SNOW!!!! It never gets old to wake up in the morning and see it all white outside. We live on a hillside so from my kitchen you get the best show of those flakes almost as soon as they leave the cloud and then you can watch as they fall all the way to the ground. Add in a little wind and it is so awesome as they twirl their way to the ground. I still feel like I should turn on the TV and see if school has been cancelled. I want to run downstairs and wake up the kids and tell them to get up and see it, I want to make sure there is firewood piled high beside the wood stove and know that there is plenty of milk for hot chocolate to go with hot cookies, in case the neighbor kids show up to slide down the hillside. But those days are gone...well, at least I thought the were gone...but to my great joy, Ariel has not been in snow until he got to Oregon. It was pretty fun to watch him take it all in. He even had to get some pictures of his bare feet in the snow to send home to his family.

Emily and Joshua got to spend the 3 day weekend with us while their Mom and Dad went to celebrate a belated Valentine's Day. Josiah loved having new faces to keep him busy. One of the days they were here we went ice skating. Great Grandma and Grandpa McCool came to watch and so did Aunt Jessi and Uncle Ariel and cousin Josiah. It won't be long until Josiah joins them!

We have the weirdest little winter visitors. Ladybugs. At the close of fall, there they are, all huddled up in the corners of the kitchen and the spare bedroom. They pretty much just stay in their little huddle all winter, but as spring begins to happen, they start moving around. Both rooms are on the east side of the house where the sun hits it first every morning. As soon as the house warms up they start moving around and spreading out. By evening, they are all cozied back in the huddle again until morning. At times there are so many of them that it seems like we have been invaded. I know that if it were any other kind of bug, I would be rounding them up and delivering them outside, but I just can't seem to do that to these little girls. They come in for a reason and I just don't want to disrupt their system. It is kinda creepy, but they are ladybugs! Cute ladybugs. You don't just kill off ladybugs.

They are FINALLY here!!! It seemed like it was never going to happen, but they have finally arrived! Remember all the excitement when Jessi and I tried to fly to the Dominican Republic? Snow in New York closed the airport and we had to be rerouted through LA and Florida. Well...you got it, their flight was cancelled due to snow once again on their return flight last Thursday! I could not believe my ears when I heard it. Jessi tried to call the local JetBlue number from the DR, but could not get through, so she had me try from here. After two long waits, (the first got disconnected and I had to redial), I drove to the airport and got them re booked for a flight on Friday, which meant a whole day extra of waiting, but at least the airlines was saying they felt they would be flying. Sure enough, they made it through and we welcomed them here! The flight was delayed and delayed due to de-icing in New York, but a small group of us were able to hang in there and greet them just after midnight, which was 4am their time. We gave them Saturday to rest up and Sunday night we had a welcome party for them. We have been slowly showing him around the area. The first trip was to Multnomah Falls. He and Jessi walked to the first bridge and took pictures of the iced up falls while I waited in the warm car with Josiah. We went to Great Grandma and Grandpa McCool and Dixons homes and a couple of shopping malls. It was a nice sunny but cold first week for them. They were even able to get out and take the baby for a walk. Today we spent the day in Salem at John and Rachel's. Emily and Joshua showed us all their skills on the Wii, we ate a whole cake that Rachel made for us and then we went and watched Joshua play in a basketball game. He made so many baskets, helping his team win the game!

HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY TO EMILY!!!

