Leaving on a Jet Plane

I love our Agency! They are soooo great! I received an email this morning. Levi's visa appointment went great and his visa issuance was approved. He just had his appointment today (actually yesterday in the Philippines). Our agency gave us the okay to book our tickets. We are scheduled to be in the Philippines the 9th-15th. We were hoping that this coming travel week would work out because there is a Global Adoption Conference in the Philippines the third week of August and if we didn't get to be there the 2nd week, we would have had to wait until the last week of August. Miraculously, they were able to make it happen. Wes and I want to go a couple of days early so that we would be able to recover from jet lag and be able to do a little sight seeing and shopping before meeting Levi. I booked our tickets with a travel agent while the girls were getting haircuts. Imagine me trying to tell the girls how cute their hair looked by not talking outloud, writing a check, and still trying to hold a conversation with the travel agent. Phew! I was completely multi-tasking all day long. We are leaving on Wednesday the 5th out of St. Louis. Yes, that is in 5 days. OMG...I have so much to do. I have my lists made and have already made 2 trips to Wal-mart trying to get things that we need to stuff in our suitcases. Not only do I have to pack for Wes (he will pack his basics) and I, but I also have to pack for the girls week and a half stay with grandparents. And it is really hard to pack for someone that you have never met. I have been going through Jaidyn and Addy's scrapbooks and trying to figure out what sizes they wore at that age, what toys the played with and what they liked to eat. We are planning on buying most of Levi's items once we arrive in the Philippines.

Jaidyn helped me get Levi's bed ready this morning. We are going to try out the toddler bed. Both Jaidyn and Addy moved from the crib to a bed when they were 15 months, so we will try it out with Levi too. We might have to make a switch, but hopefully, it will work out. Hope he likes blue, brown and puppy dogs!

~ Medicals Passed ~

We received an email this morning! Levi's medical exam went very well! Hopefully, all will continue to go smoothly. His visa appointment is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

10:00 AM Philippines Time

It is 9:00 pm on Sunday evening here in Missouri and it looks to be about 10:00 am Philippines time and I can't help but wonder if Levi is at is Medical appointment right now. I hope that everything was processed and Levi was able to proceed with his appoinment as scheduled. I pray that he is healthy and well. Hopefully we will hear something from our agency tomorrow. This waiting game is sooooo hard.

The girls and I attended the summer reading program party on Saturday and to my surprise the girls tied for reading the most books in their age group, so they both received a Wal-mart gift card. Actually, I read all the books and they sat through them all. We did read quite a few books in the past two months, but it never crossed my mind that we would have the most as we have been so busy with summer activities in general. Great surprise!


Here are the girls showing off their prizes. They each got their name drawn and Jaidyn picked the little stuffed puppy in a carry case and Addy picked out the High School Musical Sharpay Barbie. Today, I let them use their gift cards and Jaidyn bought a Thumbelina doll which she has been wanting for months and Addy picked out Barbie and The Diamond Castle DVD. Strolling the toy isle was a nice treat for them as we completely avoid that isle unless we are shopping for a birthday present for one of their little friends.

~ ICAB Monies ~

We are still waiting to receive confirmation on the status of our ICAB funds. If for some reason the money did not get processed and reach ICAB then Levi's medical won't be done on Monday. This would not be good as who knows how long it would be before they reschedule it. We were supposed to get confirmation of the funds reaching ICAB yesterday, but have yet to hear anything. At this point, I am very nervous.

Earlier in the week, I had ordered Levi's toddler bedding and it was delivered yesterday and is now going right back where it came from. I picked it because it was brown and blue (or so I thought) and wasn't themey. I cringed pulling it out of the box as it had pink circles and square designs mixed in with the blue and brown. Wes even liked this bedding in the picture and it had a boy looking room design set up. I am not sure how both of us missed the pink. Definitely not going to work. My mom and I also shopped for Levi's car seat yesterday as they are going to buy that for us as a gift. I found one I liked at Target, but they were out of stock. I had hoped to cross off bedding and carseat from my "Levi list", but I guess that will be another day.

On another note...
yesterday we visited Ozark Caverns which is only about 25 minutes from our home. It was a perfect way to get out of the humid summer heat. The cave is a constant 56 degrees all year long. My mom had been on several visits to the cave in the past with summer school kindergarten classes, so she knew that the girls would enjoy the tour. It is a natural cave and we weren't able to touch anything on our guided tour through it. We also weren't to take any pictures of the bats since they are supposedly on the same frequency as cameras and it could disturb them. We didn't see any in the cave anyways.


Everyone carried little lanterns through the cave. Jaidyn and Addy were giving forced grins as the group was moving on while I was trying to take this picture and they were afraid we were going to get left.


Almost never fails, Papa has his eyes shut in the picture.




"Angel Showers" ~ They aren't really sure where the shower of water comes from that falls from these Stalactites.


Exploring


My dad's shirt didn't have this when he went in to the cave, so he can't blame what he had for lunch. Bat Guam, maybe???

Jaidyn Poppins

The rain put our plans of going to the library this morning on hold and the girls decided that they wanted to stomp around in the puddles outside instead.


I was so excited to have "Jaidyn Poppins" ring my doorbell this morning.


She was too funny as she quoted lines from the movie Mary Poppins and gave her best attempt to sail across the yard with her umbrella.








