Staying Busy

Well, we have begun that time of year. It is getting cooler out, the sun goes to sleep just a little earlier, there are apples and pumpkins everywhere, and the kids have returned to school. It must be FALL!! Yup, and those lazy days of summer that Colby and I enjoyed together are gone. Back to school for both of us. But we have many happy memories to hold on to.

This was a summer full of books, camping, two trips to New Hampshire, and lots of changes. Both Colby and I started new schools this year. Colby entered Kindergarten. And in the midst of it, we moved. Not too far away but just enough to change a few things. Colby won't be dropped off with his Grandma Laurie in the afternoon anymore and I kow both of them will miss their times together. We were lucky to find a great afterschool program and Colby has made friends there that are also in his Kindergarten class. He is settling in nicely to the new school routine although he is VERY tired everynight. Kindergarten is much tougher than PreK you know! We asked Colby if he told his teacher he could read and he said rather matter of factly, "No. Then she'll make me work." Oh boy! But thankfully he really likes school still and he keeps learning more and more everyday. I just love our conversations.

I am settling into my new job with all its new responsibilities. The teachers I work with are great and were very welcoming. The little kids are so cute and really starving for attention and love. I know I'll love opening up the world of reading and the many adventures we can take through books. However, I do miss my reading partner from last year. We worked well together. Thankfully she lives nearby and we can get together soon.

Ok. Photos. Here are a few great photos from our last summer trip to New Hampshire over Labor Day Weekend. It was nice to have my parents, my sister Kristin, Steve, and her son Teddy, my sister Karin and her boys Max and Alex, and Mike, Colby, and I all together. We don't get together often so it was nice to have the 4 boys together. I know they missed their cousin Keith though. It was a beautiful weekend of boats, tubing, shopping, and just relaxing. And now we look forward to fall and the many local fairs, apple picking, and more parties.

So Long March...Where is Spring?

Ok. Sorry I haven't updated much lately. It has been a busy March. I can't say it's been a fun busy, just busy. March seems like such a long month. I never thought it would end.

I have been hard at work getting my 3-5th graders through the state mastery tests. These are HUGE! I wish so much emphasis wouldn't be placed on these standardized tests but there is. Schools here are actually put on lists for not making the benchmarks or not making enough progress every year. Unfortunately, the city schools never do that great. But we survived.

Colby has been hard at work at preschool and daycare. He is loving school and learning so much. We often have conversations about who's name starts with what letter. One day he chimed in with, "I don't like C in my name Mommy. I want the other letter that sounds the same. Just like Keith." Too smart for me. He knows all but a few letters. His teacher taught all the kids the letter that starts their name and Colby seems to have learned them all. Too bad he doesn't have friends that start with F, H, N, Q, U, or V. He does know Y because it is in his name. He is also starting to write his name and I can tell what it is although the C is a little upside-down and his "b" looks more like a tire-swing. But I am impressed. He also loves to read. He is enjoying his TAG reader and is constantly reading books. Today he picked up the student copy of the social studies book I had in the car and was "reading" it on the way home. However, he has told me he likes for Mommy or Daddy to read to him because he can't "say" the words like we can. He already knows there are words on the page and he wants to read them. He gets a little frustrated at times because he can't. But we do have him spell words a lot.

Colby is also still loving music. He loves to sing as we drive home from school. I have been serenaded by anything from Itsy Bitsy Spider to Stuck Like Glue by Sugarland and even the Jeopardy theme sing. Yes, that's true! The other day we were listening to the radio when one of his favorite songs came on, "All Night Long". He knows it as sung by Rascall Flatts on the Cars soundtrack. Well that day before we heard two lines of it Colby chimed in with, "But that's not right. It's not the same." Huh? I had to listen more closely. Oh, someone else was singing it. But boy did it sound very similar. And today....Today I was serenaded all night with "Baby, baby, baby. Oh!" Yikes! Where did he hear that? I NEVER would listen to that silly boy Justin Beiber. Thanks a bunch Miss Jenn!

Well, I'm sure you'd like a few photos. So here's a couple. I don't ahve many from Feb and March. We didn't really get anywhere and my camera battery died and the new one just came in. But enojy these few. The last one...a rare moment. Colby has been exhausted lately. That afternoon he jsut crawled on the sofa while I was working on the computer, tucked himself in, and fell asleep. Not sure when the last nap was before that. He hasn't really napped since he turned 2.

