Countdown to Christmas: Day 16

We had a preschool Christmas party today with almost all the class. We were missing two boys. The kids got to decorate sugar cookies, make an ornament, sing Jingle Bells, play Christmas bingo, listen to the Christmas story and place the nativity pieces where they go, and exchange gifts. It was fun to watch the kids so excited! Caden loved the super heroes games he got: go heroes (like go fish), bingo and a puzzle. We have already played all 3 of them. His friend was jumping up and down because he loved what Caden gave to him. It was very fun!

Coundtown to Christmas: Day 15

Today was extra special, because we got to use a family recipe that I got from my mom. We made sugar cookies! I love the smell and taste of the cookie dough because it brings back many happy memories from when I was growing up. I am happy to now pass it on to Caden and our family. We had two friends over, so they got to help us cut out all the cookies. We ended up with a few hearts and bunny rabbits, in addition to the Christmas shaped cookies. They just wanted to use all the cookie cutters! :)

Countdown to Christmas: Day 14

Today we went caroling with the youth of the church. Russ works with the Young Men and I am with the Young Women, so Caden is the honorary member. They all love him and he loves the attention he gets. He was very excited about caroling and kept telling Dad that he needed to say "Merry Christmas" after everyone sang. What a fun night!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 13

Tonight for Family Home Evening, we watched the Living Scriptures DVD about when our Savior was born. It was fun to see Joseph and Mary with the personalities that they had in this movie. I always get a special feeling when I watch renditions of that first Christmas night. What a huge blessing it was to the whole world (and to each of us individually)!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 12

Today we wrote a thank you card to Caden's Primary teacher and took it over to her house with some treats. We also took treats to our friend's house because their daughter sang a solo in the talent show on Saturday. While we were there, my friend and I schemed up a big plan and after talking to my in-laws we are able to do it! We will let you in on the surprise in a few days! We are SO excited!!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 11

Today we had a day filled of activities! One of the highlights was being able to talk to Kylee's parents for the first time after their mission to South Africa! They had an awesome time down there and love the people so much. They are driving around to visit all their kids and we can't wait until they come here in January!!

After doing some service for a family we know, we got dressed up for our ward (congregation) talent show. We had a nice dinner followed by a talent show. Caden got up with all the primary kids to sing an adorable song called "Could I hold the baby". He walked right up in front (way in front of the other kids) and waved proudly to us many times. He eventually went back with the other kids, but we were laughing so hard. He is a fun little kid!
After the ward party, we drove the babysitter to our house and got dressed up in formal wear for Russ's work party at Invesco Field. They gave tours of the stadium and we got to go in the press conference room, the visitor's locker room and ON THE FIELD!! It was so sweet! Our friend took a pic for us, so when we get it, we will put it on here! It was fun to talk with many of Russ's co-workers and get dressed up for a fun date with Russ!
Our babysitter took this pic for us before we left.

Countdown to Christmas: Day 10

Today, we had a special activity with FSA (Families Supporting Adoption). Russ and I started planning activities for FSA play group, and we now have them once a month. For the month of December, we went to a local candy factory and went on a tour to see how they make their candy. It was a very fun experience, and a sweet one too! :) Caden loved being with his friends and seeing all the candy being made.
I love their eyes in this picture! They were watching chocolate on a conveyer belt. Fascinating!
We even brought a hat and candy home for Daddy. We definitely want to take him there next time!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 9

In order to help Caden really understand the real reason for Christmas, we had a special activity today. We tried to draw the nativity. Caden quickly ran around the house, collecting all the nativities that we have to help him draw his picture. It helped him to remember all the different people involved, as well as try to imagine what it was like. I was surprised, because it was even helpful for me! I loved thinking about how I wanted to draw Mary and Joseph close to each other, because that is how I think it might have been. I will have to scan in our drawings later, because it is cute to see what Caden came up with. He did a great job! I want to continue this tradition every year as well now. It was awesome.

