Another week...

Greetings. It has been another week. Nothing too terribly exciting. We did celebrate our 8th anniversary. We are old. To tell you how wild and crazy we are, we decided to eat at Bob Evans that evening. Yes, Bob Evans. But, you know, they have good food and it is just minutes from our house. We then took the dog for a walk and turned in early. We were both exhausted from hectic days at work.

Other highlights...we cleaned the house. Not a biggie (and yes we clean it frequently) but I am just trying to think of my highlights at home this week. You see, we often have numerous work and volunteer related activities after hours. So when we have several nights at home we try to be productive.

We did go out with our friends Rachel and Jason Friday night. Their cute little boy, Grant, hung out with us as well. He is a funny little guy. Robby and Allyson came to town and we had a good time with them as well. As an act of youth, we raced our radio controlled vehicles. He was getting major air with his Stampede jumping the grassy strip between the curb and the sidewalk in front of our house. Cool stuff.

So, I am signing off for now. It is almost 9 pm and I need to get to bed. I have something EVERY NIGHT this week starting with what will most likely be a very long city council meeting Monday. Oh well. It is still cold out and if I were home I would probably be sitting inside watching Seinfeld and Friends reruns.

Have a swell week.

Does anyone still read our blog?

So, it has been awhile since we posted. Many things have happened since the last post, but probably none of those things are newsworthy. We did get a little snow.

This week is our 8th wedding anniversary. Also, this week will mark our 9 month "log in date" anniversary. So, a couple of milestones. Rett is forewarning everyone that now she has exceeded the 9 month "adoption" pregnancy (the forecasted wait time when we started was 9 months) she is allowed to get cranky (per Pastor Rob). Lucky me. Then again, it is not fair that we will be pregnant for the gestation of an elephant.

For our regular adoption readers, you are aware that ladybugs are supposed to be good luck or something for referrals. I have come to the conclusion that they may be backfiring. I think the China adoption creature of choice right now should be a turtle or how about an inchworm? Let me know what you think. Hopefully we will get to the point where a cheetah would be the best choice because referrals will be coming so quickly. What do you think?

We will update in the coming weeks....sorry for the long delay between posts. We have been busy and had technical difficulties. Blogger locked our blog and called it Spam? Interesting....

For those of you that are looking for another local blog to check, we suggest:
http://www.olivero.us/blog/ We suggest that you listen to the podblast as well, it is very entertaining.

Until then, we wish you champagne wishes and caviar dreams...

Prayer Request

One of my favorite websites that I check daily is www.myadoptionwebsite.com and while checking it tonight, I saw a prayer request I could easily post here. Although I don't know the family involved, I DO know the power of God. Please check out the family website and see why little Brea and her little heart needs your prayers. If you don't have time to go to their site, just send up a quick prayer that God perform a miracle on her so that she doesn't have to be put on a transplant list. GOD IS GOOD!

Their website is: http://www.babyjellybeans.com/web/do/site/photo?ID=177630&parent_id=175411

Happy 8 Month Anniversary!

Happy 8 month anniversary to us! According to China's records, we have officially been waiting eight whole months on our Abby girl! Right now, the timeframes say the wait is 16 months so as of today, half of our wait is over! Let's pray that the wait doesn't continue to climb (though the rumor is that it will).

Send up a big "Thank you God" for helping us all (and that includes you) get through eight months of waiting! Pray for our daughter's safety, surroundings, and health.

We can't wait to meet you Abrielle!

A Murder, a Morgan, and a Dragon

So we have NOT updated in a couple of weeks, and I'm afraid that some of you have stopped reading the blog! ACK! So below are some pics and quick text about what we've been up to! If we get ambitious we'll use the photo program we used last time and modify this post. But for now, here's the scoop.

