Congrats Kirsten & Jeremy!!!!

Congratulations Kirsten and Jeremy!!

Dewey's sister Kirsten got married last Fri in Las Vegas (at the same chapel Dewey and I did)

Her and her new husband are both in the Air Force. They both spent a year in Iraq and are now stationed in England.

We are so excited for them and wish them all the best in their new life together!!

We had a party for them Saturday night, it was a casual fun get together with family and friends.

One of our neighbors Mike has this tricked out Golf cart. Because of this he is one of Luke's favorite people. Its hard to see Luke's face in these pictures but he is smiling ear to ear.


Yep that's Luke driving. Mike pushed on the gas but Luke was doing the steering (well most of it) A happier kid you have never seen.

Congratulations Samantha & Steve!!!!

My cousin Samantha was married yesterday.

Aren't they a beautiful couple?

We woke up at 4am to drive to Salt Lake City for the all day celebration. They were married at the LDS Temple. We met them after for family pictures. The Temple grounds are spectacular, beautiful landscaping. The perfect place for me to get tons of cute pics of the boys all dressed up. What I should have taken into account was the fact that they are 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 boys.... There was to be no cute posed pics for them, there was way to much going on and way to much to explore.

Its kind of hard to tell But Dewey and Luke are in the picture. (Kolby is too just don't know where :)
Yea a family picture. Everyone is here except Cassidi. We took this at the reception. My aunt took a bunch more I'm hoping they turn out a little better.

This is my brother Steve and his girlfriend Mickey (top row) And her two girls (front middle). My sister Liz and her husband Gary (left side) and his two girls. And Dewey and I and the boys. (right side)

I was so excited to have us all together so we could take a group shot. Its the first one we have.

The reception was BEAUTIFUL , the food DELICIOUS!!! It was the perfect night for Samantha and Steve. We wish them all the best in their new life together.

Family Hike....

Sunday was a beautiful perfect nearly fall day. Unfortunately I was not feeling well so I didn't get to enjoy it. But look how much fun my family had on this amazing new hike they found.

I love this picture!!

They started out with Luke walking and Dew carrying Kolby
From what I'm told Luke did great for a 3 year old but was soon up on Dews shoulders. So Grandpa carried Kolby. Isn't this the cutest pic of Grandma and Grandpa?
It looks like it was a beautiful hike, I can't wait to go.
I swear Kolby falls asleep doing anything. He is fast asleep in this pic, with his little head to the side. He cracks me up.
Luke was so excited to tell me all about their adventure when he got home. His pockets were full of acorns and he saw a real snake.

It doesn't get any better then that for a boy.

FFF=Hope

Today's FFF is "HOPE"

I tried to decide which picture we have that most represents hope. And I kept coming back to these two. I can't remember a time that I have felt more hope. After waiting 15 years we were finally going to meet our son.

As far back as I can remember I planned on being a mother, I dreamed of 2 or 3 children.

After years of Infertility I was afraid that I had no hope left in me.

Adoption gave it back.

You can see in my face I'm just glowing, to me that's hope.

Its a time I will remember forever in my heart.

This one is Dewey and I at our wonderful friend Irene and Brads house in Las Vegas. Their car is packed with everything we are taking to Kazakhstan and we are getting ready to leave for the airport.

This is us at the Las Vegas Airport right before the first leg of our journey started. (slot machines in the back might have given away our location) It was a Tues we didn't arrive in Kyzylorda until Fri. (time changes) Needless to say the pics of us arriving.... not so cute :)

Things that bring me hope now.....

I have volunteered to become a CASA, I'm a few weeks into the training now. It really is an amazing organization. And its something I felt like I could do to help the children in my community.This is their website, its a national organization, check it out.

http://www.nationalcasa.org/

To give a child a CASA is to give them a voice. To give them a voice is to give them hope. And to give them hope is to give them the world.
—Pamela Butler, former foster youth

We are lucky to live within an hour of the countries largest no kill animal sanctuary

There website is http://www.bestfriends.org/

We have volunteered a few times for them over the years. It such an amazing place, if the animals are unable to be placed in homes for any reason they are able to spend the rest of their lives living in this beautiful happy place.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!!

And check out Sarah at http://kissthefrog4me.blogspot.com/ For more Hope FFF

How would you like your eggs?

I'll take mine scrambled on the floor thanks!!!

