tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66925953077508278802024-03-05T08:33:07.641-08:00Harmony and HavocTanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.comBlogger304125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-13556184118383199492015-02-07T14:22:00.000-08:002015-02-07T14:22:00.442-08:00A miracleI don't know who, and I don't know why, but someone has blessed our <a href="http://reecesrainbow.org/75035/sponsorwhicker-2">Reece's Rainbow account</a> with a huge donation. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw our balance today. With the money I'll be getting from my contract work, it means that we're only $2000 short of being fully funded. We are so incredibly grateful for this generosity. Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-76288567039843244502015-02-02T14:28:00.000-08:002015-02-02T14:42:58.141-08:00Yellowstone Invitational<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last weekend, Maizie and Sofie had their second gymnastics meet of the season, the Yellowstone Invitational. They did great! Maizie took 2nd on vault, 1st on floor, and 5th in the all-around. Here are a couple of highlights. :) </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLPA-0U99s1ZbjfojTlZxwQjKqraA3h1exKmR3pD8EGf-5RvOLefagkVcsAUuMXnXvoUJ24WarMT8ETPoE_qFJzOKPbPTcdXUp-idtecIm8M_pdY5HnOqaaI4gqImmRJKVJl1-Xd4U3Jk/s1600/ta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLPA-0U99s1ZbjfojTlZxwQjKqraA3h1exKmR3pD8EGf-5RvOLefagkVcsAUuMXnXvoUJ24WarMT8ETPoE_qFJzOKPbPTcdXUp-idtecIm8M_pdY5HnOqaaI4gqImmRJKVJl1-Xd4U3Jk/s1600/ta.jpg" height="148" width="640" /></a></div>
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On January 29th, we received our travel approval! We got our first choice consulate appointment of March 10th, but when we discovered how much cheaper flights would be if we waited a week (we're talking $3000+ less!), we rescheduled for the 17th of March. We're SO excited that the wait is almost over! We first learned about her on March 11th of last year, so it will be nearly a year to the day when we get her on March 9th. We feel so incredibly blessed! <br />
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Zinnia, here we come! <br />
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<br />Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-27295342646311355062015-02-02T12:53:00.001-08:002015-02-02T13:24:32.676-08:00I'm just terrible at blogging...But I'm pretty darn great at doing bulleted, catch-up posts! Here's another, for your reading pleasure:<br />
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<li>Christmas was lovely, as always. Compared to previous years, it felt like the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas lasted approximately 45 seconds. A lot of our traditions were dropped because there simply wasn't time, but the important things were there - the tree, some gifts, the whole family, goody deliveries, and most of all - our thoughts of the Christ child. </li>
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<li>On the very last day of the year, we received some long-awaited photos of Zinnia. We were so saddened (OK, *I* was so saddened) to see that her foster family decided she needed a drastic haircut to "fix" the nightmare she appears to have inflicted on her own bangs. I'm reminding myself it's just hair, and it will grow back. And I'm packing hair bows. </li>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">The first week of the new year, we passed another milestone - sending Joshua off to his junior year of college. He's decided to enter the communication disorders program (proud parents here!) and will be getting a doctorate in audiology. We hope that he'll come back and join our practice when he finishes. How awesome would that be?! </span></li>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">Aw... Isn't he cute standing in the snow WITH NO COAT?!</td></tr>
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<li style="text-align: left;">About this same time, my hair started falling out by the fistful! I have no idea what was causing it. We did have a lot going on, but I wasn't feeling particularly stressed and hadn't experienced any of the events that sometimes trigger this type of hair loss (childbirth, anyone?). I went to the doctor and everything was fine - my thyroid, my hormones, my diet - everything. I was truly afraid that at the rate it was falling out, I was going to be bald in a couple of months! I had already lost about 1/3 of my hair, so I decided that cutting about 14" off of it would help it look fuller. It did, but two weeks later, the hair stopped falling out just as abruptly as it had started. I'm kicking myself because I liked my long hair, but it grows really fast so it will be OK. I have new hair growing all over my head that's about an inch long. Crazy. </li>
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<li>January 11 was Thalia's 10th birthday. I cannot even. 10?! 10??!! She is such a sweetie! She loved everything she got - especially her new silvery glitter Walmart knock-off Uggs. </li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3YYpJROLubEJJXzP0GHQDhj0Hg_aVFcuRCNK1912OwhliyLpzvVa_vxxzf3Lc_Rgf8Ncvf_dcrMpzou_Al9GQZ4ZhFJzqYYP86VQDj_ZLf9dqCmPMtxtTwjd6VdtEIZDbYPqo7zI3Lc4/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3YYpJROLubEJJXzP0GHQDhj0Hg_aVFcuRCNK1912OwhliyLpzvVa_vxxzf3Lc_Rgf8Ncvf_dcrMpzou_Al9GQZ4ZhFJzqYYP86VQDj_ZLf9dqCmPMtxtTwjd6VdtEIZDbYPqo7zI3Lc4/s1600/5.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a><br />
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<li>Zoe finally graduated from cosmetology school, so of course we had to attend her graduation ceremony. By "graduated" I mean she punched out for the last time. And by "ceremony" I mean we all stood around laughing while we posed with her dummy head and pretended to have it kiss us. Like I always say, we're a high-class family. In all seriousness, though, we're very proud of Zoe. I'm ashamed to say that I used to have a low opinion of cosmetology school as a post-secondary option, but I promise you this girl has worked her hiney off and knows a heckuva lot more chemistry than I could ever cram into my brain! She plans to move to Idaho, work for a year to get residency, and then start college at ISU. </li>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On our way to the big punch-out!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She looks thrilled, doesn't she? The mannequin, I mean - not Zoe.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Punching out for the last time! </td></tr>
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<li>Then, oh then, ladies and gentlemen, it was Loundia's SIXTEENTH birthday on January 23rd! Sixteen, folks! Like she can go on a date! Woo hoo! <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQjBhPPXMMggIkReYtRITR8wQhYHzdC442tlCGfK50ptaIA9KLP6OEVpd1smfAScwA8w4q8Q-yojitlzSSVf3-OYIgya1bApxefTu2wCdvSdvsUVHm6gjRzEKG6cAsqvGfDM7KCzU3a4/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQjBhPPXMMggIkReYtRITR8wQhYHzdC442tlCGfK50ptaIA9KLP6OEVpd1smfAScwA8w4q8Q-yojitlzSSVf3-OYIgya1bApxefTu2wCdvSdvsUVHm6gjRzEKG6cAsqvGfDM7KCzU3a4/s1600/13.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lily's daydreaming in the background, "I'm going to be 16 next..."</td></tr>
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Then came <a href="http://harmonyandhavoc.blogspot.com/2013/01/where-to-start.html">January 25th.</a> It was a hard day. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSt6Y8ma_8r5xb2_JZ_lwqvjVrUl8ppPVDreinpD5I1pab5O9NlCrbO9Mco4u6L4RZ57SS5oLc5bi8gLDqhGXoM2KH4zlHf059wocrnG-kFk_wfVNValuTFDKOfPyz6p-EGcXYBFJSV4g/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSt6Y8ma_8r5xb2_JZ_lwqvjVrUl8ppPVDreinpD5I1pab5O9NlCrbO9Mco4u6L4RZ57SS5oLc5bi8gLDqhGXoM2KH4zlHf059wocrnG-kFk_wfVNValuTFDKOfPyz6p-EGcXYBFJSV4g/s1600/12.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miss my sweet mom</td></tr>
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<li>Gratuitous cute dog picture because now I'm sad.</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-xzc7mYTJ8SUixQBasANXZCrdgn7Twbyr8utxwUoUL4AVfVlD0WMCJqasqlhSu89vj99rd5mD5qhDxsEmopH4eyEzfMxycbtYgOCUsy1tItdGd-NFlFYH3W2HTOZwawsOXWN-jT87vE/s1600/14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-xzc7mYTJ8SUixQBasANXZCrdgn7Twbyr8utxwUoUL4AVfVlD0WMCJqasqlhSu89vj99rd5mD5qhDxsEmopH4eyEzfMxycbtYgOCUsy1tItdGd-NFlFYH3W2HTOZwawsOXWN-jT87vE/s1600/14.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<li>In other really exciting news, we received our travel approval for Zinnia on January 26th. You can read more about that and our travel plans <a href="http://harmonyandhavoc.blogspot.com/2015/02/travel-approval.html">here</a>. :)</li>
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<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D6692595307750827880%23editor%2Fsrc%3Ddashboard&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimages-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com%2Fgadgets%2Fproxy%3Furl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252F1.bp.blogspot.com%252F-Opi5_4DAEMo%252FVM_cT_hh5FI%252FAAAAAAAAE1A%252FuBd0TQpzXLw%252Fs1600%252F14.jpg%26container%3Dblogger%26gadget%3Da%26rewriteMime%3Dimage%252F*&xm=h&xv=sa1.35&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 32px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 7250px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D6692595307750827880%23editor%2Fsrc%3Ddashboard&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimages-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com%2Fgadgets%2Fproxy%3Furl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252F1.bp.blogspot.com%252F-Opi5_4DAEMo%252FVM_cT_hh5FI%252FAAAAAAAAE1A%252FuBd0TQpzXLw%252Fs1600%252F14.jpg%26container%3Dblogger%26gadget%3Da%26rewriteMime%3Dimage%252F*&xm=h&xv=sa1.35&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 32px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 7250px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-9376906307905660672014-11-30T15:55:00.000-08:002014-11-30T15:55:14.457-08:00Thanksgiving and other tales<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Let me catch you up on the Whicker goings-on from the last couple of weeks. </div>
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Two weeks ago, most of us went to Billings so Cora (who has albinism and is legally blind) could attend a day camp for blind athletes. She was able to learn some cool martial arts moves, and also finally learned out to play <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJifbI_OSps">goalball</a> with a bunch of other visually impaired kids. The people who sponsored the program were kind enough to put the traveling families up in a hotel for the night, so we made the most of it and enjoyed some other activities while there, including a little salon time at Zoe's cosmetology school. Thalia got her nails done, Beck got his hair rebraided (I'm still unable to braid for long periods due to my dislocated shoulder problems), and Jack got a sweet fade. ;) </div>
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We also ventured into our ginormous new Scheels for the first time. We didn't buy anything, but against my better judgment, we rode the indoor ferris wheel. For the second time that week I was wishing I had a little Valium on my person. I'm horribly afraid of heights. And enclosed spaces. (Having an MRI on my shoulder was the first time that week I was praying for drugs.) </div>
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Last week I took Thalia into Curtis' office to get her ears checked. I was pretty sure one or both of her tubes was plugged, and it turned out I was right. We'll wait a couple of weeks and retest her, but we may have to go see the ENT again if the problem persists. We're in the middle of losing our insurance yet again due to our premiums DOUBLING, so we'll have to wait until we have new insurance in place before delving further into that problem. We've done our application for a government marketplace plan, and now we just need to choose from one of 40 incredibly expensive options. Fun, fun!</div>
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And then there was Thanksgiving. I will go on record as saying that it was probably our smoothest Thanksgivings ever. We actually ate at 3:30. Stunning. </div>
