Bad News

If you read Alicia's latest comment, you are aware that we don't have good news. She talked to Irina and apparently the plan for the rest of the year is to have 2 first trip families per week for the rest of the year. They are only going to have one family go to court....a family who has been waiting since April to return. Therefore, it looks as if we won't return to Russia until after the New Year. I'M SO FRUSTRATED RIGHT NOW. Not only did we want to have Trey home for Christmas....but also, our documents are going to start expiring at the end of December. Therefore, we most likely will have to re-do just about everything! Also, Russia's Christmas is on Jan. 7th....so we won't return until after their holidays are complete and the judges are back to work. It appears that we will be waiting for quite some time....... PLEASE PRAY that something will change. We are so ready to go back and pick up Trey! We really don't want to wait until mid to late January or later.....

Give Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving! Ok...I'm a little early. However, I'm sure that I won't have time to post a blog entry tomorrow morning. Throughout this week, I have really spent some time reflecting on all of our blessings. Please humor me as I list some of the things that I am thankful for:

1.) My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (With Him, Everything is possible.)

2.) My husband, Shane (I have been truly blessed with a loving and wonderful husband!)

3.) Trey (Of course, I had to mention this little guy! We miss him soooo much and can't wait to bring him home.)

4.) My parents (who have been married for 40 years!!! and....who are truly great parents!)

5.) My 6 siblings, along with their significant others and their children (Wow! What a group! I love when we are all together! Yeah for holidays and family-time!)

6.) Shane's family (I couldn't ask for better in-laws and extended family. What a great group, as well.)

7.) Shane's daughter, Nika (We've grown over the years and it's been fun watching her grow up.)

8.) All of our friends (especially Nikki, Marshan, and Brad--You have always been there for us!)

9.) My health and the good health of our family and friends (We especially Praise God for my mom's health, as she has endured quite a few health issues over the past 3 years.)

10.) Our home (It's little, but we love it!!)

Ok....I will stop there because I am probably boring you by now. However, please note that I could go on for a while! We really have so much to be thankful for! Health, Happiness, Family, Friends, and above all....Jesus Christ, who loves us so much! We don't deserve this kind of love.

We hope and pray that each of you has a very Happy, Blessed, and Safe Thanksgiving! Shane and I are heading down to Pekin, IL to be with the Krohe side of the family for Thanksgiving. However, this will come after I run in a 5K Race tomorrow morning. (That is...if I survive the 5K!) Nevertheless, it should be a fun day, filled with food, family, and giving thanks!

Take Care and God Bless,

Kathy (and Shane)

Happy Anniversary!

We just want to wish Kathy's Mom and Dad (Maxine and Richard) a very Happy 40th Anniversary! We love you so much! Have a WONDERFUL Day!

Saturday Night....

Well, it's Saturday night and we are enjoying a relaxing evening at home...doing nothing, but eating dinner and watching college football on TV. We don't really feel like going anywhere because 1.) It's cold and rainy outside and 2.) I have a nasty chest cold--coughing and feeling under the weather. Therefore, this is a nice way to spend the evening. :o)

I'm not sure if you read the latest "comment" from the Marlowes. However, they did some checking on our situation. Apparently, our agency has collected the necessary documents from Trey's family (not sure what these documents are....) and now Irina (our Rep) is working on the next set of documents to get us registered for a court date. Hopefully, this doesn't take too long. We are still optimistic that we can go before the end of the year. It sure would be nice to go before Christmas....but we'll just keep praying about this and trusting God's Plan. We really want to thank the Marlowes for asking Lana and Irina about our situation. This was an extemely nice favor! Thanks so much!

Well, I'll sign off for now. I hope that you are all staying warm and dry tonight. I know that we will! Take Care and God Bless!

What a Nice Weekend.....

We had a really nice weekend and definitely enjoyed ourselves. On Friday night, I took my team to the Penn State vs. Northwestern volleyball match. What a blast! Penn State is amazing! (They are the # 1 team in the country right now!) We had such a good time! And...afterward, we got to go onto the court and take a team picture!

