St. George Getaway-- Top 10

You all know how I LOVE top 10 lists, right? Well, I think it's high time we have another.

We spent Memorial Day weekend in (should be sunny, but was actually windy) St. George with two of my dearest friends from high school, Camille and Anneka. Anneka is actually my cousin as well and her sister (thus another cousin) Shawna lives in town, so we got to spend some time with her, too. PLUS- we also got to see Devin's sister Jana, her husband Karl, and their son Grady, along with Devin's grandparents who all live there, too. Whew. So many people, so much fun.

So, without further ado....TOP 10 Moments of the weekend in St. George (and a million pictures!)

1) Time with Grandma and Grandpa Maughan. Devin's grandparents are getting a little up there in years and we do not get to see them all that often, so the time we were able to spend with them was priceless to us. 

Grandma was Flor's instant newest best friend. This was the first time G &G met Flor and she took an instant liking to both. She kept going over to Grandma and wanting to sit on her lap, so she and Grandma rocked a while in the rocking chair. It was adorable.

Jace, on the other hand, was enthralled with Grandpa's feet and the wheels on his walker. I love feet (not) and wheels too, so that totally makes sense, right?

By this time our actual camera battery had died and we had no charger (good planning, eh), so the phone pictures will have to do. Not the best quality, but oh well.

And two out of five people looking. Great picture, right there.

2) Late night chats with the ladies. Oh man, some serious walks down memory lane here. Camille had found some old church programs from our single days in her scriptures that she brought along, which brought hours of entertainment. Of course during those days we couldn't just listen in church, so these programs were full of some gems of notes. The notes were mostly between Camille, Kylee, and I because Anneka was at a different college, but we definitely had some good laughs over our topics of discussion. Here is an idea of what we are talking about: 

  *Camille: What are you doing today? I have on my schedule: 12:00- read the comics 12:30- take a nap 2:30- make rolls 3:00- read 4:00- go visiting teaching 5:00- dinner. Are you going to kiss Devo today? (Devin and I were engaged at the time)

  Kim: No, not today. Let's consult Family Rule #47, according to Stef: "We do not kiss boys on the Sabbath day." 

Camille:  THAT's a family rule??? Ohhhh NO!!!!!!!!!

{The family rules were just a joke, but oh my did we have some funny ones. Some too inappropriate to name here-- but old roommates will definitely remember. Obviously Camille had broken family rule #47. :))

Or this one: 

*Camille: This guy is a good speaker. I need to make a new Top Ten list. I love this song. Speaking of love, I love syrup. I could use some right now. & a bathroom.

{What the??? She is the queen of the randomly interjected thoughts...}

We also spent a fair amount of time back in the day playing a game on the programs called "Date, Dump, Marry." {Yeah, sometimes our paying attention in church was not the best...} One person would give the other person three names of guys we knew (mostly in our ward) and the second person would then have to say which one she would dump, which one she would date, and which one she would marry. Verrrrrrry interesting. We have matured a little bit since those days. Kind of. 

We stayed up WAY too late every night just talking and chatting. Even after we had said goodnight one night, Anneka's husband pointed out that we congregated together to the bathroom, then we congregated out to the front room again, then we congregated in the hallway on the way to bed... because we just couldn't stop. Gotta love it.

NOT a picture of our late night chats because no one wants to see that...but Anneka and I doing our best to look like we got 8 hours of sleep the night before instead of the 3 or 4 we actually got. 

3) Temple trip: On Saturday afternoon we took the kids to the Temple Visitor's Center to look around and to see the grounds of the St. George Temple. One of Camille's friends from New Zealand is serving her mission at the Visitor's Center, so Mille of course wanted to stop by and see her. We saw her right away and while Camille chatted, the rest of us had a look around. One of my favorite lines from the trip came here...Camille was introducing us to her friend and she said, "This is my best friend Anneka. We have been friends since we were three. And that is her cousin Kim." Thanks, Mille. Not that we went to Elementary School together. Or Junior High. Or High School. Or slept in the same room for 3 years in college or anything... :)

Addy, Hals, and Hyrum having a look at the Christ statue

These three were great together. Nothing better than a five year old (Addy) explaining what is happening in the pictures to two three-year-olds. She did a great job as the tour guide!

