The Adventures of Twiggy Bear: California, Here We Come

Actually, Mama B and I are already here.  Mama B drove us all the way to northern California by herself.  She hasn't done that in 20 years.  The church she grew up in is celebrating their 35th Anniversary on Sunday.  My PawPaw pastored the church for many years so Mama B, Grammy, PawPaw and I will drive another 4 hours tomorrow to attend the service.  Mama B is pretty excited.

Here are some pictures from our drive down yesterday:

This is at a nine mountain marker.  Mama counted 8 of the snow-capped mountains.

This is at a rest stop that has a 300 foot cliff.  I was shaking in my boots sweatshirt when Mama looked over the edge.

Of course Mama B just had to get a photo in the rest area. What's with her and bathrooms?!

Anyway, Mama B did a good job driving and now we're here at Grammy and PawPaw's.  They live close to Mt. Lassen so there's lots of trees.

Mama B told me all about the things the big Twigs do when they visit G&P.  The first thing I wanted to do was swing on the tree swing.

Then I sneaked away while Grammy and PawPaw were showing Mama B some wild ginger.  I tried to chop some wood by myself...

and got sent to the woodshed! (can you find me?)

After that I was super dirty so I had to clean up in the old run-down outdoor shower.

Mama B is sad because Grammy and PawPaw have to sell their property and move into town.  Twiggy Four will miss out on all the memories the big Twigs have here, so I'm going to remember everything I did here to tell him.

Mama B and Grammy are going to town now to do some shopping and to visit Mama's sister.

The Adventures of Twiggy Bear: Roller Skating

Today I got to go roller skating with Twiggy Three's 1st grade class.  Twiggy Three was pretty good for his first time.  Mama B said he looked like a robot though.  He was tired at the end since he walked from school to the skating rink.

 

 The best part of the day was when I got to do the "YMCA".  Can you see Twiggy Three, Mama B and me?

Tomorrow I'm going on an adventure with just Mama B and me.  I don't know what it is, but Mama B says she hasn't done this in 20 years.  I wonder what it is?  I'm all packed but Mama B has to finish the laundry and do her packing.  I wish she'd hurry up!!!

The Adventures of Twiggy Bear

Boy, did I have a great first day out! I really liked being with Mama Branch all day today. I could get used to this. We took Twiggy Two and some of her friends from school to the Ft. Walla Walla Museum. They have all kinds of original pioneer homes and other buildings and lots of machines pulled by horses. Mama B really liked seeing original buildings and hearing the stories of the families who lived in them. She doesn't like fake stuff so she enjoyed touching "real" history.

Here I am on a water wagon.

Behind me in this picture are 33 mules that would all work together. We watched a movie that showed them all carefully turning corners so they wouldn't step on any wheat.

Twiggy Two and her friend took me into the jail. I was a little bit scared but Twiggy Two held me tight. Then they closed the door and I could only stick my nose through the food hole. Then I got really scared.

Those pioneers sure could fit a lot of stuff in their wagons. Not sure how they did it!

I didn't want to ride the side saddle since I'm a boy, but Mama B made me.

I begged Mama B to let me sit on the teeny-tiny little seat. She told me it wasn't really a seat, it was a foot rest for the stagecoach driver.

Before we left the museum to eat our sack lunches, Mama B had to stop by the little girls' room. There was no place to put me so this is what she did.

She made me turn around since that what little boys have to do when they're in the girls' bathroom.

I was tuckered out after my big morning so I got to take a nap in the car while the big kids ate their lunches. It was pouring down rain so we got to stop for hot chocolate on the way home.

Introducing...

Gotcha, didn't I?! You were expecting me to announce a referral. I sure wish I was. We thought we would have Twiggy Four home by now. It's hard to enter the summer months filled with family events without him. So a friend suggested to play a little game to help pass the time and to make it feel a little more like he's here.


So, without further ado, I introduce to you...


Twiggy Bear! This is a bear that Twiggy Three owned and I loved. Several months ago he was downsizing his stuffed animals and I retrieved Twiggy Bear from the donate pile. He's so soft and sweet that I just couldn't let him go. I decided to save him for Twiggy Four. The plan is to mail him overseas before we travel so Twiggy Four can smell our scent and hopefully begin the bonding process even before we hold him in our arms. I've had him next to my bed for awhile and sometimes I even sleep with him. The bigger Twigs tease me, but I don't let it bother me. I always tell them I have reasons for doing what I do.


