Giving Thanks

I did not publish a post on Thanksgiving and I know I am doing this a little backward but hey, it's my blog and I can do what I want with it, right?

Here are the things I am thankful for in no particular order:

• My health - mostly because I am getting a little older now and think about this a lot.
• My husband - because he is the highlight of my life. We truly came to be together through what I believe is divine intervention. God brought us to the same place and it was only through luck, really that we came to meet. Who else could have brought him to Columbia Missouri from Oklahoma of all places!
• My family - my brother first of all and then my aunts and uncles and cousins. I am also thankful for the time I had with my parents. I had really great parents and even though they were taken from me too soon, I am grateful for the time that we were together.
• My new family - this would include David, Ryan, Carrie and Dwaine's family who have taken me in as one of their own.
• My wonderful friends - you all know who you are. Thank you for being my friends because without you, I would not be where I am today, I am sure of that.

Those are the main things I am thankful for. Happy Belated Thanksgiving.

Long overdue post...

Hey everyone,

I know it has been a really long time since I posted last. I have promised to tell you all about our "mystery trip". Some time ago, I set up a vacation for us to celebrate Dwaine's 50th birthday. He knew that we were going but he had no idea where we were going. I even packed his suitcase for him. We got up to leave very early on the morning of Nov. 8 and headed to Kansas City to the airport. When we checked our bags, the lady at the ticket counter asked us where we were going and of course I had to tell her. That's when Dwaine found out that we were headed to San Francisco. I had planned on staying there a couple of days and then driving up to Napa valley to stay at a B&B there. We rented a car also and my brother let me borrow his GPS. Let me just make a side note here. That thing is the best device EVER created for mankind!!! I LOVE IT!!


Anyway, we stayed at the Holiday Inn at Fisherman's Wharf. It was a great hotel and right on the wharf. San Francisco is small enough that you can walk pretty much anywhere which is what we did. The first day we wandered around the wharf and went to Ghiradelli Square. We walked through Little Italy and up to China Town. We walked all the way through China town to the main gate.

Notice the street signs are even written in Chinese.

The next day we had a tour scheduled that would show us the sights of San Francisco. First stop was the Golden Gate Bridge.

That was the main highlight of course. We also saw China Town again and got some history behind the cable cars and the street cars they use for transportation still. The cable cars are of course infamous but the street cars are antique and from all different parts of the world. One street car we saw was from Italy, another from Philadelphia and another from Switzerland. We saw the "painted ladies" which are a row of Victorian style homes that you see in just about every postcard. They were also featured in the television series "Full House". We saw the house where some members of the band "The Grateful Dead" lived and made some of their music. We went up to the highest point of San Francisco which is called Twin Peaks and saw the entire city from there.

After our tour, we did a little sight seeing on our own. We strolled back through China town and got some lunch. We had our first experience eating dim sum. This is a type of Chinese dish that is like a dumpling filled with different things. For example, we had some that was filled with shrimp, rice and vegetables. Another was filled with salmon and another was filled with pork and vegetables. Very, very tasty.

Dwaine has become quite the expert with chopsticks!

After lunch, we went to ride on a cable car. We first went through the cable car barn where all of the cable cars are kept and where the cables all come together under the street. It is a very interesting operation. Here is a picture of the huge wheels that power the cable cars.

That evening, we met my aunt and uncle and my little cousin who live in San Francisco and they took us out for a wonderful dinner at a place called Tadich's. It is supposedly the oldest restaurant in San Francisco. It was a great time and my aunt baked an apple pie for Dwaine to help celebrate his birthday. We visited with them at their house for awhile and had a lovely time.

The next morning we were off to Napa Valley. It was raining all day and after we reached our destination that afternoon, we checked into our beautiful B&B, had a little champagne and wine and cheese and went to sleep around 7:30 that evening. It was sooooo wonderful to sleep so much! Of course, after a glass of champagne, I was ready to fall asleep anyway.

The next day we did a little exploring around the valley by ourselves. It was very crowded because it was a holiday weekend (Veteran's Day). We did not know exactly where to go or what to do but we enjoyed the day none-the-less. The next day we had a tour planned that took us through the valley and to 8 different wineries where we tasted and bought a few bottles of wine to bring home. That was a great day because it was organized and we didn't have to worry about driving and tasting wine that day. The weather was glorious. All in all, it was an extremely enjoyable day.

Here are a couple of pictures from Napa.

We had a really great time. We are trying to do as much travelling as we can before our daughter joins us. We have quite a bit of time to do those things. I like to try to stay focused on the times that we have alone together because they are priceless! I can't wait until our daughter comes but for now I am trying to enjoy as much time as I can alone with my husband.

That's it for now. I will try to post more often because it has really been too long since my last post. Hope you are all doing well.

Kelley & Dwaine

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....

It seems like forever...

Yes, dear friends and family, it seems like forever since my last post. I have been extremely busy for the last month it seems. It really isn't an excuse either, I really have been busy.

