Isn't Isabel Amazing?!!!

My friend Isabel is an amazingly creative person! Last year she crocheted a beautiful bedspread and this year took on a new project for her sister's wedding. (Working only from a picture because this gal is so creative she doesn't even need a pattern!)

Week after week she would work away in our lunchroom and we watched with eager anticipation as her masterpiece was created before our very eyes.

What started out as small skeins of thread,


were carefully formed by hand,


flower by flower; leaf by leaf;


colour by colour in a variety of shapes, dimensions and depths,


176 hours of careful work to create...


...this most beautiful piece of wearable art! Isn't it absolutely breathtaking?


GREAT JOB ISABEL!!!!! Looking forward to seeing the next project you choose!

Middle Name Meme and Awww, Gee Thanks!

As many of you have realized I'm awful at posting 'meme' posts that I'm tagged with. I received a couple of tags this weekend for the middle name post so decided I should finally follow through and complete at least one tag on my blog so here ya go...

You have to post these rules before you give the facts.

1) Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.

2) When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts.

3) At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

A Adoption of Miss Hannah. Not yet in my arms but holding tightly to my heart.

N Nearer my God. My prayer. More important than the adoption is my love for the Lord and relationship with Him. He gives each and every breath and He is bringing Hannah and I together in His perfect timing.

N New Friends. WOW!!! My life is blessed beyong belief with the many new friends that have entered my life and become part of day to day living! You're never far from my thoughts and I love it! It's amazing how we can be 'friends' with so many people that we've never met in person but it happens here and then grows in love and appreciation when we meet in person!

E Excitable! I love to get excited about life and all that it offers. Living each day to the fullest!

Now I'm supposed to tag someone for each letter of my middle name. Since I'm so slow at doing this I think many have been tagged. If you haven't and want to participate please consider yourself tagged. You're it!


This morning it was also fun to read Connie's blog and be given a 'Nice Girl' award. It's all in fun and I'm happy to pass this award on to some well deserving friends. The problem is narrowing it down to only 7! That's the tough part!

1) Julie. My wonderful friend Julie who has a special place in my heart for the way God used her before we even knew one another! Love ya Julie! Can't wait to see you and Tess again soon!

2) Dawn. A sister in Christ. A special friend and confidant. If only we lived closer.....

3) Doris. The very first friend I met via my blog. A year ago this coming weekend we met with a little apprehension (at least on my part). Afterall, who meets someone online and then in person? We do and we did and an instant friendship was formed!!! WOW!!! In all honesty, life has never been the same since! I am so thankful for that Sunday last year when you, Dan and I met Doris!

4) Kathy. A precious friend. I am so thankful we have met and that we live so close to one another. I look forward to the many times we will share together with our daughters!

5) Mary-Mia. One of the very first blogs I began following and from there a wonderful, loving, fun friendship was born! I cannot wait to meet you, the girls and your hubby in person dear friend! Only 25 more sleeps!!!

6) Tawni. A loving new friend who I'm excited to be seeing again in a few short weeks. Neither of us knew one another before Georgia but literally within minutes of meeting one another it felt like we'd been friends for years! She's a wonderful, giving gal and so generous! Hey, she's even offered to loan me her convertable to cruise the streets of SLC next month. Think I may take her up on that offer and cruise the parking lot of the Baptist church on Sunday morning. LOL!

7) My Mom. (Sorry no blog link for this one.) Mom, I love you. I am so thankful that God has blessed our lives in being Mother and Daughter. I'm looking forward to the day when Hannah is placed in my arms with you and Dad beside me!

As I said, the list could go on and on....so many more I would have liked to have mentioned here!

Friday Night Fun!

Each Friday night Norma and John's family gets together at their place for dinner. I join them occasionally and always have a great time! There's fun and lots of laughter and it's just a really neat time! Their little ones are growing up so quickly!

A enjoying a snack.

M showing off her beautiful smile!

N the night he decided he was big enough to feed himself dinner!

N with Mommy after his bath. There's the cute face that he was hiding behind his spaghetti facial. Mommy is taking N for his first haircut today. I have a feeling the baby look is going to change. :o( First haircuts are so hard on parents!


