Happy New Year

Maddie and Friends celebrating the New Year at our local 'First Night' event.

Happy New Year one and all! I hope everyone is as excited about the New Year as I am! We had a wonderful Christmas - shared with my parents who surprised us with a last minute visit. We had been asking them to come to Virginia for the holiday, but they didn't think they could for a number of reasons. I got a call from my Mom on the morning of Dec. 23rd asking if the invitation was still open. Of course it was! She asked me to keep their arrival a secret - they wanted to surprise the girls. Well, all I can say is you should have seen Josie's face later that afternoon, when she woke up from her nap and her Grandmom was there waiting for her! Pure Joy! Here are some photos from our Christmas:

PopPop and Josie hand out presents:


Maddie loves her new iPhone!


Josie 'rock out' on her new Princess Guitar:


Josie is a total Grandmom's girl! That goes for both her grandmothers. In my family, the kids all go for PopPop - he's big fun. He teases, plays, jokes and basically acts just like one of them! Grandmom is quieter, more patient and all about kisses & hugs. Josie is much more quiet and shy than her sister or cousins. She prefers her Grandmom hands down above all of us. She tells her all the time that she needs to come Virginia and live with us. They play 'puppets' together - with Grandmom donning her tiara to play the Queen (Josie is a princess). They cook together, read together and cuddle. Needless to say, they are both in heaven when they are together.

Josie's MaMa (James' Mom) is also very close to her heart. MaMa is an active player and participant when Josie is around. She's also one of the few people that Josie will talk to on the phone. If you listen closely when Josie talks, you can see how she puts things together in her head... California equals MaMa and GungGung, Disneyland and Dave (James' dear friend for over 20 years) She is such a smart and loving child, I can't imagine what our lives would be like without her.

Maddie has also been such a source of pride these past few months. Her first semester of High School has been a combination of joy, worry, and maturity. The curriculum at her school is intense. She has been learning how to organize her work and time to achieve her goals. She has 8 classes: The Sacred Scriptures (religion); Algebra; English; Physics; World History; French; The Human Person (bioethics) and Dance. Her grades are good but she has trouble balancing her effort... straight A's in one course, and C's in another. When she focuses her energy on bringing up the 'C', her grades in the other classes start to falter. I worry constantly. But, I also remind myself (and James!) that it's all on her now. We can't sit in her classes for her or take her tests - all we can do is offer our help and hope for the best. It's hard letting go...

Maddie has made some wonderful friends at school. She has also begun dating! This is a strange and new world for James & me. We have a policy of 'no car dates' until she is 16. Meaning, she is free to have group outings or dates where we know where she going, how long she will be there, who will be present and we drop her off and pick her up. This is working out well. The young man she is currently 'dating' is a nice guy. They meet at one of our local coffee shops, attend teen concerts together and find other activities in our small downtown. He is respectful of Maddie and our rules. I won't go into any more detail because Maddie has been rather 'sensitive' about 'everyone knowing her business'. (Those of you with teenagers will understand this...)

Which brings me to explain that I am planning some changes for this site...

We've been going through a lot of changes here. I had given a lot of thought to continuing this blog. In all honesty, I really love having this blog to share photos of the girls with friends and family. Lately, however, all I've been doing is reporting and not really sharing any thoughts.

I started this blog back in 2005 while waiting for our referral for Josie. Back then, it was all about paperwork, preparation, anxiety over the wait and finally- getting our referral. It's been 3 years since we got 'The Call'. I received so much support from the adoption community - I've come to know some of those parents on a personal level and that has really enriched all of our lives.

It's always been about the kids. James and I have just been the background players to the true stars in our lives, Our Girls. But, now Josie is in pre-school and Maddie is in High School... and quite honestly, there isn't really that much to report when you take into consideration how routine our lives have become. Also, it's sometimes difficult to try to put a positive spin on teenage angst and toddler drama. I have always been afraid that if I shared my true thoughts or observations that I would end up offending someone. In trying to be somewhat diplomatic and impartial - I've neglected sharing a huge part of our lives.

James & I have made so many new friends this year. At this point in my life, I didn't expect to make any 'true, real friends'. I always felt that those friends whom I have know for a long time would understand me better, accept me and my thoughts more readily. I no longer feel that way. James and I have made friends who have become like family to us - and over the course of the past few years I've neglected to share details about these wonderful folks. I hope to remedy that with the changes I make with this blog - starting now. I hope to introduce all of you to the people who have brought us so much love and joy.