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We were joined by our missionaries and my sister's in-laws, plus since Zoe and Teffy were here, we had our whole family home for the holiday. I'm grateful for these moments, because I know after this Christmas, they won't happen very often anymore. I hate thinking about that, so for now I'll enjoy what I have, which is a freaky fun family that (mostly) makes me happy every day! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhezgFlAhnlfgYoBHdbXkljYsTL289VsU-MMptvAaYYiar28l4wUzlLpcEaKfkzEJ7Sdwao1MAe8QM5W7xJnEsV0VFHxsbbhsCeCPI9uoqVTtR1i62vFYqFnUyoX8EtbyZzGHbpy8neUJc/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhezgFlAhnlfgYoBHdbXkljYsTL289VsU-MMptvAaYYiar28l4wUzlLpcEaKfkzEJ7Sdwao1MAe8QM5W7xJnEsV0VFHxsbbhsCeCPI9uoqVTtR1i62vFYqFnUyoX8EtbyZzGHbpy8neUJc/s1600/1.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting her nails did by big sis</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bq-ZZ-rGwKPXMxjBwsq-8svAVciBxNi8ks-Zx6GWKB89bFQyfr283UK_oJKM72lmuzEvNz5x5P4BTxR94gReJXCmNB4OrXC5jrnp6agstDblzadizP-_ICd17NTafS7SQ8qr98VF540/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bq-ZZ-rGwKPXMxjBwsq-8svAVciBxNi8ks-Zx6GWKB89bFQyfr283UK_oJKM72lmuzEvNz5x5P4BTxR94gReJXCmNB4OrXC5jrnp6agstDblzadizP-_ICd17NTafS7SQ8qr98VF540/s1600/13.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Learning the rules of goal ball</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnP5wHOIKmXbhYLEsZGs49hEaNm46bdlRdDPpXr8SHvzfGAMtps8YjtkcOFDrCib9O7R_ITXuqsjTkUl6bxKa1KRhNtaNpX2CnV9tlE8VxvRwGuqFGmFSOmzJsteMq5j1Vkbdbq9ECBQE/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnP5wHOIKmXbhYLEsZGs49hEaNm46bdlRdDPpXr8SHvzfGAMtps8YjtkcOFDrCib9O7R_ITXuqsjTkUl6bxKa1KRhNtaNpX2CnV9tlE8VxvRwGuqFGmFSOmzJsteMq5j1Vkbdbq9ECBQE/s1600/3.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See how calm I look? You should have seen me 60 feet in the air...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM0SzJQZ2mmq74Z3kpWBKunb1_6EOKHfj7DpkBvNzaGF38Z3bDuRYTKZwa8ZCbDLosuQ7IxKcYHFJuRAtwAR1VcO53yfCfDS3jy4_2oozjkpZPqdjkCoTJ2q9-nAw5gkTYHKtohvz7tpM/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM0SzJQZ2mmq74Z3kpWBKunb1_6EOKHfj7DpkBvNzaGF38Z3bDuRYTKZwa8ZCbDLosuQ7IxKcYHFJuRAtwAR1VcO53yfCfDS3jy4_2oozjkpZPqdjkCoTJ2q9-nAw5gkTYHKtohvz7tpM/s1600/4.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sofie and Cora</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Curtis and Beck</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPpmW19OxbEuCJPpJGYHRCsx51CD35wed3YtjkcJUG3KUuxKTAW_V1e9KKNiYu15vDb7iEdIYFFJ2mhyP3k3_zHRdXzi0hy1Kz_-f1du0RwKV78BiUtQVZJERnGpNJS93etFM5coJXB_Q/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPpmW19OxbEuCJPpJGYHRCsx51CD35wed3YtjkcJUG3KUuxKTAW_V1e9KKNiYu15vDb7iEdIYFFJ2mhyP3k3_zHRdXzi0hy1Kz_-f1du0RwKV78BiUtQVZJERnGpNJS93etFM5coJXB_Q/s1600/6.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting Thalia's ears checked</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0W2DF3_nI-JmDZfBj4rzliLX-xTQ78Mbhri6lJVFkDk2ZtaKnRgOVhPZeCx4Fe43ruvQCPWx2lMxRNxAep3xMff6ToInXKa-MewT8QIYAaudQI_83HIFpSP41Xs17qcyC-P0dyDvCQG8/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0W2DF3_nI-JmDZfBj4rzliLX-xTQ78Mbhri6lJVFkDk2ZtaKnRgOVhPZeCx4Fe43ruvQCPWx2lMxRNxAep3xMff6ToInXKa-MewT8QIYAaudQI_83HIFpSP41Xs17qcyC-P0dyDvCQG8/s1600/7.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hearing test</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPXmEGwT2raZAQoEWyR9qN0Dc8xYVzqTWKIeoJ7-hoVO7WyjaFbbVbIScX2WHEKhyphenhyphenhNfpGSPq83IpUnmi2TV0S1_7mjMWIBD1pR11EPTClfbekfbqZo6RrDOVuMUlkZY6OSON6ZIBaOfA/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPXmEGwT2raZAQoEWyR9qN0Dc8xYVzqTWKIeoJ7-hoVO7WyjaFbbVbIScX2WHEKhyphenhyphenhNfpGSPq83IpUnmi2TV0S1_7mjMWIBD1pR11EPTClfbekfbqZo6RrDOVuMUlkZY6OSON6ZIBaOfA/s1600/8.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanksgiving - the grown-up table edition</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht-hVtvKQlz2QcZKGoYure1wOBV-84sVLx8CUvYeMVMAlyZtLcjYvW4x5dNrvBaJiF-gM_9Fa2nKsAgR0jFA0a4SoXV1gVSoxQSsvXF9Lt-z80P4bIG-9PB4Eg03ip3UoCUCDNLHo6BGE/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht-hVtvKQlz2QcZKGoYure1wOBV-84sVLx8CUvYeMVMAlyZtLcjYvW4x5dNrvBaJiF-gM_9Fa2nKsAgR0jFA0a4SoXV1gVSoxQSsvXF9Lt-z80P4bIG-9PB4Eg03ip3UoCUCDNLHo6BGE/s1600/9.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heavenly <a href="http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/11/pumpkin-cheesecake-with-pecan-gingersnap-crust/">pumpkin cheesecake</a> made by my cute sister</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjOAk8mb_Hb9s2rDm4bnXf7Xkj4M9Sk2nwMqQacI2oAdz2dNJfDi-2alwUAg5bEckmk2JSOND3qN7LdYkUGe1WYgShstKoQPTXvUrbmBFHn3bk9MznGjC1AIVsx-LfhIdFkf-Or0ytKNY/s1600/10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjOAk8mb_Hb9s2rDm4bnXf7Xkj4M9Sk2nwMqQacI2oAdz2dNJfDi-2alwUAg5bEckmk2JSOND3qN7LdYkUGe1WYgShstKoQPTXvUrbmBFHn3bk9MznGjC1AIVsx-LfhIdFkf-Or0ytKNY/s1600/10.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our yearly tradition of spraying Curtis with whipped cream was carried out by my sister's mother-in-law. He had no idea it was coming! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8SnqFLI3areDPrGzCRJtIvbH1qqMljKHSxxFayDkgkQ2sIz1ISrdVU0J1koAxFr1tI-9HY624A6bB7N7a4v_UEQNDpCksG5iGQvWAo7vrcTbuKblRhClo53lTq0yltsfvwFveGy0_KB4/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8SnqFLI3areDPrGzCRJtIvbH1qqMljKHSxxFayDkgkQ2sIz1ISrdVU0J1koAxFr1tI-9HY624A6bB7N7a4v_UEQNDpCksG5iGQvWAo7vrcTbuKblRhClo53lTq0yltsfvwFveGy0_KB4/s1600/11.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Defending herself against retaliation!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_l5U_v9KSaz2NNqcshx_crh-SNPwf-g4bPJIPPOX40PoS1hg9WIwsEiA8cD6UmlcsLATuD2r5Ovc_ogzsiat-H3N_A5tWZadwyDRY2fu-Y9Q5d2PsTJjtp30LhbVhXwQQsxkfRgj6-NM/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_l5U_v9KSaz2NNqcshx_crh-SNPwf-g4bPJIPPOX40PoS1hg9WIwsEiA8cD6UmlcsLATuD2r5Ovc_ogzsiat-H3N_A5tWZadwyDRY2fu-Y9Q5d2PsTJjtp30LhbVhXwQQsxkfRgj6-NM/s1600/12.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sofie goes down! </td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D6692595307750827880%23editor%2Fsrc%3Ddashboard&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimages-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com%2Fgadgets%2Fproxy%3Furl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252F2.bp.blogspot.com%252F-AAvaRBKz6nI%252FVHupRL0RsjI%252FAAAAAAAAExw%252FY0M8TfDNs0k%252Fs1600%252F12.jpg%26container%3Dblogger%26gadget%3Da%26rewriteMime%3Dimage%252F*&xm=h&xv=sa1.35&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 32px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 7020px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D6692595307750827880%23editor%2Fsrc%3Ddashboard&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimages-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com%2Fgadgets%2Fproxy%3Furl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252F2.bp.blogspot.com%252F-AAvaRBKz6nI%252FVHupRL0RsjI%252FAAAAAAAAExw%252FY0M8TfDNs0k%252Fs1600%252F12.jpg%26container%3Dblogger%26gadget%3Da%26rewriteMime%3Dimage%252F*&xm=h&xv=sa1.35&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 32px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 7020px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-27217578637125504662014-11-12T19:34:00.000-08:002014-11-12T19:34:04.651-08:00LOA!Lots of Astronauts?<br />
Legs of Ants?<br />
Little Old Apricots?<br />
Lasting Outer Armor?<br />
Lilliputians on Amoxicillin?<br />
<br />
No, no - it's Letter of Seeking Confirmation of Adopter!<br />
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Wait, what? That can't be right... That'd be LOSCOA!<br />
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Whatever it is, I have it in my hot little hands, and it means we're that much closer to getting Zinnia home. We've signed it and we're sending it to our agency and mailing our I-800 tomorrow, and then we'll wait not-so-patiently for our TA - <strike>Taco Aerospace</strike> Travel Approval. Cool, huh?<br />
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If you think that's nifty, how about this? We have some dear friends who moved away from our town several years ago, and it just so happens that through some crazy twists and turns, they are also adopting from China, also a child with Down syndrome, also with the same agency, and also at the same time. They received their LOA too, and our agency has told us we'll probably travel together! We're all pretty danged excited. <br />
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So remember that nice weather we had for Halloween? Yeah, it's gone. Our dogs are enjoying snow for the first time, as is one of the speech pathologists I'm currently supervising (she's from the Philippines so it's all new to her). I don't have a picture of her frolicking in the snow, though I'm sure she did - she strikes me as a frolicker, but here's one of the dogs. I can't get enough of their cuteness!<br />
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On Saturday, our kids had their voice and piano recital. Our teacher is great, and all the kids did a nice job. Unfortunately the camera wasn't rolling when Beck played, so we made him play his piece again at the end of the recital. He happily obliged, but now that the recital is over, I hope I never hear that particular rendition of Jingle Bells again. Like as long as I live. Bless his heart, he practiced, but oy - I just can't.</div>
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Yesterday, I had an MRI on my shoulder so my doctor can determine whether I need surgery. I TOLD my doctor I am EXCEEDINGLY claustrophobic. My first MRI almost landed me in the funny farm. I insisted on sedation for the second. I managed. So based on experience (no sedation=bad, sedation=good), I asked for the good stuff again. I was prescribed diazepam, and dutifully took it 30 minutes before my appointment. As the time approached, I started to get worried that I wasn't feeling any differently. The rad tech told me I should have had 10 mg, 1 hour prior, so she tried to slow things down to allow the medication to kick in. It didn't. I'll jump ahead a bit here to tell you that when I got home, I looked at the bottle and saw that I was given was one milligram. One. <br />
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Anyway, we tried to get me into the tube, and I lasted about 10 seconds before sheer panic set in. I was extricated quickly, and commenced sobbing/apologizing for my irrational behavior. The tech suggested I come back later for full anesthesia, but I couldn't bear the thought of this already expensive procedure (remember that $15,000 deductible of ours?) becoming even more so. <br />
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So, I asked the tech to call my husband over from his office. He came right away, and I asked him to give me a blessing. He did, and as he spoke, I felt peace and calm wash over me. We went back in, and even though I had some serious reservations, I was able to do it. 30 minutes I spent in that mouse hole. I feel panic just thinking about it. But I did it because God blessed me to be able to stand it. Cool, huh?<br />
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So today we had something fun happen. Two missionaries showed up at our house to make dinner. For real! They made fry bread that Elder M (right) learned to make while serving on a reservation. We topped them (the bread, not the missionaries, although that would have been funny) with chili, lettuce, tomato, cheese and sour cream. I wish this would happen more often. ;)<br />
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<br />Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-88201076036045011882014-11-02T20:22:00.001-08:002014-11-02T20:22:12.200-08:00The shame...There's almost nothing I hate worse than finding a blog I like (usually cooking related) and having the author seemingly fall off the face of the earth.<br />
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I'm ashamed that I'm that person.<br />
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I have such good intentions, but life - my crazy big life - just does its thing and pretty soon a month has gone by and I find my poor little neglected blog, sulking in the corner. I don't know how many times it can keep on forgiving me.<br />
<br />
Anyway...
October was a good month. Having Joshua home is so cool. I love hearing him sing and play guitar, and it's been fun to see him interacting with his siblings again and watching him adjust to "civilian" life. He's been accepted to BYU in January, so he's been busy making plans for yet another big transition. It's not that I want an adult son living in my house forever, but I will be sad when he leaves. <br />
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October also brought us our new dog, Clover - the sweetest little sheltie you ever did see. She and Rocket spent two days trying to kill each other, but once they got all that out of their systems, they're now the best of friends. Clover seems to be a tad perplexed about this crazy notion that peeing should take place OUTDOORS, so I've been more grateful than usual for wood and tile floors. I can't be mad about her mistakes. She's simply too freaking adorable.
