{Toy Soldier...

Jackson was a toy soldier in his preschool program yesterday. It was a total crack up to see 14 kids all decked out for Christmas singing their hearts out! I think I love preschool just as much as Jackson does! Tomorrow we head up to Denver to start our Christmas festivities with my family... so in case I don't check back in until after Christmas... Merry Christmas!

{Candy Canes...

We went over to the Baers on Sunday night and they showed us how to make homemade candy canes! It has been a long standing tradition in their family and it was so fun that they included us in their tradition this year! ...Grammies, I think it needs to be one of our traditions too. I'll get you a supply list!!!

{Grandma Ann's fudge...

Todd and I have been married for over 8 years now. Every year when Christmas rolls around I hear Brent and all of Todd's siblings rave about Anns' fudge. Well after 8 years I have never seen, let alone tasted the stuff. So for family home evening last week we had Grandma and Grandpa come over for a little fudge making class. It really is very good and I would post the recipe, but I have been sworn to secrecy!

{The boys...

I just had to share this picture. I took a couple of pictures in our backyard last week after we had all the snow and this is one of my favorites... look at those cheeks!

{Cousin Love...

Today while jackson was at preschool, I went over to the Kimballs to get some pictures of Claira for her birth announcement. After we played around with Claira, we decided to add Sam to the mix... They are only 6 weeks apart, but the size difference is amazing. I'm sure she'll catch up to him soon, but today she made him look SO big. It kind of made me sad... Anyway, we put the two of them together and I loved this top picture. He's got one arm around her and he's flexing the other! He's just letting us know that he'll take care of her as they grow up together!

{Goodbye Craft Room...

Somehow I figured this would happen... When we remodeled our basement we took one bedroom and designated that to be my craft room. I even had the carpet ripped out and the concrete stained so that if I spilled glue, paint or whatever it was an easy clean up. This was supposed to be a place where I could retreat and create to my hearts content. If I didn't finish a project, I could shut the door and the rest of the house wasn't affected. Well, since Sammy came along it has been harder to get to the gym. I'm tired in the morning and by the time Todd comes home I just want to spend time together as a family. ...so... this was our solution. Todd ordered an ironmaster weight set and bench so that we can just go downstairs and get in a decent workout. The problem was we had no where to put it. We thought about moving the guest bedroom from downstairs to upstairs, but that didn't make a whole lot of sense. Eventually we agreed to turn my craft room into the weight room. It has actually worked out pretty good. My craft 'room' has been moved to the kitchen/bar area in the basement and the only down side is that now I have to been a cleaner crafter!

{Photo shoot...

I love pictures! I love it when I get a great shot with my camera... Having kids has made me a little obsessive about photography. Not that I'm really even that good, but I have taken an interest and I'm trying to teach myself about lighting, composition etc... I think that maybe someday I would love to open a studio. Not any time soon, but maybe someday... These are some of my recent favorites. Sam is getting so big so fast that I feel like I need to capture every day!

{Play...

Last week we had a couple of Jackson's buddies over for a play date. Carson and Sam came over after preschool and as soon as they got here, Sam asked if they could go outside. It was a beautiful day and perfect for playing in the leaves. We got the rakes out and went to town! The boys were jumping off of the rock wall into the leaves, posing for pictures and 'flying' around the backyard in capes leftover from Halloween! Little Sammy was sleeping away inside and missed all the action... I'm sure by next fall, he'll be joining them in the fun.

{Baby Claira...

This is our sweet new niece, baby Claira. She was born on October 25 and weighed 7lbs. 11 oz. (same as Sammy!). After some minor complications, she is home! She will be on oxygen for at least 3 weeks but all is well and we couldn't be happier for the Kimball's! Her little face is so expressive and she is adorable! Congratulations!

{One crazy Halloween party...

On Friday night, we had one wild Halloween party! It was mostly for the ladies that I work with in Young Women's and their husbands so we could all hang out and have fun together. 5 out of 10 couples showed, so we had a decent group. The highlight of the night was when Ron and Deanna came to the door and Todd had absolutely no idea who they were... He called me to the door and it took me a few minutes to figure them out too! I could have sworn they were two teenage kids walking the streets trying to crash different parties!

Todd thoroughly surprised me this year by dressing up. It has NEVER happened in the 8 years we've been married so this year I thought if I put a little elbow grease into the costumes, he would atleast feel guilty and wear it. He kept telling me that there was no way he was going to dress up. Well, for our first party he walked out wearing his kimono. It totally made my day! I don't think he fully comprehends the ramifcations of his actions though. Now the bar is set and there is no going back!

{Sneak preview...

We are SO excited for Halloween at our house! The excitement starts sometime in August and lasts through Halloween night! We've been going to parties, making treats, decorating for my favorite holiday for a while now. Jackson got into his full get up last Saturday night for a party and since then it's been "Shakin' my Bones!" "What treat do I get today, mom (referring to the countdown calendar we got this year)?" "Is it Halloween today?" etc..

