McIlravy's

Johnny Cash vs. The McIlravy's

2011-10-31T21:09:00.011-05:00

There's that song by Johnny Cash, "I've Been Everywhere Man". I think we have him beat. It feels like we have been everywhere! Don't worry I won't break into song.

August was crazy. We went to visit Granny and Papaw in Minnesota which included side trips to Oma's and Great Grandma and Grandpa's house. There were tractor rides (thanks Loren), there was airplane flying (thanks Merlyn), there was semi-truck driving (at least pretend, thanks Ed!), movies were watched in the Granny Vanny, kids of all ages were spoiled. It was crazy.

Then it was off to Omaha with Marisa's family. We did Valentino's buffett, swimming, the children's museum (highly recommend this, it's contained educational chaos!), more swimming, flooded the hot tub (not entirely our fault) and Misha fell out of bed!

Next, I know you have all been waiting for this! GOOSE HUNTING OPENER! I know! The excitement was probably killing you. So it was back to Minnesota where cranky mama (Marisa) put a hault on the "side trips" (she was tired of competing with Johnny). Both of the boys got to "hunt" with Papaw and Papa. Good time was had by all. Marisa and Twilla went on a cooking marathon which produced freezer meals of breakfast burritos, turkey hotdish, chicken hotdish, lasagna and chicken enchiladas...both Twilla's and Marisa's freezers!

Jason made a couple quick trips to the Quad Cities and Waterloo for work. Marisa jumped on a jet plane and headed for India. No I did not mean Indiana, I meant India. It was great! The people are so amazingly nice. It made Marisa think that we American's treat our guests horribly. She ate the whole trip everything from pastries, pasta, crepes, satay's, Indian food, twisted mac n' cheese, Pizza Hut, Indian sweets, cereal, brats...everything! The work part of the trip was good too. Marisa loved meeting the teams that she's been working with for years. They seemed to like having her there because they asked when she was coming back (january...shhh).

Meanwhile, Jason called in re-enforcements, our underpaid nanny. She goes by the name Granny. The kids and Jason loved having her at the house. Granny and the kids played, made cookies, ate cookies, played some more. Granny also helped out with food prep, cleaning, grocery shopping and who knows what else I'm forgetting.

AND THEN....it was DEER SEASON! I know, you thought that goose opener was exciting. Holy cats hang onto your hat. Deer season is here! Jason has a bow this year. So we have switched from giant chunks of metal to thin sticks of wood as our method of attack...not sure on the logic of that but we will see how the season progress's.

With Deer season came our first trip to Urgent Care! Marisa always thought her first trip there would be for one of the younger boys....no, it was Jason. Covered in spots from head to toe! The happy part of this is when you are covered in spots, all those coughing, sneezing, oozing people in Urgen care don't want to sit next to you. Have no fear, it was just a reaction to some medication he was on. A few days of steriods and no sleep and he was almost as good as new.

Deer season also took us out to the farm to see Grandma and Grandpa. We got to ride in the tractor, the ranger and the combine (thank you Gerald!). Misha, who is always observant, noted that a cow would not fit through the combine. Not that we tried. He just decided a cow was too big.

And THEN was our first Halloween. We partied all weekend. Marisa's office had a family Halloween event on Friday, firemen and police department had a festival on Saturday, Night Eyes at the Zoo was Saturday, Sunday was a fall festival at the church and since we live in Iowa it was Beggar's night (Marisa still thinks all trick or treating should be done on Halloween). So it was a full weekend of costumes and candy. Misha declared himself Bob the Builder for the weekend and Alik was frequently referred to as Spidy.

Next Stop! Trains and reptiles...

Where does the time go?!

2011-07-13T12:27:00.012-05:00

I had the privelege (yes it was a privelege Laura) of sitting next to our friend Luara in class a couple weeks back (ok, so it was like a month ago). One of the first things out of Laura's mouth was "When are you going to update your blog?!". So yet again my motivation for updating is someone chewing me out for my delinquency. By the way it was one of the best classes ever and at least half of that was due to Laura being in class with me. Thanks for making it a great day!

We are good...actually phenomenal.

Alik turned 6 in July. We had a small celebration with friends and family. There was a water fight/sprinklers in the backyard. No one was hurt but several innocent bystanders ended up wet. We had cupcake ice cream cones (thanks for the idea Justin!). The kids (big and small) love them. I even saw one kid liking the cupcake like it was an actual ice cream cone. Alik received wonderful gifts. Many themed around Spiderman who he loves. Actually almost any super hereo is on the "amazing" list right now. Granny, he "lived" in his Spiderman costume the following day.

Alik is getting ready for school. He is super excited to start school and to ride the bus. We are hoping his excitement for school does not fade to quickly. Since all his school prep previously was in Russian, he is worked with a tutor 3 times a week to help ensure that he does not start kindergarten behind everyone else. Other then that he spends his days playing at Lindsey's. He likes the other kids there and enjoys playing with all her cool toys. We think he has some Grandma Van Hal in him (Marisa's grandma). Today he asked if he could wash the basement. I'll let your imagination run with how that would work (sprinkler and hose?). Since we were already working on the vehicles he got to vacuum the truck instead, which he loved.

Misha. Holy cow. The kid can eat. But he has not gained any weight! He's shot up an inch though....but his 2T shorts still are loose...they are just a little short (not quite 80's style). He insists that he is turning 6 next and will be going to school soon. We hope these two do not loose their enthusiasm for school....Marisa wishes that she had that level of enthusiasm for school.

Jason bought a bow this spring. He practices at least 2 or 3 times a week. Hopefully our freezer will be full of venison again this winter thanks to him. His new job (still with Deere) is going well and he is enjoying it. He's staying busy and seems to always have 2 shadows....which he loves! Wood working projects have slowed down, although there is a butcher block top that he's going to strip of it's finish so we can use it for meat processing.

Marisa is keeping all of her boys moving in the right direction. Menus, grocery lists, to do lists, food prep, laundry, doctor runs, etc.... Dont' get us wrong super hubby is doing a lot of that too. Marisa is back in school and has finished her first semester back. Looks like she'll pass her class. After a short break she'll start in on the next one. Work is going well for her. Sometimes on the hectic side but she still enjoys it.

