Matt and I were feeling a little festive for St. Patrick's Day! So, we made these little chocolate-nilla wafer-caramel lollipops for his co-workers.

I found the recipe in the February issue of Women's Day Magazine. And, they were so simple to make! Here is the recipe:
pop sickle sticks
semi sweet chocolate chips
caramel square candies
Nabisco Nilla Wafer Cookies
Decorative candies
makes 16 lollipops
directions:
Melt approx. 18 caramel candies according to the pkg directions. Put a dollop of melted caramel onto one nilla wafer cookie. Lay a pop sickle stick thru the middle laying it from top to bottom of the cookie. Top sandwich with another nilla wafer cookie. Let cool. Mean while, melt semi-sweet chocolate chips in micro wave (stir every 20 seconds until melted). Dip cookie sandwich in chocolate until coating all sides. Dip end into candy pieces. Lay on top of wax paper and stick in the freezer until hardened (less than 10 minutes).

I am in a women's bible study with the Church we are about to join. The bible study is reading the book "Lord, Change my attitude, before it's too late" by James MacDonald. On page 178 of the book is this poem that touched my heart. And, I knew I wanted to share it with all of you too.

Doubt sees the obstacles.
Faith Sees the way.
Doubt sees the darkest night.
Faith sees the way.
Doubt dreads to take a step.
Faith soars on high.
Doubt questions, "Who believes?"
Faith Answers, "I".
Gospel Banner

Also, on page 168 of the book is a paragraph on "Irrevocable Promises. Let's get on the table some sample promises God has made...
* God has promised to provide for us. Philippians 4:19 says, "My god will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory of Christ Jesus."
* Goad has promised to protect us. Isaiah 54:17 says, "No weapon that is formed against you will prosper...This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord".
* God has also promised to prosper us- though, as some are quick to add, that doesn't necessarily mean financially. But Psalm 84:11 says, "No good thing does He withhold from those WHO walk uprightly." Your life will not lack one single thing that could increase your happiness if you will walk up rightly with the lord.
All three of the above promises, along with hundreds of others, are signed by God Himself. "

Though we are excited to finally have a date to look forwards to (for the adoption) it can be difficult to remember God's bigger picture for our lives. Our story is not yet complete. God is working behind the scenes to provide for us...to protect us... to prosper us. In one of Beth Moore's study she says remember... "God is who is says he is. God does what he says he will do..." Through our journey to parenthood our faith is growing, our faith stretching. Praise God!!

Adoption Update

This morning Matt and I spoke with our adoption agency to touch base regarding our upcoming renewal requirements. Our immigration paperwork is about to expire (for a third time). To renew we will need to do another home study update (back ground checks, physicals, etc.). So, we wanted confirmation from our agency that we were gathering the necessary documents with in a time frame that would keep us from having to re-do everything for a fourth time!! And, it appears we are right on schedule.

The most exciting news from our conversation is that we were given a guesstimate on how much longer we would likely wait until we receive our referral. And, their best guesstimate, based upon the current speed China is matching and the agencies knowledge of how many families are waiting- - MARCH 2010!! We are both thrilled!! Yes, another year to wait for a picture and travel plans. But, we are okay with it because that was what we anticipated (for best case scenario). This means we would travel to China May-June 2010!! Just around the corner!! Lots to do, lots to do!!!

Matt heard this quote on TAGG Radio dot com (interview with Roddy Piper) and we had to share. Read through the end, we hope you get a giggle!

Irish Blessing.
To those who love us, may God bless them. And for those who don't may God turn their hearts. And for those whose hearts He cannot turn, may He turn their ankles so we recognize them by their limp

I have another photo to share from our Helen, GA Valentine's Day get-a-way. I love this pic!!

Last month we met my (Julia's) father for a photo "contest". Something my sister and I used to do with him when we went on camping trips. I needed tips on how to work the fancy camera so we turned our outing into a game of who can take the better picture. Our subject- a rusted out Clipper. Here are some of the pictures I took from my camera.
The Clipper...


