Wow Am I Behind!

Ok this will take a while.  Go get some coffee and get comfy in your chair.  Go ahead, I will wait.....
Ok settled in nicely? because this will take a while and probably involve a few rabbit trails, but then again the best journeys/stories always do.
Where did I leave off?  Oh yes the pie.....

 

 “We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.”
― David Mamet, Boston Marriage

 

I started out sitting on the back porch pitting the cherries.  It was a really nice day and I didn't mind sitting out there.  I was even visited by a friendly hummingbird.

 

 After pitting them I mixed the cherries for a filling and started making the crust.  One of my goals this summer is to learn to make a good pie crust.  My husband is from a long line of pie lovers.  And after almost 27 years I am bidding adieu to Betty Crocker's crusts and perfecting my own. 

 

My good friend the preacher's wife told me her mother-in-law(or was it her mother?) swore by Fleischman's margarine and mixing with a two-tined fork.  Well, I used Crisco, but I decided to give the fork a try.

 

Well, it was a rousing success.  The pie was delish!  And everytime I make a crust I think it gets a little better.
So far I have made 3 or 4 Strawberry Rhubarb, Coconut Cream, 2 Blueberry and 2 Cherry.

Until one has loved an animal a part of one's soul remains unawakened.
Anatole France
My Serenity wants to be a Veterinarian when she grows up. That girl loves animals.  Matt and I want to do a lot of different things with her this summer before her sister comes home.  Since she is so into 4 legged friends we decided a trip to Living Treasures (http://www.ltanimalpark.com/new-castle-local-activities/)  would be a good idea.

Hello Mr Peacock

Show Off

Cousin Ernie would be impressed (http://turtlemanliveaction.com/)

Serenity and Matt

She's touching the Llama!

Can I keep him?

 

 

Family is not an important thing. It's everything.
Michael J. Fox

Today was my family reunion.  The McFadden Reunion, The big one. 
My grandmother, Isabelle, is one of 13.  It is that family reunion.  There are so many branches of that family tree the reunion can get pretty big.  There is always an auction to help defray the costs. 

These are two of my cousins running the auction, Richard and Matthew.  Matthew is holding up a loaf of zucchini bread made by his wife, Bonnie.  Bonnie made 5 loaves for the auction. And I bought one.  Zucchini Bread? you may ask.  Let me tell you about that bread.
It was made from his mother's recipe, my Great Aunt Carole. She was the youngest of my grandmother's siblings, the one they way was most like her mother.  When I first moved to Pennsylvania at the age of 16 I lived with Aunt Carole, Uncle Jim and their 3 boys, Mark, Matthew and Nathan.  I was going into my senior year of high school.  That fall Aunt Carole made lots of zucchini bread made from the garden Uncle Jim had behind the house.  And I took peanut butter sandwiches made with that zucchini bread in my lunch.  And the best part?  Aunt Carole let me help make zucchini bread with her.  Aunt Carole passed away from breast cancer several years ago and Uncle Jim sold the house they shared this summer.  But the best part is he sold it to my sister. Aunt Carole's house once again knows the slamming door of active kids going in and out. I like to think that makes her smile.
Ok moving on..... Another McFadden Reunion tradition are the pictures.

Once again, I give you The Cousins.  This time Daisy Mae is missing but Lexie Woo-Hoo is being held by Bee.

Here is my mom and her decendants

This picture is extra special.  This is all the girls that share the name Mareline (marleen)

From l-r

Aunt Mareline(the original) Judith Mareline(my aunt) Serenity Mareline,

 Jamie Mareline and Vivian Mareline(Aunt Mareline's great granddaughter)

How cool is that?  We have Aunt, niece, great niece, great-great niece and great granddaughter!

 

It is good news, worthy of all acceptation; and yet not too good to be true.
Matthew Henry
Ok, I saved the best for last.  The rest was all good, but this is GREAT!!!