It feels like we have been everywhere this summer. Both grandparents, Cananda, Iowa State Fair (where Misha just wanted to see the chickens...I couldn't make that up if I tried), library, tractor rides, inside semi cabs and trailers (thanks Ed!), Oma's, Grandma Van Hals', flying wooden planes with uncle Merlyn, Henry Doorly Zoo, Blank Park Zoo, Costco (we love the samples), doctors, dentists, Como Park Zoo....you name it we've probably been there.

We're busy little bees.....but we're loving every minute of it!!!

Where did the months go?!!

2011-05-09T21:30:00.005-05:00

You can thank Julie for this update! I got a single line email from her. It said "Update your blog". I took the hint and here I am....We have been a busy household with much laughter. I think updates should be done oldest to youngest (since it was just Jason's birthday!)

Jason got a new job within John Deere. He is now a Regional Business Process Integrator. Don't worry, I don't know what that means either and I work for the same company. Jason is doing great at work. Currently he is in Waterloo for 3 weeks for some type of testing (they are testing software, not Jason). He's done a couple small projects around the house to help us out with various things. A shelf in the basement, small box for all those tiny forks and spoons, yard work and most recently we did some landscaping. We're not the pros that Justin is but we think we did ok. There's pix in the new Picasa album of our handy work.

Marisa is working hard to keep all her boys, fed, bathed, clothed and heading in the right direction. Organization is her strong point and with all these boys, heaven only knows she needs it! Work is going well. She is now the product owner for StellarSupport.com which is a customer facing website for her Deere. A lot of the same work but a different description. Marisa will be starting school again in June and is looking forward to finishing up her degree (even though it will be years).

Alik is doing great. He is getting into the rhythm of when we go to daycare and when we get to stay home and play with mom and dad. Alik has some interesting theories on life but we try to steer him in the right direction when possible. He LOVES spiderman and for about 4 weeks he could be found in the spiderman costume at Daycare. He got to go to kindergarten round up for 2 hours last week and absolutely loved it! This is huge and we pray and hope his enthusiasm does not fade quickly. Alik loves to help and "help" mom and dad as much as he can. He is always learning new things.

Misha is also doing great. He loves riding in the car. Does not matter where we go. If we are on the move, he is happy. He sleeps with his stuffed chicken every night...I wonder if this is why he doesn't like chicken for supper.... Misha is picking up the language quickly. Of course being the little monkey that he is, he wants to do everything big brother is doing!

We spent Easter in Omaha with part of the McIlravy clan (missed you Matt and Ash!!). Spent a great time at the zoo and swimming in the hotel pool. The boys made progress in their swimming efforts and I'm sure we will have a pair of little fish on our hands soon.

Uncle John and Aunt Cathy stopped on the way back to Indiania. The kids LOVED them and we loved having them here. I only hope that John and Cathy didn't need a vacation from their visit to the McIlravy house!

We had a doggie break through over the weekend. We all co-existed in the backyard! By the end of Sunday, Misha was chasing Brutus around the yard! It was great to see him start to interact more with the dogs and even try to steal their doggie bones away!

Well this tired mommy better head to bed! Good-night everyone!

One month in....

2011-02-24T18:48:00.009-06:00

January 22nd is when we arrived home and welcomed Alik and Misha to the US as citizens! Since then we have been busy, busy, busy!

The boys seem happy and the doc has declared them healthy! So we are feeling great. Alik has a little bit of low iron but we are getting that under control. From looking at him and all of his energy you would never guess it!

Marisa is staying home with the boys for about another month. She is working part time from home during the morning and late afternoon evenings. ALL of her co-workers at Deere have been very understanding and helpful during this very important family time. Some days for her are longer then others but they are filled with laughter, great moments and the occasional set of tears.

The kids are exploring everything. Testing boundaries and having boundaries set. They have a good schedule that they follow and know exactly what they need to do everyday. They have seen many new things in the last month. They love riding in the car or truck. Alik is a big helper in the grocery store and around the house with various chores. Misha loves to play and help with sweeping the floor and doing laundry! We hope the laundry thing isn't just a phase!

So far we have been to the doctor, which was a little traumatic for everyone since it was so long and there was blood work and shots and poking and proding... Alik watched Jason get his teeth cleaned and thought that was pretty cool. They both know how to say Walmart and Fareway.

We spent a day at Grandpa and Grandma's farm. The boys and grandparents played hard. Grandpa was asleep at the supper table the boys fell asleep quickly in the truck on the way home. They got tractor rides, saw the cows, pet the kitties, played in the snow and ate everything mom and dad would let them! Jason and Marisa got to spend a little time hunting for shed antlers but came up emty handed. Today was a trip to the vets office. I'm not sure if they were more curious about the "dog doctor" or the cat drinking out of the toilet!

Marisa is trying her hardest to teach them a love of cooking/baking. So far they have made sugar cookies, whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (ironically they had a cup of crisco in them), pigs in a blanket, banana nut rolls, helped put the rub on ribs for the smoker and today Misha helped her stir up the beans for the smoker.

Both have "helped" papa in the shop building things. This usually consists of sitting on the workbench with eye and ear protection and a hammer in hand, while Jason slaves away. They also helped papa plant the start of the garden. Since we have a hard time explaining that it will be months before a tomato arrives the boys usually check the tomato plants every day and sadly say no tomatoes. They have now started saying "many many many many din"(days) until we have tomatoes.

Food is hit and miss. I'm guessing this is common for kids. One day they tell you it is tasty and the next day they wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole. Oh well, we keep giving them new things. However, by far their favorite is probably hot dogs. Much to Marisa's dismay they have not picked up her love of Chinese food.

Thanks again for all those that are praying for us. We greatly appreciate it. We will try to get better about posting updates. The first month was a little busy to say the least. As we tell the kids each night "Dobre Noche!"

God Provides...

2011-01-25T12:38:00.005-06:00

Sometimes it is in the form of money (thanks to those who contributed in the cause)
Sometimes it is in the form of clothes (thanks Peter & Wes)
Sometimes it is in the form of a bucket of chips ahoa and a good magazine (thanks Louann)
Sometimes it is in the form of chocolate on your birthday (thanks Sveta)
Sometimes it is in the form of making all your flights (thank God we left Moscow on time)
Sometimes it is in the form of snowpants (thanks Wes)
Sometimes it is in the form of a Danenhauer (Thanks Danehauers!).....