My winning photo:


A cool view:

Adoption Update...

This morning Great Wall Beijing confirmed with the CCAA the cut off date for the last batch of referrals. The CCAA informed us that they have completed the matching process for families with dossiers registered through March 6, 2006.

The cut off date issued by the CCAA is the date through which they were able to match referrals. For example, last month the CCAA’s cut off date was March 2, 2006, so all families with LID’s before and on March 2, 2006 were sent a referral. As for this month, the CCAA’s cut off date was March 6, 2006 so families with LID’s before and on March 6, 2006 were mailed their referral.

Reminder: Our LID is September 18, 2006

SNOW in GA!

Yes, it is SNOWING in GA! We are enjoying the beautiful scenery! Watching the snowfall is very relaxing. Before our satellite TV went out, we heard the forecaster dude say the last time GA had such a large snow was the "Blizzard of '93". All native peaches know about the "Blizzard of '93"!! It was the last significant snow fall we had! The difference in '93 and today is the temperature~ the ground isn't going to be cold enough for any of this white beauty not to melt.


Walking the Chihuahua's in the snow required 3 matches each (have we shared our match trick with you?! It's disgusting, but it works! All dog owners need to know how to force your pet to do his/her business in a hurry or in inclement weather! HAHAH!). Aren't they cute huddled up together? They do NOT like the cold, wet ground. Here they are begging us to let them back inside...

Hello All!! Matt and I have been very busy this year...we apologize for not posting more to our blog! We hope 2009 has gotten off to a good start for you too!

Recently we went on a long weekend to Helen, GA. We celebrated Valentine's Day in "OUR" cabin- where we got engaged 11 years ago! Other than a few new pieces of furniture, not much has changed for our cabin. This year was very special because, like 11 years ago, there was a Friday the 13th the day before VDay. Matt actually proposed on Friday the 13th (the day before hearts day- he couldn't wait one more day)! Thus, we celebrate EVERY Friday 13th since.

My Father has been assisting me in re-learning my fancy Nikon film camera. Film sure takes a better pic but it takes a little more effort to get developed. I FINALLY got all my film pictures developed and put on CD's of our trip to share with everyone here on our blog! We hope you enjoy! :)

Matt, the Three Amigos, outside "OUR" cabin...



Nacho & Fat Momma (Sierra)...


Beautiful Penny...


And a few pictures along one of our walks around the compound...(here I'm playing with black and white film; or, I should say, I'm trying to use up the black and white film)



I love this picture...

more to share a little later, off to eat some grub...

I came across this on someone else's blog and I HAD to share it with all of you!

You Might Be Adopting from China if...
...you know that I-600 & I-171 aren't highways.

...you've been expecting a baby for over 3 years.

...you understand that it's 2006 in some parts of the world.

...you've "paid for" 3 citizenships, but never brought anyone into the U.S.

...you know that waiting for China has nothing to do with Dillards or dishes.

...your homestudy is followed by a number (i.e. #3 or #4).

...you never know how many days next month will have.

...you know that babies come in batches.

...you've been fingerprinted four times, but never committed a crime.

...you automatically assume everyone who is expecting is having a girl.

...you own new clothing in 3 little sizes for all 4 seasons (because you don't know when or how big).

...you look twice when you see a lady bug.

...you're more interested in what will happen in March 2006 than in March 2009.

...you know people who understand when you talk about 2 day months & 5 day months.

...your due date hasn't changed by days, but by years.

...you know who the Rumor Queen is...AND...you don't know who she is.

...you know that forecast doesn't have anything to do with the weather.

...you've waited so long, they re-checked your fingerprints to see if they changed.

...trying to understand why they're printing you again, you study your own fingerprints and wonder if fingerprints grow wrinkles.

...when you speak of "that time of the month" you're talking about CCAA updates & referrals.

