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We have had a very pleasant but nonstop summer. And now it's over. We attended two weddings. The first of Cherrie Auxier to Michael Johnson, close friends of ours that asked Steven to perform the wedding ceremony. Steven very happily agreed. It was beautiful and we are grateful to have been asked to be apart of something so special.
The second, Steven didn't perform, but it was just as special. Jim, Steven's father, married Shelley Craven. She is, of course, welcomed into the family with open arms.
Our summer didn't stop there. What could be more exciting than attending two lovely weddings, you ask? Well, we completed our home study for our Vietnam adoption in June. It was finished being written up and edited in July, and three days ago was approved by the Vietnam Program Director! How is that for exciting stuff?
Next we send in our documents and get fingerprinted for the US government. The USCIS will look over our information and will be the deciding factor in our approval to adopt a foreign born orphan. Once we received approval we will compile and sent in a large number of official documents to Vietnam (this is called our dossier). After our paperwork has been processed in Vietnam we will receive the long-awaited and very exciting REFERRAL of a child that is matched to us. We expect a referral between January and March of 2008, but the adoption world is very unpredictable and there's no absolute way of knowing. You will know, of course, as soon as we find out because we will be shouting it from the rooftops!
We are adding photos and video taken this summer including Chloe's infamous bowling strike video and Counting with Chloe. Enjoy!
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Isn't it a wonderful summer? The three of us are doing well, and we hope that our family and friends are doing just as well.
Some new things cooking: we had our first home study meeting. It went well. We talked for about 2 and half hours - mostly about Chloe. Our social worker is nice and actually gave us a lot of insight into helping Chloe adjust to her new sibling. Our home inspection and last meeting will take place on June 21st. Of course, the first thing our social worker said was, "You don't have to clean for me." Haha. Yeah, okay. We're not going to clean for the woman writing the report that will be the next step in being approved for having a child. From now until then, we'll be busy making the house sparkle and shine.
Chloe is still knee-deep into her love of everyone and everything that has to do with being a princess. She knows all the words to all the songs, and sings them everyday. Her paupau is still teaching her Cantonese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese every chance she gets. Chloe does very well with juggling all these languages. It's fun to listen to her speak Vietnamese - it sounds perfect. At least Chloe will be able to speak with her new sibling. She'll be our translator when paupau isn't there.
Chloe is now three years old. How the time flies! I realized that I had not even finished her one year scrapbook. Eek! It was time for a change. I reluctantly entered the world of digital scrapbooking. I've made over 5 pages in a week! It's a huge and welcome change from before. If you go into the picture gallery, there is now a Scrapbook album where I will be uploading the scrapbook pages that I make.
We're going to hold a yard sale (thanks to #2 who is letting us borrow her yard!) at the end of June/beginning of July. We'll have a more solid date soon. If anyone has items that they would be willing to donate, let us know. You can email us at mommy@lifeofamonkey.com. Or you can call us - you know our number.
Off to make more scrapbook pages! |
We hope that everyone had a fabulous spring. We know that it hasn't been very busy on this website lately and hopefully that will change this summer. We have a lovely jam-packed, full of goodies summer.
This month we will begin our meetings with our social worker for our adoption. There are 3 meetings. One meeting with mommy; one meeting with daddy; and one meeting at home with the whole family. We'll keep you up to date on how our adoption goes as we progress.
We have the last week of June off for summer break. As always, Chloe will help us spend most of that time at Disneyland (where she just got her first "Big Girl" Annual Pass).
This July we will spend a weekend in Laughlin at a river. Chloe wants to swim in the river (with adult supervision, of course) so that she can meet Arial.
We will also be taking a trip to Arizona at the end of the summer to spend time with Uncle Dave, Auntie Shawnette, and Baby Abby. We are looking forward to playing with Baby Abby, Chloe got to spend time with her a couple of weeks ago and loved it.
