Old friends, new friends and a Doctor Friend!

It has been SO busy around here as the repairing/renovating of my parents' house has everything "not settled"... things are almost done, but we managed to squeeze in a bit more craziness. This post is long...with lots of pictures and words.

Our friends Greg and Christi and their daughter Ella came to visit us in Florida this past weekend. The last time we saw them was on a trip to Bangkok when I was about half-way through my pregnancy with Isaac and Christi was newly pregnant with Ella. It was great to meet up with them here! We managed a trip to Downtown Disney and to Universal Studios even in the short time we had together.The Universal tickets must get special mention as Greg's mom gave him the tickets before he came down. They had had them for awhile... like since 1999 awhile. We took them to the ticket counter on the chance they'd still work... they were supposed to be 2-day park-hopper type tickets, but since they were so old (and probably wouldn't work with the turnstile machines they had no-doubt updated since the late 90's) the manager gave us new 1 day park passes. Still..FREE! It was fun, but REALLY hot! Christi is (again!) newly pregnant so we did what we could and enjoyed the company. Ella is almost 2 so it was neat seeing Isaac with a child his age. All our friends near us have either 1 year olds or 3 year olds. We talked about maybe taking a trip to Universal Studios in Singapore when/if we're ever back in Asia together...except when neither Christi or I are pregnant so we can take in all the rides!

At Downtown Disney we ate at the T-Rex restaurant. We got to sit in the Ice Cave section again! The ice changes from blue to pink. It seriously is one of the best themed restaurants ever...and the food was yummy again this time!
On Friday my BFF (or Beefa as I so lovingly call her), Cara, graduated from Dental School at the University of Florida. She's a doctor! She hasn't demanded that I address her as Dr. Beefa, but I would out of love and respect if she asked:) She is definitely one of the only people I would be willing to drive 6 hours for a 2 hour event!I also got to give her my oh-so special gift that I bought for her over a year ago. Cara is what I would describe as a classy gal. You will find in her closet dresses from Ann Taylor, shoes in a tiny size 5 that are way adorable, and treasured pieces like her Grandmother's pearls in her jewelry box. Borneo is known to be a great place to find pearls. Fresh water, salt water, farm-raised, natural, white, pink, purple, blue, black... you name it, they've got it. (for great prices too!) I had a friend help me get a hand-picked set of pink pearls (as in, I told the lady what size and color and length I wanted and she picked individual pearls and made the jewelry herself) in a necklace, bracelet, and earrings from the pearl market in Sabah, Malaysia. It's so Cara. I am so proud of her for working so hard and was so happy to give her such a "Cara" gift!Greg and Christi took Isaac for the day while we went to Gainesville... Isaac and Ella are buddies now for sure! Thanks guys!Last but not least... we met new friends... Jeremy and Leslie. No pictures, just the link. Sorry. They are starting the adoption process and we met them on Saturday. We took Isaac and Isaiah to our adoption agency's "Domestic Adoption Class" and told the couples there about our adoption journey. Jeremy and Leslie (turns out) are friends of friends and live not-so-far from Anthony's family in Jacksonville. We only met them briefly, but have emailed and we are so thrilled at what God is doing in their precious family through adoption!