Girls Weekend!

I just got back from a couple of days at Yellow Point Lodge, a rustic resort on Vancouver Island. A friend of mine books a few days every year, and I got the invitation to join her last year, then again this year.

We stay in the barracks, a line of rooms with 3 walls and a curtain. This is my view from the room, every morning:

Here are a few more pictures of the same view - and one of the barracks, from the beach looking back:




The Lodge is built on a point beside the ocean. They built a gorgeous 50 meter salt-water pool into the natural rock on one side of the beach:

We went swimming, cycling, kayaking, ate a lot, and relaxed on the porch with a good book one afternoon. Saturday night there was a dance with a fantastic live band, plus a freak summer thunderstorm at the same time. The thunder and lightning lasted about 2 hours. A bunch of us ended up dancing on the patio outside in the rain to watch the lightning.

There is a lot of wildlife in the resort property, rabbits, quail and deer:

A very large tree:



And all good things must come to an end eventually. Here is an incredibly beautiful shot at sunset on our last evening:

Woo- hoo!!!

There's been another proposal!

Family #4 got a proposal of a 2-month old baby girl! I talked on the phone with the new Mom for over an hour this morning - she emailed pictures of the baby while we spoke. The baby is beautiful! Bright eyed and strong, like she might have quite the personality! All of a sudden, I'm realizing how big this is! So many questions, worries, so much faith we have to trust in. Wow.

I had an email this week saying that I would receive a proposal in August or September, but in April, I was told I'd have a proposal in 3 months. In May, they told me 2 -3 months. Now, they are saying in 2-3 months. This is what international adoption is like.

Then someone close to you gets their proposal or comes home with their baby, and I yo-yo between doubt, frustration and elation!

So I should be next - I'm family #5. However, another family asked for either gender, while I'm waiting for a girl. If a boy becomes available first, family #6 might get proposed before me. We will see what happens next.

Lunch in Penticton

I had a great day yesterday! One of the partners at work is a pilot, has a small plane and offers to take the employees up for a ride in the summer. But yesterday, he wanted to fly to Penticton to take one of his clients out for lunch. So two of us met him early in the morning, drove to the airport, and hopped in. Here are some pictures taken from inside the airplane:

The plane is a Piper Warrior, 4 seater single prop airplane.

This is a picture of Mount Baker, with Chilliwack in the foreground.



This is Hemlock Valley, a small ski resort that we stayed at for New Year's a couple of times. The picture doesn't do justice to the coastal mountains behind Hemlock. Incredible views of sharp black peaks still frosted with snow.




Both these pictures are the same mountain. We passed this peak within 200 meters on the way to Penticton, but were much further away on the way back home.



And this is a picture of Harrison Hot Springs. The loop is the man-made lagoon the town built on the beachfront. Harrison lake is very cold, so this shallow lagoon warms up in the summer, and is much more pleasant for the tourists to play in.


The last picture is the lower mainland, in the afternoon. It was clear when we left in the morning, but was filled with marine haze by the time we got back.

We had a gloriously sunny day for flying, and giggled with the novelty of it all. Thanks for the invitation Jack!

Adoption Update - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good: Another one of our 7 families has received a proposal of a little boy! This is family #3, and I'm #5. Family #4 has been told (for the last 6 weeks or so) that a proposal could come any day now. I should get my proposal sometime this summer.

The Bad: Today is my 46th birthday. I have had a lovely day with my friends and their kids, but I was the only one there that wasn't a parent. I will be 46 years older than my child. My daughter isn't here yet, and I'm not getting any younger. Wahhh!

The Ugly: I'm not getting my daughter soon. We just got the news that Vietnam is changing some of their procedures, which will add 4 - 6 weeks to the wait between the proposal and the date to travel to Vietnam. I have estimated that I would be travelling in October, give or take a few weeks, but now I'll be lucky if I can go before the new year.

The waiting and uncertainty is the hardest part of all of this. I have read other people's blogs and found that the postings before proposal and travel are often depressing and maudlin. I thought I'd try and avoid doing the same, but forgive me for a little bit of whining. I was hoping to get a proposal for my birthday present - not bad news!