Long overdue updates

Well, Gary and I have certainly been busy this summer and it has been a long time since either of us had time to update our blog.

Our summer began with working on our Home Study for our adoption.  We got all of the paperwork completed and had a whirlwind of interviews. It was completed in mid June.

Gary and I decided that as soon as our Home Study was completed that we would begin to apply for grants.  We had done our research and new that we couldn't apply for grants until our home study was completed or until we were connected with a birth mother.  We had waited so long already, we felt we had a little time to apply for grants.

Of course, our summer was a whirlwind of activity!! June with my sister and my mom visiting and then Mama Peggy, Stacey, Ryan and Anna visiting. Then, June was over.

Black Hat 2012 Conference @ Caesars Palace 

In comes July, we wanted to take a break and get away.  Gary had training in Vegas for work so I decided to go along to get to know the "other wives" that were married to the other guys on Gary's team.  I was glad I went.  I had a hard time at first relaxing because everything was still on my mind, but I needed (we both needed) to relax a little and rejuvenate for the next leg of our journey.  I began to enjoy myself - the pool at Caesar's Palace was wonderful!!

Little did we know that our journey was about to take a turn --fast.  On the third day of Gary's classes and my relaxing, we got a phone call.  I was walking across the busy street seeing some sights of Vegas and Gary was in class.  It was his lunch time and he got a phone call.  It was Sue, our adoption coordinator.  She told us we were CHOSEN by a birth mother.  I immediately began to cry and the only thing I could say to Gary was, "What?" I was so happy, but a new flood of emotions came in.  Worry was at the top of the list.

So, with the end of July came a new part of our journey.  We began to prepare.  Our first preparation was to make a whirlwind trip to Chicago.  We DROVE!! Gary saw it as a ROAD TRIP and was excited to see a part of the country we had never seen.  I saw 14 hours in the car.

Awesome Chicago Deep Dish Pizza!

See the next post for details.....