This is what happens when you try to get a picture of six kids.

These three became fast friends though. Hyrum took a liking to Hals and it was the cutest thing. But, seeing as they are cousins, we are going to encourage the relationship to remain in the "friends" category. :)

That's cuteness right there.

Mille and Flor

Look at Hy and Jace looking at each other. Too cute.

"Come on Jace!"

4) Taking the kids swimming on Saturday morning: We got up early Saturday and since we all stank anyway (Camille and I went running first thing and then she and Hallie did a workout video. No pictures of that since I think Camille would not appreciate me posting them here...), we decided going to the pool first thing would be a great idea. We headed to Washington City Rec Center as they have a nice indoor pool. The only problem was that the kids were not allowed floaties and had to use their regulation life jackets. Even after I explained that Flor has a disability and putting her in a life jacket is a joke because she doesn't have enough balance and ends up floating on her face, they still wouldn't allow her to use her floaty. Boo. I was not pleased. Devin had gone golfing with his buddy, so Camille and I manned my three kids. She basically chased Hallie around and took her down slides and stuff, and I held Jace and For in my arms. Wahoo. There was a more shallow part with a splash pad type toy, so we tried to stick around there for a while, but Jace would take off crawling and go under water before he knew it, so we quickly decided that that was not such a great location for us. Devin eventually showed up after his golfing trip and helped, which was great. The kids had a good time, though the trip was a tad stressful for me at first, trying to keep track of three kids who can't swim.

Don't we look good in our swimsuits? No...these are actually continuations from the Temple, but just wanted to break up the pictures a bit, ya know...

Hals and cute Hinckley. He and Jace are about a month apart, so it was fun to see them together.

5) Dinner out and a night away from the kids! Saturday night, Shawna and Curt arranged for babysitters to come to the condo where we were staying (which belongs to Camille's husband's grandma-- so nice of her to let us stay there!) so that we could go out. This was heavenly for us. We put our kids to bed before we left, thinking that it wouldn't be too big of a deal for these girls. Since Anneka's three kids were there too, we got two sitters. Well, we had a great time at dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. We took our time, ate great food, laughed a lot, played silly games, and just generally enjoyed a night out. 

We came back to the condo and the first thing one of the babysitters said was, "Umm...Hallie is yours right?" Oh dear. I was quite nervous to admit that she was. The babysitter said that Hallie had come crying out of bed shortly after we left saying that Flor had pushed her out of the bed (note to reader: yeah, right.) They thought all was fine and went to put Hallie back in bed when they noticed a lot of blood. Apparently Hallie fell out of the bed (or was trying to get out, more likely) and hit her leg on the table by the bed. She had a huge gash in her leg and there was blood all over the sheets and comforter. Yikes. Just what you want in a condo that you don't own! No worries, though, the girls were resourceful and found a band aid to bandage her up and we were able to successfully clean the bedding. Whew. Never a dull moment. 

Shawna's face illustrates how hilarious we all thought we were. Which, in case you wonder, we were.

We had a good laugh about this picture too. Devin is a like a mile away and refused to come any closer. Fine, suit yourself husband. By the way, Buzz, Camille's husband, was in Mexico for the weekend, so he was not there in case you wonder why there are no picture of him.

6) Late night games. And food. And laughing. We played a lot of games during the trip. Saturday night and Sunday night were dedicated to games. Games are fun most of the time, but when you play them with really fun people, they are even more fun. I am pleased to announce that Camille didn't even try to cheat. She is a notorious cheater, but kept herself in line this time. Good job, lady. While we played, we ate and ate and ate. Camille made her famous Congo bars and we pigged out on those the whole time. Mmmm... I could use some now....

