Monday, July 16, 2007

Summer 2007

Hello everyone!

The Cunningham's have been busy this summer. We have been in full "Summer Swing" since the middle of May. Katy started off taking the boys on a nice long road trip to meet their new cousin Burke. Mary & Ron are living in Boone, NC & Burke joined us back on march 12th.
We all wanted to get up to see our new cousin but work was crazy for me, so Katy took all 3 of the boys on a road trip! Her parents followed them up & they all had a real nice visit. The boys got to do a little mountain & boulder climbing with Uncle Ron & we have some incredible pictures of a very beautiful part of the country. Burke seems to be a natural climber & appears to have logged many hours already. Of course, everyone enjoyed spending time with Mary & Burke the most. On the way home I was able to meet up with Katy & The boys on Hilton Head Island for memorial Day Weekend. We are only about an 6hr drive from Hilton Head so it was a perfect place & we had a really nice time up there. We rented a condo right on the ocean & basically just did the beach thing. The boys enjoyed the Atlantic Surf as they are used to the much calmer Gulf of Mexico & the built in entertainment allowed Katy & I to relax a bit. Then it was back to the grind for me... But I am enjoying every second. In early June my sister Tara & her fiance Adam came down to visit & we got a chance to spend some time together. We enjoyed the beach & he was able to spend a lot of time with the boys. With his family around him, Adam surprised Tara on Passover this year with an engagement ring! We are all so happy for both of them & can't wait for the wedding in November. Since A+Ts visit, Katy has kept the boys busy with a combo of friends, grandparents & various camps at the preschool & YMCA. The Ryan's (Grandma & Grandad) are full timers down here in (Paradise) Florida and have already settled in nicely. My Mom & Dad (Nan & Pop) have been down here since the middle of June, so it's been a lot of fun to see the grndparents all enjoying (or at least putting up with) the kids. We have been doing a lot together, especially on weekends & it has been real nice. I do think I have mentioned once or twice that it does get kinda hot down here thru the summer months. This is the worst stretch thru the end of July & early August until they get back to school. But with the AC & a few thousand spiderman ice pops, we will make it thru the next month. Kyle will be heading into second grade, Sean wil be joining him on the bus this year as he will be in Kindergarten at Cypress Woods, & Ryan will be in 5 days a week pre school at Young Days (They are honestly all excited!). But, the boys will not be the only one's from Clan Cunningham headed back to school this year at the end of August... Katy has taken a job teaching the 2 day a week 2yr old pre school class at Young Days. All 3 of the boys have had great experiences there, so It is a wonderful & special place for us as & Katy is really looking forward to being part of the staff. So all is well down here in the land of the sun... let us know if your gonna be down this way. Big Tony Tedesco stopped in for the world famous Tampa Bay July 4th festivities... we watched the single A Yankees beat up on the single A Phillies & then enjoyed a little BBQ at the house & a super crazy sparkler show out front on the 4th.

Unfortunately, the wait for our baby girl continues to grow... a combination of the surge in applications & a slowdown in the matching process has delayed things. Our application was received by the Chinese gvt on 5/30/06 & we were anticipating traveling to finalize the adoption by this time. However, our adoption agency & all the talk we see from the various Internet groups now indicates we should expect our "referral" somewhere around the summer/fall of 2008. It is a very complicated process & the actual time could speed up or lengthen based on many details. I would be happy to go into it if anyone wants to e-mail me.

We are all getting excited about Aunt Tara's wedding coming up in November. Her & Adam will be getting married on the beach in Aruba, the whole clan will be flying down (Ryan's 1st flight). We are starting to think about a trip up North next summer... we are thinking about renting a beach house somewhere up there close enough to visit... I will let everyone know if it happens.



Until then... Later days from the Cunningham Clan (Gene, Katy, Kyle, Sean, Ryan & Bailey too!)