They Are Home :)

Hello Again,

I am pleased to say that after much delay Tiff, Dan and our HANDSOME grandson Petros are home safe and sound. Our prayers have been answered. Their flight from Washington, DC was overbooked and they had to take a later one and did not arrive in Portland until 11:42 pm last evening. They were all very tired.

We are going to go over for lunch today to meet Petros when he is more awake. He did manage a smile last night as he was getting into their car and gave his Grammy (me) and his Nana (Cheryl, Dan's mother) a kiss and we were both just as thrilled as thrilled can be. :) :)

Gotta go for now and I'm sure there will be more later.

Until next time....

Mary

What A Beautiful Day!!

Okay, so today is the day that we have all been waiting for. Tiff, Dan and Petros fly in this evening at 6:45 and we are all anxiously awaiting. We will meet them at the airport. This is the hard part, I just do not know what to do with myself for these last few hours. I am trying to keep myself busy with small chores around Tiff and Dan's house. Maggie is pacing around the house - I am sure that she knows that something is going on.

Well in all of the confusion last week I forgot to post the photos that I shot of Sara's little birthday get together that we had at Tiff and Dan's house on July 23rd. It was just the family and we got together for dinner. It was Sara's "rainbow" birthday. She turned 24 on the 24th.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARA

Okay, I will go back to cleaning and I want to make a Welcome Home poster to take to the airport. I will take pictures and post them so be sure and check tomorrow. I am so excited!!!!! :)

Until next time....

Mary

There Really IS No Place Like Home

Hello,
Well I am back in Maine now and enjoying a big cup of coffee (couldn't find the coffee filters so I had to use a paper towel - It worked!) at Tiff and Dan's house right now with Maggie their dog and Tasha our cat, Selah and Biggie their cats and Andy our guinea pig and believe it or not it is perfectly quiet. I am enjoying every moment of this! :) I will take the Maggs for a walk very soon though before we get some predicted rain.

I got back from Florida yesterday. My stepfather is still holding on but is very sick. He is in hospice care at JFK Memorial Hospital in Atlantis, a city right next to West Palm Beach, FL. He was aware that my sisters and I flew down and was grateful and I am thankful for that. I feel that this means more than to everyone involved, including him, than if we went after he passed.

Tiff and Dan are having fun with their son in Ethiopia and they will be home tomorrow evening at 6:45. We are all so excited to meet Petros. From what Tiff and Dan have emailed to us he is a very sweet little boy and he loves jamming to the ipod. :) Can you just imagine how cute that must be?! Apparently Tiff and Dan have taken videos and I can hardly wait to see each and every one of them.

Sara, Robby, and Allie came to dinner last night and it was a calzone night. I think that Allie grew in the short time that I was away and became more animated. She was quite entertaining last evening. What a little cutie pie!

Well, time to take the Magpie for a walk, then clean the house.

Have a great day.

Until next time....

Mary

Special Day

Hello again,

In my earlier post I did not even realize the date and I neglected to say happy birthday to my stepmother so....

Happy Birthday Lorraine - I love you :)

I hope that your day was WONDERFUL!

Until next time....

Mary

Everchanging Plans

Hello
We have heard that Tiff and Dan have arrived safely in Ethiopia (big sigh of relief.) :) One more day before they meet their precious son. I am so happy for them.

I have arrived safely in Florida - Yes that is right - Florida! My stepfather is gravely ill and my sisters and I have all flown down. Not a trip that I look forward to. :(

Mike is at Tiff and Dan's with our cat and guinea pig and Maggie and the two cats. I love you Mike, you are the man!

Okay, gotta go, we are heading out to the hospital now.

Until next time....

Mary.

Ethiopia Bound

The departure date - July 25, 2008....

....And Tiff and Dan will be Ethiopia Bound and they will meet little Bennett Petros Bekele Engelhardt. Oh how very exciting and we are all so very happy for both Tiff and Dan and of course Bennett. All three are truly blessed.

We can now share photos that have been sent to Tiff and Dan.


Is he not just the cutest little boy ever?! Who can resist that smile? I know that I won't be able to. :) I am so anxious to give him a hug and kiss.

Mike and I will be staying at Tiff and Dan's house while they are in Ethiopia. Maggie would be so lonely if we were not there not to mention that she needs food and water and exercise.

Safe and Happy journey to Tiff, Dan and Bennett. We will all be anxiously awaiting your arrival back to Maine on August 02,2008.

Until next time....

Mary

Hello July.........

Good Sunday Morning -

First of all let me start by saying Happy Birthday to my Mom. Happy Birthday Mom. I love you.

We had another sleep over with our four legged granddaughter on Friday night (that would be our Maggie.) She was a very good girl. She and Tasha get along better and better each time Maggie comes by. Basically Tasha just ignores Maggie and Maggie is okay with that. Maggie sure does love to play frisbee and I do believe that she may be the Frisbee Queen. She may have only missed a few times and I think that those misses may have been due to bad throws. I will say, though, she IS a bed hog!! I woke up once all curled up in the upper corner of the bed and wondering why so I sat up and there is the Magpie laying diagonally all stretched out taking up more than her share of the bed. All I could do was chuckle because she was just so cute.


She is not as mean as she looks in the above picture. I just snapped it before she smiled. :)

On Saturday morning I got up and went to pick up our other granddaughter, Allie. This was the first time that she was away from Sara. Maggie did very well with Allie, but I do think that she was a bit jealous, especially when Tiff and Dan came and when they were holding Allie and cooing and talking to her.

Allie did very well here with her Grammy and Grampy on her very first "alone" visit. She was in a very good mood and smiling all day long. Of course Grammy had to take many pictures (a total of 68 I believe) of all of those smiles. She spit up a bit on her pretty dress and of course that was an invitation for Grammy and Auntie Tiff to give her a bath. I got to do the actual bath and Auntie Tiff did the drying off and putting the nice smelling lotion on her and the nice clean outfit, then the warm bottle that she has been, oh so patiently, waiting for. Sara & Robby came at 6:30 or so to retrieve their baby daughter and not a moment too soon for them I'm sure. I handed her to Sara and Sara's eyes lit right up like only a mother's could. :) Then of course you see a daddy's eyes light up when Sara hands her to Robby.


I do wish that I could be there to see Tiff and Dan's eyes light up the first time that they see Bennett, but I know that I will be there when they step off the plane and Tiff and Dan watch both sets of grandparents lay eyes on this special boy for the first time. They will be able to watch that special moment and embrace that happiness. How special that is. I can hardly wait for that joyous moment. :)

This morning Mike was up and out the door off on " The Mistress " for a Sunday morning ride. He likes to go before the traffic gets too bad. He does not like to be on the road when it is busy. He is heading up North on Tuesday on " The Mistress " and I am going to be a nervous wreck. Going to see The Folks and ride with Norman.

I will close by asking for prayers for my stepfather who has been recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Bone Cancer. We are praying for you Gary.

Until next time.......

Mary