And if that's not enough craziness for you we will be going full on into our fundraising for the adoption. We will be having a yard sale at the end of June. Mommy will be selling her crafts at a craft fair in July. Mommy is also selling AVON on the side (if you want a catalogue, contact me). All proceeds from our fundraisers will go towards the fees in our adoption. We will be adding a new page to this website called, "Ways You Can Help" which will cover the fundraisers that we will be putting together for our adoption.
Have a fantastic summer!! |
Mommy here. That is the question Chloe asked Tuesday morning. Brandi and her family took off this past Monday after visiting for one week. We miss them all like crazy. Chloe has been asking, "Where is Uncle Mark?" "Where is Auntie Brandi?" and "Where are my cousins?" Chloe and her cousins had an absolute ball while they were here, playing all sorts of games. Chloe even got to try out her big sister skills on cousin Mason by ordering him around every chance she got.
Speaking of Chloe becoming a big sister, we have all of our paperwork in for our home study. We have one reference, who will hopefully send it in soon, that is due. Next we will do interviews with our social worker, who we've met and is very nice. We will each have an individual interview, then we will have an interview in our home with our whole family, Chloe included. I will let you all know when we pass that phase - because we will be celebrating.
Chloe is currently going through a princess phase. She loves all things that have to do with being a princess. She loves playing dress up and has several princess dresses that she wears and dances in - because that's what princesses do. I believe the Easter Bunny overheard about her love of all things princess and got her a tiara and sparkly pink princess shoes to go with her dresses. Daddy even participates by reading her one princess story (maybe two) before night-night time.
Last thing, we have more pictures up. There are pictures of my mom and her family, as well as pictures of when Brandi was visiting. We miss and love you all. |
Mommy and daddy and I just got back from Rhode Island. I had so much fun. I have a very big and loving family. I played catch with everyone. We laughed and had a good time.
I got to go to my great grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. I had so much fun. I danced all night long!! I wore everyone out, especially mommy, who thought she could sneak off of the dance floor but I wasn't going to let her! Mommy and daddy took lots of pictures and mommy says they will be on this web site soon.
There's always so much to learn. I am learning phonics, the sounds all the letters make. I go to a sports class on Saturdays. I've played basketball, soccer ("no hands"), and football in class. |
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Good Morning, Everybody!
My new house has been very busy. I like it here. My favorite place is my new toy room upstairs. There are still a lot of boxes here, but that is slowly going away and it is starting to look like a home. And best of all is that I'm so close to some of my favorite people, my pau pau and my poppy!
I'm growing up really fast now. I like to be a big girl and do things for myself. When mommy and daddy try to do things for me, I remind them that I'm a big girl and can do it myself. I am also learning a lot of new and fun things. I know how to say my numbers in English, Cantonese and Vietnamese! I can also see and say my English numbers. I'm starting to be able to recognize my ABC's too. If you want to watch me sing my ABC's, you can go into our brand new Video Section. There's only one video of me now, but daddy says soon he'll put more up for everyone to see. |
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Mommy and Daddy found a new place to live, only 5 minutes from Poppy and Paw-paw's house. Now I won't have to sit in the car for fourty-five minutes everyday---Ooh, and I get my very own bathroom!!
Also, I've been meaning to mention what I did over my summer vacation: Mommy and Daddy bought annual passes to Disneyland here in California and we went 3 times in a row (with a days rest in between each visit). It was great fun; I got to meet Mickey Mouse himself: very exciting. I saw all of my favorite TV friends live on stage. That was great. Mommy says we'll go back to Disneyland later in the year when it's not so busy. Maybe you can come with me? |
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I'm about to finish my first sports/athletics class. Mommy says that it'll be a "bitter-sweet" parting because I've come to love Saturday mornings when I get to play balls and tunnels and parachute with my fellow babies.
Luckilly for me, the next class starts on July 1st, although I might be enrolled in the 2 1/2-3 year old class; making me the young fish in the old pond now, instead of the other way around. I'm not worried, I'm sure the older babies will be nice. |
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