This has been a big week! Last Saturday (I know, technically that was last week) Sierra swam in the JSL Championships. She had great swim times and took 3rd in her heat for butterfly. She had a great time and we are all a little sad to see swim season end. Although swim practice was daily and Wednesday night meets are 5-6 hours long it has been a fun summer of friends, playing, and hanging out - for me... the girls just swam! J/K - they have had a lot of fun too!

On Thursday two exciting things happened. We went to the elementary school to meet the girls' teachers. I have to say that I really liked both of the teachers! Both were very friendly, warm, and inviting, giving the girls hugs before they left the classrooms. Laurel seemed more excited about kindergarden than she's been so far and Sierra's best friend from 1st grade is in her class this year again. Despite Sierra being in a "learning cottage" again (read: trailer) I left the school having a very good feeling about this school year!

The second exciting event is that we have purchased some land. Twenty-four acres that is still in our county and only about 10 minutes from the neighborhood we live in now. Brad has been itching to get back to "country living" and desperately wants a tractor. He's been getting the girls psyched at the prospect of chickens, baby goats, and a pony! We'll see how it all shakes out! Besides being close to my friends and family I am very excited that there is a neighborhood right across the street where we can take walks and ride bikes. I think it is a good balance for what both of us want.

Then on Friday Brad took his boards. For those who don't know, we have endured 3 VERY LONG years of Brad going to school full-time+ and me working to support our family. Brad has often been out of state to do clinicals and when he was home he studied constantly... all 3 years! I can literally count on my hands the number of days we have spent as a family in those 3 years and didn't have "studying" to do at some point in the day. Brad is now a CRNA!!! (nurse anesthetist) I am so proud of all he's done and SO happy it's finally over!

As for Cadence we are still waiting for our travel approval. Some families who received their Article 5 two weeks before us just got their TA on Friday. It's thrilling to think that we may be making plane reservations in 2 weeks! While I still have things to do I cannot wait to get her home. I worry about her all the time and wonder if someone is holding her, hugging her, keeping her comfortable. I am so ready to have her in my arms! I remember when I was pregnant and had some very bizarre dreams. I always chalked it up to pregnancy hormones. I had a dream last week that someone came to the house and said they had brought Cadence to us. We were introduced to "Cadence", a 14-year-old Russian girl... oops! I politely told them that she is actually 14 months old, not years, and that she is Chinese. They said they'd fix it! Hormones? I think not!