It will matter to this one

Starfish Poem

As I walked along the seashore

This young boy greeted me.

He was tossing stranded starfish Back to the deep blue sea.

I said, 'Tell me why you bother,

Why you waste your time this way.

There's a million stranded starfishDoes it matter, anyway?'

And he said, 'It matters to this one.

It deserves a chance to grow.

It matters to this one.

I can't save them all I know.

But it matters to this one,I'll return it to the sea.

It matters to this one, And it matters to me.'

-- Anonymous

We Got It!!!!

We got our 171 letter!!!!!!! Can I get an Amen?!? On Monday will be overnighting it to Kate and then we are offically done with our paperwork. What an awesome feeling!!

Eden Farms

As most of you know the reason Jason and I live in Seguin is so that I could pursue my dreams of running a horse facility. We board horses here at our farm along with giving lessons and training. My love affair with horses started when I was six and took my first lesson. My mom had know idea what she was starting! Since then I have owned and sold many different horses, each having a special place in my heart. Like humans, they all have different personalities, different quirks. Some love attention, and would rather give a lesson to a beginning child that is pulling on the reins and bouncing on their backs than running free in the field. Others are more stand offish and make you earn their love and affection. Something about there huge brown eyes and willingness to please has drawn me in and never let go. Fulfilling my dream has been both rewarding and stressful. There are times that I want to pack up and move to a house in town where there is no poop, no mud, no animals demanding my time. Last night was especially difficult, I had to make the decision to put down my horse, Kolby. I took him to a hunter/jumper trainer a week ago and while there he had a terrible case of colic and was put down. He was a beautiful, kind, talented gelding that will be missed. But then again there is nothing like seeing a child with low self-esteem conquer the trot for the first time it makes it all worth it. I took two of my students to their first show a month ago which was so rewarding for both them and me. It was seeing my passion coming full circle. I love sharing my love for others its something that I feel very fortunate to be able to do and to give.

Way to go Mary!!

Mary (from Gladney) is sooooo fabulous! She got in touch with our case worker at CIS this morning and got everything worked out. Mary faxed them the info that they needed and so our letter is on the way!!!! I am soooo excited! We also spoke with Kate Sproat (who is also wonderful and taking care of our dossier) who said that all of our paperwork was authinticated and just waiting on the 171 letter. So hopefully we can have all of our paperwork done by Christmas! Wow, that would be great!

171 Letter update

This is the newest drama with our CIS letter...it has been 7 weeks now (wed. it will be 8) and still no letter so we contacted CIS. We were on the phone for an hour solid, going through computer operators (you know how fun that is) only to get an email to our county CIS. We email them asking if they know where our letter is and got a response that goes like this...'CIS mailed you a request for more info on 11/3, thanks-CIS'. Litterly one sentance long...thanks! So we emailed back asking what 'more info' meant, our address in case the letter got lost, and a phone number to speak over the phone. They replied with...' The letter was sent on 11/3, it is too early for it to be in your mail box'. Yet again another one liner! So we have replied yet again, pretty much begging for a phone number and some answers. I mean come on, since when does it take over a month for a letter to make it from San Antonio to Seguin? Are they using people messengers? Hand walking the letter to us???? Whats frustrating is their unwillingness to help us and to even think about going over and beyond, I guess thats government offices for ya! Anyways, so I'm pretty darn frustrated about now. I just didnt expect to get hung up at this step in the process. Oh well, I know that it will all happen when is should.

Random Pics

Cluck, Cluck!

Ella had no time for this costume when I first told her she was going to be a chicken (she was thinking more along the lines of pretty princess, or ballarina) but after seeing all those feathers she quickly changed her tune!

Gotta have the Hello Kitty Moon Walk or 'jumpin thing' as Ella calls it

Opening presents!!

Heres Ella with her 3 year old cake!

We had a 'pink' theme, can you tell?

Many of you asked for pics from Halloween and Ella's bday (which was in Sept.) so here they are. So sorry its taken me so long! But, better late than never, right?!