A Couple More Walls

Last Sunday I was going through my Michaels App and I saw they had picture frames on sale. When I clicked, I saw there was a wall mural idea, and instantly my little mind started thinking. Oh...if I did this...I could do this...then that...and I wonder if it would work.

Monday I went to school and started asking people what they thought. Most of them said, they liked my idea and that I should try it.

So...that day I came home, picked up Ty and off to Michaels we went. I bought 18 frames, 5 spray paint cans, and then came home. We started by spray painting all my frames a bright color.



We then painted the two little walls that frame my fireplace chocolate brown.



Then we put it together! We hung up my frames and WA-LA!



We then painted two more small walls in my dining room.



I have done several projects around the house, as you know, and my fireplace wall with the collection of pictures is the first time EVER my husband said, "I love it!!!" It really is such a fun wall, and I LOVE that I was able to find a way to display more of our pictures.

Cabin Night Get-Aways

On the 16th of this month, Nathan called and said he had the cabin again for the next few weeks. Remember the cabin? We went last year for an overnighter and really enjoyed ourselves. So, when Nathan extended the invite for a night getaway, I couldn't resist.

After a LONG day of my child locking my keys in my car, Nathan having to go to Costco to get the spare, and an hour or so added to the delay of the trip, Nathan Tyler, Carter and I headed up the canyon. It is such a beautiful cabin and just the right distance away. We made dinner and then called it a night after a movie. We got up early and headed back home.

The following Thursday, July 21, we had the opportunity to sneak away one more time. This time it was Nathan, Brad, Carter and myself. It took awhile to get up there, but the car ride was nice and the weather was beautiful. The boys followed me up, because we had to return the car to the cabin. I had my window and Carter's window down and my Little Peanut had his hand out the window the whole way. The music was on, the sun was setting, and it was PERFECT.

Once we got there, we put Little Man down, and opened a bottle of Moscato. We played a game of Price is Right and Family Feud on the iphones. We then started a couple parroting apps, and ended up laughing forever as the two apps sat back and held a conversation, much like a game of telephone.

Once we were done, we spent a great amount of time outside looking at stars and talking. At first the wind made it a little cool, but as the night went on, the weather warmed and made it very easy to stay outside and keep one another company.

Once morning came, we quickly cleaned up, as we all were DESPERATE for some coffee from good old Maverick! We headed back down the canyon and home to get back to the realities.

These two night get aways were so nice and exactly what we needed. On our way home, Brad, Nathan, and I decided that five years from now we were going to see if we are in a position for a cabin. A little getaway where we can go in an hour and a half, in the late evening, and enjoy a night with friends and family. A place where Christmas parties can be had or a night of star gazing can be completed. Hopefully we can make this happen sooner than later!

A Trip To The Mine

A couple Sunday's ago, Grandpa Garry called and asked if we wanted to join NeeNers, Grandpa Garry, and the Hansen Family to go see Kennecott. I hadn't been there in years, and Peanut had never been. So, we packed up and spent a few hours at the mine.

We had to ride a bus to the mine, but Carter loved it.



We then were able to see the hole, that is about a mile and a half deep.



The kids got to see a tire, look around, and enjoy.







We then went inside and looked at what is made at the mine.









Grandpa Garry bought all the grandbabies a little treasure and then we headed home for some street tacos. It was a great little Sunday outing.

It's A Smile, It's A Kiss, It's A Sip Of Wine...IT"S SUMMERTIME!!!

On July 9 Heather and I went to Kenny Chesney! To me, it truly was one of those moments when I KNEW it was summertime. There is just something about a country concert, outdoors, with a great group of friends, in July.



I think this was my sixth time seeing Kenny, and this was the BEST concert I have seen of his!!!



There had been a CRAZY storm earlier in the day, that made us a little nervous, but it turned out to be PERFECT weather!!!




We had so much damn fun!



Heather and I met up with Torrie, Jess, Deana, and a few others. They were so much fun and truly made the concert that much better.



His opening act was Uncle Cracker, followed by Billy Currington, who is darling!!!

