Pumpkins and Jack-O-Lanterns!

Hello, it's fall finally, the weather is cool, it's beautiful outside, and it's my favorite time of year......Christmas is just around the corner and that means a special picture should be coming soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is Halloween time, so we had to get some spooky decorating done. We knew we needed to get some pumpkins and these were the only "pumpkins" we could find in Springville, so we headed to Hayden on Saturday (between ice skating practices) for some pumpkins at The Great Pumpkin Patch.We took the hayride out to the pumpkin patch. They have been open for several weeks now and although there were still alot of pumpkins left there weren't a whole lot of big ones left and Vince really wanted a big one. We still all found the pumpkins we wanted. There were alot of activities at the Pumpkin Patch to do: horseback riding, corn maze, trampoline, moon bounce, food, crafts, etc., but it was absolutely freezing! After getting our pumpkins Madison said she was ready to go, and frankly I was glad, I was so cold. Sunday after church Vince found a big pumpkin at Publix so now we had 4 pumpkins. We went home and each carved our own pumpkins and then all pitched in to carve the 4th one. Everybody's was unique. Vince went for the classic kindof scary pumpkin. Love the eyebrows and it has ears!Madison's is kindof similar to Vince's but it's features aren't quite as big, and Mom had to help her cut it.I went for a totally different one. I don't like scary ones, I like silly ones so I tried for that. It actually kindof looks scared itself.

Then the one we all did together turned out a little differently. It has two sides to it. One side turned out scary, the other has "Zoey" carved into it. We started out deciding that it would a pumpkin for Zoey, but the carving went awry (sp?) so it ended up with two sides.Hope everyone has a very happy, safe, and fun Halloween.Look for Halloween post with pictures of EVERYONES costumes! It should be very interesting!

VACATION, FINALLY!

Wednesday October 17th we checked Madison out of school and headed to the beach. We sooooooooooooo needed a vacation. We haven't been anywhere, just the 3 of us, in a long time, and we just needed to get away. We went to Destin, FL for several days and had a ball. We got down Wednesday night about 7:00, checked into our condo, then headed to Mellow Mushroom for some pizza. After a wonderful night sleep, we woke up to thunderstorms, which honestly we didn't mind, we were just glad to be away. We went to the Donut Hole for some yummy breakfast and then headed to the outlet mall, where else do you go when it's raining at the beach. The only problem this day was that we spent most of it under tornado warnings, so we couldn't leave the outlet mall until that lifted, so we really were there all day. That night we headed to Pompano Joes for some delicious crab legs, my favorite. Madison actually ate some too and didn't gag. Friday we woke up and again, rain. Oh well, lets do some more shopping, this time we headed to Destin Commons. Saturday morning we woke up to a beautiful sunny, clear, and cool day. It was only about 75, a perfect day on the beach. Vince and Madison had a great time running and playing in the ocean. I got sit, relax, and read a book. Oh darn, doctors orders to take it easy! This is the condo, Sterling Sands, it's awesome if you are ever looking for somewhere to stay, very nice! Also a perfect day for Alabama football, ROLL TIDE ROLL. Alabama beat Tennessee, what an absolutely wonderful October day! You can't beat that beautiful ocean sunset! That night we headed to the TRACK for go carts and Putt-Putt golf, and guess what, I won!!!!!! Madison was a little worn out after such a fun filled day. We were still watching the movie, she was watching the back of her eyelids! Sunday was beautiful as well, until the afternoon , so our beach time was cut to a half day. Madison entertained us by showing us her clogging moves that she has learned in her beginner clogging class. We at least had the morning on the beach and then played another round of Putt-Putt because Vince wanted a rematch. And what do you know, I won again!!!!! (Seriously, I never win at anything so this what quite an exciting time for me) We had a great vacation, it was too short, but isn't it always!

Sleepover Chefs and Nerf Dart Wars!

Saturday October 13, Vince and I went to see Phantom of the Opera at the BJCC. If you haven't seen it, it's amazing! I had been wanting to see it for a long time and Vince agreed to take me. It was very different from any musical he had seen with me before, not as upbeat and song/dance like. It's creepy, eerie, and operetic(?), but the sets and the performers were absolutely outstanding. I loved it. That night my nieces came over for a sleepover. On several occasions when they have spent the night Vince will get up in the morning and make a big breakfast. Usually Emily will help him cook. This time they all wanted to help, well the younger ones, Michela, who is almost 13, would rather get a few more minutes of sleep! So they pitched in with Vince and made pancakes, sausage, eggs, bacon, and cheese grits. I don't have enough aprons so Suzanna opted for my bathrobe. They played waitress and short order cook to present a fabulous A.M cuisine!
After eating, no one wants to help clean up! Instead lets strike a pose, vogue!

