Final. It's the best word I've heard in the last 9 months!

Today, August 20th, at 11:00 am we were at the court house in a front of a judge with our little family, surrounded by those we love, explaining how much we love River and why she fits right into our family. I love that the judge asked how we chose her name. Her name has so much meaning to me, as does Flower's. Today just happens to be River's 9 month birthday. How perfect. We are finally a legal family. We are legally her parents. Not that I didn't already feel like or know we were her parents, it's just nice to have the state recognize it and legalize it. The security I feel now is most excellent as well. She will always be ours. As a little celebration of the moment, I even threw caution to the wind and put on the dangly earrings that matched my necklace. For those that know me well, this is big. :) I am sensitive to metals and therefore have had the same little diamond platinum studs in for 5 years, since KG gave them to me. What can I say...I was feelin' crazy! :-DThank you Jer, Kris, Opal(my mom) and Laura(KG's mom) for being there to witness this and support us.


And yes, I got emotional. Don't fall off your chair. There's just been one snag after another for the last 4 months and it was so draining! I'm so grateful it's done. We are so in love with both our girls and are forever grateful for adoption and the opportunity it provides for us to have a family.

We all went to Oriental Express for lunch after the big moment which is always enjoyable!

Thanks again to the four that came and to those that wanted to but couldn't. We always feel so loved and supported. We love you so much and could not have done these adoptions without your constant support. We have the best family and friends!
Mwah!

August has gotten away from me

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.
This month has escaped me. Actually so has July a bit. Let's start there and then move right into August shall we?
Here are some of the events we've enjoyed as they occurred.
...I went to lunch with Brenda, Kris and the girls. I love our visiting teaching lunches at Casa Mexico.
...Not an occurrence but worth noting, we found this rad hornet/bee/wasp nest(not sure which one). The thing is huge and just keeps getting bigger and bigger. So cool.
We also have this one. Anyone know the difference? Bueller? Bueller?
...I went to see the Proposal one afternoon with Raeann, Amanda and Kris. Raeann, Amanda and I then went to Proto's Pizza. Yum!
...I had an endoscopy. I've had various issues such as complete lack of energy, severe joint pain, irritable, not absorbing vitamin's and minerals, inability to keep my thyroid level. The list goes on. It's been quite the quest to figure out. This test was to see if I had Celiac. Kris was kind enough to take me and bring me home so KG could stay with the girls. Unfortunately, the test came back negative. I was just really hoping for some answers. Back to the drawing board.

...We had a big BBQ at Sturg's house. Lots of people from the ward were invited. We had a good turn out and I really enjoyed myself.
...I started a new work schedule. It's been interesting and required us to completely change our lives. Previously KG went to bed as soon as he came home and then woke at 3 when I went to work. Now I'm working a split shift. Now when he gets home he stays up with the girls till I get home at noon. I then take the girls to work with me from 4-6 and he usually wakes up around 7 pm. He also had to change their karate from Monday and Wednesday evenings, to Tuesday and thursday mornings since he now sleeps later and is up in the mornings. Whew. Lots of change but so far so good.
...The girls and I had dinner at Sandee's house. I caught this photo of River cuddling(not normal for her) with Spencer. He sure loves her and is great with her!
...Kris and I went to see The Ugly Truth. Super funny but a little over the top!

...We went to a Boise Burn game with my parents. Fun game but they lost.
...I went to lunch with Joanna and Kris to 36th Street Bistro. I loved it! It was so nice to chat and here more about Joanna's life and where she hopes to be headed.
...Sandee and I went to see My Sister's Keeper. I liked the book much better and the book made me cry more than the movie.
...Marco came to town and brought with him a dresser we purchased from Ikea. River didn't have one and we're tired of sharing our closet with her, especially since she now shares a room with Flower. So now they share a closet as well.
Flower got the new one:
River will use the old one which used to be KG's. It's seen better days. I've wanted to paint it. Anyone want to help? Bueller? Bueller?
...We went to a Boise Hawk's game with my parents. Fun time but they lost.




I love my little family. :) KG's and my name were announced over the loud speaker for our birthdays too. I was surprised. It's kind of funny because we gave my dad these tickets for his birthday in February and then he used them to take us out for our birthdays! :)
...KG has had the last 12 days off. He goes back to work tonight. I'm really sad. It's been wonderful. I had last week off, so 5 of those days, with him. We have taken the week of our birthdays off since we met. It's one of my favorite weeks of the year. We did so many fun things together including relaxing and doing nothing! Loved it. Every minute.
...Went to Kris' house and had her teach me how to read a sewing pattern. It's about dang time I know how and she taught me in a way that everything made sense and I never once felt stupid. That is rare which is why I hate being taught stuff by people and end up figuring it out on my own or just don't do it. I love that it makes sense now.
...Went to dinner at my parents. Mom made her yummy Swiss Steak. It's one of my favorites by her and for some reason KG had never partaken. Now he has and he loves it! After dinner the rest of my family as well as KG's parents game for dessert to celebrate our birthdays.
...At 1:30 am Sunday night/Monday morning I met two of my previous camp girls, Tracy and Chelsea, at Chelsea's house.
I had them at camp for three years at ages 13, 14, and 15. They are now 18 and leaving for college! I'm so proud of both of them. I gave each of them a dry erase/magnet board with a little message that I wrote in the corner and a notebook in which I wrote a personal message on the first page. They loved them. They are amazing girls. I haven't been out till 4:30 am in a LONG time and it was so fun and so worth it!
...Went to dinner with our student ward dinner group at our normal spot, Pier 49 Pizza. It was good to see Alan and Lindy.
...After pizza we went to Wahooz. After riding the go-carts for KG's birthday we knew Flower would love it! First she road with me.