I know I have said it so many times, I CAN'T believe that my own kids are old enough to have kids, let alone that my grandkids are this old. Time goes so fast. This year, Emily asked Great Grandma McCool to make her cake a beach cake. It was so cute, complete with a beach chair with Emily sitting in it and her parents swimming in the ocean while her brother Joshua was running to jump in.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOHN!!! For a while now, John has been planning a party in Vegas. He spent hours on the Internet checking out which hotel he wanted to stay at, checked out the shows he wanted to see and what other activities he wanted to do while he was there. He finally chose the Encore at the Wynn, it was the biggest, fanciest room I have ever stayed in. He told everyone what his plans were in case they could come along. Dennis and Abby took him up on it and met us there. It was not our usual trip to Vegas. Normally, he spends his time at the poker machine and I spend my time by the pool with a good book, even if it is too cold to put my suit on, I love to just sit out by the pool anyway. Well, this time, he didn't spend hardly any time at the poker machine...well, a little, but not what he normally does. Instead, he and Dennis and Abby went skydiving. They had a blast. It was his second time, but the first time for Dennis and Abby. He loved it more than his first time. Dennis and Abby liked it, but I think the pre-jump nerves didn't allow them to enjoy it the way John did now that he knew what to expect. He said he had such a great view of all the city and everything that surrounds it. Everyday, we had really really good food at the best restaurants, a little expensive, but it was the way John planned his party. Dennis and Abby's friends David and Shuna came out and spent a couple of days with us too. We saw the show by Cirque du Solei called 'O' at the Bellagio. It was fantastic, dancing, swimming, diving, music, costumes, trapeze, SOOO GOOD!!! We also saw a show at the Encore/Wynn with all Sinatra songs called 'Dance With Me'. I didn't get my usual time by the pool because the day after we arrived they drained the pool for winter maintenance. Oh well, it gave me extra time to walk around and take pictures. I won't even tell you how many pictures I took!!!

So I already told you that Ariel was granted the visa. We were told at the Embassy that it would take 1-3 weeks for the courier to deliver it. It made it in less than a week. We of course are so excited. But it is with very mixed feelings that Ariel begins packing up. Don't get me wrong, he does want to come here, but he is not one of those guys that always dreamed of coming to the USA. He LOVES his country, he loves his life, he has so many good friends, he is so close with all his family and believe me he has a big family and they all live close and see each other all the time, almost daily. He has an amazing job working for the Attorney General (prosecuting attorney) of what would equal a whole county in the states. It is an important job with status and perks. He is one of the lucky ones who has a car and a good college education. Before he met Jessi he never thought about leaving. Ever. He is giving up a lot. But he knows he needs to give it a try here with his family in the states. He knows it will not be easy. He will have to master English, and find a new job, new friends and meet a family he has only seen pictures of and talked to on the phone. It is not the piece of cake that everyone thinks it will be. A new culture, new lifestyle and homesickness. Please pray for him, for Jessi too, as they adjust to life here, that he finds a good job and hopefully learns to love life here with us. They plan on arriving the last week of January.

Christmas music on the 4th of January. Strange to us, since once Christmas Day is over, it is on to New Years and the tree is down and the season is done with. If anyone still turns on their Christmas lights after the 1st we make fun of them. (Well, I do anyway). Well there I sat at a Christmas Cantata on Tuesday night. The church was packed full, they had to bring in extra chairs and line them up at the ends of the pews and then make rows of them in the back. It was FULL! To my surprise the choir was really good, they had a little screen at the side going with slides, a narrator between songs with his microphone screeching. I should have enjoyed it more, but my mind was doing what I think is the typical American thing...I was thinking how much better it would be if they could only have a bigger church, matching pews, walls and ceiling that were painted right, (right=my way) windows with screens to keep out the mosquitoes, and get rid of those fluorescent lights and what about an air conditioner instead of those 20 ceiling fans? Why is it that we always think our way is better? now that is what I thought about the building, but my mind also had them using those huge in-wall screens for the presentation and sound equipment that does not screech and make you cover your ears and a stage big enough to fit the choir, there must have been 50 of them up there in their white robes with golden collars...the band has to be on the floor. If only there was a way to get them money for such improvements... Right there in my whole redesign scheme...the lights went out. The lights go out in Jessi's town about once a day, it is normal to everyone there. That is when the best part of the whole program happened. It was just after they had begun a song...and without missing a beat...they all kept right on singing, no music, no slide show, not a ray of light coming from anywhere, not a murmur or snicker from anyone in the audience, the sound of those voices singing out Christmas songs was such a gift it gave me goosebumps. All the things I was thinking they needed to make it better and suddenly what they did have was taken away and with only the voices God gave them, it was the most beautiful thing of all. Just voices. What a blessing to have been a part of that. p.s. the backup power came on in time for the next song. From then on, my mind stopped redecorating.

