A weekend in Jersey

Shawn and I had the opportunity to drive up to New Jersey over the weekend to visit with his brother and family (who normally live in Kenya). They are home for a year and will be staying just outside of Philadelphia...which means we will have a chance to visit them a lot while they are here in the states! We haven't seen Jimmy, Steph, and the kids since we visited them about 3 years ago. We arrived on Friday afternoon and spent that day on the porch enjoying the unseasonably cool weather catching up on each others lives. (We don't talk too much on the phone when they are in Kenya, so everything is done through email...not the easiest way to share lots of info!) They had just dropped their oldest daughter off for her freshman year of college and their two boys (ages 16 and 14) talked with the adults until they got bored and started showing off their skateboarding skills. Then Jimmy and Shawn had to prove they still had it in them and decided to join the kids in the driveway. Needless to say the boys were much better and Shawn had a very sore bruised back to prove it!! Saturday we spent the day in Philly (a city I had never visited before) to take in all the famous sites...the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and a carriage ride around all the neighborhoods full of historic sites. I have to say the highlight for me, though, was eating a genuine Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich after waiting in a line that wound around the building. I guess that is how you know it is one of the best! Granted, I didn't order it right and it led the man at the grill to ask me where I was from...but it was still the best sandwich I have ever eaten in my life! (Apparently the correct way to order one is a "Cheesesteak Whiz" if you want one with cheese whiz [the normal cheese used on these sandwiches] and I said something like "a cheesesteak with just steak and cheese...whiz!) We ended the weekend with church on Sunday morning, hot dogs and mac-n-cheese for lunch (a tradition for Shawn and me) and a fun game of "Ticket to Ride" (a board game we got the family for Christmas). We had a wonderful time and are thrilled we will be able to see the family several more times before they go back to Kenya next summer.

Adoption Update!!

We received great news on Friday...on Wednesday, August 20th our dossier translation was completed and given to the orphanage! This means we are on the official list and are now officially waiting!! It is almost surreal to know that the Colombian adoption officials now have our name and information and know we are desiring to adopt a child from their country. We still have a long wait ahead of us (anywhere from 6-18 months), but it feels like it could happen any minute. We have some dossier documents that have to be updated every six months, but for now, I guess we get to do the fun stuff...like get the nursery ready!

Happy (belated) Anniversary to us!

Since August 14, 2008 (our 4th anniversary) was spent with Shawn at work and me having dinner with my parents and then watching the Olympics, I'm sure you will forgive the late post about our special day. We didn't really get to celebrate until this week when we spent the night at the Hilton at Virginia Beach (thanks mom and dad!) We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and spent the rest of the day at the rooftop pool. It was pretty windy and sometimes a little cold, but the hot tub felt really nice! We had a nice dinner and then enjoyed the concert in the park followed by a walk along the boardwalk eating our yummy ice cream cones. Thursday we spent lounging in the sand and sun at the beach. The water was really rough and the wind was still strong so neither of us ventured into the surf, but we had a great time reading and people watching. Our room was really nice, too, and we were able to keep the door to the balcony open almost all the time to enjoy the sound of the waves and the smell of the ocean breeze.

We (actually I!!) spend a lot of time reminiscing about our wedding day. Even though the weather was crummy from the remnants of Hurricane Charley, we made the most of it! I will always remember the memories we made on that August day and enjoy adding to them with the anniversary trips we try to take every year.

I also just had to include this picture. We also spent some time at the lake earlier this week and when we were pulling up the anchor...this is what came up with it. I totally freaked out and wouldn't go near all the "seaweed" (as I like to call it) and Shawn had to handle cleaning off the anchor and keeping the boat away from the shore all by himself!! I'm so much help on the boat:)

Watermelon Festival

There are many festivals in Richmond and it seems that most of them deal with food. Today happened to be the annual Watermelon Festival in Carytown, a local shopping district. After a nice lunch with some friends from church, we decided to take a break from our around-the-clock Olympic watching and get some fresh air while eating our fill of watermelon. Our good friends and their two kids came with us, too. The street was closed to traffic and there were tons of people walking around looking at the booths, eating the food, and listening to the bands along the way. The orgainzers were expecting over 100,000 people...and I would say they got at least that many! The watermelon was delicious and we all had a great time. I'm not sure this will become an annual event in our family, but it is always a way to kill some time on a Sunday afternoon in August if we are looking for something to do!