HELLO everyone! We are alive, this I promise. Elena is doing GREAT and we are having more fun than ever with her. She is growing so quickly and everyday is something new. So much has happened since the last time I posted. We did the trick-or-treat thing, celebrated a wonderful Thanksgiving with our families and are now preparing for Christmas. For those of you who know me well, know that I'm not a fan of Halloween; however, we had a great time dressing her up and visiting neighbors. We are so excited for Christmas! Elena obviously won't understand any of it this year, let alone understanding why we celebrate this time of year, but we look forward to giving her some fun gifts for now. Hopefully by next year she will know who Baby Jesus is.

Elena continues to blossom! She is waving now, doing great with her straw cups, and is even "eating" with a spoon. The spoon thing gets a little ugly sometimes, but we have to start somewhere! School is going well for her; still better than I'm doing. She's walking, but not on her own yet. She pulls herself up on EVERYTHING and pushes her push toys around, but still can't keep her own balance. We think it should be soon!

Sean and I are doing well! Work is still a bit of a drag for me and has become overwhelming again. I do not work late, but I have been working from home every night after Elena goes to bed. I still miss Elena every single day. I can't wait until the new year and I have some vacation days again! I haven't taken a day off since I was off with her this summer. Sean continues to do an awesome job with Elena! He takes over after I leave for work in the morning by changing the poopy diaper after breakfast, dressing her, and taking her to school. He picks her up after work too. It's their time together. She loves him soooo much and gets so excited when she sees him!

We have had our last social worker visit, which is great! We will miss our social worker very much though. She is such an incredible person. She's not far away though and we plan to visit now and again.

Things continue to evolve in Guatemala and with the adoption process and we continue to pray for all of those families still in process. We pray that the babies come home soon!

Well, pictures say a thousand words, so I'll wrap it up. MERRY CHRISTMAS & GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU!!!!