Good Timing

Mike picked up Jack tonight. As he drove home, Jack hit him in the back of the head with a ball. (Not a good thing, right?) Well, Mike stepped on his brakes and not a minute too soon. A deer jumped onto the road and if he hadn't already stepped on his brake, the two would have collided. Jack, the psychic?

*I'll post more on Arizona this weekend. I'm so tired.

Arizona Adventures continued

And now we're back with more on the exciting adventures with Mike, Rose and Jack.When we last left our country bumpkins, they were flaking in the dry heat, getting friendly with the natives and ready to embark on the next part of their journey. Late Monday afternoon, the group traveled through Sedona on their way to Flagstaff. These are some of the exciting sites they saw.Jack's Toe JamIn-between melt-downs, he did very well!Sedona! Wish we had devoted time to this area. It's gorgeous!We arrived in Flagstaff and went to a Mexican restaurant where I wished I was wasting away again in Margaritaville. Maybe I looked underage and they slipped me a virgin concoction because the drink wasn't strong. It had no effect on me whatsoever. But it was tasty.

The adventure continues later this week as we travel to the Grand Canyon.

Back Home

It's great to be home, although we had a wonderful time in Arizona. Here's the first part of the breakdown.

Saturday
Flew out of Kansas City which I prefer to St. LouisJack's first airplane!
Connecting flight in Dallas.
Arrived at the Phoenix airport (gained two hours) and checked into the condo.
Ate a quick dinner

Sunday
Found a church! (Fifteen minutes late)
Sailed Canyon Lake and survived thanks to Dramamine from my aunt.
Discovered that horny cacti have lots of arms (sign of reproduction)
Ate at a restaurant called Tortilla Factory, an overrated Mexican restaurant in Scottsdale.

Monday
Traveled from Mesa to Flagstaff
On the way, visited Montezuma's Castle, a Sinaguan (without water) tribe cliff dwelling. I was excited about seeing the dwelling but unfortunately there is no access to it.Visited Montezuma's Well.Sinaguan cliff dwelling at Montezuma's WellWild NativesThe Writing's On the WallPrehistoric Advertising
A fertile cactus?More shots at Montezuma's WellMike making out with a rockPrehistoric caution cone
Prehistoric irrigation canalMike found a hummingbird nestStanding tall

*I'll have to post more tomorrow. I'm exhausted. I hope everyone is doing well.

The Grand Canyon State and Molly in the Pen

Mike, Jack and I are headed to the Grand Canyon State on Saturday. We're flying out which always makes me a little leery, especially with the plane crash earlier this week. Our trio will meet up with my mom, aunt, a cousin and two second cousins. This is the first flight for Jack and the first time we're handling Jack on a flight!

In other news, because we couldn't find anyone to watch our sweet Molly dog, she will be stuck in a kennel for more than a week which pains me. She's a sweet heart and I know she'll be lonely and scared. Poor little pooch. That puts a little dark spot on this trip. If I was Paris Hilton, I'd fly with Molly. Boo hoo.

00000000000000000

I missed a call from that number yesterday. It was our state's INS location asking if we had already received free paperwork extension. Why of all times to be honest? Playing dumb would have saved us more than $800. Apparently, they didn't have our free extension information in their systems, the extension we received more than 18 months ago, the second time we completed all the paperwork. Oh, well. At least our paperwork is being processed and there were no other questions which means we'll receive an invite to be refingerprinted in a few weeks. Oh, the high price we pay for honesty. On the other hand, I could imagine at referral time, someone with INS halting the process because they discovered we owed them money.

Expiring Prints

Who knew that fingerprints expire in 15 months? It's like Marty McFly disappearing in Back to the Future.

Anyway, we're getting to be pros at this adoption paperwork. This is the third time I've mailed paperwork asking to be fingerprinted for our China adoption. We hope to receive an appointment next month to be refingerprinted in a big city. This will be our third time. Although it's a slight inconvenience, taking a half day or more off from work, it's also expensive requiring an updated home study and the outrageous charge to have these digits retaken in less than five minutes.

So, here we go again. If we receive Maggie's referral in less than 15 months, maybe we won't have to do this again. Yeah, right.

I'm on the slow boat to China, slugging to a shore that's still one to two years out of reach. Someone, throw me a life preserver.

We had a nice, long Memorial Day weekend. I saw a high school friend I haven't seen in years.Gina and I were in the same class. We disdained P.E. and loved band (flutes rule!). Watch out Gayla. I'll drop in on you next.Move over Mariah Carey. Jack's a Glitter Girl - you can't see it in the pic but that's the name on the tricycle.
My brother Billy celebrates his 40th birthday in a couple of weeks but we celebrated yesterday. And, in honor of a long standing tradition, we took silly shots with the birthday boy.