Merry Christmas!

Birthday boys

Happy Birthday to my 2 favorite boys! Charlie is 38 and Jason is 39. We might just stop right here and not move on! What - is that Italian Cream cake? It doesn't get better than this!

Euchre 2008

Kelly hosted the Christmas Euchre celebration dinner. We missed Michelle (108 temp) but we still had fun visiting and exchanging gifts. We worked in some card playing too. Happy Christmas card girls!!

Woo hoo!!!

I just got an email from our facilitator. Drum roll please........

Our dossier got turned in to the government in November. YAY!!! We hadn't heard anything so we thought maybe we would have to wait until January. This is great news! We were told that usually you travel within 3 months of it getting turned in, so that would be February. We wanted to wait until it's REALLY COLD to go!! :)

Fingers crossed, hearts bowed, Lord push it right on through the red tape.

Oh no - I am starting to stress. We had better start peeling off wallpaper in the Foosball room!

2008 Karlen Thanksgiving

Recipe for a Happy Thanksgiving:

26 family members

3 turkeys

3 cute kids

Too much food

One beautiful day

We have so much to be thankful for this year. God is so good!

Back to Frankfort

Got a call from our facilitator yesterday. The Hopeful Hearts lady in the Ukraine was translating our paperwork to get it ready to turn in to the government (YAY - so close!) and noticed that Jason's background check had his date of birth in 1989. Well, it can't be turned in with that discrepancy, so I got to take a 1/2 day off work and go back to the State Police Post (they are so rude!!). They re-ran the background check and charged me $10 again, back to the Franklin County courthouse to have it authenticated, and back to the Secretary of State in Frankfort to have it apostilled. Another $120 Fed Ex bill and the new background check is on it's way there now. UGGGHHHH!!

On the bright side - if Jason was born in 1989 I would have an even bigger problem! So, I can be thankful for the wonderful husband that God had blessed me with and be patient knowing that this will all come together in His perfect timing.

I am trying to remind myself to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas this year with our family and friends. Next year, it will be a whole new ballgame. No more going to the Christmas Eve service at midnight and sleeping in late on Christmas morning! I am seeing us putting out cookies for Santa, going to bed early to dream of sugar plums, and getting up at dawn to see if some Christmas magic happened. It will be special and magical and I can't wait, but I want to be sure to relish this year - just the 2 of us. We won't have that again for a long time and as much as we want children I am going to be thankful for the blessings the Lord has given us today and not rush over them dreaming of tomorrow.

More waiting

Well, one TB skin test, 2 trips downtown, 1 trip to Frankfort later.......we paid $125 to Fed Ex 4 pieces of paper to the Ukraine. They should be there on Wednesday.

We have also started our shots. Last week it was a tetanus shot. Have you had one of those lately?? OUCH!! Not the shot so much, but we both had a REALLY sore arm for a week. Once that clears up, we need hepatitis shots (A&B). Those come in a series - you get one a month for a total of 6 shots. Yippee!

Paperwork update

Tonight I met with the 'Baby Lady' from our church, who is helping to facilitate our adoption. She said that there were 'URGENT' changes that needed to be made to our paperwork. I was excited to hear that because it means something is happening, right? She said that they are trying to get everyone's paperwork turned in by the end of the year. YAY! So, I said, 'If you get it turned in by the end of the year, and you said usually we travel in 3 months after the paperwork gets turned in........'. She cut me off. 'Oh, it's been going faster than that', she said. I didn't press her for more info. I don't want to get my hopes up. I have been telling everyone that maybe we will be traveling in April or May, but maybe it will actually be sooner??? Why would I be surprised? God is in control. He keeps reminding us of that. This is His adoption - not ours. He led us down this path and He will continue to see us through.

We have to change our medical forms, get a PVA evaluation card from the County clerk, and update the heading on 3 other documents. This means another visit to the Doctor, then to the County Clerk, get everything re-certified, back to the county clerk to get it all authenticated, and then a trip back to Frankfort to get everything apostilled. Then we ship it to the Ukraine and get back in the waiting game. I will jump through every hoop they require, as many times as necessary. I am so certain that this is our destiny.

Hang in there kiddos - we will be there as fast as we can!!

Indy Visit

We went to Indy for the weekend to visit with our friends, the Parkers. Joe Robert is already a big one year old!! We went trick or treating at the Indy zoo. Isn't this the cutest cowboy you've ever seen? Kelly got to feed a giraffe, Bonnie was brave and road on the big zoo roller coaster, a great time was had by all! Let me just say - we love the Parkers. Good friends are such a blessing!

