Last day of Leftovers...PHEW!!

Okay, I think we are turkey-e-d OUT! We've had turkey on Thursday, Friday and Sunday...and don't forget tonight for turkey noodle soup!! That's what happens when you go out to eat to enjoy a beautiful extravaganza, and get a 10-12 lb turkey and take home the leftovers!!

Here's the meal plan for the week...thankfully I did not have to shop. We've had leftovers and some food we brought back from the mountains.

Monday: turkey noodle soup, salad and bread

Tuesday: hamburger helper (cheeseburger macaroni)

Wednesay: BLTs with homemade oven fries

Thursday: chicken thighs, potatoes, carrots

Friday: BBQ chicken, baked potato and salad

We have a nice week ahead of us...my book club is meeting for our Christmas cookie/wine party on Wednesday night and then our friend's daughter has a Xmas concert at school on Thursday night. Then....Friday we are meeting with our social worker to review our home study report!! I can't wait!!

It's starting to look a lot like Chrsitmas at our house. I will post some pictures tomorrow. Unfortunately I have misplaced my camera...so I will have to dig out an older digital I am thankful we kept around.

Have a great week everyone!! It's my first day back to work in a week...and look at me, I am avoiding work already by blogging....3.5 weeks until Chrsitmas Break and another few days off!! YAY!!

Happy Thanksgiving

What a beautiful sunny morning walking into the main lodge this morning for breakfast

We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at Helen's (the fine dining restaurant at 7 Springs).It was so beautiful inside. The fire was roaring, they were decorated for Christmas and we saw all our favorite wait staff that we closed down the bar with last night!! They treated us to a round of drinks and also a TO DIE for piece of chocolate cake.

The student chef carving our own personal turkey

a view of the extravaganza of food that was brought to our table. Anything we didn't eat, came home with us. The TO GO box was as big as our table. We will have leftovers for a week!! The food included:

• turkey
• mashed potatoes
• sweet potatoes
• gravy
• crab imperial
• salad
• rolls
• green beans
• breaded cauliflower
• 3 types of stuffing (sausage, portabello and pine nut)
• ham
• homemade noodles

Then...we each had desert. Todd had pumpkin pie and I had apple pie with vanilla ice cream. We enjoyed a bottle of Ferari Chardonnay and I had an Earl Grey tea with desert. It was heavenly....but we are soooo stuffed now!!

This year, we are both very thankful to be nearing the completion of our dossier to China. We meet with our social worker next week to review our home study, and we are in the process of certifying and authenticating our documents. I am also waiting for my police clearance for child abuse from the UK. We one step closer each day, and that is something we are both VERY thankful for!!

Happy Thanksgiving....

...now if 'Winston' our Old English Sheep Dog would just PASS the leather leash he ate this morning while we were at breakfast....we would be even more thankful!! I think it's going to be a very LONG night....

A week to be Thankful for...

This was most of my view today....Winston and Marley (not pictured) didn't really leave my side. I am reading 'The Girl on Legare Street' by Karen White and LOVE it...Todd worked from the condo all day and the dogs and I vegged out.

This was the view from the balcony off the family room. There was so much fog all day, we couldn't even see the slopes.

And this was the view from the front door leading to the parking lot.

So, we didn't really miss much leaving the condo today...we are getting ready to head to the lodge to enjoy a relaxing hot tub (oh yeah, because our day has been SOOOO stressful!! LOL) Then, we are headed back to enjoy some chili for dinner and settling in to watch the last episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8. I can't help it, I am addicted!

We are headed to town tomorrow to mail our MD adoption forms off for certification and we also want to go to the movies to see The Blindside. Wednesday I have a mani and pedi appointment and then I think we might head out to see Kentuck Knob, a Frank Lloyd Wright designed property. Then...Thursday we have the Macy's Day parade and dinner at Helen's....delicious!! I am reseraching what wine to drink with dinner....we will be sure to enjoy a bottle!! : )

Bow Holders

I just found this website:

www.iwantedtowonder.com

...and they have the CUTEST bow holders for little girls...I LOVE this one!! I definately see one of these in our future!!

Headed out of town...

