Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we celebrated in a different way.  We normally go to Mountain Home to spend it with all our wonderful family, but this year, for one reason or another, our family was all doing something different.  Dad and Mom are visiting Brian & his family in North Carolina.  Steve is spending it with friends.  Lisa stayed in Blackfoot.  And Jeff, well who knows where Jeff is right now!  It's like trying to find Waldo with the extra work he's picked up.  So Wayne and I decided we would go out for dinner to Dickey's!  They're not open on Thanksgiving, so we went tonight instead. 

As you can see by Ellie's face, she was excited. And look at Jake. How often to you get a teenager to smile?  Pulled pork, brisket, mashed potatoes, greens beans with onions & bacon, mac & cheese, onion tanglers, and hot rolls filled our bellies just the same! Yummmmm!  Not traditional, but still amazing.  We even have plenty of left overs for tomorrow.

Afterwards, we came back home and watched a movie.  And no Thanksgiving would be complete without pumpkin pie!!!!

Some of the things I am thankful for...

• Wayne, Jake, and Ellie--Without doubt, the top of my list. I love my family.
• Family & Friends--There are too many of you to list!  And for that, I'm grateful.  I'm very blessed that there are so many of you in my life. 
• The Gospel--I rely on my faith all the time and am thankful I have the gospel in my life.
• Foster Care
• Wayne's Job--I am sooooooo thankful Wayne has a stable, secure job.
• Photography
• Technology--phone, ipod, computer
• Modern Medicine--With all my health problems over the years, this is one I am definitely thankful for. I probably wouldn't be here today without it.
• Music--I'm thankful there are different kinds...rock, country, piano. My mood is reflected in my music.
• My dining room table--We got a new one this year and I love it. I love that we have 8 chairs. I love that we actually sit at it every night for dinner.
• Stampin' Up!
• JoAnn's, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, and Craft Warehouse
• My sewing machine--I never would have bought myself this nice of one. I love my grandma!
• Maurice's and Kohl's--It's amazing how a few new clothes will make you feel like a million bucks!
• Our camper and more specifically the bathroom in our camper! I don't think I could ever go back to tent camping.
• Oh, I can't forget blogging! Something I never thought I'd enjoy. It's kinda my version of a journal.

She didn't learn by example

Walking by Ellie's room the other day, I noticed something not quite right.  Do you see it too?

Nope, it's not the nicely made bed.  I did that today.  Maybe you need a better angle.

Now do you see it?  Yep, those are binoculars in her window!!!!  I'm guessing she was spying on Jana's boys playing outside since that's all you can see from her window.  I can often here her yelling out the window at them.  I don't think we have a serious problem yet since you cannot see any of their bedrooms from our house and she's only 9.  Now if this happens when she's a teenager then I'll be worried!

Grandma Turns 80!

On Monday, I went to Mountain Home for Grandma's 80th birthday.  Mom coordinated it with the nursing home so the residents were all ready for the party.  We sang happy birthday and had cake & icecream.  It was quite the treat for these great folks.

The staff there is amazing.  They got her a gift, a little serenity fountain for her room.  Grandma said thank you by giving this gentleman several kisses.  I think his words were, "Oh, that's enough for the whole year!"  As you can see, grandma had a great time...even if she didn't know who we all were.  I'm glad I got to share this moment with her.

One in a Million!

Well I'm a little behind on posting.  The last couple of weeks have been very busy and with good reason.

The department began looking for a permanent home for K-dub a few weeks ago.  They read through lots and lots of home studies to find a great family.  They narrowed their list down and interviewed a family.  They were very impressed with them and gave them the opportunity to talk to me on the phone to find out more about K-dub.  I was very nervous.  I had some very specific ideas about the kind of family I wanted him to become part of.  I was scared that he wouldn't get everything I wanted for him.

The first time we talked, all my fears were put to rest.  I felt very good about them.  I am happy to say that they too liked what I had to tell them about K-dub and they wanted to pursue adoption.  A few days later, a meeting between all of use was set up and very busy days followed.  The O family is an amazing family.  We spent almost everyday together for two weeks and I can say without doubt the that Lord listens and answers prayers.  Not only mine, but theirs too.  I can't say enough good about them.  I am very blessed to have met them and to be apart of their life and K-dub's life. 

Last Friday, we made the official placement of K-dub in their home (the adoption won't be finalized for another 6 months).  While there, the O family gave us this gift.  I have no doubt that our friendship will continue forever.  A one in a million boy for a one in a million family!

Ellie's 9th Birthday

This year Ellie's birthday fell on a Monday.  So the Friday before we had a small party.  There was no school that day so she got to take two friends and we went to the movies.  We watched the Smurfs!  One the way home, I gave the girls the camera and they had some fun!

After we got home, we had pizza, cake, and icecream.  After which, she opened presents.  She had a great time.  I do have to mention that we sang to her and I took some pictures, only to realize I didn't have my memory card in.  So we hit repeat and sang again!



On her actual birthday, we took her to Walmart to pick out a new bike with the money she got.  She was very specific about wanting a purple bmx bike.  With a gift of money from us, she was able to get what she wanted.  We made sure to buy slime when we bought the bike.  And sure enough, the first time out she got a goathead in her tire.

I can't believe my little girl is 9.  Wow, my kids are growing up!

More Curls

Okay...I tried another way of curling my hair today.  Only took me 30 years to figure out how to use a curling iron in more than one way!  We'll see what I try next.  I found some really cute dressier looks that I'm waiting for the right occasion to try.

Late Night Photo Session with Lisa

My sister came by last night to spend the night.  She is on her way to Tacoma for a figure competition. She wanted some pics done to post on her fitness facebook account (she's a personal trainer now) for her clients to see her transformation.  It was after eight when she got here and I finally went to bed just after one!

I originally set up my black backdrop but when I unrolled it I wanted to cry.  My lack of proper storage in the garage had put a dent in the paper roll, which showed up very clearly in a very bad way.  Only about a 1/3 of the width is usable now. :(  We ended up moving to a bare wall and doing most of the pics.

I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time.  We had some fun with some posing!  None of those pics are going to get posted here.  Lisa probably doesn't want people to see those.  I'm surprised we didn't wake anyone up.

I guess I will have to start saving my money to be able to buy a new black background.  I was already saving up to buy a white one but now I'll have to save even more.  And I can promise you they won't be stored in the garage again.

Cute Hair!

I had a few moments by myself today while K-dub took a nap.  I found myself blog hopping.  I had originally gone looking for something I had seen before and ended up in a completely different spot!  In this case it was good.  I came across a blog (http://www.thesmallthingsblog.com/) that had tutorials on some really cute hair styles.

I have been growing my hair out on a bet with Wayne.  The bet is if I grow it to 21 inches (from the top of my head...not the neckline) then I get laser eye surgery.  I am getting really close.  Last time I measured, I think I only had 2 inches left.  We'll see if Wayne follows through with is part.

Now that it's longer, I often wear it in a ponytail and not the cute kind.  When I looked into the large mirror that sits above my computer while I was blog hopping, I couldn't help noticing that my hair looked terrible today.  So I decided I'd try one of the hairstyles from the blog I came across.  Here's how it turned out.

I don't mind doing my hair.  I just have very few ideas to do it.  This blog I found will definitely help.  Now if I just get my hubby to pay a complement or two.  I have gotten several from friends but none from him.  I have been growing it out for over a year now and he has yet to say anything nice about it. :(  But I'm sure he'd have lots to say if I decided to cut it!!!