Bucket Head

I'm watching Munich right now. The events that this movie is based on occurred a year before I was born. I knew about the massacre in Munich but not the operations that were carried out by Israel afterwards. I am enjoying the movie but the topic is not for the faint of heart. I would recommend it but it's not for young children.
I have been busy...as usual. My friend Shane came over this week to help me with a bit of a flooring dilemma that has plagued me for some time. I have to say that it turned out to be a success. Thanks Shane. You get a gold star by your name. I started painting our basement so that should be done fairly soon along with the unscheduled bathroom updating I had to begin a couple weeks ago (long story).
Emma is another story. She has never been one to wear a hat. If I put a hat on her head she will normally take it off and toss it aside. But not anymore. I discovered that if you get the right hat then she will readily accept it.
Disclaimer: This is not a real KFC bucket. Thus no grease. It was a toy bucket that had toy pieces of chicken and biscuits and stuff.

Exhibit A:Need I say that this little angel has won my heart?

J

Great news...an update...and my latest favorite pic

Great news: The wait is over. After being in Antigua for over a year Cheri and Eliana have come home with Gary.
I have read Cheri's blog for quite some time and it is surreal to read that they are stateside. While Guatemalan adoptions are sometimes met with problems Cheri and Gary were plagued with them...again and again. Their homecoming was long overdue. Visit www.sunflowersandladybugs, click on their blog and give them a big congrats and welcome them home.

Update: I have been working on our many home projects lately. Some scheduled, some unexpected and some long overdue. I must admit that I am lacking in the skills department when it comes to home improvement and with that Tera has been ever patient with me. I am learning slowly, but learning nonetheless. Emma is growing by leaps and bounds. She is picking up more words and getting into things like never before. Quite the strong personality this little one has.

Fave pic: Tera took this shot of Emma a couple of weeks ago. I think this picture really shows how much she has grown.
J

I'm still here...

just a bit busy and tired as well. I'll get to posting sometime early next week. Thanks for stopping by.
j

Tricia would be proud...

I have eaten 3 chocolate cupcakes today and I won't say how many I have had this week. All thanks to Tera's brother who has been on a baking kick the last couple of weeks. I need to go on a diet.

Today is February 7th...

I'm at Panera waiting for my vehicle to get it's oil changed. It's a balmy 25 degrees outside but it does look like we will be heading into another deep freeze this weekend with our low somewhere in the -15 degree range. Lovely Minnesota.
It has been mighty busy on the Emma front this week. She has begun to stack her blocks which is a joy to watch. Her speech has excelled as well. For example, when we say "Ready, Set...." she says "GO!" or actually more like "GDAHH!!!" but she does say "GDAHH" right on time. Also she says "Hi Daddy/ Papa". Aaand...when I ask where my ear is she finds it and then yanks on it till I say ouch. Oh Emma, that's my girl.
Changing gears, Recently our friends Tricia and family http://ourguatemalanbaby.blogspot.com have sponsored a child in Panajachel, Guatemala. This sponsorship enables her to have the needed supplies to attend school. Tera, Emma and I have also chosen to sponsor Caterina Debora. This is her picture:
Since adopting Emma we have an obvious heartfelt connection with the people and culture of Guatemala. We hope that organizations like Mayan Families http://mayanfamilies.org/ will be able to continue programs like these so that the people of Guatemala will have a better quality of life. Please consider sponsoring a child through Mayan Families. The resources that we provide on our end will provide so much for them in the long run. Visit their website at http://mayanfamilies.org/ and take a look at the work they are doing in Guatemala and consider donating or sponsoring a child.

Goodbye Nemo...

This is a picture of my clownfish hanging out in his Long Tentacle Anemone. He "moved on" this week. His name wasn't actually Nemo. It didn't have a name. I have a hard time naming fish. Dogs and cats I get but fish, no. Fish have cool scientific names which are way more fun to say. This clownfish was an Amphiprion Percula or "False Percula". Isn't that way more fun than saying Kent or Leon? I know there are those out there who don't like the idea of "harvesting the ocean" for a hobbies sake. Don't fret he was tank raised and did not come from the wild as many of the corals and other fish that we owned over the years. The industry is getting much better about the preservation of the world's reefs. Off hand I can't tell you how long I had him but I know it was more than 5 years. He was part of a more elaborate reef tank before we moved into our house.
I have to geek out for a second. Saltwater aquariums rule. I love to maintain them and they are a ton of fun once you know what you are doing. But they can be really expensive too. Tera and I loved this hobby but it takes time and money. Since moving to our house things like home improvements and the adoption of sweet little Emma we decided put out interest in reef tanks aside. No biggie, when time allows I will get back into it again. So this week we say "So long little guy".

A reluctant post

I have recently struggled with maintaining this blog. It seems like a good idea most of the time but when sit down to begin typing I begin to breath through my mouth while staring off into a far away place made of marshmallow creme and fruit flavored candy. I need some sort of structure or means of deciding "this is what I will talk about this week". Maybe I'll just talk about what's going on lately.

This week we had our basement ceiling sprayed so it's pretty much ready for the flooring and paint. Tera hasn't picked out the carpet color quite yet so I can't say what color it'll be. We started to work on our basement refinish a while ago and Tera's uncle John has been nice enough to help with the drywall mudding and sanding as well as spraying our ceiling. I owe him big time. He's been a huge help.
I finally finished a video project that I have been working on for two weeks. I must admit that this thing drove me nuts. I knew what I was doing but I constantly ran into Windows Vista issues. Either we need to go back to XP or I need to start selling plasma or something so we can get a Mac. Either way, it's done and I am thankful.
This week was the coldest it has gotten so far this winter. I like it. It's what makes Minnesota Minnesota. Now if we could get some more snow. I think the lows here in Minneapolis were around -15 and Saturday's high was -5. Nice.
Emma continues to be the cutest baby girl ever. This includes earlier this week when she pulled the laptop to the floor thus causing the keyboard to permanently malfunction. Hello, Geek Squad? She now as her two bottom teeth and her two top ones in now. It is weird to see her with teeth after seeing her without them for so long. It just adds to the cuteness. Also, she is beginning to pick up on new words and her verbal communication seems to have more organization.
I have been thinking about Guatemala every day now. It's pretty ridiculous. Plus, as I am typing this the Discovery Channel is showing an Adoption Stories episode that features Guatemala and showed the Westin inside and out. Mmmmm...Breakfast buffet at the El Cafetal. This week on Dateline NBC they featured an expose' on Guatemala and it's adoption system. I have yet to watch it but much has been said about the show many of the adoption sites. Head to www.guatadopt.com for more info on that. Hopefully I will see it this week.
Well, I think that'll be it for now. Thanks for reading. Drop me a line or shoot me an idea of something you think I should talk about.

J

The long and winding road

Today is special for a couple of reasons. First and foremost our friend Cheri and her daughter Eliana hve finally gotten OUT of PGN!!! Now for those who don't know who these people are I will ask that you go to www.sunflowersandladybugs.com and start from the beginning. It is well worth the read. They have been in PGN for over a year with the ever present uncertainty of the current state of the Guatemalan adoption system. Emma was in PGN for maybe a couple of months and that seemed like a mini eternity. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be in PGN for over a year. Her blog is one of the few sites that I visit on a daily basis. Second, PGN in Guatemala announced the establishment of the Central Authority in Guatemala City. This is a huge step for the way adoptions will be handled in the past and more importantly it will be where in process families will be registered so that they may continue on through the process. That's all for now. See you.

Breaking new ground!

Woo-Hoo!!! I have had (technically) over 1000 visitors. I think that I constitute 1/3 of those visits. It's silly I know since it took me pass up this landmark in how many months? Anyhoo, I hope that all my tens of readers have a great day!
Later,
Jason

Prayer request and the year to come...

On a very sad note one of Tera's uncles unexpectedly passed away over the weekend. Please pray for the family during this very difficult time.

Well this is my last post for 2007. What a year it has been. Our lives have changed drastically in so many ways. Many prayers have been answered and memories have been made. Our dearest blessing Emma came home and we couldn't be more overjoyed. This has been a year of many many firsts. I pray and put my hope in God that 2008 will be just as awesome. Please continue to pray for the children of Guatemala and the adoption process. Please keep in mind that there are many families still in process that may have a little bit of a bumpy road ahead of them. I hope and pray that the process will go better than expected. I pray for Emma's health and that it continues to improve and that our family will be brought together even closer. Have a wonderful New Years celebration!!! God Bless.