Premier Martial Arts Christmas Party

On Dec 8th, we attended Kiley's karate christmas party in New Bern, NC at a roller skating rink.  Kiley loved it!  It was sort of a pot luck deal.  I brought a green salad and was surprised that there were only 2 green salads there.  Most people brought fried chicken...figures, we're in the south.

They had an awards ceremony and Kiley won "Little Dragon of the Year"  She was so happy.  Sensei Ryuji (her karate teacher) said that she won the award for her dedication and her great kicks!

Adoption Update #5

We're back again working on our adoption.  We had an adoption appointment on Dec 4th.  This was technically our 1st home interview again.  But our case worker, Cameron Bradley, had saved our initial application on her computer and was able to combine our 1st home interview with our 2nd home interview!

This interview lasted about 2 hours.  We reviewed paperwork, were given homework, and were asked to really consider our age range for our future child and the possibility of a sibling group.

Our homework was intense.  We each had a 31 page questionnaire to answer.  This questionnaire was EXTREMELY time consuming.  I bet I spent 10 hours filling it out.  Questions ranged from information on our home and community, to more personal questions about ourselves (strengths, weaknesses, how we would react to different situations, memories from our childhood, etc).  I feel like our case worker is going to know us pretty well after she reads these.

In addition to the 31 page questionnaire, we were each required to get 3 sets of fingerprints done.  We were able to get them done on base for free!

We had to submit a request for background checks for us in the state of NC and CA.  Background checks in NC cost $20.00 each, and background checks in CA cost $15.00 each.

We are also required to provide CHS (Children's Home Society) with 3 personal references.  They have requested references who have known us for some time, and would prefer references who have known us since childhood.

We set our next home visit appt (3rd) for Dec 19th.

Marine Corps Ball

Here's Shawn and me at the Marine Corps ball this year at the Double Tree Inn in New Bern, NC.  The night was pretty fun.  We had fun friends at our table, we danced, the food was pretty dang good.  Kiley got to go to a friend's house while we were there.

Washington DC Birthday Trip

Shawn wanted to celebrate his 30th birthday by taking a trip to Washington DC.  We actually went there last year, but Shawn enjoyed it so much he wanted to go again.  It was a busy trip, but we really wanted to do a whole bunch of things in only a weekend.  We actually saw a ton of things and our feet are a bit sore from all the walking, but it was worth it.

First picture of the day, and Kiley was a grump.  She did not want to smile.  Not only did she refuse to smile, but she made a point to look grumpy in the picture.  gotta love her.  If you look really hard, you can see the capital building in the background.

In front of the White house bright and early.  We saw the 1st dog on the lawn doing his business.  Shawn spotted him and even informed other White house visitors about the dog sighting.  haha.  some people we actually pretty excited to see the dog.

Also at the White house, we were able to witness a man asking White house security where he could go to make a formal complaint against President Obama.  love it.

We went to the Museum of Natural History.  We also went to the National Aquarium (no pictures, it was pretty dark inside)

We went to the National Zoo.  Shawn and I might have enjoyed it more than Kiley.  She was tired and a bit grumpy at this point, but we liked it!  You can see the elephant behind us.  Kiley refused to take a picture with us in front of the elephant.

 

We saw the Lincoln memorial.  Initially Kiley didn't want to go to the Lincoln memorial because we told her Lincoln was a vampire hunter.  Kiley sometimes thinks she's a vampire.  But we convinced her that Lincoln was a vampire hunter turned vampire, so it was OK.  She's so gullible.

 Last year the reflecting pool was under construction, but it's all finished now and looking lovely.  

Here's Kiley and me at the WWII memorial.  

The next day we went to the Marine Corps museum in VA.  Really great museum, interactive and quite large.  Kiley says this museum was her favorite museum of the trip.

The museum is shaped like the famous photograph of the 6 marines raising the american flag on Iwo Jima.  (the museum has the actual flag that was flown, but you cannot use flash photography in that area)

Halloween

This year Kiley dressed as Little Red Riding Hood (costume by Stephanie Sundquist!)

We painted and carved pumpkins.

Kiley's friend Aidan was Captain America, her friend Haley Brown was a witch, her friend Leia was cinderella, and her friend Aliyana was a girl from Monster High.

Kiley's school had a little costume parade.  They all wore costumes and paraded through the entire school (classrooms and all).

We went trick or treating with her friend Haley Brown.  They got TONS of candy...way too much for a 5 year old.

Happy 30th Shawn

Shawn had his 30th birthday this year.  We celebrated at home with cake and gifts and then spent the weekend in Washington DC (post to follow shortly).

 Shawn got: A CD, a new watch, a wallet/cell phone case (looks like an old book), and Kiley drew him a picture of our family and framed it.

New Bern Mum Fest

New Bern has a Mum Fest every year.  It's basically a fair.  And shockingly, there are NO mums.  Just lots of vendors, games, food, etc.  But no mums.  Kiley got her face painted.

She also played a few games, went on a few rides, went down a giant slide.  It was fun.