South High Job

David got his biggest granite job! South High School contacted him in March to do a 50th anniversary project. David designed a really cool paver and monument area. The school will be selling the pavers (bricks) as a fundraiser. We have been working on this project all week to get it done for the 50th anniversary celebration today. Here are some pictures. When the blue & red granite gets here I will take some more pictures.

August 2006 is out of review

YEAH!!!!! August 2006 is out of review. This means our dossier is in the China review room. After it is reviewed it will be moved to the match room and then we get to wait some more. We don't know how long we will have to wait, but it will be a while longer.

Emily's Seventh Grade Picture

Emily's Seventh Grade picture

Jacob's Freshman Year 2007-2008

Here is Jacob's freshman school year picture.

Autumn Moon Festival

The joyous Mid-Autumn Festival, the third and last festival for the living, was celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, around the time of the autumn equinox. Many referred to it simply as the "Fifteenth of the Eighth Moon". In the Western calendar, the day of the festival usually occurred sometime between the second week of September and the second week ofOctober.This day was also considered a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain had been harvested by this time and food was abundant. With delinquent accounts settled prior to the festival , it was a time for relaxation and celebration. Food offerings were placed on an altar set up in the courtyard. Apples, pears, peaches, grapes, pomegranates , melons, oranges and pomelos might be seen. Special foods for the festival included moon cakes, cooked taro, edible snails from the taro patches or rice paddies cooked with sweet basil, and water caltrope, a type of water chestnut resembling black buffalo horns. Some people insisted that cooked taro be included because at the time of creation, taro was the first food discovered at night in the moonlight. Of all these foods, it could not be omitted from the Mid-Autumn Festival.The round moon cakes, measuring about three inches in diameter and one and a half inches in thickness, resembled Western fruitcakes in taste and consistency. These cakes were made with melon seeds, lotus seeds, almonds, minced meats, bean paste, orange peels and lard. A golden yolk from a salted duck egg was placed at the center of each cake, and the golden brown crust was decorated with symbols of the festival. Traditionally, thirteen moon cakes were piled in a pyramid to symbolize the thirteen moons of a "complete year," that is, twelve moons plus one intercalary moon.

I-171h Clearance

I had to resubmit all the documents again to keep our immigration clearance updated for the adoption. Now we have to wait for our fingerprint appointment to be re-fingerprinted again.

Tripp and Emily

After church today we trimmed some trees. Emily and Tripp were having to much fun. The dog kept getting the branches and caring them all over the yard. Emily said she found our new Christmas tree. I think we got everything trimmed and cleaned up for winter. It was a nice fall afternoon!

Deck

The deck is finished! We have to put the railings around it. The next warm day we have it is going to get weather treated. David did an awsome job!

Daddy's toys

Daddy's have to have toys too! Some of you will recognize the car. Yes, we still have the Z -Car. I think we need to start a 280-Z refurbishment fund. David took the tires off today to get new ones put one. We are going to roll it into the shop and some day he is going to really start fixing it up! There are some things that you just can't get rid of. I guess the z-car is one of them. The other toy he has is his big truck.

19Months

It has been 19 months since we have been waiting for Hannah!

You Might be a Californian if . . . . . . . .

