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!)

Christmas 2006

Hello from Tampa !

This is by far the oddest time of year to be a New York Native Floridian.
Not that you want to hear complaints about endless days of 78 & sunny, But...
Think about how strange it would feel to be stringing up Christmas lights in shorts & flip flops... You get so hot, you need to jump in the pool for a while...
It's very tough living down here this time of year.

Aside from that things are really going well for Clan Cunningham. My job is going great, I really enjoy all the people I am working with. Katy is doing fantastic, she is helping at the boys pre-school as a substitute teacher & at Kyle's elementary school as Class Mom. This has been a great year for her as the boys are old enough that she can just enjoy having fun with them. Another big part of our recent happiness is that Katy's parents have left Allendale, NJ & moved down here full time. They Built a really nice new place just about 10 minutes north of us. They are still unpacking a little (So are we), but have wasted no time getting busy in Tampa Bay. Mr Ryan is now Kyles private soccer coach & the assistant coach for Kyle's soccer team. Kyle is extremely proud of how much he is learning this year playing for the East Lake Arsonel. He is also doing really well in 1st grade & we are amazed at how quickly his focus in school has improved. Sean has some real big news since our last report... He is now riding a 2 wheeler !!! Thats right, a few weeks before his 5th B-day mom took off the training wheels & he hasn't looked back !!! It was not easy for him & he is very proud that he can ride on the grass now. He is doing great in pre school & has been working hard to learn his songs for the big Christmas pagent this Wednesday... We can't wait. Ryan will also be singing his songs at the pagent & he is really going to be a fun one to watch. He is quite the character that Ryan Jameson Cunningham... very fortunate to be blessed with a smile you could never be mad at & very smart to know that he has a smile that you could never be mad at. He is a natural at just about everything & we love our big little man. I know we say it all the time but we hope to get the entire clan up north at some point this spring/summer. Katy's sister Mary is expecting this spring and we are looking into an extended family Road Trip to meet our soon to be new cousin. As far as our baby girl the recent news from the e-mails groups is a little discouraging as the wait time from application to match continues to grow longer. It is very hard thinking about the whole thing & knowing that our trip & match are still so far away. We do however think about her every day, hoping the wait time will speed up, trying to pick the perfect name for her, or finding a cute little outfit for her. The boys are very excited about the whole thing & we just feel that the wait is meant to be. Bailey Cunningham has gotten big very quick... Katy just told me she was weighing in at 40lbs (so much for the small non shedding dog we thought we found). She is however very gentle & somehow puts up with the abuse of 3 very active boys. I think she sleeps deeper than Katy & I after the lights go out.

Anyway, I am rambling now, have a wonderfull Christmas & thanks for reading our update. We look forward to seeing everyone soon... Clan Cunningham

Summer 2006

Realizing that it has been over 3 years since we have been up north with the boys, I thought this would be a nice way to stay in touch with everyone. I am just starting to figure this whole blogger thing out, but I hope that I will update everyone at least monthly going forward.

All is going well down here and we are enjoying the slow pace of our fifth Florida Summer. It is hard to believe that we have been down here so long, but we no longer feel like we are on vacation. Katy, the boys & I really enjoy living down here & all the outdoor play that comes with it. We have a lot going on but I will try keep this condensed. We have settled into our new house & our main focus is keeping busy as we wait for our adoption paperwork to be processed in China. We have done everything we need to do at this point until we hear from the Chinese government, are given word of our approval & referred a baby girl. We are expecting for this to happen in the summer or fall of next year :( - And we thought 9 mths was a long wait.

In the meantime we have already enjoyed our big summer trip. Katy's sister Mary was married on May 28th up in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Her husband Ron & her rented out a campsite just a little north of Asheville. We spent a lot of time with the entire Ryan family, and enjoyed our river front cabin, some horseback riding, some lake swimming, and of course Mary & Ron's wedding. We stopped in a bunch of southeastern cities on the way up & down making it a long rode trip. All I can say about long road trips & kids is Thank God for DVD players !!! On the way up we stopped in Atlanta & visited the Georgia Aquarium & met up with my little brother Jose & his family. It has been a few years since we have seen each other & it was really nice to catch up. He is all grown up now & doing great... I am very proud of what he has done with himself.

The boys are doing great, Kyle is now 6, Sean 41/2, & Ryan 3... We are outside every day & they are really getting big quick. Kyle will be starting 1st grade in a few weeks, Sean will be in pre-k 5 days a week, & Ryan will be in pre-k 3 days a week. With all her free time??? Katy is going to volunteer at the pre school. We really feel lucky to have found this preschool & like all the teachers and families a lot. She feels it would be nice to be around the little guys. We are prob not going to make it up north this summer, but continue to think about all of you. We hope everyone is doing well & we hope we can figure out a trip up north soon.