So, with that long winded explanation given, I'll tell you all that our blog will no longer be just about the girls. Though we are only a family of four, our extended family is huge! I can't wait to get started with the introductions and to share with you the whole canvas of our lives. I will be blogging much more frequently, so to those of you who check in regularly - Thanks for sticking with us.

Until next time....

Early Christmas

Although it was only an hour and a half drive up to my sister Claudine's house, this is what the girls looked like on the way there! We left at 9:30 AM. Bunch of slacker, my girls are! As we pulled into the driveway we found that Suzanne & Greg were right behind us, having left Philadelphia a bit earlier - like us. We had a nice day, but Josie never left the Christmas tree, waiting patiently until it was time to open presents.

Once everyone had arrived we had a nice light lunch and let the kids open their gifts. In my family, we open gifts from the youngest to the oldest. That way, everyone gets to see what everyone else got. Jack (our nephew) was totally bummed out to remember that he wasn't the youngest anymore - Josie got to go first.

Here's the progression of happy faces from Saturday afternoon:

Jack - who received all things 'Baltimore Ravens'


Kate - who love clothes and snow globes


Liam - who shows off his Manchester United jersey from Aunt Claudine


Maddie showing off the hat & gloves she received from Aunt Claudine. (Aunt Claudine gives the coolest gifts!)


Zack (being supervised by Liam) opens one of many 'gift cards' (the favorite of teens everywhere!)


James opens his 'Philadelphia Phillies World Champions' T-shirt from BIL Greg. (It's a long story, but it started when Liam was about 3 and Zack was 8 and we sent them home from the beach in LA Dodgers hats and T-shirts!) The rivalry continues...


Josie gives her Grandmom a hand opening a present


Suzanne gives Mom a hand in reading a note from our Dad (His gift to her was a trip to Atlantic City with $$ spending money!)



Pop opens a gift while wearing his new Phillies hat


We all had a lovely time and received extremely generous gifts. We headed home around 8 PM and we were just about 3 blocks down the road before Josie crashed. She had so much excitement being around her cousins - combined with a lack of a nap - that our little angel just toughed it out as long as she could! Maddie fell asleep too. Upon our arrival home, she fed the dogs and went up to bed. She slept until 2 the next afternoon! (She finished mid term exams on Friday, so she's been keeping some late hours!)

More to follow...

Hershey Park

This past weekend, Josie, Maddie and I visited with Aunt Claudine. We drove to her house in Maryland on Friday after school. Grandmom & Pop-Pop drove over from Delaware to get in a quick visit with the girls. On Saturday morning we (Aunt Claudine, Maddie, Josie and me) drove up to Hershey Park, which was about a two hour drive from Claudine's house. The park was open for a special event - allowing only employees of Claudine's agency and their families.

The weather was beautiful as we departed Maryland, but the closer we got to the park - the more cloudy and cool it got. When we reached Hershey (where all the street light tops are Hershey kisses - really!) it was rainy and very chilly. Just about 50 degrees. The weather did not dampen our enthusiasm, though. We took the tour of 'Chocolatetown' and waited for the weather to clear.



Once in the park, Maddie and Claudine headed for the rollercoasters. Josie and I headed for the kids rides. I did persuade Maddie to ride the merry-go-round with Josie before making herself scarce. The picture above was the best one I could get... that thing was really spinning!

Josie rode a few of the rides by herself... Not willingly, but she did it! Worse ride was the kiddie 'pirate ship'. The pendulum effect always gets to my stomach, but I figured Josie would be okay on the kiddie version. I was wrong. In Josie's own words, she "freaked out a little". She was practically climbing behind the little girl next to her, hiding her face. Then she would hold the bar in front of her with a death grip and grit her teeth. There was nothing I could do - longest minute and a half of my life! Just as the ride was at a complete stop, she raised both her hands up in the air and came off smiling. Whew!

After riding on the antique cars we ran into the Hershey kiss. Josie was thrilled!



We returned to Claudine's house around 6:45PM and my Mom had made a delicious roasted chicken with stuffing, mashed potatoes and green beans. Awesome! Nothing beats Mom's cooking! Here's a photo of Josie with Aunt Claudine's 'baby', SoCo:



Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Massachusetts Getaway (or..."How We Dropped in on Aunt Mary and Uncle Nick with a Weeks Notice)

The weekend before last, our dear friend Mary made the mistake of calling to say hello...