7) The sleeping situation. Okay, when I say Top 10 moments, this has to fall under "Top 1 Worst Moment(s)." Yeah, I just made a new category. We had all of our kids in one room in the condo, which worked out great as the girls were in the huge bed and Jace in the walk in bathroom area in his pack-n-play. No problems there. Devin and I slept on the air mattress in the living room. We thought it would be great fun to have a slumber party with the others there, which was great fun, except for that the first night, Hallie woke up crying for some reason, so I tried to sleep with her and Flor for a while to calm her down. Well, Hallie allowed me approximately 2 inches of space, so I was basically hanging off the side of the bed. Two little children and one adult should fit quite easily in a king size bed, you'd think. But, not so. The second night I thought I would fall asleep right away because I was so exhausted, but we stayed up late again and got wired, then someone who shall-not-be-named but who happened to be sleeping in the living room too has taken up snoring, so that kept me up for a while longer. :) 

8) Visiting Devin's sister Jana and her cute family. Jana had us over for Sunday lunch at her house, which was really fun. We had a delicious meal, great company, and the kids enjoyed playing with their cousin Grady. Jana also was kind enough to teach me to cut boy hair. She demonstrated on Jace and though her professionalism intimidates me, her teaching must be fantastic because I gave Devin a haircut once we got home and it doesn't look too bad if I do say so myself (except for the bald spot in the back. But it's hardly noticeable! ha!)

Grady did not like the idea of having a posed picture taken, so we got some candids instead. Well two, before the camera died.

Grady and Uncle Devin

9) Eating Breakfast. "What?" You say, "Eating Breakfast?" Yes, eating breakfasts definitely deserves a place on my top 10 list. Why? Well, first of all, we had 3 pounds of bacon. That's reason enough. 2nd, pancakes the size of our heads (Thank you Curt). 3rd, a serious reminder of our growing up years and weekends/summer days spent at our family cabin in Island Park. Seeing as Anneka, Shawna, and I are all cousins and Camille an adopted member of the family, this type of breakfast brings back some strong memories together of good ol' fashioned family craziness. Gotta love that.

10) Attending church together. We were nearly zombies by Sunday due to lack of sleep, but we all managed to get ourselves up, showered, and to church by 11 am. I know, I know, 11 am is not that early, but it was a feat. We were even on time. We went to Shawna's ward and had a really great time together. It was fun to look back to the bench behind us (yes we took two) and to see all of our kids sitting together and reading stories together during Sacrament Meeting. The talks were superb. Jace took a nap (unheard of). The adults got sugary treats in Sunday School to stay awake. The Relief Society lesson was really, really great (best I've heard in a long time- and one I needed to re-hear). Camille and I got to play with Anneka's flannel book/scripture stories. Hyrum and Hallie went to Sunbeams together and appeared to be the only ones in the class (thank you teacher who knows neither of them for teaching our children!) All in all- a great day at church.

And that concludes our horrendously long Top 10 list. Sorry everyone. I better go put a disclaimer at the top. Who knew that I had so much to say?

And...it appears that I have one straggler picture. I feel bad that I didn't get any pictures of all of Shawna's kids, but this one has Alia in it. The kids loved playing together, which was so great. Hallie doesn't know these cousins very well at all since we don't see them that often, so it was fun for her to get to know them.

Addy, Alia, Hallie, Flor, and Hyrum playing dolls

Family Pictures 2012

My wonderful friend Jaime came clear from Alaska to take our family pictures again this year. Okay, okay, she actually came for some time with her family and for some baby showers for her and her sweet baby coming soon, but she was kind enough to squeeze in some time to take our pictures. She always does such a good job and this time was no exception, especially given that Flor cried nearly the whole time (you wouldn't know it, right!?) Thanks Jaim, you are a champ!!

Without further ado, some of our favorites of our family of 5:

Hallie insisted upon having individual pictures taken. That cheeser.

3 pictures and 3 videos of 3 cute kids

Well. We surely have some cute kids...here's a little picture and video of each from the last week.

FLOR:
Okay, sorry this is approximately half of Flor's face, but it is pretty cute still, so here it is. This was actually taken during one of our evening rocking sessions. She is getting much more comfortable with longer/close touch and seems to actually enjoy being rocked now. She climbs right up and we spend 10 minutes or so and then she sits up, pushes off, and she is done. Kind of funny.

And her video is of her in the morning waiting for the bus. She gets really excited when she hears the bus pulling up. Just watch and see.

JACE: 
This little stinker is just growing up before my eyes. He is so interactive all the sudden and is getting so smart. I have a whole host of videos of him recently as I tried to capture all his newest "tricks." I had a hard time choosing which one to post here, so there may be more coming in the future. The picture shows one of his favorite places to play in the yard, this little corner where he can eat dirt to his heart's content without being caught....at least for a minute. :)

His little video shows him "singing." Like I mentioned, he is picking up on all sorts of things, and this is one of them as we have been singing a bit at night. (Remember the off key hymns each night? Apparently I am passing that skill on to the kids. Yes!)