We had seats but the people next to us were boring, so we went up to the grass to be with Deana, and that was where the party was.





We danced and sang to EVERY song...which is how I judge how good a concert was. So, when I can sing the entire time, I know I LOVED it!!!





Nick picked us up, and I won't mention that Heather made me leave before the encore, because I heard on the radio it was the BEST part of the show, and I missed it. But rather than that, it was AMAZING! Now it makes me want to go to Tim!

Expanding Our Options

Dustin, Carter and I want to expand our family. We want to have more kiddoes. We want Carter to have a sibling(s). We want him to have a companion to play with and someone to confide in, because we both do with our siblings.

There are so many options, yet due to different reasonings, we aren't able to bring more kiddoes into our home due to the following reasoning.

Why not adoption? As much as we would LOVE to adopt a child from birth again, the financial part of adoption is where we are lacking. It is extremely expensive to adopt through an agency, and right now we do not know someone who is pregnant and wanting to place.

Why not fertility? Well, Dustin and I have now been pregnant a couple times, and I have lost the pregnancies. I do not want to spend a bunch of money on fertility treatments and just have my body reject the pregnancy. I would love to be pregnant and carry a child to term, however, right now I do not have much faith in myself in carrying a child. So, we want to put the money towards something more promising.

So...Today we opened a new door. Dustin and I have decided to look into Foster Care and see what that world offers for ours. Let me start by saying, I. AM. TERRIFIED!!!

We met with a social worker this morning, and let me tell you it is so intimidating to have DCFS come to your house, even if it is for all the RIGHT reasons. I was a nervous wreck, and the lady couldn't have been sweeter. Still...scary!

We talked about what our hopes are, what the goals are, how we feel about all these different situations, and what it is we are willing to do and not do. There was so much information and so much to think about and decide.

What did it all boil down to? Well, we are going to try it. We start classes next week and then once they are half way through, we start our home study. There are many similiarites to the DCFS application and such, but I am a little overwhelmed at the thought of knowing all that is to come.

However, all this has nothing to do with why I am terrified. It has nothing to do with taking on children who need to be loved, no matter what the story. I am in no means even overly concerned about all the hoops my family and I will jump and go through to provide safety, love, and comfort, to another child(ren). I am terrified about our hearts being broken.

The ultimate goal of fostering is reunification, which I completley understand and will support 100%. What I worry about is Carter spending a year or more with a child, bonding with them, creating a relationship, a friendship, a sibling-hood and then that baby going back with their biological family and Carter getting hurt.

I worry that Dustin and I will become completley invested in a child, fall head over heels in love with them, and then they get to go back to their family. It makes me noivous!

But...nothing ventured nothing gained. I have no doubt that each palcement will bring something incredible to our home. I have hope that we will find a child(ren) who are going to be able to be adopted, who fit our family dynamic, and we can adopt them. But if all else fails, and it doesn't work, we can say we tried and we gave some kiddoes a safe, loving home for a little while.

Next Wednesday Dustin and I will take a leap of faith, start the trainings, and see what doors are going to open for Our Lil Adams Family...Wish us luck!!!

Who Painted Me?

Last night, it was late, and I was getting Carter ready for bed. Out of the blue he asked me, "Who painted you white?" I answered with, "NeeNers and Papa Jeff." He seemed to understand that, but then immediately came back with, "Well, who painted me Chocolate?"

In doing some research, Dustin and I are very aware that come the age of three, children start to see the difference in color. They start to identify different ethnicities and such around them. In the past month or so, whenever Carter see's a child who is African-American, he will say, "Hey, him Chocolate like me!" We always answer with something like, "yes, he is. Isn't he so handsome?" Then Carter will identify the other children on the box and say, "him not chocolate, her not chocolate..." and point to the other kids. So we knew the conversations would start to be coming sooner than later.

Last night, Carter asked who painted him. I figured this was the perfect time to start conversing with him about his adoption and his birth family. I explained to Carter that he had another family. This was his birth family. I told him that they were chocolate like him and that is why he is chocolate.