I also learned another valuable lesson while at Norma's last night. Under no circumstances should I leave my camera unattended! She and I went out to pick up supper and I found these pics on my camera when I got home! What fun! Not sure who the chickie is as she was out of catalog ad but









the doggy belongs to the quiet person in the mirror!








The ear pic? Well it's a spoof on the pic I took of Norma's ear last year. Like mother, like daughter!

Thank You Michelle!!

What a treat it was to open the mailbox Thursday night and see a package waiting. (I tell ya...mail is MUCH more exciting these days than it ever was in the past!) I was curious as to who it could be from and was excited when I saw that the return address was Michelle's! Hmmm...now my curiosity was peaked! I quickly found the scissors and opened the package. Tears sprung to my eyes when I saw the beautiful sweater Michelle had knit for Hannah! It's absolutely gorgeous and the picture does not do it justice!!! The body of it is a rich, deep navy blue with pink and white accents. Hannah will look absolutely adorable sporting this beautiful gift made with love!

Thank you Michelle!!!

Celebrating 17 Month LIDiversary...Martha Stewart Style *Updated*

Wahoo!! Another month closer to Hannah!

My post is a day late but with all the busyness of yesterday I didn't have time to prepare the LID celebration flowers until this morning so they spent the night in a cup of water. Earlier in the month I saw something similar to this on Martha Stewart and since it looked so bright and happy I knew that it was what I wanted to do to celebrate my 17 month LIDiversary! I'm no Martha Stewart but it was fun trying.

Last night as I was driving to the aiport I called my mom to chat. My first comment to her was, 'I almost feel sorry for those who do not have the opportunity to adopt or, for those who do, but not take time to find others who are on the same wonderful journey.' I am blessed over and over...and over again by the many friends God has introduced into my life through my adoption journey and this blog!

As well as the friends that I've had for years, I now have a whole new world of wonderful friends! We email one another, chat, read one another's blogs and take interest in one another's lives and sometimes, even get to meet in person! Too cool! Through the good, the bad and 'The Wait' we're there for one another.

Yesterday was a great day and not all that far from my 'new normal'. The morning started with emails from friends and catching up on some blog reading. Work, break with Norma, supper with Sharon (both amazing friends I've had for years and years!) and then after buying the flowers it was home for a quick moment before heading to the airport. At the airport Dolores and I caught up on the latest in one anothers lives and then celebrated Ran's arrival with Tracey and Mike! Home again just before midnight. The fun did not end there. In the mail was an AMAZING gift (will post later) and my message light was flashing on the phone. It was late so I didn't call back but emailed instead. 12:15am and the phone rings. Lisa S of Georgia was awake too so she called and we chatted for more than half an hour! It was great talking to you Lisa! I was still pumped from the fun of the evening and the phone call so went in to check emails. How neat is it to open an email that says 'I was just doing the dishes and thought about our upcoming visit and got butterfiles of excitement!' Right back at ya Tawni!! Can't wait to see you and the rest of the gals next month!! (Only 28 more sleeps! :o)

Not every day is this busy or filled with so much interaction with friends, but always there is some and for that, and for YOU I am very, very thankful! I am thankful for each person God has brought into my life through this wonderful adoption journey! You are appreciated. You are loved and you have each changed my life. I am blessed because of you and very, very thankful for each of you!

So today I celebrate my 17month LIDiversary, amongst family and friends!

*Update - Instructions*

The arrangement was super easy! I bought the jar at the dollar store. (Martha's was more rectangle with the open side being the long side but I couldn't find one of those.) After that I cut up 1 pink grapefruit, 1 lemon, 1 orange and 1 lime into slices. Popped them into the vase with water and then added the gerber daisies. So pretty and really quite simple. Took only about 10 mins to put together start to finish. Have fun! This is such a pretty, happy look and would make a beautiful centrepiece.

Welcome to Canada Ran!

Wow! What a wonderful treat to be able to celebrate Ran's arrival in Canada with Tracey and her family! Ran is a real sweetie and was smiling and giggling as we stood and chatted together. The little balloon ended up being a big hit with both of the girls which was fun.