Maybe I should explain that one. My friends Brian and Julie Danenhauer just happened to be on the same flight from Atlanta to Des Monies. After 11 hours on a plane with a 3 & 5 year old, granny and I were a little spent. Julie and Brian were well rested and played with the kids for 2 hours in the airport. Then granny and I were having problems getting seats on the plane. Julie and Brian voluntarily gave up their seats, so our family could go home!!!

We are all home, safe and sound. There was a bombing yesterday in Moscow at one of the airports. It was not the airport we traveled through on this trip but thankfully it was not an issue since God brought us home on schedule.

We are "adjusting". There's some screaming, crying, laughing and curious stares....the kids have done all of that too.

I posted a link on the left to some pictures. Alik Stefan McIlravy is 5. Mikhail (AKA Misha) Garrett McIlravy is 3. If you see a pic with a bruise on his nose, some little girl in his home wacked him over the head with a toy....he had to learn sometime to watch out for girls.

The doc in Moscow said the only thing we have to worry about for Alik is when the girls discover him. And for Misha, he is the next drama king. His exact words "George Clooney watch out".

Thanks again for all of you who have lifted us up in prayer. It is greatly appreciated.

They're almost home....

2011-01-21T17:07:00.005-06:00

I'll get you all up to date a little bit.....
Marisa and Alina went to the US Embassy to drop off paperwork and get an interview set up. You have to be there between 10 and 11 am to set up the interview(hopefully for the next day.) Traffic is Moscow is somewhat unpredictable and generally quite busy. The normal 90 minute drive took 3 hours. They went as far as they could by car, then got out and ran to the train station, then ran from the train station to the Embassy and they were.... Late. She said the wonerful lady let them schedule the appt anyway for Friday morning at 11:30 am.

Marisa said the US Embassy Interview on Friday has been the easiest part of the process thus far. To quote Marisa.
"Pay this lady, hand the receipt to another lady. Dude says raise your right hand, is all this stuff acurate to your knowledge. Yep. k. sign here. Sign here. read the doctor's note. Do you understand. yep. k. can we change the medical to yes since there's a doctor's note. Sure. K. here's your visas. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE OPEN THE ENVELOPE!
Done"
Marisa will probably want to kill me for for posting that, but those of you who know her well will appreciate it and know it sound's exactly like her.
Everyone will head for the airport at 8:45 am Moscow time(roughly 12am Iowa time) and arrive in Des Moines about 11pm Iowa time. A friend from college works at the airport and offered to take me in to the gate to meet them when they got off the plane. I had no idea that was still possible.
We're excited to be closing out one part of our journey and getting started on a new part of it.
We know that we'll have many more adventures as we move forward as a family. This process has certainly helped prepare us for whatever trials lie ahead. Thank you for all who have been praying for us through this process.
As soon as they're in Atlanta, I can post a few pics(if I remember how.....)

What Day Is It......

2011-01-18T01:05:00.002-06:00

Seriously, I'm so messed up on my days. I was awake at 4:30 this morning. The boys were sounds asleep. I'm not sure how long granny slept either.

The boys have been good. We've had a few meltdowns (the boys not granny and I) but that is to be expected. So much is changing in their little worlds and boundaries are being tested. We'll get through it.

Yesterday was all play time. Today Granny and the boys played in the bounce area at city mall while I had the joy of doing paperwork. That's ok. Granny is a rock star with them and enjoys spending time with them.

I get more paperwork tonight while they are in the bath, which they love to be. Granny might get a little soaked but she'll survive.

Any who, the natives are getting restless so I think it's time to go outside.

Thanks to all those that are praying for our journey.
Thank you God for putting the right random english speaking people in our path at the airport. not sure how we would have found out where we were supposed to be when.

Later everybody!

Mom and Granny made it to Sakalin

2011-01-16T18:22:00.002-06:00

After a looooooooong trip, the girls made it to Sakalin. I dont' know exactly what time they got in, but it was roughly 50 hours from the drop off at the Des Moines airport until they got into Yuzno-Sakalin.
I haven't heard the exact details, but apherently they were within about 5 minute of landing when they veered off and went to Khabarovsk because ground conditions were too bad to land in Yuzno. Khabarovsk is about 30 miles from China, in part of Mongolia. So now they've been to both Mongolia and Siberia in this trek.
The boys were already asleep when they got in so Svetlana kept them overnight. They were able to get a good nights rest and a shower.
The rest of the trip lays out kind of like this. Monday and Tuesday, getting some paperwork in Yuzno and filling out the rest of the documents needed in Moscow.
Wednesday midday they'll go to Moscow. The boys will have medical exams on Wednesday evening. Thursday morning they'll drop off paperwork and get an appointment at the US embassy. Then Friday hopefully should be the interview at the embassy. Saturday they shoudl head for home.
They'll arrive late Saturday night.

Russia bound

2011-01-14T11:57:00.003-06:00

I dropped Marisa and Twilla off ot the airport Friday morning. They go Des Moines to Atlanta to Moscow to Sakalin. It's Saturday morning and I just got a note from Marisa that they made it to Moscow. They were a little late b/c of mechanical problems in Atlanta, but they had a 7 hr layover in Moscow anyway. They're trying to catch a little shuteye before heading on to Sakalin.

Praise

2011-01-10T21:03:00.002-06:00

So we are always posting prayer requests. Thought maybe it was time to post some praise and kuddos to those that have helped us along the way.
1. First and foremost, God for taking care of us through this whole process.
2. All those out there that have prayed for us.
3. The marvelous lady at the Air Canada desk that got us to Chicago on the way home.
4. Our drivers in Moscow (Kate and Alexsandra), we have no idea how you ladies do it and appreciate your skills.
5. Aaron for the phone call on Christms day. It was great to hear a friendly voice.
6. Wes for driving us to the airport.
7. The gate agent in Chicago who said we got MEAL and hotel vouchers...this was after 48 hours of barely eating anything.
8. The Judge saying YES!
9. Our host and interpreter in Russia. She is fabulous and really cares for the kids and the families she is helping.
10. The nice airline guy in the Moscow airport, that WOULD answer our questions.
11. The awesome co-worker who gave us 7 garbage bags of clothes!!!
12. Julie for all the research and advice on toys, carseats, booster seats and everything else kid related.
13. Chris the snowplow man for taking care of the driveway.

Thanks everyone for your support and help. We appreciate it all!