You might be adopting from China if you love someone you've never met with all your heart.

by: Margaret Leigh

This is a post from Matt. Just something to pass along to anyone who is interested---one of my goals for 2009 is that by the end of the year I want to test for my blue belt (second level) in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. To that end, I have set up a blog to chronicle my training, my aches and pains, ad my thoughts as I progress toward the goal. My training blog can be viewed here

3 Doors Down...
Last night we went to the Three Doors Down / Switchfoot concert at the Gwinnett Arena! It was so much fun! Very loud and Great music. Also, there were two other openers- American Devils (a local Atlanta rock band) & American Bang. We were not familiar with either but enjoyed listening & watching the fun.
A few Switchfoot hits they sang: "I dare you to move", "Learning to Breathe", "Don't close your eyes" And, the headliner 3 Doors Down played these hits: "It's not my time", "Kryptonite", "Citizen Soldier" & "Loser" (just to name a few). Our ears were ringing at the end of the concert, they played pretty loud. We noticed the crowd was mixed with all age groups; there were a lot of families with young teenagers and a parent.
Through out the venue, the National Guard was out with photo opps. They gave us a card which we could use to redeem free photos online after the concert. I've never seen this before, a great promotional opp for the NG. Our friends Connie & Gerald were familiar with the photo deals from their nascar days. But, to us it was new and we enjoyed taking advantage of the pictures~ can't wait to scrapbook these pics!

Thanksgiving Day Marathon...
Yes, I realize I am behind on posting these pictures! But, I am so proud of Matt and I want to share his accomplishment with everyone. He trained very hard for 6+months and Thanksgiving day he succeeded in running 13.1 miles under 3 hours!

Waiting on his arrival to the finish line I managed to keep my camera focused to capture the moment he crossed! I had elbowed my way into the perfect position. Luckily I did not miss the moment- there were so many other runners I was afraid he would run right past me and I wouldn't get the picture.


For finishing the race everyone received a blue ribbon medal. Here Matt is catching his breath & proudly wearing his well deserved medal! The finish line was in front of Turner Field. And, this is also the location to the Atlanta "Hosea Feed the Hungry"... that line went around the entire stadium!


I was amused & amazed by all the runners...more than a few were running in pilgrim costumes, turkey costumes and the ARMY had representation with a bunch of men running in fatigues, carrying the American Flag. Shortly behind them crossed another group of men running in full uniform (backpacks, combat boots, etc.)! The crowd watching cheered them on with gusto!
Matt wore his "3M's" hat (the 3 Marvelous Miller Milers)- representing our family team (Matt, Ed & Julia). And, he is already planning on running again next Thanksgiving! Run Strong!

Tortola

The #1 reason why I (Julia) wanted to take this particular cruise itenerary was because it included a port with a Dolphin Excursion. Needless to say, this was a very special day neither of us will forget. Our Dolphins name was Elektra (with a "K"). She is between the ages of 13-15. We were in a group of

Matt Dancing with Elektra. This movement for Elektra was not easy. As she stood up in the water she was ferociously peddling with her tail fins. She worked hard to stand up like this.


Julia Dancing with Elektra. Okay, this is a horrible picture of Julia, but a very honest moment captured by the photographer. While Elektra is working hard she is also slightly moving backwards and she was pulling me off the platform and out to sea (which scared me).


Julia getting a kiss...

Matt getting kissed...

St. Thomas "The Ultimate Island Tour" Excursion

The view from our boat...

This excursion took us to the very top of the island and everything in between. The views were beautiful and the shopping was fantastic! This pic is on "Mountain Top" where you can see most of the surrounding islands. While there we had our pic taken with the St. Thomas Donkey- He/she was decorated to the hilt and was quite cute!


And, the view with Megan's Bay (National Geographic top 10 beaches. Legend has it if you are married on the beach then your marriage will last the test of time. Also, the top of the beach sands is in the shape of a heart, unfortunately we were not able to get that angle but we did see the heart along the way...

