In Lieu of a Card...

First, Happy Mother’s Day to all of you, especially to my mom, birth mother, and mother-in-law. As we all know, I’m no Martha Stewart, so I didn’t buy Mother’s Day cards before we left to send out to any of you. In other words, Moms, this is the only Mother’s Day acknowledgement you’re getting from us this year. No flowers. No candy. Don't sit all day staring forlornly out the window, waiting for a delivery man. He ain't comin'. Lame, I know. Actually I did give you one more grandchild, so that’s not too bad.

Secondly, do I even have any readers left? I’ve been terrible about posting and I’m imagining many of you are jumping ship.

I do have a good excuse for not blogging. Really. The free Wi-Fi here isn’t all that great- it’s either too slow, or it’s down altogether, so we have to buy internet minutes. One hundred minutes for $10.00. That seems like a lot of minutes, until three people start trying to use the computer. We Skype home and check our email, and before you know it, the minutes are gone and I never got to post to the blog. Skype has been wonderful, by the way- for those of you who may be traveling and wonder how well it works. Soon, I’m going to do a post for any waiting RMI families (are there any of you out there?) including a packing list, what you need and DON’T need, etc.- Everything I wish I would have known before coming. So if you are adopting from the Marshalls or know someone interested in the program, you may want to watch for that one.

Now, onto what we’ve been up to lately and then we’ll get to what you really want… the pictures.

In my last post, I told you the boys were both sick. Evan is now fine. It was NOT parasites, just a viral thing (Thank God). The baby is better, but is still on antibiotics. I caught a chest cold and lost my voice for a couple days, but am starting to feel better. Darrell is great.

Our documents were sent out last Wednesday and just arrived in Manila where they will be processed. Most families’ paperwork has been taking approx. two weeks in Manila, then about another week to travel back here, so we could be looking at another three weeks here- although we pray Every.Single.Day that it will be shorter. Every.Single.Day. Join us, won’t you? Please? I’m seriously begging God that each person who handles our paperwork will feel an urgency to process it and move it along to its next destination, and that it won’t spend time uselessly sitting on someone’s desk.

Darrell is leaving next Wednesday (the 13th) and will get back home on Thursday, for which my mother is shouting with glee, I’m sure. Evan, Mr. Sammy Davis Junior and I will be here the rest of the time, sweating and waiting, waiting and sweating… although, I have yet to see a single bead of sweat on either one of my boys. It’s just me. The only sweaty person in all of Majuro. These Marshallese women have enough hair on their heads for four people and it grows down to their butt cracks. You’d think they’d be hot. But, no. No sweat. Nary a drip. Only the fat, white woman sweats. If you come to our hotel and ask, “Where does the white lady live?” The reply will be, “Which one? The pretty one? Or the sweaty one?”

The first pics are from an area here called Rita. This is not me wading in the water, by the way... It is an actual pig.

Last Friday was Constitution Day here, so we spent most of the day watching the festivities. There was a “parade,” which basically consisted of every school class, business, and government authority walking down the street. Then, there were speeches, mostly in Marshallese, lots of singing, dancing, and food, and fireworks that night. I got burnt to a crisp, even though we sat under a covered area all day. White chicks… you can’t take them anywhere.

Please notice my boys' matching shorts. So cute, it's sickening.



Last Sunday, we were invited by our attorney to attend his church and then went back to his home for lunch. After that, he took us out to a place called “Mile 17,” which is basically the halfway point on the island. It was a really pretty area.

Sam had his first dip in the ocean there.

We got to meet Sam’s grandparents a couple days ago (I'll get a picture of that up next time). We had them over for lunch, and they are both very sweet people. The next day, Sam’s aunt came for a visit, and then came back again yesterday with her husband and son. We’ve had a few meetings with Sam’s birth mom, but don’t know how much contact we’ll continue to have. Out of respect for Sam’s privacy, I won’t go into any details about his birth mom’s story, other than to say we have not had the experience we had hoped for with her, although the rest of her family members have been truly wonderful people, and we look forward to forging an ongoing relationship with them. Things could always improve with the birth mom, too, of course- and we’re hoping and praying for that.

Today, Darrell and Evan are going to an outer island for snorkeling. If you know me, you know I don’t do boats or water activities very well… Haha. I said “very well,” as if I do them at all. Gosh, I’m funny. I do not do water activities. I do not swim. I hear fat people supposedly float, but I don’t want to be the one to test that theory. I’ll ride on a pontoon on the lake (with my life jacket on the whole time, and asking my kids if their life jackets are tightened up enough, but that’s the height of my Xtreme Sporting Adventures). What a pansy. I wear nose clips in the shower. I’m in one of the best snorkeling spots on earth and I am afraid of water. Funny.

Onto the best topic of today’s post: Sammy Davis Junior. He is truly a joy. He's a very happy baby, until he gets sleepy. He can roll over already, and he's had two nights of sleeping straight through 'til morning (YEAH!). AND... He started sitting up by himself yesterday!

Sammy Davis Junior is not really what we named him. You knew that, right?

Here’s a funny story, though… One of the things you agree to do in the RMI program is retain some part of your baby’s given name somewhere in the name you choose for him. Fine. We had no problem with that whatsoever, and were really excited about incorporating his Marshallese name into the one we gave him. We imagined all these “Marshallese-sounding” names, if you know what I mean, and wondered what his mother would choose… We hoped it would have some really cool, significant meaning that would be a special link between him and his mama later in life.

She chose Junior. Seriously. My child’s first name is Junior.

Tonight we celebrated Mother’s Day (remember, we're a day ahead of you) with Sam’s foster family, who are the sweetest couple. They invited us into their home and served us a traditional Marshallese meal (I drank from a coconut, y’all!). They blessed us with gifts and made us feel so welcome. We love them and hope we’ll be able to stay in contact. If you’re in the RMI program and you’re child is in foster care, you have nothing to worry about. You're child will be blessed and loved.The foster parents' grandchildren were so happy to see "Junior" again.

More pictures to come... Hope you're all doing well. I'm missing my kids, our family and friends, and my blogs.