My Eternal Family!

So sorry that it has been so long since my last post. I have been up to my neck in unpacking and I am finding out that it takes FOREVER to do it with a two-year-old!! Finally my upstairs (all the bedrooms and the bathroom) is done and I am taking a break from it all by blogging my guts out!

Let me start with some of my favorite pictures in the world (not of my boys, but of Kolton's blanket) I'd like to introduce you to "Blue One Blanket"- this is Kolton's all time favorite blanket in the world and as such, it is almost impossible to wash it. I am lucky if it gets washed once a week but most of the time it is every other week. So, one day I was on my way downstairs to finish packing our house (BTW- we are in Montpelier, ID now!) and here was Blue One Blanket, standing up on its own!! It looked like it was actually CRAWLING up the stairs!! I am not exaggerating nor did I doctor the pictures- this is actually how I found the blanket!

Now on to more wonderful matters (yes, even more wonderful than blankets that stand on their own if you can imagine) and that is Sam's finalization date! On May 25 at 2:30 we went to the courthouse in front of Judge Wilmore where he declared us to be a 'wonderful family for Sam'! Our adoption of Sam is now final and binding!!! To say that Cori was on my mind that day is a total understatement. To think that she so selflessly gave this incredible gift to us when she got so little in return makes me wonder if I could ever do something so selfless. She is honestly one of the people I look up to most in this world. What an incredible GIFT! I am sorry the picture is so dark, but I can't get a good program to edit my pictures so this will have to do for now.

It makes me feel a tingle in my tummy when I see Sam looking at me in this picture. The judge was totally smitten with him and Kolton. He actually said that we'd better get a picture with him when it was all done!

from left to right: Judge Wilmore, Me and Sam, Wes and Kolton, Charity (our caseworker from LDS Family Services) and Paul, our attorney.

Afterward, my family did a fun play date at McDonalds both as a congratulations party for Sam as well as a 'good luck in Montpelier part' for our family. Kolton had a blast on the play area and was even brave enough to go all the way to the top and slide down!! You can tell by his red cheeks that he was having the time of his life!

This is one of my all-time favorite pictures of Sam. He was passed around to everyone and adored and kissed. He also got a vanilla ice cream cone all to himself!! My camera ran out of batteries (grrrr) so I couldn't get a picture of his ice cream face, but it was adorable!

And now, one of the greatest experiences of my life: SEALING DAY!! It all happened on May 28th at 7:30pm at the Logan, UT Temple. It was so completely AMAZING to have Kolton and Sam in the Temple with us! It was such a neat experience to teach Kolton all about what a special place the temple is and to read books and sing songs about the temple with him. Sam was an ANGEL (as always, of course!) and during the entire ceremony, he locked eyes with the man doing the sealing and when it was done he looked at Wes and I with a big smile on his face. I knew that his spirit understood what was going on and how important it was for him to be part of an eternal family. I know that angels were present in that room and that the Lord was pleased with us. I also felt so strongly that Cori would be blessed for her sacrifice and that the Lord was pleased with her as well. I can't go into it more because I am blinded by tears already! I left the temple feeling as though no woman in the world could be as happy as I was. To have my two boys and wonderful husband with me all in white- an eternal family- was so overwhelming it was really hard for me to keep my emotions in check. My whole family was able to be there (except my mom, who had to be in St. George to care for my uncle) as well as Wes's family. It is so wonderful to see how much support we have had and how many people love adoption and accept Sam as a natural part of our family. I am thankful we never had to contend with negativity about our adoptions or about Cori from my family. I couldn't be more blessed. And now, the PICTURES!!

Here we are walking out of the temple in our 'whites'. We were allowed to be outside of the temple for 15 minutes after the sealing to take pictures. I know that not all temples allow this, but I am so thankful that the Logan one does!

I don't know why, but I really like this picture- (but I wish Sam was smiling!)

One big happy eternal family!

Sam was so tired and snuggly and I just couldn't give his face enough kisses!

I am hoping that my little sis can do some magic with these pictures, but I think they are pretty magical anyway. What an incredible day!!

Well, that is it for now. I want to give a shout out to c-dawg (cori) and say I am so sorry that I haven't posted about this yet. I hope you know how very loved you are in our house! Kolton even began saying, when asked whose tummy he came from, "Cori's tummy!" To say adoption has changed my life is a huge understatement! I think don't want to do it any other way from now on! The Lord could not be more wonderful to us.

And last, but certainly not least, I wanted to post some pictures of my beautiful Sam. My sister, Britney, took them when we came to stay for a couple of days at my mom's house. She is the one that does MAGIC with photos (that's a plug- she does it for a ridiculously small fee) and I am so thankful for her willingness to edit lots of pics for me and for taking these beautiful pictures of Sam.

Oh yeah, before the edited ones, I have to show what a total and adorable little CHUB he is!!

