We finally got the call

Well after almost 4 years of waiting, we finally got the call. A couple of months ago Tom and I decided to try our luck with the China Special Needs program. Little did we know that it would happen so fast. Once we completed some more paperwork, we were would good to go. Karla called us at 1 in the morning and said she found her. A couple of hours later she sent us Caroline's information. Before we said yes we had an international specialist review the file. There are some risks, but she said everything looked positive. This was enough for us, so we said YES. The magic was that our little girl was found wearing a light blue jacket. Is that a sign or what? Our application was sent, so now we are waitng to hear back from that. We are hoping to travel to get her in June. Her 2 year birthday will be on April 25th. As you can see, she is very beautiful and we will be very blessed to bring this little girl int our lives.

American Tobacco Road Half Marathon

As if one half marathon wasn't enough, I did another one. In March I ran the American Tobacco Road Half Marathon. It was a lot of fun. I signed up with some friends from the Y. Again as luck would have it, the weather was beautiful. The course was challenging but pretty. It was fun to run through down the trail through the woods. My friend Maria did great. She ran it in 1:55. She came in 6th in her age group. I am so proud of her. The guys were happy because they had beer at the finish line. As always Tom was my official photographer. Without his support, I wouldn't be able to run these races. He also ran quite a lot helping me train for it.

Crystal Coast Half Marathon

In February I signed up for the Crystal Coast Half marathon. Tom did the 5k run. I signed up for this race to see how I would do in the Half marathon I signed up for in March. The course was flat except the bridge going over from Morehead City to Atlantic Beach. My father surveyed for this bridge and I thought it would be fun to run over his bridge. The run was challenging, but I completed. The weather was gorgeous. Organizers were nervous since the previous two were rainy. So far every race that I have signed up for has had beautiful weather. The highlight of the run was seeing my brother at the finish line. He came out to cheer his little sister on and it was so nice to see at the end of this long run.

Blowing Rock

In February my husband took me on a romantic trip to Blowing Rock for Valentine's Day. We had a great time. It snowed on Saturday, so we took it easy. We went to a bar in Boone and watched UNC defeat NC State. We were lucky that the weather cleared up on Sunday and we were able to go snow tubing at Hawksnest. This was a lot of fun. This resort also has ziplining. They got out of the ski business and took up snow tubing and zipling because the equipment is cheaper and both of these activities are family friendly. It was a lot of fun sliding down the runs in the tube. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. On Valentine's Night we went to a great restaurant named Twigs. Dinner was great and we had a lot of fun that weekend. On Sunday night more snow came in. We got out of there early and drove east out of it.

UNC 100 Years of Carolina Basketball

On a cold Friday night in February, we went to the Alumni Game at the Dean Dome. Carolina is celebrating 100 years of basketball this year. They had former UNC players from many decades. The oldest player played basketball for UNC in the 40s. The game was a lot of fun and we saw players we have not thought about in years. They did a great job showcasing the 100 years of UNC basketball. One of the highlights of the evening was when Dean Smith came out to greet the crowd. It was a lot of fun to watch all the former players out on the floor one more time.