Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!

We hope that 2008 is a fantastic year for all!

Well, a lot has happend since my last post so I'll get right to it ~~

Christmas has come and gone. As usual, Santa was awesome again this year. I don't know how he out-does himself every year but he seems to get the perfect gifts for me all the time! I hope that Mrs. Claus did as well in her gift giving.

We spent Christmas Eve with Bob's family. Kyla loved her new Princess Castle that we bought her and Keira even enjoyed the box it came in! Who knew that was all we could get for her and she'd be happy? :o) Mike and Jill were unable to make it down for Christmas Eve so I didn't get to see them.

Christmas Day was spent with my family. It was really nice this year because Michelle and Bubs made the trip up so we were all together. Let's not forget that Jimmy and Diane were here as well ~~ they are part of this family too, ya know! We had a full house and a living room full of gifts. Once gifts were done, we headed to the dinner table where the turkey was a hit. Even my sweet potatoes (or yams, whichever you wish to call them) which were late in arriving at the table due to "technical difficulties" turned out pretty good ~ if I do say so myself!

After dinner, Bob headed back to his mom's to see Mike, Jill, Kevin, and Haley while I stayed home with my family.

New Years Eve was a quiet one. We did our usual ~~ small hor dourves instead of dinner and a marathon of "Lost" to catch up for the start of the new season. We almost didn't get to see the ball drop because we were so engrossed in the marathon. Bob got the TV switched over in time to see the last 6 seconds of 2007 tick away!

I've finally left my job at CFCD (Yay). What a relief it was!! My last day there was January 4. Now I'm able to concentrate 100% on school. I started going to both the day and my regular night classes starting on January 7. My goal is to get the rest of the tests I need to get out of the 160-180 class by the end of the semester (January 25.) Wish me luck!

Bob has also been wonderful in agreeing to let me go to school during the day next semester. Hopefully, the move will give me the boost I need to finish school. I only have 2 academic classes, 2 labs, and one more speed class to graduate.

My niece, Keira, celebrated her first birthday this past Tuesday. We'll be going to her birthday party tomorrow afternoon!

Today (January 11) is the one-year anniversary of our Log-In date with CCAA. The hope is that by this time next year (yes, January 2009) we'll be in China bringing our little baby girl home where she belongs ~~ to her forever family!

I've met a woman on the Yahoo message board that lives right here in Ronkonkoma and is adopting from China. She also told me there are 2 other families right in our neighborhood that are adopting as well. It's exciting to hear of other families going through the same experience as us who live nearby. Perhaps one day I'll get to meet these families.

Well, I guess that's enough for now. I really have to get back to practicing!

Again, Happy New Year to Everyone!

Faith

The Holidays are Here!

Well, Thanksgiving is over and done, and now it is time to get ready for Christmas! Our hope is that next year at this time, we'll have an idea of when we'll be heading off to China. Our agency is still telling us the wait is 23 months so that would put us at November 2008. Hopefully, it will happen sooner!!

Not much new has happened since my last post. I'm still in my 160-180 class at school ~~ but I'm really hoping to finish all my tests by the end of the semester (January 23). I'm still not happy at my job but what can you do.....the bills need paying! Bob has finally finished working round the clock at Purolator and hopefully that will not start again any time soon! And Shania keeps losing weight. She's now down to 81 lbs. Maybe another 10 lbs. and we can see about the surgery for her hip.

We're hoping that 2008 will be a fantastic year in the Pitino house! Some of the things we hope to accomplish are for me to graduate from school (and leave CFCD ... yay) and start working as a freelance reporter, Shania to have her surgery and be back to a happy puppy and to finally have the joy of bringing our daughter home to complete our family! We are also hoping to take some trips next year -- one to Vegas for the annual Club Z conference and possibly one out to Anaheim for the NCRA conference. There's also a possibility of taking a trip to San Francisco for an IIA event for Bob. But the greatest trip next year will hopefully be to China ~~ even if it means spending Christmas there!

This weekend, we had Kevin and Haley come for a visit. On Saturday, Bob, Kevin and Uncle Dan went over to the indoor go-kart place. From what I hear, Kevin won 2 of the 3 races! Way to go, Kevin!

While the boys were riding go-karts, the girls (Haley, me, Aunt Audra, Kyla, Keira and Grandma) went over to Build-A-Bear. Haley and Kyla got Clarissa Reindeers while Keira go Rudolph. A great time was had by all.

After go-karts and bears, Bob and I took the kids to see "The Bee Movie". And since it was going to snow today, we decided to take the kids home last night because Miss Haley had a birthday party to go to and we weren't sure how the roads were going to be this morning.


We, indeed, had our first snowfall today. It wasn't much but it's a nice way to get into the Christmas spirit.

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year!

Faith

Another Year Has Passed

Well, another birthday has come and gone. As usual, my husband made my day extra special for me. Since my birthday fell on a Friday this year, Bob and I decided that we'd go to dinner and see a movie on Saturday. However, in true "Bob form", he went the extra step and ordered Chinese food for dinner on Friday night so I wouldn't have to cook!

Also in true Bob form, he picked out some wonderful clothes for my birthday. He really does have great taste when it comes to buying clothes for me. I'm very lucky to have him in my corner.

Back to ordinary life, there's really nothing new on the adoption front. We did find out that a new law that went into effect in New York requires us to get fingerprints done for our local agency that did our homestudy. So, I guess we'll get those prints done soon and then when our CIS expires next year in May, we'll have to get them done AGAIN.

Shania is doing great on her diet. We took her to the vet last Saturday and she was down to 82 lbs. Since we started her diet, she's down almost 10 lbs. I don't know how much more we have to go before we can get her hip surgery done but we're working on it.

As for me, I'm still at CFCD. I've accepted the fact that I'm the official "copy girl" there so it makes my days a little easier to handle, I guess. When there's no copying to be done, though, it makes for very LONG days. I just have to hang in there until the end of this school semester (which is the end of January, I think) and then we'll see what I'm doing.

School is another sore topic these days. I was handed a probation notice last week. Essentially, that means that I'm in my 160-180 speed class for the second time (or semester). I find myself in a rut that I can't seem to get out of. I'm practicing more than ever but I can't seem to pass a test to save my life. I'd really like to complete all my tests before the semester is over so I can move into the 200 class next semester. We'll see what happens.

Well, I guess that's about all for now. Don't forget to turn your clocks back tonight!

Halloween 2007 - Family Pictures

The kids all had great costumes this year for Halloween. I honestly can't say who had the best -- see what you think:

Haley & Kevin:

And Keira and Kyla: