Life Changing Decisions

We found out our assignment finally! Marc got a Remote/Staff to Osan, Korea for a year. It is an unaccompanied assignment, meaning the AF will not pay for Ana and me to go. However, we are going and will live off base in an apartment. This is a common thing that a lot of families do and we aren't worried a bit. We know a lot of people who have done this and have had a wonderful year of travel and shopping...right up my alley! :) We still don't know our move dates and details of his job. We were shocked by this assignment but know that God's got a reason for us to be in Korea and I'm sure we will have a fabulous year learning a new culture! With us finding out our assignment we called our adoption agency and explained our situation. Our INS paperwork expires in Jan. Which takes 2 to 3 months to update and we would have to put the state we would be adopting from on the new INS paperwork. Since we aren't moving to a new state...that was a problem. So I asked if we could be back with Andrew no later than Dec. and the answer was no. The agency still hasn't received their reaccreditation from Russia and we can't complete the adoption without it. And who knows when they will get it. ALSO, Ana is in a "bonding phase" with us. She has always been attached to us, but the true bonding is up and running right now. She is saying "my mommy/daddy", she is having little fits when we leave her, and she is being shy when she meets a new person instead of just going to anyone. Which all the books say is "true bonding". SO if we were to leave her before Dec. I'm worried it could be bad for her. With all this, we decided to terminate Andrew's adoption last Friday. It was a horribly hard decision, but overall it's not fair to HIM to keep him on the hook for two more months in hope the accreditation goes through knowing we don't want to leave Ana right now. That's two more months he could possibly be adopted by a couple of another country who is accredited. Who knows what the future holds for us and our family, but we are extremely grateful for Ana and know that God will take care of Alex and Andrew.

Happy Halloween!

This is Ana's playgroup Halloween party. SO CUTE! Yep, you guessed it, Ana was a BEE! We had the WHOLE family festive tonight. Pooks was a ladybug, Tom was a spider, I was a cat, Marc was an Octapus and Ms. Ana was Buzzing around as usual! :)
She got the hang of this trick or treating after about two houses. What was really fun is she was so excited about all the decorations out there too. After she realized you got candy for saying "trick or treat" she would say it and then say "more"...funny.
We went over to our friends the Willis's for pizza and to walk around together. We stayed in their neighborhood for about 30 mins. and then went home to walk our street. Gammy came in from TN to see Ana's first Halloween! This is Gammy with the kids!
Gammy helping Ana trick or treat!

First Pumpkin Carving

She didn't really get into the pumpkin carving until it was finished. She didn't like touching the seeds, but she played with the "seed shovel" for a while. This was when she first saw the face! She thought it was pretty neat after that and kept lifting off the lid to see inside.
She has learned how to "Say Cheese"! And Ana will tell you that is "Ana's baby punkin" and it went every where with us for about 2 days. :)

Halloween Carnival

An elementary school in our area had a super fun Halloween carnival and Ana ran herself silly!

Say "CHEESE" again..... but now she has these silly smiles!

This "knock knock" was her favorite game but it freaked her out everytime. Marc are I would have to knock on the box for her and SOMETIMES she'd take the candy bag from the spooky hand. But as soon as we left...she'd want to do it again!
This was her other favorite game. She would choose a duck and the shape on the bottom of the duck would tell them what "treat" she got. I think she liked splashing in the water more than choosing a duck! :)
Another face painting! She also got to ride another train! Had kettle corn and said "BOO" to every scary costume she saw! SO FUNNY!

"Colors"- Byrdstown, TN

SO...we took a very spontanous trip to Byrdstown, TN last Thursday to celebrate "Colors" with Marc's family. Marc's mom and her husband have a beautiful development and they host a festival every October for all the land owners. We have a couple of cabins there and we thought it would be fun to surprise the family and check on our cabins as well. It was SO beautiful and just what we needed. Fresh, crisp, clean country air...good family...and good food! When Ana met Jim she went straight to his tractors and he took her for a ride! They clicked instantly.
She was so excited to see her Grannie... as was Grannie! Ana has been confused between Grannie and Gammy (Marc's mom) and this trip cleared all that right up!
FINALLY we got the cousins all together...Ana brought them party favor bags from her BEE-day party and they loved them.
Grandkids and Marc wrestling with Papaw (Marc's dad).
Ana was so intrested in the karioke machine and FINALLY she got the nerve to get up there and sing too. Jessica and Jocelyn are Jim's daughters and they were so good with Ana.
The girls were playing with dolls and stopped to strike a pose...Gammy (Marc's mom) was so happy to have everyone together. It was an awesome trip!

