Sending Our Love to Romania!

Wes's parents left on Monday for their mission in Romania. We were able to spend some time with them while they were here at the MTC, and that was a nice surprise. I wish I would have gotten a picture of them with all of our kids, but I totally forgot. Dang.

We headed up to the airport with a few of Wes's siblings to see them off. Rachel kissed both of them, then gave high fives and "knuckles". After we said our final goodbyes, they went through the gate and all we could do was wave.  Rachel made her little hand into a knuckle and reached through the gate towards grandma. It was so cute!

We will miss them while they are gone, but we are so excited for them. We can't wait to get updates about the progress over in Romania. We love you Grandma and Grandpa!

Santa's Lap

Santa made his annual visit to our ward Christmas party. Justin and Rachel were the only two who took advantage of the opportunity to sit on his lap.

Rachel was a little nervous until he gave her a candy cane, and then she was just fine!

Thanksgiving (Sort of) 2012

I don't know what's wrong with me lately, but I am totally stinking it up at taking pictures at important events. For Thanksgiving this year, Wes's family all came down to Mike and Teresa's house because Grandma and Grandpa are leaving on a mission to Romania. (They actually entered the MTC today.)

I purposely took the camera so I could get photos of the kids with them before they left. 

Did I? 

No I did not. 

Not even one.

I also failed to take even a single photo of the actual Thanksgiving feast. Not a photo of the amazing food. Not a photo of any of us stuffing our faces. Good grief. I am slipping.

About 30 minutes before we were leaving, I realized my camera had remained untouched all day. So I quickly took a few photos of the boys making gingerbread houses. It is a tradition that Grandma started several years ago. They love it of course.

Tyler was so fast that he was done before I grabbed the camera, but I did manage to get a picture of his completed gingerbread house before he devoured it.

Hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! And that you remembered to take pictures. :)

The Last Few Months (Condensed)

I explained yesterday why I haven't posted in months, and to follow up, here's a quick re-cap of what we've been up to. In June I was able to go to Youth Conference. It was awesome, and it was kinda fun spying on Brandon and Spencer. :)

We like to start 'em early around here:

 

In August, we spent a few days at Bear Lake with some awesome friends. I was having so much fun that I literally spaced my duties as photographer, so this is all I ended up with. The boys hanging out in the hot tub, and Rachel picking each and every berry off the raspberry bushes. 

The boys  started school on August 20th. Brandon is a senior (holy crap!), Spencer is a Freshman, Tyler is in 6th grade, and Justin is in 3rd.

September was filled with football.

Rachel continues to be her adorable and delightful self. However, she is becoming more and more elusive. Most of my photos of her turn out to be a blur. She is almost constantly in motion!

I was super lame-sauce for Halloween and barely managed to get any photos. I don't even have a picture of Tyler in his costume. He was a smarty pants. He went trick-or-treating with friends this year, and they left before I was ready. Total bad mom moment. :(

 And to top it all off, we are in the middle of a kitchen makeover. We had new wood flooring installed:

And with the help of Wes, I am painting the kitchen cabinets, installing beadboard, and replacing all of the old baseboards. Hopefully I can get it all finished before the kids have grown up and moved out. LOL!

Turning Things Over

Most of you have noticed that this blog has not been updated since June. Some of you know that in June our life took a turn that we weren't quite expecting. I have hesitated sharing all the details of why, but it has dragged on for so long that I feel like our family and friends should have an explanation of why things have been sparse around these parts.

On June 14th, we got a call from my Aunt Dixie. Josh had been given temporary guardianship of his one year old daughter Aspen because birth mother (Mandy) was arrested and facing 4-6 months in jail. We had been planning on adopting her when she was born, but Mandy changed her mind after the birth. We were expecting a call at some point, but had no idea when it would come. So when we heard that Josh was still interested in placing with us, we were thrilled.

A few days later, we picked Aspen up and brought her home to care for her. Needless to say, with two one year-olds, 4 boys to feed and chauffeur, a house to run, and my calling as YW President, I didn't have much time for blogging!

Once I got a routine going, I was just out of the habit and never thought about it. Then I kept putting it off because I was so far behind and knew it would take forever to update everything.

So, to make a long story (literally- three typed  pages to the judge) short, here is where things stand. After caring for Aspen for over two months, we all started to bond with her. She started to feel like a part of our family, especially for the youngest two. Rachel loved having her around, and I constantly thought and dreamed about how fun it would be to have two sisters growing up together. I have always wanted twins!

We anticipated that the adoption would go through, and we actually  hoped that Mandy would sign relinquishment papers. Up to that point, her mother had shown no interest in Aspen at all. (Didn't bring her home from the hospital, wouldn't help Mandy care for her, didn't pick her up from the courthouse when Mandy was arrested.) She relied on Josh and Dixie to take care of everything.

Then the end of August she started threatening Josh's family, making allegations that they kidnapped her grand-daughter. We tried to meet with her, but she was completely hostile and unable to have a civil conversation with us. She showed up at our house and we had to call the police. The next few weeks were some of the most stressful I've ever had. I literally couldn't leave the house for fear that she would show up and traumatize our boys.

She ended up filing for guardianship, which under the current law is not even allowed if petition to adopt has been filed. Her attorney was unaware of the law, and shouldn't have filed. Then Judge Dever, got the case, didn't even read it, ignored the law, and granted her guardianship. (In our opinion, he is arrogant, and inept, and should be removed from office.)Debbie works full time, which means Aspen would be spending the majority of her time in an inner city daycare. All of us were devastated.