Countdown to Christmas: Day 8

Today we had an extra fun thing to do. For the second year in a row (or maybe more, I can't remember), we have invited over a few of Caden's friends to make graham cracker houses. We decided to continue the tradition today! Caden was SO excited when I told him on Sunday he could choose a few friends to come over for graham cracker houses, that he couldn't wait until the end of sacrament meeting. Next time, I will tell him a little later to have a more reverent time. However, it was really cute to see him so excited.
I never took a picture of his finished graham cracker house, but it was awesome! :)

Countdown to Christmas: Day 7

Today we got to make Christmas crafts! At our neighborhood Christmas party, they had all sorts of fun crafts. However, the bounce houses won Caden's attention more and he only got to do one craft. So, I picked up the kits and saved them for today. Caden had a blast making a jingle bell necklace and a few ornaments. He wore his jingle bell necklace to mutual tonight and showed it to all the young men and young women. What a happy boy!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 6

Today we got to do two fun things. We went to the library for a Special Visit with Santa! He was a great Santa! He let the kids ask questions, recited "Twas the night before Christmas" by memory, sang songs and then got to talk to each kid one at a time. We were babysitting for my friend's son, so we had twice as much fun!
Later that night, we went over to our close friend's house for a movie night. We watched "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and ate snacks. They have two girls and one boy, and Caden just LOVES them. It was fun to be with good friends, eat good treats and watch the movie in our PJs. Classic!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 5

Today we get a special treat. Caden is just about to open the present of the day. He is SO excited! We are going to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. It is a great chance to hear from the prophet and the leaders of the church talk about the true meaning of Christmas, not to mention hear wonderful Christmas music!

Tune in - 6 PM on BYUTV!

Merry Christmas to all!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 4

Today was a special day, because we had TWO fun things to do today!

1. We went to the FSA party. We were able to talk with many other friends whose lives are touched by adoption. We also made a keepsake ornament for the kids to give to their birth moms. It was an ornament with their handprint on it. Very sweet. We hope to make one for a birth mom next year! We also ate delicious food, made graham cracker houses and got family pictures taken.

We also got to take some leftover food home from the party, so we invited some of our friends/neighbors over for dinner before we did #2 together. What a fun day!

2. We went to our neighborhood Holiday party. We went on a horse-drawn carriage ride, had hot chocolate, Caden got to see/talk to Santa Claus, jump in bounce houses and make crafts. It was a very fun night. Caden especially loved the carriage ride and (of course) talking to Santa.(this is all of us cuddled up to stay warm on the carriage ride!)

Countdown to Christmas: Day 3

On Dec. 3rd, we got to open the daily present with Daddy. It seemed like a REALLY long time to wait until Daddy got home. Poor Caden kept asking multiple times all day long to open it. It was worth the wait. We cuddled up on the couch today to watch the Parade of Lights on TV. It was fun to see all the bands, floats, big balloons, etc. Not to mention that we got to see Santa at the end...always a highlight!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 2

Caden quickly caught onto the excitement of opening a present each day, and was very eager to open it on Dec. 2nd. (We actually do one each day, but I am a little behind in posting!)

Dec. 2 - We curled up on the couch and read a Christmas story (or two or three) from The Friend. Caden loves it when I read to him and he is learning how to read, as well. I love taking advantage of every moment to cuddle him in my arms and read to him. (I also kiss his head since it is so close to me!) :)

Countdown to Christmas: Day 1

At a Relief Society meeting two years ago, I heard the great idea of doing a family activity every day in December to countdown until Christmas. We started the tradition last year and were excited to carry it on again this year. Some of the activities are fun, some are service-based, others are spiritual in nature. Each day we read a scripture of the Christmas story, sing a hymn that Caden draws out of a tin, we move the advent calendar closer to Christmas and then Caden opens a present that says what we are going to do. Caden is excited all day long to open the presents!!

On Dec. 1st, we made a chain to count down the days until Christmas. I made these a lot growing up and it is fun to do it now with Caden. Of course we made a pattern with the paper. Caden was happy about that. :)

Happy day of thanks!