So instead of reporting the adventures of a new son, I'll be bringing you "The Adventures Of Twiggy Bear" this summer. Tomorrow he goes on his first road trip as I drive Twiggy Two and some of her classmates on a field trip to Walla Walla, Washington. He'd better get used to car trips because we have a fun summer planned. I'll let you know how he does.

Win-Win

With the news of a referral possibly coming soon, we have decided to do a fundraiser to help cover our remaining costs. I will also be applying for some grants once we have a referral in hand.

I am really excited about the "Money Savings Card" you see below. It is an online savings card that offers cashback as well as up to 75% off purchases. There are 100's of retailers including Macy's, Target, I-Tunes and more. And the really neat thing is that it costs $10 and purchasers receive an instant credit of $10 in their account once they download the shopping wizard. That means it's essentially free!!! And if you know me, you know I love getting things for free! You can read more about it here: http://www.moneysavingscard.com/.
I'm not usually one to ask for money (ask my parents!), but this time I am asking people to purchase this card. It's a win-win for everyone involved. We make $8 for every card purchased.

If you're interested, please click on the "Chip In" button on the right sidebar and make sure to leave me a message with your mailing address so I can mail you your card. "Chip In" uses PayPal so it's secure.

It would also be great if you could share this with your church family and friends who might be interested.

Thanks so much for following our journey. Hopefully (prayerfully) we'll have news soon!

Mama Branch

P.S. In the unlikely event our adoption plans are cancelled, funds will be donated to friends of ours who are in a legal battle to retain their domestically adopted children.

Maybe news "soon"?

A couple of weeks ago, our agency emailed that referrals for waiting families might be coming soon. I was reminded to use the term "soon" loosely, as the concept and translation of the word don't always match up to what we think. However, two things give me hope. There are families traveling right now that sent their dossiers overseas last year just like we did. They received their referrals in January. Also, Twiggy Four's country had placed a hold on all infant applications and were supposedly focusing on waiting children. They recently opened the program back up for infants, so that encourages me that our waiting child referral should be processed soon. Oops, there's that word again. Sigh! I guess I'm not doing a very good job at using the term loosely. To be honest, I've begun checking email often during the day hoping for a message from our agency. I've done well up until now, but I have certainly been antsy recently.

Other than elbow surgery for me, family life is cruising along. The twigs all had birthdays recently so now we have a 13 year old, 10, and 7 year old. WooHoo! Mr. Branch and I also celebrated our 16 anniversary. Where has the time gone?!

I'm off right now to sign mortgage refinance papers. We received a phone call a few weeks ago from our mortgage company offering a lower rate as well as a rebate of about $2000. Can't say no to that when we have an adoption to pay for!!!

Mama Branch

Happy 4th Birthday, Twiggy Four

Today (or yesterday in his country) is Twiggy Four's 4th birthday. I had hoped to have news of if and when he might come home by last Christmas if not by his birthday, but here we are and there is nothing to tell. You might remember our first little boy we had our eyes on that we celebrated his 3rd birthday March 22nd. We had a cake and sang to him while we videotaped. And then we he was placed with another family. This time, I mentioned it to the kids in the van but otherwise didn't make a big deal out of it. At least outwardly. I'm trying so hard to not have us attach and get hurt again. Inwardly... well, that's another story. I'm afraid my heart is already gone and there's not much I can do about it. What makes it so difficult is just the not knowing if he's ours. With the girls, the waiting was hard, but once we had a picture and a referral, we knew they were ours. We just had to wait until we could go get them. And not to downplay the wait...it was incredibly difficult. This not knowing thing though is also incredibly difficult. I've always dreamed of giving a home to a little older boy who might never be adopted. And I've always wanted a little Asian boy. If we don't get this little boy, it's probably the end of the road for us in regards to international adoption, and that makes me sad. But even in the sadness, I know that it is for the best. We have prayed over and over again that God's will would be done and we know He always gives us His best. Even when we don't understand. We've had plenty of opportunity to learn that lesson, so once again we find ourselves trusting Him that He will only give us the absolute best. I read something recently that said something along the lines of if we didn't have to wait, we would miss out on the opportunity to see God work. We wouldn't need Him to do anything. Do I want that? Absolutely not! Therefore, I thank Him for the waiting because I know I will praise Him when His plan is completed.

All that said, is sure wouldn't hurt if anyone wants to pound on the gates of Heaven and ask for some action. "Ask and you will receive" comes to mind...

Thanks,

Kary