The Missing Dinopark Photos...

Leyton and 'Cera'....

And if you could've only seen his face in this moment....

He assures me he was only 'a little bit scared!'

Good thing they were fenced in!

Bitte Warten sie.... Or, Please hold the line....

When you call up a German company... such as the TKS Phone monopoly... This is what you hear.... along with a little polka music....

This is kind of how I see our wait....

A pause on the line, followed by a deutsche speaker denying his or her english capabilities, only to transfer me right away to another line that also puts me on hold.... and inevitably, when connected, it is someone who also denies speaking English. (By the way, I find this very hard to believe.)

Anyway.... Now that we are entering week 16, I have just received some great news from a dear adoption friend. A, and her husband, who also started the process around the same time as us.... have just received the referral of a beautiful baby girl. They were able to turn in thier dossier 2 months before us, since some of our original paperwork was expiring and we had to get it renewed. They had been waiting almost 6 months, to the day!
We also received news yesterday from the director of AAI, (who is traveling to Ethiopia this week) that they have received a few new babies, a couple of toddlers, and a bunch of new older kids. We will most likely not receive a referral from this batch, but we are getting closer. We are definitely in the single digits, and it really doesn't seem so far off anymore! I just hope that we can have her home before it is time to pack up and move!

As always... we are thankful for your thoughts and prayers... keep them coming!

The 1st Day of School...

Wow... It is really hard for me to believe that it is September already... And that we are already a week into it! This year has really been flying by! (Of course this is good for our waiting... But man, 8 months gone already!)

With the beginning of September, came the start of a new Kindergarten year. Here is Leyton after a fantastic first day of school.... I am so happy that he has the opportunity to attend German Kindergarten. He has learned so much in the past year (he started going in October 05 at 2.5 years old). The Teachers there are very proud of him, as am I! He now has a fluent 3-4 year old German vocabulary... And proudly exclaims "I am a Deutsche speaker and an English speaker!" or " I'm a Deutschelander and Oma (grandma) lives in America." And sad but true, he even translates for me on occasion..... I know... I know....after 6 years here, I really should have a handle on the Deutsche....

As hard as I try, Meine Deutsche ist nicht gut!

I can read a little, and speak enough to get by... but not like my little Leyton. It is sad to think that he will lose it all when we return to the States.... I hope we can live near a German community, or meet some German speakers so that he can keep it active. What an asset.

Leyton thought it would be fun to share some pics from our trip to the Dinopark a week ago.... And I have to agree... the blog is a bit stuffy, with a lot of whinning, and not so much fun. Sorry about that... I will try to do better, I promise! This of course, is a Taradon.... It is hard to believe how realistic these 'Dinos' looked.... I think he was a little scared a few times... Germany has so many neat things to offer... This park is only about 40 mins from our house, and was worth the trip... besides the towering exhibits... it also had a rock pile complete with picks and hammers for the kids to break rocks and look for fossils.... Leyton found one. Very cool!

**I'm experiencing a little difficulty loading all the pics... so check back, I will try again later.

In other news.... Soccer Season... or Fussball as its called in the land of the World Cup.... is upon us.... Check back for pics from the 1st big match! Leyton is so excited to be playing soccer.... and it will be both hillarious and entertaining to watch a bunch of 3-4 year olds kicking each other in the shins and picking up the ball and running... I'm looking forward to the game.