DRUMROLL PLEASE....

That's right, folks... We have a SON! We got the referral of a baby boy on 2/5!! His name is JoonSeong Lee. Joon means excellent and Seong means achieve. We are still deciding on his American name, but planning to keep a portion of his Korean name. Mr. and Mrs. Choi are his foster parents and they are 64 years old!! They have two grown kids of their own and have been fostering babies for over 20 years!! Here are pics of him at his 5 month check-up.

He is about 16 lbs . His Birthday is August 20. In his medical reports, amoungst other things, the doctor described him as "Cute and Alert".

Joon and Mrs. Choi

According to Mrs. Choi, he loves baths, is babbling a lot, and laughs often. Could it get any better than this?!

So, for those wondering what's next: We continue to work with the Immigration office while the agency works with the Korean government to start the process of bringing him home. We recieved his birth certificate last week and are still in a whirlwind of paperwork and notaries... All in all, it is another 3-6 months until we travel to Seoul to get him. June would be a lovely time to travel...cross your fingers!

Since the last post...

Ok, so the guest bathroom redo went so well, I decided to do our Master bath... As a result, I will probably not want to paint anymore for a long time. 2 weekends in a row is a lot...I didn't paint the room, but I did paint the vanity and made the frame for the mirror. I think the frame looks really good on the large mirror so I wanted to post the pics.

In other non-related news, Jonathan and I have decided to read the entire Bible. Call it a resolution if you want, but it's something that always seems terribly overwhelming to do. Well our pastor at FBC is leading a 'class' on "The Bible in 90 Days". Yes. You read right-90 DAYS! It will be intense, but we each got a special Bible that has numbered pages telling how many to read for that day. So skipping a day is not really an option, it would be so easy to get behind.. But we have a great group and we're meeting weekly, so that provides a lot of encouragement.

My parents are also doing this challenge in their church and my Dad has already bought all the audiobooks off iTunes so he can listen. I thought they were kinda cheating at first, but now it seems pretty smart.

Either way, whether you listen or read, I don't think God will mind. I'm proud of myself for finally doing it and excited that someone has found an easier way to make it manageable. I'm really excited and feel pretty motivated about it, but then again I've only been able to check off Day One so far...

Bathroom Re-do

So let me preface this post by saying I love craft projects. I love creating new things from old junk. I love finding treasures at garage sales. I also love home improvement projects! Home Depot is my home away from home. For Christmas, Jonathan bought me a nail gun. Not just any nail gun. A super SWEET nailgun that uses staples or nails. I love it.


On to the point... Last Thursday, out of the blue, I decided I wanted to try something with my guest bathroom mirror. In both of our bathrooms we have those oh-so-boring plain mirrors adhered to the wall. Nothing special. I decided I wanted to give it a new look by 'framing' it. And, while I was at it, why not paint the walls... and the vanity??

It was decided. I went to HD (Jonathan would think at first glance this stands for High Definition)-Home Depot-Duh! I bought primer, a miter box, a door trim kit and two gallons of paint-Millstream blue and Dark Truffle brown. I used the trusty miter box to saw the trim pieces (thanks to Jonathan for the measurements!) and sanded them down. I painted the walls and ceiling blue and the vanity and trim pieces brown. With a little Liquid Nails and Hot glue, Wha La! A custom framed mirror!! Maybe next weekend I'll tackle the master bath...Check out the before and after pics below!!

BEFORE

AFTER:

Buster is always a great helper!

yes, I have dorky oranged striped house shoes...

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

We were in need of a serious vaca...

But then again, aren't we always up for a new place to visit?!

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago we, along with our good friends, Todd and Susana ventured to the snowy winterland of Estes Park, Colorado. I was so thrilled to go, Jonathan went skiing near there for one Spring Break and I've been dying for a reason to go. We found dirt cheap plane tickets back in October so we took it as a clear message to getaway.

After landing, we drove to Golden, where Coor's Brewery was founded and Buffalo Bill was laid to rest. It is the cutest little town and they were having a Newfoundland dog parade when we pulled in!! It was hilarious to see these HUGE dogs rigged up to sleighs pulling little kids!