Little Sammy is a chicken this year... and the cutest chicken I've ever seen, I might add. I searched high and low for a fuzzy duck costume and came up short. I went into Target on Saturday in a last ditch effort to find something I loved before the party and came up big with this cute costume!

This week we are trying to put together our own little shin dig in between the Primary program practice, soccer, Trunk or Treat and possibly even family coming into town! Lots and lots of fun...

{Samuel...

So, this is Samuel. It's been forever since I uploaded anything on to this blog. I had grand ideas of outlining our summer fun including vacations, reunions, visits from family etc... then summer came and went. Since I don't want to back track and tell you all about our fun summer, I'll start at the present (since that is the most exciting!)

Four weeks ago yesterday, we got a call from LDS Family Services. Our social worker told us that there had been a little boy born that morning and the birth family wanted to meet us. We scheduled an appointment to be in Vail at the hospital at 10:00 the next morning. We were under the impression that we were just one of many different families so we went with no emotional strings attached (of course there are ALWAYS strings!). The birth family had chosen and been talking to a family from Missouri but at the very last second, they backed out! How often does that happen? Never. So anyway, with our (okay my) guts in knots, we drove up to Vail and met this incredible family! We met the birth mom, birth dad, birth grandma and birth aunt (both on mom's side). They were so kind. We felt right at home. We chatted for a couple of hours, held the baby and then the social worker told us to go hang out in Vail Village and shop around, get some lunch etc... We just figured our time was up and that another family had an appointment at noon. How do you eat pizza knowing that you may or may not be a new mom tomorrow? I about lost my lunch a couple of times. Anyway, while we were at lunch the social worker called us and asked us to come back to the hospital so that we could talk some more. At that point (and of course, we were just guessing) we figured that either they loved us or hated us. We didn't think that they would call us back so soon to tell us "maybe"?!? We drove up to the hospital and the birth father was outside talking on hte phone. He looked preoccupied so we went into the waiting area to meet with Kelly, the social worker. Before Kelly could say anything, the birth father came up behind Todd and gave him a big hug. Then he came over and gave me one as well. He left just as quickly as he came. Kelly looked at us after he left and said, "Well, they liked you. Can you come back tomorrow and pick up the baby at 4:00"? I think we were both speechless... At that point the fears left and we were just so excited! We raced home and tried to get everything in order. We pulled out the old car seat, found Jackson's swing, did like 6 loads of laundry and tried to get our last good night sleep for 6 months! -needless to say, we didn't sleep much!

The next day was just as fast and furious. We had a home study in the morning and then we ran to the store to get diapers, wipes and formula. We picked up a few gifts for the birth parents as well. When we reached the hospital, we met with the birth family (birth mom's dad, sister, aunt and grandma) in a waiting room. We took a couple of pictures and then Kelly took us to another delivery room where we would have Samuel placed with us. Mackenzie (the birth father) met us there with Sammy in his arms. The placement was short but very, very sweet. Megan (the birth mom) wasn't able to be there. I think she was having an understandably hard time. We expressed our utmost gratitude for their selfless sacrifice. How do you thank someone for a gift like that? It was such an incredible day! We drove home that night with our new little bundle and felt so incredibly blessed to be touched by the miracle of adoption again in our lives! We so firmly believe that baby Samuel was meant to be in our family and we are forever grateful for a loving Heavenly Father that helped put us together.

{Denver Temple...

Last Saturday we went up to the temple with our Primary kids. Brother and Sister Baer gave the kids a tour of the temple grounds and a little history lesson on the Denver Temple. It was great! It's always wonderful to have temple experiences with your family.

{Memorial Day camping trip...

For Memorial Day this year, we decided to camp in Moab! Every year we seem to go further and further into Utah.... maybe next year we'll go to Buena Vista or something. Anyway, we had a fantastic time. We found a campsite right on the Colorado River. We pitched our tents in what seemed to be a giant red sandbox! The kids got out their sand toys and went to town. We went to Arches National Park and hiked, biked and marveled over what a beautiful world we live in! We didn't come close to doing everything that we wanted to, so we'll have to go back again soon!

{Weekend in Loveland...

What a fun weekend! We had an adoption seminar in Northern Colorado on Friday, so it seemed to be the prime opportunity to spend the night and stay with the fam. The boys woke up early and headed up to the Father/Sons campout at Lookout Mountain. They shot guns, threw knives and rode bikes. Mom and I went to the church to help the YW make Mother's Day coursages. That afternoon we spent the day together riding the 4-wheeler, Semi took J for a ride on the 'cool bike', and the rest of us rode our bikes around Lake Loveland. The lilacs were blooming and the lake was full. It was a beautiful day and it's always so fun to get together!

{J's last day of preschool...

...DOWN ON THE FARM... May 11 was Jackson's last day of preschool. They had the cutest little program put together for all of the parents. They sang B-I-N-G-O, 5 little ducks, and a couple others that I've never heard of. We had hot dogs and treats afterwards. I really love his little preschool. He is all set and registered for next year. Now we just have to figure out what we're going to do this summer!