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I've been working quite a bit, and I'm mostly enjoying it. Even though it's hard to be away from my responsibilities at home, I just keep thinking about the fact that my paycheck will help get Zinnia home from China. I'm grateful that I can work during the school hours so that I'm home when all the kids are here. <br />
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And then there was Halloween - my most loathed holiday. We did the obligatory trick-or-treating with the littles, then stuck a big bowl of candy on the porch with strict instructions to visiting goblins not to be too greedy, and then we headed out to a basketball game at the college. Much more fun than sitting at home answering the doorbell 5000 times. We came home to a single Snickers bar in the bowl. Either we planned well, or some stinkpot teenagers wiped out the stash in the first 5 minutes. In which case we're lucky we didn't get egged or something. I call it a win all around. <br />
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So. Pictures. Enjoy.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSgELBDpfpmpn8jmtyllMSoVrCp3SHspPphZY7PSqAmfEx5tueRAWKgOCEJsHSx5uhdrND8B20QfB2_T6e6d5VgHs1MadvFkBA9L2otF4N6CudGVGtGJgivzW2Xain7gcgC_vbahWb4kk/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSgELBDpfpmpn8jmtyllMSoVrCp3SHspPphZY7PSqAmfEx5tueRAWKgOCEJsHSx5uhdrND8B20QfB2_T6e6d5VgHs1MadvFkBA9L2otF4N6CudGVGtGJgivzW2Xain7gcgC_vbahWb4kk/s1600/1.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making posters for the airport</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw2IPBgWmtulBNkeHsHx67Buc7F6Rnd6OoXpcTlCJrYr7sKAFrteWifziNktnwdkCNgcvWVPIMZWq2sT_86jdIWrzASvkk67EEi8XDlr6Z9XVkaF3Sa7_wiwU9zZG7ExUCbn3W13_qwSI/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw2IPBgWmtulBNkeHsHx67Buc7F6Rnd6OoXpcTlCJrYr7sKAFrteWifziNktnwdkCNgcvWVPIMZWq2sT_86jdIWrzASvkk67EEi8XDlr6Z9XVkaF3Sa7_wiwU9zZG7ExUCbn3W13_qwSI/s1600/2.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">waiting...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinh-sus4wL9PnvJUYsKBPMEG26Y1VJecFtTByyXbx4xihYGmocVABFp9m12FQpr7W1vgjdr1V5tNuvurnLntkM3VYbuesxFbda8elq0uTZshbzInHuG6nuG1l3a45Y03QFNFTmDU0ppqg/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinh-sus4wL9PnvJUYsKBPMEG26Y1VJecFtTByyXbx4xihYGmocVABFp9m12FQpr7W1vgjdr1V5tNuvurnLntkM3VYbuesxFbda8elq0uTZshbzInHuG6nuG1l3a45Y03QFNFTmDU0ppqg/s1600/4.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our first glimpse</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWMgEW2VMCXqYvzO53d9CKR7-aRPfSdeFopdINA8FNCT14U2FUCS__jnU2RQeCPTJOTc4sbvO8vPGv_4_ZgmZXrPn02RCjAJhQvFyTJVw6P9aHRg2VkHuIeym9wwLb2iOEFqHLVWmNP28/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWMgEW2VMCXqYvzO53d9CKR7-aRPfSdeFopdINA8FNCT14U2FUCS__jnU2RQeCPTJOTc4sbvO8vPGv_4_ZgmZXrPn02RCjAJhQvFyTJVw6P9aHRg2VkHuIeym9wwLb2iOEFqHLVWmNP28/s1600/5.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THE HUG I WAITED TWO YEARS FOR!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHaM2OA6yYg1YNItw_nqVHEfHbA0shxlQ70B4ESySlb4vWhJ1oVTEVTQIpa4Sw4xaORJEseGODocTFuqqClOa-nNozrelw56b8oRkHs2mfEtuehAPv-AEG4wiNrrpdEmq2NvVmCqdh_6o/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHaM2OA6yYg1YNItw_nqVHEfHbA0shxlQ70B4ESySlb4vWhJ1oVTEVTQIpa4Sw4xaORJEseGODocTFuqqClOa-nNozrelw56b8oRkHs2mfEtuehAPv-AEG4wiNrrpdEmq2NvVmCqdh_6o/s1600/6.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihuw9JL9KDUwRrDR4oBCJwH_pZ8W3MsWhR6oc-LQptjoj1tDQmfwrXLVThGPtmRN2xqgAHB723e13tLvgpwzzn_jq8PS7DhFeK6c74R1PWssDu5OeL0MoODxmtCSrhisR7djy78wMPJlA/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihuw9JL9KDUwRrDR4oBCJwH_pZ8W3MsWhR6oc-LQptjoj1tDQmfwrXLVThGPtmRN2xqgAHB723e13tLvgpwzzn_jq8PS7DhFeK6c74R1PWssDu5OeL0MoODxmtCSrhisR7djy78wMPJlA/s1600/7.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reuniting with the first companion</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_qjk9H2_Vq0rAlNNi1BAJAaOYdMtz8vXtjoCyAUNM-Jgkw8eeqn-SvUYMOf4HNFWWCmgVaMkcHGMVILqQQYseQAaYwLVV5VBmG8MtH9oIdP3AKB8-Y54sS7pHxLfXYqDZJhzHUjrDQII/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_qjk9H2_Vq0rAlNNi1BAJAaOYdMtz8vXtjoCyAUNM-Jgkw8eeqn-SvUYMOf4HNFWWCmgVaMkcHGMVILqQQYseQAaYwLVV5VBmG8MtH9oIdP3AKB8-Y54sS7pHxLfXYqDZJhzHUjrDQII/s1600/8.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grandpa Whicker</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCkTYWGNZTPGsC9FiEvX_WP25yqFmHvfJBB-gM8rmdq-n-KjuGL_iahBjFVPRzmTbHxeCPJKh2GClp2Wec55__rI3wxwpzYS9QVaMFGrjzDSI8cchOrptR6Z_5PIV_1q_ktiQyGb3OOB0/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCkTYWGNZTPGsC9FiEvX_WP25yqFmHvfJBB-gM8rmdq-n-KjuGL_iahBjFVPRzmTbHxeCPJKh2GClp2Wec55__rI3wxwpzYS9QVaMFGrjzDSI8cchOrptR6Z_5PIV_1q_ktiQyGb3OOB0/s1600/9.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zoe</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8C1En-r_D0YKtRT_EyXF6r3P9fDl10dYCsmhP3YLLgUvYm1muwJ246Q9Knla7T6Ek3C-iL95kPCNggwUsKB0AfEc2Mq_7IZJhF2FtKWYIeLHU_ZiPUwZbdgRuEscOcLtUU_Lldgkudw/s1600/10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8C1En-r_D0YKtRT_EyXF6r3P9fDl10dYCsmhP3YLLgUvYm1muwJ246Q9Knla7T6Ek3C-iL95kPCNggwUsKB0AfEc2Mq_7IZJhF2FtKWYIeLHU_ZiPUwZbdgRuEscOcLtUU_Lldgkudw/s1600/10.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teffy</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqssIMO9JbRKb28mlpvboZFy1OU4jui2jPLXsBSlwjWUqhyeUbpIzEQ3wxCUKSPGezGp9AFACn7BxJ6QW-gK9GJhrBUg3l4iKX4NSANJJH1iA5x17bSRY36Yfz5f5DwP6f7hNGz-djgM/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqssIMO9JbRKb28mlpvboZFy1OU4jui2jPLXsBSlwjWUqhyeUbpIzEQ3wxCUKSPGezGp9AFACn7BxJ6QW-gK9GJhrBUg3l4iKX4NSANJJH1iA5x17bSRY36Yfz5f5DwP6f7hNGz-djgM/s1600/11.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meeting new Grandma Kathy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE4dh7VGt8edMwdxhDyja5UMImgy8Zf-uLBhGDFULn4WHii6OPFFn8emav_mfBWi9U7pZuqaZbJ6cLi8LbVF1aNxh_XoY5SJdx6XpCjFwpzf_O4vTL9r1l6xqbcNWhY28u0LuGJIMJeaY/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE4dh7VGt8edMwdxhDyja5UMImgy8Zf-uLBhGDFULn4WHii6OPFFn8emav_mfBWi9U7pZuqaZbJ6cLi8LbVF1aNxh_XoY5SJdx6XpCjFwpzf_O4vTL9r1l6xqbcNWhY28u0LuGJIMJeaY/s1600/12.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meeting other new Grandma Kathy</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyneN9elrrEhVAslWCYX2RhL-bv4_7qTLS_UiIYFwFvMGRElyhSgqnekkrg8Z5WDLTT8TIxTM6TSgvJVO0O0pUgxLal0S0zPd0gVbg7vZ2JLvhHynN9QmzalpSyHpvfnYaYoGhXCRASE/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyneN9elrrEhVAslWCYX2RhL-bv4_7qTLS_UiIYFwFvMGRElyhSgqnekkrg8Z5WDLTT8TIxTM6TSgvJVO0O0pUgxLal0S0zPd0gVbg7vZ2JLvhHynN9QmzalpSyHpvfnYaYoGhXCRASE/s1600/13.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Grandpa Thorley</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAfSG9X0sCe3YkZwXq8iwn9cGGA-0qhJmuWOVCCvEWypMPtnnZawCK4pKz1moWqwYqY6IV_N_OwOPWi14IsaoAjj9NIHFjr8lGWOI1adfw6JRacAahAddn1GmTojKqmk-TvKJ3n3MLyXA/s1600/14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAfSG9X0sCe3YkZwXq8iwn9cGGA-0qhJmuWOVCCvEWypMPtnnZawCK4pKz1moWqwYqY6IV_N_OwOPWi14IsaoAjj9NIHFjr8lGWOI1adfw6JRacAahAddn1GmTojKqmk-TvKJ3n3MLyXA/s1600/14.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Lagoon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8e2GF6L9UEVKr6WghzkpouTi9APXqcE6oHimX-I-k8idLEPq75lcf9xyNzKYcJu-1Ne_KwC1-Uggv1eNWtQTd8KmguAcMmSFfIfxcNoW4MWE0m_1r1qaiLvlKYEktveI5bCD6bkvwo6w/s1600/25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8e2GF6L9UEVKr6WghzkpouTi9APXqcE6oHimX-I-k8idLEPq75lcf9xyNzKYcJu-1Ne_KwC1-Uggv1eNWtQTd8KmguAcMmSFfIfxcNoW4MWE0m_1r1qaiLvlKYEktveI5bCD6bkvwo6w/s1600/25.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Attending General Conference with our whole family - a dream come true!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhihOwbHH9pmPHHlWZv-frIiIMm0sEfpUMXKVAUiARpS7Hcy3QTt6XtwDpxRBwA_H_YHKsYmVil2E9HVczuGR9jEwdLpp7rmfz5mZjZvltDOMsuVuXLBss1uk2VcOW_MaO3PKAX-RkNgeU/s1600/26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhihOwbHH9pmPHHlWZv-frIiIMm0sEfpUMXKVAUiARpS7Hcy3QTt6XtwDpxRBwA_H_YHKsYmVil2E9HVczuGR9jEwdLpp7rmfz5mZjZvltDOMsuVuXLBss1uk2VcOW_MaO3PKAX-RkNgeU/s1600/26.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua ran into these girls from his mission</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQVZL0eOQMQDGiAennehUumTR2lB9WOqZRe0W-H_QA7KOJd4ZQL6TEFh2xQt_W8pcWNewBRw5sUYbnndE8F6XccU3AKjOvxJvEySAxxUTHclxLnLLj6Ail__DWGgbWLj-xx2jCz0hHmA/s1600/27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQVZL0eOQMQDGiAennehUumTR2lB9WOqZRe0W-H_QA7KOJd4ZQL6TEFh2xQt_W8pcWNewBRw5sUYbnndE8F6XccU3AKjOvxJvEySAxxUTHclxLnLLj6Ail__DWGgbWLj-xx2jCz0hHmA/s1600/27.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And then he met up with his good friend from home!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPoHHqj_Vsmtp6B8n6nS2XCd7XdEULxi9paNK46GTpbJMzp1YO5qai87N1iY6A45J_526quBRQULaYsO4DvN5D0S4Yy6ivIrr4mE2VhpdOsReCqvvaCgQBPcefViTq3VbtE2wGanb64YE/s1600/28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPoHHqj_Vsmtp6B8n6nS2XCd7XdEULxi9paNK46GTpbJMzp1YO5qai87N1iY6A45J_526quBRQULaYsO4DvN5D0S4Yy6ivIrr4mE2VhpdOsReCqvvaCgQBPcefViTq3VbtE2wGanb64YE/s1600/28.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting for the prophet, yo</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beck and Thalia's baptism day</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI5lJ4ftr5GJbiwnksKWF9gqRIzUawjaYwq6E2k_XWLBCFyVpF0xWqd4IFM2d8-GbAHiQtU1TMuWpBsvrC53biTN9JOrwMYh2UqBYUAW7AlacefQ7cnT7-Hv_nqjxpKJNsSDz2mlvnZ2c/s1600/31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI5lJ4ftr5GJbiwnksKWF9gqRIzUawjaYwq6E2k_XWLBCFyVpF0xWqd4IFM2d8-GbAHiQtU1TMuWpBsvrC53biTN9JOrwMYh2UqBYUAW7AlacefQ7cnT7-Hv_nqjxpKJNsSDz2mlvnZ2c/s1600/31.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post-baptism Mexican pig-out</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the grandparents</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvmSp2DeR5lp4Yn2s0SmZnclRVMDZ2Eknj35pWtMJqe8kKWLm37XoE-HEGAq4uAKphO6ldJxEn0DJ4Doxeizt8YAff-2HPq3fxDL3jXbDChyphenhyphenRrUAC9Chwe93H4fzX-bSFzaEi0RY-UGmc/s1600/34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvmSp2DeR5lp4Yn2s0SmZnclRVMDZ2Eknj35pWtMJqe8kKWLm37XoE-HEGAq4uAKphO6ldJxEn0DJ4Doxeizt8YAff-2HPq3fxDL3jXbDChyphenhyphenRrUAC9Chwe93H4fzX-bSFzaEi0RY-UGmc/s1600/34.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lily on her 15th birthday</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sweet Clover the night she arrived</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisWyidpBuoXi9A1J7-RetN8eT0daCibueEnfsDFJstfvrW_moZDr1MxhqTeOtI7B_8evXBzeqanuqTPxzmMxccCrwaLbhlj6mkJ9szp-ORNKxP2PeINJDcABTTY5B6p0J9rgv-Ebl5NwM/s1600/36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisWyidpBuoXi9A1J7-RetN8eT0daCibueEnfsDFJstfvrW_moZDr1MxhqTeOtI7B_8evXBzeqanuqTPxzmMxccCrwaLbhlj6mkJ9szp-ORNKxP2PeINJDcABTTY5B6p0J9rgv-Ebl5NwM/s1600/36.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clover and Rocket get acquainted</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNjhQHsWQiBx8eBNNEawE3YsNx6A_75z4Bqw5rJNBTsquIhnezmtE6sXejph76SJ92fUsFlKe24Ixak0hWQyI8d0YVf8lSJ5L25gixh6MjekGH7Xa-Nl7nQsk5cDAFn-a0lXS3AKFm3Bg/s1600/37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNjhQHsWQiBx8eBNNEawE3YsNx6A_75z4Bqw5rJNBTsquIhnezmtE6sXejph76SJ92fUsFlKe24Ixak0hWQyI8d0YVf8lSJ5L25gixh6MjekGH7Xa-Nl7nQsk5cDAFn-a0lXS3AKFm3Bg/s1600/37.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thalia's favorite activity (swinging, not drawing)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_fBqNc97vkzi0Wf2ErpRYcwXDZD2wqA2i9f1ykoRBiq4xddqMhUIzeypJzxCzxfKmiVUkP21a5XMLb9S-SRm7Ur2VTwJviedQ3wKpab6PyudBTAFlJzCZlBqzu1gPD6qEkHLDQhxMmvo/s1600/38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_fBqNc97vkzi0Wf2ErpRYcwXDZD2wqA2i9f1ykoRBiq4xddqMhUIzeypJzxCzxfKmiVUkP21a5XMLb9S-SRm7Ur2VTwJviedQ3wKpab6PyudBTAFlJzCZlBqzu1gPD6qEkHLDQhxMmvo/s1600/38.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At a corn maze with the fam</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPViu9lLQFylf1WjXHjv4Ett4cBHiXB0YqNDno-TGlmQT1FNjBXOgwTtuXLzqwlIQqySZay1Fe4RQNEPwdkk370m3_D7TjUi4Jn8FBQC8L8d8YH9wUz469SkdPTbnSYicecd28cF0jUqU/s1600/39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPViu9lLQFylf1WjXHjv4Ett4cBHiXB0YqNDno-TGlmQT1FNjBXOgwTtuXLzqwlIQqySZay1Fe4RQNEPwdkk370m3_D7TjUi4Jn8FBQC8L8d8YH9wUz469SkdPTbnSYicecd28cF0jUqU/s1600/39.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Riding the train at the corn maze</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDC1nQ46z478wisY01uOCjYQgvCoS5W4dY9MhAHoJDJEScrdlyTrPsFPMRo_2V7aGv_kkjfOcrUuKYEfKrRnWjKrS5rZyre2eyWxGuqC3olA6rmnAbzSytA_YGLqBbnCI8X2bDgHx7eg/s1600/40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDC1nQ46z478wisY01uOCjYQgvCoS5W4dY9MhAHoJDJEScrdlyTrPsFPMRo_2V7aGv_kkjfOcrUuKYEfKrRnWjKrS5rZyre2eyWxGuqC3olA6rmnAbzSytA_YGLqBbnCI8X2bDgHx7eg/s1600/40.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua. On Halloween. Otherwise this would be weird.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpQP3MjrnPuufr2A98HRbMutfM2DRqjLJD9xpgPT3DOsVAfNGjV6_fkM_Mq5NpoJmW6Hi98Pci_lQLysZ83M-oZbAjUNqyeoikmULK10KtEz6e230jZ-yr-UAg8LQN5rjZ7hEAIXWY2uw/s1600/41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpQP3MjrnPuufr2A98HRbMutfM2DRqjLJD9xpgPT3DOsVAfNGjV6_fkM_Mq5NpoJmW6Hi98Pci_lQLysZ83M-oZbAjUNqyeoikmULK10KtEz6e230jZ-yr-UAg8LQN5rjZ7hEAIXWY2uw/s1600/41.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trick-or-treatin'</td></tr>
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<br />Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-80316620679421857072014-10-08T20:39:00.000-07:002014-10-08T20:39:25.864-07:00Home <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/SShoL50g1eI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-17633383378704740312014-09-14T19:46:00.000-07:002014-09-14T19:48:03.595-07:00Weather weirdness and other bizarre happeningsThis was a strange week. To start with, after consistent 80+ degree temps, we suddenly found ourselves in the 40s with snow being predicted. The snow never came, praise be, but it was plenty cold and I did not enjoy it. Our house is not young - bless its heart - and it takes a good 2 days for the radiators to really warm up enough to be noticeable. This meant school time being spent wrapped up in blankets and generally feeling uncomfortable. I think my homeschool kids were actually envious of their public school siblings who were warm and toasty in their classrooms. <br />
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On Tuesday I went to PT and had another ultrasound treatment on my shoulder. I don't know if it really helps or not, but I *think* it does. I've tried to be better about remember to ice it and do my exercises, but it still hurts like no other at night. She told me to baby it for one more week and that this Tuesday, we'll start to "push" it a little. I don't know if I like the sound of that...<br />
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Also weird was that after a nearly 12-year hiatus (save for some subbing here and there), I went back to work. It's only for a few hours a week, so it's nothing demanding, but it's still kind of surreal to be back in the saddle. I'm enjoying it, though. The speech pathologists I get to supervise are great women who seem to know what they're doing, so I think we'll have fun together.<br />
