Christmas 2010

I can't believe that it has been almost an entire year since I have given my blog any attention! It is kind of like when I was in High School and I would do great with my journal and then there would be missing chunks of time. I am disappointed in myself, but I am not going to dwell on the should haves but focus on doing better and moving forward. We have had quite the year. It is amazing to me how much time has gone by when it really seems to feel like no time at all. This year has led us down an amazing spiritual path that we never saw coming. Never in a million years would I have guessed that we would double our children and through adoption/ foster care no less! We were very content with the size of our family, and enjoyed the fact that we were able to do such fun things because we only had to pay for two children. Funny how the Lord can turn our lives upside down in the blink of an eye! It has taken us 8 months of following Divine direction, even when it made zero logical sense, to bring Onika and Drake into our family. It has been the hardest thing we have ever done, and some days I am not sure that I will make it to the next day. However, when one small child climbs into my lap at the end of a day full of tantrums and I hate yous, and strokes the side of my face and says, "I love you mommy," I get the strength to continue on. It has been a great learning experience and an eye opening experience for Kaity and Brayden as well, and I am so proud of them! They are patient and kind when I know they are as frustrated as me. I have had my eyes opened to many new situations, and I have gained a deeper gratitude of all that I have been blessed with my whole life. I have taken safety, and shelter and loving parents for granted, but no more! I am thankful for my life and my challenges and my blessings. Through tribulation comes great triumph!

Kaitlynn is 10!

Dear Kaitlynn!
I can't believe that today you are ten years old! Where has the time gone!? It seems like just yesterday you came into this world screaming your head off! :) I want you to know how special you are. You are a beautiful young lady with a sweetness that touches everyone you meet. I have been so proud of you this year as I have watched you grow and blossom here in Idaho. You have so much confidence in yourself. I hope that you always do and that you always remember that you are a daughter of God. I am so grateful that you take such good care of your little brother. I have never seen anyone look out for a brother the way that you do- even when he is being a pain in the butt! :) You are the sunshine in our lives, the joy in our hearts! We are so privliged to be your parents. We love you sweet girl!
Love,
mommy
XOXOXO

This morning the first grade put on a LOVE program. The kids learned old time love songs and dressed up in "dress-up" clothes. We are so proud of Brayden. This was the first time we have seen him sing along with others. During the primary programs he has always just stood there and waved while the other children sang. Singing is hard for him because of his speech issues, so we are so pleased to see the progress he has made in the past few months. He sang his little heart out, and did the actions right along with all the other kids. We are so proud of our little buddy!

valentines day

What a fun Valentine's day we had this year. It has been so much fun to live near cousins. We had a valentine party with yummy treats, jumprope in the kitchen and a sleepover. We also had homemade valentines this year that were so much fun to make. We "heart attacked" the house, made homemade hershey kisses out of Oreo's, and red velvet cake balls. So, so YUMMY! We had a love filled weekend full of fun and family!

Christmas 2009

Another Christmas has come and gone. It is hard to believe that it is over already. This was my first Christmas ever without my parents and brother so it didn't really feel quite like it should. We did have a good Christmas eve dinner with grandma Christal across the street, and the Hill family. I am so grateful for these friendships that made the evening special. After we had dinner we went to the botanical garden in Boise to see all the Christmas lights- it was beautiful, but not as beautiful as temple square. Next year hopefully we will be able to take a trip to Salt Lake. Christmas eve we got the call that mom and dad accepted an offer on their house and they will need to be out in a month. We are praying all goes well with the closing, but the news was the BEST Christmas gift ever. My kids are so excited they can hardly stand it. Hopefully this news is the beginning of good things for our family. It has been quite a year- not one I want to relive , but I am thankful for the lessons I have learned and hopefully have grown from. I hope you all had a very merry Christmas!

sledding for the first time!

Sledding!

Today was the first time that the kids had ever experienced that magical feeling of flying, as they glided over the hard packed snowy hill. What fun we had once we finally got the hang of it. We searched garage sales all summer in search of snow sleds until we each had one of our own. Turns out only Travis has a really good sled, so next time I am taking the tubes we used to use in Kelly springs. I knew they would come in handy again some day! All was going well until I collided head first -going backwards- into Brayden. Turns out a made a HUGE mistake by not going over rules before we started sledding. Brayden got tired climbing back up the hill and decided to just sit down and take a rest in the middle of the track. Once I came too, it was time to go home. Next time we take helmets, NO MATTER WHAT! Even with a splitting headache, the day was magical. Can't wait until Saturday...

Lots of free fun!

Friday the kids were both delighted that they were allowed to celebrate Christmas in school. As I stepped out of the van which I had parked across the street from the school, I heard a loud chorous of singing. I followed the music into the school cafeteria where I discovered the whole school participating in a sing a long. It was such a beautiful sound, I felt I was listening to a choir from heaven. I stood in the back of the gym with tears silently rolling down my cheeks, completely overcome with emotion. This is why we moved to Idaho. So my kids can grow up with the traditions of my childhood and without the world catering to the politically correct. Since Saturday was the official start of Christmas vacation, Travis and I decided to do something out of the ordinary. We told the kids we were going furniture shopping at RCWilley, when really we were just going for the free hotdogs at lunch time and so the kids could talk to Santa again. Kind of a funny place to see Santa, but he was such a kind man. He took time to really listen to each kid and engaged in real conversations with them. It was a successful outing and lots of fun!
That evening we took our neighbor Christal with us to a walk through Bethlehem. It was the 15th year a ward in Eagle has put it on, and it was pretty spectacular. After a hay wagon had picked us up at our car, it drove us to a beautiful farm overlooking the valley. The young men and women all memorized scripture as they led us through the farm to finally see the Christ child. What an amazing group of youth and adult participation. I can't wait to go again next year. It was a fantastic night even with freezing temps!