It was also neat to share this great event with Dolores and Shawn. Shawn kept an eye out at the door for us and let us know when they were coming. (So much for tight airport security. I know it was only the luggage area but we laughed as we watched many people go through the 'do not enter' doors and meet their families in the luggage area. Who could blame them? There were babies to meet!!)

Here's a few pics of the evening.

The Welcoming Crew














The Papaya with the balloon















Ran and Mommy
















Check out that smile!

















The family (minus 1...sorry O - hope your ear is feeling better soon!) What a beautiful family!

Getting Ready for my First Airport Trip!!!

Tonight will be my very first airport run to meet a friend who is returning from China! I'm SO excited! Tracey and I met in person this past June when we spent a day together.

Tonight she and her family will arrive home with their precious new daughter/sister Ran! The Papaya (big sis) is 4 and Ran is 2 , thus the Dora balloon.

Gotta run! I have a plane to meet! Wahoo!!!

Bloglines Question...

Just curious. Has anyone figured out what [!] means behind a post? I just returned from being away for a couple of days so have a lot of reading ahead of my but also noticed that many of my blogs have [!] after them. Does anyone else have this happen and have you figured out why?

Thanks wise friends! I'm sure you'll have answers for me almost as soon as I post this.

Happy Birthday Michelle!!!

It's Michelle's Birthday!!! Hop on over and wish her a happy, happy day!

I am so happy to be sharing this adoption journey with you Michelle. You are a great friend and I can't wait for the day when we're celebrating your birthday with Pumpkin and Hannah there to wear your cake! :o)

Now That's Just Wrong!

I'm sorry but there is just something so wrong about shopping in August and the music in the store has the word 'Christmas' in it! I couldn't believe my ears and stopped dead in my tracks (not easy to do when there is shopping to be done) but I had to listen carefully to see if I'd heard what I thought I had. Yup....the song was Joni Mitchell's 'I Wish I Had a River' and sure enough it was talking about Christmas and skating. Ugh!!! I absolutely love Christmas...but not in AUGUST!

Channing and Mommy are Together!!

Hop on over to visit my friend Kim's blog! She met her precious daughter today!! Isn't Channing just adorable? Praying for them as they begin to get to know one another.

CONGRATULAIONS Mommy and Channing!!!

What's Your Favourite Sandwich?

This past Monday (can you tell I had a whole day at home?) I decided to whip up my favourite sandwich for lunch. Mmmm! Green apple and cheddar cheese with mayo and sprouts on toasted sour dough bread. Yum yum!

While making this, aside from being crazy enough to take pictures, it got me to thinking. What is your favourite sandwich? Sometimes it's fun to learn what other people find appetizing and give it a try. Others, not so much.

I wonder if I suddenly start craving pickles with ice cream next year if it will mean Hannah's referral is on the way? For that I'd eat pickles and ice cream! Oh, let's be honest! As long as they don't have to be in my mouth at the same time I'd eat em now! About the only food I really can't handle is egg plant. Weird, eh? I think it's a texture thing.

On a completely different note, one of the other projects I accomplished on Monday was to hang this pretty sign above the doorway to Hannah's room. I've yet to begin cleaning it out and haven't decided how to decorate it (other than a few accessories already purchased) because I just don't think I could handle walking by it every single day knowing she's still so far away.

So for now, it's full of her stuff and my stuff and really not acceptable for anyone to view. Someday when I'm brave I'll share a 'before' pic of her room but for now I'll keep collecting stuff and playing with decorating colours and ideas in my head.

Wow...this post sure went all over the place! Thanks for hanging in there! :o)

Update: I can't take any credit for actually making the sign. When Norma and I were at 'Home Sense' a few weeks ago we came upon it. They only had about 8 names and 'Hannah' was the one at the very front! We both saw it and knew it was perfect! I love to be crafty but I'm not that talented when it comes to painting. Thanks for the vote of confidence though! The only thing I'm responsible for is hanging it on the wall (including the 3 extra nail holes hidden behind it! :o)

Yup...I Did It!!