Here are some pictures from our lake weekend with my Dad's side of the family. It is such a wonderful time when we are all able to get together.


Addy sitting on her Great Grandpa Plassmeyer's lap.

The guys and Jaidyn out on a morning fishing trip. I am not sure how much fishing they get done with her around.



Hanging out at Bulldog's Beach House. The evening hours were very chilly and we didn't really come prepared for the evening temperatures.


I am so glad that Wes was able to join us for a good portion of the weekend. He worked most of the weekend, but sacrificed his sleep to be able to hang out with us.


Fun times!

Visa Appointments Set!!!

Yea! We heard news this morning that Levi's visa medical has been set for July 27th and his visa exit interview for July 30th. I was hoping for the dates to be scheduled a little sooner as we had hoped to travel the first week of August. At least they are scheduled. It looks that we will travel now travel around the 3rd week of August if everything continues to move along smoothly. Please pray that his medical review goes well and that he passes with flying colors so that there won't be any hold-ups.

~ Hot Springs, AR ~

We had a fantastic 3-4 days of relaxation on our Hot Springs, AR trip. In fact, I kept reminding myself which day of the week it actually was as each day felt like a Saturday. Papa J.R. & Mama LaLa treated us to a great time away.

Here are just a few of the pictures from our trip. Most have been placed in the slide show.

The Gang


As Mama Lala would say, "our little piece of heaven". This vacation home was gorgeous and completely furnished. There was even a toy box for the kids and sippy cups in the cabinet.


The Arkansas heat was sticky HOT! Even at 10:00 at night it would still be in the upper 80's. We spent each morning and late afternoons in the water.


Swim bugs! They barely wore anything but their swimsuits all weekend.


I am so proud of our little Addy. She swam all by herself all weekend. Usually she clings to Wes and I the entire time in the water, but this weekend she finally realized that with a lifejacket she will stay above the water while swimming. Her confidence is growing stronger each and every day.

Thanks to my sister-in-law, Haley and her great friend Ashley, who just happens to be Sara Evan's sister and also sings back-up, we got to attend Sara Evan's concert on Saturday night. We sat about 6 rows back from the center of the stage, had "Meet & Greet Sara" passes, and hung out with Ashley until her tour bus pulled out of the parking lot. I have to admit it was interesting to see first hand how the "stars" live on the road. I was very impressed with Ashley. She is sooo normal and you could tell that she truly valued Haley's friendship.


Seriously, wouldn't you love to have her legs?


Sara singing with both of her younger sisters.




Thanks Haley & Ashley for the wonderful evening!


After eating at the Pancake Shop, the kids gave out several more hugs and kisses before we loaded up for our 6 hour drive back home in Missouri.


Our minivan worked out great for the trip and I think it will work out nicely for our family once we have little Levi around.

Hot Springs, AR Vacation Slide Show

Shots ~ Pesos ~ Lake Weekend Pics

Following the advice given to us by the Nalagan family, I received 4 immunizations from the doctor's office today. I received the Hep A, Hep B, and Tetnus shot in one shoulder and the Polio booster in the other. Ouch! I wish they could have combined them all, but no such luck...all individual. My left shoulder is a little sore tonight and has a little tingling sensation. Wes is scheduled to receive his on Monday. I am curious to see how macho he will be having to receive all of them. We also got a prescription for some Malaria pills and something for upset stomach (or what comes along with an upset stomach).

I also ordered Filipino Pesos from our bank today. I think both the Nalagan's and the Ribar's suggested doing this since we will more than likely arrive very late in the Philippines from our flight and it will be one less thing to have to worry about once we get there.

The weather cooperated for a portion of the 4th of July weekend and luckily we were able to get out on the water and enjoy some lake time with family and friends. Wes made it down for several hours on Saturday, but his work schedule kept him at home for most of the weekend.



















On Thursday, we leave for a weekend get-a-way with Wes's side of the family. He has 5 days off from work and I am glad that he finally gets a long break away from work. Hot Springs, AR, here we come!

Tomorrow night, I officially become a mini van mom. Oh my gosh, did I really admit that??? We are picking up our van tomorrow after Wes gets off from work. With 3 kids still in car seats, a mini van seemed like our best option. We will definitely get a feel for how well it rides as we are taking it on our trip.

~ 4th of July Weekend ~

Wow! June flew by so fast and summer is already 1/3 of the way over. We are going to the lake tomorrow and spending the weekend at the lake with family. Happy 4th of July to all of our friends and family! Be sure to show off some American Pride!

I just wanted to share this email that I received with a true story reminding us all how thankful we are for our freedom as it didn't come without a cost. (Luke Air Force Base)


I also had some funny pictures that my mom had taken of the girls at her house. They just can't get enough of the dress-up clothes drawers.

Earlier, I took the girls to a magic show at the library. Jaidyn has created her magician outfit and has crafted a magic wand.



Is anyone else this flexible??? I am guessing only those with tiny little booties can sit like this.

To The U.S. Embassy in Manilla & Beyond

More good news! We found out today, that the National Visa Center (NVC) electronically processed our visa file and it has been forwarded on to the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines. So now we just sit back and patiently wait (we are starting to become good at this), and hopefully, we will hear soon that Levi's medical and visa interviews have been scheduled.

Thank you to all who commented on our blog. We appreciate all the best wishes and to those of you who shared your timelines. This is such an exciting time for us!