An evening with Michael

Last night we went to the Michael Buble concert and what an incredible show!! He's a real entertainer and really interacts with the crowd. Both Ian & I love music and to hear such a talented band and group of musicians was awesome!

The opening group was equally amazing. They were called Naturally 7 and do what's called vocal play where they do everything with their mouths...bass, guitar, drums, DJ, harmonica, trombone...it was so great!

To top it all off, Ian got us 10th row seats on the floor and we were right at the end of the row. At one point, Buble was walking down the aisles and giving hi-fives as he went by. He walked RIGHT passed us, but unfortunately missed my hand. Not wanting to let the opportunity pass by, I decided to grab...I mean pat...his shoulder. He just turned around and smiled. :) (I am laughing at myself for how this sounds, but it was pretty exciting!)

Anyway, I had a fantastic night out with Ian! We will definitely go to a concert of his again! Here are a few pictures from the night. Enjoy!

Very excited to be there!

Naturally 7

There he is!

I get a kick out of that woman's expression! I'm sure I looked much more calm than that.

Ian snapped a quick picture as he went by

It's booked!!!

We made our vacation decision and our flights are officially booked for Orlando! We're hoping to spend a few days at Disney and then possibly one at Universal Studios. We actually leave next week already, so we're super pumped!!

I also only have a week and a half left at the optometry clinic and then it's back to school right after we get back from our holiday. (To be honest, I miss the kids and am looking forward to seeing them again.) I really can't believe the summer has gone by so fast, but Ian keeps telling me that it's not over yet, so I'm going to keep enjoying every minute of it!

This is totally a side ramble, but we're also getting our driveway poured this week. I have never been so happy to see rebar and a bobcat in the yard! No more shovelling gravel for us (I mean Ian) in the winter!

Another thing I wanted to mention was that, if you have Sasktel Max, check out our friends adoption story in the Local on Demand section. You can find it under Saskatchewan Stories and it's called An Adoption Journey. What a great family! Ian & I really look forward to participating in this event next year.

That's it for now. I'll be sure to post pictures of Ian in his Mickey ears when we get back!

To go, or not to go...

Maybe the better question is where to go...

We really need a vacation. We've been holding off because we're going to be in SA for about a month and want to keep saving and building up our holiday time, but I don't know if we'll make it! We both like to travel and feel like we need to get away, especially before I start into another school year.

There are about 5-6 days we can hopefully take at the end of August and part of me wants to just splurge and fly somewhere fun (maybe Disney World??). Then my practical side kicks in and I try to think of something a little more budget friendly.

If anybody out there has any great suggestions, we'd love them!

I hope you're all enjoying the summer!

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I'm not too sure what's going on with our blog. Is the layout looking weird to everyone else? I tried to change it, but am having some trouble since I haven't done a lot of this before. Anyway, if anyone has any tips, I'd welcome them. I'll try to get it fixed up soon!

Waiting & Running

It's been a couple of weeks since we were able to meet with the social worker from S.A. and with the directors of our adoption agency. I don't think I've felt so nervous in a long time, but honestly, I had nothing to worry about!

We met in a room at a hotel in Regina and at first, sat and listened to both Gordon (director) & Robyn (social worker) speak about the program, their commitment and the changes that are happening. It really reinforced our confidence in the agency and in the program. They are passionate about what they are doing and they really desire to see things move along. This was very encouraging for us!

After that, we were able to have a good, long chat with Robyn one-on-one. I really believe that this will only be to our benefit as we are not just names on paper to her anymore. People have asked if we were given any kind of timeline...oh, how I wish. We're hoping before Christmas but, as we heard from Robyn, there are no guarantees. They really try not to give any kind of timeline so that we are not disappointed if it doesn't happen by then. There are so many factors that come into play (the mom could change her mind at the last minute, the child's paperwork could fall through, etc.) that they just keep it all quiet until that baby is ready for you. In many ways, I'm thankful for that because I know that when we get that phone call, it's a for sure thing and we can start packing out bags!

We were also able to talk quite a bit with Gordon and his wife (Dianne) and it was so great. They are a fantastic couple who truly care about the families in the program.

So, we continue to wait. I've got a good job for the summer working in one of our friends optometry clinic and we're hoping to go camping at some point as well. It's also our 5 year anniversary in August and I think that calls for a spontaneous weekend getaway!

One more thing...some of our other friends who adopted from SA (they just brought home their beautiful son) are running from Regina to Saskatoon (143 miles for 143 million orphans) to raise awareness about adoption as well as funds. We want to support them in this and spread the word. To find out more information or to donate, you can visit...

www.run143.com

(They already started the run, but it's not too late to get involved with what's happening!)

School's Out!!

Woo hoo!! Another school year is over. I can't believe how fast it went! I've been with this group of kids for a couple of years now and had a great time with them. I do love my job as an EA and might even miss the kids over the next few weeks, but as the last week of school usually goes...everyone seemed quite ready to be out of the classroom!

Tomorrow, Ian and I are off to Regina to meet the social worker from South Africa. We've really been looking forward to this weekend and to putting a face to a name we've heard lots about. We're also getting together with other families afterwards and it will be great to connect with them again!

Anyway, I'll update some more when we get back. Thanks for reading!

FIFA World Cup

I find it kind of funny that something I've never really paid much attention to in the past, can suddenly become this event that captures our attention. In fact, Ian and I woke up at 6:00 am this morning to watch the opening ceremonies. (If you know me, that is way too early to be getting out of bed, but I was glad that we got up.) I just wanted to be there and be a part of the excitement and celebration!

We've been talking for a while about the World Cup coming up & how it will affect the process of our adoption. To be honest, for a while I just wanted it to start so it could be over and things could move along; however, now that it's started, I'm really looking forward to watching the games, cheering on S.A. and enjoying the time Ian and I have together!