Civic Holiday + Avoiding Cleaning House + End of Season Sales =



You guessed it! Yesterday was a civic holiday so I spent the day working on little projects around the house. Got quite a bit done so by afternoon I decided to hit the stores and what a fun project I had in mind! Within 30 mins. I had all the pieces needed to create my little project.



Hopefully it will soon be 'out of date' but I figure then I can retire it to a nightshirt.

PS - I'm hoping I'm less than a year from referral but with the Beijing Olympics feel I could still be a year away from travel. Regardless, this is fun and I'm hoping it made you smile! It did me when I was working my magic with the iron.

Brea Update

Ealier this spring many of you prayed for little Brea as she awaited a heart transplant. Happily she received one and is doing really well. So well in fact that she and her family are visiting my favourite vacation place on earth, the happiest place on earth, Disney!!!

If you'd like to see how she's doing and see some pics of thier Disney trip you can find them here. Praising God for answered prayers for Brea.

Updating our 'Carmody Calendar'

Saturday night Rebecca was excited to update our 'Carmody Calender.' My friend Karen and her family created a countdown calendar when they were waiting for their daughter/sister. I've borrowed the concept and now Rebecca helps me put stickers on all the dates that receive referrals each month. Saturday she was able to cross November 15 - 22, 2005 off our calendar.

After doing this she counted the number of days left and told me that there are 121 more days to get their babies until we meet Hannah. So cute she is, and smart too!

Summer Fun!!

Yesterday Rebecca and I has a great day hanging out poolside with K1, K2 and G-Man. My parents have an absolutely gorgeous backyard with an inground pool and are only too happy when we use it.

We spent the afternoon hopping in and out of the pool and enjoying chatting, laughing and of course...munchies!

K1 and K2 are amazing to watch with G-Man and also with Rebecca yesterday! I tell ya, if anyone was to see them in action with this adorable little guy they'd have no idea that he is their nephew and not their son. He loves them and they love him too!

It was a little confusing with 2 'Aunt Cathy/Kathy's' around but the kids quickly adapted and figured it was easiest to just call both of us 'Aunt C/Kathy!'

I'm looking forward to the day when our party of 5 turns into a party of 7 and K and Hannah join the group! Can you begin to imagine the fun we'll have then??

Thanks for coming over K1 and K2! We had such a fun afternoon and we can't wait to do it again!

This was too cute! When Rebecca put her towel on the deck to catch some rays, G-man put his beside hers. A few seconds later he hopped up, went and got 2 pretzels and put one beside Rebecca and ate one himself! All the while looking at us and saying, 'Shhh...Rebecca is sleeping!' Is he adorable or what?

And, if there was every any question that G-Man is related to K1 and K2 you only need to check out this pic and realize that they're related for sure!

Bratz Movie - Plesantly Surprised!

Last week Rebecca and I decided we'd like to hang out for the weekend. Always fun and I love spending time with her! I asked what she'd like to do as a special treat and she chose one of my favourite things to do - go to a movie.

Before I picked her up on Saturday I'd learned that their was a new 'Bratz' movie out in the theatres. Guessing that it would be what she'd want to go see my initial reaction was going to be 'no.' I'm not a huge fan (to say the least) of the dolls with their bellies hanging out and way too much eye makeup so I was just going to say no and we would move on to one of the other movies that are out right now.

Friday night though I decided to do my homework. After chatting with a wonderful friend last weekend about 'Bratz' and 'choosing our battles', I thought I owed it to Rebecca to at least look at a movie review with an open mind and see what it had to say.

I was the one who learned the lesson. I learned that the movie was ok and would be one that I'd go to see with her if she wanted. Ya know what? I was wrong and I learned a lot. It really is a good movie that has a lot going for it. Had I not known the title of the movie it probably would have been one that I'd have recommended we go see together.

It features 4 teen girls who basically dress ok and are all about being unique yet being friends. I like that they didn't all have to dress the same or come from the same family background to be accepted by one another. One gal is being raised by a single mom, another by divorced parents, another by her grandmother and the other by an interracial couple. Yes...they covered their bases well there.

It also showed a lot of respect for parents. The kids spoke well of their parents and even helped them out.

There was a few times when the Lord's name was taken in vain and I HATE that! Rebecca picked up on it and whispered, 'they shouldn't say that' and I agreed with her.