Adoption Update

This morning we went to Frankfort to complete the final steps on our paperwork. This is it - the dossier that goes to the Ukranian government!! We finished all of the stamps, authentication and certifications and we're ready to submit it. The great news is that a lady from our church is leaving for the Ukraine on Sunday, so she is going to take our dossier with her and deliver it in person. We are finally done with all of the paperwork. Whew! It's been a long time since we started down this road, and it's finally done. Now we just sit back and pray. The Lord has already picked out our child(ren) and we know that He will send us to the Ukraine to pick them up at exactly the right time. We covet your prayers during this time. Please lift us up during these months of sweet anticipation and preparation. When, you ask? Well, we're not sure but we are hoping that we will be traveling in March or April of 2009. It will be here before we know it!

I see the light!

The power came on last night. It's funny how you take conveniences for granted when they're always around. All-in-all, the power loss was only a nuisance but I must say it made me quite happy to be back in the light last night. Yippee!

Things are slowly getting back to normal in our neighborhood. The large limbs were removed from our neighbor's yard across the street yesterday and surprisingly their wrought-iron fence survived intact; they only lost a sidewalk lamp. The house next to them has the original ***working*** gas lamp and it was missing by a downed tree by less than 3 feet. The most-damaged house I've seen in our neighborhood is about 10 doors down. These really nice folks spent 8 years renovating their home which was completed last year. The third and second floor roof lines were totally clobbered by a massive downed tree and there's significant damage.

The main thing, though, is that all of our friends and family are physically alright.

Day 3 - still no power

I threw away everything in the refrigerator this morning. They are saying it will take 10 - 14 days to restore power to the entire area. Hopefully we are on the short end of that window! We still have hot water - thank goodness! We were reading the Bible by oil lamp last night and when the oil ran out it was time for bed. I am starting to feel like a pioneer. I will be getting out my spinning wheel soon!

Ike blows through town

We had a great Saturday - walking to raise money for JDRF research. But then on Sunday, the remains of Hurricane Ike blew into Louisville. With wind gusts up to 85 MPH, it really gives me an appreciation for what those Hurricane victims go through. Our experience wasn't anything like they had in Texas, but WOW - the damage is widespread. Downed trees and power lines everywhere - there are 250,000 people without power. We are very fortunate that our big tree came down earlier this year. We didn't have much that could go. Some of our neighbors had huge trees fall on their homes. Our power is still out. They are saying it could take 2 weeks for them to get everyone back on! We are so thankful that our 100 year old homestead held strong and our families are safe and sound. We needed to clean out the refrigerator anyway! (This picture is from around town)

Racin' in Richmond!

This past weekend Kelly and Jason went to Richmond for the NASCAR Cup race and to visit our dear friend Judi Bentley. Jason worked for her husband, Bob, in the army for several years but, unfortunately, he was out of the country on business. Regardless it was great to have some time off from work and to get away for a while.

The races were rescheduled from Saturday night due to the effects of Hurricane Hannah. As a result, we went to the Richmond Holocaust Museum that evening. It was quite a bit different from the museum in DC, but still quite moving. The Richmond museum is told from the perspective of a child who survived the holocaust. Interestingly, we actually met the gentleman whose story is told at the conclusion of our tour. Afterwards we had dinner at the Tobacco Company restaurant which is a converted Victorian warehouse and was quite impressive.

The race went off on Sunday afternoon. As always at Richmond International Raceway, the competition was fierce and exciting. Mark Martin, Jason's favorite driver, pulled out a very respectable 5th place finish even though his team had several significant pit road miscues.

Needless to say, it was great weekend and we really enjoyed seeing Judi. Hopefully Bob will be around for our next visit.

Take me out to the ballgame

The St. Louis Cardinals were playing the Cincinnati Reds this past weekend, so we dashed up to Cincy to take Aunt Pat and Uncle Bob to a Friday night game. We lucked into a Friday night fireworks show after the game and we were really impressed with the show! We thought it would be dinky, but it was thunder over the Reds! It was quite a long show, with fireworks we had never seen before. Saturday took us to the Newport Aquarium which we hadn't seen before. We had a great time there. Jason's favorite part was petting the sharks. A BIG meal at the Hoffbrau House and we had to head back home. It was a great weekend!

Giving Back to Frederick Olmsted

There are nearly 100 geocaches in the primary Frederick Olmsted-designed parks in Louisville - Cherokee, Iroquois, and Shawnee. After spending so much time in the parks in the last year, we decided it was time to "give something back". We organized a geocaching "Cache-In, Trash-Out" event to pick up trash along Beargrass Creek near Big Rock in Cherokee Park. Seventeen of our geocaching-buddies joined in the effort.

The Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy (http://www.olmstedparks.org/) supported our efforts with tools, trash bags, etc. After 3 hours or so, we had made a noticeable difference in that stretch of Beargrass Creek. Plans are underway to make this a semiannual effort.

Pictured above is Jason with Rob (AKA "Natcher") who is a Highlands area cacher and good friend.

Living Proof Live!

Kelly attended an amazing conference at church this weekend. It was called 'Living Proof Live' with Beth Moore. I didn't really know anything about Beth Moore prior to this weekend. I knew she did Bible Studies, but I hadn't taken any of her studies or heard her speak before. I was BLOWN AWAY!! It was truly a life changing conference for me. She lit a fire under me to encourage me to dig in the Bible and really learn what the Lord has for my life. I am not getting any younger! The days and years are flying by and if I don't seek Him out TODAY, then I am going to miss out on the huge blessings that God has in store for me. Here is a video of the some pictures of the conference. AWESOME!!


Living Proof Live Louisville KY Simulcast from Rich Kalonick on Vimeo.

100 Caches in 1 Day!

Kelly had a women's convention at church and our good friend Bonnie in Indianapolis was out of town visiting family. That left Jason and Robert to their own devices. They hatched a plan to see if they could find 100 caches in one day. After quite a bit of preparation and planning, they headed on their way to the southern part of Indianapolis at 6:00AM. By 9:15PM, they had achieved their goal! At right, is the "100" victory photo taken immediately after the 100th find.

Cachin' in Nashville

Jason has been trying to complete a very difficult geocaching challenge for the last 5 months or so. There have only been 2 Louisville-area cachers who have completed it and he is determined to be #3. To get the final requirements, he needed to go to Nashville.

On the way down, he stopped in Park City, KY to visit "Bell's Tavern" which is a very large structure burned shortly before the Civil War. The place is immense and quite impressive.

The first series of caches could only be accessed from the Columbia River. The first one was an old Victorian-era water tower which had a cache at the top.

The second cache was the original entrance to Andrew Jackson's first house in Nashville. It's a river-accessible tunnel that is about 200 feet long and "L's" to the right after 150 feet. The tunnel empties out into a sinkhole-type area with a stairway that led to the original house. The cache was under one of the stairs. Needless to say, the area was quite creepy but the site was pretty awesome also.

The next day was spent boating and hiking up and down the Stone's River which was followed by a visit to the Stone's River Civil War battlefield. All-in-all, it was a fairly exhausting trip, but quite successful and a lot of fun!

Creation Musuem

Yesterday we went to the Creation Museum in Northern Kentucky. We were trying to beat the heat and we really had a great time. They have a planetarium there, several movie theaters (one that rains!), amazing exhibits, beautiful gardens and a petting zoo. They really spared no expense and it is first class. It was kind of a shock to the system to be in a museum that actually presents what I believe. Instead of having to overlook mention of evolution and the world being billions of years old - we could just enjoy hearing about the wonder of God's creation! I would highly recommend it! Here is a link to their site: http://www.creationmuseum.org/

Canoe Trip

We planned a big Geocaching Canoe trip for the holiday weekend. There was a cache on an island that Jason needed to get and we love to canoe - so it seemed like a great plan! The only problem was - the cache was 2 miles upstream from the put in point. So, our grand plan was for Ken and Jason to head UPSTREAM and me and Chase to go downstream - they would get the cache and then catch up with us. Well, in all the excitement, I only got these 2 pictures. They couldn't find the cache and Chase and I really impressed them by rowing the entire 7 miles by ourselves! They never caught us. Chase says he is ready for White Water rafting now!

July 4th Cookout

We celebrated Independance Day with a cookout at my mom's followed by a fireworks display at Ken and Steph's house. I don't have pics of the fireworks (mucho grande, anyone?) but I do have pics of the daytime activities:

Livin' Large in Mexico

On 30 June through 2 July, Jason was again sent to Mexico to work with some suppliers. This time it was Monterrey which is about 3 hours SW of Brownsville, TX. Monterrey is known for several things such as being the site of a significant battle of the Mexican War. It's also known for "cabrito" which is "baby goat" and considered a specialty in the city. Of course, Jason couldn't pass up on this dish, so here he is with a coworker in front of the "King of Cabrito" restaurant.

Love is in the air

To celebrate our 7th anniversary we decided to cross an item off of Kelly's life list and go for a Hot Air Balloon ride!! It wasn't the rush of sky diving, but it was beautiful in it's own right. It is so quiet up there. It wasn't cold at all because 'we ARE the wind'. It was a peaceful ride, watching the sun go down and other balloons floating off in the distance. What a lovely way to celebrate - we highly recommend it!!

