18 Days...

Till my nest is empty. Julia heads off to 5 day/all day Kindergarten, Anna will be in 3rd grade and Cam will be in 5th. Sigh. Just what is a career stay at home mom to do? My first thought was to sit and eat bon-bons and watch soaps all day. LOL! Well, that's no good. I gave away all my plus size clothes! Wayne would like to see me get a job. I'm not sure about that one either. Going to work would be a good thing, but I refuse to get a job just to have a job. I want a job that means something to me, it's something I enjoy and it helps others. (Good luck, right?!) My nest was empty one other time...only for about 3 months though...right before Julia came home from China! So to all my adoption group friends, doesn't an empty nest mean it's time to adopt again? :-) LOL! You can email Wayne at mwwagner@t-one.net to send your thoughts on that. Muuhahahahhaa..... (Dawn, Tonni and Karen! I need your help on this one!!)

Love you guys!

Something else that has been bugging me....

Um, the Olympics are in China. Yes, it's where my daughter was born. Yes, we have a Chinese flag in our house. Yes, we cheered on a male gymnast from her province (he was from Wuhan to boot, where we stayed to get her!). Yes, Julia knows that she lives in the United States. Yes, we rooted on Micheal Phelps for his quest for gold. No, I don't condone the way China trains it's athletes. No, I don't always agree with their human rights policies. No, we don't talk about China and it's government. No, I don't really care about the ages of China's athletes and whether or not they are legal. Yes, I thought the picture of Spain's basketball team was offensive.

Let's just celebrate what the Olympics are. A gathering of some of the greatest athletes in the world, coming together to compete. I personally am soooo tired of hearing all the (OFFENSIVE WORD WARNING!!) BULLSHIT about China and what it's doing that I want to get a shirt that says, "Don't talk to me about China!".

China is where Julia was born, it's special to me and to Wayne. China means more to us than most anyone will know. I'm grateful and thank God every day for Julia and to a countrys that allowed us to bring her here. Julia wears her stars and stripes on July 4th. She also like to wear red and yell, "Ni Hao!!" Now, let's just enjoy the spirit of the Olympics and leave out the politics. Thanks!

Yeah....so WIFI isn't always WIFI

Camping was cool. Had a great time with my family (again). The campground has WIFI, however, when you have 2 MASSIVE motorhomes in the way...it's not so good. LOL! Yes, I am spoiled. Yes, I am lazy and didn't just take my laptop closer. Ehhh...I think I needed a break from blogging, facebooking, myspace and Yahoo messenger. I didn't miss those things really...although I did check some email on Wayne's phone. (No, I can't go COLD TURKEY from my technology!) Anyways...as things calm down (Cam has football starting 4 nights a week next Monday, and I'm trying to figure out if I want to coach 2 soccer teams...), I will post pictures of our little trip and different things.

Yay! Got my meter back and another announcement...

Not that it really matters...but I got my sitemeter back. It's just nice to have to see where people are from that are checking my blog. It also tells me how long people stayed and what pages they viewed. Anyways...I'm just thrilled to have it back.

Another VACATION announcement....We're headed for another week camping trip tomorrow. YAY! We're not going far, just to Kibby Creek, but still, it's a fun trip with my family and the kids enjoy it. They don't have WIFI that I know of, but...I will post some pictures if I get the chance.

Site Meter is whacky?

sitemeter.com apparently is broken. I had to take it off my blog because it was giving me some sort of error....oh well, I know who comes to see my stuff anyways! LOL! I'm off to search for a new counter....

Isaac and Julia: Best Friends

Comparison

Isaac and Julia December 2005 in Guangzhou at the White Swan hotel and today....

Indian River Wrap-Up and Visiting the Brooks

Jess and Kristen reading and looking way too cool!
Cam, Wayne, Anna and Kenzie enjoying the pool.
Me and Shelly...MINUS the thighs. :-)

Julia hanging out.
Cam
Anna
Waynie and Me
Anna's feet?

Isaac and Julia
Dr. Julia Wagner and her rocks (Hey Dr. Kerr, she's following after you!)
Cam being sandy.
Julia taking a picture of me at the beach today.
Julia and Isaac

So, let's wrap up our week long vacation to Indian River. We all had a great time! The kids were pretty good, Wayne and I didn't fight (although I did call him a few names, does that count?) and the dogs were pretty well behaved as well. My brother in law Jeff wants to go for 10 days next week. YAY! What a blast that will be. I guess we have plans to go to the same campground. I really liked it there. Thanks Nancy and Don for the great experience at Indian River RV Resort we all had a wonderful time.

About today....we went to Orchard Park State Park in Manistee to visit the Brooks family. As many of you recall, they are the family that we traveled to China with and their son Isaac is from the same orphanage as Julia. Isaac is actually one day younger that Julia too. How cool?! Anyways, today the kids played at beach and enjoyed seeing each other again. Of course Liz and I talked of our next adoption trips. :-) Maybe we'll end up in Ethiopia together. I'd love to travel to Africa. Although a China trip wouldn't be too bad either!!

Well, back to watching SHARK WEEK on Discovery Channel. :-) Have a great night!

Just pictures

Sissy and Me when she stopped on her way back to Minnesota
The Hayride
Anna's afternoon position

Ju at the beach at Burt Lake State Park
Me and Chang
More Ju, on the river this time
Cam, the paddler
Me and Wayne

Anna
Our group
A bigger shot of the rafters
Lori and Tracy
Shelly

Uncle Bruce in the kayak
Julia and Benjamin
Our clan
Anna Elizabeth
Anna and Ju after the beach

Cameron
Max, Mackenzie, and Cam
Kathy, Gabby and Greg getting a little wild with the pinata pieces
Kristen and Julia
The men by the jet-ski