No RA Call x 2

Nope. The Vinyards did not get the call again. We have been waiting 141 days since accepting Sydney's referral (yes I read the ra instruction sheet about how you should not count your days!). I never would have dreamed we would still be waiting. I'm starting to panic that something is wrong with our dossier or Sydney or they lost it or whatever!
Praying ours is in the next batch. And also hoping we get our orphanage call information back soon.

Cousins

2nd Orphanage Call

PJ & I decided to order another orphanage call today since we are still waiting on our RA. We were devastated last week when we realized we did not receive our RA. But it is a new week and we are still hopeful. Coming up with 10 new questions to ask was difficult! We are really just wanting new pictures and a little bit of weight gain. Can not wait to share our cutie with you guys! Thank you for all of your prayers & super sweet comments. Come on RA!

Birthday at the Ranch

Philip decided that he wanted to invite a friend to the ranch for his birthday instead of having the big birthday themed party. We picked up his friend, PS (not his real name!), on Friday & headed to the ranch. The boys packed everything labeled with "Nerf"--seriously!! I'm amazed at how Nerf guns can entertain boys for hours. Ashlyn would play with them for awhile & then come back for some crafts, movies or other fun stuff. Great weekend!

Ashlyn & I waiting on the fire pit so we can roast marshmallows. (that does not look right??)
Birthday boy eating his birthday brownie! Hard to believe our first baby is 10.

PS, Ashlyn & Philip

These next two are not great pictures. But I wanted to show how much fun the kids had on this "better than slip-n-slide"!

The boys racing.

No RA Call

I was really thinking that this was the week we were going to receive our RA. Received the email this afternoon from the agency that stated that all RA calls had been completed. The Vinyards did not get a call today. We are obviously disappointed, teary and happy for the ones that did receive theirs. I'm not sure if we just continue to wait it out or call our family coordinator or what? The waiting has been difficult on several levels (which I know several of you have been there). All in God's timing.

Philip turns 10!!

Today, our 1st baby turned TEN! Wow. The last ten years have flown by. Philip is a wonderful son. We are very blessed that he is our son! He is a great big brother (most of the time!) and is super excited about Sydney Hope coming home. Since Philip's birthday was on the weekend, we let him decide what we were doing for the day. (also we know that eventually Philip will not want to spend his birthday with us :(!) He just wanted to stay home & hang out! We cooked cinnamon rolls for breakfast, played the DS & playstation, went for a bike ride, watched the Tour de France (which bummed us out bc/we are big Armstrong fans) and went to the pool. Philip's Uncle Justin (my brother), Aunt Melissa & Ava came over for awhile to hang out. They bought Philip a remote control whoopie cushion for his birthday. I'm amazed at how that can make all generations giggle! Great present guys! Several pranks were played during the day.

Happy Birthday Philip! We love you. Our yummy breakfast with candles!
This is Philip's big birthday present! A lot of the family chipped in for this awesome cool Specialized bike. Philip picked out his bike early for the big tri race.

This is Ashlyn going down the slide today at the pool.

Philly hanging out in the pool!

Town Club Triathlon

PJ & the kids competed in the Town Club Triathlon. This was Philip & Ashlyn's first triathlon. Philip was a little nervous before the race. But both kids were excited! PJ competed first. This is his 3rd tri but 1st of this season. PJ's quote about the race was that he "finished". He tends to be a little hard on himself. The kids also compete in swimming, biking & running. I was amazed at how fast the kids competed. We did not get a lot of pictures of the event because the kids started at different times. Philip was completely done with his race before Ashlyn left the pool area. My mom, PJ (who already competed) and myself were tired from running back & forth trying to see both of them & help them with their gear! We loved all of the kids enthusiasm for the event.

PJ after his race. Everyone received medals!

Philip is a great swimmer.

Check out Philip's new bike! Early birthday present.

Philip at the finish line. Great job Philly!

Philip with his medal. (the medal looks small in person too!!)

Ashlyn trying to hurry up with drying off & getting her gear on.

Ashlyn speeding to the transition area to start the run.

I love the look on her face.

Ashlyn at the finish line. Good Job Ash!

(FYI--that is Ashlyn's markings (age/race) mixed with sunscreen on the back of her leg. Looks kinda gross!)

The kids with their medals! Great Time.

Nothing New!

The girls room is almost finished. Just a few things left to do. My mom took Philip, Ashlyn & Ava (my two year old cutie niece) shopping to buy a few things for Sydney. They picked out really cute outfits. Mom said that Philip was a big help in picking out the clothes. Isn't that cute! I just love how much Philip and Ashlyn think of their baby sister. I need to go buy some bows to match some of the outfits.

Nothing new in the adoption process. If we don't hear any news today (Friday), it will be next week for any new news. I don't think that the agency has received a packet of RAs recently so still hoping that ours is in the next batch. I took some pictures of the kids to send with our care package. I took a few of them holding Sydney's pictures. They turned out super cute! I was going to post one, but decided not to since you could really see Sydney (which is the point when we are sending it to Sydney). So I posted the one without Sydney in a picture frame!

The wait is still difficult on us. But I'm trying not to focus on it. Also trying not to count what "day" we are on. PJ is better at this than me. Thank you for the sweet comments. I save a lot of them in my email folder & reread them throughout the week.

Have a wonderful weekend! PJ & the kids are doing a "tri" on Saturday. This is the kids first one so wish them luck!

Phone Call with FC

I spoke with our FC (family coordinator) this afternoon. We are on day 116 of waiting for our official approval from China to adopt Sydney Hope. Day 116! FC checked CCAA's website and it showed that the Vinyards are still "in process". She also explained the process of receiving RA's. It is not a first come first serve system AT ALL. Our dossier had to pulled from the "healthy track", translated, more stuff that I can't remember right now & then approved. FC thinks that we will receive our RA in about 2 weeks according to recent trends. BUT some families have waited 5 MONTHS!! (not what I wanted to hear!) She also said to not get wrapped in the number of days you have been waiting (hello--how can you not when sweet chubby cheeked Sydney is waiting for her forever family!) I agree with her but WOW can I do it.
After we receive our RA, I can post pictures of Sydney on this blog! The girls room is slowly coming along. I bought under the bed plastic tubs to store Ashlyn's too small clothes for Sydney. Still not sure what size Sydney will wear here in the States. I'm thinking she will need several new things!! I'm buying her dresser this week. I'll post pictures of the room when it is complete!

4th of July Fun

The kids & I spent the weekend at the ranch house (in Clarendon) with my family. PJ & his dad always play in a golf scramble over the 4th in Shamrock. So PJ was able to spend some time with his dad and granny. The weekend was filled with normal ranch stuff--ladder ball, hanging out, lots of good food, homemade ice cream & brownies, games, riding the mule (ATV for you non-Texans!! just kiddin'), picking wild flowers, checking the hog traps and on and on! We also did a little bit of fireworks but the rain kept us from driving over to the lake to see the bigger ones. Sydney will be here next year for the 4th of July! That is exciting!
(Adoption Update--Nothing to report. Today is 115 days waiting for the approval. We need the RA to come so we can plan our big party!)

Don't they look cute in their red flag shirts! Ashlyn's year on hers is 2006 and she can still wear it. Not sure what that means??
Philip and I playing around with the timer on my camera. That was fun!

Ashlyn just being beautiful!