This is Britney with Sam. What a crazy duo! He adores her!

Could I POSSIBLY have more to write about???

I hope y'all are patient because I am FINALLY sitting down to attempt to share our lives over the last month or two. So much has happened that I really don't know where to begin- so I will start from the beginning! On May 21st I had to go in to have my gallbladder removed. It was pretty sudden- but I kept thinking I was getting the stomach flu over and over and it ended up being gallstones! Go figure... Anyway, It was pretty uneventful, but, it wouldn't be a story without pics so here you go~

Lovely, eh? These are both pre-surgery, of course. I have a couple of post-surgery pics, but they are scary beyond all reason. I'm not joking.

It was pretty exciting as I have never had surgery, stitches, or anything like that before. It was a few weeks of recovery but well worth the pain! I have not puked in over a month and that is saying something!!

Stay tuned for the most important post---our Finalization and Temple date with Sam!! I would post about it now, but we have a train to catch (seriously, we got free passes to ride the train here!)

A very picturesque post!

This post is going to be mostly pictures and captions, otherwise it will be three pages long! I wish I was one of those talented moms who can say it all with just one perfect picture, but, alas, I can never chose just one to post! Plus having a birthmommy in the picture who has to miss out on these moments makes me want to post as much detail as I can so that she can feel as though she was there! Do you feel it, Cori?? We went to Baby Animal Days at the American West Heritage Center on April 10 (I know- a whole week ago, but don't judge me, my sister got married and we put our house on the market last week so I was not online much!). It was our first time going and we will definitely go next year! Kolton had the best time of his life, partially because of all the fun animals and activities, but also because some of his cousins were there with us. It was a dream come true for me to take my kiddos to something like this where they can learn and grow so much. It was a reminder of those days two and a half years ago when I would be invited to go 'even though I didn't have kids' and I would cry and long for a family of my own. My gratitude for Cori grew ten fold that day, which I didn't even think was possible...DO YOU FEEL IT, CORI??? Kay, here I say it will be mostly pictures and there I go blubbering!! Here's the pictures, folks....

I must have a million pictures of Kolton on his daddy's shoulders, but it gets me every time!

This was a rather boring hay ride, but the horses were HUGE so Kolton was in heaven!

Mr. Messy Face McGee

My three bears!! (Get it? I'm Goldilocks!!)

This was a proud moment for me- he was so brave!!

Kolton's favorite part, hands down, was the train ride- he talked about it all night!

Little Sam in his overalls for the occasion. He didn't enjoy the day as much as Kolton, but he was a good sport and smiled a lot anyway

This baby goose was so soft! Kolton just smiled the whole time he held it! On his left is his cousin, Kelsea, and on his right is his cousin, Justin

I think this part was my favorite! This bunny was completely adorable and snuggly and kept giving Kolton kisses. I wanted it so bad (only $10!!) but Wes reminded me that we are probably apartment-bound in the near future...sigh...

Justin was very brave and ate a barbeque flavored cricket- yuck!

Believe it or not, Kolton did this cool rock all by himself! He painted it and etched out a design with a toothpick. What a budding artist!

I just love this picture of him- his little red cheeks and runny nose! What a cutie!

Kolton was less than enthusiastic about petting the calf- but eventually got brave

Kolton playing us a soulful song on the drums...

And Wes and Sam joining in!

It was a terrific day and I was as happy as could be with my little family! Kay, to end this very long post I have to brag a bit...Our dining room table was re-done by your's truly when we moved into this house five years ago. It remained beautiful until Kolton turned 18 months and then the chairs looked like this...

So, I got a wild hair the other night and decided to re-do them AGAIN in a more stain-friendly fabric and ended up with this!!...

I bow, you clap, and we all rest easier knowing that people coming to look at my house won't run away in fear. Whew!!

Belated Easter Greetings!

I never imagined three years ago that I would be celebrating Easter with TWO amazing children, but there we were on Sunday, baskets in hand, camera at the ready, and more than a few tears in my eyes as I realized how very blessed I am. I love Easter because it is a time of new beginnings and it has always been a time of reflection for me. I think of all the Savior did for us- even for the people who hated him and killed him. He loves us all so much and therefor he gave his life so that we can live with Him again. I don't think it was ever easy for me to imagine the kind of love that took for our Heavenly Father to watch his son go through that. That is, until I watched our boys' birthmother experience a similar sacrifice as she placed not one, but two children in our arms to raise as our own. Her strength has helped me to better understand the Savior's love for me and her trust in us reminds me each day what a blessing it is to be a mother and what a great responsibility I have to do my best in raising them so that I am worth of the heartache she went through. So, Cori, to you I say THANK YOU for what must be the millionth time! I also want to remind you how much you are loved and appreciated. We want so many good things for you!

