Gatlinburg, TN

How do I even begin to describe our time in Gatlinburg, TN??? I won't say too much, because I think that all of the memories are hidden very deep in my heart and no words can describe richly enough all the wonderful sights, experiences and-- most importantly-- family moments we were able to have. From the time we walked into our cabin, till the final day we stepped out to come back home, there was peace and joy and laughter and life together with my people :)... ALL my people!

Below are some pictures that just highlight some of what we did. No pictures of the Dollywood Water Park day-- we were having too much fun "ridin' the waves". And, fortunately my sister has the pictures of the "sibs' night out" in which I was coerced into karaoke. If she ever sends them my way I MIGHT post a few just so you can have a chance to laugh in your day-- good thing a picture doesn't actually offer sound!!!

Believe it or not (ha! Too much Ripley's stuff from last week!), we had our own resident bear who came to our cabin 3 times looking for food. Sadly, we think that some one before us had fed that bear-- as well as the raccoons who I'm pretty sure lived under the porch!-- and so now he has a place he tries to go. This is so bad for the bears and of course, dangerous for humans. My mom took the boys to the black bear talk at the National Park on Friday and they came home with story after story of people who make poor choices concerning these mighty creatures. Something that I knew, but was wonderful to have my boys learn this from an "official park ranger" was that any time a bear makes human contact, the bear must be put down-- even if no harm came of the interaction (of course, this is assuming that the right people find out about it and the bear can be tracked). At the point of human interaction, the bear will now continually seek human contact for food and becomes more aggressive over time. In fact, my husband just shared with me tonight that a father and his nine year old son were mauled by a bear yesterday in the National Park. I don't know the details. I will try to find the story and post a link. Very tragic.

Let's see... I said I would keep this short. HA!!! I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking :D!!

Aaahhh.... it's good to be in the Smokies!

Tony and I at the top of Mt. LeConte-- our 11 mile hike day

Kevin and Emi Jo (my younger sibs) too close to the edge!

At the top of Ober Gatlinburg-- we just conquered the alpine slide

Our destination on Friday-- Mt. LeConte-- 2800 ft. up in 5 miles

My dad and Kev one mile into hike

Are we going THROUGH a rock?? No, just under Arch Rock

My boys-- goin' to the waterfall you can walk behind

Nana and Papa are SO COOL!!

at Ripley's Aquarium-- they Love the military!! SUPER discounts!!

DAD!! GET out of our PICTURE!

Sam turned 5 in Gatlinburg, TN

One of our cabin raccoons. They think they are cats.

See what I mean?

Mom, take the picture already! We have some hiking to do!

I dunno... Lewis and Clark maybe?

Do you really wonder how I got pulled into karaoke??

Oh, and if you ever get a chance to go to Gatlinburg, you HAVE to spend some time at the Arts and Crafts Community. I found much artwork to admire-- Jim Gray and Nancie Bush in particular, beautiful pottery, blown glass, copper art, hand-sewn moccasins and a teddy bear made from a vintage chenille beadspread and buttons which made me think of babies in Ethiopia... which made me cry :). I can't wait... but I will :)

In other Team Dragovich news... we started school on Monday. Nothin' like coming home from vacation and diving right in!! We are in our "new" homeschool room and I am loving it!! I am just missing my desk (on order), curtains (on thought) and some bird paintings from Gatlinburg (on savings!). And the funnest thing that happened to us since we got home is getting to see the Coens!!!!! Amazingly, one of the families who went through the same adoption agency we are using and have had their little boy, Silas, home for 3 months now, just moved to Ft. Bragg last month!!!! It was such fun meeting Jill and being able to laugh and say, "Now we don't have to just be cyber friends! :D" That is too cool. They live 10 minutes from our house.

