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!