Nora in the Northwoods {For Real this Year}

Last year we ventured up north to get away as a family of five, anxiously waiting for a very important step in the process of bringing Nora home.  God was so present in all of the details of last year's get away ... from the timing of the paperwork approval, the location of a FedEx provider (and the owner's own adoption story), finding a small, local business for printing, scanning, e-mailing, and all of this amidst swimming, fishing, camp fires and board games.  We were in awe of how Nora was so much already a part of our family and our 2012 family get away, Nora was in the north woods with us.

This past week we again ventured up north but as a family of six.  The time away was great and the opportunity to watch Nora explore, discover and cause mischief, admittedly exhausting, in a new place was quite fun.  To see how God has moved our family in one short (sometimes seemingly long) year is remarkable.

Last year's post on Nora in the Northwoods contains many of the little details.  This year's post is riddled with many photos ... sit back, grab a cup of a coffee or a large diet coke and take a glimpse into our little family (or, scroll through quickly and move through your day as this little blog continues to be my journal into our family life, to document these moments for a certain Mama who is aging and forgetting details).

Me and my girls 

 

Exploring the water 

 

 

 

Um, driving a pontoon boat ... or at least little girls pretending to ... and, not so little boys actually being given permission to (oh dear, a glimpse into my life a little more than four years from now when Jack begins to drive ... gulp) 

 

Oodles of fishing

 

 

Miniature golf 

Side note - I adore this photo of Nora, when Lydia is excited about something she pumps her fist and raises her arms while saying "YES!" ... a certain little sister has figured out a perfect imitation of this!

 

The fish museum 

 

Nora surprising all of us figuring out to drink from a straw (we were all quite proud of this Little Miss!) 

 

Indoor activities when the weather wasn't the greatest ... puzzles, forts, hide and seek

 

 

 

Looking sweet

 

Catching turtles and frogs 

 And, falling asleep in moving "vehicles" 

 

 

This is Nora, in the canoe ... this happened multiple times ... oh, if only the girl would sleep this soundly at night 

 

Apparently I was not the only one exhausted after long days ... 

 

And, that was photo overload of Nora in the Northwoods 2013!

Family Weekend {Father's Day 2013}

Jason and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago and were reflecting on how our tradition was typically to get away for a night, just the two of us.  Tradition has changed and while we miss our little getaway, we treasure the new tradition we have created.  Father's Day weekend marked the fourth year of taking the family to Door County.  This is definitely one of the kids' favorite annual "events" (Father's Day weekend seems to work well as it generally just follows our anniversary and the end of the school year).  As soon as school is out (and typically before), they are asking if / when we are going to Door County. 

This year, of course, was extra sweet as we got to go as a family of six.  Last year during our Door County weekend we were in the stage of anticipation, wondering when we would see the face of our daughter.  We had no idea that it would be that next week!   His timing is always perfect, even when we doubt.

The highlights of the weekend included:

1. Swimming in the warm indoor pool
2. Playing in the sand at the hotel's beach on the lake
3. Miniature golfing
4. Eating Ice Cream
5. Cramming two adults and four sugared-up kids in a hotel room with two queen size beds Sweet family time

Warning ~ many photos to follow ...

This picture needs a little commentary ~ this was Nora's first time in the sand, she wasn't quite sure of it as evidenced by the death grip she has on her sister's swimsuit!

And yes, it did not take long for her to realize that the sand is fun, even getting buried in it is kind of neat! 

 

The boys were quite happy with their choice of "Pudgy Bunny" sundaes!

 

And, that was Door County 2013!

A Weekend Away

Since Nora's surgery at the beginning of the year we have spent a lot of time at home, really only going out as a family to church.  While we have had commitments, we have found ourselves splitting up to go to basketball games, etc.  We all had been going a little stir crazy so when we got an invite to go spend part of the weekend in northern Wisconsin with sweet friends, I would be exaggerating if I didn't say that we were all a little giddy!  

My sweet friend had a "significant" birthday this weekend (Girl, you handled the weekend and being the center of attention with such grace!) so her husband coordinated getting a few families together at a hotel.  It was definitely a little winter retreat for us and our first getaway as family of 6!  So fun!  Lots of pool time for the kids and lots of reminiscing and laughs for all of us!  So thankful for these friendships and how God so purposefully brought our families together.  Who knew years ago how many commonalities we would all have?  It was just such a treat to be away and just "be" with our sweet friends (they now live about 6 hours away so we only hang out a few times a year ... despite the distance as soon as we are together it feels like we haven't been apart).