God is GOOD and His mercies endureth FOREVER!!!!
Grace and Peace,
Shari

My boys are on the farm

Last weekend felt like one long day. Tony and I drove the boys to Paducah, KY to meet my parents, and pass them off to spend a week on the farm.... without us. It was an 11 hour drive for us from NC, and then a 4 hour drive for them from IL. How did that happen you say? I was sort of having a mommy moment when trying to figure out a place to meet them and decided that the closer we could get them to the farm the better. Isn't that silly!! What makes it really silly is that next weekend we are all meeting back in Gatlinburg, TN for a big family vacation-- I think they will need to drive more than just 4 hours to get there!!

Anyway, since we were staying the night in Paducah, I made everyone go downtown to see the floodwall murals. I have heard they are beautiful and we weren't disappointed. I let Isaac have the camera and he had fun. Here are some of our highlights:

My boys with Nana and Papa (isn't that train HUGE??!!)

Wyatt and Sam in front of the Coca-Cola mural

This mural is of one family--4 generations-- that all did the swim across the river together (this is an annual event in Paducah, every summer during their summer festival--the swim is over a mile long). It was one of my favorite murals

Me and my Dad

We just happened to be in Paducah during their annual summer festival. Neat bands, lots of bouncy toys and good food. This is Isaac on the bungee bouncy thing (very technical name, I know) He went high.

Wyatt was really concentrating hard.

More murals:

I feel a bit lost. I do have projects I have to get done while the boys are gone-- I want to surprise them with finished rooms. Today I fought with yards of curtain material and went for a run too late in the morning (7:30am) and was exhausted the rest of the day. I hope tomorrow goes better! Meanwhile, the boys are having great fun. Wyatt already crashed the Mini-Baja (a small motorcycle my dad bought for them to play with on the farm)-- he assured me he is "perfectly fine". They went swimming out at my grandpa's lake and their Aunt Emily borrowed a wii from one of her friends for them to play with all week. Sam asked me on the phone tonight when I was going to come back to the farm to get him-- he's my baby, and Tony and I knew that he didn't grasp the timeline or fully understand just how long he was going to be at the farm without us. At least I know I'm loved :D!

I miss my boys!!!!

Grace and Peace,
Shari

PS... The courts are getting ready to close in Ethiopia for the rainy season (August-October). There are several families I know-- both in our agency and with another agency, who have one last opportunity to pass court tomorrow before everything shuts down. If not, they wait until after October to pass court and travel to get their little ones. Please say a prayer for these families. Pray that the judge shows favor to them, that ALL the right papers are there and that at the end of tomorrow, these families get to hear the words, "YOU PASSED!!!"

I will try to remember to talk more about Ethiopia and the court situation for those of you who may read my blog and don't understand what this is all about. But for now, I must go to bed.

Yeah, I know... MIA

Okay, I know... it has been a month since my last post. I have no excuse other than it is SUMMERTIME!!! We have been having a great summer; full of gardening, swimming, camping, reading great books, planning for school next year... The list goes on and on! I am sorry though. I know that my faithful two readers have probably given up on me. Hopefully I can win you back with some witty conversation and lots of PICTURES!! I'll save the witty conversation for later (my brain hurts from trying to upload the pictures and put them in order!) But, here are some highlights of our summer so far:


Our Trip to OBX; Waiting for the Cedar Island ferry to take us to Okracoke-- we're loaded down: camper, bikes, ferry activities, snacks, dog and all!!!

Posing boys in front of the NC Ferry sign
On our way to Okracoke (2 1/2 hour ferry ride!)
Brushing burrs out of Penny's tail
Shari and Isaac at the sight of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse before it was moved in 1999 due to beach erosion (Yes, I wear a lot of bandannas when we camp!!)
Climbing to the top of the Hatteras Lighthouse!
Team Dragovich is up high!

Good to be on solid ground!
Isn't it beautiful? Can you believe they moved that entire thing??
I LOVE lighthouses!!!

Our garden:
My attempt at growing fruit:I love summer flowers!



Our garden in May:

Our garden in July:
A sampling of our harvest (the middle green ball is a baby watermelon-- they aren't supposed to get big, but I think they are supposed to be bigger than that-- I am just happy that we are able to grow them, next year I will work on how to make them bigger!) Every couple days I harvest just about that much produce... the only plants which haven't done very well are the sweet peppers, watermelons and cantalope.