Friday Whole Foods had a terrific sale on organic grapes.
 #1 I love Whole Foods
#2 We love grapes.
#3 ROAD TRIP!!!!
So we woke up Serenity, and hit the road around 11.  It's about 45 min to Whole Foods and we were going to get lunch first.
I had found a fun little lunch place called Noodles and Company(http://www.noodles.com/)  and they probably have the coolest soda machine ever.(I didn't take a picture and a Google search didn't find one so you will just have to go there and see it yourself)  Serenity loves noodles so Bonus!
We ordered and sat down.  I looked at my phone because I'm addicted like that.  WHAA?!?!?! I missed a call from our agency.  I immediately called back and was transferred to the travel dept.  Travel Approval BABY!!!!!  China issued their official invitation to come get our baby. SCORE!!!!!
Ever get really good news right before you are going to eat?  There was no way I could eat.  I had a million things going thru my head. Here was part of the conversation with the agency.
Agency Rep, "I know you want to travel quickly, you need to apply for your visas."
Me, "We already have them. Is there any way to get us in group 2011?"
Agency Rep, "You sound ready to travel."
Me, "I am about half packed.  But I can get on the plane with a credit card and a toothbrush and be ok.  And really?  I could buy a toothbrush at the airport!"
Agency Rep, "I like your attitude."

So we are requesting to join group 2011, they have consulate appointments July 31, and gotcha day July 22.  That is pretty much the soonest we can travel because the American consulate is moving from July 13-24.  Don't even get me started on that! 
We will know tomorrow if we are able to get a CA on July 31.
Tune in tomorrow for further developments

Bear you one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Gal 6:2

Not gonna lie, its been a rough road to this adoption.  If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, the road to China is paved with red tape!  Yesterday afternoon I hit the wall, well not literally hit but I sure felt like throwing something at it.  It just seems like one step forward three steps back.

I called our agency last Thursday to ask about our Article 5 drop off at the US Consulate in Guangzhou(this bit of paperwork has to do with Belle's visa) and asked if they include the medical expedite letters. Same old same old, only life and death blah, blah,blah. But she was sure they were sent because they are in our file. She said the A5 should be dropped off Friday. Called back Monday, med exp letters WERE NOT sent. But are there now and the A5 will be dropped off TUESDAY! GRRRRRRRRRR! I'm sorry, I thought I was paying you thousands of dollars to help me, not decide whether or not it is life and death, and if a hemoglobin of 4.9 isn't life and death it sure is close enough! 

I was stressed. 

I shared all this in our Small Group last night, and proud of myself for not crying.

This morning 2 of the ladies from our group picked me up to go pick cherries.  Another lady from the group and her family are out of town for a while and they have a sour cherry tree with cherries ready to pick.  So we went.  And let me tell you, it was just what I needed.  Fresh air, idyllic setting, birds singing and fuzzy kittens gamboling about does a spirit good.

Thanks Pam and Marci for helping bear my burden.

Me on a ladder, with my head in the tree

Marci in the tree

My view from the ladder

My next post, the Great Cherry Pie Tale

 

Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday. ~Author Unknown

Ah a lazy weekend.....Ya right!
This past Saturday was Mattie's grad party.  Since he is hard to pin down for pictures, I grabbed him before the party started and did an impromptu iphone photo shoot.  Here are 2 of my favorites.

 

Isn't he a looker? 

 

We had  lots of fun visiting with friends and family that attended.  But I think it is safe to say the big hit of the party were the meatballs and comedy show.

First the meatballs.  My son Dean is a professional cook.  And he is good at it!  For the party I asked him to make the meatballs he has been telling me about.  He gave me a list of ingredients and said he would.  So Friday while I chopped veggies for a veggie platter he worked his magic.  It was so nice to work in the kitchen with him.  We laughed and talked and shared work.  It was a terrific experience for me.  I hope he thinks so too.  But the meatballs, oh the meatballs, they were every bit as good as he had said.  Saturday I made sure to tell everyone they were HOMEMADE by Dean.  Now for every party my sister must bring her famous potato salad and Dean must make meatballs.

