#8

Brian ran Grandma's Marathon in Duluth last weekend. It was his 8th marathon!! He has run at least 6 of those with his cousin Matt.


This event marks 1 year of blogging for me. It wasn't quite the year I was expecting but I'm still glad I stuck with the blog. It is a great alternative to scrap booking, less messy, less time consuming, less expensive and it takes up much less space. If you haven't started one you should and send me your link. I plan to keep going but for those of you following for adoption updates I'm sad to report this leg of our adoption journey is officially over. We decided to take some time to squirrel away some more money and get over some anger and trust issues before we take it out on an unsuspecting new agency.

In a nut shell here is our version of what happened. Our agency decided to end their Russia program. There were promises of helping families who had been with them as long as we have get a referral before they closed and transfer to a new agency. When we contacted the new agency we learned that this was just another lie to make us feel better. Instead we could transfer to the new agency, pay all the fees, redo all the paperwork and get in line behind their families (basically start over.) Therefore this seemed to be the appropriate time for us to step back and regroup. We are heartbroken for a Russian orphan still waiting for a family and are frustrated this process has to be so unpredictable.

Lake Shetek

Our first camping trip of the season was lots of fun! We went to Lake Shetek State Park in Southwest Minnesota with Naty, Jared and kids.
We played some games. I bet you can't tell who won.
We hiked to an Island
where we climbed a tree
and got piggy back rides from Uncle Bri.
We relaxed and ate lots of good food around the fire including....

We hiked/scooted a long way
and took lots of rest stops
but finally made it on the dam tour.
There was a pretty impressive sandcastle
complete with landscaping.
Some of us were silly in the camper

and got a little dirty, no matter how hard we tried not to.
We were all happy campers until
we noticed Jared's leg was on fire.

My Baby Bro is 25!

Jeff came home to celebrate his birthday with a family hibachi dinner. We had dessert at Cafe Latte. In case you have forgotten their Classic Vanilla Cheesecake is worth every single calorie. Happy Birthday Jeff I hope 25 is your best year yet!

Good Neighbor Days

Brian was chosen to bring Olivia on some rides at our local fair. We decided he was least likely to toss his cheese curds.

Hobos

Meat, potatoes and vegies wrapped in tinfoil and cooked over a fire (hobo dinners) are a summertime favorite for Brian and me. We had fun making them with the fam on First Thursday.


After dinner we sat around the fire, did a little fishing, and enjoyed a late night sunset. Now that is what summer evenings are made for!

Movie Night

OUTSIDE

Birthday Blues

Usually I love my birthday so I was caught off guard this year with my first ever bout of birthday blues. It might have been because I had to get up bright and early to treat myself to a tranny flush (hee-hee) since Valvoline thought it would be a good idea to dump 4 quarts of engine oil(?) in my transmission. Even after 3 mechanics diagnosed the same problem and assured me there is no way for that much fluid to get in my transmission without someone putting it there, Valvoline has denied they did anything wrong, hence my birthday gift (Grr!)

It's official, The Cradle ended their Russia program and we are left to start all over. So I spent the morning packing our spare room closet which was full of clothes, toys, and other odds and ends that had been handed down to us for our potential child. I know you are probably wondering why I would choose to do this on my birthday? It was poor planning on my part, Maren moved in for a couple weeks (fun!) the day after my birthday so it had to be done. The whole time I kept thinking I will probably be able to forgive The Cradle for backing out of our contract, I might even be able to forgive them for the large portion of our life savings we lost, but causing me sadness on my birthday might be unforgivable.

Enough with the pity party!! I headed to my happy place - Target. And before you feel really sorry for me, more people did join me for my birthday dinner. Nothing like family, Thai food, presents and wine to cheer this girl up!

Thank God we only get older once a year!