We made it home

2010-12-31T08:07:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that's been following us that we made it safely home.
We headed for the airport in Sakalin at 1:00 am on the 29th and got to Chicago at about 10:30pm on the 29th. With 16 hours of time zones, that's 37.5 hours of travel. We missed the connection to Des Moines and the airline put us up in a Hotel and gave us food vouchers in Chicago. Our flight on the 30th got cancelled, so we rented a car and drove back to DSM as it was faster than waiting around for the evening flight.
Marisa and Twilla will be traveling back to Sakalin around January 15th to pick up the kids.
Lots to catch up on and get back to normal here before going back to wrok on Jan 3rd.
Thanks for all of your continued prayers.

New Parent's

2010-12-27T18:51:00.003-06:00

The Judge granted the adoption this morning. We spent 7.5 hours in court over two days.
We're very estatic about this. The announcement was followed by some tears and many hugs and congratulations.
Our flight from Sakalin to Moscow is delayed for a few hours, but we should still make our connection at the other Moscow airport. Domedovo was without power yesterday, but flights should be catching up by the time we're there tommorrowish.

Marisa and Granny should be able to come back in Mid January to pick the boys up.
Even though we had to spend Christmas away from our families, we are so happy to have just added to our family and given two little boys a forever family.

Merry Christmas to All!

2010-12-24T17:52:00.004-06:00

Merry Christmas Everyone! Even though we are far away from our family and friends this Christmas season, we wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! We hope each of you remembers what it is that we truly celebrate at this time of year. Wishing you aj oyous holiday season!

We had to say good-bye to the boys a couple days ago. It was a sad moment but we made it through it. We have been hanging out in the hotel and making daily trips to the market to try out the various salads that they have for sale there.

Russian celebrates Christmas on January 6th, so today here is just like any other day. We have talked to our host and we will be going up the mountain for a festival. I believe they are celbrating 50 years of the ski area. It will be a good time and we are excited to spend some time outside of the hotel.

We love you all and wish you the best! Have a great Christmas day with family and friends!

One more day....

2010-12-20T14:59:00.010-06:00

We only get one more day with the boys. We have had a great time with them.

We are still planning on our court date for Dec 27th. We're more and more sure that it will happen then. We have begun the process to change our tickets out of Moscow for the 29th.(we are told that flights are already completely full on the 29th, so we will have to see when we'll be able to get home)

Please pray that this(court) will all happen as planned as changing our flight tickets continues to be quite expensive.

We continue to be able to spend a lot of time with the boys, they begin to go a little stir crazy in the hotel room with 4 toy cars, animal magnets, two coloring books and a bag of bendaroos (thanks Julie!) and a language barrier. It really is amazing that we have had as few meltdowns as we have. They have a cry and get lots of love and hugs and are back to playing. Alik always wants to look at pictures on the camera after he has had a cry.

Today we also played with the adult size robes, a 4 liter water bottle, and then the genius idea of bath time for a couple of boys who normally only get a sponge bath. A bathtub with three empty water bottles = two VERY happy little boys. They were prunes but did not want to get out of the tub. We got Alik to close his eyes when we washed his hair, Misha didn't want to, but even with limited verbal communication skills, we were able to get Alik to help show/tell Misha how to close his eyes.

Yesterday and today we went to a mall here that has a play area for the kids. They thouroughly enjoyed that time and were able to work out plenty of energy.

We got snow here yesterday. Clearing the roads and sidewalks is nothing like at home. The sidewalks stay pretty slick and coated in a layer of ice.

Tommorrow will be our hardest day as we have to say goodbye (hopefully only for a couple of weeks).

We will miss Christmas with our families, but our family and friends are in our thoughts and prayers as we go through this unique Christmas season.

Merry Christmas.

Live from Russia!

2010-12-17T23:11:00.003-06:00

It has been an amazing trip so far! It took us 4 planes and 16 time zones to get here but we made it.

The highlight of our trip so far? The time we have gotten to spend with the boys. We have played inside. Gone for walks outside. Shared meals. Saw a puppet show (that we didn't understand) and I think we are going to the tree lighting and fireworks tonight. They have grown a ton and the younger boy's personality has developed and grown a ton in the last 9 months (yes it has been that long!). We thank God each day for the time we get to spend with them.

Our host here is phenominal. She knows everyone and seems to know about all the places that we can take the boys so they are not stuck inside all day.

We know we keep putting out prayer requests, so maybe it is time to list some blessings...first, the two boys! Second, the boys were able to come to Yuzhno, this saved us a train trip and they are able to expeirence the city. Third, our wonderful host, she is a big blessing to us and all families that she helps with adoption.

Thanks again for all of your prayers it is much appreciated. Along those lines....we heard today that our friends Rob and Ami's adoption has been delayed. They were supposed to leave in the next couple of days to pick up their 9 month old son from Ethiopia, however, there has been a delay and they do not know if it will be a couple days or months. They have met Ricky and speaking from experience, waiting for that return trip can be challenging (to say the least). Please remember them in your in prayers.

From Russia with Love!

By God's grace, we are in Sahkalin.

2010-12-15T10:35:00.007-06:00

The events of the last few days have certainly allowed us to see God's hands working in a way that we weren't prepared for.

We left Satuday morning out of Des Moines and through Chicago.

All of you who live in the midwest know what happened on Saturday/Sunday with the weather.

As we were finishing breatfast and waiting for our ride to the airport, it started snowing, HARD. The ground was white in minutes. We were at the airport in plenty of time and ended up running into some folks that Marisa works with. They were on the same flight to Chicago and then on to Finland. We spent some time with them in DM and then were able to have lunch with them in Chicago. One of them was even so kind to buy us lunch, completely unexpected, but very much appreciated.

We got out of Chicago about 45 minutes late, They had some last minute checks to do on the airplane to insure our safety. There were 1300+ flights cancelled out of Chicago on this day, so we felt quite fortunate to be able to get out when we did.

We missed our connecting flight in Frankfurt but were able to get on another flight to Moscow about 3 hours later. We were even able to track down our Russian contact to let them know that we'd be late.

Got to Moscow and through customs without issue. We waited forever for our luggage to come out and were beginning to worry that it may have gotten lost. I suspect it was some of the first put onto the plane in Frankfurt and some of the last off.