At this time of year, it is great to be around family and to think about (and show gratitude for) all the many things we have been blessed with. My two biggest blessings are Russ and Caden. They really mean the world to me. This year we have something new to add to our list of things we are grateful for: courageous and selfless birth parents!! We are all equally excited for the day we can adopt and have another miracle join our family. I love this video that shows just how much we have to give thanks for (both big and small). Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween!!!

We skipped over all of our Halloween pics, so here they are....

We went to a hay bale maze. Caden loved it and got COVERED in hay! He still points out where it was every time we drive by.

We painted/carved pumpkins. Caden clearly loved his pumpkin (that he picked at the pumpkin patch with Families Supporting Adoption)

We decorated the house. Did we mention that Halloween is one of our favorite holidays?

We had our 6th annual mystery dinner. It is a tradition that Russ' family has done for many years. We started it in our family as soon as we got married. We always invite different families and love watching people try to eat with plastic rats instead of utensils, eat their dessert first or whatever other fun things happen. Such a fun time! Caden was SO excited for it and even remembered how to set the table, where to put things, etc. What a helper!Some of the foods: spaghetti with 'eyeballs' (meatballs), witch broomsticks (pretzels with fruit by the foot on the bottom), salad with spiders, etc. We also ate apples with silvered almonds that looked like vampire teeth, etc. We LOVE this tradition! We went trick-or-treating 'on the street' at some nearby businesses that were doing it. After one or two stops, Caden said "this is fuuuunnnn!" He decided to go as a doctor to this event.

Before a Halloween party with preschool, we heard that a helicopter was going to land at our elementary school. We hurried over there and Caden was SO excited!! It was really neat to see!

We went to the ward trunk-or-treat and chili cook-off. Caden (a dirt bike rider) with some of his good friends.

We went to a Halloween party with our friends that used to be neighbors. Here are most of the cute kids lined up, ready to go trick or treating to all the doors on the wrap around porch. They got some serious candy with little walking!

At the ward trunk-or-treat, they had all different activities for the kids to do. Caden really enjoyed trying to eat a donut off the string. I love his laugh in the video!

We love holidays, traditions and memories. The holidays come even more alive with little ones around. We are excited to share our traditions with others when we adopt and even learn more fun traditions from them!

How all birth parents should feel

While passing out programs with Caden for the FSA fireside on Sunday (Russ was sitting on the stand to introduce the speakers), I witnessed something remarkable: how I wish every birth parent should feel. One sweet birth mom, that just placed 3.5 weeks ago, walked in right after seeing a picture of her with the adoptive couple. Her eyes filled with tears as she gave her caseworker a hug. She looked at him and said "I'm famous". I really wish every birth mother could feel just how special, loved, honored and angelic they are to the couple they choose to place their baby with. There really aren't words that can express the respect, love and honor that the adoptive couple has for them.

I also saw many of my friends at the fireside with the birth mom that placed with them. Often the birth mom would take the baby to change his/her diaper, to feed him/her, to just hold him/her and give them love. It was perfect! We are looking forward to an open adoption and hope to form a lasting relationship with the birth mom that places with us and making her and her family a part of our family. This post on the r house warms my heart. We look forward to visits with the birth mom after placement.

We found this song on the R house blog and LOVED it! Enjoy!

We love FSA!

We are currently serving as the co-chairs for the Colorado chapter of Families Supporting Adoption, and we LOVE it! Here is an upcoming activity that we are so excited about! It is a fireside dedicated to the blessings of adoption for all people involved! Feel free to come and check it out if you are interested, involved or seeking info about the miracle of adoption!

Trip to Utah

We love having so much family in Utah, but it also makes for a busy trip when we are only there for a short weekend. We packed as much as we could into the trip. Here are a few highlights:

We got to see Russ' two brothers and their families.

We got to see Kylee's two sisters and their families.

I got to hold my sister's new baby (just 2 weeks old). My first thought when we found out we were going to Utah was that I could see my sister's baby. What an angel!
Caden got to see some of his girl cousins (yes, we all like BYU).I got to get some new clothes from Downeast Outfitters. Love that store!

We got to eat in the Cougareat (but not at L&T which is a favorite) and at In 'n Out Burgers.