HALS: 
Can we say "Princess." Hallie has insisted upon wearing dress up clothes as clothes nearly every day recently. Some battles are just not worth fighting, am I right? I decided that this one could slide for the time being. But she is surely the sight to see when we are going on walks or other places and she is wearing her fancy, plastic heels. She promises that she can walk fast and keep up in those shoes, and well, she can. So I can't argue with her there...

Her video is her latest Article of Faith that she has memorized. I know this is mostly even interesting to Grandmas and Grandpas, but I also enjoy having them here on the blog-- which is basically a record of everything for me. So there it is. She forgets a word or two in there, but for the most part she has it down (the 4th Article of Faith.) Now, I better start remembering the 5th so I can teach it to her...haha.

Celebrating Adoption Walk 2012

Saturday was our 4th year in a row attending the "Celebrating Adoption Walk" sponsored by Families Supporting Adoption. However, this year it was extra special for us as our family has grown and been blessed by the long awaited arrival of our Flor. It is fun to be surrounded by other adoptive families and their children...and the donuts, firetrucks, Cosmo, and candy toss aren't too bad, either (especially if you ask Hallie).

We had a great time walking around the track in honor of someone who has touched our lives in the adoption realm. We then had a balloon release (everyone except Jace, who refused to release his balloon), ran races by age group, and enjoyed donuts and drinks. Of course we had to stop over and see the firetrucks, too. This year Hallie was actually interested which made it fun. The kids had fun playing with a parachute (think elementary school style) and racing for candy in the candy toss. I'm telling you- this is kid's heaven! I enjoyed talking to a lot of my clients and past adoptive families- it is so fun to be able to see them each year to see how they are doing. Dev was a champ and mostly took care of the kids so I could just go from group to group and chat.

Saturday was also "Birth Mother's Day"- always celebrated the day before Mother's Day. My thoughts turn often to Flor's birth mother and particularly so on that day. Though we now know some information about her, I would like to actually know her, along with Flor's birth father. I would love to know the people who gave her life and to commend them for the choice that they made to leave her in the hospital. They felt they couldn't care for her and desired her to have what she needed in life, thus they made the undoubtedly difficult decision to do what they did. I hope someday I will be able to thank them for allowing Flor to have life and for us to have her in our lives.

And with that, how about a picture tour of our lovely day:

Well, couldn't Flor and Jace at least be looking the same direction, if not at the camera? Oh, well.

A Day in the Life...

So, I have seen some people post what a day in their life is like and I have loved reading them, so I thought this would be fun to record for me too. Read if you would like, if not, come back another day.

A day in the life of Kim:

6:30 am- alarm clock goes off. Hit snooze button no less than four times.

6:50 am- roll out of bed, get dressed, and do a little exercise (note: I do not normally get up and exercise, but Devin and I are attempting to be better. I might even make a chart, since when something is in chart form, it is basically set in stone for me. It makes me uneasy to see things not checked off on the charts. Case in point: We made a chore chart for ourselves about 5 or 6 weeks ago and our house has been much cleaner since. Why? I can't stand to see that day's chore not checked off. Weird, I know.) Oh boy. If my tangents are going to be this long, this post is going to take days. Again, feel free to skip. :)

7:16 am- pant, red-faced around the front room while trying to regain some semblance of normalcy after my exercise attempt.

7:25 am- eat with the kids- pancakes that Devin has lovingly cooked during my absence

7:40-8:15am- put Flor on the potty and get Jace in the tub. Order Jace to sit down. Tell Flor not to eat toilet paper. Ask Hallie to get her pajamas off so that she can get in the tub next. Tell Jace to sit down. Wash and get Jace out of the tub. Get him dressed. Get Hallie into the tub. Wash her. Try to get her out, but she instead insists on staying in to play for a while. Finally persuade Hallie to get out of the tub. Cheer for Flor as she goes potty. Get Flor in the tub. Get Flor washed and out of the tub. Tell both naked girls to sit tight while I run downstairs to get them some clothing. Oops, should have brought that up before. (Devin was not here for this morning. He normally is for this routine, but he had some things he needed to do, which made it that much less smooth for me.) Get Flor dressed. Get Hallie dressed. Work on Flor's hair. Tell Jace to get off the stool. Answer Hallie's questions about death and the resurrection (she is on the topic of death these days. How sad that her little 3 year old mind has to comprehend it on the level she does. She had a lot of questions about Jesus' death and Linda's death.) Continue working on Flor's hair. Tell Jace to stop taking everything out of the bathroom drawers and throwing it in the sink.