He then asked me where he came from. So I told him his birthmom's tummy. He asked, "why not your tummy?" I tried to explain to him that mommy has not been able to have effective pregnancy's and I couldn't get him to us by myself. So, his birth family created him for us.

Then he said..."What there name?" So, I told him. I told him about his birth mom, dad, and brother. I told him how amazing they all were and how much we love and appreciate them. We talked about how lucky we were that they picked us. He then asked, "Why they pick you?"

Honestly, I will never know how or why she picked us to be the lucky ones to raise our baby. I will always be in awe that they had enough faith and belief in Dustin and I to raise our child. But I don't have any idea how to explain that part to my soon to be 3 year old. So, I told him what his birthmom said. I said, "I don't know baby, your birthmom said she took one look at a picture of mommy and daddy and knew we were supposed to be a family."

The conversation carried on for probably 20 minutes. A lot of him trying to understand why he has two sets of parents, and us trying to explain how lucky he is. I made sure to tell him over and over that they loved him so much, and just felt like he belonged with us. That they had created him for Dustin and I so we could all be a family, because that was the only way it could happen.

As the conversation was ending, it dawned on me, I could show our baby a picture of his birth mom and brother. Fortunately, I had blogged some pictures of the two of them before our safe was stolen that held all of the pictures of us together. I showed him how beautiful his birth mom was and how cute his brother was. When he saw the pictures he said, "there chocolate like me!" It touched my heart. I don't want to say any other words then I was in awe that my little boy was learning his adoption story at such a young age. I was in awe at the smile he got when he saw them and I truly believe there was maybe a small glimpse of understanding the role of his birth family and his mom and dad.

As the night came to close, Dustin and I both pulled in our little chocolate bunny for some loves. We explained how much we loved him and how grateful we are that his birth family brought him into the world for us and for our family to be complete. I can only pray that as the questions continue, the correct answers do too. We want our little man to be proud of who he is and where he came from. We want him to know how much he is loved by both families and how lucky we are to have him as part of ours. It truly is an evening I will never forget.

I love and am ever so grateful for adoption and our families birth family.

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

Really...



The older I get, the more I LOVE the 4th of July. It truly has become my VERY favorite holiday in the whole wide world!



What made this year even BETTER...It was on a Monday.



Which made it an ENITRE weekend of celebrations.



Friday is when we began to celebrate. My mom, my sis, and I met for pedi's and then made sure we had the MUCH needed new holiday outifits for the family.



We then went to Logan Saturday until Sunday afternoon. Dustin and I were able to leave Peanut with Granny and Papa and sneak away to a movie, Green Lantern. That was nice to have a date, it had been awhile. Sunday morning we then went and spent a few hours with Aunt Tammy, we always enjoy our time and chats with her.

Sunday afternoon we headed to Kristie's and Rand's for a 3rd of July BBQ and Fireworks. Brad and Ty joined our two families, along with Jade and Marissa.







We started with a bbq. Shortly after, there was a MASSIVE shaving cream fight. It was so fun to watch the kids play and really get into the fight.











After the shaving cream, we fed the Little's their cupcakes and got ready to light off the fireworks.

It was so fun and the kids LOVED it! Let's be honest the adults LOVED it too. In fact, we had to go get more because when they were all gone, we were not ready for them to be over.











Monday morning, my little family, met mom and Gar for the Murray parade. Which is most DEFINITELY one of my favorite parts of the holiday.











A little later we met Mom, Gar, and the Hansen family at the park for Murray Fun Days. The kids played on the slides, ate some cotton candy, played a few games, and ran around. Another AWESOME part of the 4th.











After we were done at the park, we went to Nathan's for a block party. The whole street came out at his house and we had a BBQ. There was potato salad, hamburgers and dogs, chips and lemonade. We all played volleyball and then did fireworks together. It really is what the 4th of July is all about.









I read this quote on a facebook post and fell in LOVE with it. So, I am going to end with it. "You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." ~Erma Bombeck