After the party there were maybe a dozen meatballs left.  I quickly re-bowled them from the huge roaster and put them in the fridge thinking no one would want ice cold meatballs and we could have spaghetti and meatballs for dinner Monday night.  How naive am I?  I have known these people for years.  We are having tacos.

Then after dinner the boys did an improv show.  I love to watch them do these things.

All in all it was a great evening.  We had a rare sunny day, my mother-in-law said it was God Smiling on Mattie.  I like to think she is right.

 

 



 

What's a.....?

This will be a quick post, I just have something funny to share.

Pre-Story

Serenity has been asking some questions about places we will visit in China. She was asking about The Forbidden City and the Great Wall. Good, I think, she's interested and wants to learn. 

We turned to Netflix to find some educational shows we could watch together.  We started with the Forbidden City.  It was a 1996 production of In Search Of, narrated by Leonard Nimoy(Mr Spock, the REAL Mr. Spock, but I digress...)

Matt came home from a softball game with Subway, so we plated up and took our place in the 'Adventure Room'  to watch and learn. 

Where is the blu-ray player? How do we hook this thing up?  MATTIE!!!! We were rescued by our resident IT guy aka Mattie, our oldest son.  By the time he had us up and running, we had finished our sandwiches.

Bellies full and places on the couch and ottoman assumed, we were ready for Mr Spock to tell us all about The Forbidden City.

Story

We  started watching and were transported back to a time BEFORE Columbus discovered America.  We learned about the building of the City and the rise and fall of Dynasties. We heard tales of political intrigue, starving peasants, extravagant emperors, scheming eunuchs and the Fragrant Concubine. And Serenity fell asleep.

I guess tales of of political intrigue, eunuchs and concubines could not keep her awake.

On the upside, I didn't have to explain what eunuchs and concubines were.

I hope the tale of the Great Wall....oh who am I kidding!

So....What's new?

Well, I'm glad you asked. Last Thursday we were able to cut thru another strand of red tape keeping us from Belle. We received I800 approval. The I800 is "Petition to Classify (Hague) Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative'. It gives us permission from Uncle Sam to call Belle our daughter. Next step our paperwork goes to the National Visa Center in New Hampshire. Getting this little piece of info on Thursday afternoon was a big relief because I got it just as we were heading out the door to go to the family cabin for the weekend. I could relax a few days before fighting the red tape again Monday. Ahhhh the cabin, a little bit of throwback to a simpler time.

 Poppy needed a new battery for his truck. They put those things in there pretty secure. I  got to help get the last bolt loosened because I have smaller hands.

 We also cut ALOT of wood. The log splitter may have been the coolest thing going! Serenity loved helping Poppy with his 'cool toy'

      The new shed needed painted and recent college grad, Mattie, was happy to oblige.

BIRD RESCUE!! There was a robin caught on a branch by a piece of nylon string. The poor thing had it wrapped around on 'foot' and it was wrapped around the branch of a maple tree. Poppy climbed the ladder to cut the branch down, Mattie held the ladder on uneven ground(after I put down the camera) I helped bring the branch down gently so as not to hurt Robin, and Daddy Matt freed the birdie.

   Grammy was in charge of the grub!  The lack of running water or  electricity doesn't seem to slow her down!

Sunday we went to the coolest museum called Tyred Wheels. It is in the middle of nowhere. It has antique cars toys and what-nots. http://www.visitpa.com/pa-museums/tyred-wheels-museum

Monday morning brought a doctor's appointment. Serenity needed a physical for traveling to China and we wanted to check on her immunizations. Turns out all 3 of us needed immunizations. She got one for respiratory stuff(the only reason we agreed to this one is because of the air quality in China) and tetanus booster. Matt got Hep B and Hep A and I got Hep A.

I want to leave you with this little goodie. So many times pop culture gets things wrong, I love it when they get it right!

Sunday Snapshot

Trying something new.  Sunday Snapshot.  Need to find the right picture to include.  Give me a minute while I peruse..... Ok I couldn't choose just one.

Belle

Matt playing Softball for the Church team

Sweet LOA

 

Me and our LOA sending it back to CCAI

Matt and the LOA