Okay, so our Easter, aside from being rather cold and rainy, was by far my best EVER! Last year Kolton was not walking yet so this was really his first year of really getting to HUNT eggs and by the time he finished his fourth egg hunt he was a total PRO. And when it came to decorating eggs, he was super careful and knew each color he wanted. We found some cute egg kits with 'Cars' and 'Mickey Mouse Clubhouse' stickers and he was very specific on which sticker he wanted on each egg. And, as luck would have it, he ended up LOVING to eat the hardboiled eggs the next day!

here is is dyeing a 'lellow' egg

He had so much fun with the egg utensil that he decided to eat his macaroni with it as well!

These stickers remained on him for two days. He was pretty attached!

The final product! I think he did a pretty awesome job!

Sam even got in on the fun!

This was the egg hunt in Richmond. We woke up to a fresh blanket of snow, but nothing was going to stop Kolton from digging through every inch of it to find the eggs and 'canee' (candy)!

We went to Grandma and Grandpa Garners in between sessions of General Conference on Sunday for a yummy lunch and egg hunt! Every year, Grandma gives them seeds to plant a garden and puts them in the eggs instead of candy. It was a nice break from the sugar rush!

Wes entertained us all with a little egg juggling. Kolton tried as well, but I think he may need a bit more practice!

We didn't even have to help Kolton find his special basketball eggs. He knew which ones were his and found all eight of them on his own!

We finished the day off by going to my sister, Cristi's house for the biggest Easter egg hunt this side of the Pecos. She has a half acre of land and lots of trees . This means many great hiding places and a lot of competition between the older kids to find the 'uber egg'. This is a jumbo egg full of money and really good prizes that must be filled and hid by the person who found it the year before. This year my 7 year-old nephew, Caleb, found the uber egg hidden in some crusty old squash in Cristi's garden. I told you the competition was high!

Sam and Alex got caught up on the latest happenings while the other kiddos hunted for eggs

The first thing Kolton found was this carrot egg. He would have been happy with that and nothing else and he still keeps it close to his bed each night. He didn't even care that there was candy inside!

This is a small fraction of all the people there. There are 20 grandkids in our family, not to mention 18 adults!

Sunday night while I was cleaning up and trying to get Kolton down from his sugar high I put on 'Baby Einstein' for Sam and found out just how much he loves it! He talked the whole way through it and cried when it was over. Is this a blessing or curse? Only time will tell...

And finally, I cannot share the stories of the last week without mentioning 'Bear'. Bear is Kolton's new best friend. Kolton includes Bear in all he does; sleeping, eating, getting his diaper changed, and even his artistic pursuits! Here are some pictures to illustrate how super cute this is!

you can't see Bear in this picture, but believe me, he was close by!

Bear's favorite food is Nerds, apparently!

To top off this very long post, Sam is now spending some time in this walker that was given to him by his cousins. The flower part is actually a mirror and I don't think he will ever tire of looking at himself! He is growing so fast and just keeps getting cuter by the second!

Temples and toddlers, porridge and poses

What a weekend! The perfect weekend! A lot to be thankful for and smile about. I'll let the pics do most of the talking. To start with, my little sister, Keli, went through the temple for the first time on Saturday. That makes her the last out of 8 children to be endowed. It was a really special experience and I am so happy for her!

Keli is the one in the middle with the tan bag next to my dad

The love of my life!

(forgive the underlining right here...can't fix it and don't want to figure out how to)

And this morning Kolton came up to me and handed me the camera, saying, "cute, mom, cute" and, thinking he had taken a picture by himself, I checked the camera and found nothing. I looked down at him to ask him what he wanted and he had struck

...wait for it....

this pose

and he just held it until I took the picture!! I just can't get over it!

Now, even though I am a couple of weeks behind where I started with Kolton, I finally gave Sam his first taste of rice cereal yesterday. Once again, the pictures speak for themselves~

He preferred to use his hands rather than the spoon, but the job got done and he was SATISFIED!!!

And to top off my weekend, Sam now fits into these overalls, which I have had in his drawer since day one in the hopes of this very day!

'I've said it 'afore and I'll say it again' (from the movie Carousel) that I am truly the luckiest mom in the world! At least I feel like it right now...maybe not so much when Sam gets cradle cap or Kolton colors on everything BUT the paper I give him, but for now I am content!

A good Saturday so far!

Well, we finally got Sam into the nursery and out of his cradle. We decided it was finally time when he kept kicking at the foot of the cradle when he got excited. It was hard to see him sleeping in the crib that Wes made for Kolton and to realize how quickly they have both been growing. Sam is already 14lbs!! It took about five minutes for Sam to fall fast asleep in his new bed.




Pics of Kolton's new room are coming when it is a little more finished. We are getting ready to sell the house because Wes is losing his job in a couple of months so I haven't been able to do much other than get things packed up to make the house look bigger and more 'sell-able'. Hopefully I can find time this weekend to finish his blanket and curtains. I hope the rest of my Saturday is as productive as the first part has been!