And Now for Something Completely Different....

...to entertain you while I am away :)




See you soon!

In A While Crocodile!

A Little Jazz...

...is nice!

Yvan and I are big music lovers...we love all genres with the exception of country I think. (Now don't all you country lovers get twisted in a knot - we just aren't that into it! Are there some good country singers, songs, albums? - sure but we just don't have a hankering for Hank Williams Sr. or Jr. that's all)

We go to a lot of concerts because we both love live music. We love Jazz a lot and while we aren't aficionados we are definitely lovers of the various styles of Jazz.

Last night we had the immense pleasure of going to see Diana Krall in concert. It was the most intimate, relaxed evening of music I have been to in a long time.

She is lovely, funny, witty and plays a wicked jazz piano. Did I mention she is Canadian and married to Elvis Costello? It's true.

We were seated really close thanks to our friends Kristie and Joel getting excellent seats for the 4 of us (2nd row) so you could actually see her fingers as they moved across the keys. It was an excellent way to spend a Sunday evening.

Her backing trio of musicians were definitely masters of their craft and we were just as enthralled by their presence on stage as we were of hers.

If she happens to be playing where you are, I highly recommend you go and see her.

Welcome Home Baby Eden

Happiness abounds where we are!!!

Baby Eden came home today with her mommy and daddy, Rhonda and Kristin, in tow.

I warn you now - you are about to enter the CUTENESS ZONE - you will be overloaded :)

The Crowd awaits

Finally home

Grandma gets first hug!

Auntie Cheryl

Auntie Rana



Auntie Sandi

Beautiful Family!

Uncle Clay



Yvan gets in close (can you see him?)

One happy Momma!


Congratulations Rhonda and Kristin!! We are so glad you are home with Eden :)

The Scoop

We have had quite a few people call and email asking us how we are doing!

THANK YOU!

Honestly, it is so amazing to know that people care so much and are thinking of us right now.

So, I thought I would do a little post letting you know what we know as of today.

1. We have not been matched with our child yet - this means the child meant for us and vice versa has not come along yet and so we wait.

2. Our agency director is going to Ethiopia tomorrow for a few weeks. She is hoping to work on referrals - will we be in the next batch? We don't know - they can't tell us because they don't know and even if they did know they still couldn't tell us as it needs to come to our provincial office first and then to our social worker and then to us.

3. We know we are right there very close to the top of the list - but how long it will take is unknown - 3 weeks, 1 month, 2 months your guess is as good as ours.

4. What are we going to do? We have come this far - we can go a few more months. There are days where I absolutely feel like I CAN NOT go one more day but Yvan is strong and reminds me of the alternative which is never having kids and that won't do! So we wait!

5. We are both sad - sad it is taking so long but we will make it - especially with all the love we get from all of you :)

6. Not only should Kleenex start paying me residuals for the usage and advertising but I am now going to talk to JELLO PUDDING because it has become my comfort food this week - there's nothing like a little J-E-L-L-O (chocolate - 'cause that's how I roll) when you are feeling weepy to make you smile....seriously - you should try it! You WILL smile while you eat it. You can't help it. Makes you feel like a kid again.

That is the scoop!

Maybe Next Time?

So, we are still playing the waiting game. There is nothing for us.

I am going to take a little time to mend my heart.

I want to thank you all for your support so far. I/We couldn't have gotten this far without all of your encouragement, support and friendship.

We'll blog again soon!

Congratulations Carolyn and Adam!!!

Carolyn and Adam are a mommy and daddy!!! FINALLY!

They have a referral for wee son! Yahoooooooo!

Go here and give them your best!!! Go. Now!

Carolyn and Adam have been a great source of support, laughter and friendship over the last few months. Even though we have never met, they have been there via blogs, message boards and endless daily emails.

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU BOTH!!!

Seeing you guys get your referral has restored our hope that dreams really do come true :)

Thanks for letting us be a part of it all!

Rana and Yvan

Sushi Night

Every month a few of us girls get together for a splurge club of sorts. We have appetizers, a few drinks and hang out. We all throw $25 bucks into a pot and someone wins the dough to do whatever they like with.

