Back from Alaska (long post, but lots of pics)

It's been a while since I have blogged. I hope to have some news on the adoption process this week-- I hope we are getting close to having everything done so we can send our package to China. More on that when I actually have something to report.

We took an incredible trip to Alaska! We sailed on the Star Princess from Seattle to Ketchikan to Tracey Arm Fjords to Juneau to Skagway to Victoria then back to Seattle. We've been back for a week, but I have been trying to catch up and get the jet lag out of my system for the entire week. But, now, I have decided that I just had to blog about it (plus, some of you knew about the trip and wanted to see some pictures). So while the blog is primarily about the adoption, I wanted to take some time and show a few pictures from the trip. We took over 300 pictures, but I won't bore you with all of them.

First- a day in Seattle. We went to the Space Needle, the Science Fiction Museum, and to Olympic Park. Here are a few of my favorites:

In case you can't tell, Stephen and I are sitting on a pair of eyeballs!

From our day in Seattle, we went and boarded the cruise ship. It was enormous at 950 feet long and 17 stories high! Our first day was a day at sea. Luckily, our room was on port side, so we had a mountainous scene for most of that day. It was also our first formal night for dinner.

Tuesday was our first day off of the ship since leaving the port. We were in Ketchikan- a small town accessible by only air or sea. It is about 1 mile wide and 7 miles long. We immediately ventured off of the ship and into the town straight to Creek Street. This small street is home to a stream that is known for spawning salmon. We saw thousands of salmon trying to swim upstream. It was an amazing sight!

Then we went back to the ship to find our first excursion tour- a seaplane tour of the Misty Fjords. What is a fjord, you ask? Well, I am glad I can answer than for you. A fjord is a long, narrow, deep inlet of the sea between high cliffs that was formed by the submergence of a glaciated valley. The Misty Fjords is a National Monument created on December 1, 1978 by Jimmy Carter's proclamation. It encompasses more than 2 million areas with waters as deep as 2,000 feet and elevations of 7,499 feet. The Misty Fjords were 99% glacier covered 10,000 years ago. Our pilot covered a lot of information in a short amount of time. We got to see some of the most breath-taking scenes I've ever seen. Our excursion included landing on a lake in the middle of the wilderness. It was the easiest landing of a plane that I have felt. Once on the lake, he shut off the engine and let us get out on the floats and look around. It was quiet and beautiful- God's country. Just about 100 feet from where we landed was a lone American Bald Eagle watching us. It was truly a sight to see.

Of course, no day is complete without a little shopping! Did you know that Alaska is one of the best places in the world to buy jewelry? I bought a piece of Ammolite while I was in Ketchikan. Look it up- it's beautiful and rare!

Wednesday- the cruise ship did some scenic cruising around the Tracey Arm Fjords. It was awfully cold that morning at 6:00 am!

Wednesday afternoon, we ported in Juneau (current home to Sarah Palin!). We got off of the ship and directly on a bus to go to the airport. We watched a safety video and were dressed in "ice boots" at the airport and then loaded into a helicopter. Yes, we saw the Juneau Glacier Ice Fields by helicopter! But it didn't end there! We did the "Pilot's Choice" tour and our pilot picked two places on the glaciers for us to land and get out and walk around. It was incredible-- to say the least. Our first stop was at Herbert Glacier where the ice is approximately 400 feet thick. Granite rock mountains and ice was all you could see for miles. We got out and walked and saw some crevasses up close and personal. Thank goodness for those ice boots!

Our second stop was at the Mendenhall Glacier. It was more mountainous than our first stop, but just as beautiful. It looks like snow, but it actually fine ice. We made a couple of ice balls, but the guys weren't up for a fight!

Thursday we were in Skagway- another small town. We got aboard the White Pass and Yukon Railway and rode the train up to the border of Canada. We disembarked the train and got in a motorcoach that took us into the Yukon Territory and to a town called Carcross for lunch. Carcross is the fifth largest town in the Yukon and has a population of 420. We saw more beautiful and mountainous scenery on the way, and to our bus driver's surprise, we saw a bear on the side of the road eating! What more could we have asked for?! Did you know there was a desert in the Yukon too?

