Yes, the BIG 40 catches up to me too!

So, we decided to take one last trip as married folk "sans" child and to celebrate my 40th B-day (March 21st). What better place than our favorite.......Scottsdale, Arizona? We love the place, and have to admit we were just here in July. However, the sun called us and we answered!

We had a great time. The temps ranged from 88 to 92 most of the time, with the exception of our final day which was in the mid to high 70s. We even got a bit cold that evening when it cooled down to 65! We're typically there in July, where the "cool" for the evening is about 95. It was also interesting being there this time of year as the Tourists were plenty. We are used to a ghost town in July.

We got to eat at our favorite "haunt," Frank and Lupe's where we both enjoyed our fav dishes (mine is the chicken mole as shown here - yum!) We enjoyed seeing my good friend, Heidi, who lives there now and who I met more than 13 years ago when I lived in Santa Fe where we were neighbors. It was fun checking out the local Art Fair and being amazed at some of the "ritzy" stores that only Scottsdale has to offer. I wanted to buy a pair of sunglasses, but was really torn between a Cartier pair for $2200 and another unknown pair for $1650 (NOT!! HA! Sunglasses! Go figure!!). Well, I passed on that one...but it's interesting to see how the wealthy live.

So, we have been keeping a watchful eye on the next set of matches. We're being told that they should come by next week (beginning of April). Rumors have it that they plan to match anywhere from the March 9th - 14th, 2006...but for them to match this many days at a time is pretty unusual...we're not jumping for joy yet, but will let you know how it goes. Our date is March 15th, 2006. so we know that we most likely will get our match as early as May or as late as June...bringing our travel to China this Summer.

We've been buying books on "attachment" and trying to learn what we can before our arrival. We know that by getting an older child, attachment is key in the early stages once we meet her for the first time.

Mark and Barrie say that Kelsie has really come around and is attaching to "Dad" just fine and seems to be a very "happy kid." We hope to have such success as well. We know it won't be easy...especially in the first few weeks of getting to know and bond with her, so we're trying to prepare ourselves (mentally at least!) that it's not going to be all peaches and roses when she looks at us for the first time and says: "Who the heck are YOU?!" We've been waiting for her for 3 1/2 years, but as they remind us...she hasn't been waiting for US! It's always a shock to their system and they do experience separation anxiety from their caregivers at the orphanage.

Well, we'll be sure to post as soon as we learn of what date they have matched to. We are officially starting the "count down" after all of these years. It's truly going to happen! I guess we can say we're in our last few months of this elephant pregnancy!

So, we'll probably start posting more often....nah! Not to bore you, but we plan on turning this blog into a book for Hailey one day, so we'd like to chronicle the steps that lead to us bringing her home. We think it will be something she'll be able to cherish forever.