Here are the rest of the pictures.......

Happy 7th Anniversary!!!

Today, Kelly and I celebrate 7 years of marriage. Some days I really can't believe that she's tolerated me for so long - ha! She is absolutely the sweetest, most genuine person I've ever known and I am so fortunate to spend the rest of my life with her. Everyday I grow in my love for her which amazes me - how can my love grow when it's already beyond rational comprehension? Yesterday's sermon at church centered around the permanency of marriage and the fact that God invented marriage. It was altogether fitting considering the timing. I truly look forward to what God has in store for us in the next 7 years!

1000th Geocache Find!

On 6 May, Jason was joined by BuffaloBob65 (another cacher) in pursuit of our 1000th cache find. For milestone caches like this, folks typically choose one that is difficult, scenic, etc. Jason chose to go to a beautiful waterfall about a mile's hike along Floyd's Fork near Mt Washington. The hike in was fairly level but there were several watercrossings, a lot of mud, vegetation over four feet high, etc. It was all worthwhile, though, as the waterfall was really nice. It was nearly dusk when he reached the site and accomplished the mission. Then there was the hike back to the truck....

Joe Robert likes his sweet potatoes!

Our friends from Indy came to visit this weekend. We enjoyed playing with Joe Robert. Listen for a little surprise ending!

Geocaching in Toronto

More Big News!!

Kelly's brother Charlie got engaged!!! Charlie is now happily engaged to Brandi Flynn. We are so excited to have her join our family. They are looking forward to a Summer 2009 wedding.

The Karlens' Big News!

We prayed for many months for God's direction in what He would desire for us to do in regards to expanding our family. As time went by, God answered our prayers in a very direct way - time and again showing us that we should adopt a child (or children) from the Ukraine. Through church we were introduced to the Hopeful Hearts Foundation which works with orphanages in Simferopol, Ukraine. Their website contains a wealth of information about their work there, conditions, etc.


We have been processing the mountains of paperwork since December and are quickly coming to the conclusion of our first step. Once all of the INS paperwork and Agency paperwork is completed, we will have our home study. We are hoping that everything will go smoothly and that we will finish the adoption process by yearend.

We ask our friends and family to pray for the following:

1) That our child(ren) are well-cared-for between now and when he/she officially becomes a Karlen
2) That we are given wisdom as we proceed down this (sometimes scary) path
3) That we will rely on God to choose the child(ren) meant for us
4) That the caregivers working in the orphanages are blessed
5) That the natural parents of the child(ren) are given peace
6) That God continues to bless us (He has been SO good to us!) and provide the financial means to pay for the adoption

Thanks to everyone for their support as we enter this exciting stage of our lives.

Strong winds are a-blowin'

While we were visiting the Parkers in Indianapolis, we received a call from one of our neighbors. She informed us that the large tree in front of the parlor window had blown down today. This is what we came home to.... Fortunately there were no injuries or any serious damage.

Update on Joan Ryan

Here is the current status on my mom:

She had open heart surgery to repair her heart valve on 1/22 up at the Cleveland Clinic. She finally got out of the hospital and returned home on Wednesday, 2/7. She has a long recovery ahead of her, but we so thankful that the surgery went so well and she is home!

Thanks to you all for your continued concern and prayers. God is so good!

Our 500th Geocache!

Most geocachers take on a memorable and/or challenging cache for their "find" milestones. As we approached our 500th find, we scoured the web for good candidates for this event. We chose to go after "Captain McHarry's Vault" in southern Indiana as it is recognized as the most difficult in the Louisville area. It sits atop a very high hill and there are no "good" ways to get to the top. Ground level elevation at the base of the hill is 462' while the top is 814'. This elevation change occurs in just under 1100'.

Legend has it that in the mid 1800s, Captain McHarry had himself interred standing up and looking out of the porthole in this vault overlooking the Ohio River so he could curse the other riverboat captains with whom he did not get along. Click here for more info.

Unfortunately, time and vandals have not been kind to the vault. The door's supporting stone on the right hand side (facing the vault) is missing and root growth between the stone blocks is slowly forcing the structure entrance to shift and become unstable. Fortunately the good captain's body was moved to Cave Hill Cemetery long ago to be with his wife. You can see his present resting place by peeking through the door of the Irvin Mausoleum at: N 38°14.630 W 085°43.164. In the winter the vault can be viewed from the Kentucky side of the river by standing on the Riverview Park levee in southern Louisville.

First Geocache of 2008!!

Happy New Year!!