8:24am- Finish Flor's hair as I hear the bus pull up. Throw her shoes on as well as her backpack and run her out the door. A few seconds later realize that her teeth were never brushed. Double oops. (Many apologies to Flor's teachers- I know firsthand that her breath is not the best.)

8:26 am- Do Hallie's hair to her exact specifications. Brush Hallie's and Jace's teeth. 2 for 3 aint bad in the teeth brushing department, or so I tell myself.

8:30am- read the newspaper/news online/check facebook. Hallie and Jace are roaming freely around the house.

9:00 am- Put Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on for Hals and put Jace down for a nap.

9:03 am- I strip the beds, gather the rugs, and get the old towels and take them downstairs to be washed (remember the chore chart? This is today's chore for me.)

9:10 am- consider making the beds right away but decide against it. (just for the record- Devin did the beds later. Plus his own chore of deep cleaning the kitchen. Good husband, eh?)

9:15 am- finally bathe my stinking self.

9:59 am- after dilly dallying around, talking to Devin (who has since returned) and reading a little, I decide that I ought to do my hair and get ready to go to work.

10:16 am- show up at work. I know, I can get ready fast.

10:18 am- listen to voicemails and return clients' calls. Enjoy especially talking to one of my former birth moms who placed 2 plus years ago. I haven't heard from her in forever. Love hearing that she is doing so well.

10:40 am- respond to emails/talk to secretary/ check in with boss.

11:00 am- begin a 3 hour Ethics CEU webinar. Snooooooooooooooze. Play games on my phone to occupy my time. Chat with Camille online while listening to said Webinar. Write two sentences on my pad of paper (for the entire three hours-- obviously an insightful webinar). Get up. Walk around. Eat lunch. Make jokes with boss and other boss about how terrible webinar is. Play more games on my phone. Draw a little. Consider getting the crayons out of the cupboard and coloring a picture for Hallie. Become very glazed over. Get really antsy when the webinar runs 3 minutes over.

2:12 pm- pack up my junk and hurry out to the car. I was supposed to be at Flor's school to meet with her teacher at 2:10.

2:14 pm- (I drive fast. The school is nearby. Don't judge.) Run up the stairs at the school in my skirt. Arrive panting in front of Flor's classroom door with teacher standing there eying me suspiciously.  Mumble out my lame excuse for being late.

2:19 pm- Meeting with Flor's teacher and the speech therapist to go over all her recent testing results. All tests say that Flor is between 12- 18 months. Laugh with teacher that the state is requiring her to have an IQ test in order to get disability services. (Apparently the psychologist tried to give the test just to meet the requirement and it was a great joke.) Discuss plans for Flor for summer. Discuss Flor's progress (great progress!!)

2:49 pm- Ignore call from Devin. Hurry and end conversation and run out the door.

2:53 pm- Call Devin back and inform him that I am on my way. Yes, I know he has to be at work at 3 pm.

2:58 pm- Pick Devin, Hals, and Jace up. Rush Devin to work.

3:06 pm- Drop by the bank.

3:20 pm- Pick Flor up from school. (usually she rides the bus, but we were out and about doing errands, so I thought I would just pick her up so we didn't have to go home to get her at 4.)

3:34 pm- Call my sister while making our way to Costco. Tell Jace not to stick his sticky hands on things (thank you bank suckers). Tell Hallie no that we are not watching a movie in the car. Discuss Relay for Life ideas with sister. Tell Hallie that we are not watching a movie in the car. Discuss our crazy family with sister. Tell Hallie that NO, we are NOT watching a movie in the car!

3:44 pm- arrive at Costco. End conversation with sister. Park at the very end of the lot as nothing else is available and start making the trek to the front of the store. Adjust arm. Jace is heavy, arm is dead. Order Hallie to hold on to my pants. Hold Flor's hand. Move one inch per minute. Steady progress...

