Weekend away

We had a great long weekend away in Terra Nova. We got out there supper time on Thursday but neither the furnace or electric heat were working. We did have a small wood stove but it was still pretty cold. We all gathered around the stove in our jackets, hats and mittens and we covered up in blankets while the guys were trying to fix the furnace. Anyways, it didn't get fixed until the next day so we had a very cold first night. We all went to bed and didn't take off any clothes because our pajamas were near frozen. Once the furnace was fixed, things began to look up.
View from inside the cabin of Terra Nova Lake. We had beautiful weather but it was very cold. We did manage to get out on two long walks with the dogs, but the snow wasn't very deep so we didn't need our snowshoes afterall.

The dogs all had a great time. After each walk, they would all come inside and curl up side by side on the couch. At night, Sid would curl up between Brian and I and wouldn't move until morning.

We cooked up a big breakfast each morning. As soon as breakfast was finished, we starting thinking about lunch! We ate a ridiculous amount of food and none of it was healthy. I weighed on Thursday morning and again on Monday. I gained 4.5 pounds! That's just crazy!

Sid had a great time at the boil up. He just sat next to us waiting for us to feed him some weiners, one of his favorite foods. It ended up snowing pretty hard so we had to come back early.

We had hot dogs and hot chocolate at the boil up, a great combination. I was still too full from breakfast to have any hot dogs but I definitely enjoyed the hot chocolate.

We had a great weekend and our now making plans to return to Terra Nova for another long weekend in the summer. There is a nice beach and swimming hole nearby so it would be a great mini vacation. We also just planned a Mexican night with our group for early February. We'll each bring a Mexican dish and attempt to dress in something that looks Mexican. We did a Hawaiian night a few years ago and it was a blast. Hopefully this will work out just as well.

Tomorrow we are supposed to get another snowstorm. We've only had a couple so far this year so we're due for one now. I'll still have to go to work but it probably won't be too busy because most patients usually cancel. The worst part is the drive home because it usually only takes 20 - 25 minutes to come home, but in bad weather it can take up to 90 minutes! We'll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.

We are heading out to Terra Nova after lunch tomorrow for a little snowshoeing trip. Terra Nova is one of our national parks here in Newfoundland and it is about a three hour drive from our home. We are staying at a cabin with two other couples for three nights and of course all of our dogs are also tagging along. We do this trip every winter and have a great time. We go snowshoeing on different trails and have a boil up. For those of you not from Newfoundland, a boil up is where we light a fire outside and boil hot water in a can to make our tea/coffee/hot chocolate. We also toast bread on the fire and have weiners. Nothing beats a hot dog done over a fire!

In the evening we play cards or pictionary and of course have a big feed of junk. My diet is on hold for the weekend and I'll start again on Monday. Anyways, I can't wait until lunch time tomorrow so I can head home from work, get the car packed up and head out on the highway! I'll post some pictures when I get back.

On another good note, a friend here in NL who did the PRIDE course ( an adoption course) with me a few years ago, just got her LID yesteday! Her and her husband are adopting from China and their file was sent off 7 months ago and yesterday they got the call that their LID is July 11, 2008. So they already have 6 months in but of course things in China are pretty slow right now so she knows her wait will be very long. She expects to wait at least 5 - 7 years. I really hope that things speed up though.

8 month anniversary

We are now eight months into our wait and the time so far has passed by quickly. It will continue to pass by quickly as I have a busy winter and spring ahead work wise. We head out to a cabin next weekend to do some snowshoeing. We do this every year with a group of our friends and we have a fabulous time. I love snowhoeing and Sid just loves the snow. I'll have to post some pictures when we get back.

I am really hoping that we receive a referral sometime this year. There is a small chance that this will happen. December 15 will be the 17 month mark and the wait times are really varied so it's difficult to predict when our referral will come. We'll just have to wait and see what will happen. It's pretty exciting to think that this may be our year though!

A late Christmas gift to me from me!

I just booked an eight night vacation to Honolulu, Hawaii for my Mom and I in late March. Mom has always wanted to go to Hawaii and Dad doesn't like travelling to warm places (he prefers snow) so I decided that we should go together! Brian is disappointed of course because he loves to travel too but someone has to take care of our little boy, Sid. Brian and I did a cruise to Hawaii in 2006 and loved it. I decided on Honolulu because there is tons to do in that area and plus we got an EXCELLENT deal! I just love good deals. Having a vacation to look forward to will definitely make it much easier to get through the cold, dark winter. Although I must say that I do enjoy the snow. Sid and I were out for a long walk again this morning and there were great big snowflakes everywhere. It was beautiful.

Winter walk

This morning Sid and I were up bright and early and went out for a walk up behind the house. We had a fair bit of snow yesterday evening and last night and when I got up this morning it was just beautiful. Here are a few pictures from our walk.
Sid in bed before the walk. I had to drive him out of the bed because he didn't want to move.

Christmas 2008 and New Years

I can't believe that another Christmas is over and we are on our way into 2009. It was Christmas 2006 when we filled out the Provincial adoption application form. Where has the time gone! This was another great Christmas. We spent it out home with our parents and Sid had a great time with his cousin dog, Rico. I was so excited when I unwrapped my waffle iron from Brian. I love waffles. Especially when they are covered with strawberries and whipcream! That is what we are having for breakfast this morning and probably tomorrow morning as well! My Aunt gave me a tree ornament with Sids picture painted on it. It was beautiful and looked exactly like Sid.
This is our early morning YMCA run group on Christmas Eve morning. We had a great run before heading out to breakfast.

At my parents house. Sid and Rico love posing for the camera. Aren't they adorable!

Sid's Chistmas ornament. Doesn't it look just like him?

Our New Years Eve didn't turn out quite as good. Last year we left Sid home alone, as we have done since he was born in 2001. When we arrived home, Sid had eaten through one of the doors and was totally freaking out. For some reason he became afraid of the fireworks, which he never was before. This year we took him with us to a friends house for a barbeque. We had to leave after only 30 minutes because he was starting to freak out again when he heard the fireworks which started at 7:30 and would probably continue on until after midnight. So we ended up having a quiet night alone watching the World Junior Hockey Championship game between Canada and the US. It was a very entertaining game and Canada ended up winning! We ordered the NHL hockey network so now I don't have to miss any hockey games. Hooray!

Happy New Year to everyone and hopefully this will be the year that many of us receive our referrals!