All in all, if you have a tweenager or soon to be tweenager who wants to go see this movie, I'd recommend it. Yes, it's predictable but all in all enjoyable with some good lessons to be learned.

What Am I Going To Do Now?? :o)

About a year and a half ago I confessed to my shopping oddities. One of them was to park in 'trampoline ally' when I shop at Wal-Mart so that I can find my car. You can imagine my shock on Saturday when I arrived at WM to find that the trampoline which had been attached to the wall for the past 5 years was gone! G-o-n-e! Whatever was I going to do?

Thankfully I had my favourite little shopper with me who was happy to help me find my car. Here she's displaying her awesome muscles by carrying this heavy box of freezies to the car.

So, to make things easier when shopping (yah right...it's because I love Disney!) I now have this cute little Mickey/Minnie antenna topper to help me find my car. I'm guessing you're not at all surprised that I would have this little helper atop my antenna...or that it's pink! Should it 'go missing', no fear. I have a glove compartment full of them in a variety of colours and dressed for special occasions.

Now I'll always find my car, trampoline ally or not!

PS - I'm happy to tell you that my shopping favourite has moved to a new store since the original shopping post. Since then a 'Superstore' has opened in the same parking lot and it's my new fav! Groceries, home stuff, clothing...just about everything! And, the other reason I like them is because I use their banking system (have for 9 years now) and every time I go there I earn points for free groceries! Since the day I started the adoption process I've stopped spending my points and am saving them for my maternity leave. So far I've accumulated over $425.00 just for doing my normal shopping and banking! Wahoo!! That will go far when my income is reduced during mat leave!

August Babies!

After a wait of only 27 days, CCAA has sent the next batch of referrals and there are proud parents all over the world who are seeing their precious baby's face for the very first time! Congrats to all who will receive referrals over the next few days!

This time CCAA once again matched 7 days of LID's which brings me 7 LID's closer to Hannah! Only 121 more LID's to cover and I will be seeing Hannah's beautiful face! Ooooo...I get goosebumps just typing that!

Doing the math (as you know I will) the average number of LID's per month for the past 12 months is 10.9/month. Taking my remaining 121 days and dividing that by 10.9 I come up with 11.1 more months until I receive Hannah's referral. Right now, that appears to be sometime around July or August of next year.

Guess what?? July or August = 'Probably another year! :o)' Yup...still saying 'probably another year!' Hmmm...maybe if I get a t-shirt made that says 'Probably another year' things will speed up? It's worth thinking about!

Congrats to all the new families! And, to my many friends who are waiting, we're getting there. We're 7 days closer to our little ones. Holding hands and walking this endurance walk together! Supporting one another, loving one another, laughing together, and shedding tears too.

PS - Remember last year when I mentioned I'd probably have the gestation period of an elephant? Well, sadly my friends and I are leaving elephants in our dust! 24 months? That's nothing!!!

Thanking God for the Safety of a Friend

You may have heard about the terrible bridge collapse in Minneapolis earlier tonight. When I heard about it I immediately thought about my dear friend Julie. Even though I was guessing she was ok I just wanted to know for sure so emailed her when I got home.

She emailed back to say she was fine but that had it been just one hour later she and a friend may have been on that bridge as that was normally the route they would take when Julie was taking Sandy home. Wow! Protected by the hand of God. They did pass near the site on a parallel bridge about an hour after the collapse and say that the damage is quite devastating.

There is concern that some people in Julie and Sandy's office may have been on the bridge when it collapsed. They still don't know. What we do know is that many families lives were forever changed earlier tonight.

Praying for all those who have lost loved ones, who are injured, caring for the injured and working at the scene. Please pray. Thanking God for the safety He provided to Julie and Sandy.

Blessings for Hannah!

3 friends have sent blessings for Hannah's book and I want to share these with you!

My friend Michelle who is also a waiting mommy, made this beautiful blessing for Hannah! I love how she included mommy's love of piano and music in her blessing. Thanks Michelle!


