June is out - We are praying for July...

I found out a few weeks ago that we will not get Edison in June. I've been really upset about that because I was hoping he would be home all this summer while the girls are out of school. It is not to be.

The average time to be in PGN is 8 weeks (although I am still hopeful we can get out in 6). If the average 8 weeks applies to us (which will be much better than the alternative of 12 weeks in PGN), the soonest we will be out is May 21st. From the time we exit PGN until we actually travel, takes 6-8 weeks (normally 8). If we go with the 8 week travel date after getting out of PGN on May 21st, travel would not occur before July 16th.

Very disappointing! What I am praying for at this time is that we can exit PGN at 6 weeks which will be May 7th and travel 8 weeks after that which will place travel sometime the week of July 2nd. Our attorney is not allowing anyone to travel during that time because a mission team is coming to work on her new orphanage, so -- my goal is to travel the week of July 7th!

Please pray with our family that we can travel the week of July 7th!!!!!!!!!!! What a wonderful way to celebrate Independence Holiday - by having our Guatemalan child become an American citizen! Talk about a fireworks spectacular!

Until next time...

Great-Granddaddy Kenneth

Dear Edison,

A lot has happened in the past week. I guess I will start with the sad news. Your Great-Grandaddy Kenneth Crouch passed away on Wednesday, April 16th at 11:57 p.m. One of the first things I thought of was that he would never get to meet you and you would never get to meet him. He was a wonderful Christian man and an inspiration to everyone who knew him.

Kenneth was not my grandfather by blood; however, you would have never known that because he treated all of us equally - grandchildren and step-grandchildren. My Grandma Betty married Kenneth about 6 years before I was born. I never knew my biological grandfather on my mom's side of the family and Kenneth filled the role - complete with big bear hugs, kisses, smiles, laughs and chewing gum. He was a super great-grandfather to Emily and Kensley - coming to watch them perform in church programs and joining our family for cake and ice cream on our birthdays. He would have loved you, Edison, and treated you the same as everyone else!

I cried the other night for Kenneth and told your daddy, "You know, I have had three grandfathers - now they are all gone and I don't feel like I really knew any of them!" I would have loved to have had the opporunity to have met my biological grandfather on my mom's side. He died when I was 3 years old and I never knew him. My Grandpa Woods died when I was 16 years old and luckily I do have a few good memories with him. Now, Kenneth too, is gone and while I feel truly blessed to have had him as a grandfather and have many wonderful memories of him - I have thought a lot about how I could have been closer to him.

While writing this, I thought of something else. Someday, you are going to long for those you didn't have a chance to know. For you, there will be many - your entire biological family - mother, father, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. I hope you will feel truly blessed to have had me as your mom, Paul as your dad and the rest of us as your family!

How cute is he? I say he's the cutest you ever did see!

Horses

Sports Paige is the black and white horse. She is a Kentucky Mountain Spotted Saddle Horse. Other breeds would call her a black and white "paint". Not the Kentuckians - we call 'em "spotted".

Beach Boy is the miniature horse in the background. He is 8.5 hands tall and has a slight weight problem. He's a very personable little horse. Don't call him a pony --- he's not tall enough to be a pony --- but we don't let him know this, it would hurt his feelings. He thinks he is the boss and that all the mares want to be his.

To the right, you will meet the newest members of our herd. These beautiful buckskin mares are Sorpresso's Mia and Tulya. Both are Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horses. Tulya is Mia's baby and they have never been separated! That is going to change pretty soon. We are going to move Tulya to a different barn with other horses and teach her some ground manners. She is going to be a great ride; however, right now, she is young and very spoiled and has more power than she realizes. Mia is a lot of fun to ride and she is very smooth.

To the left is the gal who started it all. As-U-May, also known as "Asia" was given to our daughter as a gift from a family friend. Asia is a Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse. She has the best temperament and is spoiled rotten!

We're going to miss his 1st ...

I received in the mail yesterday, a brochure from Toys R Us, telling me it was time to begin planning my child's 1st birthday party. I read the brochure and wondered what we would have chosen as his theme had he been with us to celebrate this big event -- and that made me sad. I have missed so many things in his little life - his first smile, his first giggle, his first tooth, his first haircut ... I could go on. And then I thought about his Guatemama who has missed all those firsts as well. Of course that led me to think about his foster mom who was there for all his firsts and who will be sad to miss his future. Why do I do this to myself ? ? ? ? Okay - so back to the 1st birthday party. Do you know how excited I am to have a child who can celebrate his birthday in the Spring? This is a big deal in our family, especially considering that Emily celebrates her birthday in October, Paul in November, Kensley and I in December. Crazy! I'm looking forward to buying outdoor toys and spring clothes for his birthday. As for the theme - would we have chosen Diego? Farm animals? Horses? Dinosaurs? What would his favorite thing had been had he been here with us? I don't know. What I do know is that his 2nd birthday is going to be a BIG event because that will be his 1st birthday with his forever family!! I haven't brought this up to Paul because I'm waiting for the right time. I want to buy Edison a doll for his 1st birthday. I can't decide whether to send it to him or take it with us when we go get him. It is the cutest little doll. It is an anatomically correct hispanic boy soft bodied doll and it is adorable! I think Paul will be okay with it. I hope Paul will be okay with it! The other big thing we want to buy Edison for his birthday to have when he gets home is a new swing set. The swing set we currently have was bought for Emily's 1st birthday. She is now 14 years old! It is a Little Tykes with a playhouse and it's still in pretty good shape, however the roof is gone and the slide and swings have faded and I would just like to have something new for him. He doesn't need a bouncy seat, an infant seat, bottles, pacifiers, bed accessories (I could go on and on naming things you buy for infants) so this is just one thing I would like to do for him. Since Kensley was the recipient of many hand-me-downs, including the swing set, she is helping me choose the one we want to buy. I'm going to go to bed and dream about Edison. Last night I dreamed that he kept saying "besito" which is "kiss" in Spanish. Until next time...