Now so long March. Here comes....more Snow? What? Is this an April Fool's joke. We are under a winter storm watch for tomorrow. Ridiculous. I want warm weather.

Favorite Photo, An Update, and A Question to Ponder

Well, here it is. Colby has now been home just over a year. We had a wonderful celebration on Sunday with his Baptism. I can't believe a year has come and gone. Before he came home, time seemed to be standing still. I can remember willing the days to just finish, going to bed early just to end the wait, and trying to keep busy so I wouldn't think about things. Now I enjoy every moment I can, I try to get to bed eary still but only because a two year old can really wipe me out, and I try to be not busy but there are so many things to do. Things have certainly changed.

Colby has really become such a big boy. He has grown 4 1/2 inches and is now 3 feet and 1/2 inch tall. He has also gained 7 pounds to now weigh 30 pounds. Definitely a workout to carry him! When I look at the early photos, I can see the change in him also. He has lost those little chubby baby boy cheeks and now looks so grown up. His eyes still sparkle and his smile and laugh truly light up a room. He has become very independent, going potty all by himself. He now dresses himself, with just a little help, when he wants to. The trouble: he is very determined and strong willed. He will do things when he wants to and definitely will speak his mind to you. We do have a battle of the Taurus bulls! His language skills completely amaze me. His expressive vocabulary is beyond what I could imagine. He seems to love learning new words and repeats everything he hears. And he loves to build with his blocks and make puzzles. Everything seems to spark his new found imagination. I haven't found much that he doesn't like. Right now he asks often to watch "curlin", hockey, skiin, and "nowboardin". Yes, we have been watching a lot of Olymipcs and Colby sits in amazement as he watches the skiers and snowboarders flip and twist. He tells me "Colby do that after later"! Oh boy!

So, I began this blog when we returned from our first trip to Ekat, Russia. That was back in June of 2008. I am truly in awe of where we have come since then. My life has changed so much and I am so thankful to everyone for all of their help. Through this blog I have "met" such amazing people and have been fortunate to share in their adoption journies as well. I hope that others have been reading this and that it has helped or changed them in some way. That was my intention. Now, as I sit here today, I ask myself the question that my husband has asked me before. "How long will I keep this blog?" The answer, I just don't know. I hope that people enjoy reading it. I enjoy writing it but I often find it difficult to find the time to write. Thankfully the little man decided he wanted his nap today! I have noticed a decrease in numbers and comments. So, I will ask you all:

Should I keep this blog? Will it be read and enjoyed? I will keep it up so others can read about our journey, and it will be my link to my fellow blog friends, I still enjoy reading your updates and seeing new photos. But should I keep updating it? Leave your comments and let me know. Thanks! This blogger community truly helped me through some difficult moments waiting to being Colby home. I only hope I can return the favor in some way too.

Update Soon....Promise

Hi everyone. I'm sure some of you are wondering why nothign new is posted. Believe me, it isn't because life is boring and we have nothing new. On the contrary. So much is new and so much is going on that I'm not sure what to think about it all, much less how I feel about things now. I promise when I get a moment, I will gather my thoughts, and give them the time they deserve to write an update. Right now, I am so jumbled I just can't.

Random Updates

This has been a busy week for us. After his high fever and cutting his 2-year molar, Colby still isn't quite himself. The crabby boy is enjoying longer naps and seems very tired at night. He is also quick to be frustrated as well. However, we keep moving on.

Monday we spent a quite day at home but on Tuesday we had Sharon over. She and her husband, Patrick, live nearby and are waiting to go back to get their son Sean. He is 20 months old. Sharon came over on Tues so I could see photos from her first trip, they just came home about 3 weeks ago. Sean is an absolute cutie. Quite the chubby little boy, he looks like Patrick. Funny, Colby looks a lot like Mike.

Wednesday Mike was home and we had our social worker, Christine, over for our 6 month update for Russia. Wow! 6 months. It needs to be done early because it has to be in Russia before the 6 months is up. Christine was quite impressed with Mr. Colby, the show off. We had a nice chat then Christine mentioned that this would be our last meeting face-to-face. SHe would still be calling us for 2-3 years for updates and photos but she wasn't required to visit anymore. Wow! That was a shock. She's been there since we began this journey and now we are "on our own" so to speak. I hope that we will see her again though. Colby and I will have to visit her as he grows up . He was calling her "Aunt". It was very cute.