• We went to a Murder Mystery Dinner at our neighbor/friends' house. It was SO much fun! The Reader's Digest version is that we got dressed up in circa 1930's garb, took on another personality, had dinner, and solved a murder. This game is not for the shy...and you can see why by the pictures. It was a total blast and we hope to host our own murder someday soon! (By the way, neither Tony (Donnie) nor I (Allie) were the murderers!)

• We also got to spend some more time with the Brian and Nancy Williamson and their daughter Morgan. The picture shows just how absolutely adorable she is...especially in her Colts jersey! We just love her mean face, and we love spending time with all of them!

• Finally, we went to our local adoption group's Chinese New Year Festival a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time with Chris, Sarah, Amaya, and Paige too! We enjoyed food, crafts, and even a dragon!

Needless to say, we have had a great start to 2007! Now if we'd just get our Abby-girl home, life would be PERFECT!

SUPERBOWL CHAMPS!

Congratulations to the Indianapolis Colts...the 2007 Superbowl Champs!

You've restored some football respect to Indiana and we salute you!

WHOO HOOOO!

A year ago today....

One year ago today, January 21, 2006, Tony and I pulled into St. Luke's church in Indianapolis with nervous hearts and minds. We were taking a leap of faith and following what we though was God's nudge to investigate international adoption. It turns out, it WAS God's nudge. We were going to an informational meeting offered by Families Thru International Adoption (FTIA) to find out if we would add to our family through adoption. Just a week before this, I had conversations with my family about the possibility of adoption and read a front page spread about it. (God's messages are SO clear at times). We finished reading the article in the paper, looked up the informational seminar schedule, and committed to at least researching it.

Back to the parking lot...as we pulled in, I saw several other nervous-looking couples walk toward the entrance. At this point, I was getting excited and Tony just looked sick. The ever-practical side of him was saying, "We don't have the money to do this." When I drug that comment out of him, I broke down in tears. I couldn't go to this meeting without hope of where it might take us. After a brief conversation about reality vs. God's plan for us, we ventured in and navigated the maze of halls in the church we would soon come to know well.

The meeting held all the answers Tony was seeking, and the children I was longing to see. We had the opportunity to speak with a family that had recently come home and received some encouragement. Did I mention the children were from a variety of countries and simply beautiful?

Following the meeting, we met Robby and Allyson for lunch and lightly discussed what we had learned. I was brimming with anticipation to see Tony's real reaction, and he was using every ounce of reservation he could muster. Not two minutes into lunch, a family walked in with a child of Asian decent. Nudges and glances were being secretly passed. Others streamed in and remarkably, more adoptive families. Was it a sign?

Fast forward to the end of lunch...although Tony was still using his head, I was all heart. We were moving forward. We'd take it step-by-step and start with the application to FTIA and see what happened.

Alas, it is January 21, 2007 and we are (not so) patiently waiting on our Abby-girl. God was obviously moving in our lives a year ago. He has opened doors, fulfilled promises, blessed us with new friends, and challenged us beyond our wildest imaginations. I cannot wait to experience that same nervousness we had in the church parking lot when we see her picture for the first time and when we wait in that chaotic room for her to be placed in our arms. We'll look back and say, "God is good, all the time...and all the time, God is good."

Happy 7 Month Waiting Anniversary to Us!

A frame sits empty.
No face behind the glass.
The longing hits hard,
but this too, shall pass

I search for your face
on the street and in my dreams.
The closer it gets,
the further it seems.

I can't begin to imagine
all your face will hold.
The fears and the hopes,
the scars from the cold.

You won't look like me
Nor will I look like you.
My mind's eye does know this
fact to be true.

But one thing we'll share
in common with one another,
is the love from above
from our Heavenly Father.

I can rest tonight knowing
that GOD knows your face.
He'll keep you safe in His arms
till you fill the frame space.

So sleep tight little one
in God's sweet embrace
until that wonderful day
We get to see your face.

