Happy Thanksgiving

Happy thanksgiving everyone. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Christmas, but it is more for the kids and I love watching them get so excited. Thanksgiving is not only a time to reflect on what we are thankful for, but has an extra special meaning to me. It was the only holiday that we were able to celebrate with Killian and for that reason I believe that Thanksgiving will always be my favorite holiday. We all have things to be thankful for, even the challenges that we face. Life is short and unpredictable, and we all need to remember to be thankful for the beauty and love in our lives.

And not to forget the little girl waiting for us in China... below is the word thankful in Chinese.

Happy halloween!

Another holiday without Mia was pretty disappointing for all of us... but we still managed to have a lot of fun!

We carved pumpkins....

And went trick or treating 2 times! Matt had a balst at his sister's house, scaring the teenagers... it was quite a production they were putting on! Chainsaw and all! Jacob told me that next year he wants to put the "fro" on Mia! The torment of the younger sister is starting already and she isn't even here yet!

We still have no travel dates.... very disappointing. :( We were hoping to have her at the end of the month. We'll just have to wait for notification from China... i just wish they would hurry up!

Jacob is 11! Where does the time go?!?

Well last weekend was quite a birthday bash for Jacob (and exhausting for his parents). Matt joked the entire weekend that it's a birthDAY not a birthWEEKEND, but he is good humored about my partying! The boys had a long weekend for Columbus day so we had 4 friends sleep over on Thursday night. They were all well behaved, got along well, but oh my the house took a toll that night! There was alot of eating junk food, candy, trampoline jumping and of course nerf gun wars!

On Saturday, we had a cookout with family and later a bonfire. Jacob was collecting money to buy himself a DSi, and whaddya know a little birdy told his Aunt Zan and Uncle Jimmy he was saving for one and they got it for him! He was so surprised and happy!

Sunday was his actual birthday, so we gave him our gifts in the morning. Jacob really wanted a bb gun and some wii games! He gave his thank you hugs all around for the gifts! He spent very little of the money he collected for the DSi, just some more video games and drawing supplies.

Overall it was a successful birthday weekend.... happy 11th Jacob!

Happy 7th

"I have realized that we never 'have' children, we receive them. And sometimes it's not for quite as long as we would have expected or hoped. But it is sill better than never having those children at all"- Jodi Picoult

Happy 7th baby

Update on Mia!!!!

We just got an update on Mia with pictures! She is 2 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 24.2 pounds! For the docs in the family who are reading this her head is 47cm.; chest 51 cm; 20 teeth; and her foot is 14cm. She has cynosis and cannot do vigorous activities. Her language development is fine.

She has lost some weight, which is concerning, but not suprising with her heart condition and with her being institutionalized. We think that she is beautiful and cannot wait to get her home!

Summer catch up

Well first I will post about our adoption process with Mia. We have recieved our LOA for her, which for those of you not in the adoption prcocess is a letter that states that China acceepts us adopting her and we sign stating that we want to continue. Next stop... travel dates!!! We are dying to get her and to know when we will be traveling, so keep your fingers crossed for us!

This summer has been busy. The boys were totally bummed that we did not go to the beach this year, but we were not comfortable setting up a vacation, when we were hoping to be in China!!! Anyway, we got them a pool for the back yard. They love it and it paid itself off after the first week we had it. They swim everyday. I enjoy that they enjoy it too, but keeping the water clear has been a challenge for me. We filled it from the outside tap, which is well water, and it has been a battle all summer. Most of the time it's cloudy and then occastionally will turn brown, green, or yellow! I am the daughter of a chemical engineer, but that gene did not come down the pike to me.

We also went to Kennywood and Idlewild amusement parks. The boys had a wonderful time on both of those trips!

Motocross racing is always a constant for the boys. The boys did well this summer. Competiton is always stiff at these events, but they love doing it and really enjoy the sport.

Our next post will hopefull be the post that we have the dates that we will be going to china and will have our beautiful daughter Mia in our arms!

Catching up

Well, things have been pretty busy around here at the Vogel house. First I will update everyone about Mia. Our paperwork has Hillary Clinton's official stamp of approval on it and we will be getting it back on Monday and then it goes to CHINA!!!! We are so excited and hope that they process everything and invite us to come get her soon! We cannot wait to bring her home!

May is always a busy month at our house... Logan turned 8! I really can't believe it... it seems like just yesterday that I was bringing him home from the hospital. I'm sure it's a moment you never forget and when he turns 18 I will probably think the same thing. All that Logan wanted for his birthday was a hippity hop and a hamster or guinea pig. We strung him along for several weeks, telling him that I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to get him one. So we had his guinea pig ready when he came home from school on Friday and he was so excited!

Then it was a party with some of his friends at the house. A slip n slide, pinata, and water balloon toss went over well with all of the boys! Logan had a wonderful time with Jacob, his friends, and his cousin Nick!

The boys have only been able to race one motocross race because it rains every weekend! They have been disappointed, but I'm sure we will have several races in a row because of all the cancellations and we will keep everyone updated on their progress. During the first race they both placed 3rd, so they were happy about that! We are also proud of Jacob because he received the citizenship award, an award only given to one 4th grader! So proud of him. I'm sure the summer will bring more adventures for us and we will keep everyone posted on our journey to Mia.