Back on the Blog-Wagon

 Whew! Its been awhile! Just to give you an idea how long its been, (about 2 1/2 years) a few posts down I posted pics of Anna's 9th birthday. Just on Monday, Abby had her 9th bday! Crazy!

I'm thinking of this post as a way to just get my feet wet. Just get back into it a little. Hopefully it will stick. I really want to make a book of these posts at the end of each year. Since I've also fallen off the scrapbooking band-wagon. It'll be our yearly scrapbook all nicely printed out with no paper scraps or brads to pick up. :)

Anywhoo, the last post mentioned we moved into a new (new to us) house. After two or so years, we've made a few changes to paint, etc. Nothing too adventurous, the kids' rooms, the living room/kitchen, the inside of the pantry. All kinds of fun.

Also, adoption. As of the last post we were still in the application phase. Now my sweet little boy, Ammon (AJ), is ONE!

 AJ just 5 days old. I love that expression babies make.

 And now, AJ at 1. The year seriously flew by!

 He wasn't quite sure what to do with his cupcake. We had a little party for him with our family, and Cathy, Lucy, and Shauna. He pretty much rubbed the cake around, tried a bite, then threw the rest on the floor. But by Abby's bday 3 weeks later, he knew exactly what to do with the cake and ate every. last. bite.

Changes... Sorry, no pics

Well, we just completed our home inspection for the adoption. I was thinking she was going to look through every nook and cranny. I cleaned like CRAZY!!
This morning she comes over and just asks me to take her on a tour, writes a few things down, asks where I keep my cleaning supplies and meds, then DONE. Wow! WAY easier than I thought or was afraid of. And that is good because we will be doing it all again in about a month because...


We just (really JUST) bought a house!! Yay! We saw it last Monday and signed on it on Friday. FAST! We are excited about it. It does mean a change of schools (not 'til next year) and change of wards and change of friends, etc. I'll post pics when we get in. :)

As far as the adoption process, if anyone cares, we now just have to do our Dr. visits, write our birth-parent letter (intimidating) and put together a picture collage of our fam, then we can be approved!! :) Then I guess we just wait. or look. or tell people. or something. or wait longer. or something.

I {heart} friends!

I know I should be working on the MOUNTAIN of paper work for the adoption, but here I am reading your blogs and posting on mine. There are times when I feel very motivated to get it done, and then there are times (like now) that it is a bit overwhelming, so I avoid it and pledge to get back to it later (like tomorrow).

I have had such a blast reconnecting with friends lately!! Mike had an appointment in St George, so we went down and the Whittles met us up there. Fun!

We all had a good time seeing each other, and the SUN!

A few days later, I got together with my good friends and college roomies, Whitney and Shannon. So much fun girls~thanks!

Then Carol came to town! So much fun! The kids might have thought we were trying to kill them by taking them on a little hike, but we had fun and got some good pics!
Seeing my friends refreshes my soul! I am not kidding! I am so grateful for good friends! Thanks girls!
And last but not least, in the tradition of "hot rocks" we made "prayer rocks as a family. There is a cute poem about putting it under your pillow so it will remind you at night, then on the floor so you'll stub your toe and remind you in the morning. That's obviously not how it really goes, one day I'll find it and post it. It is a cute poem in real life. So far they have served as a good little reminder.

Hello. . .is anybody out there?

It has been SO LONG since my last post that I am seriously doubting if anyone checks this any more. I've been a bad blogger lately. Once a month? What's up with that?

Anyway, I'll just hit a few of the highlights from the last month or so.

I ran my very first 5k. I'm the one with the blue hoodie around my waist. It was fun and I was VERY relieved to see that there was a good group behind me. Besides tripping, I think coming in last was my biggest fear. I've heard people say that races are addicting and THEY ARE! Not so much for the running, but for the PRIZES!! I won a flash light! Doesn't get much better than that! ;)

Just last Thursday, Anna got braces! Can you believe it? It makes her look older, I think. She has been pretty sore as her mouth gets used to them. They look cute on her, and she might as well have them while she thinks they are cool, instead of later when she doesn't want them anymore. She really needed them, there was NO room for a tooth that needed to come in, so they put them on her now. They said that she may need them later, too. We'll just have to wait and see. I think she looks cute, older, but very cute.

And I guess with this post I'm making this public. We are trying to adopt. We feel very strongly that there is another little one to come to our family and my body just isn't up to the challenge. We are still in the "approval" stage. Our references are IN, fingerprints DONE, couple visit COMPLETE, now we have to continue to do our part to finish the huge MOUNTAIN of paper work, then the home visit and other things. It seems this stage of the process will never end, but it must at some point because others have their profiles online.

I have to admit that sometimes I go online to check out our "competition." They aren't really our competition, but you know what I mean. I do feel like if we are chosen at all it will be because Heavenly Father led that birth family to us. It seems like with all the other wonderful families out there trying to adopt, it will be a miracle if we are chosen. Sometimes I am nervous that maybe we won't be. Keep us in your prayers, and I'll keep you posted. . .