More Progress

Okay, you remember the "dungeon room", right? All navy blue...walls, baseboards, ceiling, door frames, door, window frames, outlet covers. It's not a dungeon anymore! Room #7 has been painted, and is now ready to be Matt's home office. (By the way, Matt was just elected Treasurer of our church.) Here are the pictures:

As it was:

Matt rolls the ceiling:
All primed and ready:

Amy paints a layer of trim:

BEFORE:

AFTER!:

Some More Before and Afters

The carpet has been laid in the upstairs bedrooms, which means the upstairs is basically done! Here are some pictures:

The Living Room (now Silver Blueberry):

The Guest Room / Amy's Office (now Shades of Evening Periwinkle):

Kids Bedroom #1 (now Highland Meadow Green):

Kids Bedroom #2 (now Hide-and-Seek Blue):

Upstairs Bathroom (now Suffolk Tan):

Up next: painting Matt's office (the downstairs dungeon room), painting the master bathroom downstairs, painting the master bedroom...then moving in!

Jen, Scott, & Hunter Come For A Visit!

Amy's sister Jen and her family were here all week, and we got SO MUCH done at the house! Here are some action shots from the week that was and stay tuned next week for some before and after shots. The upstairs is all done except the carpet, which is being laid on Wednesday.

Caesar helps Amy show off her tulips

Amy, Hunter, and Caesar take a break

Dan and Hunter read a book

Hunter helps Amy with the gardening

Melanie adds some trim

Amy defends our turf from the flatlander invaders

Our friend Michael from Kenya stops by to help paint

Jen & Amy get some old paint ready for the dump

More old paint cans from the shed out back

Scott tears up the old tile

Matt loads up the old tile to take to the dump

Some Before & After Pictures

One-Half of a Thyroid Lighter

Amy's surgery went off without a hitch, and they decided to just send her home instead of keeping her overnight, so we are now home and resting. After having her throat cut, Amy says she feels like a slaughtered goat. Mmmm...there's an image you won't forget. Anyway, all seems to be well. Thanks for your prayers!

Some Disappointing News

From the Joint Council on International Children's Services:

March 28, 2008 On December 31, 2007, the Hague Convention went into force in Guatemala. On April 1, 2008, the Hague Convention goes into force with respect to the United States. With the Convention in force in both countries and with Guatemala not currently having a functional Hague compliant intercountry adoption process, new adoptions between the United States and Guatemala can not be processed. Until such time that Guatemala has a functional Hague compliant process for intercountry adoptions, USCIS can not process I800-A or I800 petitions for Guatemala as of April 1, 2008. It is the current assessment of Joint Council that intercountry adoption and other permanency services will not be viable options for Guatemalan orphans until some time in 2009.

Joint Council Delegation to Guatemala On April 16th, Joint Council and its Guatemala Caucus Co-chairs, Bruce Mossberg of Bethany Christina Services, Chris Huber of FTIA and Margaret Orr of Small Miracles International, will travel to Guatemala for a series of meetings. With a long-term goal of reestablishing intercountry adoption and all other permanency services as viable options for children living outside of family care, this delegation will seek to assess the status of the current Hague implementation plan, the status of pending adoption cases, and the feasibility of a joint effort to assist the Guatemalan government in providing much needed services to children. Joint Council remains committed to its mission of protecting every child’s right to a permanent, safe and loving family. It is our belief that the delegation to Guatemala will be the first step in achieving our mission for the children of Guatemala.

The Return of the Thyroid

The thyroid makes its return to our blog, as Amy is up for surgery on her thyroid tomorrow (Thursday). Her bloodwork has shown a return to normal thyroid levels after her radiation treatment last spring, but the growth has gotten bigger rather than go away. So, the doctors are going to cut out the right side of the thyroid (opposite of what the picture at left shows) while hopefully not damaging the thyroid to the extent that Amy would have to go on medication. Surgery is on Thursday morning, and they will be keeping her overnight for observation. Please keep her in your prayers!