Accepted!



Our dossier was submitted to officials in Russia on Tuesday. It was reviewed and ACCEPTED! We now have a travel date of January 26th. This may change to something earlier but not to something later and that is the best you can hope for in an international adoption. It has been a very long time but we are finally to the part of the journey that makes the story have a happy ending. I cannot wait to meet my new daughter!

Halloween 2009

It was a cold and wet October...or something like that. This year was our sort of goof-off year in regards to our Halloween decorating. We did not have our annual party because Randy and I are just plain tired. We are finishing projects before it gets too cold and Randy's nights are full of homework. It is really hard to go to college and work a fulltime job and then spend time with your family! We could not bring ourselves to disappoint the neighborhood kids though so we did do some decorating but not the full enchilada. One child did ask why there was no glowing red under the porch this year (crawling under a porch when its raining to connect electric lights is not a good plan, kid) but other than that I don't think anyone else noticed. So here are the pictures of our house.



And here are a few of the photos the girls let me take of them in their costumes. They enjoyed trick or treating but only for a short time because it was very chilly and they seemed a bit out of sorts. We had 50 fewer kids this year, I think the flu is taking its toll or perhaps, just making everyone a bit more cautious. At any rate, we didn't disappoint the neighborhood kids, our kids had a good time (although Lera seemed convinced that she could talk everyone out of more candy and tried.) and we are done until next year.


Speaking of next year, any suggestions for what to add? Keep in mind, no gore or serial killers, I prefer spooky or creepy. The creepy guy standing next to our skelton witch (Hattie) is a bit much for the smaller crowd - he moves if you get too close, so we warn those with small children. Seriuosly, we would love to hear suggestions.