The result was me packing up the girls and driving up to Massachusetts on Monday the 18th. We decided to end our summer with a visit to Aunt Mary, Uncle Nick and Ryan in Marshfield. We spent the night in Boston on the 18th. Once we checked in, we walked from our hotel in the Seaport District to Quincy Market. We watched some performers, shopped and had a quick bite for dinner. On Tuesday, we played tourist and boarded a tour trolley. We hit most of the major attractions, including a side tour of Harvard Square. We packed up our stuff that afternoon and headed down to Marshfield where a beautiful breeze and beautiful Aunt Mary awaited...

Both Nick & Mary worked on Wednesday so the girls and I waited until it warmed up (temps were in the 60's in the AM) and walked to the beach. Bad timing on our part, as the tide was high and water crashed on the rocks. We made due with kicking back in the yard. Josie entertained herself for a full four hours playing "puppets" in the sun room while I read a book (first time in ages!) and Maddie caught up with her electronic gadgets.

On Thursday, I picked James up at Logan Airport (he was in California on business) and then headed out on Nick & Mary's boat. We cruised around for a while on calm seas and then pulled a few lobster pots that Mary's brother, Jim, had put out earlier in the day. The first pot had two huge female lobster laden with eggs - so we had to throw them back in... heartbreaking. The rest of the pots were empty, so we we went home empty handed but happy - it was a beautiful day at sea and Mary was an excellent Captain!











Once we pulled back in to the marina, I got Josie off the boat while James, Mary and Maddie did the hard work of cleaning and closing up the boat. I was a bit scared of having Josie around the floating docks. She is not at all comfortable around the water yet, so best she stayed on dry land while the adults were busy.







Of course, being the slacker that I am, I kept busy taking photos of Josie while the others worked (sorry, guys!)



Friday was the ultimate beach day - Nick was able to take Friday off and we all headed to the beach with chairs, cooler and suntan lotion. It was a breezy day, full out sunshine with warm water to dip our toes in. Here's Uncle Nick enjoying a well-earned day off:



Josie got some quality time in with Aunt Mary:



And the rest of us got a nice tan and a day of rest and relaxation.



On both Friday and Saturday mornings, we awoke at 5:30 to catch the sunrise. Mary and I wanted to catch some photos but our results were mixed. The skies were so clear that there were no clouds to lend 'drama' to the sunrise - just a few spectacular colors that didn't translate well to film...





Maddie came along on Saturday morning, so I got some subdued shots of her:



Finally, after a few hours on the beach Saturday, we had to make the 10 hour drive home. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone. James has been daydreaming about buying a house up in Marshfield, which would make us all very happy. Everyone we spent time with there was so welcoming and friendly. It seems we have the BEST time there. Thanks to our Marshfield family for making sure we had such a great visit.

Take A Hike!!

James' brother Ken and our nephews, Alex & Brandon are visiting with us. They live in California so we don't get to see them often. We have been having so much fun showing the boys around our area. Yesterday, while James attended a conference for work, Ken & I took the kids on a hike. The trail wasn't a hard or long one - but from all the bellyaching they did, you would think they were scaling the Himalayans!

Once they started noting the interesting things along the trail, though, they had a great time. Here, Ken points out tree fungus to the kids:



And, hiking is also much more fun when there's climbing involved!



Ken & I were also subjected to the antics of our resident posers, Maddie and Alex!!







Here's Ken and Brandon making their way along the trail:



And, this was our final destination: We thought there was an actual cabin at the end of the trail, but there was only this marker:



The kids were a bit disappointed by there being no cabin, but being able to climb on the downed trees more than made up for it !! (You would think that after living here for 4 years I would have known this, but I guess that just proves that there's a whole lot left to explore in our own town!!)

Alaska

Seems like it took me forever to get back to blogging... Our trip to Alaska was fantastic! Maddie and I created such wonderful memories of our time there thanks to my dear childhood friend, Susan. We flew into Anchorage on June 24th, arriving earlier than we anticipated. (We flew standby from Minneapolis to Anchorage so we were able to catch an earlier flight). Sue was there to greet us. Although it had been close to 15 years since we had seen each other, the years melted away with one hug. Though both of us are older, I was still looking into the eyes of a friend I had know my entire life - looking at the kid I had grown up with.



