"Expecting" Kaz Mom's gather in Florida!

Last night, Suzanne and Matt, you know, the most organized pre-adoptive parents in the entire earth, ( :) ) hosted a get together at their house. Even Karen, from Minneapolis, flew in for it! It was so great to meet her in person! We also met Kristin and Cary, who live in Tampa. Shannon couldn't come, as she was moving, and Sandi had a surprise 40th in Orlando with her family and friends, so they weren't there. We missed them, but that just gives us an excuse to get together again!! We had such a fun time. Of course, Matthew made a traditional Kaz rice dish, that was pretty good! We all watched a DVD they had purchased, "Journey to Jemima" that featured a family who traveled to Kaz to adopt their daughter. There was NOT a dry eye in the room, even Sean got teary eyed. It was very emotional.

I got to see first hand the lovely room that Suzanne and Matt have lovingly prepared for their child or children. The pictures honestly don't do the room justice. It was amazing. The ceiling is painted with glow in the dark stars. In the daytime, there are clouds covering the entire room. It was so cool! They have a killer rocker too that I would love to get. Baby Kaz's room is to small to fit a rocker, but I liked that rocker a lot better than the glider I had for Sean, and I think it would fit in our living room nicely. Joe really dug their love seat/recliner because he and Sean could sit together in it and watch football. :) We may be visiting Leather Express in the near future to check it out! I have no shame-I will be a copycat!
Suzanne is truly an INCREDIBLY gifted artist and has a different and wonderful paint color in each room. Matt has all these instruments from Tuba's to wind chimes to Bongo's.
As we were leaving, Sean told me, "They will be really great parents. Matt is so funny and Suzanne is such a wonderful artist. She can do a lot of art things, and her kids will like that a lot, and Matt can show them music." It was really cute.
Oh, the hospitable Ruley's even gave us all a Kaz flag "to go" and also gave us each 2 wrapped gifts...each of us got 2 books that she has also purchased herself from her extensive library. I got "Sippy Cups are not for Chardonney" (hilarious) and Love and Logic Magic..When kids leave you speechless. That was perfect since I am dealing with a way sassy 9 year old right now.
I feel so blessed to have met so many new and wonderful friends on this incredible journey. I am so excited for us to be able to get our children together and they can all have that Kaz connection in common, while they're growing up as "American kids".

Oh, the introductions: in below picture:

On the left..Matt, and next to him is Cary
In the front, we have Suzanne in the pretty green sweater, Susan (that's me) , Joe (my hubby) and Kristen (she is married to Cary)
Then we have Sean, holding the Kaz flag, and Karen, or Saren, all the way from Minneapolis.

Thanks again Ruley family for hosting a wonderful evening. I agree with Sean, you will be wonderful parents. AND, It's not that hormone Suzanne was wearing that made me think that. (Suzanne offered to share her hormone with me but i declined)