Before we left for the DR, Jessi received an email offer at an all inclusive hotel that John & Rachel had sent her to as a special treat a while back. It was such a sweet deal that when she told her Dad about it, he told her we would be crazy not to take advantage of it while we were there. All inclusive for only $20 a person per day! So we booked it for the last 4 nights there. The first day there it just poured! I'm not sure if you can see in the picture how much was coming down, but it majorly dumped rain! The next day, as you can see was bright and sunny. The whole time we were there it was so warm, but not a bit hot as it has been on my other trips there.

Have you ever laid in the sun and wished your chair was just a little bit wider so you could move your arms from your sides, or what about those lounge chairs with the strips that spread out and stretch while you are laying there and you end up bulging out between the spaces, you touch the metal parts and get burned, your back ends up aching, it goes on about those poolside beach chairs. Well, this place had the perfect answer to that...beach BEDS! I mean it, BEDS. Not just a bed...well, they did have a few ordinary beds, but they mainly had HUGE canopy beds, with curtains and a cover and steps high up into them...they also had bunk beds and swinging beds...all with a complete view of the ocean, up off the sand and bed side food and drink delivery, table side food stand included. What an awesome way to enjoy the beach, especially with a baby! Josiah took his naps, nursed, we ate our lunch, took tons of photos and literally can say we spent the day in bed! We didn't have to worry about him getting a sunburn, but we could also move the curtains and get some sun on us

Ariel had to go into work part days while Jessi and I enjoyed the time at the resort, but he was close enough that he came for his lunch break to see us, taking advantage of the prepaid food and drinks with us.

A walk on the beach...

My last night there, they dedicated the baby. Alberto and Lydia are his godparents. He was so cute in the little suit and vest, complete with a tiny tie. During the service Josiah fixed his eyes on Alberto, which really made Alberto happy.

JOSIAH MEETS HIS DADDY!

http://www.kgw.com/video?id=112475699&sec=547757

Christmas was all cleaned up and packed away, Jessi and I were all packed and ready to leave for the Dominican Republic two days after Christmas. Monday morning, the phone woke me up. It was Cyndi saying that she just heard on the news that flights were being cancelled to New York due to a huge snow storm. Of course OUR trip was through New York. We were not due to fly out until night, but we figured we better see what we could do before all options were gone. We got on the internet right away, but it would not let us do anything and all calls to the airline were busy, with a recording saying call back later. So we got ourselves ready to go as fast as we could and threw those final things into our suitcases and then the suitcases into the car. We got to the airport and the JetBlue desk had a sign that they would not be open until 11:30...it was 9:00. We had breakfast and kept checking to see what other flights were available on other airlines. While we were waiting a TV team was there to get a story. Before we knew it, we were being interview for the 12:00 news! It ended up showing on the 5, 6, and 11:00 news also! We put a link on Facebook for Ariel to see his son trying to get to him and a person that knows Ariel who works at a local Dominican station put it on the Dominican news as well. I thought I would be able to insert just the video, but all I can do is add the link if you want to see it.

At 11:30 we were helped by two of the nicest agents. They worked on our flight for almost 2 hours, so glad we had taken along our bags because we left within the hour and ended up in Long Beach, CA, then to Ft. Lauderdale, FL and into Santo Domingo. It worked out so awesome! Dennis and Abby were able to meet us at the airport for dinner!!! They have not seen each other for 3 years and of course never seen Josiah, so it was such a bonus for the morning panic.