We met our translator and driver and off we went for the hotel. One thing that we weren't quite prepared for was the traffic in Moscow. It was roughly 1.5 hours to get to our hotel. Traffic was pretty bad, especially for a Sunday night. It was really interesting seeing the parking arangements on Monday. Double parking EVERYWHERE, right in a lane of traffic, which is part of the reason there is such a traffic problem.

We got through the medical exam in two days. The doctors were very busy so it took longer then expected.

Monday night we we went to a walking street just a few blocks from our hotel to find something to eat. We ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe, Moscow, not what we expected to find, but figured we would take the opportunity to eat there.

We tried to buy a bottle of water on the way back to the hotel, and gave the lady 1000 Rubles(about $33). She said something in Russian that we didn't understand and then said "small" That was the smallest we had. She shook her head no and off we went without our water. Our translator said this was common, but she argues with them and tells them Money is Money.... no matter what size it is.... our russian language skills are not that good......

Tuesday afternoon was a bit of a mad dash to finish up some paperwork, get checked out of the hotel, and to the airport. With the very able assistance of Anna, our translator, we were able to get through everything and out on our flight to Sahkalin.

Svetlana was soo exicted to see us and we were excited to see her as well.

We heard a little about the plans for the next few days. The boys will be coming here and staying at the same hotel as we are in for several days. We will get to see them significantly more than we had anticipated. Svetlana tells us that Mikhail has grown significantly(what 3 year old doesn't in a 9 month span?) and that Alik is excited to be with his brother now(they are in the same children's home now).

Court is planned for the 20th or 21st, but it is possible that it may get pushed back.

That's the nexxt thing on our prayer list, That it would happen on the 20th/21st and that the Judge would look on everything favorably.

Just a bit of info, Moscow is 9 timezones different than Iowa and Sahkalin is an additional 7.
We're actually closer to home time here than in Moscow, it's just almost a whole day off.

We should have internet access all week so we'll try to keep this up to date.

Thank you for your prayers and Merry Christmas!

The planets have aligned.....

2010-11-25T06:32:00.007-06:00

That's what some would say, we would say it is all the hand of God. Where has time gone?! It is already December!

Deer season was good for Jason. He promised Marisa that it was a "If its brown it's down" season because of all that we had going on. Jason harvested a little buck which was great in Marisa's eyes since the meat is better for the freezer (besides nothing is going to pre-empt Fred's place in our home).

Jason got out Goose hunting several times as well. Came home with not one, but two banded geese, the trophies of goose hunting.

Marisa's team at work won the Pumpkin carving contest. A little disturbed is how many people discribed it...... A pumkin sitting on a little wooden chair. Pipe arms and legs with his pants around his ankles. Under the chair, a partially filled pie crust with... pumpkin pie filling. In his arms was a book,"baking for dummies". The pumpkin had a very anguished look carved into it as well.

We got Brutus out for a quick pheasant hunt on some public ground. Didn't see a single pheasant, but Jason, Marisa and Brutus all had a wonderfull time enjoying the beatiful fall weather.

The last two weeks have been a full of progress for our adoption. We have a court date of Dec 20. What does this mean for us? We'll go to Moscow and have our medical exams done first. Then we'll head to Sakalin and hopefully get to see the boys for a few days. Then it is off to court. Our current travel plans have us back on Christmas Eve....we hope that all goes well with all of our connections and that God blesses us (and Rob and Ami coming home Christmas day!) with good weather so we can all keep our flights.

Unfortunately the boys will not be returning with us on this trip. Due to US and Russian holidays, Marisa and her mom will be returning in January to bring the boys home.

We thought we would have some huge hurdles to overcome in getting the last of our documents together for court. In a little over three days, everything was under control and we were well on our way to getting everything done. We're so humbled by all of those who helped us out, and know that it was nothing that we did, but everything that He put in place for us.

Thank you for continuing to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

October = Deer season

2010-10-14T19:00:00.003-05:00

Another month has passed by already, fall is fully upon us.
The apple and pear harvest was bountiful again this year at Jason's parents. We've got a freezer full of apple sauce and cupboard full of canned pears.
This weekend is the early muzzleloader season for Iowa and Jason is excited about a new spot that he's got his stand set up in. He and his dad went and checked on it a month or so ago and there was a couple of deer bedded down about 50 yards from the stand, and plenty of sign.
Marisa became the Queen of the smoker after Jason got called to the farm to help with a couple projects. She turned a pork shoulder into some really good pulled pork. 14+ hours, but well worth it.
Since the last post Justin and Nicole had a baby girl.
The adoption is contining to make progress. We've been especially encouraged with the progress over the last week.
We'll let you know more about that when we can.

September already?

2010-09-13T19:06:00.009-05:00

Summer has passed us by already and we're into one of our favorite times of year. The weather's cooling down and fall is upon us. We've been busy working on finishing up some canning from our dismal garden. We simply had too much water this summer, but have been blessed by some awesome friends to get some tomatoes done.

On the adoption front, we continue to wait. There have been a few changes that have slowed us down. Hopefully this week things will be in place to begin moving forward again. We're hoping to be home with the boys in the November/December timeframe. It's certainly not the timeframe that we were hoping for but ultimately we know that the timing is in His hands.

One of the changes for us is that we will have to get Russian medical exams done. There is one place that those can happen, which is in Moscow. Flying to Moscow form here will likely be to the East. Then on to Sakalin flying East, and hopefully back home again to the East. I'm not sure if we'll get a day older or younger on that trip, but it will all be worth it.

We had talked about putting in a little paver brick patio in the back of the house. In July we decided that it would be easier to get done prior to the boys being here so we tackled that project. Marisa's parents came for a couple of weekends and provided some valuable help. Pictures or that are to the right. We're currently getting the grass going for some Fall growth.

Hunting season is already upon us. We made one trip up to MN for the Goose opener. Deer season opens mid October for Jason.

Other then that we are constantly organizing and rearranging. Trying to make more room for two little boys and all of their soon to be belongings. Thanks for all the prayers that you have been sending up on our behalf. Until next time, God Bless!

and we wait.....

2010-06-05T17:06:00.005-05:00

So many of you have asked what is going on with our adoption. I will try to give you the condensed version.

Over the last three to four weeks our adoption agency has been actively looking for a different adoption agency to take on our case to assist us in finishing out the adoption process. Why would they do that? Well, our agency was the agency that facilitated the adoption in Tennessee where the person sent her child back to Russia, unattended on a plane....Yes, you read that correctly. If you haven't heard the story just type some key words into Google and I'm sure you find it. So, currently our agency's license in Russia is suspended and the rumor mill has it that it will be terminated.