We had a place at an amazing resort (thanks mom & dad) and took full advantage! After a power breakfast of all-you-can-eat waffles, our first day we decided to try our hand at snow shoeing in Rocky Mountain National Park. It is one of the most breath-taking places I've seen. We came across several Elk along the road-we had to drive extra sloooow because of all the snow!! Snow shoeing was fabulous. I love to hike, but this was awesome!

The wind was fierce, snow was heavy and the air was thin, but all-in-all it was great. We ate at a fantastic Costa Rican resturant (strange to be in little ol' Estes Park) and headed back to the cabin. The resort boasted of their incredible 3 hot tubs-but they are outdoor of course. We made an event of it and sprinted in our bathing suits through the foot of snow to the hot tub....awww so nice...

The next day consisted of skiing in Eldora. I was the only newbie so the pressure was on to learn fast. Luckily Susana is a very patient person and stuck with me. It was unexpectingly fun even if I fell A LOT. You would think I would get discouraged with all the 5 year olds zooming past me but I wasn't. The day ended with a bit of unanticipated excitement when Susana had her very first fall-which just so happened to be our last run. Her boot didn't pop out of her ski when she fell, causing her knee to twist along with the ski-lots of pain!! I thought she was laughing so I naturally started to giggle, when I finally got down to her, I realized these were NOT tears of joy... I skied as quickly as I could without falling and got someone to help. Needless to say, she had to be carted off in a stretcher/snowmobile by First Aid.

After another long trip home (once again: snowy, mountainous roads+no guard rails= slooow drive) we yes, you got it, sprinted to the hot tub. Well, Suz limped, the rest of us sprinted.

We had plans to go tubing and sledding the next day, but decided it would be best to take it easy. Instead we ventured to Fort Collins to visit the New Belgium Brewing Co. It is quite an impressive company where they make great strides to create a more energy efficient production facility and chain of logistics. We also stopped by the Stanley Hotel where Stephen King wrote and filmed The Shining.

All in all, another great trip!!!

We have now ventured into our 6 month on the Wait List... We're both starting to get a bit restless, but know that we still have a ways to go. The holiday parties and shopping have been a great distraction though. Saturday we are leaving for a mini vacation to Denver/Estes Park which we are excited about.

Last month was Charlotte's 2nd Birthday!! I cannot believe what a big girl she is! I remember the day she was born, it was a couple days before Thanksgiving and my sister and brother-in-law were living in Omaha at the Air Force base. Jonathan and I jumped in the car and loaded up the dogs when we got the call. After a very eventful road trip-Barkley was sick as a-well, dog to say the least. We had to make several stops along the way and didn't think we'd ever make it!

Charlotte LOVES Uncle Jon Jon...Lots of jumping on the bed!

We rolled into town in the evening, dropped the dogs off and headed to the hospital. It was so exciting! We luckily missed the labor portion and arrived in time to see the beautiful baby girl(at this point there was not an official name). Rachael and Chris were naturals and it was so fun to be called an Aunt!!

The dogs are very entertaining!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE!!

Operation Craft Fair: Complete

Some of you may know that my older sister Laurie and I have been running our very own sweat shop with ourselves as the only employees for the past few months. I made a TON of jewelry, picture frames, and a whole lot of baby gifts. Laurie is a nurse at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Mn. Every year they have a massive craft fair and this year we decided, 'Why not rent a booth?' Well, the day finally arrived after an 11 hour drive to Minnesota -not to mention a couple near death experiences due to middle-of-the-night driving adventure with my parents. This was our first venture at a Craft Fair, so we learned a lot, but more importantly, we made a decent amount of cash!! I also want to mention my INCREDIBLE mom and sister, Rachael who worked tirelessly at sewing and contributing to our inventory.

We also managed to fit in a trip to the Pannekoeken-Dutch Family Restaurant. Famous of course for their Dutch style pancakes. While Laurie had the seasonal Pumpkin Pannekoeken and my mom had the traditional Pecan Pannekoeken, I kept it Southern and had a Bacon Pannekoeken. IT WAS ABSOLUTLEY FAB!! A little syrup+bacon= pure heaven. The best thing about this place is the fact that the waitresses bring each Pannekoeken out chanting, "Pannekoeken, Pannekeoken, Pannekeon" (see Northern Fargo accent). I guess it's just one of those places you have to visit first hand to get the full experience.

Here are a few of our best sellers- Tie and Bow Tie onesies and my neice, Charlotte modeling the Ruffle Onesie...