We started going to a Foster Care class. The class is to learn about foster care and then certify if you so choose. We're still not sure if we're ready for foster care but we have to make a decision soon. Now, this doesn't mean that we are no longer hoping to adopt, in fact it means quite the opposite! We are still HOPING TO ADOPT, (please tell everyone you know!) this would just be another avenue to find our child.
We took one of our favorite families out to eat in August. Well, in to eat actually because one of their children was injured and couldn't leave the house. It was a lot of fun though. M (the little girl I once babysat) is part of this family. We took orders on what kind of ice cream everyone wanted. M changed her mind so many times that we actually ordered her two ice creams instead of one! When the ice creams came she tasted the one she chose last and decided she didn't like it and then ate the other one. Good thing we got both, she would have been very disappointed. Her dad loves sweets and I'm pretty sure he was happy to have extra! ;)
I went to Utah to visit my family for a couple of weeks. I was with my youngest sister, K6, and her new baby for a week and then Allan joined me at his parents home for 4 days. It was so nice to be with family again. I really enjoyed the baby time.
She is the perfect little thing too. She rarely cries or fusses and is very cuddly. If only we could be so lucky when our time finally comes. I really enjoyed talking with my sisters, K5 was there too, eating way more sweets than a person ever should, playing with K6's doggies, and shopping with K5. It was very refreshing to have some sister time. My mom and step-dad also came to visit while I was there and it was wonderful to see them as well. They made us all jealous talking about their upcoming trip to Hawaii. K6's in-laws came to visit too. They are part of our family like another Aunt and Uncle and I loved seeing them. And of course, I got to see K6's husband for a short time as well. It was fun to see them together loving their new baby. I am so happy for them!
Allan decided not to shave while I was gone. His beard doesn't grow in evenly and he has several spots on his face that don't grow hair at all. When he went to church on Sunday M saw him. She looked at him for a while and then said "Look Mom, Allan has some hair here, and here, and here" pointing around the bald spots! When our ward discovered that I was gone for the week they decided Allan must be fed! They fed him VERY well too!
We had a blast with Allan's family. We were there for his brother D's wedding. It was a wonderful day. D and his wife J (and all the family that helped) did a great job with the wedding. It was beautiful. J looked gorgeous, of course, and we are so happy to invite her into our family! Some pictures:
The family with the Bride and Groom.
Allan and our nephew, H, had a grand old time playing together. Allan was keeping him out of sight of his mom so that she could take some pictures.
One of our nieces fell in love with their cake and made me take about 10 pictures of it!
I think my favorite part of the wedding though was sitting in the nursery with the kids and their parents.
We went up to the mountain last weekend and had s'mores. It was so nice to be outside where it was cool. We found Butterfingers and Cookies and Cream bars that we could use for s'mores. They were really good. Much better than the normal milk chocolate! I highly recommend using butterfingers!
We had a Relief Society activity this week in which we made 60 freezer meals in an hour! We all took home 3 meals. It was a great activity and now I have my freezer meals done for a couple of months! Woohoo!
I babysat a little boy this week, D. I've babysat him several times before. He is the most docile child I have ever met. He's the one that is happier when I ignore him. This time I was making bread when he came over. He was very upset, as always, when his mom left. I helped him get his favorite toys out (my exercise ball and drum mallets) and then walked over to my mixer. As soon as I turned it on he stopped crying and said "Ooooh!" He was utterly amazed by the noise it made! I got a kick out of turning it on and off and hearing his little ooooh's! He actually played with me this time too! We danced, read stories, turned the lights and the ceiling fan on and off, chased the exercise ball, played airplane on the ottoman, and drummed as many things as we could. It was a very fun morning!
We went to M and L's to make sugar cookies this week. I made them some of Grandma's sugar cookies when M broke her leg and since then their dad has been consistently asking us to teach them how to make them. When we got there L came running up to me and said "Game? Game?" He knows that when I come we always play games. It was difficult to get him away from the games to make the cookies. We really enjoyed making the cookies with the kids. More than one of the children ended up covered in flour. At the end of the evening when it was time to go little L climbed up in my lap, looked at his parents and said "Bye" with a big grin on his face. They said "Oh, are you going home with Allan and Kami?" and he promptly said "YES!" What a cutie!
We went to the children's play this week for our date. They did Oliver Twist. As always it was very cute! We were glad to support some of the girls in our ward and see them perform. It's so fun to see the children's joy and pride in themselves.
Allan went to a boy scout camporee this weekend. The boys did a great job in the competitions and received a first place ribbon! Allan said it was a success because nobody got injured!
I really enjoyed the General Relief Society Broadcast on Saturday. The new presidency's testimonies of the Savior were beautiful and very comforting. President Eyring said in his talk that "the Lord's path for you will be marked by Him in the service you give to others." (that is not a direct quote) I, like so many others, love to give service and I have seen the Lord's path for me take shape many times as I have served or been served by others. What a great promise from a prophet of God.
Last week in Primary I did "Punch It". M's mom made the punch it board when she was the chorister a couple of years ago and gave it to me recently. The kids loved it. The boys especially loved punching through the tissue paper as hard as they could!
Today we practiced for the Primary Program and then had an extra long singing time combined with the older children. I brought bubble wrap, it's a favorite, and combined that with the ribbon dancing, instruments, and bean bags. It was quite the day in primary. The kids had a blast though. They were so excited they kept quietly sneaking up to pop a bubble on the bubble wrap! One of the sunbeams was trying his hardest to follow me in the ribbon dance. When I flung my ribbon up over my head though it was a little too much for him. He flung his ribbon up so far that he fell over backwards and landed on his back on the floor! He wasn't injured but he was very startled and looked at me like "What did you do that for!" When we were playing the instruments he drummed his little stick so vigorously that it broke in half! Poor little guy. It was a rough day for him. I always get a good laugh out of primary, it never, ever fails!