Our attorney felt like it would only be a short time, because the motion to adopt had already been filed, and it takes precedence over guardianship. (Basically, once a birth mother's rights are terminated, so are the grandparents'.) So we just needed to wait to find out if the adoption would go through. At that point, Wes and I decided it was out of our hands. Through much prayer and contemplation, I realized that I had to turn everything over to the Lord. If Aspen is meant to be in our home, I know she will be. If she's not, as horrible as it is, there is nothing we can do about it. I have found a measure of peace in this.

We do know that the longer she is with Debbie, the harder it will be for her if she ends up with our family. All of us need closure. Unfortunately the judge (thankfully not Judge Dever) who is looking at the adoption case has still not made a decision. He was given all the paperwork the beginning of October, and we do not understand why he is putting it off. It is hard to see firsthand the corruption in the system, and the suffering of the little children whose rights seemed to be ignored when they are the ones who should be protected.

We would appreciate any prayers for little Aspen and our family. We need to have closure, one way or the other.

Spencer's Un-Happy Birthday

In true teenager from, Spencer thought it would be really funny to "not smile" while I took his birthday picture. So to get him back, I am actually posting it. :)

Take that you crazy thirteen year old!

Wardrobe Malfunction

The boys set up the slip and slide in the back yard today while Rachel was down for a nap. When she woke up, they asked if they could take her outside to play in the water. I was busy doing some stuff for Young Women's, so I told them I didn't have time to get her dressed and sun-screened. They really wanted to see her play in the water, so they said they would get her ready.

A few minutes later I went outside to take some photos of Rachel playing. As soon as I saw her I busted up laughing.

 

I asked the boys if they noticed anything funny about her swimsuit. They had no idea what I was laughing about. Then I asked, "Doesn't it seem a little low in the front?" I informed them that they had put it on backwards. Haha! I'm sure we'll all laugh about it for many years to come.

She of course could have cared less what she was dressed like (or that she was even dressed at all), and had a blast playing in the water!

 

Gangsta Baby

The boys had some fun with Rachel today dressing her up like a gangster. They thought it was hilarious, and she loved all the attention. They even took pictures. I am raising a bunch of crazies! :)

 

Baseball

I love the zoom lens Wes got me for Christmas!  It makes it so much easier to catch action shots, especially in the outfield. Spencer didn't have any of his best buddies on his team this year, but he still had fun. His team did really well and went to the State Tournament, but didn't go very far because they were missing some key players. To be honest, I was OK with it, because it was a struggle getting to the games with a one year old that can't sit still for more than two minutes. :)

Last Day of School

 The last day of school is bittersweet for me. I am always sooo ready to have the boys home for summer, but it is just another reminder that they are growing up way too fast. Next year will by Tyler's last year in Elementary School, and Justin will be in 3rd grade.

As always, the boys had awesome teacher's this year.

Justin had Mrs. Mecham and he absolutely adores her!

Tyler had team teachers, Mrs. Dewey and Mrs. Nacarrato. They are both amazing!

Piano Recital

Today was the boys' Spring Piano Recital. It is of course not their favorite thing in the world. I think it's right up there with getting cavities filled and pulling weeds. ;)

But despite the moans and groans about it, they all did a really good job.

Tyler played "With a Yo-Ho-Ho"

Justin played "Race Car Rally"

Spencer played "Fire Dance"

Big Beautiful Eyes!

I had great hopes of throwing Rachel a fabulous, over the top, pink and ruffle filled birthday party. After all, she is my first girl and I've been looking forward to it for years. But alas, life got in the way of my plans.

I got called as the Young Women's President in our ward, and my life turned all kinds of crazy. Then we couldn't find a weekend that would work for everyone. It kept getting postponed and postponed. I had no time to make cute decorations. No time to make a cute pink ruffled outfit. I kept hoping I would find the time.

My boys started asking when we were going to celebrate her birthday, she was almost 13 months already. And Wes told me that there would be plenty of other parties, and that she wouldn't remember this one anyway. I cried inside, but I knew he was right. So one Sunday evening I made up a pink cake and we had a simple family celebration. And I forgot to adjust my camera for the fluorescent lighting, so my pictures are craptastic.

It was so not the perfect party of my dreams. But it's OK. She had fun and that's all that matters. Next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. . . I can throw an amazing party for her. But sometimes you just gotta do what you can.

Rachel, I hope you know that I love you to pieces, even if you did get the lamest first birthday party ever. I'll make it up to you, I promise!

First Piggy Tails

I put Rachel in pigtails for the first time today. Holey smack she looked cute! They make her look like such a big girl though, I'm not sure I'm ready for that. :)

Track Meet

I have been putting off publishing this post simply because I keep forgetting to ask Brandon the details about the track meet. I am TERRIBLE at remembering numbers. Seriously. I cannot even memorize my own dang cell phone number. Yes, it's bad.
Anywho, rather than putting it off any longer, I'm just going to tell you what I remember. He is running the 2 mile (I think) race. It was darn hot that day and just watching all those runners made me want to lay down on the ground and cry. I don't know how they do it. I am so proud of Brandon for giving this a try and sticking with it.
He actually improved his time by 45 seconds (I think) this season. Holey moley! His coach gave him an award for being the most dedicated, because that is some serious improvement. Way to go Brandon!

We're Going to Have to Fire Our Window Washer. . .

She's adorable, she shows up on time, she uses all natural cleaners, and she tries really hard, but I'm afraid that when she's finished the windows just don't have that streak free finish we're looking for. :)

Justin Gets Baptized

We had a fabulous day today. Justin got baptized, and we are so proud of him! We had fun spending time with our family, even though they couldn't all make it. Uncle Jon was graduating from college, so Grandma Knight and Uncle Matt went to spend time with Jon & Molly. Unfortunately, Grandpa Cook was really sick, so they couldn't make it either. But we did have a great time with the ones who were able to come.

I can't believe how fast all the kids are growing up. Amazing that all my boys are baptized now! Wowser.