1st Snow of the Year

We woke up to snow this morning! There wasn't a ton of snow; enough to stick on the ground but not completely cover it.  I knew though that as soon as Eden woke up she would want to get all suited up in her snow gear and head out to play. Boy do I know my daughter... as soon as she caught a glimmer of white through the bottom of the blinds she yelled "Mom, Mom it snowed!" and asked to go out and make snow angels. She has always loved cold snowy weather. I'm not really sure why. I mean I think its beautiful but I don't necessarily love it. Any way, I got her all dressed up in her snow pants, coat, boots (thank goodness they still fit her) and gloves and sent her outside....and there she is making snow angels in the snow/grass. Silly little snow bunny!

New Family Pics

I love Eden's cheesy grin in this one. It makes me smile every time I look at it because it is so her.

We had these pics taken a few months ago, but as we all know....I am a terrible blogger! So anyway, here are our most recent family pics. We were so happy with how they turned out. The guy who took them for us did an amazing job! There were so many fantastic pictures it was really hard deciding which ones to post. Here are a few of my faves.

Love Birds....I am crazy in love with this guy!

Is it just me or do I seriously have the stinkin' cutest family in the universe?

How am I so lucky to have the two most beautiful kids on the planet!

I love love love this pic. You can ignore Matthew and I in the background, look at that smile on Edie's face as she hugs her big bro's leg. She absolutely adores him.

Baby Animals

This last weekend Matthew and I took Eden to Baby Animal Days that one of our neighboring cities was putting on. When I saw the advertisement, I knew we had to take our little Edie. She LOVE LOVE LOVES animals! As soon as we parked, Eden saw the horses and ponies and immediately told us that she really wanted to ride one. As we made our way over to them, I was secretly hoping it was cheap because I knew we had to let her ride no matter what it cost. She had her heart set on riding a horse that day. To my surprise the horse rides were FREE! Yay!
She ended up riding a little spitfire pony named Bubbles. Eden and the pony seemed to get along just fine. Kindred souls I guess you could say.

Next up was the ooohing and awwwwing over the cute baby goats, pigs and sheep. Oh yeah and the cows. They actually are kinda cute in their own weird cowish way. Eden loved petting all of them.

The best part of the day though was getting to hold a baby duck, a rabbit and a baby chick. The duck Eden and Matthew held kept quacking/chirping at her, it was super cute. 

We held a black rabbit whose fur was so soft and silky, we could have sat there all day just petting it. Then Eden and I held a little chick that was sort of homely in a really cute way. It had quite the personality. It kept trying to fly/jump out of my hands. Eden thought it was hilarious!

It was a fantastic day with our baby girl. There's nothing I love more than seeing my children's eyes light up as they experience things they love. The world is so magical when you look at it through a their eyes.

Superstar?

So recently I have found myself doing an interesting job, not something I really ever pictured myself doing but one that I am really enjoying. We have a neighbor who works for a company filming training videos. You know, the kind of thing a business would buy to show all their employees; i.e. sexual harassment training, training on different kinds of government regulations, computer skills training. The list goes on and on. Anyway, one day my neighbor called and was in a jam, the girl he had lined up to play a small part in one of his videos, couldn't do it and he needed someone to fill in the next day. I hesitantly agreed, I really had never done anything like this before. In high school I took some modeling classes and did a ZCMI show but that was about it. I had never done anything on camera before. Yikes! I was freaked out! I showed up the next day and well lets just say I must have nailed it. :) This was just a little part and I had a blast doing it, but recently the company has contracted with me to be the presenter in a couple of training videos.What this means is that I do all the voice over work and on the camera training. I get to put on a suit, put on gobs of makeup and hairspray and then stand in front of a camera and act super professional. It's pretty awesome! The most recent ones I did was a Sexual Harassment Prevention video and one on HIPAA Regulations. It turns out that I like doing this stuff. Its kinda fun being in front of a camera.:) Ok, so I'm eons away from being a "Superstar" but a girl can dream, right? The best thing about this job is that I only work maybe 1 or 2 days a month. I have a few days to learn the script then I spend a day or two in the studio. Its a perfect job for a stay at home mom!

