Avery's Easter Creation

Easter is right around the corner and I decided to do a craft with Avery this week and it turned out to be so fun! I decided that we would make paper mache Easter eggs like the ones we use to make in grade school. It was a lot of fun since Avery could put the tissue paper on any way she wanted to and it still looked good. Every time she would put a little piece of paper on the balloon, she would say, "Mom, perfect!" She had so much fun that we ended up making 4 eggs and giving each grandma and grandpa one filled with candy.

We got approved!!!!

Today is a very exciting day, one that brings us a step closer to adopting. Our caseworker called and told us that we were approved for adoption!! What happens is we have a fill out A LOT of paperwork, make a collage of our family (Thanks Karalee for helping me make ours), and have 2 letters written to the birth mother. This is all taken before an adoption commitee to make sure that we are able to care for another child. It is very exciting news and a relief to know that all of our paperwork, background checks, and references are all complete. Thank you to everyone who wrote letters and helped us with this process! Now probably comes the more difficult period when we must be patient and have faith that a child will come into our family. I know that Heavenly Father wants a child to have a loving and eternal family to go to, so I lean on Him and trust that He will bless us and will guide the birth mother to our family.

I have been reading a book about adoption and have been learning the emotions, decisions, and thoughts that go through a birth mother's mind when she is deciding which path to chose for her and her child. It has brought me to a new understanding of the heavy decisions that weigh on their mind and the emotional rollercoaster they experience. I pray each night for our birth mother, that she may feel Heavenly Father's guiding hand in her life. This experience has brought me to appreciate motherhood, families, and the miracle of life. I am thankful for the leaders of the church who testify of the eternal principles of adoption. It testifies of the Savior's Atonement by making the bitter sweet, the sorrow into joy. This process has deepened my faith in Him and He will bless our family with another 'grandpa's angel'!

St Patrick's Day Dinner

We had dinner with my family on Sunday and we arrived to find that dinner was green. My mom and Emilee decided to celebrate St Patrick's Day on Sunday with everything green. We ate green chicken and noodle soup with green rolls. A green salad was also served and for dessert we had green cake. It was really fun and the kids all had green leprechaun headpieces. It was fun to be festive.

AN ELECTRICIAN LIVES HERE!

We have finally started our basement! We installed our fireplace in October but waited until after the holidays to finish. Jason got help from our brother-in-law, Dave to help us do the electrical work. I was worried that he was going to electricute himself or we'd get finished and we wouldn't have any lights. But he did a fabulous job. Thanks Dave for helping and thanks to Steph for letting us borrow him for a few Saturdays! The sheetrockers came and brought TONS of sheetrock. They hoisted it over the fence with a crane and brought it all in through our basement window. When they went to leave, their truck was stuck in the mud behind our house. With enough rocking back and forth, they eventually got out. Jason was amazed at how fast they could hang that sheetrock-just about 2 days! It would have taken Jason 2 years to hang it himself! We are now in the process of having the texture put on the walls and ceiling and that should be done next week. It will be so nice to have my house back and have a whole another floor we can live in. And no more TV in my front room!! It is very exciting!