Let's see......in the past six weeks, we traveled to Anchorage for Jackie's bowling tournament where she placed 16th out of 50. Not bad at all considering this is the first year she's ever bowled! We were able to have dinner with some friends of ours from Anchorage. We went to church with them 12 years ago, and they have been following our adoption journey. They finally got to meet Jonathan face-to-face. We had a great time.
Scott and I decided a few months ago we were going to retire in Anchorage. When we drove down for the bowling tournament, we kept our eyes open for areas we might want to make our home. After we came back and thought about it, we decided Anchorage and its vicinities have become too crowded for us. We made the decision to make Fairbanks our home. We started house-hunting and have made an offer on our first-ever home; it is located in North Pole. We will find out soon if the offer was accepted. This is all very exciting and terrifying at the same time. We have never, in our 18 years together, set down permanent roots. With the exception of January through March, the Fairbanks area is paradise to us. We figure if we love it here 9 of the 12 months, we are blessed. I think it's those really cold and dark 3 months that keeps so many people from settling here!
We were able to re-adopt Jonathan on April 17th. It was fun. We met our lawyer at the state courthouse and went before a judge. Jackie and Jonathan came with us (Kaylee was at school). The judge asked us questions, and Jonathan started singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" in the middle of the process. He is so funny! All we're waiting on now is his U.S. birth certificate. We have our 6-month post-placement interview on June 7th, and all we have left in this amazing adoption process is the 12-month post-placement in December. I can't believe how fast time is flying.
Jonathan is doing GREAT!!!! He is so funny. Johnnie wants to be big soooooooo badly. We bought him this little scooter-bike awhile back. Now that it is nice outside, we go and ride it on the sidewalk. Whenever a child rides by on a "big" bike, he stops and points and cries out, "BIKE"! Then he looks down with a very sad face and points to where the peddles would be if the scooter-bike had them. I went and bought a hot-wheel bike made for kids 2-5 years old. Jonathan was so excited when Scott was putting it together. When Jonathan hopped on, though, his little feet couldn't quite reach the peddles. No matter how he stretched and maneuvered his legs, he just could reach. So now he just scoots around like he did on his little scooter but feels better about it because at least this one has peddles!
Jonathan is growing like a weed! He absolutely loves yogurt and milk. I had to up my food budget money because up here, milk is over $4.00 a gallon! He's beginning to communicate with words more, but his favorite way to get his point across is using motions and body language. He understands what we say, though, so I figure his speech will come. Jonathan turned 2 1/2 on April 17th. He loves being around other little kids at church. The house we put a bid on is only a few houses down from our pastor and his family who have a 2-year old daughter. It would be great to move in there because they also have a 17-year old daughter who is Kaylee's best friend!
Kaylee's last day of school is today. Next year she will be a senior!!! She will be taking a pre-nursing course our school offers. When she is finished, she will have 12 college credits at graduation. Kaylee is planning a mission trip to China this Christmas. She is working hard to save her money. She will be gone two weeks in December. This is one of the only times the Chinese Government allows Biblical teaching - during Christmas. It's a little terrifying having your child travel across the world without you. I have to remind myself, though, that she is God's child first. He trusted Scott and I to raise her to love Him. He has set in her heart the desire to go and teach little kids the Gospel, and I'm excited for her!! I don't envy her that long plane ride, though.
Scott is preparing to go bear hunting this weekend. He is so excited! He and his buddies put out their bear bait last weekend. Bear meat is excellent to eat. Our freezer full of moose meat is a almost gone, so I hope he gets one. That's about it for now. I'll update again in about six weeks.
Blessings in Christ,
Julie
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