Love,
Mommy

Trane XL 80 Repaired (at least for tonight)

Ok, another post from Tony. I know folks probably prefer Rett's ramblings but I thought I would share how the furnace was fixed tonight (are you excited???).

Tonight we noticed it was a frigid 60 degrees in the house. Everyone knows I am cheap and try not to use the furnace to save money. In fact, we had such a large credit on our gas bill from last year (we were on the budget plan, same amount every month) that we have yet to pay a gas bill this year and still have a small credit for next month too.

Well tonight it was stinkin' cold in the house. I bumped up the furnace during lunch today and Rett bumped it up again when she got home from work. The furnace was blowing cold air. Not a good thing when it is 25 degrees outside. After a thorough analysis of the situation (staring at the furnace not having a clue), Rett handed me the phone. Her dad was on the line. I told him the situation and he suggested that I check the manual, it was likely a thermocoupler.

Luckily, the previous homeowner left us with a folder full of manuals for everything from faucets to the furnace. There was no mention of a thermocoupler in the manual, bummer... The next step was ask.com. There were only a few posts on the highly efficient Trane XL 80 furnace/heat pump system. There were solutions to our problem covering all scenarios (circuit boards, sensors, shorted wires and etc...). I had about resorted to getting out some additional thermal socks when I found a post on a HVAC help site. A lady had written in and wanted to impress her husband with her knowledge about their furnace's problem. Her furnace had the same symptoms.

Some nice person posted a reply to her question. He said it was possibly the flame sensor (I assume the same thing as a thermocoupler with a different name). He said to take some sandpaper or steelwool and lightly sand the sensor.

I grabbed some sandpaper (from my dad's Black and Decker Mouse sander, what a cool little sander) and made about three swipes across the ceramic flame sensor. I put the cover back on the furnace and went back upstairs. I bumped up the temp on the thermostat and ran back downstairs...IT WAS WORKING!!!!!!!

As I type this, the furnace is still working. Even if it quits, at least I know what part needs to be replaced. So for those of you that check the blog and are tired of seeing the cool autoshow pictures, you now know how heat was restored to the household.

So, as you can tell, there has not been much going on if all I have to blog about is the glorious warm air from the furnace. Well, the exhaust did break on my Jeep Grand Cherokee...my dad was nice enough to come pick it up and repair it Saturday (I had the stomach flu and felt like I was dying). I would have blogged about that repair but I did not participate in the repair since most of my day was spent in the bathroom...but thank you to Dad for fixing the Jeep.

Well, I am sure you are thoroughly bored by now so I will sign off...Have a good (warm) day...

Indy Auto Show

We attended the Indy Auto Show yesterday. Below are some highlights. Our Genius friend "Niner" (Tony Olivero) gets credit for helping us post the slideshow...

Post Christmas Post

Well, it is now Wednesday, December 27th. Christmas has come and gone. And gone from our home as of December 26th at 2:00 pm are all traces of decorations. Rett cannot wait to put decorations up, and it seems she cannot wait to take them down either :). I thought we were quick to take down our decor but our neighbor across the street had all her external decorations down by 10:30 am on December 26. (no, we do not keep close tabs on our neighbors, but this did catch our attention...)

I purchased three more highly decorative (green and red) plastic tubs from Meijer yesterday morning. I and ran across a sweet deal on small LIVE Christmas tree. Only $12.50. What a bargain. Now I need to decide where to plant it.

The green and red tubs continue to take over my great little shed in the back yard. If we keep it up at this pace, I will need a seperate shed for Christmas decoration tubs. Oh well.

So now what...I am off the rest of the week and do not return to work until January 2nd. Rett does not return to work until January 3rd I believe. I had four vacation days left. I try to save a few for this time of year since Rett is off work.

Today I think we are venturing to the big mecca of Indianapolis. There is always plenty to do over there. (Besides, I hate to stick around here because crusing around town reminds me of work...and I DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT WORK.) I think I have Rett convinced to attend the annual Indy Auto Show. We (or I) will drool for awhile over the new Jeeps and Jags then to the malls. We were extremely blessed and received many great gifts and gift cards (which is one of the reasons we are going to hit the malls).

Speaking of blessed, I read the book titled "A Waiting Child" about a three year old girl adopted from China and her desire to have a friend of hers find a home as well (I will not tell you how it ends so that you can read it and find out for yourself). The book was a real eye opener for me. The conditions of orphanages are described well. What got to me is how the older children have to learn survival of the fittest, have to compete for clothing, toys and etc... They have nothing...not even the clothes on their back are theirs. They literally have to be the early bird to get the best clothing.

We have so much JUNK. We do not need even a percentage of the crap that we work so hard to obtain. I know there are children in America (and other places) that have needs too. I was in line at Meijer this week (yes, we live just about 60 seconds from Meijer and do spend a lot of time and $$ there...) and overheard the check out lady telling a guy "....China, we have kids over here that need help." Thankfully Rett was not with me because I am sure she would not have bit her tounge like I did.

So with all of that said, I think my spending habits will change a bit regarding things that we really do not need. We are so lucky to have everything that we have and we forget that there are kids that would love to just have a family and could care less about all the gifts and possessions we focus our lives on to obtain.

Wow...that sounds kind of deep. Did that come from me? (There is some eye-opening literature out there besides the Auto Trader and Hot Rod Magazine I guess). Anyway, have a great week. I am sure the next post will come from Rett because my rambing postings are few and far between. I'll try to post a photo of the little Christmas tree that I purchased (I know you cannot wait...).

Merry Christmas

Third Day has a band member that is adopting from China as well. The following is the lyrics to one of their songs entitled, "Merry Christmas". Please take a moment to read it and then please pray for Abby and her birth mother.

There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for momma's arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
There the forgotten are

But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights
I'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,
Make angels in the snow

But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears
And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child
and we celebrate his perfect gift of love
He came to earth to give his life
and prepare a place for us
so we could have a home with him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep,
I'll hold you in my arms
And I'll tell you from my heart,
I wish you Merry Christmas

Let's CELEBRATE, I say!

• Today is Tony's 32nd birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's NOT excited about it and will KILL me when he sees that I actually put his age in here! Anyway, here's a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him! I love you Tony!

• Today is also our 6 month waiting anniversary on Abby! Only like 1, 245, 679 more months to go! WHOO HOO!

• Allyson also graduates from Ball State this weekend! CONGRATS to her for her hard work!

See, all good reasons to CELEBRATE!

What a weekend

We had one great southern weekend! Tony and I headed to Nashville, TN with my mom, dad, Renee, Ronnie, Robin, Duane, Randy, Kathy, and Jarrett. We had SO much fun! It was nice just being together and away from Richmond. We got to see family that are from those parts (hehe, that SOUNDS southern) and that made it even more special. We got to see cousins and their children that I hadn't seen in years! It was a fun time catching up.

We went to a great restaurant on Friday night called, "Cock on the Walk" and had fantastic food! I had the catfish YUM! The picture was taken in the lobby of the restaurant. They had tons of rocking chairs...even those that rocked left to right (TALK about sea sick!) Isn't the giant one a hoot?

We also had what friends of ours would call a hug from God this weekend. On the way down to Tennessee, I was thinking about how things will change (packing and traveling wise) when Abby comes home. I was just chatting with God about how it's SO hard to wait. How I wanted her with us NOW to be able to share with our extended family. I just asked Him to give me/us a sense of peace this weekend, and just enjoy the here and now.