Oh, FYI... we have been waiting almost 2 months now for our referral. 6-8 months to go. Generally I don't really think about it-- I mean the fact that we have to wait and wait-- I DO think about how I can't wait to put bows in hair, and ruffles on bums!!! :D

Grace and Peace,
Shari

Happy Anniversary!!!

Okay, so this is a couple days late. Our anniversary was on Saturday, June 21st, but we were having such a great weekend, I didn't have time to stop and write about it!! Friday night, all three boys spent the night with a friend from church and Tony and I went out to dinner and got to come home and NOT have to put boys to bed or worry about anyone waking up, etc. Saturday we had time to sit on the porch and drink coffee together WITHOUT hearing, "Mom!", "Dad!" every other minute. We went to the gym, had a great workout, came home and got ready for Saturday evening activities-- again, without being interrupted or rushed. Then went to pick the boys up around 2pm-- good thing we didn't have any more time alone... I was beginning to feel pretty comfortable :D!! We had dinner plans with a doc whom Tony worked with back at Walter Reed and his family, so we went straight to their HUGE home in Pinehurst, had a lovely dinner, swam in their beautiful pool-- in the rain-- and had three exhausted boys by the time it was all over!!

Just a side-note... have you ever been in a home that is over 8,000 sq. ft. and NOT on display or open to the public for touring??? Now, I can say I have and it was a bit overwhelming to say the least. I can't decide what overwhelmed me the most-- the size, the video camera/alarm/radio/intercom system, the elevator, number of rooms and hidden rooms, landscaping and perfectly manicured lawn, pool/hot-tub, gated playground for the children, automatic EVERYTHING.... Honestly, my favorite part of the entire house was the mud room and laundry room. Now is that a mom of boys talking or what?!!

Anyway, back to our weekend... we had a great game of baseball in the backyard on Sunday-- interrupted only once by the neighbors who came to see if Tony could look at their son's sliced open finger. Of course that was the hot topic for the rest of the evening for my boys-- blood always gets a lot of attention here. It was determined that stitches would not help, and Tony bandaged it up and is doing a "follow up" appointment today :)

And that is it! I sure am enjoying my summer break this year. I feel much more settled this summer. My running routine is more regular, I LOVE my garden and my home is feeling more like home every day. I so very much appreciate where God has placed us in this season of life-- new blessings and new challenges. Sometimes I still get lonely for old friends or familiar spaces. I recognize that for how "hard" it was to live in D.C., by the time we left, He had provided such an abundance of dear relationships for us-- all close by. He has already bound our hearts to so many people here-- and He is allowing us to experience some difficult relationships as well. It is all teaching me that my strength is in Him, my life is bound to His and that IN CHRIST I find peace, joy and contentment-- not in people, stuff, achievement or any other thing. I also understand more deeply what it means to live a life of MERCY-- it is not mine to keep the mercy God has shown to me. Mercy is mine to pour out towards others, despite their actions toward me.

I cannot believe that I have been married to my high-school love for 11 years now. What a journey we are taking!!!! And I cannot imagine this journey with anyone else-- I know in the depths of my soul that God chose to put us together for a purpose and for HIS GLORY! May we continue to grow in love, honor and "oneness" in Him who has joined us together, for all eternity-- bound together by a power which can never be torn apart :).

Grace and Peace,
Shari

PS. The picture is of our ski trip in Nevada this last Feb. Sadly, I could not figure out how to work my scanner with my computer so I could post a wedding picture-- as to give you all a good laugh. :D The ski picture was the ONLY pic. I could find in all my albums that was of JUST the two of us-- is that sad or what??!!

Books, books, books!!!

