"Pancakes, Good Friends, DeLeon Springs & Other Things"

In the midst of a smorgasbord of paper chasing, notorizing, composing of acceptance letters and agency document approvals for Joanna Mei's adoption, we packed in as much as we could over the weekend - because on Monday, the whole thing would start again.

Starting Friday afternoon - we met with Sallie, our SW, to review facts and figures about us on paper and attended to the preparation of another batch of documents to be forwarded to the agency home office in Michigan (while on the phone with one of the reps there, I asked if we should send along a snow shovel to help expedite the delivery - she didn't think it was as funny as I did.) ------ Next stop ------ Target. Several friends are talking about doing the baby shower, so we registered and did a bit of shopping for Joanna Mei. Next - Our Friday night bible study meets every other week, and we all share dinner together, fellowship and look into the Word. It's one of our favorite items on the calendar.

Saturday found us bright and early at DeLeon Springs State Park, about 75 minutes away. We were meeting Ford & Aly, our friends whom we met out in Blogdom. We have several other entries about our encounters and how our adoption stories parallel each other. We have become great friends through the journey, so for newcomers, click here and here and here for some other items about our adventure in adoption.

Ford, Aly, Be & Don (seriously attending to the pancakes)

Breakfast at a waterside table at the Sugarmill Grill @ DeLeon Springs State Park.

Cook your own pancakes on the grill at your table. What a hoot!

Old Guys Rock!


Springside with the Sugarmill in background.


Gifts for Joanna from Aly & Ford.
Ladybug slippers, Stacking Cups, Hallmark Christmas tree ornament and books.
Love the book that teaches numbers, shapes, letters etc through the use of bible images.
Way cool!


Bistro Diva
The "Dog Above All Other Dogs" poses in her dining area, tastefully decorated with
water cooler, fine art doggie phography (a bit too much glare in this shot)
ceramic name plate and dinner bell - yes, she rings the bell when she's hungry.
We call it "Reverse Pavlovian".


The house Diva displays her name plate, a gift from Aly & Ford.


The weekend continues ......

IKEA comes to Orlando -
'Bout the time we moseyed back toward the homestead, it was time for more vittles.
Since we wanted to put together the room for Joanna Mei, we dropped in at IKEA, headed to the cafeteria (11 bucks covered us both for a veggie wrap, glazed salmon and exotic Scandanavian beverage) then headed around the corner to the kids department. The place was more crowded than an airport waiting area during spring break. We were able to find what we wanted, but decided that Don would return on Monday due to the long lines.
We'll post the final product as things progress.
A quick walk in the park with the Diva dog and then off to the home of friends for a chicken barbeque. So much for Weight Watchers, Don.

Sunday morning ..... singing in our choir has been a spiritually & musically enriching voyage for us. Sunday's service menu included a tune called "Gloria" which was moving while being theologically and spiritually sound. The crankin' band and the hearts of the singers contributed to an incredibly uplifting event which we will treasure for a long time to come. Hope we get to do it again. Second service - "Common Grounds Cafe" - an 'unplugged' venue where we lead the music. We are still in the dress rehearsal phase and we had some technical difficulties which gave us a 'heads up' to what could happen when we are in the midst of 'the real thing'.
An afternoon ride on the West Orange Bike Trail (8 miles towing an 85 pound canine in a 15 pound trailer) helped work off the Saturday 'pig out'. Which reminds me, Jeff and Kathy called and treated us to a 'referral celebration dinner' later that evening which capped off our jammed packed but totally enjoyable weekend.


.....just one last shot of the Diva.
The little stuffed dog is an IKEA find.
Be painted the eyebrow on the toy and we'll send it over to Joanna Mei to prepare her
for the gentle giant which will become a part of her home in a few months.