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And perhaps the most bizarre happening of the week was that our church hosted a back-to-school dance, and that despite my grumblings about it, we went and actually enjoyed ourselves. We made our teens sacrifice an hour of their precious Friday night to attend, and even though they probably won't admit it, I think they had fun, too. A couple of them stayed the entire time in spite of swearing they'd rather DIE than go to a church dance - a church dance with GROWN-UPS and with LITTLE KIDS! <br />
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On Saturday, Curtis and a young man we've hired to help us with projects around the house worked most of the day in the basement, trying to organize it and get rid of junk. Once upon a time, we had a fairly nice family room and school room in the basement, but once we quit homeschooling and the family room TV quit working, people quit going down there and it morphed into a giant storage area. Unfortunately, there is still another full day of work to do down there, so they're planning to get back on it this Saturday. We already have a truckload of stuff that will need to go to the dump first, too. We're going to use the schoolroom area as a temporary bedroom for Joshua, who will be here for 3 months before starting school, and then maybe for Christmas we'll get a new TV so we can watch movies together down there. It's the only room with a TV that's really big enough for our whole family. ;) <br />
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Also over the past week, I canned my own roasted red peppers for the first time (I usually just make them for a meal we're eating right away), I gave Rocket his first bath, and I got to go to Jackson and Beck's soccer games. Jackson scored 6 (!) goals, and Beck scored 2. I love my soccer-playing family (although I do have soccer to blame for my dang dislocated shoulder!). <br />
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This week I'll be working a few hours on a couple of days and restarting clogging after a 3-year break. I'm simultaneously excited and stressed about it - excited because it will be a form of exercise I can still do with my arm and I enjoy it, and stressed because it's a bad time of the week/evening for me, and I'm worried about all the things I've forgotten. I hope I'll do OK! <br />
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Friday marks two weeks until Joshua is home! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6PUMM7ztjUtWGULtBSNpP0B2kce6giPLqMO2NLF9Idr0z6lkL8jlJHbpIoB-b_ZyC6pt4Gr50gpFJrVTb3l7i5rEaZ_qF-jhdjn13TpCQz4TnMb5ml-HFjhyphenhyphen65Er8dg2X0pViTzi7cbI/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6PUMM7ztjUtWGULtBSNpP0B2kce6giPLqMO2NLF9Idr0z6lkL8jlJHbpIoB-b_ZyC6pt4Gr50gpFJrVTb3l7i5rEaZ_qF-jhdjn13TpCQz4TnMb5ml-HFjhyphenhyphen65Er8dg2X0pViTzi7cbI/s1600/1.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This would have been a great shot had I not gotten my big ol' finger in the way</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not quite as impressive, but Cora looks happy!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maizie, doing her thang...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beck and his trampoline skills</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkspAra64wZp1hb2FB2KvRhRJOfCim_poRG27wfk4UtzsCz-zEDbHoG0Tt7bSbZPKBppqrIqLgCI64XumMNvT6Gojgvg5sB15212UmO5FC1WUrlhrBCCj4iIzJODTsIclA1tJ6Aq7yp5k/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkspAra64wZp1hb2FB2KvRhRJOfCim_poRG27wfk4UtzsCz-zEDbHoG0Tt7bSbZPKBppqrIqLgCI64XumMNvT6Gojgvg5sB15212UmO5FC1WUrlhrBCCj4iIzJODTsIclA1tJ6Aq7yp5k/s1600/5.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thalia showing off :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBXh_-6z5J1bot99rJsw_GlUhIYSuU6loeaBzzH32b5IAMCV9HNnM_ckPNWn9R6_l1yq8ZBlxUxbdSQvi-eTLSWJ3ujOgzsFzhSddYqLPoCrvHmG_AX-N4gyhXTPPqM5gO0EjQurvRaCU/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBXh_-6z5J1bot99rJsw_GlUhIYSuU6loeaBzzH32b5IAMCV9HNnM_ckPNWn9R6_l1yq8ZBlxUxbdSQvi-eTLSWJ3ujOgzsFzhSddYqLPoCrvHmG_AX-N4gyhXTPPqM5gO0EjQurvRaCU/s1600/7.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My roasted red peppers. I canned them in blue jars, which made them look less appetizing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our sweet new sheltie. We still need a name for her. We pick her up in about 3 weeks! </td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgooI5EYIYfnE8DX-SmmOcHfL0Fr_h4zt7qP_7WJOmX29LulC04PhyO453cT_vVXP3ARnYmTPWiAN0hPHaLm7JUoZL_FVZ-HFgXOrcrSvqk6zocSB-T8_cDP1G9P6Sc7C7RRn205rlZPgc/s1600/09122014n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgooI5EYIYfnE8DX-SmmOcHfL0Fr_h4zt7qP_7WJOmX29LulC04PhyO453cT_vVXP3ARnYmTPWiAN0hPHaLm7JUoZL_FVZ-HFgXOrcrSvqk6zocSB-T8_cDP1G9P6Sc7C7RRn205rlZPgc/s1600/09122014n.jpg" height="640" width="560" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lily doing whatever it is that volleyball managers do ;)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I stole this picture off Facebook when someone tagged Joshua in it. The guy on the right is his new companion.</td></tr>
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Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-46737131412002384162014-09-01T18:00:00.000-07:002014-09-01T18:00:10.644-07:00English Toffee FundraiserWe need a mere $5600 to have Zinnia's adoption fully funded. I'm not being sarcastic when I use the word "mere," considering that's a tiny fraction of the total cost. To help us close the gap, we're giving away delicious homemade English toffee to those who make donations to our Reece's Rainbow account. Here are all the exciting details! ;) <br />
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<br />Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-8807000249583953322014-09-01T17:56:00.001-07:002014-09-01T19:37:25.358-07:00A little recap...I know. It's just shameful. I had such great intentions of staying on top of our life (our adoption doings, in particular) as we wait for YunLi, but life just happened and here we are. Please accept my humble apology, and delight your eyes with the Cliff's Notes version (text and photo) of our summer here.<br />
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<ul>
<li>School got out. We did stuff. Weekly activities at the library, art classes, piano, gymnastics, early Saturday morning family/friend soccer games, hikes at Makoshika, day trips to Billings, a rained-out trip to the Medora musical (musical-less, thanks to the deluge), reading, snow cone snacks, baking... This was probably the most scheduled summer we've had in years. And I liked it. I think I can count on two hands the number of times the B-word was uttered by a child. (No, not that B-word, "bored.")</li>
<li>I dislocated my shoulder at the end of July while playing soccer with a bunch of little kids. I'm not proud. I'm also not healed. I start PT this week and may have surgery on the horizon. Pray that I won't have to go there. </li>
<li>We came up with a name for YunLi: Zinnia Joyce YunLi. Joyce was my great-aunt's name, and Zinnia is a name we both love.</li>
<li>Our dossier was logged in in China on August 19th, and our agency is giving us a loose prediction of December or January travel.</li>
<li>Joshua was just transferred back to one of his old areas and gets to spend the last 5 weeks of his mission NOT being an assistant. He's very excited about that. WE are very excited that we get to pick him up a few days early and our entire family will get to go to General Conference together. Super awesome! </li>
<li>We went to the county fair just before school started and Maizie and Sofie became zipper initiates. There's no way I would have gone on the zipper at their age. I scream like a baby (and might even utter a few choice words in my terror) even now.</li>
<li>We're homeschooling Maizie and Sofie and the rest of the kids are in public school. The first week is done, and things went great, but this is the week that all the after-school activities start up. Ugh. </li>
<li>Our sweet Poppy (our corgi) passed away unexpectedly from a suspected brain tumor. We miss her terribly, but we have a new little "Augi" (corgi/mini Aussie mix) named Rocket who is lots of fun. We also have a yet-to-be name sheltie puppy coming in early October. </li>
<li>I got a job. It's not much of a job, but I'll be spending this school year supervising the two new school district speech pathologists. It's a whopping 2.5 hours per week, but it will help with our adoption expenses.</li>
<li>I've been busy applying to college for Joshua. He's already been accepted to BYU-Idaho, but he's holding out for BYU-Provo. We're all crossing our fingers. </li>
</ul>
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Those are the major points, except for lots more cruddy things that happened, that I'd rather not revisit. ;) <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready for the dance recital</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cool photo that Joshua and the other assistant took in Milwaukee</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Running through the sprinklers</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sofie's 11th birthday</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTD28v4YwU6CUG2bDhzKIsZUeBm9JiU1xWUTiatVjp1ibfOvy5K8XVwVRtVikzavd0CWXYqOXijYhv4jetjw00LNN0skU9r1IkV7MDmeYC5RX0bHIOi4IQ58FXZXWClMHs3gx7p2cREpM/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTD28v4YwU6CUG2bDhzKIsZUeBm9JiU1xWUTiatVjp1ibfOvy5K8XVwVRtVikzavd0CWXYqOXijYhv4jetjw00LNN0skU9r1IkV7MDmeYC5RX0bHIOi4IQ58FXZXWClMHs3gx7p2cREpM/s1600/6.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Elitch Gardens in Denver</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUjf6WieMcdHKPw0f8ykLoEPCrGOUszRiM_hRHexjlMqy4fcmcU-jk2D4U9ys3EyFn_iQHwEnx1eu9HUBKTGFhkn41hHWltC7Xs2ktH90j8j5tWC3IjSZ3ADHk_ug8eCcuUD7KiFHLjr4/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUjf6WieMcdHKPw0f8ykLoEPCrGOUszRiM_hRHexjlMqy4fcmcU-jk2D4U9ys3EyFn_iQHwEnx1eu9HUBKTGFhkn41hHWltC7Xs2ktH90j8j5tWC3IjSZ3ADHk_ug8eCcuUD7KiFHLjr4/s1600/7.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weird Uncle Jay...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmvWUT3dJ9ntqTWp4JMWorNbxcqS2Bwj8aPvMKQp4uJZG51Ks_qdDFm1QXVJx4B5fiaWTJG_PNhMzgu528eaqm0ntBMrSVisNJJuyCYNXzX5RiLex32NSuh-S4VYr7gM3P88bDHJx88E/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmvWUT3dJ9ntqTWp4JMWorNbxcqS2Bwj8aPvMKQp4uJZG51Ks_qdDFm1QXVJx4B5fiaWTJG_PNhMzgu528eaqm0ntBMrSVisNJJuyCYNXzX5RiLex32NSuh-S4VYr7gM3P88bDHJx88E/s1600/8.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With the fam for my niece's baptism</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">4th of July parade - gymnastics kids (Thalia's in the blue leo)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylLFEh7ahUw9JnwbabeyxwQERW7mO04JdC0g9HdwIEZuBFwAiL4Nn4Ur71JIQiwvd5D5nSLBdA1Ne2c260C5kdouoRuhmRx2J2_S3sxStbMh3KAIeQJoZtg9HhDHP24DDXIUnR-GxIMk/s1600/10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylLFEh7ahUw9JnwbabeyxwQERW7mO04JdC0g9HdwIEZuBFwAiL4Nn4Ur71JIQiwvd5D5nSLBdA1Ne2c260C5kdouoRuhmRx2J2_S3sxStbMh3KAIeQJoZtg9HhDHP24DDXIUnR-GxIMk/s1600/10.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More parade pics (Cora and Jack)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQ7viTdAmU_QEauathQ7EJ7VIPuIO1WEDXk7k5LLTrIDMQUwLCI9xHoPf9LAR1P-griSLP0x4FSP3REdbj1VpMRYOtwBo30702f63RDzlvpptxUIN_TLKij8cDZdtAbCylYOeU4LLD84/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQ7viTdAmU_QEauathQ7EJ7VIPuIO1WEDXk7k5LLTrIDMQUwLCI9xHoPf9LAR1P-griSLP0x4FSP3REdbj1VpMRYOtwBo30702f63RDzlvpptxUIN_TLKij8cDZdtAbCylYOeU4LLD84/s1600/11.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And still more parade pics (Maizie and Sofie)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfaU4X4ydCoxP7zwqulw06183GDtebDkuRiyramPcGTkb-gaqkPv0MiRrNXy4f7bQ932FzR04YXmr5bPxpmv8c4zAjaDryGh_XLVAhrKiwnFB1gYLDZHtolcDidX8o-rO_85Oy0gHtUj8/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfaU4X4ydCoxP7zwqulw06183GDtebDkuRiyramPcGTkb-gaqkPv0MiRrNXy4f7bQ932FzR04YXmr5bPxpmv8c4zAjaDryGh_XLVAhrKiwnFB1gYLDZHtolcDidX8o-rO_85Oy0gHtUj8/s1600/12.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah subbed as a drummer for the Catholic school marching band. Doesn't he look thrilled to be wearing that hat?</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDTDuO6f40BUjcnhciJmb8sh4ve1yI5XJafgY3Pwe866ruBFpvkq-j0ZNcD6-hRtddDHGKj8tf2XvcLVHWRpVBs-CIk9Mq_qFu4mbB8Bp_VRMcvpPbfKQ6U5sGq9W3mWhR-yvkwqvhs0o/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDTDuO6f40BUjcnhciJmb8sh4ve1yI5XJafgY3Pwe866ruBFpvkq-j0ZNcD6-hRtddDHGKj8tf2XvcLVHWRpVBs-CIk9Mq_qFu4mbB8Bp_VRMcvpPbfKQ6U5sGq9W3mWhR-yvkwqvhs0o/s1600/13.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dancing at the 4th of July concert</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqPGVOjDqvTYmrSD9_UCltHb3_QHmxp_9iDednGymEsdfVp8tJE3_S_idXvnbcnH8LAgj3Iipqox4XivJL5mcyc9Qky0m_X3Yba3184btezJWHKjFciJ01WmvN256YM1YOGUq3wciQxlU/s1600/14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqPGVOjDqvTYmrSD9_UCltHb3_QHmxp_9iDednGymEsdfVp8tJE3_S_idXvnbcnH8LAgj3Iipqox4XivJL5mcyc9Qky0m_X3Yba3184btezJWHKjFciJ01WmvN256YM1YOGUq3wciQxlU/s1600/14.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zoe, in a rare face-showing shot. Isn't she lovely?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0w3tmce5PT9zODxjXE5Ix-96rD8LywBBhtegxQermH14o5Sx1_M-A58cHrMGAu6Rt2OGpeArIsnCK9OHfV3sNx98XUAAWAeWZ60u0wsnAO_iZtaJSlEe8q-SaxaEnkB7i5ln_YcN4Sgk/s1600/15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0w3tmce5PT9zODxjXE5Ix-96rD8LywBBhtegxQermH14o5Sx1_M-A58cHrMGAu6Rt2OGpeArIsnCK9OHfV3sNx98XUAAWAeWZ60u0wsnAO_iZtaJSlEe8q-SaxaEnkB7i5ln_YcN4Sgk/s1600/15.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah drumming in his uncle's band</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrFOhMBJN6zqoG4OyPH6LKRKszcWCBM9U2DBIUNDcBh4eQI2iwK0w0cHcjPXyUOgRqp9t3TULOibMmmXjvU1a4cSCmFlZrwXdNcToA5UKNWZFxS83dW5ceU4L_Nw_G5y_FRcxLv4T8hbw/s1600/16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrFOhMBJN6zqoG4OyPH6LKRKszcWCBM9U2DBIUNDcBh4eQI2iwK0w0cHcjPXyUOgRqp9t3TULOibMmmXjvU1a4cSCmFlZrwXdNcToA5UKNWZFxS83dW5ceU4L_Nw_G5y_FRcxLv4T8hbw/s1600/16.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmGfxrDtnSsdG3JTAeFUG7axL0DE3F1qYgnF1xwotVGI3Gn823-8b6UoA-DSSJ_tmlhY6Ro1xrjTDFmgtx_ZH9rvv7hJqaoOwO3n5iK_8Vujb941c0yz9AongymQIWdoFUanP1jdYf2-k/s1600/17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmGfxrDtnSsdG3JTAeFUG7axL0DE3F1qYgnF1xwotVGI3Gn823-8b6UoA-DSSJ_tmlhY6Ro1xrjTDFmgtx_ZH9rvv7hJqaoOwO3n5iK_8Vujb941c0yz9AongymQIWdoFUanP1jdYf2-k/s1600/17.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the library after an activity. Sitting on Rodys and thinking of Grandma Thorley. ;)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPgTQSKNf_jqqsEhnaKlgCK2ImBpCEVxCiQ444Nw2VZMx__b5Bs37lJsr05ngMLgUDsiQHEgltAPBu1etlP3uE77imqfivJH8S88FmsTeDqJhU-AMoMjKX2ilIitgUejHEyiAUdjAgPs4/s1600/18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPgTQSKNf_jqqsEhnaKlgCK2ImBpCEVxCiQ444Nw2VZMx__b5Bs37lJsr05ngMLgUDsiQHEgltAPBu1etlP3uE77imqfivJH8S88FmsTeDqJhU-AMoMjKX2ilIitgUejHEyiAUdjAgPs4/s1600/18.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A birthday surprise for me!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy6OKDPNALLqFBu0Qw04t_bTIpXKJlx5_lIMtjc6jhd1DnnDz_Jlyvn5lE3ayB7hjjIs4odaxlKFN6VO5eTFsASSw7OOC4mXE5xlRCFxAJh4U4q4XJ8Vl6BwtDa0y627Hj2-JNAcawUnc/s1600/19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy6OKDPNALLqFBu0Qw04t_bTIpXKJlx5_lIMtjc6jhd1DnnDz_Jlyvn5lE3ayB7hjjIs4odaxlKFN6VO5eTFsASSw7OOC4mXE5xlRCFxAJh4U4q4XJ8Vl6BwtDa0y627Hj2-JNAcawUnc/s1600/19.