Being a Dad

Since I didn’t get married until I was 29 years old I always felt I was way behind on the whole Dad thing. When Eve and I got serious I pretty much knew that I would always be “Matt” to Connor and never Dad.  The reason I always felt this is that Connor has a really great Dad who has always been there for him. I have always hated the term “step”, step-dad, step-son, etc.  I feel that if the kids are a part of your life then they truly need to be a part of it.  This month during fast and testimony meeting Connor tricked his mom into bearing her testimony. A few minutes later Connor got up and bore his. In it he stated that I have always been a like a father to him and that I have always been there to give him good advice, he then stated that he was going to try and call me Dad in the future. I will always hold this moment as one of the greatest moments in my life. I love Connor very much he is my son in every way known except for genetically but that does not matter to me.  I am so very grateful to have a wonderful son and daughter who I know are truly mine. It does not matter that I am unable to physically have kids of my own because the ones I have are perfect to me. I love them.

Our Parents

Matt's Parents - Eve's Parents

Wow, I do not even know where to begin to explain about our parents. They have been such rocks to us in our lives. Each of them has a special place in our hearts.  Here is a list of some of the things that I have learned from both of our parents. I love them very much and am grateful for the support and examples they are to me and my family.

• I have responsibilities here on this earth that demands my immediate attention. 
• I have learned to love and care for my family.
• I have learned to respect my wife and treat her like the daughter of God that she is. 
• I have learned that my children have limitless potential and it is up to Eve and I to help them develop themselves into the best that they can be. 
• I have learned that I have faults and that I can overcome those faults if I am willing to do my part. 
• I have learned that it isn't a bad thing to show my emotions and to care enough about something to shed a tear. 
• I have learned what it is like to be a honorable Priesthood holder. 
• I have learned that if you want something bad enough that you will need to work hard to get it.
• I have learned compassion and forgiveness.
• Most importantly I have learned to love my Savior. 

I love you both Mom's and Dad's

Oh where to begin...

This is always one of those slightly awkward things for me to do. Which is probably why I don't post very often. (I know, shame on me, right). But the thing is, is that I don't know who is reading my blog, if anyone for that matter, and I don't know what kinds of things they want to hear from me or what kinds of pics they want to see. The truth is that since this is our adoption blog, I feel this incredible pressure to make our family seem perfect or at least somewhat normal. So, here and now I just want to take this opportunity to clear the air... We are by no means, in any way, perfect!... I can't even promise that we are normal... I'll let you all come to your own conclusions though.
Phew! Now I can stop pretending :) I feel sooo much better now. ... Ok, so now that we have that awkwardness out of the way let me get you all caught up...

Jan 2012 - Our little scribble scamp...
Have your parents ever said to you something along the lines of, " I hope you have a child just like you!"? Well mine did..... and I got one. My parents just giggle whenever I tell them of Eden's latest artistic adventures. They think it's hilarious!

I don't know if you can tell in this picture but she wrote EDEN in big letters all the way around her arm.  You can just see the "E" and the "d" here. Trust me the other "e" and the "n" are on the other side...

 In this pic, she got a hold of some of Connor's charcoal pencils (that he does actual art with). They smudge and smear really easily, so by the time she was done coloring with them, she was covered in charcoal.

This one's my favorite because I can still see traces of it on her tummy. It WON"T come off! It almost looks like Chinese writing huh. And do ya love how she carefully colored in her belly button? The super sad face is because I told her she wasn't allowed to color ANYMORE. Needless to say, I was just mad because this was the 3rd incident that week. Of course I'll still let her color. It's one of  her favorite things to do. And who am I to stop my children from developing their creativity?

Just look at that sad face.... how can I tell her no?

Dec 2011 - Christmas Festivities...

