Manchester Admission's Reunion at Maria's Wedding

I wanted to share some pictures with you that my friend Jolane took at Maria's wedding. Maria and Chris were co-workers when he worked at Manchester. It was a lot of fun seeing all of the Manchester people again!

We went to the wedding with Adam and when we went to drive to the reception, Adam's car did not start. Chris asked some people that attended the wedding to jump us. They tried. Nothing happened. So, I hitched a ride to the reception with the people that tried jumping us. I am glad that the the random people that I rode with didn't mind. They were really nice. Once I arrived, I asked Jolane if she could take me back and pick up Adam and Chris. On the way, we stopped and picked up a battery. Luckily, that is all it needed!

When we arrived to the reception, they were doing the toasts. Since we were about an hour late, the MC group took care of us and filled our plates! The food was great, but my favorite part was the favors...DeBrands chocolates. YUM!

Jill & Chris


Jolane & Sarah


Maria - the beautiful bride

The Manchester Group.

A really close picture of us.

Lauren & Sarah

Today Chris and I went to church and then decided to take out the bushes on the side of our house. We are tired and sore. Tomorrow we are going to Terre Haute to a graduation open house. We are excited to be with Chris's side of the family.

The UPS Man!!!

Sometimes I really enjoy chilly, overcast days. Today was one of those days and due to the Memorial holiday, I was able to stay home from work and enjoy the comfort of my own home in my pajamas until noon. I worked on my master’s class in the morning. I actually talked to my professor using Skype (an Internet phone); however, I couldn’t find out how to hook up a microphone to our computer so he talked and I typed. Anyways, the point of the story is that we might be able to use Skype while we are in Ethiopia. You can talk via computers for free. If that doesn’t work, you can call using Skype to a land line for only 2 cents per minute. Not bad!

Chris worked half a day and I thought we would have twice baked potatoes. I think I got a little potato happy. I ended up wrapping 12 potatoes. What was I thinking? I guess I was thinking that we were hungry. Needless to say, I am trying to think of how I can use our excess potatoes.

This afternoon I went to get my hair cut. For the last 8 years I have been jumping to all different kids of places, but I was able to go back to the place that I went growing up. I love it when people do my hair. I was able to get a stylish trend. I think she cut 7 inches off. It was a much needed change.

Around 4:15 this afternoon our doorbell rang. It was the UPS man!!! I’ve haven’t been that excited about seeing the brown truck in our driveway for a long time. He dropped off the documents we were waiting on for our dossier. At 4:20 we were in the car headed to the bank to get a money order for the Ethiopian Embassy and on our way to the post office. We went to the Greentown Post Office and it closed at 4:30. That didn’t stop us! We headed straight to Kokomo and we sent our dossier to the courier in Washington DC. From Washington, it will go to North Carolina and then to Ethiopia. What a great start to a long weekend!




To celebrate, we decided to go to Louie’s Coney Island to get Coney dogs and chili cheese fries. Yum! Our last celebration stop was to DQ for some ice cream to finish off the evening.



And the waiting officially begins...

FBI...fingerprints

On Sunday, the Ponsler family got together at PF Changs to celebrate Gerry’s retirement. She thought it was just a get together because we were not able to be together for Mother’s day. Boy was she surprised! She has been a school nurse for 26 years and she is retiring. She currently works at Kokomo High School. I think she will miss the kids, but it will be a lot less stress. She is excited to do her own thing and help us out later on this year! Congratulations, Gerry! We really hope that you enjoy your retirement.

This week has been a great adoption week! We received word on Wednesday from our agency that our dossier is ready to go! We will be sending it to Washington DC either Friday or Saturday. We are waiting on a couple of documents from CWA so we can include them with the rest of our documents.

We can tell we are getting closer - take a look at our paper...notice the right hand side. Almost all of the dates are filled in! YAY!

Today, I was able to work remotely which helped me out a bunch! It also helped us save a bit on gas. Gas is currently $3.99 per gallon. I consider this a bit ridiculous. Also, Chris and I were able to ride together which made it nice. We had to go to the USCIS office in Indianapolis. Our appointment was at 10:00. We arrived around 9:45 and they took us back right away. We both thought we would have to wait awhile because there were a lot of people in the waiting area. We both went back at the same time. I get called first and the lady starts doing my fingerprints... People, I have the worst fingerprints ever. The lady asked me if I was a doctor or nurse because my fingerprints are not normal. They look like a 100 year old hand. They are all cracked and have lines going down instead of a circular pattern. I look over at Chris’s and his are PERFECT. What is up with that? He works outside more than I do. Who knows? She said that the fingerprints will go to the FBI. I have a 50/50 chance that I will have to go back and do it again. If nothing changes, I guess they will let me pass. At least I pray that they do! We should find out in the next couple of weeks…no news is good news.

I have to say, the biometrics was pretty cool. They scanned all four of our fingers at once for each hand and then scanned each one individually. They used a cloth and water to dampen the fingertips before doing the electronic scan. It was interesting. It took about 5 minutes to complete.

We have a long weekend so I am excited! I plan on working on my class and homework tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be so nice. This makes me excited! We have a lot of projects that we can work on...

Patience...