Today we are at home. We were asked to babysit my nephew Keith but he isn't feeling well and my brother Keith thought it would be better not to have the boys together. Colby certainly doesn't need to be sick.

Tomorrow we are heading to visit another friend, Jill, and her son Nicholas. Jill and her husband, Nick, also adopted their boy from Russia. Nicholas even came from the same region as Colby, Yekaterinburg. Nicholas is younger than both Colby and Sean at only 16 months I think. But, we are hoping that the boys become great friends. We know the mommies are already. I can't wait to see Nicholas for the first time. They just came home from Russia about 2 weeks ago.

Also on the adoption front, on Wednesday Mike and I went down to the Children's Probate court to see what we need to do to have a U.S. birth certificate issued for Colby. We haven't done anything with following up the adoption in the U.S. and now that things are settled down, as much as they will, it is time. We were told that we do not need to re-finalize the adoption here because we were present at the adoption in Russia and his Russian birth certificate has our names and his adopted name on it. So, all we needed to do was apply for a certificate of foreign birth issued. They took copies of our adoption papers and the judge will call a hearing, sometime in August, to see the originals and then issue the U.S. birth certificate. Colby was in a rare mood by then and ready for lunch so we went home. After lunch, while he was napping I went back downtown to the Social Security office to start the process for a Social Security card. They copied the original documents and will send them to be translated (dumb because we have the translations attached but they can't accept that, they need to translate it themselves) and then they will issue the card. They said we should get the card in about a month or so.

So, things are moving along. We are getting things done that have been pushed aside. Accomplishments have been made, or are in the works anyway. And now we just need to work on a job for Mommy!

Is It A Daw or an "Ee Aw"?

Well, our Memorial Day weekend was very busy. We started off with a nice dinner at my sister Kristin's house. My sister Karin and her family came up from NYC for a short visit and we all had a cookout at Kristin and Steve's. It was nice for Colby to have some time with his cousins. Karin and her boys hadn't seen Colby since Easter and Jeff (her husband) hadn't since Colby yet. He wasn't able to come up at Easter. They gave Colby his birthday present, the boys all rode bikes, and everyone had a great time. That was on Friday night.

Sunday we started with a haircut at my Aunt Jackie's for Colby and a visit with Mamie. After a quick lunch, we headed to the parade in Woodbury. I wasn't sure how Colby would do but he did great. Not only was the parade at nap time, but Colby hadn't seen the horse carriages before. I didn't know if he would sit in it for the parade. But he did! He did so well. He loved waving at everyone and everyone thought he and Corbin (my cousin Heather's boy) looked so cute. Corbin was "driving" the carriage hooked up to a miniature horse. Mike and I walked alongside and my Aunt Doone actually led the horse. The horses are my Aunt Doone's. They are adorable. When Colby saw Morning Star, a real small brown and white paint, he actually called it a "daw" or dog. Morning Star is not much taller than our dog Misha. I told Colby he wasn't a Dog but a horse. Colby then said, "Ee Aw? Nope!" He calls all horses, donkeys, etc. "EeAws". He has an Eeyore at home so I guess all animals that look like that are "Ee aws, or eeyores. Way too cute!

After the parade we went to my Aunt Doone's house for steaks on the grill. Colby was able to play with my cousin Jason's little boy Jayden. He will be one in Sept. And of course, Colby loved chasing the dogs around the house, especially the little one. It was a busy day for our little man and without a nap too. But he did a great job. I am very proud of him. Since he enjoyed the parade so much, we decided to try the Naugatuck parade the next morning, Memorial Day. It is one of the biggest parades in CT. Big, long, and loud!

We had to wake Colby up in the morning and head to Naugatuck early. The parade started at 9:15. Colby hopped right in the carriage and started waving at everyone. At one point he actually stood up and clapped yelling "Yeah!". I think we have a future politician on our hands. What a ham! He loved all of the attention. The parade wasn't over until about 10:30-11. Mike and I decided to bring Colby home for lunch and a nap. He fell asleep until 3 so we didn't go to either picnic. We spent a quiet Memorial Day together. Mike and Colby took a nap and I read a book outside. We cooked chicken on the grill and just relaxed. What a hectic weekend.