Well, here they are. THE bookcases. I am so pleased. They look very nice in our new homeschool room; and I actually had to pick them out from a book and NOT in a showroom-- yikes! The new home school room is supposed to be a formal dining room, but we are just not formal dining room people, and I would rather have my school room on the main level of the house, next to the kitchen, rather than off in the far reaches somewhere. When we first moved into the house I could never imagine the room being a school room-- it was just too fancy!! But, low and behold, piece by piece, we are making that "too fancy" room into a sweet place to do school. Next week I will order my desk and a side-board (for baskets, more storage and displaying projects, plants, etc) to complete the room. Never in my adult life have I been able to order more than one piece of furniture at a time-- it feels so indulgent! Last month, Tony gave me a set amount of money to spend on furniture for the rest of the year, and I feel such a responsibility to stretch it as far as I can. It was a complete surprise to me, as he had told me at the beginning of our adoption process, that it would push "probation" back for another year (for those of you who don't know-- "probation" is the code word for NO BUYING FOR THE NEW HOUSE for the first year we lived there. This was the condition we had for when we moved down here). I also have to purchase the rest of our curriculum and books for this next year on that money, so you better believe I'm doin' my research and constantly examining the "needs" v. "wants" and trying to prioritize accordingly.

I have also been looking for material for curtains, for all the rooms, but first for the homeschool room and kitchen-- I think it would be fun to do a nostalgic school-house print of some kind (in the home school room). Did you know you can order material by the yard on-line now??? I'm sure this is old news to any of you who sew, but I had no idea!! This makes the task of getting material SOOO much less daunting! And the prices for great material are great, too!

So, there ya go. Bookcases. Just a funny sidenote... do you know how many rooms had to be re-arranged and re-organized in order to turn the dining room into the homeschool room? Five. Yes, you read that correctly. My husband would say that only I could make a one room project turn into Five... I say it is my God-given talent for creative organization :D!!

Grace and Peace,
Shari

Just a neat thought...

Okay, here is a neat thought that Tony and I had the other day while trying to get my military i.d. renewed before it expires (end of July-- yikes!). We went to the building on-post where all the in-processing happens (new soldiers check-in, so to speak), thinking that it was the logical place for i.d.'s. It is-- but only if you are active duty. Of course, at one time it probably was, then it changed and you only find out these things when you need to get something done and then it is painful. We went all the way through the maze of the building to the lower reaches and beyond, only to read the sign that we have to get "dependant" id's all the way across base at ANOTHER building. Okay. We didn't even go there, because it was now lunch hour and all things government related have to shut down during lunch hours-- because, you know, the Army hasn't discovered the amazing idea of doing lunch in SHIFTS!!

Anyway, as we were walking out of the building, I looked at Tony and said, "See, how great being in the military is? Because we are so used to inefficient government systems, we aren't as rattled by all the inefficiency related to adoption (both state-side AND ET side)! We have a LOT of practice in walking through a simple process, multiple times in order to get it done :D!!!" He immediately agreed and we both just laughed...

One more reason I am so thankful that God has us in the Army!!
Grace and Peace,
Shari

PS For the only two people who care what the new home school shelves look like, I am taking pictures after I run this morning. I was too beat after doing all my running and errands yesterday-- sorry :(...

AWAA families in ET right now

Hi bloggy friends. I am posting on some of the families from our adoption agency who are currently in Ethiopia picking up their children. For those of you interested in what this whole adoption process looks like, this is your chance to follow some families who are THERE NOW!!! At least that is, if they blog through their journey-- I know that at least 3 of the 4 are. Here are the blogs to stalk-- I mean watch this week:

Kidd Family
Cordell Family
West Family
Gardner Family

Pray for their safety and blessings for them as they are in ET this week.

On another note, I just heard through the grapevine that our agency just signed a contract with another orphanage in Ethiopia-- that brings the AWAA total to THREE orphanages from which children are being referred. That ought to help the referral process from getting too bogged down. I'm not so sure it will decrease wait times, but at least it will help them from INCREASING, which seemed to be the path we were heading down.

And, finally, I checked today to see just where in the world our dossier actually is. Low and behold... it is in Addis Ababa, waiting for delivery. COOL! This doesn't really mean anything other than we have official documents with OUR family's name on them, IN Ethiopia-- that's sort of weird, isn't it? Where do these documents now go???? Behind ALL the other families in front of us :D!

Grace and Peace,
Shari