So the best thing for us to do at this time is to move on to another agency. No, we do not have to start the process all over. While we were in Russia, we signed an agreement accepting the referral of our two little boys.

We have selected a new agency we are just waiting for some paperwork to make it official. All of our current paperwork will be routed from the old agency to the new agency.

We have heard that some regions in Russia are still processing adoption cases. Things are moving slowly, but that is better then not at all.

In the meantime.....Marisa has passed another class and has moved onto her summer semester.

Jason continues to be busy with building and painting. He finished up the desk for the boys room. He's currently painting the drawers, a little table and chair (hopefully building a second one) and a small set of drawers.

Twilla (Marisa's mom) has been hard at work and made two wonderful...well that's not adequate, lets try gorgeous quilts. One for each bed. Pix of the room and quilts are below.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and support, it really means a lot to us.

Until next time...

no fast pass

2010-04-25T20:47:00.003-05:00

Unlike Disney, there is no fast pass for the adoption process. We continue to wait and gather more documentation. Last week was spent with adoption related doctor's appointments for Marisa. You all will be happy to know that she does not have tuberculosious (required test in for our process). We found out that we have to have a psych eval, so Jason spent his week tyring to track down a psychologist that would do the eval and not charge us an arm and a leg.

So we contintinue to wait. It reminds me of Isaiah 40:31 "but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint"

A huge thanks to all of you out there that are praying for us! We appreciate it!

And finally we have managed to load some of our Russia pictures (over on the right). Again for the privacy of the kids we will not be sharing any pictures of them.

We're back!

2010-04-01T20:16:00.003-05:00

We made it back home with no problem. We have learned that the people of Asiana Airlines know how to take care of their customers. We had good flights. Managed to catch some sleep while on the flight home. We are back, we are back at work...of course we get Good Friday off. So we only actually worked two days this week.

So some of you are probably wondering what now? Now we wait. The Department of Education in Russia needs to process paperwork for the boys, we need to prep some paperwork for us. We are not sure yet when we will be going back. We hope that it is sometime this summer but we do not have a good indicator of when it will be.

Their room is mostly ready. We ordered mattresses. Tomorrow is shopping day....or at least the first of many I'm sure. Tomorrow is some basics, sheets, blankets, maybe a beanbag....whatever mom and I can find while out shopping.

We'll try to get some random Russia scenery pictures posted in the next week or so.

We'll keep you posted as things progress.

Trip 1, Day 7...back to civilization

2010-03-27T16:40:00.002-05:00

As our host likes to say, we are back in civilization! So where to start....I guess with the train. The train car we were in could best be described as vintage. I came back from the rest room and Jason asked what it was like. I laughingly informed him it was no worse the the bathroom on the boat we went fishing on in Alaska. We made up our bunks (we had a compartment to ourselves) and tried to catch some sleep. 12 hours later we arrived on the north end of the island. We had to get permission from the department of education to visit the older boy and then we were off to see him.

It was an interesting trek out to the Children's home. I know some of you won't understand this, but it was Dog Lake Road except in Russia. I think we had the privelege of riding with "Brian" or at least that how fast it seemed he was going. For those of you who have not had the privelege of traveling down Dog Lake Road. There is a sign near the end that says something like you will never find anything this beautiful at the end of a paved road. In this case it was true as well. We found a beautiful little boy at the end of a very bumpy, snowy road. We were able see and play with the him three times. Each time we felt a stronger connection with him. We played cars, puzzles, coloring and spent some time playing in the snow. We left him some picture of us and our home (and of course Brutus and Linus). He carried the pictures with him everywhere. There was several times when he would stop what he was doing and study them. We had video of his brother on the camera and we showed that to him as well.

It was hard to say good-bye and even tougher to explain to him why we had to go. We had a map on the front of the picture book that included Sakhalin and Iowa. We told him when we came back he would get to ride on the train and on three airplanes to get to Iowa. He said "where is the airplane." We got the impression he did not want to wait. We got two big hugs and then he was off to eat lunch with his group.

For the most part we have been able to buy what we need at a supermarket (chocolate, cheese, bread, chocolate, meat, diet coke, chocolate) without any problems. When we headed north we condensed our stuff from 2 carry-ons and two suitcases to one carry-on and the one smaller suitcase. As you can imagine some stuff got left behind in storage at the hotel. Well one of those things was lotion. My legs started to itch something fierce so off to the supermarket we went. We stood and stared at the lotions, shampoos, and face stuff for a while. Finally, we found a bottle that said in English "Body lotion". Victory! We got our lotion (and chocolate) and we were off. I knew that it was probably not medicated and I would need to apply it a couple of times. So I put some on and a couple hours later put some more on and then again before I went to sleep. The next morning I noticed that the bottom half of my leg looked funny. We had bought tanning lotion!!! Our hands have a nice orange tint and my calves have never been tanner!

We'll spend a few hours in the hotel and then this afternoon there is a carnival up on the mountain that we'll go to. Tommorrow is paper signing day and then we'll head to the airport to head back to Iowa.
More to come.

Trip 1, Day 3

2010-03-23T22:50:00.002-05:00

We got to see the younger boy again today. It was great. He loves to stack things. The Russian nesting dolls are right up his alley. Whether it is taking circles off a post and putting them back, or stacking dolls inside of each other, he loved it. Little cars, not so much. He would repeat words after us and likes to put the stacking blocks in Jason's shirt pocket.

Unfortunately we had to say good-bye though. I am sure at his young age he does not understand that we are going away to see his brother and will eventually return. It was very difficult for us to walk away but "thems the rules".

Tonight we get on a train and head north where we will be able to see the older boy. We are excited to continue on our adventure. We are unsure if we will have internet or not so it might be a few days before we have the opportunity to post again.

Know that prayers are being answered as our trip has gone very smoothly and we feel God's guidance every step of the way.

Trip1 and lets call it day 2

2010-03-23T05:36:00.002-05:00

We got to see the younger boy today. It was amazing! A little sur real but amazing. Of course we are scary, giant, unknown people so we freaked him out a little in the beginning but that was too be expected. They brought him into a room that he does not usually go into, so that didn't help matters. There was, however, toys and that did help the situation. We got to play with him, hold him on our laps and interact with him. Jason even taught him how to "give 5". The care givers at the home have nothing but positive comments and he is a delightful little boy.