Happy Birthday, Sweet Friend!  Thank you for the privilege of being able to celebrate with you!  Love you guys!

And, because I cannot post without photos ... wish I would have gotten more pictures, but here are just a few of pool time.  Apparently I was too busy chatting, indulging, disciplining, chasing, laughing, etc. to get more photos. A sign of a wonderful weekend!

Nice smile, Lydia!

And, back to the silly faces!

 Thanks for standing still long enough for me to get a photo, Boys!

Awe, aren't you so sweet in your swim suit!  First time ever!

Lydia, do you never tire of jumping into Daddy's arms?

We are blessed!

Nora in the Northwoods

Because I do not want to forget any of the details (warning, this is long) …

Early this year we booked a family getaway, a week in northern Wisconsin planned for early August.  Little did we know we would be in a critical place of working through paperwork to bring our little miss home.  A very important step in the adoption process is getting that coveted “Referral Acceptance” (also known as “Letter of Acceptance”).  This is the official document from China approving you to adopt a specified child.  Already well established on this little blog, I am a planner (seriously people, I should be in a 12-step program).  By all my scientific evaluations of trends and what I’ve seen other families experience, we should have received our RA the week of July 30th or even the week before.  When the RA is received, more paperwork is triggered.  And, the timing of this paperwork is important as the sooner you turn it around, theoretically, the sooner you might travel.  You know where this is going, don’t you?

Much to our surprise and the surprise of our agency, no RA as of Friday, August 3rd.  I had a bit of angst over this, but we packed the family and the tote of adoption paperwork and headed up to northern Wisconsin to stay at a cottage that some might describe as being out in the middle of nowhere.  Phone service?  Yes.  Wireless capability?  No.  

Okay, so onward, on Monday, August 6th two days into our week away, we missed my cell ringing and then heard Jason’s ringing but missed it too.  Could it be?  Yes, we both had a message from our agency to call right away.  Woo hoo!!!  We got our RA!  Our agency was going to e-mail it and more paperwork (Remember?  No wireless).  They would send the original document to us, via FedEx to arrive on Wednesday morning so that we could sign and return it.  I gave them the address of the cottage and then had a momentary panic wondering if FedEx could deliver to a cottage we were renting and wondering if the owners, who live in a different state, had any forwarding of mail / packages.  Thus, I made a call to the owners and explained the whole situation and was relieved to discover that we should have no issue receiving our FedEx.  Phew!!!

 

So, here’s what we needed to do Monday afternoon:

1. Print e-mail and attachments from agency,

2. Sign a variety of papers and return them to agency (via e-mail with scanned pdfs), and

3. Submit our petition to US immigration to adopt Nora (the I800).

 

Reminder – no wireless!  I had done my extensive research the week before and found there was an OfficeMax approximately 45 minutes away.  At the OfficeMax we could print documents, get pdfs, make copies and FedEx said documents.  However, Jason felt that we could accomplish everything “in town” so on Monday, he calls 3-4 places (grocery store, library, coffee shop, etc.).  Each, it seems, could only do one of the things we needed done that is until we were referred to a family run printing company that typically services area businesses (prints brochures, other advertisements, etc.).  Yes, that’s where we ended up.  Here’s proof!

At this printing company, we got our e-mail and attachments printed and copies and pdfs made.  So thankful for smart phones!  Now, it was on to a local coffee shop that yes, was an authorized  FedEx shipper.  The owner, as he was making our label, specifically asked if we were sending adoption paperwork.  He recognized the stack of papers and the fact that we were sending documents to US immigration as he and his wife adopted two children from Russia 15 years ago.  Seriously.  See God working here? 

So thankful for my resourceful husband who was persistent on finding a more time effective (and turns out way more memorable) way of getting all this done.

 

Fast forward to Wednesday, the FedEx man made it to the cottage with the very important official document!!!  Praises!!!

 

 

Decision to adopt Miss Nora?  A thousand times yes!

 

We signed the document!!!  So exciting!  And, then we went back to the printing company to get a copy of it and then back to the coffee shop to overnight it back to our agency!!!!  

 

Fast forward to Friday and we got an update on our Nora including a few new photos.  Of which, this is one of my favorite!  (You may recall this one from Nora's introduction below.)

Love this smile!!!!  

 

In God’s perfect timing, despite what I wanted, despite how much I was praying for our RA before our family getaway, He made Nora a part of our time in the Northwoods.  And, I am thankful.