I never thought that I would see the day when I would be able to write this particular blog.........and yet here we are.

Finally, after years and years of heartache and struggle we have been blessed with the most precious gift,

a family.

There are no words to describe this feeling.......

This last week has been the most surreal experience of our lives.........

We are parents (okay, almost)

Our son will be in our care, we hope within a month........Until that time, we will visit him as much as we possibly can and wait with eager anticipation for the moment when he can come home for good.

Because of that and desperately wanting to protect our families privacy we have decided to stop writing on our blog.

We have saved and laminated every page along this amazing journey for our children to read when they are older......so they will both know how very much they were loved before they were even here.

From both of us, thank you to everyone for all of your love and support over the years.......it helped carry us through some difficult days.

Much love,

Antz & Crys

As usual, time passes by so quickly......one minute blends into the next.
Last weekend we went up to Timmins to celebrate mom and dad's 40th wedding anniversary.
We had an intimate family dinner (all aunts and uncles) at a resort in Timmins.
It was so nice to have all the family together.......(which is never an easy task)
We left on Friday and had to head home first thing on Sunday morning...so it was a short trip.
Here's a photo of all of us at the restaurant!!

This week has been a whirl wind for us....both busy at work.

On Friday we had our worker for our domestic adoption over to the house. Everything went better than we could have anticipated.

It was absolutely perfect!!

Due to privacy reasons I don't want to say very much here.....but suffice to say that things are moving along wonderfully.

As soon as we feel comfortable sharing any info (and when there is more info to share) we will do so.

Until that time, keep your fingers crossed for us.....

This weekend we spent time hiking....enjoying the last bit of fall that there is left.

Here is a gorgeous photo from our walk......

Welcome Mia!!!

Happy 40th Anniversary

Mom & Dad!!

Happy Birthday Laura!

Still beautiful Sis at .....25..........ya that's it......25!!!!

Miss ya!

This photo is from a dinner and dance we went to last weekend at the Legion with a few other couples. One of our staff members is a member of our local legions Colour Guard and they were having a fund raiser so our Chapel bought a table. What a great evening we all had, complete with much dancing and laughing!!

Well, It has been awhile since I have been able to post on here.....we have just been so busy!!

Work has been hectic and we have been trying to get the baby room finished before the Children's Aid visit today.

But, as luck would have it, we got the call today that our worker was sick and would not be able to make the visit. Understanding being sick, it still sucked!

We had been so anxious for this day....that build up that does not leave you prepared for the letdown. Her secretary told us that she would be rescheduling with us for next week......that provided much relief amongst the disappointment.

But the good news........the baby room is all done!!!!!!

We finally found the most perfect bedding for the crib....it's a Boyd's Bear set. Coincidentally, I have forever collected Boyd's Bears and have always had a love for teddy bears. So, the second I laid my eyes on it, we both knew it was the one.

And from there, everything came together.

The room that we chose to use for our little one that will be coming to us through our domestic adoption he room was one of our spare bedrooms that had been painted a mahogany colour. Since we will be moving shortly after our adoption happens, we did not want to put too much work into the room. Wanting to avoid putting on a million coats of paint to cover the dark walls, we decided to utilize, match and soften what was there. .........

And voila....

A perfect bedroom for our little one.

I tried to take photo's of the room, but with the shape of it, I can only take 1/4 at a time....which looks silly.

What I can get a photo of is, our beautiful crib.........

We just love our little one's bedroom.....

We walk into the room all the time just to surround ourselves with the comfort of our future.

This weekend we are heading home to visit Ant'z parents in Timmins. It is Mom & Dad's 40th wedding anniversary on Sunday and we are having a celebration family dinner for them.

Mom & Dad's siblings, along with their spouse's will be present.....us us kids and one grandson!! (Sadly, because miles separate us, Darrin, Robin and Jack can't be present.) sigh

It will be nice to be home and spend time with the whole family.......it's not often that is able to happen.

The above picture is two of our three pumpkins that we carved with our nephew Tyler when he came for a sleep over this week.We had a night of laughs, silliness and cuddles........the most perfect thing to come home to after a day at the office.

Yippee.......11 months down!

When we started our adoption journey to bring our daughter home from China, we were so certain that last year would be our last Christmas without children. There was no doubt in our mind that we would be leaving for China around the Holiday Season!!!

Here that time is just around the corner and we are so far away from that reality.

China is continuing to increase the wait times for referrals. At present they have finalized the adoptions of families who were logged in by November 30, 2005! That means they are a whole year away from where we are at. With referring, at best, 10 days per month, it means in reality we are another 2.5 - 3 years away!!

The sliver lining.....when we do finally hold her in our arms, all of this wait will be a distant memory for us.

In the meantime, we will continue to celebrate every month that brings us closer and closer to this dream........