3:47 pm- Still inching along. See friend I haven't seen in years drive up. Start getting giddy with excitement. (This friend went to Ecuador with me and hasn't seen Flor since she has been home...plus she has two boys that she is adopting herself right now.) Wait for friend to park. Talk to friend. Block traffic. Finally decide to keep walking into the store. Some poor lady offers me a cart for my herd of kids. Gladly accept cart. Throw Jace in the front and Hallie and Flor in the back.

3:59 pm- Say goodbye to friend and go about our shopping. Tell Flor not to pull Hallie's hair. Tell Hallie that no we are not getting ice cream. Tell Hallie to sit down. Console Jace with allowing him to hold my costco card.  Find one item that is needed. Tell Hallie that no, we are not getting ice cream.

4:02 pm- Hallie wails that she needs to go to the bathroom. NOW. Of course we are on the opposite end of the store. Rush to the front. Run into friend also going into the bathroom with her kids. Unload all three kids and rush into the bathroom. Attempt to hold on to both Flor and Jace while holding Hallie's door shut. Notice that Flor is missing a shoe. Awesome.

4:05 pm- Help Hallie wash her hands. Adjust Jace. Arm hurts REALLY bad now. (this kid needs to start walking)

4:06 pm- Find Flor's shoe on the way back to our cart. Shove kids all back into the cart and resume shopping. Remind Hallie to sit down.

4:07 pm- Tell Hallie that no, we are not getting ice cream. Speed shop. Throw everything in the cart that we need. Last item- diapers. Shove hallie into a tiny corner of the cart and move Flor up front to fit. Tell Flor not to hit Jace (it's more like love taps but he doesn't interpret them that way). Tell Hallie that no, we are not getting ice cream.

4:35 pm- Find a line and high tail it out of there. Console whining child who is mad that we didn't get to write our names on a balloon (Primary Children's Fundraiser and the lady didn't ask us if we wanted to donate, probably because her bagger man was reading a book and telling me all about it and she couldn't get a word in edge wise.) Tell Hallie that she can be my big helper and carry the receipt instead. She thinks this is a great idea and takes her job very seriously.

4:40 pm- Get kids buckled in car and get in the mega long line to get gas.

4:54 pm- Tell Hallie that no we are not going to watch a movie in the car. Ask her to look for the Temple instead. She misses it. She pouts. Ask her to look for mom's work instead. She misses it. She pouts. Ask her to look for the place where she goes to computer class instead. She sees that one and is happy again. (Seriously the moods of this child???)

5:00 pm- Haul the groceries inside. Put Flor on the potty. Rescue Jace from almost falling off the concrete landing. Ask Hallie to get the mail. Put groceries away. Stick soup on the stove to heat up. (We have a bunch of frozen meals again-- my sanity-- since Che', Landon, and I re-stocked a few weeks ago. See picture for evidence...I never did post this. It's only a portion of the final amount. WAHOO for frozen meals!!)

5:06 pm- Cut up some bread and some cheese to go with dinner. Check on Flor. She has gone potty-- yay Flor! Remind Flor not to eat toilet paper. Clean up everything that Jace has pulled out of bathroom drawers and thrown in the sink.

5:17 pm- Get kids up to the table to eat dinner. Kids all actually eat...feed themselves and don't whine, so I get a minute to decompress.

5:50 pm- Put Flor on potty. Clean up dinner dishes. Unload dishwasher. Load dirty dishes. Wipe counters. Sweep floor (this is a nearly every meal occurrence...we have really dirty eaters.)

6:05 pm- Tell hallie to get pajamas for herself and Flor. Change Jace's diaper and get him into pajamas. Ask Hallie to get pajamas. Ask Hallie to get pajamas.

6:10 pm- Brush everyone's teeth. Flor's get an extra good scrubbing because of our oversight this morning. She is none to happy about this. Console Flor. Dress girls.

6:17 pm- Read stories/scriptures. Remind Hallie to sit down so everyone can see.  Flor acts disinterested but sits still. Jace is who knows where. Remind Hallie to sit down so that Flor can see.

6:40 pm- Clean up items that Jace has emptied out of his drawer. Change Jace's diaper again as he stinks. Wasted diaper...ugh.