We hit the ground running - taking in the sites of Anchorage until dinner time. We shared a lovely dinner at a waterfront restaurant, where Maddie tried the Caribou burger! We checked into our hotel and stayed up talking late into the evening. The next morning, after a breakfast of sourdough pancakes, we headed out on the open road for Seward.



Once we located our hotel in Seward, we visited Exit Glacier. We took a short hike up to the glacier itself. Don't let anyone tell you that global warming isn't real... we saw photos of the glacier in 1996 when you could literally touch the glacier. Not anymore. It had receded quite a bit in just the past 12 years... we were standing on ground that was part of the ice wall back then.

Maddie & Me - Exit Glacier


Maddie goofing around at the Exit Glacier Visitor Center!


In Seward, we also visited the Marine Life Center which was a really great introduction to the sea life of Alaska in general and the Resurrection Bay habitat, in particular. It got us very excited for the Wildlife Cruise Sue had booked for us the following day. (Thursday).

Me & Maddie at the Seward Wildlife Center


Thursday dawned (figuratively, of course, since right now Alaska gets about 22 hours of sunlight!) with rainy weather. We were determined to get on the boat, even though the Captain doubted we would make it out to the glacier we were scheduled to visit. The seas were rough on Resurrection Bay and we all came away bruised and battered from holding on to the ship's rails to get our photos of the wildlife we passed along the way.






Along the way we made a stop on Fox Island for a Salmon Bake. It was supposed to be a dinner, but with the rough seas the Captain decided to make it a lunch and cut our cruise short by about 4 hours. The lunch was held in a lodge operated by the National Park Service and a slide presentation was given by the resident ranger.

Sue & Maddie enjoy lunch at the Lodge


On Friday, we packed up and left Seward behind, heading for Denali National Park. We were stopping for the night in Wasilla, which is a half-way point and also the closest to Hatcher's Pass. Hatcher's Pass was a gold mining town that was in operation until the 1950's. Now, it's a well preserved ghost town with stunning views... we tried to imagine what it would have been like to wake each morning to the splendor that surrounds the area. Breathtaking.



Saturday, we wasted no time in hitting the road to Denali. We wanted to catch the 2PM Dog Sled presentation given at the park. Boy, was it worth it. I learned so much about sled dogs - how they are bred, how they help humans and their incredible capabilities. The dogs were just beautiful and we loved seeing them up close!

Maddie & 'Blue'




Sunday the three of us headed back to the park for the highlight of our trip - the 8 hour ride through Denali National Park. There are no words to describe the beauty. Each turn in the road brought another breathtaking vista and incredible wildlife sightings. Here are a few that I managed to get:















After the ride through the park, we headed up to Fairbanks. Upon arrival at Susan's home, her husband, Steve, had a delicious meal of burgers and brats waiting for us. Yummy. It was great to finally meet Steve and to find out that he is just as wonderful as Sue describes him.

Sue and Steve's home was warm and welcoming, decorated with her spectacular photography. Really lovely. We said goodnight and prepared for our departure the following day. (Monday).

Our flight left out of Fairbanks at 10 on Monday evening, so that gave us the day on Monday to tour around Fairbanks. We rode the Riverboat Discovery and panned for gold at the El Dorado Mine. Both outings were very informative and gave us real insight into the history of Alaska. We also ran into our friends, Ed & Marty who were with a group of their friends on a cruisetour before hopping a Princess cruise ship later in the week.



As the time for our departure drew near I took a bit of time to remember all the things we had seen and done. I am so thankful to my dear friend for taking a week of her time to show us the beauty of her adopted home. I am thankful to have had the time with my daughter before she heads off to high school - such a milestone in her life. I was so proud when Sue told me what a nice kid Maddie is. Also, I'm so very thankful to live in such a wonderful country.

Finally, I am truly thankful to my husband for giving us the time and resources ($$$) to take this trip . And, for my parents and sister-in-law, Kim who spent the week entertaining and spoiling my other precious girl, Josie.

Just as an aside, on Tuesday - our first night back home in Virginia - I let the dogs out before heading up to bed. Carson took off to the woods on the side of the house and returned rubbing his face on the ground and stinking to high heaven...Turned out our boy got SKUNKED!! I got James out of bed and he and Maddie gave Carson a V8 bath (we didn't have tomato juice!) in the driveway and then another bath once we got him inside. Poor Bubba - he's always getting into something. This time the 'something' fought back!!!