2010 Family Vacation

Ok, I am SOO behind in blogging so bear with me as I catch up. I have posted a few pictures but to see the most hilarious ones from the water slide and Tautphaus Park Zoo go to my facebook page.

So we started our trip by driving through Boise. We left our house about 11:30pm and drove through the night. The kids did pretty well. Corbin got upset a few times but I found that by rubbing is feet it calmed him down and he went back to sleep. We had to stop and gas up once along the way so we would let the kids get out and walk around for a minute, grab something to help keep us awake and continued onward. We chose to go through Boise so we could take the kids to the Boise Zoo, then to the State Capital. We sat on the grounds across from the Capital and watched the 4th of July parade then onto the zoo. When we were walking back from the parade to our hotel we passed a water feature that the kids loved so we stopped. The kids enjoyed the parade (I am sure because of all the candy) and really liked the monkeys. Natalie's most favorite part was the big Giraffe slide. She went up and down that thing so many times.

Then Sunday morning we headed for Blackfoot (my parents house) but on the way we stopped at the Twin Falls temple so natalie could see Angel Moroni and a Temple then we went to a park and arrived at my parents that evening.

Aaron and Kass put on a firework show for us and gave us dessert (ice cream) afterwards. During the fireworks Molly (my Dad's dog a chocolate lab; labs hate fire) tried to put them out until she was stopped and put in the shop. She wasn't very happy but now every time Natalie sees a picture of Molly or fireworks are mentioned she tells everyone that Molly got into the fireworks. Monday morning we helped my parents get their back yard ready for the reunion and that evening went into Idaho Falls to feed the ducks and let the kids play on the green belt. They had so much fun and it was fun to watch them feed the ducks. Corbin would just run after them. Then Tuesday morning we got up and headed to Yellowstone National Park where we spent the day. The kids seemed to have a lot of fun and Natalie kept seeing the steam come out of the pots and asked if the water was hot. We saw TONS of Buffalo, a slight sighting of a black bear, and a few deer. The kids were fascinated w/the deer and the buffalo as I was the only one that saw the bear. You always knew there was something to see when you drove past and there were cars parked along the side of the road. We were headed out of the park when we saw herds of buffalo on both sides of the road just grazing then we got stuck in traffic while a ranger tried to heard the buffalo off the road and get the people getting out of their cars to take pictures to PLEASE stay in their cars (which was causing even more of a traffic jam). My Dad ended up havening to work one evening so we took dinner into the fire station and ate dunner with him then he took all the grand kids out into the garage where all the fire trucks and ambulances were. My kids along w/all the other grand kids had a blast. Climbing inside all the fire trucks and the ambulance...what more could a kid ask for. Friday we had all planned to go to a water park but decided to bring the water park to us. So my brother-in-law and brothers took a huge sheet of commercial plastic, a few hoses, dishwashing soap, and made a homemade water slide. All the guys were w/out shirts and needless to say the sun got the best of them. They were all crispy crittered the next morning. The grand kids even took turns going down the huge plus playing in their kiddie swimming pool w/their own slide. Then Saturday morning was the Sealing day. We all came home and had a relaxing evening afterwards. Then Sunday we headed home to get home by about 11pm-12am. We had so much fun but we were so happy to be back home.

Waiting for Old Faithful

Soo cute. Both kids asleep both

w/one shoe on and one shoe off!

"Forever A Family"

We took a trip to Idaho Falls for Natalie's Sealing Day. It was such a wonderful day. Daniel's Mom and Sister, my family and a few friends were in Temple with us. It was so wonderful to be back in our Home Temple. I lost count at the number of Temple workers who either knew my family or knew Daniel's Mom. I was able to walk Natalie and Corbin down to the Nursery in the Temple. They were S-P-O-I-L-E-D!! When it was time to come up to the Sealing room Natalie didn't want to come up. She also wouldn't let my mom get her dressed. So when she came up she didn't have her jewelry or her hair bow in. We at least got pictures of her w/her hair bow but she wears her jewelry every so often. I remember watching the weather to see what kind of day we would have. I remember the forecast calling for rain however when we walked outside it was SOOO hot. Natalie didn't keep her jacket on for long. We then had a luncheon afterwards w/family. It was so much fun to be surrounded by family on such a special occasion. When my parents were up in North Idaho they taught Natalie that we go through the Temple to be a Forever Family and that Angel Moroni is on top of the Temple so when you ask her now why we went through the Temple she says "to be Forever a Family" and who is on top of the Temple her response is "Angel Oroni" (she can't quite get the "M" in there yet).  The day was very memorable. We had a fun time the entire week we were in Southeast Idaho.

Natalie's Adoption Day

Well, between all the appeals...Natalie is now officially ADOPTED!!! YAHOO!! We are still battling one more appeal but where we had approval from the Supreme Court of Appeals to move forward we did. I was such a great day. My parents showed up at 9am unexpectedly. They were a welcomed sight. I took Natalie to Wal Mart a few days before to order a cake for the open house. I gave her a few options to choose from...Princess and Little Mermaid and she chose Little Mermaid. We had a huge turn out for our open house that evening. It really turned out to be a fun weekend. I was very sad to see the weekend end and my parents go home. We are grateful she is in our lives hopefully FOREVER.

Catching Up-New Placement, Latest on Natalie

Wow I have a lot of catching up to do. So we excepted another foster placement. His name is Aiden. He is a handful because Natalie and Aiden are so close in age that they feed off of each other meaning they do what the other does which usually means trouble. Our biggest struggle with him is he LOVES food. We have had to really work with him on making him aware that food is not his best friend. We are still working on that and making him realize that he doesn't need to inhale. He is a work in progress. He does love to play with the Natalie and Corbin. So we are trying to use them as an example to him. We have had Aiden for about 3 weeks.