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah, master piggy-back giver</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA7Jn_pyelw7LJNeP_Wa1NZXZYdqJnQobPwzTCUJlbzAukjLglNQ6k2qHIMRoveGt7TH3BzLoSHxZKCfitPpZjaLdZgqyvoHVapw6HDOMcs_N14oTwET4tFCp3bTr11q-2UEPwrU9AGsA/s1600/20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA7Jn_pyelw7LJNeP_Wa1NZXZYdqJnQobPwzTCUJlbzAukjLglNQ6k2qHIMRoveGt7TH3BzLoSHxZKCfitPpZjaLdZgqyvoHVapw6HDOMcs_N14oTwET4tFCp3bTr11q-2UEPwrU9AGsA/s1600/20.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiking at Makoshika</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrjzDf6vlEM5Nwmw5C3GCh-6gztg4rd310UBc7zWW129xBx6UkVS3F4qhG6waCkoJCv0kveQ36rBlst3VupSa4wyjAOjJCC9g6xeu55_fLuhcpFPOofEaYVhWGQAu3sV56-xHx1lR39vw/s1600/21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrjzDf6vlEM5Nwmw5C3GCh-6gztg4rd310UBc7zWW129xBx6UkVS3F4qhG6waCkoJCv0kveQ36rBlst3VupSa4wyjAOjJCC9g6xeu55_fLuhcpFPOofEaYVhWGQAu3sV56-xHx1lR39vw/s1600/21.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hanging out with two of my sisters (I'm on the right)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWiul-FgRoAKKSMFvhkrxEc4pDnK5pOoSLcCclUJlm1dbmX8UVpu6hjgVda8Xq-vhHMUaeuGcDfFtNhhH4RNG240o4JO9RYdXOQIebfh8-V_XI2iDXhzFtEY68LUKch3QH90cF6hocO-g/s1600/22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWiul-FgRoAKKSMFvhkrxEc4pDnK5pOoSLcCclUJlm1dbmX8UVpu6hjgVda8Xq-vhHMUaeuGcDfFtNhhH4RNG240o4JO9RYdXOQIebfh8-V_XI2iDXhzFtEY68LUKch3QH90cF6hocO-g/s1600/22.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">spousie-selfie</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdVgXkMtS1K_57G7O0h-lUgZMMDkmBHTz4_cj8LnrRFEXlxwdVjZy7xiELZ2TeH6W6df7t4rRTsC68wVpJ_UPeVKCyh95h4cA5nhiC6E2ynoiYqKpeBhJ8CEywKYG7LWQFBGMGyMHaZEY/s1600/23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdVgXkMtS1K_57G7O0h-lUgZMMDkmBHTz4_cj8LnrRFEXlxwdVjZy7xiELZ2TeH6W6df7t4rRTsC68wVpJ_UPeVKCyh95h4cA5nhiC6E2ynoiYqKpeBhJ8CEywKYG7LWQFBGMGyMHaZEY/s1600/23.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Makoshika again</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-E08CG3tVNNEhzjIIrVlxUKwDSEAL5JbNlxuuuf8pmRfLuVMDpC3XvxyQFMBmx0HSOG4LoPuLNxClr27uvzJEMfDGbSAedy9NTcBDbhgE-FMIAzLw1285wg0YKr4z4y6rxVUiwOqbAE/s1600/24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-E08CG3tVNNEhzjIIrVlxUKwDSEAL5JbNlxuuuf8pmRfLuVMDpC3XvxyQFMBmx0HSOG4LoPuLNxClr27uvzJEMfDGbSAedy9NTcBDbhgE-FMIAzLw1285wg0YKr4z4y6rxVUiwOqbAE/s1600/24.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saying goodbye to our beloved Poppy - truly the best dog who ever was. <3</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9_notZShdxnfNfHPqXWDPuN6Pcw8rzs4it2UmGWz9sKIpagm5asBjeZ9xDcf0FSQFJe1kKJnyKZ3FnLfq23PZIaCKktlNoesrWMMrAHRew7R3B0T_OiKPBevABdOBADr5WpAuan5PAA/s1600/25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9_notZShdxnfNfHPqXWDPuN6Pcw8rzs4it2UmGWz9sKIpagm5asBjeZ9xDcf0FSQFJe1kKJnyKZ3FnLfq23PZIaCKktlNoesrWMMrAHRew7R3B0T_OiKPBevABdOBADr5WpAuan5PAA/s1600/25.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And saying hello to our little Rocket (right)</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRjbLqSP_Zoqu0Cp4IgYVw1FX5_HJpRd2GWY2FSjHOWCnJD8DryCdwXz6M6htvquyTgImJLocxxALGaVRKz8zaZPrU9TLzIw6PvVDkCgFvbEfnV8obZ6foe8jwu78fSfMOozqEpphdzuM/s1600/26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRjbLqSP_Zoqu0Cp4IgYVw1FX5_HJpRd2GWY2FSjHOWCnJD8DryCdwXz6M6htvquyTgImJLocxxALGaVRKz8zaZPrU9TLzIw6PvVDkCgFvbEfnV8obZ6foe8jwu78fSfMOozqEpphdzuM/s1600/26.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja5wIBZrMBHj1qzMcG4CpBPZT7ALNy2CL0O1sZVM8JloBesV8EIdf6b4I4XNtpAY1NgUDQiTNBjq3BbLIqkb48mN_CvRGWjEVGtqLDfWdui8nWiscWOfx4M9nCU_MsaEzZvddW0x63ZUg/s1600/27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja5wIBZrMBHj1qzMcG4CpBPZT7ALNy2CL0O1sZVM8JloBesV8EIdf6b4I4XNtpAY1NgUDQiTNBjq3BbLIqkb48mN_CvRGWjEVGtqLDfWdui8nWiscWOfx4M9nCU_MsaEzZvddW0x63ZUg/s1600/27.jpg" height="640" width="620" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxbpCu-KuSzJ6YUZT7GA4Reb2hEKFvyHsU73a74bhHuI4TYI9woiQkFMckxj5_yDaken2WRKvSQ9H1DPZHuvw7V_wEQWGQkI5NqbLbxNu8sJRCGj-09lc5rxSsFUpCLHnnkQiRf_vK6c/s1600/28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxbpCu-KuSzJ6YUZT7GA4Reb2hEKFvyHsU73a74bhHuI4TYI9woiQkFMckxj5_yDaken2WRKvSQ9H1DPZHuvw7V_wEQWGQkI5NqbLbxNu8sJRCGj-09lc5rxSsFUpCLHnnkQiRf_vK6c/s1600/28.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beck's 8th birthday</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdm3pSg732wpl1ecak2nakdQUV2fySVXPmUTX-fqCfm99Q5hEyBW8WAOq698igkByTiMRMwt6qWe511SvHBUwxSe-wwUziMdM0T9_wk3I3rMoTkXohSxX49ccsgawRlG5cI_ZTmJbg_gs/s1600/29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdm3pSg732wpl1ecak2nakdQUV2fySVXPmUTX-fqCfm99Q5hEyBW8WAOq698igkByTiMRMwt6qWe511SvHBUwxSe-wwUziMdM0T9_wk3I3rMoTkXohSxX49ccsgawRlG5cI_ZTmJbg_gs/s1600/29.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVrsy1-rBlJrR4dGKcf_E80iWiU2ZOSaa20CNk_E2Txhyphenhyphen4kuO9YxdIMe_hO16jz_Xtn9gqlF196I_YpdokybpgO3Hv88zhxXtozyrahMqvAtfjZvqY2pPF1jirw76AoZ9G6a8BOfQjRw/s1600/30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVrsy1-rBlJrR4dGKcf_E80iWiU2ZOSaa20CNk_E2Txhyphenhyphen4kuO9YxdIMe_hO16jz_Xtn9gqlF196I_YpdokybpgO3Hv88zhxXtozyrahMqvAtfjZvqY2pPF1jirw76AoZ9G6a8BOfQjRw/s1600/30.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beck and Jack at their British soccer camp</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ethan and Jonah's 16th birthday</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB3lmxqPu6NysuHRR19W61p6yk0QS0Md-JeF3Bat9KJkwSyXLSJCWzXDNjpkrt-nebYzk-hfv5OAevuRk07AvHUCJjyqBA16vUdPHg64wYUpFJQAn0BfxbwO_6jNTwuFGqrKEKcAvGoXU/s1600/32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB3lmxqPu6NysuHRR19W61p6yk0QS0Md-JeF3Bat9KJkwSyXLSJCWzXDNjpkrt-nebYzk-hfv5OAevuRk07AvHUCJjyqBA16vUdPHg64wYUpFJQAn0BfxbwO_6jNTwuFGqrKEKcAvGoXU/s1600/32.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua (blue guy in the middle) and the other mini-golf crazed elders</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy50C2ElBIdKP__Jmr3_Mn_tpYX4xN0T1iLXJroqZ6347a83fGSl6uXZkXAMa9REaHz8x0UDyqaAZSViLGgMAY_LKoCyKiMZ5_LPf4jj9VlLnW2HZq71mfcJ1mXIBvLEHw6RHtCkrxxX0/s1600/33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy50C2ElBIdKP__Jmr3_Mn_tpYX4xN0T1iLXJroqZ6347a83fGSl6uXZkXAMa9REaHz8x0UDyqaAZSViLGgMAY_LKoCyKiMZ5_LPf4jj9VlLnW2HZq71mfcJ1mXIBvLEHw6RHtCkrxxX0/s1600/33.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our authenticated dossier!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmaHO6vFfrSRFJ-JZVmtH0ddky52PDrig3uZstOGVIw-JQNz30WbwOyJs8CDX480k5Dawu7g4LHmf026xtaZtX1nmhl1YAZrq9SXvxXoyx53fAfePPkvrSUiLS1-1vZuqm0u-s8yJpxSM/s1600/34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmaHO6vFfrSRFJ-JZVmtH0ddky52PDrig3uZstOGVIw-JQNz30WbwOyJs8CDX480k5Dawu7g4LHmf026xtaZtX1nmhl1YAZrq9SXvxXoyx53fAfePPkvrSUiLS1-1vZuqm0u-s8yJpxSM/s1600/34.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Celebrating Joshua's 21st birthday without him ;)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRrmurTxBo1CeeVqzpJHzxQQbXDPZWtaeRM3O0zn7gVL02Yqs8oReYyhNvhWDDZDiT7IO4jM5ZHakif0-CEvNMzvc4AsJYWrhP_efEYlS_0chjptNF1YOb0nnVGXQw4s_5Md3NcX24Uek/s1600/35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRrmurTxBo1CeeVqzpJHzxQQbXDPZWtaeRM3O0zn7gVL02Yqs8oReYyhNvhWDDZDiT7IO4jM5ZHakif0-CEvNMzvc4AsJYWrhP_efEYlS_0chjptNF1YOb0nnVGXQw4s_5Md3NcX24Uek/s1600/35.jpg" height="606" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our little sheltie puppy. She is as of yet nameless and will be joining us in early October.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1wv2HssvX5YMrEQ_T02IvOtL_77M3hRcNQNdBsdYdR7CoQE7YJCxljjmWjFc8FkQyFenk_d2bcnNGzvexM_aoh87Xd_Jf53WqePLeLJSn0GZTxyquuixCpVHHLjID3qUt7kwtO3BNiM/s1600/36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1wv2HssvX5YMrEQ_T02IvOtL_77M3hRcNQNdBsdYdR7CoQE7YJCxljjmWjFc8FkQyFenk_d2bcnNGzvexM_aoh87Xd_Jf53WqePLeLJSn0GZTxyquuixCpVHHLjID3qUt7kwtO3BNiM/s1600/36.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the fair - our last hurrah of summer</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIS65sT1FjNGmRCk2_U3XPBY-XQniPAVAsY1EYxWCwrXscyFToxdOXR4RE1s10p029N9uwOfu9sYuLBJscYFBp9c7sDGaKFDXBaOECHCDU1O81s6_zVbwGvdMti7lAqODxuvNuFzAFoPo/s1600/37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIS65sT1FjNGmRCk2_U3XPBY-XQniPAVAsY1EYxWCwrXscyFToxdOXR4RE1s10p029N9uwOfu9sYuLBJscYFBp9c7sDGaKFDXBaOECHCDU1O81s6_zVbwGvdMti7lAqODxuvNuFzAFoPo/s1600/37.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmUsGUqb85ZOub4HxDY_SexcK2R1vcyKga66QAWP_J7O-ywjbW2-wX-uDfQiDU2sVcE0v4XZTrrRwRRhpmiOZeToEqKQlYt0qUVR0DYjjFhg5rZ0_CHEBwtopOE3rEF_4QOtk_3m_cFRQ/s1600/38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmUsGUqb85ZOub4HxDY_SexcK2R1vcyKga66QAWP_J7O-ywjbW2-wX-uDfQiDU2sVcE0v4XZTrrRwRRhpmiOZeToEqKQlYt0qUVR0DYjjFhg5rZ0_CHEBwtopOE3rEF_4QOtk_3m_cFRQ/s1600/38.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All but the two on either end are ours. ;)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNgpoYB9dHB6XIA4EJgNFSKtYbcaNSO4Vbxh1cX9rm1Tx42Kxr69ObTvww4TBP96SeLBoYTgQL8FJ9z-2uO_0I5cknHgjej2bJuc3INF2hizfya8ZCzJwCB4zD4tCMdEzJuEK8TPsCisA/s1600/40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNgpoYB9dHB6XIA4EJgNFSKtYbcaNSO4Vbxh1cX9rm1Tx42Kxr69ObTvww4TBP96SeLBoYTgQL8FJ9z-2uO_0I5cknHgjej2bJuc3INF2hizfya8ZCzJwCB4zD4tCMdEzJuEK8TPsCisA/s1600/40.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Torturing new missionaries</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJkS7AKPOWiSoGZU0YDZRrH9k8gqtLyXkgiDlBD4g6JtlgRaopHLRUGjpR20bgZ8nxpr59LSidKC9RWei1Pkx7ednFiiRYaNPKeEqYqsYy_dTy63bqAWi-ESxGtOd0RY4kgBnZc9cuzgA/s1600/41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJkS7AKPOWiSoGZU0YDZRrH9k8gqtLyXkgiDlBD4g6JtlgRaopHLRUGjpR20bgZ8nxpr59LSidKC9RWei1Pkx7ednFiiRYaNPKeEqYqsYy_dTy63bqAWi-ESxGtOd0RY4kgBnZc9cuzgA/s1600/41.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thalia getting her baptism lessons</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir81WfJp0shZGB5z6e7RMNfgNXSqnIepU8s30CdfGnInCGrPHs33byq3d-o7Ga7C-1CCRtdnGF9utj3Ocu257kyOV7fNBGu2qAGe_aB24YQ-gYA8SXUTqOanwfa8Yk49r_9DEE2Y1HPFo/s1600/42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir81WfJp0shZGB5z6e7RMNfgNXSqnIepU8s30CdfGnInCGrPHs33byq3d-o7Ga7C-1CCRtdnGF9utj3Ocu257kyOV7fNBGu2qAGe_aB24YQ-gYA8SXUTqOanwfa8Yk49r_9DEE2Y1HPFo/s1600/42.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First day of school for Maizie and Sofie</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkqvEKDXjtbHOechkuhscLKYCuTWJphSrRVP0ewUN9OQzoke9KxHhPIa15YSYnXiX0faa_8alhRiYLpIvurg4kF8Pn_ZzYm2fuU4Q5AQq3ZHIb99N__NacWqJRrypeL6tvDLHoy9Sz5GQ/s1600/43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkqvEKDXjtbHOechkuhscLKYCuTWJphSrRVP0ewUN9OQzoke9KxHhPIa15YSYnXiX0faa_8alhRiYLpIvurg4kF8Pn_ZzYm2fuU4Q5AQq3ZHIb99N__NacWqJRrypeL6tvDLHoy9Sz5GQ/s1600/43.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New picture of YunLi/Zinnia!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdlfvCZv02j3QbiL5DHkyfg1CVIFeY0ipbMhE44Oazfhj8rKDsVBobdFF-fnDliyNMQhS94xGtHHV4mFJiZD80oggz4-hDgyaGZD3Ldp_D7te6t-S3OKG9_aU1-UbcXAdftSfZbbTHu0/s1600/45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdlfvCZv02j3QbiL5DHkyfg1CVIFeY0ipbMhE44Oazfhj8rKDsVBobdFF-fnDliyNMQhS94xGtHHV4mFJiZD80oggz4-hDgyaGZD3Ldp_D7te6t-S3OKG9_aU1-UbcXAdftSfZbbTHu0/s1600/45.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First day of school for Lily, Cora, Thalia, Jackson and Beck</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First day of school for the rest of the teens (Lily - right - started the day before)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJfmNR35MXMjghR2rmCoUQcpwQ7JKCjq7FIpKIuC6ipe7hCTSiKD90N0PIvx4l-wTummdG5ebQIGnu_2pnvdi25L8QgNLr9XwUR9rsjMXzFTzpknrJp_ohEABMEWQrQbAnp9OnnJmoG1Y/s1600/47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJfmNR35MXMjghR2rmCoUQcpwQ7JKCjq7FIpKIuC6ipe7hCTSiKD90N0PIvx4l-wTummdG5ebQIGnu_2pnvdi25L8QgNLr9XwUR9rsjMXzFTzpknrJp_ohEABMEWQrQbAnp9OnnJmoG1Y/s1600/47.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bountiful Baskets haul, with a photo bomber</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4H3pChZpmLXyPp3KKfC5q_bpbUG5wAKsVTFbQawTih9eszsVEC4U6qFnFrVWxJ3ZkL7_XHSBNUdOJrsHinxrZ-XY3opOQWGhNBmNCSENclCnG0aQD0HD_JCr__7KfxghnSGaGiFs2Q5k/s1600/48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4H3pChZpmLXyPp3KKfC5q_bpbUG5wAKsVTFbQawTih9eszsVEC4U6qFnFrVWxJ3ZkL7_XHSBNUdOJrsHinxrZ-XY3opOQWGhNBmNCSENclCnG0aQD0HD_JCr__7KfxghnSGaGiFs2Q5k/s1600/48.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rocket's getting bigger!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiotr1fR0c3NxEKKC3qc6i-IXcFpjtnMboGng7fYB-CFjZuR0JRAyNaYG-wZfjttN2Yun079wzrcWK5hv-SZJgMNwmMvLJ0vk1gwOMjJrRvxBY-pJ24H_aHqpEIm_hVQ7vRhWPagfEjxMU/s1600/49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiotr1fR0c3NxEKKC3qc6i-IXcFpjtnMboGng7fYB-CFjZuR0JRAyNaYG-wZfjttN2Yun079wzrcWK5hv-SZJgMNwmMvLJ0vk1gwOMjJrRvxBY-pJ24H_aHqpEIm_hVQ7vRhWPagfEjxMU/s1600/49.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua (2nd from right) before leaving for his last area</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFBOVoHsmKG9HNueCz1BhgINtG2fL33_6ZRvLQ6-AZ7f3ccEQiz_Q7CLoBVTP682vMb9Cfc_gTkf8CF9dHPHmWQDVUFX4YEDC-tOX59ycRZRUoa4keBuOiDteMAVXc9MAdW1Z-4LZxzx0/s1600/50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFBOVoHsmKG9HNueCz1BhgINtG2fL33_6ZRvLQ6-AZ7f3ccEQiz_Q7CLoBVTP682vMb9Cfc_gTkf8CF9dHPHmWQDVUFX4YEDC-tOX59ycRZRUoa4keBuOiDteMAVXc9MAdW1Z-4LZxzx0/s1600/50.jpg" height="640" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another new picture of sweet Zinnia. Isn't she so cute?!</td></tr>
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Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-59557041307519841732014-05-12T09:24:00.001-07:002014-05-12T09:25:05.351-07:00Mother's Day 2014Mother's Day is always more like "Mother's Weekend" at our house for a couple of reasons. One, I guess I'll confess that I like to milk it for all it's worth, and two, since we don't go out and do social things on Sundays, the fun stuff needs to happen on Saturday.<br />
<br />
Teffy ended up coming home with a friend on Friday night, which was a nice surprise, and Curtis and I were able to go out on our regular date. We'd made a plan to spend Saturday going to Jackson and Beck's last two soccer games and then to the nursery to pick out plants for our flower beds (that Curtis would plant later that day as his gift to me), but it was freezing cold and raining, so things changed a bit. One of the two games was cancelled, and it was too cold to risk putting the plants in the ground, so they're in the garage until Tuesday. Fortunately, it turned out to be a good thing that I had some extra time because I realized I'd made a big goof! <br />
<br />
I was put in charge of gifts for the 18+-year-old women at our church for Mother's Day, and in addition to ordering cute little notepad sets for each of them, I planned to make giant blondies for them. I made a few pans each day during the week, cut them, wrapped them, and put them in the freezer, and by Thursday I was done. I was pretty proud of myself! But Saturday afternoon I decided to double-check my count, and I discovered I was short by 14! I ended up having to make two more pans of blondies, and I was so grateful that I hadn't realized my blunder as we were packaging everything up on Sunday morning. That would have been awful. <br />
