ready to count down

I saw a really cute Christmas advent calendar online, and decided that Kaden and I should make one too. It was fun to do it together, PLUS it was a good review of numbers (and he didn't even realize that part!)

We got a sheet of scrapbook paper at Roberts that already had all of the numbers printed on it.


The rest of the stuff I had in my stash.


We embellished all of the numbers and then put magnets on the back.

Here's how it turned out...super cute!...

...and it was fun too.

our fun after Thanksgiving dinner

We ate dinner with my family, got the dishes done, and got everyone in their snow clothes. My parents have a great hill by their house that is perfect for the kids. It was even more fun to sled with all of the cousins!

Kaden and Bosten with Uncle Dave

Me and Bosten

Bosten and Kaden on their way down the hill

Collin and Riley

Bosten and Bailey

Part of the fam.

Getting ready to race

Kaden

Kaden and Brody (I love this one)

Bosten and Bailey (plus a lot of other people!)

Bosten doing a solo run

Collin and Kaden catching some air after hitting the jump

'tis the season...almost

I know its the still the day before Thanksgiving, and I've got my blog all decked out for Christmas.

Maybe its the snow we got last night...or maybe its that my shopping is 95 percent done, Christmas cards are addressed and ready to go...so why not?!

Here's a few of our latest family pictures.

Emily did a great job (as always), and if you're looking for a photographer, we definitely would recommend her.

I love this little family of mine!

thanksgiving fun

No, its not Thanksgiving yet, but we've had lots of fun this week getting ready. Kaden and I have been talking a lot about the first Thanksgiving and how it all started. We've made 2 or 3 different turkeys (turkey apples, a styrofoam turkey with feathers, a paper turkey) and then we decided to try pilgrim hats.

I found the recipe online, and it was actually pretty fun (and easy) to do.

First, we lined a cookie sheet with wax paper and put those striped shortbread cookies face down.


Next, we melted chocolate chips in the microwave. We put a large marshmellow on a toothpick and dipped it in the chocolate.

Then we put the marshmellow on top of the cookie.


Once we were done with that, they went into the fridge for a couple of hours to set up.

Finally, I used yellow frosting to make the buckle of the hat.

Didn't they turn out cute?! They were pretty good too.

byu hoops

Friday night we went to the home opener of BYU men's basketball.

We picked up Kyle from work, and headed down to Provo. It was a whiteout (so that's what's up with all of our white shirts!)

Remember Kaden's hard time with loud noises? I got ear plugs before the game. It was a brilliant move! He was able to enjoy the whole game, and had a great time.


My whole family came too!...here's some of the cousins sitting together and cheering. It was fun to watch all of the kids stand and sing the BYU fight song.

Bosten was really proud of his "B-aye-U" shirt and showed anyone and everyone!


We stayed for about half of the second half, before calling it a night. We had 2 tired little boys.

remembering

Five years ago today, we had Kaden sealed to us in the Portland temple.

I think this is the trade off for all of the hard stuff that comes with adoption.

To celebrate our sealing day, we're making junk and looking at pictures...we're so thankful that families are forever!

I think I've posted this before, but its a good one.

i can do hard things

One of the lessons I've learned through our adoption roller coaster....oops, I mean journey, is that

I can do hard things.

It can be painful.
It isn't easy.
I stress out and worry.
I cry.
A lot.

But, I still have made it through. I wish I didn't have so many examples, but I do:

-We went to Florida to adopt a baby the December before we adopted Kaden. I was in the operating room for the C-section. I was the first one to hold the baby. We were there a few days. Its a long (sad) story, but we flew home without a baby.

-We survived a contested adoption...one that was contested just a couple of weeks shy of a year.

-We had a birth mother not be completely honest with us, and have had to live with some of the consequences of her choices.

-We had someone that we loved (and thought loved us as much) make an adoption plan for her baby, and didn't choose us.

-We had a baby pretty much fall into our laps. After a LONG night, we knew she wasn't ours and had to say no. (I'm sure people thought we were crazy, and I don't blame them or even disagree...how often does a baby just fall into your lap as you're hoping to adopt?! But, we knew she wasn't ours.)

Would I wish these situations on anyone?
For sure not.

But, if we've had to go through them, I'm grateful to know that as we face hard stuff in the future,
we'll make it.
We're not alone.
What a huge relief and blessing.

"finally!"

We woke up to snow this morning. The boys could hardly wait to get outside, and we were out playing way before 8am. Bosten wasn't too excited about it last year, but was pretty happy today. Kaden loved every minute.

After playing for a little while, they got down to business and shoveled the deck.
(WHY is shoveling so fun?!)

Then it was time for a snowball fight.

When Bosten was done, we went in the house. Kyle and Kaden stayed outside and ended up having a snowball fight with some of the kids in the neighborhood. Super fun.

another reason to love open adoption...

...we get to celebrate with our birth mom when great stuff happens!

Bosten's birth mom is getting married. We got the invitation in the mail today and we're so happy for her (and them).

Yes, we already knew she was getting married. Getting the invitation just made it official.

he strikes again

I don't know how Bosten does it. HOW does he know that there are donuts on the counter and HOW does he get them down?!

I try to not laugh when I catch him (and bust him).
Its pretty dang funny though.