The Hope of Spring

Apple blossoms at my mom's house.

There are so many metaphors for spring....new life, new hope, a fresh start, new growth, all of which probably are the reason spring is my favorite season. This spring, for me, has an even more special meaning, as I think of our little boy half-way around the world, waiting for spring. He doesn't even know it's coming, but little Arnold, it IS coming.

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I thought I'd post a few pictures from our weekend visiting our parents. I didn't take too many photos, which I always regret, but I was just enjoying myself and the people I was with. We stayed at my parents house, where my mom always succeeds in sending us home fatter than when we came. Her cooking is always delicious, and I eat way too much when I'm there (my step-dad's dark chocolate "heart medicine" didn't help the waistline either-but it sure was delicious!). Our kids love the barrage of cousins and Aunts & Uncles that arrive and make grandma's house full of little girls (and Jake!). I always realize how terribly I miss the mountains when I go home to Utah. They are so beautiful in every season.  I am so glad I grew up there, able to hike and explore so many places in the mountains above my home.  I have many memories in those mountains.

Jake "helping" to fill in a sprinkler trench (oops, Grandpa, this one wasn't supposed to be filled in yet-sorry :)

Of course we had to color Easter eggs!

We also spent some time at Brian's parents house on the other side of the mountains. Once again, the cousins filled the house and there was always something going on. The kids had a really fun Easter egg hunt. Brian's mom does a fun thing-putting pretend money in the plastic eggs that the kids can use to buy toys from her "store". We had yet another delicious dinner and left feeling loved and thankful for our families.

The best part of the trip for me was finally sharing our news about Arnold with our families! It was emotional for me to see them become emotional while we told our story. It was wonderful the way they immediately supported us and congratulated us and accepted Arnold into our family. We have the best families! I can't wait to share this journey with them!

An update on our home study progress:

We had our medical appointments last week, to verify that we are healthy with no major health issues.  This week I have my passport appointment and fingerprint/background check appointment.  We're almost done with our 10 hours of adoption education classes that we're required to complete.  While we wait for our passports, background checks and lab tests to come back, we'll finish up our autobiographies, along with some other paperwork from the home study agency.  They weren't kidding when they said there would be mountains of paperwork!  So far I'm doing a good job of keeping it all organized in a binder.  It has never felt so great to be able to check items off a list as "complete"!  Little by little, we are getting there.