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I'm the music leader in our children's program, and in our main worship service, I had the kids sing a super cool song to their mothers, after a short reading by one of the older girls in our group. She read a scriptural account from Alma 56 in the Book of Mormon about young men who were able to go to battle in defense of their countrymen and families as their parents had sworn an oath never to take up arms again. These young men were not afraid because of the lessons their mothers had taught them, and because of their mothers' great faith. In the end, none of these young men was killed in the battle. So cool! Anyway, the song the kids sang referenced this story, and they sang it with such gusto that there was hardly a dry eye in the chapel. I was quite pleased because I had told the kids their goal was to make their moms cry happy tears. They succeeded in making quite a few dads cry, too. ;) <br />
<br />
After this, the fathers of the missionaries who are serving from our congregation were called up to read letters that the missionaries had written to their moms. I knew this was coming because I had helped to plan the program, but hearing my son's sweet words to me was the most amazing thing. The other moms were completely surprised and in tears as their tearful husbands choked out their sons' words. We then had two speakers who did a really nice job talking about mothers of all sorts. It was truly one of the best Mother's Day programs I've ever seen. I loved it. <br />
<br />
After church, we had a nice lunch (oh, and I forgot to mention that Zoe had arrived that morning. She invited her boyfriend and he came, too). Teffy gave me some beautiful flowers and some candy and some of the kids gave me sweet things they'd made at school. My teens have promised to write me letters, which I will nag them about until they do it. ;) Curtis made me breakfast (not in bed, since that doesn't work when you have to get up when I do on Sunday mornings!) and plans to get the plants in on Tuesday. But the highlight of my Mother's Day was being able to Skype with my sweet missionary son for an hour. He looked and sounded WONDERFUL and is obviously so happy. He's doing just great, and it's crazy to think that the next time we talk (in 4 months and 25 days - ha!) it will be in person. I'm so proud of him. <br />
<br />
Mother's Day has become a bittersweet holiday for me, but I feel that my mom is aware of the goings-on in our lives, and I know she loves me. I love my sweet family and feel so blessed to have all of them in my life. <br />
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Here are some screenshots from our Skype session with Joshua.<br />
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And this is Beck's short play from the collection of first grade Mother's Day plays at his school. :)</div>
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<br />Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-79399933484721004962014-05-12T08:45:00.003-07:002014-05-12T09:29:51.364-07:00Joshua's email - week 81<br />
I don't usually post Joshua's full emails anymore, but it's been a while and today for some reason, I felt like I should. We got to Skype with him yesterday for Mother's Day, which was SO awesome, and it was clear to me that he is doing amazingly well. He is happy, confident, and totally on fire for what he is doing. I am so very proud of him. :)<br />
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-----------------------------------<br />
<br />
Week 81<br />
<br />
This week was sweet! We were really busy this week with some realllllyyyy long meetings haha, so there's not a lot to share, but I'll tell you about a few of the highlights!<br />
<br />
Monday:<br />
The weather finally started getting nice! Woohoo! I love it! Even though short sleeved white button up shirts make you look like a dorky 20 year old boy scout*, they're really nice to have when it gets hot! haha<br />
<br />
Tuesday-Wednesday:<br />
I went on exchanges with Elder J again, (he's the one who came out with me). He's so sick! I LOVE that kid! He's way humble and he's just fun to talk to, so we had a lot of fun working together and talking throughout the day. We gave a lesson at a member's house (for dinner) about the Atonement and then talked about family history and they LOVED IT. They loved it so much that they told our mission president about it hahaha. Woohoo!<br />
<br />
We talked to a bunch of kids on campus at UWM. There was this one kid named T that we were talking to for like 15 minutes. He was SWEET! We were teaching him the Restoration, and RIGHT when I got to the story of Joseph Smith's First Vision and he was feeling the Spirit HARDCORE, the bus he was waiting for pulled up and started driving away!!! So he ran in front of the bus to stop it, then hopped on and we never got a chance to give him a Book of Mormon, a card or ANYTHING!!! Dang it!!!!!!! It was pretty funny actually how it all worked out, but it was really frustrating!<br />
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Thursday-Friday:<br />
I went on exchanges with Elder G. He's SICK!!! We ate at the family's house that we ate at last time. The mom's name is A. She's Filipino and AWESOME. She made us some really good curry. The next day, we went and contacted some people and tracted and street contacted between visits. The first door we knocked, a young Hmong guy let us in. He was with his two kids and he was just about to go to work. We taught him about family history and the importance of keeping records and then taught about the Book of Mormon. He seemed to really like it, so we set up an appointment with him for this week! Hopefully the elders can start teaching the whole family! :)<br />
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As we were street contacting, we were just BOLD. It was sweet. We talked to lots of people and a few of them were really interesting....... but it was definitely fun hahaha. One of the people we visited is a Jehovah's witness convert. She told us about her story a little bit and then she asked about the Book of Mormon. She accepted a copy to read, but it didn't really go anywhere outside of just giving her a copy. So that was really funny because like 30 minutes later, we were driving to go visit someone else, and I saw this young hispanic kid walking down the street in a black suit with a black button up shirt and a black vest. I jokingly said to Elder G, "it's another Jehovah's Witness!" and then we drove away and turned to go visit the person. We got out of the car and noticed a little stand with a box with a door on the top. It was a free library box. You can put a book in it and take one out. It's pretty cool. They have them all over Milwaukee. So we decided to put a couple copies of the Book of Mormon in it. We both wrote our testimonies in them and put them there. As we were standing there, the kid in the black suit was walking by! He walked straight past us and he was like 20 feet away when I yelled, "Hey! what are you dressed up for?!" He turned with a big smile and said, "I'm a Jehovah's Witness!" So I was right! His name was L and he's 18 years old. He was so cool! We talked to him for like 20 minutes just about proselyting and what the people are like that he talks to. He was way chill. We had a really good discussion. I always hate those situations because you don't want to come off as the prideful jerk who only cares about converting people. But we ended up transitioning into teaching the Restoration in a way that didn't sound cocky, prideful, or arrogant, so that was sweet! :p He was genuinely interested in what we teach, so he asked what our message was. It was a pretty cool experience I guess haha. He was seriously a way cool kid, so it was fun talking to him.<br />
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Saturday:<br />
I was on exchanges with Elder S. He's LEGIT! Seriously one of the funniest kids I know! I love that kid! We visited a ton of people in this little town called ***, Wisconsin. We had some good experiences there. Probably the coolest thing that happened was a member referred us to her friend who has like 6 adopted children from Ethiopia, so I was able to go talk to her friend about her adopted children and we taught her about the Book of Mormon and she accepted one to read for herself! That was pretty much the highlight of the day.<br />
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Anyway, it's been a really good week. It was sweet getting to skype home for the last time! It feels weird that it was the last time! Ahhhhh!<br />
<br />
Anyway I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Love you all!<br />
<br />
Elder Josh Whicker<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">*Obligatory dorky 20-year-old boy scout photo ;)</td></tr>
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<br />Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-80971623433079035862014-04-20T21:00:00.000-07:002014-04-20T21:00:26.249-07:00Easter 2014Today was a good day, other than the fact that I'm on day 4 or 5 of feeling utterly miserable with the cold from heck. We had a wonderful Easter service at church, which included beautiful messages shared by one of my favorite families, and the song <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uSGSvKy6Io">Gethsemane</a>, sung by Sofie and Cora. They did such a good job! I meant to make an audio recording of it, but totally forgot until they came to sit down in our pew, dang it! Anyway, it was very sweet, and at the end of the meeting when our bishop got up to speak briefly, he got choked up as he explained that those of us in the congregation couldn't see what he could see, and that was that Sofie and Cora linked fingers as they sang. It made me get teary-eyed. I love that my kids love each other. They definitely have their moments when they bicker and argue, but it makes me happy to know that in times when they're nervous or need support, they feel safe in turning to each other. <br />
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Here are a few pictures from today. I was busy cooking, so I handed the camera over to Teffy and Jonah which meant that they are conspicuously absent from the photos. But bonus! I'm not! ;) I had to weed through a few shots of rear ends and close ups of random objects, but there are a few good ones, including a rare one of Curtis <i>avec canard-visage. </i><br />
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<i><br /></i>Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-88472451457286590902014-04-06T22:23:00.000-07:002014-04-10T13:35:29.010-07:00Cora's 9th birthdayToday was a great day. We watched the 3rd and 4th sessions of <a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2014/04?lang=eng">General Conference</a> with 2 of our 4 local missionaries and celebrated Cora's 9th birthday during lunch. We had cheese enchiladas, refried beans and rice - Cora's request - and then chocolate birthday cake. She got a new iPad case and charger, some new play food for her play kitchen, a giant black velvet coloring book and markers, another coloring book and crayons, some cash from one set of grandparents, and an iTunes card from another set of grandparents. She was pretty excited. Oh, and I braided Beck's hair during the second session of conference. He'd been rocking his fro for about 4 weeks, so he needed it! <br />
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<br />Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-67137148812687424942014-03-28T06:22:00.006-07:002014-03-28T06:22:54.579-07:00New pics and an update!Since Yun Li's referral information was over a year old, I ordered a phone update through Ladybugs N Love a couple of days ago. They sent me the update FAST! I'm impressed! Yun Li sounds like she is going to fit right in at our house. I can't wait to meet her! I love her so much already!<br />
<br />
Here are the questions I asked and the replies the orphanage gave:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
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<i><b><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">1. What are YunLi's communication skills like?</span> </b></i></div>
</blockquote>
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<i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She can say some simple words, such as daddy, mommy, big sister, etc. she can understand adults. </span> </i></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><b><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span></b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<i><b>2. What does she learn in school? </b></i></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">At preschool, she is learning language, numbers, art and crafts, gymnastics, etc. </span> </i></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><b><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span></b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<i><b>3. What does she like to eat and drink? </b></i></div>
</blockquote>
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<i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She is not picky. She has good appetite. She likes to eat vegetable, fruit, cake, juice, etc. she loves them all. </span> </i></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><b><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span></b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<i><b>4. Does she have a nickname? </b></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Li Li.</span> </i></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<i><b><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span></b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<i><b>5. What does she like to do for fun? </b></i></div>
</blockquote>
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<i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She loves to work. She loves to help teacher at preschool. She likes to help others. She likes to help foster mom to do chore. </span> </i></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><b><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span></b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<i><b>6. What is she good at? </b></i></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She is good at some simple work and chore. </span> </i></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><b><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span></b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<i><b>7. What things are challenging for her? </b></i></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Writing or learning school. </span> </i></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><b><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span></b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<i><b>8. What is her foster family like? </b></i></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
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<div style="text-align: start;">
<i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There is a foster father, foster mother, and a big sister. There is also another little boy from the orphanage. They all love Yun Li. </span> </i></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><b><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span></b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<i><b>9. What is her personality like? </b></i></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<div style="text-align: start;">
