This post is dedicated to Sandi who is about to travel!!!  For all of you who know about Sandi and the trials she has been through over the last two years please say a small prayer that everything goes smooth as silk for her.

I do find it interesting to say that during the first attempt when Sandi was at about the same point in the adoption process as I was I found her to have an incredible amount of patience and fortitude.   When everyone around her in blogland was freaking out she was as calm as a cucumber and not easily upset with the delays and waiting.  I remember thinking to myself that the process was so difficult for some people because maybe they needed to endure certain hardships and learn from the experiences thereby gaining knowledge that can only come from surviving difficult times.  For Sandi that seemed to not be the point since she seemed to endure everything with style, calm and grace. 

Later, after returning from the first trip to Kaz I heard from Sandi of her troubles.  When I realized that she was going to still pursue a Kazakhstan adoption I realized that maybe her experience would also be a test of her perserverance and endurance however since she was already equipped with a large amount of these qualities her test was obviously going to have to be much harder than most. 

Well, in true Sandi fashion she has managed to last the extended time and has remained in relatively good spirits considering what she has been through.  So, here is to Sandi the last family in the making listed on my blog links to travel.  May your journey be smooth and as incredible as can be.  Your time has finally come!

As requested by Suzanne I am posting  recent pictures of Karina and some taken more than a year ago when we first met.  Here they are.

Today was Karina’s birthday.  She turned five years old!   It was a truly special day!  Last night Karina got to sleep with Mommy!  This morning when she woke up I sang her Happy Birthday!!!  Then I made her a special treat breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes!!  Aaahhh the sugar binge begins.  LOL.  Then we got the car packed up for her birthday.  After an early nap we got into the car and picked up the balloons and cake.  Then with cake, pinata, balloons and birthday girl in tow we arrived at Airtastic.  It was a huge warehouse sized space filled with fun jumping, climbing and sliding bounce apparatus.  Karina and her ten friends (and their parents) had a blast.  After a while we went and changed into our party dress and had pizza and cake.  Then came the pinata.  Thanks to John Pinner who held up the pinata that wouldn’t break!!!!  Finally, after eviscerating the pinata we turned it upside down and shook the candy out.  It worked fine, the kids didn’t know the difference.  Then we made a mad dash to rip open presents.  The good part of having a party at a place like this is that the mess stays there.  The bad part is that the schedule is very tight!!!  It was fun but hurried and overall I think the kids had fun and it was just the right length….two hours.  Karina had a very good time and looked beautiful in her party dress.

Hi all!  I know it has been a long time since I have posted.  Sorry about that.  Wanted to post some great shots of

Karina taking cupcakes into her preschool classroom.  She was very excited about it.  I can’t believe that my little girl is going to be five.  I have to say that becoming a mother has been the single most incredible experience of my life.  I don’t think there is anything I could ever do that would equal how wonderful it has been to have this little girl in my life.  The last shot is of Karina sleeping.  She has all of these doll clothes in a little cardboard dresser by her bed and one night I went upstairs after she had fallen asleep and saw this.  She had taken a red baby doll sweater and had put it on her head.  I laughed so hard!  She looked so funny and of course, I had to get a shot of it.  Stay tuned for more photos of Karina celebrating her 5th birthday and the first one in America!!!