Day Nine: Meeting up with old friends

Today we took a trip to Lancaster County, Pennslyvania. It is well known for the Amish community. This was also the area that made the news a couple of years ago, when the man went into the school house and killed several students. We met up with an old roommate of Mat's from college. Gary and his wife Chantel and children traveled from Maryland to meet us for lunch.

We ate lunch at a family style restaurant (http://www.goodnplenty.com/). It was amazing food and so much of it! We all literally waddled out the door. It was wonderful, and it just kept coming!

We had a great time visiting, in the last ten years, we have seen them twice. We followed them through the country side and enjoyed the sites. I loved the clean farms that they had. It was beautiful country. The horse drawn buggies were fun to see driving down the road, and then the small children that were dressed in simple and cute clothes, complete with hats and bonnets. I wonder how I would do living in a time like that?

On the way back to Philadelphia, we spend a good part of the trip on the phone trying to figure out how we were going to make it home. We were able to use my brother David's buddy passes on the way out. But due to Spring Break and the airlines weekend ban on buddy passes, and my brother changing jobs, we were stranded for an undetermined amount of time. But not to fear, we used more family connections and Mat's brother Scot was very generous and let us use some of his numerous flight miles to get home. As much as he travels I am sure that he has a few extra. Thank you Scot, for being very generous and allowing us to return home with very little expense involved.

We ended the day by going to dinner with Kenya and her son Jamir. We went to a Chinese buffet, one of Kenya's favorites. She brought her four year old son with her. He was really quiet for awhile, but soon Mat had him laughing and having a good time. At this point, Jamir does not realize that he is a big brother to this adorable baby boy. Hopefully later on in life Kenya will tell him and there will be no hard feelings. This picture was adorable with the three of them together. Kenya held Isaac the entire time, fed him, and yes, changed his clothes twice, since he kept peeing through everything. The picture was taken during one of those naked times.

We then went across the parking lot to Walmart and bought a black baby doll. Kenya probably thought I was a bit weird, wanting a doll for a baby, but black baby dolls are rather hard to find here in Utah. (More to come about the doll.) She wanted to pay for the doll, which we let her do. We walked out to the car and Kenya buckled Isaac in, kissed him on the forehead and turned and we parted ways. To say it was a bit heart breaking is a bit of an understatement. We were glad that she had Jamir with her to keep her busy. We are so grateful for Kenya and her generosity. She is a wonderful person and we hope to keep in contact with her in the years to come.

0.4 score days into our trip (i.e. day eight)

Isaac and Mat

The three of us: Mat, Isaac (in the baby sling), and Katie

When we were discharged from the hospital on Sunday, the nurse told us to bring Isaac to the pediatrician's office today at 8:45 am for a follow up appointment. We had already planned to take Isaac to see our pediatrician in Logan, but Kenya wanted to go with us to this appointment, so we went ahead and went to the appointment. In order to avoid commuter traffic we awoke at a not-so-bright-and-early 5:00am and left the house at 6:00am. We arrived at the hospital before 7:00am, so we had time to go to the cafeteria for some breakfast. Some things came up for Kenya, so she did not come with us. We went to the pediatrician's office early to checkin. Upon arriving, we were told that they had no record of our appointment. We were also told that they would not see the baby if we could not provide custody/adoption papers. We do not currently have the papers, but our agent did email me some of the paperwork late last night. So I told the receptionist that I had the paperwork on my computer and tried to show her. She said it would work if they had a hardcopy, so I emailed the file to her. She tried opening it on her computer to print it, but it wouldn't open. She sent it to someone else, who also couldn't open it. After three of them tried, we finally asked if we could cancel the appointment and see our pediatrician when we get back home. So, it was probably the quickest doctor appointment we have ever had :)

After the appointment (and a trip to Kinkos to print/fax paperwork), I went to visit Peter Guy at Golder Associates (one of EarthSoft's clients). I visited with him for a couple of hours, then Katie and I (and Isaac) spent the afternoon at Independence Hall and thereabouts. We had several comments on how cute he is and asking how old is. As you can see in the picture above, the popular opinion is that he looks more like me than Katie :)

After some quality traffic time in downtown Philadelphia at 5pm, and a stop at the huuuuuge King of Prussia mall for dinner at the food court, we made it back home.

Day Seven: (has it already been that long?)

This morning was rather quiet. We just stayed for a couple of hours and then we left to go to Newtown so Mat could visit with a client. It took us about an hour or so to get there. The weather was beautiful, it hasn't been this nice since the very first day we were here.