We have asked for prayer requests, but I like to remember that we should be thankful and praise God for all that He has done for us. There are so many but here is a short list.
Things to be thankful for:

Answered prayer - someone (the short one) prayed that God would speedy up the process...guess that landed us in Russia sooner then we anticipated.
Our driver - We are so thankful for our driver. He gets us to and from all of our appointments. And let me say, I do not think that if Jason or I were driving we would be getting anywhere. Some of the cars have the steering wheel on the left and some on the right. It is all very confusing to us.
Our host - She is very willing to help and support us and answers all of our crazy questions
Prayer warriors - Those who are always waiting and willing to pray when that "red phone" rings
And of course, two little boys in Russia

Until next time....

Trip 1, Day ????

2010-03-22T00:49:00.002-05:00

We left Des Moines on a Saturday, and got here (Russia) on a Monday. So does that make this day three or day one of the trip? We're not sure. We slept some on the plane but we are tired and trying to adjust to the slight change in time zone.

We made it here safe and sound. Our contact met us right outside of customs and took us to the hotel and gave us a quick tour.

A couple shout outs to a few people:

Kudos to the Seoul airport for having a nice travel lounge. Nice place to sit, watch tv and shower rooms (now only if we would have packed towels).
Kudos to Aaron for all the travel words of wisdom and last minute info
Kudos to Hank for the tip on using wet wipes when you don't have access to a shower and still need to smell well not like an airplane
And last but not least....could someone ask the rocket scientist why you have to have the shades up on the plane when you take off and land...

To be continued....

The camoflage comes off...

2010-03-16T20:38:00.004-05:00

We figured it was time to reveal our secret. So for those of you that have not heard the big news...

We are in the process of adopting two boys from Russia. We got an invitation to travel to Russia on February 24th which was quicker then we anticipated. The wait time was estimated to be 1 to 14 months and ours was definitely on the lower end of that. We have received one picture of each boy and some medical information. We have decided to accept the invitation to travel and will be heading to Russia soon to meet the boys. We are very excited about our up coming trip.

We will try to keep the blog updated while we are traveling. We now that we will get to spend some time with the younger boy and then travel to meet the older boy at another children's home. Please, do not ask us to post/share photos of the boys. There are privacy laws to protect the children and we will be abiding by them in order to protect these precious children.

Jason has been busy trying to finish up the bunk beds that he began this winter. They are nearing completion with only the ladder left. There is a desk that goes at the end that will come after some of the other details are finished up.

Marisa has been keeping busy with her business accounting class and work. Steve and Twilla came for a visit in early March and were immediately put to working painting beds, the boys room and Twilla helped Marisa hang border. A picture of the room is below.

Now we are off for the adventure of a lifetime....

Sunny Palm Springs...

2010-01-22T16:46:00.005-06:00

Ok so it wasn't sunny every day all day but anything beats ice, snow and sub zero temperatures! Last time we were in Palm Springs it froze and it hadn't done that in 30 years! We have quickly learned that these Desert Cities are NOT equipped to handle a little rain. We had about 2 inches over the course of a day or so and the streets start to shut down. It seems that interesting weather always follows us to Palm Springs. Locals have asked that we notify them next time we come so they can prep.

You can see pics of one of the washes near Steve and Twilla's condo. It runs through the golf course and through town quite a ways. It fills with water and sand and then floods the road. There is a video or two below if you want to actually see it running.

So far we have swam, gone to Mexico (Rx and dentist), sat in the hot tub, walked, biked, studied, gone to the street fair (COD), played cards, slept (for those of you that have forgotten - sleep is amazing) and Jason's aunt and uncle were able to come out and spend the day with us. We don't get to see them often and it was great that they made the trek from LA to Palm Springs.

So tomorrow, I guess we have to leave this beautiful desert valley, surrounded by the snow covered mountains and head back to the cold, barren tundra of Iowa. We need to pick up our boys who spent the week on the farm. Hopefully the cat survived and didn't use up too many of its nine lives trying to escape the over zealous tongues of the terrible three. Then it is back to long work days and school work.

update of pictures

2010-01-08T18:32:00.001-06:00

Jason is learning how to update the blog. The pictures from the McIlravy Christmas have been added.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-28T16:24:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Jason and I are in between Christmas celebrations. We headed to Minnesota and celebrated with the Van Hal and Winter clans. We had an estimated 20 inches of snow and were literally snowed in on Christmas day. Sounds kind of drab and boring, but we ate like kings, played games, and if that wasn't enough, Dad and Jason helped dig the REA truck (electric company) out of the ditch while I gave mom and play by play from the indoor "sky-box".

Mom, being the super mom she is, juggled schedules and we got to celebrate Christmas on Sunday. We dropped gifts off at Grandpa and Grandma Van Hal's and then headed to Grandma Winter's. It was great to see everyone and we had a wonderful celebration.

We get a couple days at home to relax and maybe do some stuff around the house...maybe, I've been on the couch for the last 3 hours, I'm sure motivation will hit me soon.... Then it is off to SW Iowa to celebrate with the McIlravy's. If the weather holds out everyone should be home.

Jason has been working hard and putting in some overtime. He was a trooper and sat with me while I deer hunted. Unfortunately bambi still has managed to evade me. Oh well, Jason provided plenty of venison to get us through the winter. For those of you keeping tabs, that's Jason 3, Marisa 0. When he is not working he fills the rest of his time with projects around the house and a little Mario Kart.

I finished up my last class. Grades were finally posted today. I didn't do so hot on my last paper but still managed to pass the class at an acceptable level. I'm just glad to have this class over with. I've been staying busy with work and worked on Christmas goodies and shopping after my class was finished.

There's some pix posted. The blond cutie that keeps showing up is our niece Lily. I also updated Jason's hunting pix. There are some great scenery shots he took while out goose hunting. I also posted some of the snow and the frosted trees (under the Christmas pix). If you want to know what 20 inches on top of 15 inches (from the previous snow) looks like check those out.

I'll post more pix after the McIlravy Christmas.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Thanksgiving is here and gone again

2009-11-29T15:34:00.002-06:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Jason and I spent it in Creston with Jason's parent's. We had a great time.

