Trick or Treat :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

In response to Mendie's quetions

The CCAA does not give out the number of dossiers submitted each month. I get my rumor info from The Rumor Queen, which is a website I told myself I would never read. The website is run by a woman who adopted from China, she has a huge following and gets a lot of info. So far, her info has been pretty accurate. I try not to get sucked in by the rumor mill but sometimes I can't help myself.

As far as an estimated time, there is none. We can only guess by prior months referrals. We are hoping to get our referral late in 2008 and travel to China in 2009 but we have no idea. Of course, best case would be to travel to China in 2008. The Olympics will most likely slow things down.

Thanks for taking an interest in our journey.

October Referrals

The CCAA did 5 days of referrals. Everyone with a LID of November 30, 2005 and before has been matched with their child. At least they did the same amount of days as last month, and not less. Rumor has it that Dec 2005 had fewer dossiers submitted. Hopefully the CCAA can get through Dec in 3 months. In case any of you forgot, our LID is March 7, 2006 - we still have a long way to go.

T & R Update

Tonia told me to update my blog! So, here is what we have been up to.

Last weekend Resa started her weekend by attending the JT concert (that's Justin, not James) with a few of her friends, we had a great time. Tim and Resa ended the weekend with a hiking trip to the Columbia River Gorge. We hiked up to Mitchell Point, which is a 1.3 mile hike straight up on a narrow rocky path, the view was worth it. After the hike we went to a "swimming hole" but the water was way to cold to get in. This weekend we went to the beach. When we got there on Friday night, Bucky was waiting for us. This morning when we got up Bucky's family was there to say goodbye.

On the adoption front, September referrals came out at the being of the month. The CCAA only did 4 days so, everyone with a LID of Nov 25, 2005 and before has been matched with their child.

Bucky
I thought this shell was very pretty, Tim said it looks like every other shell he has seen.

We walked by the house we rented this summer with the family and we saw Fluffy, I think he misses us.
Sunset



Bucky's family

This was at the being of our hike up to Mitchell Point
The path, as you can see, is straight up.
Tim at the very top, I was very scared that he was going to fall off. One wrong step and he would have been a goner.
Columbia River

I did not go all the way to the top, I am sure that is surprising to my family. Tim called this my safe rock. I sat on this rock while Tim was at the very top.

Tim monkeying around on the way down
Tim checking out the swimming hole

Tim still checking out the swimming hole
Tim almost in but it turned out to be way to cold. I put my feet in and it felt like a thousand needles poking me in the feet.

Hood to Coast 2007 - We made it!!!

Hood to Coast is a 197 mile relay race from Mt. Hood to Seaside, OR. Each team consists of 12 runners who run 3 legs ranging in distance from 3.5 miles to 7.5 miles. Our team took 27 hours to complete the relay, the winning team completed it in 17 hours.

Tim has done H2C seven times, Kathleen has done it four times, and this was my sixth time. We all agreed that this year was the best one.

Here are some photos of H2C 2007. Kathleen also took some photos, which she has posted to her blog.

A very nervous Kathleen and Resa getting ready to leave for H2C.
Ellis took this picture of us, that is way we are looking down. Brock and the girls dropped Kathleen off at our house on Friday morning.
This is a photo of our team, minus 3 runners. They met up with us later. From left to right; bottom row: Nancy, Scott, Kathleen, John, Resa - Back row: Tim T, Tim D, Carolyn.
Nancy, Scott and John flew out from Ohio. Nancy and Scott are married. Carolyn is Tim D's daughter. Tim D and John organized the event for our team, which is a lot of work!!
John, Tim D and Ken doing a little dance up at the mountain. Ken was our first runner. He started (at 3pm) at Timberline Lodge and ran down the mountain to Government Camp and handed off to Timmy T.
Katleen, Resa, Tim (and Ken in the back)

Ken at the starting line. The race officially starts at 7:30 am then every 15 minutes a group takes off. You are given your start time a few weeks before the race, our start time was 3pm. The last group to start is the elite runners. They start around 7pm and pass all the other teams and finish first. The race is limited to 1,000 teams (12,000 runners).
Ken is in there somewhere, this was right at the start.
Ken passing off to Tim.
Tim finishing up his fist leg and getting ready to pass off to Kathleen.
Tim passing off to K.
Tim was nice enough to get a picture of me coming out of the "Honey Bucket". This was right before my first leg, which was the hardest of my 3 legs, I was very nervous.
Kathleen passing off to Resa. After my first leg, I passed off to our Fearless leader Tim D.
Tim D passing off to his daughter, Carolyn.
Kathleen giving water to Carolyn.

After we (Van 1) completed our first set of legs, 1-6, we passed the baton to Van 2 in Sandy,OR. Van 2 runners ran from Sandy to Portland. While Van 2 was on the road, we went to Tim D's house for dinner, showers and a little shut eye. I think we slept for about 45 minutes before we were up and getting ready to head off to meet Van 2 for our second round of legs.


Ken getting ready to run his second leg. Ken's second leg started downtown Portland under the Hawthorne bridge and ended on Front street in the industrial area. Ken started his second leg around 12:30 am. We (Van 1) ended our second set of legs around 4:30 am.

After we passed off to Van 2, we drove to St. Helens High School for showers and pancakes. Then we drove to the next exchange point in Mist, OR. to wait for Van 2. As you can see from the photos below, the girls decided to get some shut eye in the van, and again, Tim was nice enough to take some photos.

Resa
Kathleen
Carolyn
Van 1 runners (Timmy T is taking the picture) at Mist waiting for Van 2.
After our 3rd set of legs, we passed off to Van 2 and headed off to Seaside to wait for them to finish. We were all very tired, hungry, and dirty. The battery in my camera was low so I was unable to get photos of our second and third legs.

We were projected to finish at 8pm, but we shaved an 1 1/2 hours off our time, and finished in Seaside at 6:30 pm.


Van 1 runners enjoying pizza and beer in Seaside while waiting for Van 2.
Kathleen, Tim and Resa
Our entire team at the beach enjoying a beer.

Another Hood to Coast completed, Yeah!! I had a lot of fun this year. It was great to have my sister and husband in the same Van to share in the H2C experience--teamwork, pride in completing your legs, sleep deprivation, getting to the exchange on time to meet the next runner, Honey Buckets, power bars, gummy bears...

Ellis is 7!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Ellis!!!!!

Ellis celebrated her b-day with several friends and family. Ellis decided to have a pool party on her special day. The forecast was touch and go all week but in the end the rain held off for Ellis. The kids spent an hour in the pool then it was off to eat pizza and cake and play in the park. After the pizza and cake, Ellis opened her gifts then all the kids took turns hitting the pinata.

Ellis, her friends and her cousins, Emma and Reed.
The B-Day cake (it is a pool) Kathleen baked the cake and Brock decorated it.
party bags
Ellis with her friend Maya
The kids enjoying the fun stuff in the party bags
Kiley and her friend running to join the party
Ellis
Kiley
Kiley having fun on the swing.
Ellis planning something with her friend
Ellis opening her gifts, with help from her friends
The Pinata
Ellis's cousin, Emma, gave her the orange headband and her other cousin Reed gave her the stuffed animal.
Ellis playing in the park with her friends

After the party, The Lowers and Auntie Resa went back to Ellis's house to open more gifts!!

Mom and Dad (K & Brock) gave Ellis an American Girl Doll, her name is Kaya
Grandma & Grandpa Gamboa gave Ellis Kaya's horse, Steps High
Auntie Resa and Uncle Tim gave her Kaya's dog, Tatlo