6:45 pm- Loves and kisses from everyone for Jace and then Jace is in bed.

6:47 pm- rock Hallie in the rocking chair and sing hymns/Primary Songs to her very off key (we have started rocking Flor at night for bonding purposes/helping her be comfortable with physical touch for longer periods of time, so of course Hallie insists upon a turn too.)

6:53 pm- rock Flor in the rocking chair while repeating off key singing. (Poor girls.)

7:00 pm- get Hallie and Flor into their beds and tuck them in. Loves and kisses for all.

7:01 pm- answer Hallie's five questions as I am walking out her door. Tell her no, she doesn't need a bowl to throw up in (she is not sick, she just asks for a bowl every night "just in case.") Tell Hallie she will have to save her next five questions for tomorrow. Tell Flor not to suck her fingers. Make my exit.

7:04 pm- eat a large brownie. I deserve it.

7:08 pm- turn on the TV for some mindless viewing while I finish the rest of our thank you cards (thank for your patience everyone). Feel overwhelmed with gratitude again as I think of the over 150 people who helped us in our adoption process.

8:15 pm- done with thank you cards. Catch up on facebook, blogs, and news while continuing to watch mindless TV (Chopped is on. My favorite.)

9:00 pm- begin this post on the blog.

9:02 pm- Answer Devin's call as he is on his break at work.  Talk to him for a minute then resume blogging.

9:43 pm- remember that I never watered the pots today as I intended. Water pots.

10:04 pm- Devin is home for work. Get pajamas on, brush teeth, catch up on our days, then get in bed.

10:15 pm- read a conference talk with Devin.

10:30 pm- prayers and lights out.

10:34 pm- I'm in a deep sleep. (okay, I don't know this for fact because I haven't been able to figure out yet how to check the time while sleeping, but it's probably a good guess.)


Aaaaaaand, there it is-- a day in my life. Fairly boring, but I think it will be fun to look back on some years down the road and see what life was like with three young kids....it goes by too fast, right?

Kitchen Transformation

I have been meaning to post these pictures for a while...but you know, things happen and time gets away.

So, without further ado....our kitchen transformation:

We bought our house in July of 2009 (we have been here almost three years-- crazy!) and knew that there were a few things that were going to need our attention. First and foremost: the kitchen.

Gotta love the yellow and green motif. UGH. Plus the boxy feel was kind of rough. Not the best designed kitchen ever. No room for a table, thus our table was in the living room for the first year of living here. Also, please notice the old yellow stove (you can just see a tiny bit of it on the left of the picture). Lovely.

First things first: We ripped out this floor immediately. We actually had just the dirty underflooring (what's that called?) for a few months before we finally got our new floor in. It was that bad.

About a year after we moved in, we finally got around to getting rid of the old yellow cabinets and replacing them with these beauties that we sanded and stained ourselves (with the help of a lot of family members- thanks fam!)

Specifically, my Uncle Lynn...he basically did the whole kitchen for us. What a champ! He was so dedicated that he worked late nights after he got home from his regular job (he builds sets).

And wah-lah! Much better, right? It's amazing what a few little changes can make. New cabinets, new flooring, new appliances, etc. Everything was done last year except for the backsplash. Lynn surprised us and finished it while we were in Ecuador. What an awesome surprise to come home to! We have a white fridge which you can't see in this picture, but it is on the right side, against the wall just out of the shot. So the white sink and the white fridge may be replaced someday...but not right now. We will see.

MUCH more counter space, which is fantastic. The fridge is on the right of the door that you can see here. Just in case some of you want a full visual. :)

Thanks Uncle Lynn for our fabulous kitchen!

Also, don't forget our Relay for Life Raffle! We have raised $360 as a team and would love to raise more for the American Cancer Society! Will you consider donating $10 to our team? You can go HERE to our donation page (feel free to type in my name, thus the donation will be credited to me! Or Devin is fine too...) and after that, be sure to leave a comment on the raffle blog letting us know that you donated for a chance to win an amazing prize. The raffle blog is HERE. There are some awesome prizes...an exercise basket with Itunes giftcard, a photography session, a gift card to a themed inn, multiple other gift cards to various retailers, and some adorable mother/daughter aprons (which I want for myself) amongst others. Please go check it out! Thanks all!