The view of our boat (the one on the far right). Luckily there was only one other boat in port this day. Others before us have said St. Thomas can get VERY crowded when mulitple cruise lines are in port.

Our First stop was Samana. These cream dogs where all over town. There were a few other color dogs but mainly this dog seemed everywhere! Same color & about the same size.


For the most part, this is a typical home. Most doors where wide open & you could see straight through the house. Aside from kitchen tables, not much else appeared to be inside. The typical family in Samana are 18 children!! All, sleep & live in these homes.

To bring good luck to their home, locals decorate trees with egg shells.

During our "Safari Adventure" excursion, local children walked with us to a popular watering hole.


At the end of our unstable, rocky hike was a beautiful waterfall. One of the older children climbed the limbs of a nearby tree and jumped into the water! It was very scary to watch because the waterfall was not very big and the water certainly did not look deep enough to jump into. However, the guide assured us the depth the child was jumping into was over 8 feet deep & the children "do it all the time".

We made it home safely! What a wonderful vacation we had on MS Norwegian Dawn! We are still in the process of unpacking and uploading pictures. I thought I would share two beautiful views we enjoyed on our plane ride home yesterday.

approximately 12:30 PM, Miami


approximately 2:00 PM, Atlanta, What a beautiful site she is!

I will attempt to upload a few more pics from our trip soon.

Just a quick post from Matt. For those of you who don't know, we are going to be on vacation but, as much as possible, will be continuing to post comments on our Twitter feed (see the right margin of this blog to follow us on Twitter).

Adoption Update...

"CCAA’s cutoff date for this month was February 17, 2006.
I wanted to explain the CCAA’s cut off date. The cut off date issued by the CCAA is the date through which they were able to match referrals. For example, last month the CCAA’s cut off date was February 15, 2006, so all families with LID’s before and on February 15, 2006 were sent a referral. As for this month, the CCAA’s cut off date was February 17, 2006 so families with LID’s before and on February 17, 2006 were mailed their referral."

Wow! Good news that they are moving forward. Bad news it took 1 month to refer 2 days of LID's. Slow, slower, slowest... this is getting painful!!

Below are two videos of things we have been up to recently. The first video is Julia and Connie working on Connie's Halloween costume. The second is Julia's "pre-tea" tea party. We are still learning how to use the camcorder and the video editing software, so the videos WILL get better. Promise!

carving jack-o-lanterns

Matt and I had a good time last evening carving our pumpkins. We were behind the curve on the newest craze~ my Bestie, Connie,shared with us (2 yrs ago) about the pumpkin patterns. Now we are hooked and carving pumpkins is just a little more fun!

Here's our two jack-o-lanterns before night fall...


and, all lit up ~ VERY spooky!


Also, one of my fave things to do is roast the pumpkin seeds! Unfortunately I put a little too much salt on them but they are still tasty!

BOO Y'all!



We enjoyed another Fall Festival this weekend~ Gold Rush in Dahlonega, GA! We have decided it is our fave of the fall festivals. The weather was perfect! And, the leaves are just starting to change.

Again, we managed to beat the crowds by getting there right when they opened. Gold Rush is the largest fall festival (that we know of) and it took us twice as long to make our way through all the vendors {as it did last weekend at The Apple Festival}.

This time we remembered to bring our tin cup to get $1 refills at the root beer stand. In this picture Matt proudly holds the cup toward the camera.

Adoption Update

"...This month, the CCAA completed the matching process for families with dossiers registered through February 15, 2006..."

Just wanted to share the above information. We appreciate every one's prayers for our patience! Looks like we will be lucky to have a completed adoption in 2010! We are certainly on the slow boat to China.

Fight Club

A few Friday's ago I stopped into watch Matt's Fight Club training. Luckily I brought my camera. I hope Matt won't mind me posting a few of my favorite pictures of the evening. And, I'm sure he will post more respectful ones once he notices this post! LOL

So, I walked into a balmy sweaty session. Once I figured out the settings on my camera I was armed and ready... hehehe, I can't help but giggle over the earnest expression on Matt's face here:


Here Matt has a good submission hold on his trainer...


