Friday, July 11, 2014

Hi, Vlad!

It never fails. Everywhere we go, Ukraine follows us.

We had the sweetest, kindest waiter tonight (who even let us switch tables) for dinner. His name was Vlad, and his accent gave him away.

When we told him about our connection to Ukraine, all he could say was 'thank you'. He knew full-well that our Carter boy would have no future in Ukraine. And we told him about his future here.

"He's going to school!"
"Really?"
"He plays baseball!"
"No!"
"He couldn't talk when we met him. Now he can."
"Oh my!"

His hairs stood on end (I know this, because he told us). His eyes filled with tears.

"Thank you."

No, Vlad, thank YOU. Over our awesome dinner (Apple bacon pork chops at Coopers Corner are amazing) we talked about our sweet boy and were reminded of how far he has come. Our little gift, growing and changing before our eyes.

This photo showed up in our email inbox 5 months before meeting Carter.
My, my. How he has changed. 



Be blessed, Vlad.

++++++++

I left him our blog, and I hope he visits. Vlad - if you're here, click '2011' over on the left. And then click 'October' to start reading.

And you, dear reader - if you've never read Carter's story and have a few hours to kill, check it out.

One Thing I Know For Sure: Slava Ukraini.

Tuesday, July 01, 2014

Life as a Twenty-Something.

Raise your hand if you're 30 or older.

Raise your hand if you cried a little when you met 30.

Okay.  Good.

I'm turning 30 in September...but this post is not about me.


Someone else is turning 30 on Saturday :)

Someone who told me many months ago, when I was lamenting about the big 3-0, that "Thirty is no big deal! I don't know why you're even talking about it!".

Someone who is now wondering how it's even possible that 30 is at his doorstep, wondering how it's even possible that the previous decade went by in a blink, wondering how he can slow down the next decade so that 40 is not ringing the doorbell in what seems like 3.7 seconds.

Since the last decade went by in a flash, let's recap.

Here we are, cute, perky, just about to enter our 20's.  And I'm certain that we were so relieved to finally be a twenty-something and not a teenager.  Because that's so lame.



And now we're engaged, and it seems like life can't get much better.


Then the wedding of our dreams - completely perfect in every way.


Time to add to the fam! Let's get a little sassy & wild Springer and name him Moses.  Four years later, he'll break our hearts into a million pieces.  And we'll wonder if we can ever love a furry friend again.


You graduated after several years of persistence and dedication.  I would have given up.  Well, I did.


Time to add to the fam, again! Let's add a little sassy, wild Ukrainian and name him Carter Benjamin.


Our world stops.
I think our hearts beat for the very first time.
We are parents to the most precious boy.


We do fun stuff.  We go fun places.  We experience new things.  All done hand in hand.

Well, except this. You mostly do this by yourself :)


We figure out this family thing, and for every moment of hurt and error there are 10 moments of joy and excitement.


You continue to be silly, always knowing just how to make me laugh.
{Unless I say "Jake - you're being annoying - knock it off!" - sometimes I'm right about this.  Sometimes not.}


You are the best daddy to this little firecracker.  He loves you so, and the whole world knows it.  You are his favorite person, I'm sure.  And nothing thrills me more.


You love lots of people.  You love lots of kids.  This kid is your birthday buddy :)
{Happy Birthday on Saturday, Anna! We love you!}


You do crazy things.  Sometimes people don't understand you.  They don't see your heart or know your motive.  Sometimes, they just don't get you.  But I do.  And sometimes, we'll just need chalk it up to 'haters gonna hate'.  Fo sho.


We finally made the move to the town we love.  Isn't it great here?  What an awesome place to raise a little Gibson family. {It will be even better when we have grass and a dry yard.  Looking for an excavator in the Valley? I'll tell you who not to use.}


Our twenties.  Gone in a blink.

Well, yours are gone.  I've still got a good 3 months.

:)

The twenties were good, babe.  Hard stuff?  Yep.  Questions, left unanswered?  Sure.  Wishing & wondering?  Of course.  But look how good.

Here's to the next decade.  Our thirties.
Let's not dread it, but walk into it with joy & excitement.


Let's rock this decade.
It's what we do.

Love you.

One Thing I Know For Sure: "Thirty is an attitude. It says you know what you're doing and you've got what it takes to get where you're going. The fact is, you've never been better or smarter or more ready for adventures than you are right now.  So welcome to prime time."


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