Now coming up we have our second meeting with the social worker and a trip to Yale Adoption Clinic for a Developmental Assessment. I'm sure Colby is on track developmentally but I just want someone knowledgeable in the adoption world to check. So, much more to come. We also have a wedding to go to in June and a baby shower, both the same weekend. The wedding will be tough because it is about an hour and a half away, late afternoon, and we will be leaving Colby with my dad. We've left him for a couple hours before, but this will be most of the day and during bedtime. Yikes! I'm hoping to still have Mike's parents watch him for a couple hours before then so we can have a "date". Mike still owes me a birthday dinner. Maybe this weekend!

Colby enjoyed a ride on the tractor at Aunt Jackie's before his haircut.

Corbin and Colby waiting for the parade to start in Woodbury.

A quick ride on Morning Star. My little cowboy!

Checking out the firetrucks with Dad before the parade.

"I can drive right Mom?" Colby with Sunny.

Corbin and Colby taking the time for a photo op.

Milk, Snuggles, and A Happy Birthday

I am so thankful for all of the kind words and wonderful words of encouragement from all of you. It means so much to know that other people do understand my feelings and have gone through the same things that Mike and I are going through now. Someone had asked about giving Colby milk and if the orphanages give the children milk. I don't think Colby ever had milk. When we fed him he always had a little mug of juice or tea which he drank up quite quickly. We did feed him snack on day and he had a mug of something that looked a little like milk but was more creamy. More like a runny yogurt type of drink. I think they call it kefir. Mike and I stuck with juice in Russia but after a couple days home we started giving him whole milk, mainly at breakfast and right before bed. He doesn't drink much of it but he seems to like it. Otherwise we drink lots of juice, mostly apple although we are introducing other flavors. He really likes the Srtawberry-Kiwi. We haven't tried orange yet.

To update on our snuggles: We have had great days lately. I'm not sure what has caused the change but beginning yesterday Colby has been more snuggly, almost clingy. I really hope that it isn't due to a cold coming on. Perhaps his teeth are bothering him. He is cutting 4 teeth right now. I certainly haven't minded the snuggles at all. Last night Colby cuddled with me in our lounge chair as Mike and I watched American Idol. He wasn't laying down to sleep so I snuggled with him there. He fell asleep after a little while and I just held him, for almost the whole 2 hour show. What could be better than having a sleeping child in your arms? What a great feeling. Mike and I have also encouraged Colby to give more hugs and kisses. He loves to blow kisses so we do that often. We have also started hugging and kissing eachother more in front of Colby so he can see what it means to love someone. He thinks it is funny. He gets a huge smile on his face when we hug and starts giggling. It is really cute.

Yesterday Colby and I had a great day visiting with Mamie and Aunt Doone (my grandmother and my aunt Lorna). Mamie had already seen Colby the day after we came home but Anut Doone had yet to see him. Aunt Doone and I are really close. She also adopted her 3 children so she can understand how I feel. I wanted Colby to meet her before we go for the big party on Saturday. Mamie is turning 90! The whole family is getting together and that means over 40 people. My mom has a big family and I love it but it just might overwhelm Colby. I wanted him to get used to Mamie's house and see my aunt so he knows a few people when we get there. Well, they hit it off. Colby loved Mamie's house and all the things that little fingers can get into trouble touching. Aunt Doone loved playing with him and it was a wonderful day. Unknowingly, I had forgotten that it was Aunt Doone's birthday yesterday. I remembered later. She was so happy and I am glad that I could give her such a great birthday. Colby even gave Mamie and Aunt Doone a hug goodbye all by himself. He just toddled over and threw himself in Aunt Doone's arms first to get a hug. Then to Mamie. It was so amazing, I almost cried again. Tears of joy!

Update

Mike and I are still waiting for our official update from our agency. From the emails that we have received, it seems that winter is trully in effect in Siberia. It must be so different from when we saw it 7 months ago in late June. The roads from Ekat to Kamensk are very bad and Svetlana hasn't been able to go to the baby home. Once the roads were better, the director of the baby home was on vacation. The Russian Christmas was just 1/7 so things are now back on track.