Friday was another day at sea and our second formal night. For some reason, we didn't take any snapshots that night. Oh, well. I guess the guys didn't mind-- they were tired of taking pictures. But don't worry, we took plenty of professional pictures on the ship that night!

On Saturday, our last port was Victoria, British Columbia. It was a cool city, but our excursion was terrible. We did the double-decker tour bus and it was more of a real estate tour than history of the town. We took a couple of pictures that day, including a man-of-war that we saw near the dock where our ship was ported.

All in all, it was a great trip! I want to say "Happy Anniversary" to Stephen- we celebrated our 14th anniversary on the ship. Also, a big "Thank You" to Jo and Brian- you guys are our best friends and we love you!

**Note to fellow bloggers- does anyone know how to correct the spacing around photos?**

No News is Good News?

Who believes that old quip anyway? I am quickly believing that no news means nothing is getting done! I talked with my social worker this week-- believe it or not! The only news I received was "we're working on it." I am at a low point and I don't know what to do. I saw a friend of mine this weekend and she's going through this adoption stuff for the second time (she obviously has more patience than I do-- I don't know how she is keeping her sanity). She's going to try and get some information for me this week. I only hope it is good news.

On a different note, I have been looking at all kinds of blogs this morning. The old saying, it's a small world is true!! Just by looking at the blog of one of my high school friends, I have seen so many other blogs of friends of days gone by. Is it strange to leave them a message out of the blue? Or am I just being weird? I feel like I am stalking them unless I leave a message! But after 10 years of seeing them, would they really even remember who I am? I think I need some blogging etiquette advice!!

One World, One Dream

After my last posting, I read through a couple of my friends' blogs. I must say to JWP- you inspired me to write my own post about the Olympics.

I have never really liked sports, which is not news to most of you who know me well. What you may not know is that I love to watch the Olympics. Let me be honest-- not all of the games catch my attention, but some do. I especially like gymnastics, swimming, and diving! And like JWP, I love the stories they tell about the athletes and their families. What some athletes do just to be able to compete is remarkable!

Another reason I am particularly interested in this year's games is the place--China! Even though it will still be a while before we travel to get our daughter, just the thought of being there is overwhelming. All of the stories are captivating to me!!

Hague Regulations

Another week gone, nothing new to report. We did get a response from our agency and our case worker said that she sent the final revisions for the home study to our social worker. Apparently, one of the biggest problems in getting the home study finalized is the new Hague requirements. Apparently, there is an issue with our social worker and her non-profit status (she is based in Alabama and our agency is based in Texas). Regardless, it has been more than 12 weeks and we still don't have our home study. I think (and hope!!) the last form (the one from Homeland Security) will be easier than dealing with these home study requirements!!

I have had a couple of people ask about what Hague is-- so I thought this would be a good time to share.

Question: What Is the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption?

Answer: The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption is an international agreement between participating countries on best adoption procedures. These procedures have basically two goals in mind: 1) The best interest of children are considered with each intercountry adoption. 2.) The prevention of abduction, exploitation, sale, or trafficking of children.

The guidelines and procedures that are set forth in the Hague Convention are also for the protection of birth families, as well as adoptive families. Part of the Convention's guidelines ensures that one Central Authority is in place in each country so that adoptive parents get the most accurate information regarding adoption. The Department of State is the U.S. Central Authority for the Convention. According to the State Department's Web site, implementing the principles of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption is the State Department's top priority at this time.

History of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption--- The Hague Convention on Private International Law has been around since 1893, but the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption was completed for comments by member countries on May 29, 1993.

The United States signed the Convention on March 31, 1994. In 1998, President Clinton sent the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions to the U.S. Senate for ratification. In 2000, both Houses of Congress passed bills for implementation of the Convention, the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (the IAA), Public Law 106-279. President Clinton signed the IAA into law on October 6, 2000. The United States ratified the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption on December 12, 2007 in the Netherlands. The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption entered into force for the United States on April 1, 2008. This means that private adoption service providers will need to be accredited, temporarily accredited, or approved, supervised by a provider that is accredited, temporarily accredited, or approved, in order to provide adoption services involving the U.S. and another Convention country.