36 HOURS!

Tickets are purchased.
Visas are coming.
Travel approval received.
Aunt Carrie on standby.
We are set to leave on Wednesday morning. We'll spend a few days in Shanghai before heading to Nanchang to pick up Mei Tong. This top map is of China. You can see that we will be just inland and south of Shanghai. Greta is at the Guangchang Social Welfare Institute (SWI). They will bring her to our hotel in Nanchang on Sunday, March 17th. We've only seen two small pictures of her--we never received an update on her current condition. I am trying not to go crazy wondering how she looks and if she is healthy.

This next map is a more detailed version of Jiangxi Province. We will be in the capital city of Nanchang. We will be here for a full week while we complete the local paperwork. When the work is complete here we will fly to Guangzhou (which is across the bay from Hong Kong, see above map). We will stay another week here waiting for a U.S. medical exam and visa for entrance into the United States.

 I liked this last map because it gives you a good idea of how many orphanages there are just in this ONE province [you can click on the map to enlarge it]. You can see that Lachlan's SWI (Shicheng) is just 50 miles to the south of Greta's. We've heard many instances where the kids in Guangchang are living in foster care. I suppose that there is a good chance that she has had a family for the past few years. They probably just received word last week that she is to be adopted. I can't really think about it because it makes me sick to think that she will be taken from them on such short notice.

I wanted to make a doll for Greta. I've also got to make a little blanket for her to carry. I'm hoping that I can throw it together tomorrow after church. Why did I leave it until the last minute? Blerg.

I love how it turned out. Now that I'm looking at it I should have made one for Lachlan--she's never even wanted to hold a doll--but I think that maybe she would carry it around if her sister had one too?? Maybe?? I'm going to stitch her adoption day on the rear end when we get home. A girl with a doll?! We won't know what to do with her in this house!

My Chores

Jack drew this picture in Kindergarten. 

His job is to feed the cat.

He takes the responsibility very seriously.

Both of my kids actually believe that I can talk to the cat (I told them I learned in college). Jack believes that if he is truly diligent with his feeding that eventually he will be able to understand what Bruce is saying....

I believe it too.

All he every says is FOOD!

Bedroom Project

Slowly. Very. Slowly. We are finishing the basement. This is the progress being made in one of the bedrooms. You can see that it is painted and the shelves are installed in the closet. I'm giving just a sneak peek at the accent wall. I can't wait for the big reveal because it looks so cool. I've stenciled before, but this has to be the most difficult stencil I've ever used. I love Royal Stencil Designs they are amazing--I can't even imagine how difficult this pattern would be to lay out if you had a really crappy product. I still have to touch up the sides--but it will have to wait until I've got some time to deal with it.

These sconces are actually galvanized steel barn lights that I spray painted white and then treated the inside with a bright color. I love how they look on the wall. Not bad for $15 light fixtures.

Vocal Performance Recital

Lachlan had her first voice recital last week. She sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow--and it was wonderful! We were so proud of her. She had great pitch and rhythm. I suppose that it seems suspicious to say that she sang better than many of the older students....I'm still saying it. 

Don't believe me? You can listen here.

Her voice teacher is Mrs. Tuttle. This is the whole recital group.

Year of the Snake

It's the Year of the Snake. 

As Jack says, were you born of the snake (1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001)? Snakes often have a good temper and a skill at communicating but say little. They are usually financially secure and often do not have problems with money. They possess tremendous sympathy for others and would like to take actions to help their fellow human beings. Women under the sign of the snake do well in housework but can be irritable. Snakes are likely to be jealous and suspicious. They tend to rely on themselves and have doubts about other people's judgments. Although they have good manners, they can be headstrong.

We celebrated Chinese New Year with our Cache Chinese-Adoption group. I look forward to seeing everyone--they are such fun families. We found out that there is another local girl who is from the same orphanage as Greta [Guangchang]. This is VERY rare as there are few children who are adopted from this orphanage. She is much older (pre-teen, was adopted as an infant), but will be headed back there this spring on a heritage tour to visit and try to find out a bit more about her past. I also heard that many of the kids from this orphanage are in foster care. I've had a feeling for a while that maybe Greta is in a foster care situation so it will be interesting to see if this really is the case. It is killing me that there are so many questions. I'm hoping that somehow we'll be able to get some history--to meet someone who has been caring for her. You just never know...

 Look at these beautiful kids! There were three new kids to the party this year. Last year I never dreamed that we would be the "waiting family". There's always room for more families--get on the list and come join us!

Parties are tough when you're two!

Jack's Legos

Jack has been begging for some Legos. Truth: We have never owned any Legos to this point. I'm not a fan. They are never cleaned up and whenever I see them at someone else's house they are always on a gigantic table next to a 50-gallon Rubbermaid tub. Ugh. My own personal nightmare.

Jack fell in love with them in his Kindergarten class. He came home and told me that he needed them really bad. It just so happens that Jeff and I have a new family finance/budget plan that encourages the kids to purchase things they want with their money--so there you go--next thing I know Jack has 500 Legos coming in the mail. Thank you, Ebay. He was so excited that he was counting down the days until they arrived. When they came a day early, he didn't even wait to dump the bag over in his room. He unloaded it right there in the living room. He's built a submarine, a castle, several cars, weapons, and a mountain.

More Star Spangled

I'm totally aware that we've beaten this dead horse, but I'll post this anyway. Lachlan sung the National Anthem at the USU game last Saturday night. She did a great job. We even got this shout out from Big Blue on Twitter:

Big Blue ‏@BigBlueofficial

7 year old singing the national anthem like a champ #aggiefootball#aggiefamily

Here's the link on YouTube for you die hard fans.

Looking back: Instagram collage

Starting top left:

A) Kids watching President Obama's inauguration. Jack is raising his hand to sustain the president, he gets a little confused between church and state. 

B) Cache Valley air quality. Worst in the nation.

C) Jack eating Valentine cookies. The Cutler's Bakery recipe is the best I've ever used, see it here.

D) Frosting cookies, use their buttercream frosting too.

E) Awesome rolls. I made this half for dinner and filled the other half with ham and cheese. My old high school used to serve something similar when I was a kid--they were better than I remember them. I use the Worlds Best Dinner Rolls recipe from Best Bites. They are perfect every time. 

F) Best ski day of the year (so far).

G) Took the kids for well-child check ups. Lachlan gained four pounds last year. A personal record. She is almost on the chart. Jack is in the 10th percentile for height and weight--he's on the chart that's all that matters in this family. Check out those raging scapulas--lol!

H) Bruce's balloon. We got balloons from Lachlan's voice recital. Bruce has decided that he loves to haul them around the house. I'm sorry, but it is totally awesome. Today I caught him taking a nap with one of them. The funniest part is that he is a bit afraid of the balloon itself so he carries it by the very end of the string.

I) 3 o'clock is killing me lately. I just want to crawl in bed and take a nap. Wish the kids did too.

Cowboy Candy

Last fall I found SEVERAL loaded jalapeno plants that had been buried by my nasturtiums. I just couldn't throw them out, but what does one do with five pounds of peppers??

I saw this recipe on Tasty Kitchen for Cowboy Candy. It's been down in the pantry for several months, frankly, I was a little afraid to open and eat it. I chopped up the whole pepper--seeds and all went into the mix. [didn't want to waste, but was way sick of canning]

I finally opened a bottle and made Jeff taste it first. It is SO. GOOD! I will be making MANY jars next year. I love the texture. It's just like jalapeno jelly in flavor, but with the pieces of pepper you get a crunch that is really appetizing.