I mentioned not receiving the official update from the agency, but this morning I received a wonderful surprise. I guess I was so excited that my yell to Mike to get up (he was still in bed, I had gotten up to let the dog out) startled him and he was worried something bad happened. Nothing bad today! Today Svetlana was so sweet. She sent the official update to the agency which we should receive tomorrow but she also sent us 2 updated photos of Colby. He is even cuter than I remember. He certainly has grown a little and he has lost some of that "baby face". He is standing in both photos so I am sure he is now walking. What a difference a day makes. Today is a good day and so should tomorrow be. We will receive more info and more photos! YEAH! Svetlana mentioned that she and the social worker are meeting with the judge on Wed. Perhaps a court date will be set! Keep your fingers crossed!

A New Year

Well, a new year has come. Welcome in 2009. So much has happened in 2008, I can only imagine what 2009 can bring. I can hope for so many things. Mainly, I hope that it will bring my baby home to me. And soon.

On New Year's Eve Mike and I went to my Aunt Doone's house. Anut Doone and Uncle Gordon have a few friends and family members to their house for New Year's. It is all about having fun and being with the ones you love. We have a great time and the kids that are usually there get to play together. This year it snowed most of the day so most of the people who usually go to their house didn't show up. My cousin Carmen and her family stayed at their house I think near Hartford. However, my mom and dad did come. And my cousin Jason and his family were there. It was a lot of fun. We played dominoes and just enjoyed the company. A nice low key party.

Something did strike me as odd all day though. As the day progressed I knew that a part of our family was missing, Colby. It felt awful celebrating a new year without him. Around 2:00P.M. here, an odd thought crept in my head. It had kept me up most of the night before too. At 2:00P.M. here, my little boy was not only in a different country, on a different continent, thousands of miles and hours away, but he was also in a different year. There are some days when I do stop and whisper to him to have a good morning but now I had to stop and whisper to him to have a great year. I am sure that we will have an amazing year together once he is home. I can only hope that that happens soon.

We have not received our update on Colby as of yet. The agency was sure we would have it this week but with the holidays I didn't honestly think we would. I hoped but I didn't think so. I am not sure if I am upset or not. I really want the update but if Svetlana doesn't have the time to travel to the baby home, about 1 1/2 hours away on a good day, because she is talking with the judge or working on our paperwork, than I hope she is doing just that. I'd rather get back sooner than have the update. I am not sure what is going on over there but hopefully we will hear something soon. We shall see.

Well....almost

Today I received an email from Vica. The agency received our paperwork today. Yeah! However, I need to get them a new marriage license. Both notarized and apostilled. Ugh!

Not thinking much about it...when we got the list of documents to update I saw the marriage license was one of them. I had a couple extra notarized copies hanging around so I sent that one in. I guess I had them for awhile since the date it was issued was October 2007. That is when we started getting some preliminary paperwork for the agency. However, the marriage license is only good for a year. It has expired so Mike had to go get another one. Not too big of a deal. He was able to get it fairly quickly this afternoon. Now I have to bring it to Hartford in the morning to get apostilled and send it up to Mass for Friday. So, a little glitch today I guess but Vica wrote that she was sending the rest of the papers to Lala in Moscow to be translated. So the marriage license will catch up to it I guess. A small bump in the road but nothing too major.

On another note, Vica did mention that the judge will probably ask for the medical documents to be updated right before we travel. I had asked her about it because I don't have another set of medical papers. I would have to go around to the 8 doctors to get them to sign another set for both Mike and me. So, that is what I started doing today. I picked a great day to have to drive to various doctors' offices. It was pouring/raining on and off all day. I drove home in a downpour. I hate driving in the rain. I called all the doctors first and got a couple answers. Some of the doctors weren't in. I have to call back tomorrow or next week. I was able to get 2 of the doctors to sign the papers and 1 of them (the psychiatrist) Mike and I need to go see again before she will sign it. We have an appointment for New Year's Eve morning. Ugh! I was hoping not to have to actually see the doctors again but I guess we will have to see at least the one. So, although our updates are complete, I am now working on the next round of updates. Oh so much fun.......

Yuck! Paperwork!

