Nikki's Big Month!
I knew it had been a long time since I'd posted, but wow, this is ridiculous. So I guess I've been a little busy. And with zero news forthcoming on our current adoption, I've not found the adoption blog a compelling place to be. Perhaps it is time for me to officially change this to an all-purpose blog.
That being said, I'll start out with news on the adoption front. There isn't any. Just lots and lots of rumors about how long it may take to receive our referral. China is really taking it's time with passing out the babies. I guess they hate to rush through getting these kids out of an orphanage and into a loving family. But to be fair, it appears the kids aren't sitting in the orphanages longer, the families are just waiting longer to bring them home. For some reason it is taking ever-so-long for the supply of "paper-ready" babies to catch up with a large increase in demand over the last year. You may be asking, "just what is a 'paper-ready' baby? Does that mean she will be potty trained when she is placed in your arms?" I'd like to think so, and that would certainly explain why getting them that way takes so long, but apparently it has to do with creating the baby's equivalent of a dossier. I don't have even the most vague clue as to what is involved nor why it takes so long. So at this point our agency is quoting 10-14 months for referral, I think. (They don't like to put anything out there in black and white.) The rumors flying on the boards say other agencies are quoting anywhere from 12 to 18, even up to 24 months. I'm going with the 12 months which is what the director of the CCAA told Jeff at a recent meeting at our agency. I think the earliest we could possibly see a referral would be December. I don't mind the wait other than for wanting a fairly close age between the girls and that is becoming less and less likely. I know God is in control, but I still would love to see things move more quickly.
So let's move on to the all-purpose concept. The last few weeks have been huge for Nikki, with her 18th birthday on May 19th and, finally, high school graduation yesterday, May 27th. What a kid! We couldn't be more proud of her.
Nikki has a personality that makes her a joy to be near. She is smart and funny, sweet and gentle. She has more patience than the rest of the females in this house put together, a trait she inherited from her father. She is smart as can be and a hard worker. As long as what you ask isn't needed by a deadline, she'll be sure to provide whatever is asked of her. (Did I mention she is a procrastinator without equal?)
Nikki's birthday was quite a bittersweet day for us. Eighteen years ago we celebrated the birth of two beautiful baby girls and expected that we would enjoy both of them for the rest of our lives. However, God took one of those sweet girls home to be with him a little over 3 years ago. From my experience, there is no greater pain than for a parent to lose a child and we will forever grieve losing Kelsey at such a young age. However, because God blessed us with twins, we have been able to continue to participate in the blossoming of young life and watch one of our beautiful babies turn into a beautiful young woman. I consider this to be such a blessing. The only thing harder than losing a child would have been to also feel at once cut off from all elements of growing up that child had yet to experience. But we have been able to watch Nikki go through everything we have missed Kelsey going through and at least imagine how she would have handled all of these things. And we have had the joy of watching the amazing strength with which Nikki has handled losing her twin sister. Such a difficult way to grow up, much too young and much too lonesome. But Nikki did it with such grace and courage, looking to the Lord for strength and encouragement and always providing a quiet testimony to those around her.
What a high school career Nikki completed! She finished the International Baccalaureate program at Greeley West High School with a cumulative GPA of 4.25. Because of the heavy academic nature of the program, each IB class is weighted, making it possible for an IB student to earn better than the traditional 4.0. While we won't know until July whether she gets the official IB diploma, she graduated from high school in the top 5 percent of her class. (We think--she never confirmed her final class rank but at last notice she was 11th out of 263 students.) While at Greeley West Nikki was in two smash musicals, Les Miserable sophomore year and Beauty and the Beast this year as well as other less intense productions over the years. She was in choir for three of the four years, and jazz choir for two, also making All State Choir as a senior. She played in the Marching and Concert bands all four years and was drum major her junior year. She was a member of Interact and Spanish Clubs, a member of the National Honor Society and in her sophomore year was class secretary. All of this along with a part-time job and a huge circle of friends, is it any wonder we seldom saw Nikki after 7 a.m. and before 1o p.m. on any given day? But she participates in life to the fullest, not missing any opportunity to try something new.
We are looking forward to spending some time with Nikki this summer before she heads off to CU Boulder in the fall. Though we will have to wait as she is leaving tomorrow morning for a week long trip around Colorado with the high school seniors from the church youth group. Busy as usual, hmm, maybe we won't get to spend much time with her after all. We are so glad she decided to stay close to home for college as she once threatened to go as far away as Pennsylvania. It is hard to watch our "baby" grow up and leave, but she has made us so proud and we know she will succeed at whatever she tries.
Other than Nikki, the rest of us have been busy as well--getting ready for her graduation party. Jeff was busy finishing up the landscaping right up to the last minute for the backyard celebration on Friday night. I was up long into the night on Thursday belatedly finishing her school years scrapbook. (Wonder where Nikki learned that procrastination thing?) Katelynn scurried around doing whatever we asked, most especially keeping Mara entertained while we were busy. Thank you Katy!!! The party came off quite successfully thanks to the help of Lisa and her family, Grandma who made delicious mints--lots of them--and a most cool chocolate fountain loaned to us by Christie M. Thanks everyone!! However, I totally miscalulated how much food we needed and we have lots of leftovers. BBQ anyone?
Katelynn is also busy getting ready for her trip to China. She leaves for 8 weeks of study abroad in Shanghai on June 17. She is excited but nervous. I'm just nervous. I'm so happy for her, but as a parent it is my duty to worry about her. She was blessed to have been given a temporary job with the health department for the month she is home between school and China that will give her a nice chunk of spending money for her trip. She plans to do lots of sight seeing on the weekends and during the week provided for that purpose. At least somebody in the family will get to China this summer. We'll miss her and can't wait to hear all about what she learns while there. We'll patiently wait for the pictures and souvenirs upon her return.
I am hoping to get into a routine of blogging more often than I have. It would be so much easier on an every-few-days basis and I know this will be a good record of what is going on in our lives while we wait for our newest family member. Hopefully, you haven't given up on me and there is actually somebody reading the posts and enjoying the pictures I will post with this.
posted by Laurie @ 8:57 PM
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