Santa came on a firetruck

This afternoon Santa arrived in our neighborhood courtesy of the Star fire department. I hauled the kids down the street to take a picture- since this was free and the mall wasn't- Kaity had a great time with her friends but Brayden was acting strange. The minute we entered the house, he threw up- again. "sigh" He is constantly sick here. He has already missed 10 days of school due to the swine flu and most recently a stomach bug. Looks like here we go again. Of course he has to be sick on the night of the only Christmas party I am invited to this year. "sigh again" I think we have a looong winter ahead of us.

Loving the holidays

I love lazy Sunday afternoons when the only thing on my agenda is a nap, maybe some baking and a board game or two. Today I had a turkey in the oven, a cake cooling on the counter and Christmas music on while snuggling under my electric blanket ready to doze into dreamland. As I was about to drift off, I noticed the snow falling. Suddenly the nap was forgotten and out into a winter wonderland we went. The kids were so excited that it was sticking, and that it wasn't the middle of the night. It was one of those perfect afternoons that I wish I could make last forever. We had our dear neighbor Christal over for dinner tonight and it was the perfect ending to a beautiful day. I am so thankful for the holiday season we are enjoying. I am still getting the homesick bug every now and then that will hit out of the blue and stop me in my tracks for a few minutes, but I am grateful for days like today that remind me that we made the right decision to move here. We LOVE living in Star. We were meant to be here. I am grateful for a Heavenly Father that loves us and has a plan for us. As I look back over the struggles of this past year, I can now see that we weren't forgotten, but needed to be patient while the pieces were put into motion for where we are right now. If only I could master that patience thing- but I don't think it is in the genes! and if I could just move some people I love here... :)

Snow

I woke up in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday shivering despite the two pairs of sweatpants and sweatshirts. As I got up to check the heat, I looked outside and saw that it was snowing our first snow of the winter. I woke up Travis and Kaity and headed outside. Travis had promised Kaitlynn earlier this summer that he would wake her up if the first snow happened at night. I decided that I had better get out the camera and document the moment just in case Kaity didn't remember it waking up the next morning. Turns out we didn't get more than a light dusting, but it made the kids very anxious for more!
The bike is a picture of Aubrey's new Christmas present. Now that we live in Idaho, we entertain ourselves by treasure hunting instead of roller coaster riding. I couldn't resist picking this up for Aub's photography when Travis discovered it at the Goodwill. I LOVE it! and really hope she will love it too!

Happy Halloween!

We have survived our first halloween in Idaho. It sure was different this year to trick or treat with warm clothes on under our costumes instead of bugspray, but the kids had a blast. We had a little bit of drama with Kaity over her jacket, but all turned out well when we found two turtle neck sweatshirts and jacket that fit under her costume. We discovered Idahoans go all out for the holiday, and the kids had to come home twice to empty out their buckets before going out again to collect more candy. I sure am glad that the rain drops all fell this afternoon so the clouds would be empty this evening. We sure missed trick or treating with grandpa this year and attending grandma's chili cookoff. I've taken for granted the traditions that we have enjoyed for the past 9 years. I guess part of life is rolling with the changes that each day may bring, and savoring each precious moment we get with the ones we love. I hope you all had a spooktacular halloween! BOO!

Fall yumminess

So here is a picture of my porch mom. It isn't complete yet, I haven't gotten my cornstalks but you can get the idea. I put the second picture on so you can see my dying grass. I completely forgot that grass goes dormant here. So anyway, when I asked my neighbor next door what do I do for my grass to keep it alive, you can imagine the stupidity I felt when he said, "it's not dying, it's going dormant for the winter." Now in my defense, our lawn looks WAY worse than anyone elses and you know the lawn trouble we had in Orlando, so I think that it was a reasonable question. So our lawn is now going dormant and the leaves are starting to change. Yep, fall has arrived. Today was our first day of cold weather and to honor the occasion I made apple cake. I love that apples are so cheap here. I am taking advantage of it and am putting them to good use!

Apple Cake

3 large eggs 1tsp baking soda
2 cups flour 2tsp vanilla
2 cups sugar 2tsp cinnamon
1 cup oil 1/2 tsp salt
4 cups tart chopped apples
Beat eggs until light and fluffy. Mix sugar, oil and add to egg mixture. mix flour, soda, salt & cinnamon and add to mix. Add vanilla. Fold in apples and por into greased 9x11 greased pan. bake at 359* for about an hour. You can cover with cream cheese icing or icecream, or poke holes in it while warm and drizzle caramel into it. SO GOOD! I however, did not have any extra toppings today and it was delicious!

Falling in love with autumn

We have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of fall and all the fun things that go with it. I know that the novelty of cool weather will wear off pretty soon, but for now we are enjoying the pants and light jacket days, and hot cocoa before bed. Last weekend was the official opening of Linder Farm, so of course we had to attend! The kids had a blast riding on the hay wagon and picking their very own pumpkins right off the stalk. What a different adventure pumpkin pickin' is in Idaho! No more digging through the bins at Walmart looking for one that is not already mushy and rotten! Ah yeah! No farm adventure is complete without a turn through the straw maze and fresh fried donuts! I loved that the kids were in awe of everything around them. We can't drive anywhere without them oohing and aahing over all the pretty leaves. Quite an awesome sight when you have never seen it before!