First and foremost, we have been trying to get my dad's house ready for sale. That has involved some travel to Quincy on the weekends and it isn't finished yet. That has been a big project and even more so trying to do it long distance. We are doing some sprucing up before the sale and just trying to go through and get rid of stuff and sort out what we want to keep.

Chris has settled in here and is really liking the police acadamy. He has done well so far and he has been at it about a month now. We are taking care of his dog while he is in school. They don't allow pets where he lives of course. The dog and I get along for the most part. He has his off days where he likes to dig and chew on stuff that doesn't belong to him. Sometimes I think he is mentally challenged. His name is Bosco and I don't really know if he actually knows what his name really is. He has been called many other things besides that - for instance, Bozo, stupid, dumb sh*^, jerk wad, butt head, etc. I have been taking him to doggie classes and he has really done well at that. He minds much better and it can actually be a pleasure to take him for a walk now. I walk him, not vice versa. It used to be the other way around.

David came home for Labor Day weekend. He is doing great! He will be home in a few weeks and will be here until Dec. We will be looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. All of my family will be here. It will be great! The only one we will be missing is Carrie. I wish she could come home for every holiday.

Dwaine and I are planning a trip to celebrate our birthdays. He will be the big 5-0 in Nov. and I will be the big 4-0 next week. I can't tell you where we are going yet because I am surprising Dwaine with the place. I booked it today and can't wait to go. It is going to be a lot of fun. We will be gone from Nov. 8 to the 13th. I will keep you posted on the mystery trip...

We are both off from work next week too. Dwaine is planning on building some fence in the back yard. Wish us luck on that. I hope to do a little work around the house myself and want to plant some mums and maybe some bulbs for next Spring. We are going to do some fun things next week too since it is my birthday. We are going to the pub crawl and maybe to the Octoberfest next weekend.

Well, I just wanted to touch base with you all and let you know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. We are doing well, hope you are too.

Love to all,

Kelley

Happy 6 month anniversary!

IT'S BEEN 6 MONTHS ALREADY!!

Well, we've officially been logged in for 6 months now. We started filling out our paperwork over 1 year ago. Looking back on time, it seems to have gone pretty quickly but looking at what awaits us seems like an eternity. Every month, Dwaine and I celebrate our LID anniversary by eating out at this Mongolian barbecue called Hu-Hot. It is a "make-your-own-stir fry" place. Seems kinda odd eating at a Mongolian place. Isn't that the reason that China built the Great Wall in the first place. Oh well, they have really good food. Yesterday was especially cool because we met with several local adoptive parents. Several months ago, I met up with two other women who live in the area. We became acquainted because we use the same social worker. We decided it would be great to just meet once a month and include our spouses. Well yesterday, we met and our group is up to 8 couples. Now we are trying to decide how to make our group more interesting by having different topics of discussion when we meet or maybe a book club type thing. How cool is that? Next month is my turn to plan the meeting place.

Next, I want to say thank you to my secret pal. She has struck again. The theme for August was music. So we are sending each other a CD or some other form of music whether it be lullabies or children's music. My secret pal was really creative. She sent me a toy karaoke microphone that can play music and record also. She recorded the sweetest message from her daughter to me and Ryleigh. She also sent the cutest little Golden Book about adoption. She is the greatest! Hope you are reading this because I want to thank you again!

Next, I want to say thank you to my good friend Kim who has given me a quilt square for Ryleigh's 100 wishes quilt. She took a lot of time and put a lot of thought into it. There is enough fabric that I can cut a square for my quilt and still have plenty left over to make something else. I might have a small pillow made too. She wrote the greatest poem to Ryleigh and it brought tears to my eyes. Thanks for being a great friend.

I have 39 squares now. I just need 61 more. Hint, hint...

Now about the family...

Two new things. David is coming home for Labor Day weekend!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, he found out that he will be assigned to go to South Korea for his first tour of duty. Hey, it's better than Iraq! He will spend a year there and we are praying that the Iraqi conflict will be fizzling out by then. It could happen. I am sure we will always have a presence there but hopefully, the fighting will be minimal by then just in case he would be assigned there next.

Chris is moving to Columbia next weekend. He will be in the police acadamy until Christmas. Then, we are trying to talk him into staying here and finding a job in good ol' Columbia. That would be so great to have family who actually lives in the same town for once. That hasn't happened since I lived in Quincy. We are meeting with a realtor next week to get dad's house ready for sale. Hopefully that will go smoothly. Please keep us in your prayers for that reason. Sometimes things like that overwhelm me. Mostly because I let them. Anyway, please say a prayer that the house sells quickly and for what we are asking for it.

I have deeded the house in Chris' name so when the house does sell, he will have a great down payment for a new house when he is finished with school. The price of real estate in Columbia is very reasonable. (That's a big hint to my bro')

Well, I am rambling on now and am really tired. Time for me to go to bed. Hello to you all and hope you are doing really well. Thanks for the comments in the last post. (I love to read them)

Kelley