Now onto Natalie. We had a lady in our ward make Natalie's temple dress who also made Corbin's temple outfit. We went to finish up a few things on it so her granddaughter took some pictures of Natalie. Then she took a few pictures of the finished dress. Natalie is so excited she calls the dress her "pretty white dress" and every time we go to Cari's house she asks if we are going to the Temple. She is so excited to go. HOWEVER.......

We just found out that Natalie's mom has appealed AGAIN which I didn't know it was possible. She appealed but the timing was off so it didn't come to light but the Idaho Supreme Court decided to hear her case anyway. So I asked "What Now" now that we have invitations out and dates set? Health & Welfare said that we have the option to move forward or post pone. We chose the option to move forward and finalize but we still face the chance if the Supreme Court for some odd reason goes in the Mom's favor and the adoption could be over turned then our Deputy Attorney General will then appeal to the Supreme Court's decision and it could turn into a huge mess. So we are fasting and praying that things go in our favor and everything will work out. We don't even know a time line yet as to when this could all happen. So we are moving forward with adoption and Sealing and pray for the best.

This is Natalie's fitting-she looks just like a princess

This is the finished dress. I actually designed it w/the help of Cari Austin. There is the dress, pantaloons, and a white head band w/a big bow on it.

I also had Cari's daughter Kristal make a necklace and bracelet for her to wear with her dress.

Family Bike Ride

Well, we bought bikes for Daniel & I, a bike trailer for the kids, and a SUV bike rack. We went for our first bike ride last weekend. It was a crazy first experience for the kids. They had not had a nap and it was their first time wearing bicycle helmets. Once Natalie fell asleep Corbin was fine and enjoyed the ride. It was overall a fun day. We are going to try (weather permitting) tomorrow. Natalie really likes to ride in the trailer and Corbin just likes to do whatever natalie does so maybe this time, after nap time of course, we will give it a try again.

We decided that since we were so new to the whole family bike trip that we would stay close to the car.While on the trail we ran into a newer park built near downtown Coeur d'Alene.the kids had a lot of fun at the park. Corbin has a "CARS"  bike helmet and Natalie of course has "Dora".

Corbin is a little afraid of heights,
h will push a swing but doesn't like
to ride n them

Adoption Day

Well, I tried to get an earlier adoption day but to no avail so our official adoption day for Natalie is June 11, 2010 at 4:30pm and sealing date is July 10, at 12:30pm in the Idaho Falls Temple. We are excited to FINALLY be making final plans for her. We have been trying since March of 2009 and it has FINALLY come. We are so blessed to have such wonderful (depending on the day) children. Can't wait to be an eternal family.

Easter Outfits

So preparation for Natalie's adoption & sealing we got some professional pictures done of the two kids. Here are just a few of them. It was rather difficult to get Corbin to smile so we did the best we could. He mostly just sat there and looked at all of us like we were rather weird but they turned out cute anyway.

Easter Morning

Easter morning was great. Natalie & Corbin both got Easter outfits.

Corbin got his vacuum that he LOVES. Every time I go VT or to a friend who runs a day care this is the toy he goes for first, and a few years ago for Valentines Day Daniel got me a dog that sings, his mouth moves and his tail wags. Corbin LOVES this dog but the wires have a short in it so it doesn't work anymore, he still tries to get me to push the paw to make him sing but when I tell him it doesn't work and walk away he gets mad so we got him this dog (Daniel doesn't really care for) that flaps his ears when you press his paw and sings "Here Comes Peter Cottontail". He still doesn't care for it as much as the other one but he still enjoys it.

Natalie got her baby cradle. She was so excited because she uses the toddler bed we have in Corbin's room as her baby's bed and shuts the door, won't let anyone else in the room and says her baby is sleeping. So we enjoy it as much as she does and Corbin doesn't get locked in the room as much. So I guess both her and Corbin like it.

Then there was Tristin who's favorite toy was Transformers. Cindy from Health & Welfare bought him a transformer and dropped it off at our home a few days before Easter and where his Mom was doing an Easter basket for him we didn't so a whole lot so we used the transformer and gave him a little bit of candy. Tristin has since been relocated so he could continue going to his specialty schools in Coeur d'Alene.
Sunday afternoon we decorated Easter Eggs and later that evening did a hunt. The kids really enjoyed it. So overall it was a fun day and we are back down to two kids. Life is great.

Note: My apologies with the pictures. Blogger was updated and it is being very touchy.

Our First Attempt at Pig Tails

Ok, so every time we have gotten good news about Natalie we have gone out and celebrated. March of last year was the first termination hearing and the judge granted termination of parental rights. Then we got the news that her mother appealed. Then our most recent hearing in September of 2009 we testified before a judge everything I witnessed and the news came 3 days later that the judge granted termination. Then we started to celebrate again and never imagined we would be facing ANOTHER appeal. So about 3 weeks later...ANOTHER appeal. This time before the Idaho Supreme Court of Appeals. We were told we most likely wouldn't get an answer for at least 6 months. NOW...March 31, 2010 we got the best news of all time:

The Idaho Court of Appeals has upheld the termination of parental rights in this matter. You are free to proceed to adoption.

So last night we went out and celebrated knowing there was no one that could stop us now. It looks like it could be sometime this month if not early next month for an adoption day. We are however going to have her sealed in the Idaho Falls Temple because that is where we were sealed and the great thing is that Corbin now that he is sealed to us can sit in the room with us.

This is the newest member of our family. I have never put her hair in pigtails because she always pulls it out. So I tried one more time...ended up putting it back in at least 4 times. Oh she looked SOOO cute though.

We went to cold stone Creamery and bought it home. This is what she is eating.

Such a great smile. He really knows how to pose for pictures.