I thought this was pretty funny. I hope you enjoy!
>>Jake

You know you are from California when....
1. Your monthly house payments exceed your annual income (and you think its normal)
2. You drive next to a Rolls Royce and don't notice.
3. You don't know anyone's phone number unless you check your cell phone.
4. You speak Spanish, but you're not Mexican.
5. You begin to 'lie' to your friends about how close you are when you know darn well that it'll take you at least an hour to get there (see below).
6. Getting anywhere from point A to point B, no matter what the distance, takes about 'twenty minutes'.
7. You drive to your neighborhood block party.
8. In the 'winter', you can go to the beach and ski at Big Bear on the same day or mow your lawn in your shorts on New Years Day, and maybe sunburn.
9. You eat a different ethnic food for every meal.
10. If your destination is more than 5 minutes away on foot, you're definitely driving.
11. Calling your neighbors requires knowing their area code.
12. You know what 'In-'N-Out' is and feel bad for all the other states because they don't have any.
13. Stop signs stand for, Slow To Observe Police.
14. You go to a tanning salon before going to the beach.
15. You eat pineapple on pizza.
16. Your cell phone has left a permanent impression on the side of your head.
17. You think that Venice is a beach.
18. The waitress asks if you'd like 'carbs' in your meal.
19. You know who the tinsel underwear dude in Venice Beach is.
20. You classify new people you meet by their Area Code. An '818' would never date a '562' and anyone from '323' or '213' is ghetto/second class. Best area code: '949/714.' Nobody likes anyone from the '909/951' because it stinks there.
21. You call 911 and they put you on hold.
22. You have a gym membership because it's mandatory.
23. The gym is packed at 3 pm ...on a workday.
24. You think you are better than the people who live 'Over the Hill'. It doesn't matter which side of the hill you are currently residing, you are just better than them, for whatever reason.
25. You know that if you drive two miles in any direction you will find a McDonald 's, Subway or a Starbucks. (Do we have to go two miles for a Starbucks?)
26. You know what 'Sigalert', 'PCH', and the ' Five'mean .
27. You know the meaning behind the name of the 405 freeway.... because it takes 4 hours to get one way, and 5 hours to get back. And it's called the ' San Diego Freeway', but it doesn't go anywhere near San Diego ! The Santa Ana Freeway does!
28. It's barely sprinkling rain and there's a report on every news station: 'STORM WATCH'.
29. The Terminator is your governor.

People to People

We went to the kids People to People meeting today. This next years trip will be to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. They both really want to go, but it is really expensive with two kids going. I think we are going to pray and think about it for a few days to see what happens.

Jacob & Emily Updated Pictures

I took some update pictures of Jacob & Emily today. I went to my Grandma's and Aunt Cathy's house. They have a great backyard to take pictures.

Hume Lake

Jacob had a school retreat at Hume Lake this last week. He said they all had a great time.

This is a great song from Casting Crowns. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
>> Jake

Jacob and Football

Emily at the game!
Warming up
Look Mom & Dad I am in the game
I am ready!
Emily and Grandpa watching Jacob!

Jacob got to play in the game last night! He got to play a couple of plays in the fourth quarter. He was one happy dude!

13 months DTC

It has been 13 months since our dossier was sent to China! No this is not Hannah, but isn't she cute.

July out of review

YEAH! July is out of review. This means CCAA is working on August dossiers. One more month and our dossier will be in the review room. This was a nice suprise!

LOGGED IN ONE YEAR

We have been logged into China for one year. We hope that our dossier is in the review room soon. It was probably a good thing that I was very busy today. We had a youth back to school retreat. It was an awesome weekend. The youth did a great job doing street team ministry and bonding with one another. David and I hosted all the girls at our house, while all the guys stayed at the church. We where very busy so I really didn't have a chance to think about our dossier and the wait time. I know that it is all in God's timing, but this wait is really HARD!

Brownies

Emily and the girls made brownies

Peanuts and Uncle David

David shelling peanuts for Cassidy and Megan!

Labor Day

Happy Labor Day!

Referrals are on there way

The CCAA has just posted that referrals are on there way. They have matched through November 25, 2005. I don't know what that will do to our wait time. I am hoping that it doesn't add another month onto our time. I guess we will wait until the next week to find out.

Emily's Europe Slide Show

We made a longer video of Emily's trip to Europe. She saw some beautiful country. :)

Football

Jacob had his first football game last night. He didn't get to play, but he still had fun.

Getting ready for school!
When do I get to play?
It is hot out here (100 degrees)! Do I get to go in any time soon?
Hunter and Emily at the game. Friends since birth!
Jacob and AJ after the game. These two have known each other since they where 2 years old.