We got to show Caden around the BYU campus and watch him run all over.

We went to a Ryan Shuppe concert for recruiting (the main reason for the trip), and Caden got to request the song "corn dogs". Before they sang the song, they dedicated it to him. He was in heaven.

We got to hear Russ' cousin give her talk in sacrament meeting after returning from a mission in Taiwan.

We got to go to a big luncheon for Russ' cousin and see all the aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, etc. The best part was that Russ announced to all of them that we are trying to adopt and handed out a bunch of pass along cards with our info. What a great husband!! Everyone was so happy and excited for us to adopt and were willing to spread the word to other people.

Fall Fun

We love fall!! While Russ was doing his second camp out portion of Wood Badge, Kylee and Caden went to the Littleton Museum Harvest Festival with the Colorado Chapter of Families Supporting Adoption. They had a pumpkin patch, games from the olden days, an apple press to make apple cider and the usual farms, animals, etc. It was a lot of fun!

Here is Caden with his friends from the FSA playgroup watching the women make apple butter.
Caden loved the games that they used to play: bag races, walking on stilts, jump rope and some game with a big wooden circle that you had to hit with a stick to keep it going.

Caden liked the very first pumpkin he found. However, we kept searching and found one that he really loved.

He got to help this lady make apple cider in an old press. It actually tasted really good and it was fun to see the process.

It was fun to see the animals at the farm.Just the other day, Kylee was babysitting her friend's kids and they went on a walk. They decided to rake up some leaves and jump into them. Caden had a blast with his friend while the baby slept in the stroller.

Life is all about the little things and the fun things you do with each day!

I spy with my little eyes....

A BIG ROCK!!

We drove to Utah for a quick weekend trip, and this is the game we played all through the Grand Junction area (which is surrounded with big rock canyons on both sides)! Caden kept saying it almost every time and we all laughed so hard, because there were huge rocks all around. How were we supposed to know which one? We played it on the way there and on the way back. What a funny kid and fun memories!

I will post about the trip (with pics) a little later. We only had a few hours and we squeezed a lot in!

When we went grocery shopping this week, we went down the Halloween aisle. Caden said "Hellloooo candy!" He says the funniest things. Russ and I love to just talk about all the funny and cute things Caden says every day. We love being parents!

Bread, Banana Bread, Blankets and Puzzles

We had the great privilege of listening to General Conference (where the prophet and other leaders of our church talk to the world) last weekend. As always, we learned about many things we want to improve in our lives. Caden loved hearing the names of the prophets, apostles and other gospel words. He would shout out the words or names he recognized. We played LDS Bingo and did LOTS of puzzles. He loves puzzles and we loved that he was being reverent. :) After doing the 12 pictured below, we did a 500 piece Monsters, Inc puzzle.
Also, in Kylee's family, they have the tradition of making homemade bread and cinnamon rolls for General Conference. It is a very tasty and fun tradition. We also had banana bread as a snack while we watched the conference.
Kylee is also a blanket fanatic, so anytime she sits down to read a book, cuddle or watch TV (or General Conference), there is always a blanket involved.

After the conference, we drove to the mountains again to see the fall leaves. We also got to see a beautiful sunset. Russ and Caden were climbing on the rocks when Kylee snapped this pic of them watching it.

Fun weekends

Russ got the opportunity to go to Wood Badge this past weekend. He learned a lot about scouting and a lot about being a leader. He also loved being in the forest with the changing leaves. He came home singing a few weird songs and teaching Caden how to make a "woggle". We are proud of all he does to learn and improve in all aspects of life! I love my handsome scout! :)

While he was gone, Caden and I had a camp out in the family room. We ate ice cream sandwiches and watched Caden's favorite movie (Cars) from the tent. Then we slept in there. Caden was so excited about the whole night.

After church on Sunday, we drove to the mountains to see the fall colors. I love this tender moment I captured of Caden (who just woke up) cuddling with Russ. So sweet!

This was right after we told Caden he could get some ice cream if he smiled. :)

Loving on our sweet angel. You can never give enough hugs and kisses!