Sunday afternoon, after church, Vince and Madison had a Nerf dart war in the front yard. Don't they look fabulous in their gear. Vince looks especially good, the vest fits him so good since he's eight years old. It was so funny to watch them. Of course they ended they war with mom as the target, and I had no gear, I just got pelted for about 20 seconds with nerf darts. Scout got a few too, accidently, she doesn't get that she has to stay out of the way. She just wants to be in the middle of the action. Oh well no one was hurt, amazingly, and everyone had a blast, literally.

Brownies and Boo at the Zoo

I am so behind in my posts!!!!!! Several weeks ago Madison's Brownie Troop went to "Boo at the Zoo" and we all had a ball. The girls even got to be on NBC 13 News with Jerry Tracy doing the weather report. This is Madison's first year in Brownies and mine. I didn't do it when I was little so this is a new experience for me as well. Of course everyone had to get their face painted. Madison and Neely picked this beautiful green witch. Some girls got their whole faces painted like a candy corn. We saw all kinds of ghosts and goblins. We even saw superheroes and some characters from Harry Potter. This creepy skeleton pirate danced. The scariest thing I saw was the big bird poop on my shirt. Honestly, that is the 8th time in my life that I have been pooped on by a bird. Of course there is always time to pose with cute ghosts! We all made tye-dyed shirts and had our Brownie Troop number embroidered on them. They turned out really cute. This particular night was one of the first chilly nights we had so we HAD to stop at Starbucks before going home for some hot coffee and hot chocolate!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everybody say CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!! Madison already has several friends in Brownies and I know will make many more because of being in the troop. They get to do all kinds of neat and fulfilling activities to earn badges. One they have already done is to make placemats and put together bags of toiletry items for the prisons. On their placemats, they were to draw ways that show Gods love for you. Next weekend, we get to go to Camp Coleman to learn how to take care of horses and how to ride them, which should be really interesting! Madison is scared of them and I don't really like to ride them, not a good mix! I will be sure to post some pics.

Rumors

We keep hearing rumors about when the next cutoff will be (supposedly December 12 or 13). We've tried and tried not to read them or take them to heart because it just makes everything more difficult to deal with. Every month there are rumors circulating about how far the CCAA will get with referral days. We know that our future and our precious baby's future is in God's hands and that is what we SHOULD be focusing on, that we will get her when HE decides it's the right time, but for some reason we want to control everything. Life would be much easier if we just give it over to Him, He knows alot more than we do! Please keep us and all of the waiting families in your prayers. The wait sometimes feels like it is too much to bear! We do know that we should be looking into our daughters eyes, even if only by photograph, by Christmas and that is all I have been praying for! Just her picture for Christmas because then I know what the New Year will hold in store for us!

CCAA Update

We knew an update would be posted last night as it was Monday morning in China and referrals went out last week when the CCAA as well as other Chinese businesses were closed for a week holiday. They have issued referrals through 11-30-05, very dissappointing. We were hoping they would do at least 10 days. Things have been so slow and we really thought after getting over the November 22 hump, because it was such a huge log in day, that things would speed up in our favor. I was really convinced we'd get our referral in November, now I am praying so hard for December. I just really want to see her face for Christmas, that's all I want!!!!!!! Please keep that in your prayers for us, to just see our sweet baby's face for Christmas. We'll keep you posted!

Eventful Week!

This isn't a typical entry, but I wanted to share this with all of you. Last Wednesday, I was in a car accident on I-59. I was going to Trussville to St. Vincent's East to have some Pre-Op bloodwork done because I had surgery Friday the 28th (which went fine). I was at the Argo exit when a car came over into my lane (the left hand lane) and ran me off the road. I lost control of the car and crossed both lanes of traffic to the far right and hit the guardrail then bounced back across hitting the other car and we ended up in the median. God had His hand guiding my car that day because I only had a bump on my head and some bruising on my side and legs. The other people involved were not hurt at all, thank God. The paramedics came and took me to the hospital to make sure my head, neck, etc. were ok, which they were. My car is totalled (well the insurance company hasn't officially said that yet, but look at the pictures). These are the pictures that Vince took Thursday morning when he went to clean it out. I've never been in a wreck before, well a fender bender, but nothing like this. I've never been so scared in my whole life, to see that you are going to hit something and there is nothing you can do about it. I can remember thanking God that I was alone and that I had my seatbelt on when I saw the guardrail coming. I have reflected back on the accident about a million times since last Wednesday, especially while on all the pain medicine from my surgery Friday, and it is so scary to think about what could've happened. After seeing my skid marks on I-59 it is such a miracle that my car didn't flip over or that I didn't get hit by an 18wheeler. Like I said God truly was there with me and protected me that day. I am very blessed to have walked away from this with no cuts or scrapes at all! You never know what is going to happen, but I have always tried to remember to Thank God everyday when I wake up for another day and I know that I won't forget to do it again!