Happy Birthday Rachel!

Wow! Has it really been 10 years ago that my baby girl was born? As most moms will say, I remember it like it was yesterday. Rachel came to us through adoption after many tears, prayers, hopes and dreams. Tears for many childless years, prayers for a child to bless our home, hopes to be a mother in this life and dreams of what she would look like. I always knew my first child would be a girl, and my heart ached to be a mother and hold my child. The day I held Rachel in my arms for the first time, my heartache to be a mother was healed. The joy that coarsed through my very soul is hard to put into words.

Rachel, you have brought laughter, joy, happiness, sunshine, tears, drama, singing, dancing, love and beauty to our lives. I thank God every day for you and the blessing and priviledge I have to be your mother. I hope these ten years for you have been just as happy and blessed. I will forever be grateful to your dear birth mother for giving us the most precious gift she could offer. I pray that one day I will have the great opportunity to meet her and hug her and thank her for sharing you with us. I am grateful for the gospel and for our temple sealing that binds you to us for eternity! I love you Rachel with all my heart, and hope your birthday is happy and filled with joy. You will forever be my baby girl!

Happy Birthday Rachel!!!!

Broken Finger!

Well, we have our first official broken bone! Daniel was running in his classroom on Friday and smacked his hand against the counter...hard enough to break! OUCH!!! To make a long story not quite so long, we saw the doctor and had it x-rayed Friday night. He wore a splint all weekend, and we found out on Saturday (on the way to T-Wolves basketball) that it was broken. Daniel actually played basketball with a broken finger! That is one dedicated player!

Yesterday, (Monday) we went to Orthopedics and the doctor decided that he needed to cast it. Well, Daniel choose blue, and thinks it is a pretty cool cast. Of course we all had to sign it. He took a black Sharpie to school and was excited for all his friends to sign it. I guess if you have to have a cast, you might as well make it fun! He has to have the cast on for one month. I think the fun will probably wear off soon!

Love you Daniel! I hope your finger heals quickly and you can start playing basketball again!

Snow Day!

On Monday, we decided to head out of town and visit the snow! We drove up to Sequoia National Park to visit the beautiful Redwood trees and see General Grant. Wow! One sure feels small when standing next to such giants! Rachel and Daniel loved playing in the snow, and were old enough to appreciate the trees!

What a fun day spent together! What a beautiful world!

Cub Scouts Pack 33

Last night was my last night as Den Leader for Pack 33. When I got home, I was quite sad for it to be over. I have been the Den Leader since July of 2008, so not very long, but long enough for each of those dear boys to wiggle their way into my heart. We have had quite a few fun, memorable times together and I am so proud of each boy and the progress they make each day of their lives. Probably one of my favorite things we did was in October when we wrote a pack story. The story of the dark lord Konsokowa! It was so fun to see the creative side come out. I was so proud of the way the boys rallied around a family in need at Christmas, with each boy bringing a beautifully decorated present for this family. So here's my last shout out to Jacob C., Jacob E., Trevor, Grant, Ethon, Nicholas, Logan, Brandon, Cordell, Matthew, Garon and Mason! Keep up all the great work you are doing and you will go far in life! Love you all!

The Holidays Are Over

Well, here it is January already! Where did December go? It seems like I was just putting our tree up, and now it is down and put away. Our family had a great Christmas together and spent all our time with each other. We missed family very much, as we always do, but we have each other and our dear friends here. Here are some of our Christmas memories in pictures:

Looking at beautiful Christmas lights.

Christmas Pajamas!

The excitement of Christmas morning! We love Santa!

Opening Wii Fit! Yea!!!!!

Christmas morning casserole! This is our family tradition, and it is soooooo yummy!

Jingles!

This is Jingles, our Magic Elf. He comes to us every year on December 1st. He lives at the North Pole and is assigned to our family from Santa. We have had him now for three years, and it is so exciting for us to have our very own Magic Elf! He flies around during the night and we have to find him every morning. He also has a card each day that teaches us all about the true meaning of Christmas. This is one of our families favorite traditions each year. WE LOVE JINGLES!!!

O Christmas Tree!

I have a love/hate relationship with our Christmas tree. I love the finished product. This tree is big and full and it usually looks great when all is said and done. But it is a royal pain to put it up!!! I didn't know when we were buying it a few years back, that instead of putting it all up in sections, you have to put on each lovely little branch!

Here is Rachel, my awesome helper this year! She straightened out each branch for me, and then I shaped each branch and put it in it's place on the tree.

Here it is in it's early stages. It is amazing to me each year how long it takes to put this tree together!

Don't I look happy? I am almost done! It doesn't help being 4'11" tall, and this tree is 7' tall!!! The last few rows are really stretching it for me, but I somehow manage to get it.

Here is the finished product! I love our tree, and it adds so much beauty to our home each year! Someday I will have an easier tree to put together, and then I will look back on this tree and be grateful for the experience!