This week, God taught me patience. I now understand that we are at the point in the adoption process that we can no longer control the timing and it is in God’s hands. On Friday afternoon, Chris was able to stop by the Bethany office and pick up our home study! This morning I was able to go to the post office and send our dossier (all our documents for our adoption) to Christian World Adoption for our case manager to review. When we hear back from her and if everything is okay, we will send our documents to a courier in Washington DC. I also sent our home study to the US Citizenship and Immigration Office in Indianapolis. This upcoming Thursday, we will be going to the USCIS office to get our fingerprints. In order to adopt, we will have to receive approval from the government. This is completed after they review our home study, our petition and after we get our fingerprints. We will receive the approval from the government by receiving the I-171H form. Supposedly, it will take 6-8 weeks. All we can do is wait…and the waiting begins.

On Thursday, Chris and I went over to my grandpa’s house and Chris helped him with his Direct TV. I was supposed to watch my parent’s dog, Dillon, because my dad is in Afghanistan and my mother is in Milwaukee. Well, we made plans for Friday, so my grandpa helped us out with dog duty. I think he enjoys the company! Dillon is a pretty good dog.



On Friday, the “Second Six” got together for an evening of fun. We decided to call ourselves the “Second Six” because the “Original Six” included the boys that would hang out in high school (Maple, Foland, Summers, Sydrock, G Funk, & Ponz); however, the group hasn’t been together for quite some time. We played old school Mario (Kdub remembers EVERY trick), had pizza, enjoyed a fire with smores and had a great time catching up. Greg and Cari will soon be parents to Elliot Rose. They seem super excited and will be awesome parents soon!







Today we helped Chris’s mom in the yard. We helped her plant some shrubs and spread lots of mulch. We came home and put mulch all around our trees in the front. I have to say, it looks so much better.

Recently, I have been trying new recipes in the kitchen. It makes cooking so much more fun! I have been a huge fan of the Kraft recipes. They are easy and practical. I also like the fact that it usually serves four so that means leftovers for weekday lunches. The little things that make me happy…

Keeping Up with the Ponslers...

We have been really busy lately! We are actually looking forward to some downtime in the near future. This past weekend we had the opportunity to attend poll day for the Indianapolis 500.



We met up with my college roommate and good friend, Libby. It was great to see her and catch up on what has been going on with her the past few months. She just finished tax season and it sounds like she is enjoying her free time.



Manchester went in with several other Indiana colleges and had a tent for the Alumni on Saturday. Although we didn’t really know many people that attended the event, it was a lot of fun. We were able to talk to the director of alumni relations, Gary Montel aka Clyde and his wife Dee. It has been a long time since we talked with them, so it was fun to catch up. In the morning, we were able to go into the garage area and get several autographs of some of the drivers. The weather was beautiful on Saturday. We had a great time!

Chris getting Rick Mears autograph.

Sarah Fisher catching a ride out to the track.

The lady that says, "Ladies and gentelmen, start your engines..."

The typical picture of us.

We stood on the bleachers and watched the cars go down Gasoline Alley. It was entertaining watching the people in the yellow shirts.

A pimped out golf cart. I want one!

In the afternoon, we left Indy and headed for Michigan to visit my brother and his family. We really enjoy hanging out with them. On Saturday night, we made our own sushi. It was tasty! On Sunday, our nephew Eli was baptized at church. It was a neat moment and I am excited to watch him grow throughout the years. He is such a good baby. We also had a lot of fun with our nephews, Nathan and Aaron. Both of the boys are developing their personalities and it is fun to hang out with them.

On the adoption front, our agency has approved our home study! We are excited to continue forward; however, we are realizing that our timing has been aggressive. I think when we are in charge of things, we tend to get it done real fast; however, when it is in the hands of others, we simply have to wait. Oh the waiting begins. We have been guessing the timing based on the average, but now we are leaving it up to God. His timing is always perfect. He has a plan and all we have to do is wait. So for now, we really don’t know when things will happen, but when they do, it will be perfect!

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Still Waiting...

Unfortunately, I do not have super exciting adoption news yet. We are still waiting on the home study for our dossier. As soon as we receive it, I think it will go fast. Hopefully we will hear from someone tomorrow.

This past weekend, we went to the Ethiopian restaurant in Indianapolis with the Ponsler side of the family. I was a little apprehensive because I wasn't sure if they would enjoy the food. It turned out to be a hit! I think everybody had a great time and enjoyed the new experience. I think I could get used to always eating with my hands. It might look a little awkward at times. Maybe I will try to start a new trend. Maybe not.

On Saturday, Chris and I participated in the 5K which is apart of the mini marathon race in Indianapolis. We also met up with Syd and Katie. Syd ran the mini in one hour and twenty three minutes (AMAZING) and Katie ran the 5K with us (or should I say with Chris). Chris finished it with 10:36 per mile and I finished with 12:05 per mile.

Our nephew, Clayton, was headed to prom on Saturday. I must tell you that when Chris and I met, he was 5 years old! Where has the time gone? He looked adorable and it sounded like he had a great time!

We were exhausted so we came home and went to bed.

On Sunday, several of us threw a baby shower for my cousin Cari. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so as soon as I get the pictures I will be sure to post them. It was fun seeing the family and some high school friends again.