Christmas was awesome this year. We really tried to cut back and slow down so that we could just enjoy the season. We usually go to temple square to see the lights with the whole big family, which is great in its own chaotic way. But this year, Matthew and I just took Connor and Eden. Just our own little family. We had a fantastic time. It was so wonderful to spend that alone time with just my family. Of course we forgot the camera, so I don't have any pics to post. But it was my very favorite thing we did this Christmas.

Matthew and I took Eden to see just the little local lights. Connor was out with friends, so it was just the three of us. It's just a short little path with lighted animals. Not terribly exciting for adults, but Eden thought it was magical. Which made it magical for us too. The world is so different when you look through a child's eyes. Just look at how thrilled she is!

All Eden asked for this year was a doll house. At Matthew's company party, she sat on Santa's lap and asked for one. After she had her turn and we were walking away, she looked at me and said, "So, Mom where's the doll house I just asked Santa for?" Apparently, we didn't think to explain to her that when she asks Santa for something, she has to wait til Christmas to get it. She thought he was going to just hand it over right then! So, of course I had to explain the whole Santa thing to her then. Luckily she was ok with it. There was no wailing or gnashing of teeth...Yay for small miracles!

And Yes, Santa did bring her a doll house...A friend of mine gave us her daughters old one and we fixed it up. It turned out super cute!

All Connor asked for was a snowboarding pass. Of course he wanted it like in November! I told him to make sure that's what he really wanted because that would be all he would get for Christmas. And I made sure he understood how difficult it was going to be for ME when he didn't have any presents under the tree. All his friend were getting passes so of course he wanted his too. I'm a sucker though. I'll gladly admit it. There was no way I could let him not have ANY presents under the tree on Christmas morning. So, he got his snowboarding pass and a few other things.

Just a side note: No, we are not weirdos that make our kids dress in fancy dresses and shirts and ties before they can open presents on Christmas morning. This year Christmas was on a Sunday and we had church at 9 am so we decided to let the kids just get into their stockings in the morning and then wait until after church to open gifts.

Anybody else seeing a trend here???

As I was glancing through my last few posts, I realized that I post about every 2-3 months. So, that thing I said in my last post about me being the world's worst blogger really is the truth. But since I am a glass half full kind of girl and I try my darnedest to find the good in everything, I will say this... At least I am consistent! So, now I am going to try to catch you all up on the last few months...

Let's start with August because it was AWESOME!!!! It was a fantastic month because we got to go on our family vacation. And who doesn't like to go on vacation, right? My family has a cabin in.....the mountains. This is my most favorite place on earth. Since I can remember I have been going there each summer. So, needless to say, I have LOTS of memories that take place here. Its such a treat now to take my own family there. This year we invited Matthew's Mom and Dad to go with us and we had a blast! We took our time getting there and stopped a lot to site see along the way. (Much to Dad-in-law's dismay). He was a good sport though.

At Shoshone Falls... one of our many stops.

This was a beautiful place! Well worth the time to stop.

I love this pic of Eden.
 The wind was blowing so the mist from the falls was really getting us wet. She loved it!

Connor and Matthew's parents
 This was at a scenic overlook along the way. Oh and yes, Connor's Grandma is giving him bunny ears. I tell ya, we can't take these people anywhere; they're always misbehavin'. :)

Connor and Eden
We stopped at some ice caves on the way. They were actually pretty cool. (literally).

After our 10 hour drive, we finally arrived!!!!!

We call this Engagement Rock. Its actually the rock Matthew proposed to me on.
Everybody together now...Awwwww
Edie has a sad face because her little finger got stepped on while we were trying to climb on this monstrous rock.

Go ahead and try to tell me that this is not the most beautiful place on earth. Go on, I dare ya....
All joking aside, it really is gorgeous, right?