<i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She is active, restless, independent, and brave. </span> </i></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><b><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span></b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<i><b>10. Is she potty trained during the day and night? </b></i></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She is potty trained. Sometimes if she plays too hard and might have some accident.</span> </i></div>
</blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i><b>Her updated measurements:</b><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>Height: 103cm; Weight: 18kg; Head: 46cm; Foot: 17cm.</i></span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
I need to plot her measurements on a Chinese growth chart, but she sounds like a tiny little peanut, like Thalia! I'm loving that she isn't a picky eater, that she does gymnastics, and that she's active. Like I said, she's going to fit right in! :)<br />
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<br />Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-10748364729647009582014-03-27T09:45:00.000-07:002014-03-27T09:45:08.571-07:00Adoption education - DONE!We received our adoption education certificates late last night, and I forwarded them to the agency. That means all they're waiting on is two letters of reference, and then they can print our homestudy and I can send in our I800A. That has to be some kind of record! Seriously! Woohoo! Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-76835876250124815202014-03-27T09:29:00.001-07:002014-03-27T09:30:57.273-07:00An update on Joshua, and a current addressI feel badly that I haven't been posting more information about Joshua. I feel torn between wanting to share what he's up to and wanting to protect his privacy and that of the people he's working with. I never use the names of his companions or the individuals/families in his life, but I still sometimes worry that someone might be able to recognize themselves in what is said and not feel comfortable with it. In any case, I don't think I have shared that Joshua has been working as an assistant to the president for the last couple of months. His companion is Elder B, who is from England, and Joshua says that everyone gets a kick out of the accent. ;) He misses being able to teach as much as he used to, but they've had some amazing teaching experiences in the last couple of weeks. They have an investigator who has committed to be baptized but is really struggling with her family (who does not want her to be baptized). Joshua says she is absolutely amazing and that she is always teaching others about the gospel even though she's not yet baptized herself. She could really use our prayers for help finding peace with her family. Also, his dear friend J who was baptized last year was able to receive the Melchizedek priesthood and is planning to go on a mission late this year. He is so excited for his friend! <br />
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If you'd like to write a letter to Joshua, it can go directly to the mission office:<br />
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Elder Whicker<br />
7111 W Edgerton Ave Ste 100<br />
Greenfield WI 53220<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder B and Elder Whicker</td></tr>
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<br />Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-84640854398776779622014-03-26T21:01:00.000-07:002014-03-27T09:16:24.893-07:00Not the way I would have chosen to spend the day...One of the requirements of a homestudy is that all people and pets in a household have had a recent medical exam. Last time we adopted I tracked down all the providers that had seen any of our kids during the previous year and had them fill out the agency-provided medical form and get it notarized, and then made appointments for the remaining kids and for Curtis and me (who had to be seen by a physician rather than a PA or NP). This proved to be a huge hassle, so I decided that this time, I'd just take everyone in for a quick check-up and get it all done at once so that we only had one provider to deal with. Thankfully, with the help of a very kind nurse, we were able to arrange for one physician to see everyone, and for one notary to notarize all of the forms. The kids did amazingly well in spite of the fact that it wasn't much fun for any of them. You can see from this photo that the annoyance level increased with age. ;) <br />
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Jackson wasn't seen this day because he got beaten up during recess a couple of days earlier (yes, really) and I'd had to take him to the clinic to be seen, so his form was filled out by someone else and was waiting for us when I picked up the others. (He is OK, but he was very sore and the PA thought he had a mild concussion. The joys of third grade...) After the kids' visits, I had to take our dog and cat to the vet to get their immunizations done, and because I couldn't find our cat carrier, a brand new shirt that I was wearing is now in the trash thanks to my terrorized cat shredding the crud out of it. Waaaaaahhhh! <br />
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The kids were seen on Monday, and Curtis and I had our doctor visits on Tuesday. I made cookies for the nurse, doctor and notary that pulled all this together for us, picked up the forms, and mailed them off to our agency that afternoon. Awesome! I am amazed at how quickly this is all coming together! The only thing our agency is still waiting on is our education certificates (which will be emailed to them tomorrow) and two letters of reference (which should hopefully get there this week). Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-77888049279960227732014-03-25T10:00:00.000-07:002014-03-27T08:51:47.713-07:00Pre-approval for Lydia :)Today we received pre-approval from China to adopt Lydia, so I can finally post a couple of pictures. Unfortunately, the only ones I have are a) embedded in the referral documents and b) more than a year old. To celebrate getting our PA, I ordered a phone update through Ladybugs N Love which <i>should</i> also include some new photos. They automatically request updated measurements on kids, but we were also able to ask 10 additional questions about Lydia. We asked about her communication skills, activities she likes and is good at, things she has difficulty with, what her foster family is like, what her personality is like, etc. I'm looking forward to getting to know more about her. <br />
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<br />Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-17303235240981188482014-03-23T20:54:00.000-07:002014-03-27T09:00:58.362-07:00State gymnastics meetYesterday Maizie and Sofie competed in the state gymnastics meet in Missoula. It was a LONG drive for only a couple hours of competition (in fact, the awards ceremony was almost as long as the competition!), but it was a lot of fun and the girls did great. Maizie placed first on floor and Sofie placed 4th on beam, and they both placed in the all-around (I can't remember off the top of my head where). I have much better pictures on my camera, but here are a couple I shot with my phone during the awards ceremony.<br />
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Zoe came to stay with the other kids so that Curtis and I could take Maizie and Sofie to the meet. It happened to be our 23rd wedding anniversary, so while it wasn't exactly a romantic getaway, it was nice to have some time to ourselves and to cheer on our girls. We didn't get each other any gifts since we have such huge expenses coming up with YunLi's adoption, but we both think she's a wonderful gift! <br />
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<br />Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-84154050363117036012014-03-16T22:17:00.000-07:002014-03-16T22:17:00.221-07:0012 and 14Today was a very special day. We celebrated Maizie's 12th birthday (a couple of days early) and gave all the kids a present they'll never forget: news of #14. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">12 candles! Is it possible?!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cutting the cake. It's pink! What could that mean?</td></tr>
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We told the kids that they were going to be big siblings again (except Beck, who's a first-timer!) and asked them to guess whether they would have a brother or sister. They were split about down the middle, but one guess what the boys were hoping for! ;) <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first glimpse</td></tr>
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When Maizie opened up her first present, she thought at first that she was looking at old pictures of Thalia, but nope! That's not Thalia! :) The kids were all screaming and laughing and talking and asking questions at the same time. It was delightful madness! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nope! Not Thalia! </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A monster collection of loom bands from Grandpa and Kathy T</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A new iPad case from Mom and Dad</td></tr>
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Our kids had a thousand questions, so maybe you have a few, too. Here's the story...<br />
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While we were in Shenzhen adopting Thalia in February of 2013, we met a little boy with Down syndrome who was very sweet and charming - so much so that when we got home, I tracked him down and was able to determine that he was available for adoption. With our adoption so recent and our funds so lacking, bringing him home wasn't an option for us, but I did advocate for him and tried for a while to find him a family. Because I had inquired about him and a couple of other kids over the past year, the China adoption program director of the agency he was listed with sent me information a couple of times. I looked again at this little boy, as well as another darling boy with Down syndrome, but they just weren't "our" kids, and realistically, we just don't have the resources to be considering another international adoption. The 9 adoptions we've done have completely wiped us out!<br />
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In spite of our financial circumstances, I kept having this nagging feeling that we needed to be open to another child with Down syndrome. It wasn't something we were actively pursuing by ANY stretch, but the thought was there, just kind of floating around in my brain. I started praying about it, and I essentially told God that I was willing to do whatever He wanted me to do, but that it would have to be a situation that would basically fall into our laps because we didn't feel we could look due to the cost.<br />
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So after getting the information about these two sweet boys and telling the agency that neither boy was right for us, I was asked what the "right" situation would be. I replied that if I could hand-pick, I would want a girl (for the trivial reason that we wouldn't have to rearrange bedrooms yet again. I'm really tired of rearranging bedrooms!), I would want her to be between 5-10, and I would want her not to have serious cardiac or other health issues because our distance from a children's hospital. But even if we could find a child who met all these criteria, there was still the matter of our seriously battered financial circumstances. It seemed completely hopeless, at least for a few more years.<br />
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This all happened on Monday of last week. On Tuesday, I got yet another email from the agency that said that they had just had to return the file of a just-turned-6-year-old girl with Down syndrome to the shared list because the family that was working to adopt her had to withdraw for personal reasons. I saw the girl's picture and was surprised to see that I remembered her from when she was first listed on Reece's Rainbow. She was <i>adorable</i> and looked so much like Thalia! I was definitely interested, but the money issue held me back from getting too excited. It was frustrating not to be able to just call Curtis up and say, "Hey, what do you think?" and jump on it!<br />
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A little while later, I got on Facebook and was surprised to see the same little face staring back at me on my computer screen. A friend who adopted using this agency often posts pictures of available children, and this was the child she had posted that day. I scrolled through the comments, noting that most of them said things like "So sweet!" or "Adorable!" or "I wish I could talk my husband into adopting her!" But then another comment caught my eye - one that said that this child had a substantial grant available to go toward her adoption. I was immediately spurred into action! I checked to be sure the grant was real and found that it was, so I called the agency, and said (and I quote), "Lock that file!" The program coordinator was so sweet and so excited that there was already a family available for this little girl who had just lost a family, but as we talked and she worked to get the file locked, she discovered the key code she was supposed to use wasn't working. We both started to panic knowing that because she was on the shared list, any agency could snap her up at any moment. Finally the coordinator said that she was going to call "an agency [we're] friendly with" and have them lock the file so that it would be safe, but we could transfer it back later. I waited 30 agonizing minutes to hear back from her, and when I did it turned out that she had called their in-China staff person at 1:30 in the morning, woke her up, made her FaceTime with the agency, and that they were able to get the file locked! Whew! I was so relieved I was practically in tears!<br />
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So from that point, we had 72 hours to make a formal decision, and the clock was ticking. The first order of business was to share all of this with my husband, who had no idea what was about to hit him. As it turned out, he was working only a couple of hours that day, so when he got home from work I showed him the pictures and told him the story. Curtis has always been awesome about embracing my crazy ideas about adding to our family, but often he needs some time - sometimes quite a lot of time! - to pray and research and consider for himself before we make a decision together. On this day though, tears filled his eyes and then he laughed and laughed and said, "What in the heck are we doing?! We're crazy!" We hugged and laughed and decided to celebrate by going out for lunch and then to get passport photos that the agency required as part of our application. <br />