Well, Mike and I are trying to weed throught eh list of 24 documents that the judge wants us to update. Right now, we have 8 of them done to the notarized stage. We are currently waiting on: the psychologist to write his letter (supposedly in the mail!) so that I can then call the state to ask them to verify his license, the accountant to write the list of our assets and liabilities so that I can then ask the state to verify his license, the state to send the verifications of the doctors' licenses, the FBI criminal check #3, Mass to verify our social worker's license, and I'm not sure what else. Most of it is waiting on various government agencies which will be a bit of a wait since no one wants to work this week with Thanksgiving on Thursday. Once we ahve all the documents, then I need to send them to Hartford to get the state apostilles placed on them. That's another weeks wait. This can drag on forever...... Needless to say, the judge won't have our documents until almost Christmas since they need to be translated in Moscow first. Then the judge will be coming here for a short vacation. He will also be visiting with our agency. Maybe they can convince him to speed up this process.... Doubtful...

So we are making progress, but certainly not as quickly as I'd like. Slow and steady better win this race, and win it quickly.

Some News and Updates

Mike and I received an email from the agency yesterday. I guess the judge has looked at our paperwork because we now have the list of updates that he wants. We are now working on a list of about 25 more papers to chase after, get signed and notarized, and then get apostilled. Of course, some need to be completed before others so dates need to be a certain way. We need to update all of the medical paperwork and most of our financial paperwork as well. Not only do we need the doctors to sign more paperwork, but then we need to contact the state and certify their licenses' again. It is all paperwork that we have already done, and there is really no reason to update it because nothing has changed but that is what the judge and court wants so that is what we will do. Luckily I have a couple days off next week to chase after signatures.

So some good news I guess. I large step in the right direction. Another step closer to Colby. However, we still have no news or updates on his progress and how he is doing. Perhaps soon. The agency is looking into getting an update but Svetlana, the coordinator in Yekaterinburg, is working with another family on their second trip. They have their court date tomorrow! YEAH! I am thrilled for them. They have waited a long time.

A Yucky Week

This hasn't been the greatest of weeks, I must confess. Luckily it is almost over. Tuesday I took the day off from work so that I would be home for 1:00 for a teleconference from our agency. The agency wanted to get the couples together who are waiting to return to Yekaterinburg for their court dates and to bring home their children. Mike and I knew it would probably not be a grat phone call and we were right. The government agency that was taking care of the adoption court paperwork, the Ministry of Education I think, is no longer doing that. A different government agency is now in control and the paperwork is not being processed as quickly. Some of the paperwork is expiring before it can all be collected and turned in so they are having to redo much of it. This means that although referrals are coming somewhat quickly, the return trips and court dates are not. We were told to be ready for a wait of about 9-12 months inbetween both trips. So, our court date will not be until at least March, probably later. I am devestated. Don't they realize how terrible this wait is? Don't they realize how much more difficult the transition will be the longer the child waits in the orphanage? Unfortunately, I guess paperwork is more important than getting children to their families....

So, in the end, the holidays will not be good this year, I probably will be miserable, and there is nothing I or anyone else can do to quicken this process. We just have to wait. And wait. And wait.
YUCK!

A Quiet Day, Lots of Birthdays, and Fellow Blogger Updates

Today was a nice quiet day. The weekend has had beautiful weather. You can tell that Fall is coming. It has been rather chilly in the mornings. Today I went with my mom and my Aunt Doone to a craft fair in Deerfield, Mass. Ever since I can remember, I have gone with them and my cousin Carmen (Aunt Doone's oldest daughter) to craft fairs and other shopping excursions. It was nice to go again today. We had a nice ride up there and walked around. We didn't buy much but the day was great nonetheless. Then we went down the road to the Yankee Candle Factory and had lunch and walked around. I really enjoy spending time with my mom and Aunt Doone but we haven't had much time together lately. Everyone is so busy. When we do get together it is always lots of fun, talking, laughing, and just enjoying eachothers' company. A nice day all around!

I also want to mention a few family birthdays. September is a busy month in my family. My sister (in-law) Jan had her birthday on 9/2. My sister Karin's is 9/15 and my sister Kristin's is 9/17. They are actually a year apart but Karin is older, so on 9/16 they are the same age. My mom's birthday will be on Mon 9/22 and my nephew Alex's is on 9/23. Lots to celebrate. I can only hope that Colby will be here next year to celebrate with them.

A congrats go out to a few fellow bloggers. One family is in Ekat visiting with twin daughters who will be adopted in just a few days. Another couple is travelling to Ekat tomorrow to see their daughter for the first time. Wow! Congrats to everyone. I love reading the updates and either gathering insight into our future trip or helping out those on their first visit. I look forward to all the updates.