We hauled booty! We passed 4 cars. it would have been more but after passing the second car he was bitter and rammed the side of us and sent us into a spin. It was hilarious.
Then she road with KG. They also passed four. She laughed and squealed the entire time! So much fun.

River was there too, just chillin'.
...Yesterday afternoon, between work shifts, I went to see The Time Traveller's Wife with Kris. It was good but not my favorite. Kind of slow. I think the book would have confused me.
...Last night we went to Red Robin for a free birthday burger. Then to Baskin Robbins for free birthday ice cream.
...Tonight we went to Tucano's for free birthday dinner.
Well...I think that about covers it. Thanks for playing along.

Elder's Quorum Campout

Last Friday evening, the 14th, we went to the cabin for a camping trip with the Elder's Quorum of our church. We had a great time and were so happy with those that were able to make it.
.::Friday::.
We all met at Albertson's on Federal Way at 6:00 pm and were quickly on the road. I think we arrived about 7:30 pm. I don't pay much attention to time once we arrive. That's the beauty of camping.
We got a fire going right away and chilled by the fire for the night.
River loves shoulder rides.

River's first 'flight through the air' at the cabin. Seems to be a tradition. It's hard to tell because she's a streak through the smoke. :)

River was testing out wearing shoes for the first time. I prefer bare baby feet. But we knew she'd need them to protect her feet. And guess what size these are...5. They are the shoes Flower wore at 2 1/2. They aren't that much too big for River. Crazy.
Sophie.
Avery.
Flower roasting one of lots and lots of marshmallows. She likes to roast them till they burn, toss them aside and start over with a new one.
Kenya.
Miles.(Flower's boyfriend)
Alana.
Jake and Tara jammin.
River and cousin Glen. (KG's dad, brother Justin + his son Adam + two friends, and his cousin's husband Glen + his son Trout joined us to cook us breakfast Saturday morning! We were very very happy and appreciative!)
Cody had fun using Ken's huge stick to stoke the fire. He he...that's sounds dirty.
Flower + Miles sittin' in a tree.....
We were grateful for the fire as we did not anticipate just how cold it would be that night.
.::Saturday::.
Saturday morning a yummy breakfast casserole was kindly made for us.
Love converse.
Kenya, Laura and Avery.
We forgot her bouncer...big mistake. We were happy that we remembered the pac 'n play. It came in handy for nap time.

Mary Catherine and Patrick.
Miles had a couple of stints on the time out stump. The kids actually did really well though.
Tara, Phil, Jake and Becca took off shortly after breakfast so they didn't make it into the group photo. Brent and his parents + niece and nephew left shortly after the photo.
The rest of us went to the creek to play.

Throwing and skipping rocks is a mandatory past time.



Kenya braved the deeper water and slippery rocks to walk to the other side.



KG threw the biggest rock of all.
This kid was a pro at skipping rocks!
Avery braved the mountain.
A view from the top.


It's hard to see but they are sitting pretty high and below them at the bottom of the hill are 4 empty soda cans. They were playing bowling with rocks. Pretty clever. It was fun to watch.
Flower finally decided to brave the cold water and join Alana.

Then I was surprised she decided to walk to the other side!
I was so proud.

She fell coming back but didn't even cry!
Glen caught a salmon from Grimes Creek. Beautiful coloring.
Open wide.

Alana is so good with kids. River loved her and she easily fell asleep on her.
I think we may have a new babysitter on our hands. :)
We were all packed up and on the road by 2:30 I think. We kept with our normal tradition of going to Idaho City on our way home and stopping for burgers and shakes at Donna's. It was so fun being there with new people! We had so much fun. Not so fun was the experience after we got in the bus. I took River out of her car seat to change her diaper before we got on the road. I laid her on the floor of the bus only to discover she had leaked out a bit, leaving skids on my pants and then I put my arm in some left on the car seat. That's when I asked KG to vacate the front seat and come help me. He took her pants off and then her shirt only to discover it clear up her back. When he lifted her up, there was a huge pile on the carpet. Keep in mind her diaper was still on. That's how much leaked out. He held her up while I wiped her down and Mary Catherine held a bag open to put on the yuck in. Then I scrubbed her car seat straps while he scrubbed the carpet. It was fabulous. Gotta love babies.
Thanks so much to everyone who planned and executed the campout and those that came up just to cook yummy food for us! :)