This year we are having a food theme for each night. So far we have had Vietnamese, Mexican and last night was Sushi.

One of the girls has a friend from Japan who has been living here for about 4 months.. We'll call her R. Now R is young - and by young I mean way younger than me -way younger means like early 20's - but MAN does she make a mean Sushi. She volunteered to teach us how to make our own using her authentically Japanese recipe (with locally purchased ingredients of course)

Now I love Sushi A LOT but I don't get to eat it very much because Yvan does not. Sigh!

So, I was overly excited about this little venture of ours.

And, eh hemm! *pats self on back* I am a damn good sushi roller if I do say so myself!

Lori prepping the ingredients

The goods

Mort, making sure all is done accordingly

Getting started

Oooooooh would ya look at that!

A Perfect roll! Thank you, thank you very much
*takes bow*

Now let's do it reversed with the seaweed inside

R admiring..er I mean...laughing...at our rolling skills.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm *drool*

Sesame seeds and saran wrap so the rice don't stick!

Inari pockets - if you have never had these tasty little treats you are missing out.

Seasoned tofu - deep fried than stuffed with rice and whatever delicious items you can think of.

I like avocado the best! Lori cutting our rolls

Let the feast begin

Cute little R teaches us how to make Origami cranes - no small feat I tell you.

*Edit - not only did I get to eat the best sushi EVER but I won the pot. Now I am off to peruse the Garmin website for a new training watch! It's gonna make me RUN FAST!*

IF I Were a Cat or a Dog in Our House!

I would get to lay in my favourite patch of sun...

with my favourite sister!

I would get to lie in my favourite blanket with my chew toy...

...taunting my brother with my treasure!

I would get to stretch out and sleep on my favourite mat...


...or recline out on the lazy boy chair in the sun.

But best of all...I would get to curl up in the freshly laundered towels in the closet!!!!!


If I were cat or a dog in our house, these would be the only worries I have...that and when I get to eat again :)

Moaning Myrtle Runs Again

Remember when I wrote this post! (hmmm....maybe you don't)

I can hardly believe that almost a year has passed since then. But alas, it has!

I have been a Moaning Myrtle lately

but I feel that now it is o.k. to do some moaning! I mean come on - we have been waiting for our family for a while now! I used to try and put on a happy face when people asked about our adoption! Now, I tell them how I am feeling - sad, frustrated, disillusioned, angsty(yes, I said angsty - is that even a word)! And you know what, people have been really good about it for the most part!

Being a Moaning Myrtle doesn't mean I am always sad - I am happy - happy to have my health, Yvan, my animals, my family and friends. I am happy every day I wake up because really, just the fact that I have woken up is a good thing!

But the sadness is always there, simmering underneath! We are once again watching our neighbourhood wake-up from the long winter - families out for walks again...babies are EVERYWHERE I tell you! EVERYWHERE!

Two couples we know are having their second baby since we started our adoption...That. My friends... is a bitter-sweet pill to swallow! We are happy for them but sad for ourselves. They will have gotten pregnant AND given birth again before we are even home with our wee one.

And so I moan! My Maternal Clock is going "tick, tock, tick, tock" well it is really more of a Gong! I am surprised you haven't heard it! It does make sleeping a bit of a challenge lately what with all the GONG! GONG! GONG! ringing thru my ears. I tried ear plugs - it doesn't work!

There is one thing that helps drown out the noise of the clock - running - but I broke up with running last July because of injuries but since spring has come to town (my letter to Winter worked by the way) I see it everywhere. So, I am going to start again and in the next 7 weeks I will train to run 10K like I did here last year. Yikes! Only 7 weeks! I hope the thump, thump, thump of the my feet hitting the pavement will keep out the Gonging...but if it doesn't, then I will just crank up the ipod a little louder!

So, I hope you will excuse my moaning for the next little while - I will probably moan about our wait some more and I will DEFINITELY moan about my 10K training! Did I mention I only have 7 weeks to get ready! Oh boy!

P.S. There are actually two things that drown out the GONG - Twilight is the other and I have started reading the series again - mock me if you must but it really works!