Well, Saturday morning, we strolled down to the breakfast buffet that the hotel offered and what do you know? There was a family sitting near us that had two women that appeared to be sisters, one woman that appeared to be the grandma, a boy of about 16, and a beautiful little girl who looked to be from China. Well, after a 10 minute discussion w/ Tony about how I wanted to go and say something, and he thought I was nuts...I got brave, walked over, and said, "Is this beautiful girl your daughter? Or yours?" Her mom smiled and said, "Mine." I went on to explain we were a waiting family. They were SO nice! We learned that the little girl was named Calista and came home three years ago at 11 months old. She was SWEET...and LOVED Tony. Me, not so much.

So blah, blah, blah, we found out they were from Illinois and CHRISTIANS! That was very special. We spent about 20 minutes or more chatting and promised to pray for one another. When we left, I was bummed because I wanted to tell them Abby's name so they could pray for her by name. Then, fast forward to Sunday morning. We were running late, ran to the buffet again, and there they were!!! Calista immediately wanted to come over and say hello, so we chatted with them about their events from the night before. Then, I was able to tell them Abby's name and asked them to pray for her specifically. I promised to pray for Calista as well and I felt such joy and peace!!! God is SOOOO cool! It was just the hug we needed to top off our weekend.

Ok, I've rambled enough! Enjoy your week! Only 11 1/2 more days till Christmas break!! Is your shopping done yet????

TESTING....1.....2

Can you read me now?????

Good!

Now read the post below this one. It's titled, "Ahem..." It wasn't showing up..but now it is!!

ahem....

Ok all you lurkey turkeys....although I cannot believe you didn't post to tell us what you're thankful for, I'll let it slide. I just wanted to take a minute and share an email I received from a new friend and all around great person named April. We will ONE DAY travel together to pick up our daughters. I'm glad to have her on our support team!

I was feeling pretty down about a week and a half ago. I was in, what I'd call, a BAD baby funk. Our five month waiting anniversary was nearing, and instead of being excited, I just thought doom and gloom! Satan was saying, "Who cares about five months? Don't you get it? You'll be waiting for at LEAST two times that amount more!" and "Hahah, you this THIS will be your last childless holiday? Think again!" Man, that doubt got me going. I posted on our Yahoo group about my blahs and there they were to the rescue...April included. Here's what she wrote.

I felt so bad when you were bummed last week. I couldn't think of anything to say that didn't sound trite. So, I wanted you to know that God sees your pain. And, he does in fact answer prayer! Seek him Rett! Go to bat for all us waiting moms!!

I think waiting for ANYTHING is one of the hardest things ever. I had been dealing with an issue lately and I have read a ton of books to help me understand and to glean from their wisdom things that God has taught them. One thing, among a million, that stood out to me was , "God is more interested in changing me than he is in changing my circumstances." -Joyce Meyer. That is so hard. Ultimately, God cares about getting us ready for eternity, whatever that means:-) He wants to make us more like his son. But, as I have been reading and reading and reading books and my Bible. I am more convinced than ever about God's love for us- people. Over and over again in the Old Testament people did the most vile things and God would be ready to destroy them. Then, they would repent and he would reduce/change his punishment. He does the same thing for us. Rett, he loves you so much. He has plans for you, plans to prosper you and plans to give you a great future Jer 29:11. He is so proud of you that you want to love one of his children- an orphan. A little girl that you are going to introduce to the love of Jesus. You want to know why you are discouraged, because Satan is attacking you. Do you think he wants to see you joyful? No Way!! Do you want to know why? Because the joy of the Lord is our (your) strength. Nehemiah 8:10 When you are full of joy, you have the strength of the Lord. The other conclusion I come to is if you are depressed and miserable, you are weak. That is how Satan would like to keep you! Kick his butt, Rett!! You are so funny!

April help me put things in perspective. And I think some of her encouragement can trickle right down to you! The Joyce Meyer quote was the best. "God is more interested in changing me, than he is in changing my circumstances." Could this be true for you as well? Are you feeling kind of down about your situation? God hears your cries, sees your heart, and loves you totally. Just understand...He's all about changing YOU........NOT the situation you're in!

Have a great week everyone!

