Bear Lake Camping Take 2

So like I said, we did all our summer camping two weekends in a row. The second we went with our good family friends, The Arnells. It had been two years since we had last camped with them so we were due for a trip. We wanted to leave Thursday night so we could have all day Friday and Saturday up at Bear Lake. Nolan was working all day Thursday so I had to load up his truck, four wheeler and all. I was so proud of myself. I did have Gary come over and help me tie everything down. The last thing I want is for the four wheeler to fly out while I'm by myself on the highway (Toni, you know what I'm talking about ;)). We had such a blast, and this weekend was much better than the last. Lauren and Riley came up on Friday and met us again. We went to the lake both Friday and Saturday. On Saturday we spent the whole day tubing. I am such a freaking chicken on that thing. My voice was hoarse screaming at Riley cause he was going too fast, only to find out he was going faster when Caden was by himself. On Friday, Kadrie was really sick with a nasty cold and all she wanted to do was sleep and be held. You can see how miserable she was in the picture with me. I know I am going to sound like a bad mom, but I love when my kids are sick. I love how cuddly they are. I actually don't mind my kids being sick, in fact, sometimes I want to make them sick just so they will be all cuddly. Ok so not really, but you know what I mean. We always have so much fun camping with the Arnells, and the kids get a long so well. Plus you can't beat Gary's BBQ chicken and Nanette's potato salad. And of course my famous watermelon brownies :). Ok, so they aren't famous, but they should be. They are awesome.

Bear Lake Camping

Since this summer I ended up working full time, so that the other hygienist could be on maternity leave, we didn't do any camping. So at the end of August we decided to get it all in. We ended up camping two weekends in a row. We sold our camper in February and so we resorted back to good ol' tent camping, with an air mattress, of course! We love Bear Lake and for the last few summers that is where we end up camping. It's great because at night and in the morning you get to be in the mountains doing the whole camping thing, and then in the afternoon we head down to the gorgeous lake. The first weekend our good friends, Lauren and Riley came up. Riley even brought his boat. Unfortunately, the weather was not so pleasant and the first morning we woke up to pouring rain. It did eventually taper off, but it was definitely not boat weather. We still had a lot of fun anyway. I was not about to get up and cook breakfast in the rain, so we went to Plan B, the nearest restraurant. Saturday was my birthday, and anyone who knows me well knows that my favorite part of my birthday is the cake and candles. Nolan seems to struggle at remembering this every year, but to his credit he kept mentioning how he was trying to figure out how to bring up a birthday cake(he had a big reminder on the calendar). Well he didn't bring one up so I decided to try to cook brownies in a watermelon as my birthday cake. We went out and bought brownie mix and stuff(we already had the watermelon), and while I was mixing up the brownies, Lauren surprised me with a birthday cake she had brought up from home. What a great friend. She didn't trust Nolan to remember. We still made the brownies and they were awesome. Watermelon Brownies, who would have thought. So even though the weather didn't cooperate we still had a blast. Lauren and Riley are always fun to be around. Kadrie especially loves Riley. She told Lauren she was going to marry him when she is done being a princess, and then asked Lauren if that made her mad. She is so funny. Caden, of course, loves the dirt part of camping and destroying anything. He found an old ax in the river and spent the weekend trying to chop down a tree. He never succeeded, but I never heard he was bored. Bronco also kept busy chasing his own splash in the river.

My First Ultrasound!

With both of my first two adoptions I never had the chance to be involved during the pregnancy. I am so excited that with this adoption we have the chance to be. H. was so awesome and brought me the ultrasound pictures of our baby. There were three, but this was the only one that you could really see her. Isn't her profile so dang cute? I love the shape of her little head and her cute little nose. I've always loved looking at everyone else's ultrasounds, but now I finally have one of my own. Aren't I so freaking lucky :)!

We Are Expecting!

So for all of you who haven't heard, we are expecting a baby girl due October 27th. This adoption, just like our other two, has been nothing short of a miracle before our eyes. A couple of weeks ago, I had a patient come into my office. She was telling me about her daughter who just had adopted a little boy and, of course, I couldn't help but brag about my two kids. I told her that Nolan and I were wanting to adopt again, but that we were just waiting a bit. Well the next day she passed along to me information about a possible adoption situation. Nolan and I were extatic. It felt like a blessing that fell into our laps. I spoke on the phone to the birthmother's mom and sent her pictures. She told her daughter about us and she and the birthfather wanted to meet us. H. and R. flew out this last weekend and we got to spend all Saturday with them. It was a long day for them, I'm sure. Their flight was delayed and then we drove back to Green River and then back to Utah. All of that on Saturday. They were such good sports and the long drive to and from Utah was great to get to know eachother. They are both such wonderful people and I feel so blessed to have been able to get to know them. I know this decision of theirs is such a hard one to make. I know that it is out of love for their baby and wanting her to have a wonderful life that they are chosing to make an adoption plan for her. I hope they know how grateful we are to them for blessing our family with the joys of another child, something Nolan and I could not have if it weren't for them. Words will never express how much they mean to us.

Caden and Kadrie's Pledge of Allegiance

My mom was telling me that when my sister Shaye was 4 she learned the Pledge of Allegiance. I thought I would try to see if Kadrie would let me teach her. She doesn't ever let me teach her anything, but she actually did this time. It's not perfect, but I love the way she says it. When I was teaching her I realized that maybe I should work on it with Caden who is 6. Well I went to teach him and he said, "Oh I already know it Mom", then he rattled it off for me. I didn't realize that they still taught them in school. I was so proud of him. So no time better than around the Fourth of July to say the Pledge of Allegiance.

July 4th Weekend

This year we met my family at my parent's condo in Provo, UT to celebrate the Fourth of July. What a fun weekend they have there. There was so much to do and see. It was way hot but we had so much fun just spending time with everyone. Nolan was such a sport. He drove up after working all night to see us. I love that man. We went up to where they have the Stadium of Fire and sat on the lawn and listened to SheDaisy and The Jonas Brothers (no offense to all those crazed teenage girls, but really, what is the big deal). Before it got really dark they let off a few fireworks. Caden and Kadrie were climbing on the cougar statue and as soon as the fireworks went off Kadrie was booking it toward us. She was just sobbing. The poor girl probably thought we were all being shot at. After she realized it wasn't all that scary, she was obsessed with the fireworks. It was so funny. Caden didn't care a bit. Anyone who knows Caden knows how gun-obsessed he is. If he hears something that sounds like a gun, he is in heaven. We had a blast down there and I think we plan on going there from now on.

This past weekend my brother, Jameson, and his wife, Keiliane, came to our house for a visit. I met Keili two years ago at a visit to Temple Square. She was a sister missionary there and I thought she was so cute. I told her that I thought my brother would just love her and I was right. They married a little over a year from that first meeting. She is from Brazil and was teaching me this weekend how to do some Brazilian dances. They are so tiring. She should start her own work out DVD teaching people how to dance the Brazilian dances. Kadrie loved every minute of it. Any time Kadrie hears music she can't help but start moving her body. She has always been like that. This is a video of them dancing. Thanks for coming and visiting you guys. We love having you!