Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to Everyone!!

Happy Halloween! Hopefully you are all doing well. I feel bad because I am so bad about writing but we have been so insanely busy lately that I feel like I am meeting myself coming and going. What have we been doing? We have been taking a dance class on Monday nights. West Coast swing. It has been really fun! We might actually start going to dances now. On Tuesday nights we have been helping at church with RCIA which for those of you who don't know what that is, it is an adult education class for people inquiring about the Catholic faith. Thursday evenings we have been taking Bosco to doggie classes. Bosco is my brother's dog who we are dog sitting for. He is a 70 lb. German Shepherd puppy. He was out of control but doggie classes have helped him immensely. That pretty much fills up our week. Now for the weekends and whatnot. David is home on leave for one month. He graduated from his specialized training and might I add that he graduated first in his class. In a few more weeks, he is off to Korea. We are enjoying our visit with him.

Ryan is getting ready for Halloween. He has his costume all ready to go. He says this year he is dressing up as a pimp. Great. We are trying to bring him up in a stable Catholic household and he is dressing up as a pimp. Somewhere, I think that something has gone terribly wrong!

Chris has only 6 weeks left of the police academy then he will be finished. He is looking for a job and applying anywhere he can. I think that he and Stacy will eventually get married. She is a really nice girl and I am glad they get along so well together. They make a really cute couple. He has changed a lot since they have been dating. I can just see little changes. They are good changes.

We made a flying trip to St. Louis a couple of weeks ago to visit Dwaine's sister, Patti. Dwaine's niece, Sarah was visiting Patti and it was nice to see them. We went to Forrest Park and rode in the paddle boats. We had a nice visit.

Dwaine's family is coming here this weekend to visit David. His folks will be up on Friday and will be staying until Monday. I am sure there will be a few more here visiting before the weekend is over also.

Next week is our mystery vacation! I can't wait to go. Dwaine still doesn't know where we are going. I have the trip all mapped out complete with planned activities. As soon as we get back, I will let you know how it went.

I feel like I am supposed to keep everyone up to date about the adoption. There just isn't much to tell. We have been logged in over 8 months now. China finally finished matching all of the people who were logged in in November of 2005. That tells you where we are in the process. This month, referrals will start coming in from December of 2005. Hopefully it will start picking up now. November was a huge month for referrals. December isn't supposed to be as large. Either way, we still have a ways to go.

Now, this brings me to my next subject - quilt squares. You know you can do it! Summer is over now and we are all settling in for winter? Don't you need a nice winter project? How about making a quilt square for Ryleigh's quilt? You remember how to do it? Cut one 8x8" square of cotton fabric. Make sure it reflects who you are. Write a wish for Ryleigh on a note card and staple a small piece of the same fabric to the card. Send it to me. If you need help or more info, e-mail me. I only have about 40 squares so far. I need 100 all together to make the quilt.

Ok, that's it for now. Have a wonderful Halloween!

Kelley

Kelley's Birthday

Kelley finally talked me into posting to the blog. I am pretty slow to try new things, but I guess that it is time.

Kelley's last posting was on the day of her birthday. That evening, late in the day of her second annual 39th birthday, she was a greeted with a surprise birthday party. About 18 friends and family had gathered at a local restaurant, and when the two of us showed, gave her a nice send-off into her fourth decade. Of course, she is now acting a lot older than she did that evening. Needless to say, she slept well that night (notice the glass of blue tidy bowl).

David will be arriving back home this Tuesday night. He will be home for four weeks before shipping out to South Korea. He will be stationed at Camp Walker, South Korea, for at least the next 12 months. We are sad about him going so far away, but very happy that he is not going to be stationed in Iraq.

Ryan's band is heavily into band competitions at the moment. They are in the middle of a span where they compete in band competitions on 4 out of 5 Saturdays. No time for sleep-in-Saturdays for him.

Chris is doing real well in the academy. He will be testing near Kansas City this weekend.

Carrie, too, is doing real well in all of her endeavors. She is enjoying this year much more than last. She is especially happy with her new living conditions. Her new roommates and apartment are much more to her liking.

No trouble, it seems, in keeping busy while waiting for Ryleigh. It doesn't do a lot to limit our frustrations, but it does make the time go faster.

Dwaine

Pictures and thoughts on my birthday

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to post a couple of pics since I am downloading from my camera.

This is a picture of my favorite guys when David was home for Labor Day.

And here is a picture of Iris. She is a sweet dog.

Today is my birthday. The big 4-0. I can't believe I'm 40. I don't feel 40. I don't really want to be 40. I think back to when I was in college and realize that it was half of my lifetime ago. I can't believe it. One of my best friends from college passed through Columbia last week and we met him out for dinner. I haven't seen him in years. We talked about our college days as if they happened a couple of years ago. Now we are 40. Man, that is huge! I am old! The only good thing is that Dwaine will be 50 in a couple of weeks. That makes me not feel quite so old....