing is a Unesco World Heritage site – the Museum of Puppets and the Museum of Torture (both kinda creepy and fun.)
3. When I was a teenager I used to hunt with my dad – big game like deer and moose – to feed the family.  I haven’t hunted though, since 1995, and the wild boar incident …
4. My favorite colour is green.
5. I’ve been reading up a lot lately on how to build straw bale and cob houses. 
6. I did my grade 12 year in Germany on a Rotary exchange.  Amazing experience, and I’m still in contact with my (host) family there. We’re planning on swinging by on the way to Ethiopia this summer/fall.
7. My best friend has been my best friend since she was in grade 4 and I was in grade 5.  I don’t think she reads my blog.
8. Hamish humps his dog bed every night in our bedroom.  Every night for 8 years. Except when we have company – then he brings the bed out and humps it in the living room.
9. I have tasted the best wine in the world.  I kid you not.  (J and I honeymooned in Bordeaux and Burgundy.) Chateau d’Yquem: It tastes like dill pickle chips and honey.  
10. I can’t spell in English; it drives my husband and mother crazy to sit beside me when I type.  I’m a product of French Immersion, so at least I can spell much better in French and German.

 Hmmm… So I now tag Debbie (she has lots of time – she only has 6 kids), Jaclyn (who seems to be a willing victim of the taggin’), Sheri(she needs some foolishness on her blog – it’s getting way too serious ),  Emily (whose dossier just went to Ethiopia so she needs something to do during the wait), and my pal Cinnamon (actually that’s not her name – it’s her cat’s – but the real name is TOP SECRET.)

The rules:

Choose 5 people to tag and a reason you chose each person (can be totally nonsensical) Leave them each a comment directing them to your blog so they know they are it. You can’t tag the person who tagged you. As a courtesy to the person who tagged you, please let them know when you have posted so they can have the sheer delight and extra work load of reading your answers.

He’s exHAUSTED! but he did a really good job this year. 

Looks like we’re getting a refund – good dog!

On Monday, Jrock agreed to take a little hike with me.  I’m leading a group on Friday, and I wanted to scout out the route before I lead 15 people along it.

We guestimated it would take 1 1/2 hours… little did we know.  Click below to see some pics and the short version of the story!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/6COJxV7NJbY]

Jrock and I love watching programs about Ethiopia.  This show is today – Sunday March 9 at 3pm Pacific, 6pm Eastern on OLN if you want to check it out.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIkAmb8Fzng]

Oct 2007                                                                Feb 2008

Just in case anyone starts to get excited!  These are not OUR kids - These pictures are of the little girl in Addis Ababa that we are sponsoring through Canadian Humanitarian. 

“H” is just four years old – what a sweetie pie! and we just got pictures of her this week. It’s definitely not as good as seeing your own kids’ faces, but getting little H’s picture was a lovely gift in the mail!

Jrock and I have been sponsoring a child through World Vision, Jorge in Columbia, since he was 10 years old! and he is soon going to graduate out of the sponsorship program (at 16.) Man, times flies by… So we thought we would sponsor another child, this time from Ethiopia – and the neat thing is that we’ll get to visit her, if we want, when we go to pick up our own kids. World Vision does a lot of great work and community projects – they’re a great organization.  But this time we decided to support a smaller organization and make a more direct contribution to one child.

Our $30/month sponsorship will make sure that H gets food, shelter, and a chance to go to school. We’ll keep you updates as time goes by and we learn more about H and how she’s doing.

In the meanwhile, consider sponsoring a child yourself!  What is $30 to you? It’s buying one less new shirt, or toning down your cable package.  Heck, walk to work 1-2 days a week and you’ll probably save that much in gas! lol

To learn more or sponsor, check out Canadian Humanitarian!

Here we go… we’re at six months now of waiting.  Honestly, the last couple of weeks have probably been easier waiting than the rest of the time, because at least we have some reasonable end to the wait in sight. “Top of the list.”  We’re counting on that.

Both of us think that we will get that magic phone call this month! but we’ll have to wait and see.

To be continued with good news… (hopefully soon)

Friends;

I know several families that have been waiting for MONTHS for someone in the Nairobi High Commission ofice to stamp their children’s paperwork so they can go pick them up.  These kids are just waiting and waiting and waiting… for a family, for stability and love. It’s time to write some letters and demand a change! Let’s get these kids home!

Call to pens!

Here is a copy of our email.  Please take 5 minutes to send an email to Minister Diane Finley at Minister@cic.gc.ca . Be sure to CC your MP – find their email address here.

Dear Minister Finley;I am writing to express my concern about the time it is taking for Ethiopian children adopted to Canadian families to obtain a Permanent Resident Visa or Citizenship paperwork.Orphaned children have been through a lot. Most have lost their parents to AIDS or poverty; they have often suffered malnutrition, lived on the streets and been moved from place to place. Although the agencies that facilitate Canadian adoptions in Ethiopia have good care facilities, these facilities and paid staff are in no way a replacement for a permanent family, who can nurture them back to emotional and physical health. Unfortunately, children are being left in these transitional facilities for 6 months to a year, as they (and their parents in Canada) anxiously wait for the High Commission in Nairobi to process immigration paperwork.

I think it’s time, for us waiting and for our friends waiting, to post some more “special moments.” These keep me going -

New (on my blog)

• Yosef and Biniam
• Abi’s Journey
• Meeting Silas
• Forever Day
• Our Ethiopian Adoption – Delightful Mihret
• Bringing home Girum

Others Previously Posted (but worth another look!)

• Happy Referral Day
• Picking Up Abi
• Happy Adoption Day
• Our Adoption Journey
• One Year Later
• Meeting Deacon
• The Miracle of Adoption
• Eva Adoption Video
• Half a World Away
• When Love Takes You In
• Meeting Robel
• Somewhere over the rainbow
• Lisa at the LIGA school
• No small feet
• Journey to Baby Jason