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The next order of business was to be certain that we would really be able to use the funds that were available for this child's adoption. We knew from Thalia's adoption experience that when you sign up to have a fund with Reece's Rainbow, you sign a contract agreeing that any money that is raised for the child stays with that child in the event you decide you can't continue with the adoption. We knew this was the case, but we wanted to get the official word before submitting the formal adoption application. We didn't get an immediate answer, but the next evening (which happened to be my mom's birthday), we got word that the money was indeed staying with the child. I cried and cried and prayed and cried some more. I was so overwhelmed with gratitude, and felt so certain that somehow, my mom had a hand in what happened the way that it did. The timing could not be coincidence. If I hadn't asked about those boys when I did, and if the agency wouldn't have told me about the girl, or if I hadn't seen her on Facebook later that day, none of this could have come together like it did. <br />
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For those who may not know, my mom died rather unexpectedly after a month-long bout with complicated pneumonia. She died the very day that Curtis and I were supposed to be flying to China to get Thalia. It was such a heart-wrenching experience, and because of the timing, Thalia's adoption and the death of my beautiful mom are forever linked in my mind. I fretted that my mom never got to meet Thalia, but I came to feel that she watched over Thalia over the month that we put off our trip to go get her. Now I feel so strongly that my mom is not only watching over our sweet new daughter-to-be, but that she actually had some hand in bringing this all about. Don't get me wrong - I know this is my Father in Heaven's doing, but I think of her as being on the sidelines cheering for us. Getting this amazing news on her birthday was and is such a blessing to us. <br />
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So that's the story. This wasn't planned, but it feels so incredibly right. We've had so many staggering expenses over the last year that I really didn't let myself even <i>think</i> about another adoption. But God has no limits, and He knew what He was doing. I am so grateful to Him for providing this miracle to our family. At the same time, I pray and grieve for the family that I'll never know who must be absolutely devastated for having to walk away from a child they thought would be a part of their family. I don't know what happened in their lives to prevent their being able to fulfill these plans, but I know whatever it was, their hearts must be aching. I pray that they will be comforted and somehow know that we will love this sweet child without end. I will tell her that there is another family who also loves her from afar. I love that she has been so valued and so <i>wanted. </i>She deserves nothing less.<br />
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Now for the practical info. ;)<br />
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Because our homestudy has been continually updated as part of Thalia's post-placement visits, we have two more visits with our social worker scheduled for Friday and Saturday, and then our homestudy is DONE! This shaves a substantial amount of time off of our process. We'll have to get background checks and driving record checks for the homestudy, but once those our received, our I-800A application can go to the USCIS office. In the meantime I'll work on getting our dossier documents gathered, notarized and authenticated. I really think that it's reasonable that our dossier can be on its way to China in 3 months given how much time we're saving with the homestudy. From there, it's about a 6 month wait. We could have her home before the end of the year if all goes smoothly. <br />
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The number one question our kids are asking is what we're going to name her. We have no idea. Her Chinese name is YunLi. Her birthday is in February 2008, and she's cuter than sin. As soon as we have our pre-approval from China, which should be this week, we'll post pictures. We're supposed to be getting an updated social history and medical information too because her file is more than a year old. She's tiny for her age, like Thalia, and has no known heart issues. <br />
<br />Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-37126081287435824032014-03-12T16:52:00.002-07:002014-03-12T16:52:31.431-07:00Happy birthday, MomMy mom would have been 69 today. I think she would have been horrified at the thought of being nearly 70, but she sure as heck didn't look anywhere near 70. Or 60 for that matter. If she were still here, my sister Jaime and I would have taken her out for a bagel and Diet Coke for breakfast. I would have gotten her a gift, and I wonder what I would have given her. Maybe some Sees Candies bridge mix? Maybe something cute for her house or something to wear? I don't know. She and my dad would have gone out for dinner, and one of us would have made cake. <br />
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I thought about going to the cemetery today, but I don't get the same comfort from the cemetery as some people seem to. I don't feel more connected to her there, and in fact, I think the reverse is true. I feel unsettled and she seems further away. I think I've been there maybe 4 times, but it's not out of a lack of love or respect that I don't go there more often. It's just that she's not there. <br />
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Where I feel my mom the most is in my home. I talk to her here. I sense her around me when I've had a challenging day, or when there's something unusually good going on in my life. I feel her with me when I watch my children perform in concerts or sports or other activities that she would normally have attended. I don't always feel her here, but it happens often enough that I'm 100% certain that she is aware of us and our circumstances, that she loves us and that she enjoys being near us when she can. <br />
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I have a good mommy. I can't wait to see her again one day. Until then, I take comfort in knowing that she can see me. <br />
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<br />Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-45173817567198585982014-03-12T16:42:00.000-07:002014-03-12T16:42:51.063-07:00How to be a good husband and fatherLast night, I was writing a letter to Joshua to send along with the cookies I made for him and Elder B (chocolate chip oatmeal-pecan, if you must know. Sheesh. So impatient.) I was thinking about the fact that the boy that I sent out 17 months ago is no longer a boy, and that the man that comes home will be nearing the time that -gasp- marriage and family will enter his mind. I was also thinking about the fact that my Curtis has been such an amazing father to his children and husband to his wife (that's me!), so I decided to give Joshua a little advice about how to be like his dad. Here's what I wrote:<br />
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Joshua, your awesome dad is a good man. Always be like him. When you get married, always be the kind of man who treasures your wife even if she sometimes asks like a spoiled poop head (not that I know anyone like that…) ;) Always play with your kids and ride skateboards and run and be active and don’t wear “dad clothes.” Eat and live adventurously. Do things that other people don’t do. Honor your priesthood and go to the temple as much as you can. Play Xbox with your sons and Bitty Babies with your daughters. Cook and bake because it’s fun and a creative outlet. Come home early from work as a surprise sometimes. Take your sons out for ice cream after the priesthood session of General Conference and go out for Mexican food after baptisms, graduations and other important family events. Remember to have family prayer and scripture study and Family Home Evening, and give your kids and wife blessings at the beginning of each school year. Remember to ask your home teachers for a blessing for yourself. Always be excited about missionary work. Give your wife flowers just because. Don’t get mad or stressed out if she sometimes cries for no apparent reason. Learn to braid your daughters’ hair. Pay your tithing first. Go on a date every week even if it means you lock your bedroom door and eat takeout Chinese and watch a DVD at home. Don’t spend more than you make and make sure you save money each month and slowly put together your food storage. Go out on double dates with other couples. Make sure those other couples aren’t all church members. Write letters and notes to your wife. Read the Ensign and enjoy your church meetings; don’t think of them as a chore. Listen to loud music and dance with your kids. Wrestle with them and get into tickle fights. Let them stay up past their bedtimes sometimes, and let them have cake for dinner once in a while. Save for a yearly vacation, even if it’s just a long weekend a few hours from home. Read lots of books. Watch conference and make sure your family does too. Mow and shovel and rake for the widows or elderly that live close to you and teach your kids to serve others. Deliver treats to neighbors and friends on Christmas Eve with your family. Let your kids make forts in the basement. Don’t eat too much meat. At least once a year, send your wife out for a day alone. At least once a year, go out alone or do something fun with a friend. Do a good job with your church calling and see it as a challenge and privilege rather than something to be endured. Be happy and “find joy in the journey” (Elder Wirthlin) even when you’re faced with challenges. Propose to your wife-to-be in a really interesting and creative way. Don’t go into debt to buy her ring. Buy her a rock for your 10th anniversary. Sing to your newborn babies. Don’t worry and let negative comments roll off your back. Remember the scout motto. Have fun at your job, even if it’s not your dream job. Notice funny things. Take your teens and their friends out for pizza during school lunch. Have lunch dates in the school cafeteria with your little kids. Give your wife a Valentine’s Day present even if she says it’s a pointless holiday and she doesn’t want anything. Constantly think of ways to improve your life and your family’s life. Call your parents every Sunday. Think about adopting a child with special needs. If you end up with a biological child with special needs, don’t grieve too long and recognize quickly that you’ve been entrusted with an amazing blessing. Paint your daughters’ toenails. Give way more than you think you can afford. Tell your very pregnant wife that she’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. Don’t worry when she calls her mom and cries sometimes. If you slip and say a bad word, apologize. Chocolate is always the right answer. Don’t regularly eat unhealthy foods or allow yourself to become addicted to anything. Exercise because it’s fun. Don’t use credit cards. Take each kid out for a daddy-child date every month, even if it’s just a trip to the store along with a chance to pick out a treat at the checkout. Tell your people you love them every day. Keep the Sabbath day holy. Hug your kids and kiss your wife every day. Expect good things to happen in your life. Work hard. Serve the Lord with all your might, mind and strength. Listen. Be encouraging. When your wife frets over innumerable things, wrap your arms around her and promise her everything will be all right. Ask her if she wants a blessing. Have a dog. Listen to great music or audio books on the way home from work. Play indoor soccer on a men’s team. Tip well. Talk to strangers. Teach your kids to drive a stick shift. Don’t eat at McDonalds. Do eat at hole-in-the-wall restaurants, get to know the owners and ask them to surprise you with your meal. Say sorry even if you’re sure it’s not your fault. Stay in touch with your missionary companions. Call your siblings on their birthdays. Remember their kids’ names. Don’t give your children everything they want, even if you can afford to do it. No matter what you do, let your actions and words demonstrate that you love God and want to be with Him again. Together with your wife, lead your family in righteousness. Always have a prayer in your heart.</blockquote>
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These are the things your dad does. You’re already so like him in so many ways. It makes me excited for what the future holds for you (and no, I’m not trying to make you trunky, stinkpot!). I just want you to know that even though we’re far from being a perfect family, we’re as successful as we are because you have an awesome father. If you’re like him, you’ll have a wonderful and happy life in spite of the challenges that inevitably come along. Your grandpas are good examples too. You’ve been very fortunate to have so many wonderful men in your life. President Cutler (and Jones) is another man you can learn great things from. You have been truly blessed to have been shaped and cultivated by your Heavenly Father through these righteous men. </blockquote>
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Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6692595307750827880.post-88370531848663535632014-03-11T16:57:00.000-07:002014-03-12T17:37:14.640-07:00This and thatMy dad and step-mom came to visit last week so they could pack up the last of my dad's woodworking tools and haul them back to Utah. While they were here, my dad helped Curtis put some drywall in the ceiling of our entry way since a faucet left running in the bathroom above damaged the old ceiling. He also caulked all the joints of the new crown molding in our kitchen. Kathy spent hours entertaining the kids, and we enjoyed every minute of having them around. The kids are really loving having a grandma again. :) <br />
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Curtis has been busy plastering the walls of our entry vestibule and main floor center hall. I can't tell you how grateful I am to have him working on this. We pulled the wallpaper off FIVE years ago, and it's looked like a haunted house ever since. It had just turned out to be a far bigger job than we expected it to be because we discovered that the wallpaper (multiple layers) had been stuck to bare plaster that had never been painted. Joshua patched all the cracks prior to leaving for his mission, so since September of 2012, we've had white joint compound veins covering the walls. Not exactly an elegant entry space.<br />
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So Curtis is skim coating and sanding everything and then I will have the honor of priming and painting it all. The whole stairway and upstairs hallway also have to be done, and we have to finish scraping the little remaining popcorn-texture ceiling. Fun fun! <br />
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Here are a few pictures from the past week. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ethan got his driver's license but refuses to acknowledge the camera. Stinker.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thalia making band bracelets</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thalia and cousin K making bracelets with Kathy</td></tr>
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Tanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433282829580147755noreply@blogger.com0