Arizona State Fair

We went to the State Fair with our good friends the Gempler's! We had a wonderful time and Ms. Ana couldn't get enough. All the yummy food, feeding and riding all the animals, and the rides were all so much fun. Ana wasn't afraid of ANYTHING. There was another "Coco" horse and a camel that she rode. She was just barely tall enough to ride the rides but 3 let her. The Gempler's have been great friends ever since Alaska and they have been so supportive and such a special part of our life and they move to Vegas tomorrow for their next assignment. Ana loves them just as much as us and Katy (their daughter) is her first best friend. It's very rare to find a friendship as theirs and we will miss them!

Drive In Movie

This week was SO fun! She got this little car from us for her birthday last Friday and she is in it nonstop. We had to laugh at her feet propped up and watching Lion King so intently. Just as long as she is at the "drive in" with her parents...she can go. :)
Marc just got home and said we aren't going to know our assignment until the end of the month! We were suppose to know by this Friday...the wait is killing me! I guess "what's another week" in the big scheme of life?

Pumpkin Festival!

This past weekend we went up towards Prescott, AZ for a pumpkin festival! WE HAD SO MUCH FUN! We were hoping for much cooler weather (note the long sleeves) but it wasn't much cooler! Her first pony ride! "Coco" is the name of her pony and I have heard all about Coco every since. We printed this picture to put it in her room so she can talk to Coco whenever she wants! (Hopefully this will help with her obsession!)
She got her face painted with a black cat! She thought that was pretty neat. And of course, the train ride. SO FUN!
This was the pumpkin she chose from the patch. We will carve it up for Halloween soon!

Happy Birthday ANA and JENNA!

With my birthday being on the 12th and Ana's being the 13th we celebrated together. Marc makes me a chocolate meringue pie every year and we opened Ana's gifts from family and it was a nice evening with the 3 of us playing with our new toys!

Ana's been wanting a car since the day she saw one! I wish we would have video her reaction...can you hear the scream when she first saw it?

SUCH a HAPPY girl!

With her new Elmo sunglasses and her new instruments from her Gammy she is set to be in the band!

Erin got me a cook book that I've been wanting for awhile now...THANKS!

ELMO!

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Video sent by mstitzel

Thank you Aunt Erin and Uncle Shawn!

Happy Spot

When Grannie visited us a month ago....she wanted to get Ana a bean bag chair. So I ordered one and it took FOREVER to get in...but we have it now and love it. That is her new reading spot. Thank you Grannie!

Singing Banana!

Singing Banana!
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She loves her new piano! Her songs make me laugh!

Happy BEE-day Party!

Our theme was "Our little BEE is turning THREE!" and it was a blast. Ana loves bees right now and I had a good time doing everything in bees! Happy Happy Birthday Girl!

I made a bee hive cake!
I had Albertson's make the cupcakes....they did a great job!
We have a green belt on the side of our house and that is where we had her party. We had about 44 people. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful group of friends! We rented this "jump jump" and ordered Bar-BEE-que, cole slaw, baked beans, fruit, and chick fil a nuggets! All Ana's favorites.
I don't know who had more fun with the "jump jump"! The little kids or the big kids!
Ana opening her presents. I had made bee antennas for everyone at the party. The kids loved them and the adults humored me!Who needs a "jump jump" when we have coolers of ice to play with!
Blowing out the candles on her cake!
Loving on her daddy! Her birthday is this Friday. We plan to open gifts from us and the family then. Thank you to everyone who have followed our story and who have been so supportive of our adoption of Ana. We are so happy and so blessed. I really do thank God everyday for every moment we have with her! WE are the lucky ones.

Little Pumpkin!

After her long happy day she took a bath and we gave her this pumpkin towel. She loves it. She has a kitty towel too and enjoys being "Ana Kitty" and now "Little Pumpkin"!

I'm 2!

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Video sent by mstitzel

I'm 2! For 10 more days...

Smart Girl

Last Friday was our meeting with the school district to review Ana's test results. She is doing FABULOUS! They said she is being classified as an ELL (English Language Learner) student and for an ELL kid she is where most ELL kids are in a year. So in 4 short months she has learned a ton! They said she doesn't need ANY services...just more time. We are SOOOO proud of her and feel so much better knowing we are doing what she needs. We are having her 3rd birthday party this coming Monday...4 days early! :) We are doing a "bee theme". She likes bees and it rhymes with 3! :) Can't wait!

Yuppie Training Camp

We got Ana a chocolate milk from Starbucks when we got our teas and I had to laugh when I turned around to see her. On her cell phone (which is our old one from Alaska because the toy one wasn't cutting it anymore!) blabbing with an attitude, with her sunglasses, and Starbucks drink! Man, she has come a LONG way from "baby house #2"!

I really have NO IDEA where she gets it....I'm sure she hasn't seen ME do this...YIKES!