Newtown was originally established by William Penn, who obtained the charter for the town from Charles II. We are talking 1862. The town had a walking tour that I enjoyed, Isaac also enjoyed it, wrapped up in the sling, he slept the entire time. Just being outside in the sunshine was wonderful. Hence the pictures of flowers and such. On the way back to where we are staying (Dennis and Ruth, wonderful people, thank you so much!), we decided to take the back roads. It took us about two hours, but we saw some wondrful country and some really old farms and houses.

We appreciate everyones input on what to see and do, we hope to see some of those sights in the next couple of days.

Finally, we finish up with a few pictures of Isaac, having his pre-bed time nap.

A day in haiku

Rainy Windy Sleep
Mat works - Katie, baby drive.
Day closer to home.

Day Five..............

This is Isaac's temporary bed for our stay in Philadelphia. It is a top drawer from a dresser, with a blanket for padding. We told Matalyn and Jacob about the bed last night, and they thought it was hilarious.

Today was a rather boring day, and to think that right now we are just wasting time until papers are signed. That will now be on Wednesday that Kenya signs over the baby. As of right now we are baby sitting.

Isaac slept very well during the night. Even today, all he has done is eat, have his diaper changed, then he pees all over everything while having his diaper changed, change of clothing, and finally he goes back to sleep. Mat and I keep thinking that this can't continue forever, but we will sure enjoy the quiet while it lasts. He hardly cries at all. I keep joking that he better enjoy the quiet now, because it won't be all that quiet once we get home!

We did make it out of the house for a short outing to have a bite to eat. It has been a rather rainy day and lots of flooding around Philadelphia and New Jersey. It will be rainy tomorrow and then by the weekend it should be almost 80 degrees. That sounds great and I can't wait to see the sun again and enjoy the nice weather.

Here is a picture of Isaac just before we got ready for bed. (Just another picture to post for your enjoyment.)

One more question (if you are still reading), if you have been to Philadelphia or the state of Pennsylvania what have you seen and done? What is fun to do and see and what is not worth it? We plan on spending some time down in Center City and seeing all of the history, but what about Lancaster (Amish country)? What about Hershey, PA? Any input would be great, since we (meaning mostly me) have alot of time to fill.

Day Four: Lots of Emotions

So today can be split into two parts: before baby and after baby.

Kenya called first thing this morning saying that they were going to release her today. Keep in mind that she just had a c-section two days ago! So when we left this morning, we made sure to pack baby clothes and blankets.

We found a chapel to attend sacrament service at, so we were there at 9 am. It was just half a mile or so, down the street from the hospital. Being the very inner city part of Philly, I have to admit that I was a bit leary. The chapel was just like the ones that you see throughout the US and different parts of the world. The only difference would be the lack of parking, gated fences all around the church and white bars on the windows. There was a really good mix of people attending. It appeared to be about half locals, and maybe about half young families (they are here attending school). Of course everyone knew that we were not a regular and were hoping that we had moved in. The friendliness of people that you don't know, but you have the common bond of the gospel, is often amazing. As usual, Mat found someone that he knew! What are the chances of that happening? Amazing. The meeting was very good, they changed the Bishopric and the new Bishop was someone that Mat went to high school with. Isn't it amazing that the Lord trusts someone with so much responsibility, when that individual is barely thirty?

We got to the hospital at 10:30am and Kenya was dressed and ready to go. We had to wait around for just a couple of things to be finished up, but we were all out of their by 1pm. I called Jane (our adoption agency contact) when we got to the hospital. I was a little concerned with not knowing exactly how things were going to work out. Jane was really surprised and a little annoyed that the hospital was releasing Kenya, and we had to do several back and forth phone calls. Kenya has still not signed the papers, and won't be able to until Tuesday. The social worker at the hospital kept saying, "I don't want to know the plan, don't tell me a thing". So we essentially handed the baby off in the parking lot. Just kidding. We took Kenya to get her prescriptions and then took her home. It seemed to pass in such a rush and before we knew it, we had a baby!

It has been a rather emotional day for me. I am now ready to head home, but since Kenya can't sign papers until Tuesday, the official papers that we are waiting for, can't start the long process until Wednesday. Those are the papers that have to be signed by the state of PA, sent to UT, and then sent back to PA. We have been told to expect 10 business days, and with the state of Utah having a four day work week, that could take even longer! So pray that it will hurry up and that things will work out so we can come home soon!

Another reason I would like to come home is: that I miss my children! Yesterday Matalyn asked if we knew when we could come home. Joseph didn't miss a beat and told us we could stay another month or two! Can you believe that? You would think that he is enjoying time with the Petersen cousins.

So here is another round of pictures for the day. We love you all and are grateful for your prayers and your support.

Look what we found on our way home from the city? The country is a wonderful place!

A Name, A Name, He has a Name!

After months of discussion, and several rounds of QA, we are pleased to announce the release of Isaac James: