Adoption Update

We got two pieces of good news today!

First, we got our fingerprint appointment back from Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS), which is actually an important step in getting our visa paperwork completed (for our 2nd adoption). Our appointment is on July 14th - our 7-year wedding anniversary!

Our second piece of good news is that we now have our official court date to finalize Aaron's adoption in Nebraska. Technically, Aaron's adoption was final back in Vietnam, but here in Nebraska we actually have to re-adopt him again so the state will issue him a Nebraska birth certificate, etc. Our court date is now set for July 29th. This is when we can officially change his name from his Vietnamese to his American name! By Nebraska law, we had to be home for six months (and complete our 6-month post-placement homestudy visit) before we could file for this re-adoption. By the time we got everything done and to the lawyer......, well, it's been ten months now. :)

That's it for now!

Our Summer so Far

Wow, it's been an exciting summer around here!

There is so much to say that I'm really not sure where to start. Hopefully we'll be able to blog about each of these in more detail later, but for now I think we'll have to let the pictures do the talking!

Here's a quick summary of our summer so far!

April 19 - Our first "Family Vacation Day". We decided to set aside one day a month to do some around-town activities making memories just as a family (no other friends, etc.). We went to the Strategic Air Command (SAC) museum because Aaron loves planes, and then went to Henry Doorly Zoo so that Aaron could ride his very first "Choo-choo train" (he loves trains, too!).

Click here to the full-size slideshow of our Family Vacation Day #1.


May 3 - Our big trip to Estes Park, Colorado, which you already saw in our last post.

May 10 - Family Vacation Day #2 - We explored Fontanelle Forest where Aaron got to run up and down the boardwalk while looking at wild turkeys, etc. Then we went to nearby Lincoln, NE to visit their Children's museum. That museum has about everything possible a kid could get excited about (trucks/motorcyces/balloons, pretend houses/stores, space shuttles, water toys, tunnels, and more).

Click here to see the full-size slideshow of Family Vacation Day #2.


May 23 - Our very first camping trip! Ok, so we were a little nuts... We had a great plan to go camping with all of Chip's family (that live around here) over Memorial Day weekend to Indian Cave State Park. Unfortunately, Chip's brother and his family had to cancel out for most of the weekend when some stuff came up at the last minute, so it was just Chip's parents and us. We actually had a ton of fun, but we managed to pick the rainiest weekend of the year (we neglected to check the weather forecast). There was crazy rain, thunder/lightning, 60+Mph winds, etc. Oh yeah, and we were camping in a tent, not a camper. The tent leaked a little bit (somehow it always dripped right on top of Aaron!). We also had raccoons break into the food tent and try to steal food every night (and make a general mess of things in the process). But, we had the campground completely to ourselves for a couple days and Aaron had a blast exploring the outdoor world. He loved the tent, and we got some great memories. We ended up only staying for 3 days (out of 5) because the weather forecast started calling for possible hail and tornadoes. :) All in all, it was a lot of fun, and very tiring! Thanks G'ma & G'pa for all of your hard work!

Here's the full-size slideshow of our First Camping Trip.




May 25 - Sprinkler Fun! Since we came back early from camping, we had some extra time around the house. We pulled out a gift someone gave Aaron last fall - an "Octopus Sprinkler". It was Aaron's first time in a sprinkler, and after a little close scrutiny he loved playing in it! A couple days later a friend came over to play in it (and share popsicles). A couple weeks later G'pa and G'ma Shadbolt took him to a park in Fremont, NE that has (free) outdoor water sprinklers, fountains, etc. and he had a lot of fun there, too. He LOVES water! :)



Click here to see the full-size slideshow of Aaron's Sprinkler Fun!

Whew! Well, that at least covers the summer up through last week! I think Aaron absolutely loves the summer (and so do mom and dad) - there's just so much fun stuff to do!