We are headed to 7 Springs this week for Thanksgiving and a little R & R. It's been a busy week at work for us both, and we can't wait to pack up the car, the dogs and off we go!! Of course our work lap tops are going with us...but there will be plenty of time to RELAX in the mountains. We are going to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner at Helen's restaurant with table side carving and a nice bottle of wine...just the two of us!!

Hope you have a great week, Happy Thanksgiving!!

Meal Plan for the week

Monday: filet mignon, mashed potatoes, blue cheese wedge salad

Tuesday: Lisa's with Deb

Wednesday: Tacos

Thursday: shrimp with linguine and zucchini

Friday: BLTs with oven fries

Saturday: on our way to 7 Springs for the week!! BBQ grilled chicken, baked potatoes, green beans

Sunday: chili with saltines and all the fixings

We are kind of repeating some things from last weeks menu, because things got off track trying to get our rental ready for new tenants...and then getting ready for the home study meeting this Saturday. Thankfully both of those items are behind us and now we can focus on getting out of town to 7 Springs for the Thanksgiving week!! YIPPEE!!!

Final Home Study Visit

We had our final home study visit this weekend! It was our visit for individual conversations with our social worker...and boy were were nervous! Some of our friends have been through this before and offered advice and support, but you never know what they will want to know. I am happy to report that it went great! Todd went first...he was asked to describe his childhood, his college and professional career and whether or not I will be a good Mom! He talked to our social worker for about 2 hours...I was upstairs with the dogs and going NUTS!! Then, it was my turn. I had similar questions and also had to dscribe what kind of father I think Todd will be and what challenges we will face, etc... I also had to describe my childhood and we both had to talk about our relationships with our families. We briefly discussed finances...and that was it! We will meet again on December 4th for the final report review and hope to be able to submit the application about a week after that for our I-800 and then fingerprinting.

We are SO excited!!

Home Study, trains and meal plan...

This weekend we had a home study visit with our social worker...we were really worked up and anxious, but it went well. Our social worker is great, and really put us at ease. We talked about our plans for childcare...how we met...why we want to adopt...why China...and she also spoke to one of our references. We asked Todd's God Parents, Rudy and Nancy to join in the fun!! It was a nice morning....long, but very exciting!

This coming Saturday, she will be back again for our individual interviews to discuss our childhoods, our relationships with our families and our finances. We will be nervous about all that...we have a lot of things to work through with our family discussion.

On Sunday, we went with some friends to Cumberland to enjoy the Western Maryland Scenic Train Ride. The train travels from Cumberland to Frostburg and you get time for lunch in Frostburg before the return trip back. It was a long travel day because it takes 3.5 hours from our house to Cumberland. Six adults, one teenager and 3 little girls...and I think we all survived!

Meal Plan for the week:

Monday: ham and cheesy noodle bake and salad

Tuesday: chicken pesto pasta

Wednesday: chicken teriyaki with twice baked potatoes

Thursday: tacos

Friday: shrimp scampi with linguine and zucchini

Saturday: Waterfowl Festival in our town...Scossa (our favorite italian) for the atmosphere of a buzzing town!!

Sunday: filet mignon, baked potatoes, and salad (or mashed potatoes and green beans)

Have a great week!!

Menu Plan

My menu plans have been non-existent recently...and so has my blogging!! Things are crazy right now...Todd is away this week, so here you go!!

Monday: leftover spaghetti and meat sauce & garlic bread

Tuesday: Chicken curry and rice

Wednesay: Chinese Take Out

Thursday: BLTs with oven fries--or left overs depending on what time Todd gets home

Friday: Shepherd's Pie

Saturday: Spaghetti Carbonara with garden salad

Sunday: Western MD Train Ride with the Pochron's and Dixon's--out to eat

Have a great week everyone!!

100 Wishes Quilt

We went to have our pictures taken a week or so ago, as we are sending them out with our letters this week or next with instructions on how to contribute to our daughter's 100 wishes quilt.

**Adoption Update:

We are meeting with our social worker and one of our references this weekend!! Then, we will have our seperate interviews the following weekend. YIKES!! Our social worker hopes to meet with us after Thanksgiving to review the report. Then we can apply for our I-800A and move more forward with the dossier submission. We have checked a good portion of the items off the list for the dossier already. But the notorizing, certification, etc... are what will be time consuming next.