Side control BAYBEE! Rock it MY Man! That's MY man on top in side control, uh-hmm!


Anyone think they can Hang? Anyone wanna rumble?! :)
I can't wait to make a scrapbook page LO, or two!

Happy Fall Y'all!


Today Matt and I drove over to Elijay, GA for the Annual Fall Apple Festival. It was a beautiful day and as luck had it we managed to arrive before the main crowd! Did a little shopping...enjoyed a caramel apple& southern BBQ. On our way out of town we peaked in to one of the main Apple Orchids and purchased some apples. And, this evening we made an "Apple Walnut Carmel Bundt Cake" using the apples we picked up today! It oozed of fall Yumminess!

Matt posing for the camera...


One of the oddist sights was the camel ride, yes, camel ride! This was my first time seeing a real honest to goodnest camel!


Me, on our way out of the festival, headed back to our car...

Hello! Matt was able to upload some recent scrapbooking (sbing) layouts (LO) from our summer vacation to NY... I thought I would share them with you :)

The Brooklyn Bridge... what a beautiful bridge!!


Page Six Headlines... we saved 2 copies of the NY post so we could scan the images for our sb


Have metro card, will travel...

Matt and I picked out Baby E's 2008 Christmas Ornament. We chose "Dr. Seuss Horton Hears a Who!" Matt's favorite children books were Dr. Seuss. 6 months ago Matt joined a Dr. Seuss Children's book club for Baby E and her/his book collection has grown quickly. Thus, the Dr. Seuss ornament was the perfect selection for Christmas 2008!

This is Matt posting. I was roaming the web a bit while at work today and I ran across this website MagMyPic.com which will put the picture of your choice on a fake magazine cover. I had to do one of one of my favorite pictures of the kids...enjoy:

My Boyz...

What a sight to behold... how precious!

Another addition to our Christmas Village

Michael's Arts and Crafts store had a 50% off coupon in Sunday's paper ... so, back to Michael's we went on Monday to pick up the center piece to our Christmas Village!! The people file in and out on a rotating platform much like one of those German Clocks. It is so cute! Also, you can hear singing and talking or turn of the sound and just watch the motion! So cute!!

Lemax Caddington Village: Guiding Light Church

"Parishioners file into church for holiday services.' The Guiding Light Church is a large, beautiful, animated piece. The animated parishioners file past the priest into the church. This is a great centerpiece for your Village. And it plays music. The Guiding Light Church, from the Caddington Village series, will look great in your Lemax Christmas village. This Lemax village building will also coordinate with other Christmas villages in the same scale, such as Department 56 and Carole Towne. Add this Lemax village collectible to your collection today!"

Baby's R US Shopping Adventure

Yesterday Matt and I organized the dresser in the nursery. It had become a dumping ground! Also, we unpacked various baby gifts. Sorting through all the items put us in baby mode~ we were both surprised how long it had been since we had purchased anything for the Baby E.

We have a new Baby's R Us store nearby and today we ventured inside. We wandered around and confused ourselves over all the baby paraphernalia. Our search first lead us over to the Pj's. But, not knowing the sex of the baby led us to not so cute unisex outfits. Ultimately we moved past clothes because we have no clue what size to buy- 9 months-12 months?! Our otherwise "fun" trip to Baby's R Us became full of dilemma's and not so much "FUN" after all. However, still determined to find something for Baby E we found ourselves in the toy isle. And, we both feel very confident in our purchases. It would be hard to go wrong with toys! We wanted small items we can bring to China with us & that won't take up too much space in our bags. Our choices: "Koala Baby" rattle monkey & "Baby Einstein" Photo book! Needless to say the photo book totally excites me because we can put family pictures inside for Baby E to get used to faces...and if she so desires she can also chew on the handle and pages. Totally cute!