Josiah was the best little traveler, he slept, nursed and looked around. The flight from LA to FL was all night, getting us in at 5am...then we had to stay the whole morning and leave in the early afternoon. I can not believe how easy he was to be with us through it all. These two pictures just make me crack up laughing when I remember Jessi's commentary for Josiah's words when she saw them...the first one " DELAYED???"...and then "YEAH!! I'm going to meet my Daddy!"

The reward for it all was getting to be there when Ariel first saw his baby! It made me cry and still I get all teary when I see them. I know Ariel was dying to see the little guy, but believe it or not, he first hugged Jessi, almost as if there were no baby in her arms. They had been apart for 4 months topped off with him having to miss the birth..so nice to have your son-in-law adore your daughter!

Going to Santo Dominigo was something else that really worked out for the best for us too. We had been booked through Puerto Plata, just minutes from where their apartment is. Then we were going to spend the night and all of us get on a 4 hour bus ride to the Capitol to go to the US Embassy for Ariel's visa appointment. By us flying to Santo Domingo, only Ariel had to bus down and we were able to go a day earlier and the most awesome news is ARIEL GOT HIS VISA!!! After a year of application process and being sent away in October until he could come back with his wife and baby, it was such a relief.

From the Embassy we went to the bus station and took the 4 hour ride up north. It seemed like the whole country was there to greet us...well, not US...greet Josiah! Jessi's first host family, Ariel's brothers, aunts, cousins, and so many friends, even Josiah's great grandmother was there.

The past few days have been a continual stream of visits, either to their apartment or us going from one place to another. Yesterday we walked from Ariel's Mother's house to his Grandmother's, it was as if we were a parade of four as we past each home people would rush out to take a look at Josiah, so many of them said they saw us on TV. Normally it is the women who fuss over a baby, but even the men are so in awe of this little guy that they have prayed for all these months. These last photos are her friend Milka with her baby, Ariel's mother's mother and his father's mother (both of his grandfathers have died, as well as his own father.), Alberto and Lydia, her host family and in the middle is his mother and 4 of her other grandchildren.

And now begins the 'getting to know his baby' for Ariel. It is so hard for Jessi to not be the big know it all, to try to let Ariel and his other Grandmother figure out for themselves just how he likes to be held and bounced and all the little things that we have gradually figured out. Ariel did the baby's wash today and it was just so cute to see those little clothes hanging on the line. He also changed his first diaper.

I have a bit of catching up to do here! As always, life got a little busy and my blog was put on the back burner. The first of December, Jessi's college room mate came for a visit to meet Josiah. She brought her baby with her and the girls spent the weekend in a whole different way than they probably ever imagined...comparing notes on their babies, feeding, burping, changing diapers and SLEEPING...not quite what their first days at college were like at all! We took a quick trip to the mall and Jessi realized that she needed to have Josiah sit on Santa's lap, we found the cutest Santa suit in a store and he was a hit! Everyone was stopping to take a look of him on Santa's lap. I know, I am the Grandma, but he was the cutest thing!The week before Christmas, John's sister Martha and her husband came for dinner when they stopped in to see his parents for a night before they headed to meet their kids for Christmas. It has been a long time since we saw them and we enjoyed the night with them, John's parents and our other brother-in-law Jack. (Pictures are going to be loaded up of them later when I get home, don't have them here with me)

Christmas was so good, as always! Christmas Eve, John and Rachel and Emily and Joshua showed up. John's parents, came out too and we all had a really nice time eating dinner, and then opening up presents. The kids stay the night and we are SUPPOSED to open gifts in the morning...but they always start in on me to let them open them early, it has become a game with us...each year I say "No way! This year we are waiting!" and they begin begging and begging, knowing full well that they will be having presents before they go to bed. As Emily and Joshua have grown up so much, the gifts have not been as 'fun' to buy, so this year it was extra fun to buy baby toys again now that we have another baby in the family.
We had brunch at our place in the morning and then headed on over to Grandma and Grandpa McCool's place, the guys wanted to watch the Laker game, then we had our usual Christmas feast, Grandma had a new game with race cars that we were in teams for, Lindy and Matt won, after that came gifts and dessert. Before we knew it another Christmas was over.

A SECOND CALENDAR!!!
For a second year, Cyndi asked if she could use my pictures for the print shop calendar that she sends out to clients each year. I put the ones I like best on a CD and give it to them. From there, I have no idea what they will do with them. It is always so fun for me to open up each page and see which ones they chose out of the hundreds I gave her. I loved the one last year and this one is just as good for me. The cover turned out really cool, (yes, I know, 'Cool Printing') they took a sliver of each month's picture and made a rainbow.

BEFORE

AFTER

Josiah David Veras!!

A week overdue and her time finally came. We went in for her checkup and the doctor said that from the exam she felt there was too low amount of fluid around the baby and she was having contractions, so it was time to head on over to the hospital! We didn't even have our bags with us!

She was hooked up to a monitor for the baby's heartbeat and one for her contractions.

Grandpa and Grandma McCool and Aunt Cyndi showed up to cheer her on, a few texts came in, phone calls were made and a last meal. After a while, they left and the next phase of waiting time began!

It was a long night, contractions didn't seem to go away, one minute of rest and minutes more of each contraction, by morning, there was no progress and the baby was showing signs of distress. His heart rate dropped a couple of times but they were able to get it back up each time. Then came decision time, they wanted to induce her. She knew from her experience as a labor and delivery nurse, that once they did that, most of the time it ended in Caesarean anyway, so since the baby was already having problems in there, she just didn't want to risk anything happening to him just so she could deliver him naturally. With a ton of tears, she decided to let them do the surgery. I was in awe as I stood there watching my little girl make such a grown up decision. She didn't even need to ask me for advice, she KNEW what needed to be done.

We got ourselves all ready for the surgery & took one last look at

'The Belly'

lopsided, as usual

Upper left was her view, upper right was my view. I tried not to look down to my right at the 'other' view or I would have been useless in there. It still makes me tear up seeing her little tear drip down.










And here is my first look at the little guy! I put it in black and white just for those who would rather leave something to the imagination.





8 pounds, 5 ounces
19 inches

of

PERFECTION!!!


Thank you, God, for such a blessing!

As always, life here is continuously going, and this past few weeks, have been FULL of going and going. We have been busy sewing things for the babies, had two baby showers, one given by Aunt Lindy and Aunt Cyndi and one from our Spanish church ladies, we went to watch the kids run cross country races, had lunch out with Grandpa and Grandma Dixon and McCool (and a few other lunches out), and got Grandma to use her painting talent to paint us a pumpkin on the pregnant girl's belly. We have had a few prelabor episodes, but nothing so serious to get us into the car and headed to the delivery room. The due date is this Saturday, so it won't be long now!

Yesterday, Dennis and Abby were sent a new picture of Gabriel. The update on the adoption process at this point is that the US side of it all has been completed, so now they are only waiting for the Korean side to finish and THEN they get to travel to Korea and bring that little guy home!!!

As for the visa for Ariel, NOT good news! He went for his interview on the 21 and to our shock, he was denied. The reason stated was that he needed to return with the birth certificate from the baby and his wife! But the birth of the baby is what he needed to get here asap for!!! I gave a call to Senator Merkley's office. They have advised us in the past and remembered us. Whitney, his assistant, contacted the US Embassy liaison in the Dominican Republic.(remember it is the US EMBASSY that is denying this, NOT the Dominican Republic). Finally today, she talked to Jessi and said that even though they can not REQUIRE that the spouse be at the interview, they can deny it until the spouse shows up. The Embassy there has had too many fraudulent cases and they now 'REQUIRE' to see the spouse in order to grant the visa. So the plan is that as soon as the baby is born and they get his birth certificate and visa, Jessi will pack herself and the baby back there to claim her husband and finally bring her little family back to Oregon. Not the way they planned, but they know that God knows and is in control, even it it does not appear so.