Gobble, Gobble!

Ok kids, Turkey Day is coming up! It's time to start thinking about our blessings!

So we've got an assignment for you, if you so choose to accept it. Just show us yours and we'll show you ours. Get your mind out of the gutter! We're talking about blessings!

It's simple. Just put what you're thankful for in the comments section. We'll add ours as you add yours. Get creative and be honest! It will do your heart some good and what's better than giving God praise?

Go ahead...be thankful...and tell us about it!

Happy early Gobble Day!!

Ladybugs and Referrals

Simply put, I have a great family. Here's an email I received from Kristy, my niece, earlier this week.

Rett,

I just thought I'd tell you that today in class, I was in my usual seat by the window when I look outside to see three ladybugs flying around the window right by me. Then, I looked by the ledge, and there was another one! Normally, I wouldn't really think about ladybugs all over, I mean, it's harvest and all, they're stirred up. But for some reason I believe they were put there to remind me of Abby and it was on my heart to pray for that beautiful girl we all are anticipating so much. So I did. And I just wanted you to know. I am thinking about your girl and I prayed SO much for her today. I can't wait to meet her.

Hope you're having a wonderful day! Ladybug hugs and kisses,
Kristy (aka Auntie Kiki, cuz you said I could be!)

Kristy was surprised to know that it is legend that when ladybugs are spotted, referrals follow soon after. The legend proved to be true! Referrals came out on Thursday. They got through 16 days of Log In Dates (LID'S) this month. (Last month they got through 18 days). That means we are still looking at a total of 14-15 months of waiting time. We have waited almost 5 months already, so IF THE CHINESE OFFICIALS keep up at this pace, we SHOULD receive our referral next September/October and travel 4-6 weeks after that. However, if we all band together and pound Heaven with some prayers, maybe we'll get to meet Abby sooner than that!!

Thanks for your prayers and love Kristy!!!

God is good...all the time, and all the time...God is good.

Under construction

We got a whim....ok, I got a whim...and decided it was time to start revamping Abby's closet. Now, mind you, we won't even be matched with our daughter for AT LEAST 10 more months, but, who cares? This makes us feel one step closer to her.

Tony was SO selfless and not only gave up his closet, he also assembled the system after the inside was repainted. WOW is all I have to say. As we began hanging her little dresses, skirts, jeans, and sweaters, it seemed even more real that one day a little girl would be living here. As you could have guessed, I got all choked up. But honestly, even Tony seemed a little reflective. It is just such a surreal feeling. Afterwards, he stood back and said, "That's a lot of clothes." I grinned, and he added, "But half of it is still empty." The way I see it, he gave me (and you) the green light to SHOP, SHOP, SHOP!

For those of you that live nearby, fully expect a tour of her closet on your next visit. For those who live afar, enjoy the pics. (I actually added a few more items after I had already snapped the pics. Man, this is FUN!--And I don't want ONE comment about the laundry we'll have to do with her!)

Also, we had a GREAT time getting to meet Morgan on Saturday, and getting to hear about Brian and Nancy's adventures in China. TALK ABOUT BEAUTIFUL! She is so cute!!! She is lucky to have such a wonderful family, and they're lucky to have such an adorable and spicy girl! (See previous posts about Morgan and the Williamson family)

Ladybug, ladybug....

A ladybug has been spotted! One of my students brought me the cutest and tiniest ladybug this morning. He found it in our classroom! I told him, "You know this is a sign of good luck, right?" He casually replied, "Yeah." It really made me smile. In the adoption community ladybug sightings are synonymous with incoming referrals. Lucky lucky mommies and daddies will be seeing their baby's face for the first time next week! (Typically, referrals come in toward the end of the month--around the 25th)

So here's to a little ladybug that brightened a teacher's day, a student's day, and foretold of great things to come!

(Thanks for the ladybug scissors Rachel! Abby will love them when she's old enough to use them!)