This post also could have been called "Fun things to do while mom is vacuuming the bedrooms", or "Look at me, I learned how to open up the refrigerator door, lots of fun stuff in here to play with"

Pay no attention to the shoes but no shorts. This kid LOVES shoes, he has to have them on ALL the time. Clothes are a different matter, he would happily run around buck naked. Anything I do get on him I consider a success.
Happy Wednesday!!!

A new Friend????

For the past few days we have had a visitor......

Isn't he beautiful?? (I say he, could be a she we got close but no that close)

The first night we were outside and he flew in and landed right above me on the roof.

The second night we went out after dinner and there he was sitting on a fence post. He let me walk right up to him and took bread out of my hand.
Please pay no attention to the outfit and hair, in my defense it was a stay at home/cleaning day.
After the third visit we decided to name him Cole. (he's black and I'm not very creative)
We looked on the net and found out that he is a Raven not a Crow. He has the most amazing black feathers that shine purple and blue in the sun.
Have you ever seen such a thing?
The boys were beside themselves with excitement. We made them stand back a bit (Cole has a large beak and claws, I'm not totally crazy) from him. They were running around screaming basically being boys and Cole just looked at them like it didn't phase him at all. We can't wait to see if he is back again tonight.

Always something new on the farm :)

FFF= Our Choice

Thrift store crafts!!!

I have been checking out some blogs with these amazingly creative women who can make anything out of junk or thrift store finds. So I thought what the hell I'd give it a try.

So this is the stuff from my first trip looking for "treasures".... the total cost for everything was less then $8 (woo-hoo)

We are in need of Holiday decorations, so I thought I would start with Halloween.

These boxes got turned into.......

These!!!

This wooden sign got turned into......

This "spooky" wooden sign

And you put it all together this is what you get. I had everything that I used other then the foam skulls and pumpkin. I got both from the local dollar store. The pumpkin was a Thanksgiving decoration, so I spray painted it white.

This NOT CUTE little picture box

Turned into this pretty shell box. Our bedroom is far from being decorated but the theme I'm trying to go with is beach. I think this little frame is a good start.

So there you go, my first try at Thrift store crafts. And I have to admit, I'm kinda hooked. I love the idea of reusing things and turning them into something new. And I really love that it costs next to nothing :) The big frame in the first pic is going to be a chalk board. And the rest will be other Holiday decorations, yet to be determined.

Have a great weekend Everyone!!

To see more FFF pics please go see Sara at http://kissthefrog4me.blogspot.com/

Busy weekend....

Filled with all of our favorite things. Cassidi and Billy came down to spend the weekend.

Saturday morning we went to our Western days Main street parade. A parade with horses, does it get better then that? :)

The Budweiser Clydesdale's even came to our little town.
Of course we had to walk over and see them after the parade. Absolutely beautiful horses.
Luke and Kolby both LOVED the parade and horses. There was just so much going on we couldn't get a picture of Kolby EVER looking at the camera
And Saturday night..... SUU Football WOO HOO

We wisely did not even try to sit in the seats. We set up "camp" on the grass. The boys spend most of the time rolling down the hill

Kolby clapped when music was playing

Dewey spent most of his time chasing boys and doing this....

As it started to get dark we were able to get Luke to sit still for more then 1 minute

Cute pic of Cass and Billy, you can't see the score But WE WON!!! Yep 38-10 over Adams state. And you might not think that's a big deal but it is the first win for SUU in 19 games. That's right 19 loss's, yippee we are on a winning streak now baby!!

FFF= "Oh Baby"

This weeks FFF is "Oh Baby" and who doesn't love baby pictures?

We are starting with our youngest, this photo was one we received with Kolby's referral. I believe he is about a week old in this pic.

This is the youngest picture we have of Luke. It was taken the summer before we were able to meet him by a wonderful couple that was in Kaz at the time. She sent us a few photos about six months ago and we just treasure them. We only had one picture of him before we traveled to bring him home.
And Cutie-pootie Cassidi, I believe she was about two in this picture.
This is me, being held by my dad on the day of my blessing
And last but not least and certainly one of the cutest.......my hubby :) Look at this happy guy.
In uploading all the kids pictures it occurred to me that they were all taken long before I was to meet them. We met Kolby when he was 11 months, Luke was 25 months old. Cassidi was 4 years old when I met her. I missed a LOT of firsts, Birthdays, first steps and countless others. But it soon came to me that it doesn't matter. I am blessed beyond words to have them all in my life now. And we get to experience endless "firsts" every day.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Check out http://kissthefrog4me.blogspot.com/ for more adorable baby pics!!!