 Eden's favorite part of the trip was feeding the Golden Mantels (they are like little chipmunks). Since there are always so many people up at the cabin, these little guys are almost getting to be domesticated. They are not afraid of people at all. In fact, they will come get on your lap to get peanuts. They actually were starting to be little pests after a while; they kept stealing food off the table! One even stole cereal out of Eden's bowl one morning! I went out on the deck and there she was sharing a bowl of Marshmallow Maties with a golden mantel!Connor took his bicycle up and went on lots of bike rides. He's the only one who saw a deer the whole time.

This is the most wonderful vacation because all we do is whatever we want. Our phones don't work up there and there is no TV, so you can forget about all the cares of the world and just veg. We went for walks, skipped rocks in the river, picked huckleberries, sat in the hot pots, roasted marshmallows, etc. I love spending time like that with my family. It was fantastic!

Feeding the golden mantels

Eden and Eve (me)
One day we took a picnic out to a lake near the cabin and just spent the day.

Matthew and Connor hanging out by the creek near the cabin.

You can see how thing quickly get out of hand around here...

Eve showing Eden how to wash the huckleberries. YUM!

Family pic down by the creek

 On to September:

September was a busy busy month!   It was busy enough that we didn't take very many pictures. :(  Which is super unusual for us. I love to take pics of my family. They're just so darned cute! Anyway, this month Connor asked his friend who happens to be a girl (we're not allowed to call her his girlfriend) to Homecoming. And she said YES...

Connor and "K"
Connor and his friends didn't want to pay for pictures at the dance so before the dance I took them to an old barn by our house and snapped some shots. What a bunch of hams!

Connor and his buddy "B"

This month Matthew and I started taking Foster Care classes. Two days a week for 4 hours! Actually the training was fantastic. We learned so much more than we ever imagined. Now we just need to finish the licensing process. We are hoping to adopt, however we know that that may not happen right away and are hoping to give a child(ren) a good home  until their family can be reunited. We'll keep you posted on our progress.

Now for OCTOBER!!!!!! And then you all will be caught up on our lives.

We just celebrated Matthew's birthday!!! I love birthdays and I love Matthew so this was a fabulous day! We had both of our families over for cake and ice cream. I love having everyone over. It's crazy and chaotic and fabulous! A few days before his birthday, we were driving down the street when Eden asked Matthew how old he was going to be on his birthday. "37" he told her. She tactfully replied, "WOW! That's a lot of numbers, huh Mom?" I love 3 year olds, they just tell ya like it is.

I made a Yoda and Darth Vader cake and cupcakes. I made and frosted the cookies then just plopped them on the cake and cupcakes. Cute, right? More importantly though, they were delicious. Probably because I make the best butter cream frosting this side of the Mississippi! Just kidding, it is super yummy though!

Best Day Ever!

On a whim today I decided to take Eden to the zoo. Just the two of us. Usually we have cousins or grandparents or friends with us, but today it was just me and my girl. Unfortunately, I forgot to take the camera. Hence, the no picture. It was great day though because we just went at our own pace, we didn't even go our regular route through the zoo. (yep, we go often enough that we actually have a "route") We just went where ever Eden wanted to go. Which means that it took us longer to get through the park, but who cares, we were having fun. Eden would go to the zoo everyday if we took her. She never gets tired of it which is why its so fun to take her. She has a special love of all animals!

Afterward, we decided to drive out to see daddy at work since we were sort of in the neighborhood. This is always a special treat for Eden because all the women there absolutely adore her. (but then again, who doesn't) Seriously, its like going trick or treating sometimes because everyone gives her treats. Thank goodness she only got a sucker today because she was already all hopped up on cotton candy from the zoo!

On the way home, Eden and I were talking about our favorite parts of the day and she informed me that she would like more animals at home; when I asked her what kind of animals, she immediately replied, "Ummm I would like a friendly giraffe." I asked her how on earth we would fit a giraffe in the house. She said, "Oh, that's easy mom, we just shove it through the front door."

World's Worst Blogger

I am officially the world's worst blogger! Its been 3 months since my last post! So, I am super sorry to any of you who might actually check this blog on a semi regular basis. I am going to make a committment here and now to try to do better...