The next blessing is from a wonderful friend who is also my scrapbooking buddy! Tina and I have been friends for many years and even though we may not get together often we sure do enjoy ourselves when we do. Thank you so much Tina for this beautiful blessing for Hannah!


The last of today's blessings was a fun surprise to receive today! It's from a gal I've gotten to know through my March DTC Yahoo Group. It's such a fun, bright colour and encompasses so many wonderful areas of my life and what I want to share with Hannah someday! Thanks Beth!


The really neat thing is that when I began Hannah's Blessings Book I wasn't sure how many pages I would receive as I understand it requires more work that a 100 Good Wishes Quilt piece. I have been wonderfully surprised by the outpouring of love Hannah has received! She now has 45 pages in her book! Wow!!! If you'd like to see them all you can click here to view them!

The other part is that with the exception of 2 of the blessings, all are from friends. Hmmmm...that means only 2 are from family!

Hint! Hint! You know who you are....and I know where you are!! :o)

Need a Summertime Laugh?

My wonderful bloggy friend Connie has a great way with words and really fun sense of humour! If you haven't checked out her blog before then treat yourself and wander over their today. You won't be disappointed!

Thanks for the laugh Connie. Not sure if it's knowing about the reinforcements you applied or just how I can see myself doing the same thing that made me laugh most.

This post kinda reminds me of the few times I've driven the car with the parking brake on. Duh! That's what that light was for!

Ok friends....hop on over here and enjoy!

Going to Visit a New State!

It’s amazing what a difference a day can make!

Monday started out as any other Monday. Yes, I’ll admit that I was already looking forward to Friday and the upcoming long weekend. Wow, things quickly changed mid-morning!

I received an email from Lisa S inviting me to the Utah Bloggy Bash Reunion Tour being held this coming September! When I read posts from last years Bash, it was the first time I’d heard of anything like this. What? Get together with people they’d only met on the internet and not in person? Boy, were they brave!! (Heh! Little did I know!!) But, as their weekend progressed last summer I watched with excitement as some of the friends I’d met online had the awesome privilege of meeting one another in person. Too cool! It was so neat to hear of the fun they had and see pictures. Hmmm…I was thinking. I’d like to go to a bloggy bash sometime too!

Fast forward to September of last year and my friend Connie and I started talking of a Motor City Mamma’s Bloggy Bash in November. It was my first and I’ve been hooked ever since!!! Connie, Stacy, Krista and I hung out in Detroit for a weekend and from the moment we met it was like old friends reuniting rather than new friends meeting in person for the very first time. LOVED it!!

Since then I’ve met Dawn in Vancouver, Julie & Tess in Minneapolis, Doris in Montreal plus a whole bunch of other new friends in my home province Ontario and others in Quebec too!

Most recently it was the Georgia Bloggy Bash where 16 of us + 3 little ones crashed Melissa's place and enjoyed a weekend of fun, talking, sun, babies and laughter! I thought after that weekend I’d be putting my suitcase into the closet for a well deserved break. But nope…I was wrong!

In the matter of 24 hours invitations were given, plans made, vacation times approved (That part was tense! Thanks for your help Norma!!) and airline tickets booked! I am thrilled and honoured to be invited to join this great group of gals for a weekend. Unfortunately one of their original group wasn’t able to make it this time and since they felt they needed a foreign contingency I filled the gap. Very happy to do so!!!

This year’s group will once again be Julie, Mary-Mia, Lisa S, Lisa W (who has kindly invited me to stay with her. Thanks Lisa!)and Tiffany plus the addition of 'da foreigner.' I haven’t met Lisa W, Tiffany or Mary-Mia yet but I can’t wait!! Mary-Mia and I have talked about how fun it would be to meet one another for over a year now. I can’t believe it’s finally going to happen!!! And, most importantly this year’s bash will include 5 babies home from China!!! Tess, Rose, Marie, Maisie and Eliza!!! Wahoo!!!! Oh what fun it will be with these 5 delightful little ones around! It’s also going to be wonderful to see Tawni and Susie again as too as we’ll be in their backyard so they’ll be in on the fun too!

As you can tell, I’m already getting excited about the upcoming trip. Thanks so much for the invitation ladies! Looking forward to seeing all of you next month!!