On Saturday (Shane's birthday), I went to a wedding during the day. Shane had to work (I know.....on his birthday!!!), so I attended the wedding of one of my former athletes. It was really nice! I was very glad to be invited and it was awesome to see her walk down the aisle. She was beautiful! I was able to sit with several other former and current athletes, as well, which was fun!

On Saturday night, we went out to Texas Roadhouse for Shane's birthday! We joined another couple and had a nice time. Shane chose Texas Roadhouse (I'm sure that our nephew, Luke, would be proud---as it's his favorite restaurant too!!!). Shane's friend told the waitresses that it was his birthday, so they made him sit on the saddle and everyone gave him a "Texas-sized YEE HAAA!!!" I think that Shane enjoyed it, even though he really didn't want to disclose that it was his birthday.

On Sunday, we went to church and then settled in at home for our usual---football and pizza. It wasn't the best day for Shane's Vikings (shut-out by the Packers).....but nevertheless, it was another relaxing Sunday afternoon.

So, life is good. We are keeping as busy as we want to be. Now that my volleyball season is over, I am usually able to leave work by 4:00 or 5:00 p.m., which is nice. We still wait for "the call", but we also understand that it will all happen in God's perfect timing. Our friends, the Marlowes, are in Vlad right now for their second trip. You may want to check out their blog to see how everything is going. You can find a link for their blog on the right hand side of our blog. We are sooooo excited for them and their reunion with their son. They have waited a LONG time to go back to Vlad. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

We hope that you are all doing well! Take Care and God Bless!

Toddler Shower

Yesterday, the ladies that I play volleyball with threw us a "Toddler Shower". The shower was held at Giordano's Pizza and there were about 20 people there. It was really fun...and my teammates were so generous. They really are excited about Trey's arrival and definitely can't wait to meet him.

I've included a picture of our little buddy, Owen. Owen picked out his own gift for Trey and decorated it as well. He was pretty excited to see us open it. (By the way, it was a match box car and a ramp-type of thing that you can put these cars onto. It is pretty cool!) All of my friends brought their husbands and kids. It's going to be neat because most of the kids are about the same age as Trey. He will instantly have friends!

I also want to publicly thank all of my teammates for throwing this nice shower. We appreciate your kindness and your support. Thanks BNL!!

I hope that you are all doing well! I'll post again later.

Take Care and God Bless!

End of the Season

Well, our semi-final match didn't go exactly how we wanted it to go. We lost to Lakeland College in 3 games. Our first game was very disappointing. We did not play at all...... However, our team battled back in games 2 & 3 and made for some exciting volleyball and close scores. We actually led at times in both games 2 & 3. We just didn't have enough to take down those Muskies..... Therefore, the conference championship will be played tomorrow afternoon between Lakeland and Benedictine University. Unfortunately, our season is over. Nevertheless, I must say that I am extremely proud of my team! They battled all year long through thick and thin. They worked hard...supported one another....and really had great chemistry on and off the court. I am already looking forward to next year......(that's how much I love my team!). :o)

Now that our season is over, I am just doing some housekeeping things in the office today.....cleaning out the locker room, collecting all of the uniforms, etc. In addition to that, I am looking forward to spending some more time preparing for Trey's arrival. I plan to get some housework done, do some early Christmas shopping (in case we are gone to Russia in Dec.), and get a few more things for him. He really has no toys yet....so I want to make sure that he has some things when he comes home. In addition, I want to pick up a few items to give to Trey's orphanage (toothbrushes, combs, maybe some puzzles...etc.). I'm sure that I have plenty to do to fill my "free time" now.

My volleyball team is anxiously awaiting his arrival as well. They have been asking about him a lot lately and all are debating who has first "dibs" on babysitting him. He is going to love all of his "big sisters" on the Cougar Volleyball Team. He is one lucky boy! I can't wait for him to meet all of them.

Well, I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for checking in on us! Take Care and God Bless!