OK, here it is

I gol darn went and done it - I went out and bought a new camera to add to my enormouse array of cameras...it's more than a hobby - it's a lifetime passion! So here's the camera that I chose...its a JVC mini DV - very low priced (didn't want to blow my airfare budget at this point) but I really needed something small and this baby is only a lb! I can hang it around my neck! How cool is that :) So instead of squishing it in my backpack and taping the darkness inside maybe I will actually be able to get some actual video footage this time! Woo Hooo!

I desperately need some advice

I beg of you folks out in blog land - PLEASE come out of lurkdome and give me some advice on what to do about buying a new camcorder. Our current one is a 2000 model Sony 8mm and it used to be able to be downloaded onto our computer for video editing but I used that feature once during the entire time I've owned it and somewhere in the midst of our many moves and computer upgrades we've lost the software to make it work on an editing program. So all those years of the kids growing up are lost unless I can find a program that can edit them onto DVD...

Our newest dilemma is what camera to upgrade to for our trip to China. I would like to have a professional do the video but I would also like to be able to edit and burn my own DVDs of family events as well. What kind of camera has all the features I need to take good video, edit it on my computer for DVD and still be easy to use?

I am really researching the JVC Everio Mig77 and the Sony 100 of similar features. The prices are way up there and we can not order them online so I am thinking of buying a simple mini DV camera instead and waiting until the prices go down on the JVC model before I take the plunge on a hard drive camera.

What should I do? Please tell me what camcorder you use and the features you love and hate most about it. I'm forever in your debt fellow DIY photo editors. Thank you with every megapixel of my heart :)

It's the final countdown!!!

Wooo Hoo!!! We hit our two year anniversary of being in Germany yesterday!!!! Which means that we will be out of here in less than 365 days!!!! Let the countdown begin! Ok, I started the countdown months ago :) on our family website. I am just a tiny bit excited to go someplace WARM and SUNNY. Germany is great, it's a beautiful place to visit - which of course no one would know because no one has visited us :( It is also very lonely here and no one (in the military community)really takes the time to get to know each other or be there for each other.

Overall, It's been a great assignment and we've made lifetime friendships here. We were able to be closer to Mike and Sarah and we've seen some very interesting places. I'm going to miss the feeling of security here and the feeling that we live in a peaceful world. I may even miss driving 80-90 mph and being passed like I'm sitting still. (hmmmm...hope I don't get too many speeding tickets when we go back) But I am ready to go home.

It's a mite bit chillin this month

We are having a cold cold August this year. We have had several days when we light a fire in the wood stove and wear sweats...brrr! So much for summer - the only warm days were in July and then it was miserably hot...so I guess there is not a zone where you can actually enjoy the wonders of summer here. Sorry to vent but this weather is very depressing and it usually doesn't start getting cold this early in the year....so I'm really ready for a sunny vacation about now and winter is far from even beginning.

Where have we been????

I know it's been a while since I posted an update. We've been in this whole different world that doesn't quite seem real but it has a whole different feel to it that is undescribable. Sometimes it seems the month will never end and then at times it seems there is so much to do to prepare to leave for China that time needs to slow down...

Sarah came for a visit last week and it was great having her here. I will post some photos of that soon - right now I have to get ready for work :( UGH! Not a happy place - I miss my office! Good thing it's only for a month but after 2 weeks I'm already worn down. Learing a new job at this critical place in my life has not been easy. So many changes that I am finding it hard to keep up with and some of the computer programs are not working so that makes things 10x harder...but of course we must to the same amount of work in the same amount of time with very few people...

Ok, now I really have to go. I hope everyone is doing well! Love to hear from you sometime :)
Hugs,
Kim

Stuck in hibernation mode...

That is what my computer said when I tried booting it up this morning and I that is pretty much my sentiments exactly. Today it is so COLD. We are wearing our winter sweats and cuddling under blankets to keep from lighting a fire. The one month of summer was pretty extreme but it was nice while it lasted. It went from being cold in June, HOT in Jul, to chilly and rainy in Aug! Great weather!!!! NOT :P I am ready for a REAL summer that lasts and lasts. The one hot month with no air conditioning is not what summer is all about.

I miss:
Summer showers and skipping through puddles

Ice cream every day

watching water bead up on a glass of ice cold sweet tea

the taste of ice cold sweet tea on a hot sultry afternoon

crickets chirping, toads croaking

walking barefoot

sitting in a sunbeam and letting the warmth of the sun melt away my worries

and oh so much more....the dark gloomy weather is giving me a migraine so I can't blog very long today. Hope that you are having a happy sunshine day where ever you may be! :)

What are YOUR favorite summertime activities/memories??? Please do tell!

*On a more positive note - Sarah just arrived for a one week visit!!! Our first family to visit us in our new home :) Yay!!!!

Jaiden

There is so much to love about Jaiden...every day I discover something new. Just today I noticed how her hair has a tendency to curl at the ends. I wonder if she has naturally wavy hair? I've always been a sucker for curls!

Shopping Day

Jared and I had a fun afternoon of shopping Saturday. Somehow Jared wound up with about 30 pairs of new socks...they were only .49 euro and I went a little crazy! Hey, the boy likes his socks! Not the white cotton ones, oh no! They are too loose - he prefers the tight clingy nylon socks. He also likes to button his shirts all the way up. Where he gets this is beyond me...

We found some cute girlie outfits too and started working on preparing a care package. Now that we have an idea of what Jaiden's size will be at the time we bring her home we can start formulating her wardrobe. The entire wardrobe we've been working on is all wrong - 18 mo and up! So Jaiden will have lots of cute clothes when she reaches toddler stage...but right now she's got diapers and that is about it.

*A note about shopping on Saturday in Germany - stores are only open from about 0900 - 2 pm on SATURDAY. I had forgotten to get a gift bag so we went to the walkplatz later in the afternoon and everything was closed! I couldn't believe it!!! They are only open 0900-6pm during the week too so I will have to hurry if I want to find any stores open around here....I don't get home from work until around 5pm.

Life is Good!

We are so blessed and very in love with our new daughter. She is the cutest thing! We can't wait to meet her and bring her home in September. I know just by looking at her that she is very healthy and quite spoiled already so she must be getting awesome care by her Foster Mom. I know it will be hard on her to say goodbye and I wish there were some way to repay her for taking such wonderful care of our girl. I will be forever indebted to her for being such a loving and kindhearted person and giving such selfless dedication to this child.

The Referral Call!!!

We were about as stressed as we could possibly be so after checking all the boards and not seeing any info, Scott called our agency - they still had not heard any news. They said they would call their Agency and get back to us....so we decided to not wait by the phone biting our nubs off - fingernails are way past gone - so we took a stroll to the Chinese restaurant down the street. About the time our dinner was served Cody calls us on the cell phone...our agency just called and they have "Good News"!!! So we continue to eat...after all this wait do we really think they have a referral ready??? Anticipation builds and eating is fruitless - the food has no taste any more. We book it out of there and practically run most of the way home. Scott calls the agency back - no answer! He calls again - whew! They pick up! We have a daughter!!! Her stats:
Name: Tong Min Se
Born: 12/20/05
Jiangxi Province
We are already so in love!!! We should get photos tommorrow.

Oh, and our fortunes:
Scott - your friend needs attention (???)
Jared - You'll stay a very healthy person (so true - he LOVES veggies)
Kim - No one will fight against your luck

Hangin...by a very thin read thread

It is August and we off for another fun day in GI land. Hoping that today is the day and we will maybe hear something this afternoon...