As you can probably guess we did a little hunting over the Thanksgiving holiday. We pheasant hunted on Thursday. Only saw 2 birds. Both we were not even able to take a shot at. Friday we went deer hunting in the morning and the late afternoon. I got a chance to shot but missed, Jason shot right after me and we had a victory! For those of you keeping score that is

Jason - 2
Marisa - 0

So we got that taken care of in the morning. Then decided to head back out Friday afternoon to see if I could get one. Of course, it was pretty light out at 4:00 PM so I was reading my book. Next thing I know, KABOOM! Jason shoots another one! I wasn't sitting by him so I didn't even get a chance to fire this time out. Yes, that makes the score:

Jason - 3
Marisa- 0

Needless to say we have a little deer meat to eat over the next year. Sorry, I failed and did not get any pix this time.

Saturday we got to "help" harvest. This translates into everyone else helping and me riding along. It was fun and a good way to spend a beautiful Saturday.

Jason is keeping busy with various house projects and work. It sounds like there is overtime is his very near future.

I'm staying busy as usual with my class. I already signed up for Spring semester. Managerial Accounting....I'm not feeling too good about this class. Hopefully it will all go well.

If we don't get to see or talk to you soon, Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Food Supply for Winter...

2009-10-18T13:13:00.003-05:00

I got word that Jason is once again taking care of our food supply for the winter. He shot a deer yesterday and is in the processing of packaging it as I type. I am so excited. I LOVE venison jerky, stew, kabobs, stronganoff....the list goes on and on! For those of you that just see them as cute little animals...remember this is one less to jump in front of you while driving! For those of you that like to hunt I posted some pix (the cartoon deer is for those with sensitive eyes - do not click on the image if you do not want to look at the other pix).

Fall is here!

2009-10-11T20:46:00.004-05:00

I know, most of you will think I am crazy but I am excited for fall and cool temperatures! There is nothing better then snuggling on the couch in front of the fire place.

With fall comes harvest...no we don't farm, but we had a great garden. We pickled several jars of okra and jalepenos, tried our hand at salsa making, and had these gianormous green beans. The freezer is stocked with apples, apple sauce, rhubarb and shredded zucchini. I think we might be set for winter.

It is important to note that when I say "we" had a garden. That means Jason did 99.99% of the work. I wonder through, pick a bean or okra here and there and pull some weeds. Jason has the green thumb in the family.

I started my next class, Organizational Behavior. It is exciting as it sounds. It is a "must take". So far it is going well. I have to write another dreaded paper which I am not excited about.

We just got back from Decatur, Texas where Matt and Ashley (Matt is Jason's brother), were just married. The slideshow should be running on the right. The cutie in the Car's jammies is our nephew Jayden.

Until next time...snuggle up!

..and the beat goes on...

2009-08-22T12:03:00.006-05:00

Jason has been harvesting many veggies from our little garden. I took the last of the rhubarb today. I am flirting with the idea of making a jar or two of pickled okra. I'll keep you posted on how that goes. Otherwise we had asparagus beans (they get like a foot long - no joke!), yellow squash, zucchini, okra, peas, tomoatoes (not ripe yet) and several types of peppers.

WE passed Marisa's class. Lets just say she squeaked by with an acceptable grade. If it weren't for Jason catching all of my mistakes, I am not confident what the outcome would have been. Next class (#4 for those keeping count) starts on September 1st. I'm excited to get started....I guess.

Joel (the Cookie Monster) Cook made his inagural voyage to Des Moines. His first visit ever to the McIlravy home. Joel claims there will be more visits in the future. Now only if we could convince him to move here....

Steve and Twilla (Marisa's parents) were here for the weekend. The four of us jumped into the car and headed for the dry run of John Deere's product introduction. It is place where dealers gather once a year to learn more about the Ag and Turf products that are becoming available this year. Since it was so close this year, employess from the Des Moines area were invited to a dry run of the opening evening. Joel joined us and was amazed at the level of effort and quality of the show. I told him we were John Deere and he should expect nothing but the best! We had a great time. Joel was blown away by the size and power of the equipment. Check out a picture of him UNDER his favorite (of course it helps that Jason helped design it).

What happened to June?

2009-07-20T19:40:00.005-05:00

I was trying to post an update once a month...guess I blew that plan. I lost track of June and now we are most of the way through July. We have been busy with household projects. We started painting the basement floor. We'll finish it...one of these days.

Jason has been busy with work and other various projects. He painted and put up the gutters and downspouts on the shed. The garage has been put to order and we have new storage in the basement thanks to him.

Jason had Lasik surgery today! He slept this afternoon like the doc recommended. Jason promises that his vision is clearing and would be perfect if it wasn't for those silly plastic things the doc and nurse made him were over his eyes. Not having to wear glasses is going to be a change but Jason is very excited about not having to battle frozen eye glasses during hunting season!

Farmer Jason is doing well with our garden. He currently has rhubarb, peas, funny long beans, a variety of peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, okra, a tomato plant and lettuce. We also have several herbs growing in planters on our deck (no, not that kind).

I have been busy with homework and creating projects for Jason. My scary class is going ok. We are getting a respectable grade so far. Yes, I said WE. I write all of my assignments and Jason reviews them. I have a mini celebration every time we get a good grade.

On that note, guess I better get back to my homework...

Back from vacation

2009-06-04T17:00:00.003-05:00

We are fresh back from our vacation to Dog Lake, Canada. We had a great time helping Marisa's parents and other open up the camp for the summer. Jason got to play lumberjack while Marisa helped with the thrilling taste of raking the paths. I posted some pictures of Jason, Twilla, Steve and of course, Moose, because no set of pictures is complete without him. Don't let that list of work fool you, there was still plenty of time to fish and one trip to time for some fabulous ribs.

Marisa's grade was posted when we got back. She passed her class with flying colors and has moved onto her next class of Business Communication. Marisa is a little nervous because there are some stringent grading policies around grammar and punctuation. If you keep reading this blog you will quickly realize it is not her strong point.

Our new blog

2009-05-14T21:16:00.001-05:00

So we have never had a blog before....and who know's how often it will actually get updated....

The siding on the house and shed finally got done. Jason just needs to finish up a couple things yet on the shed and we should be set. Marisa has finished her 2nd class and has hopefully passed with flying colors...we will know as soon as grades are posted.