I Love to See The Temple

We settled! Our Birthfather is signing his rights away today! I have so much gratitude in my heart right now! I feel sad for the Rex and his family. They have and will suffer this loss. I know it will be hard and I pray that they will be comforted during this time. This is the hardest part of adoption for me, while our family is rejoicing another is mourning. I know that all of this is part of his plan and I know that Lincoln is suppose to be apart of our family.

We have set the date:

August 29, 2008

Our family will be sealed for time and all eternity in the Bountiful temple. The minute I heard our birthfather had decided to settle, I shopped for temple clothes, booked the church for a baby blessing, and made an appointment at the temple. I can't believe it is finally here! We have longed for this day for 16 months now! YAHOOOOO!

Thank you for all your prayers and kind words! We honestly couldn't have gotten through this without everyones' support. I have gained the strongest testimony of prayer and the power of the priesthood throughout this trial. I would not change any of this past year because of the things we have learned! Thanks again!

Our Prayers Have Been Answered!

We won today in court!! Even writing this is making me scream! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! The judge told our Birth Father his fight is in Utah and that he needs to come here! WAIT, it gets better! One hour after court, Our attorney got a phone call from our Birthfather's attorney asking us if we would consider settling! HOORAY! He said that Rex (Our Birthfather) is out of money and he doesn't think he can afford to come to Utah. He is about 80% to 90% sure that this is the rode he wants to take. We will know for sure Tuesday what will happen and then we will work out the agreement (Ex. pictures, money, visitation, etc.). If we do settle, we will be able to adopt Lincoln in the next couple of weeks! That is right, we could be sealed together forever by August! We are still in shock and we are trying to not get our hopes up! For now we will thank our Father in Heaven and do a happy dance for the positive outcome in court. We will continue to pray that he does want to settle, so that this legal mess will come to an end. YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!

A little Behind

A Little "Behind"

I have been a terrible blogger, AGAIN! Here goes the update!

New York

Mike and I had the opportunity to travel to New York with Mike's company again this year. We had a great time shopping, site seeing, and spending time together. We sure missed our kids, but we knew that they were in good hands.

Little Mother
Kenedy is turning into the sweetest little lady. She still has her occasional three year old moments, but she is the sweetest little girl. Lincoln has two mothers. She loves to cuddle him, play with, feed him, and most importantly boss him around. It is so fun to watch them interact with one another. Kenedy is so mindful of this whole legal mess. She talks about constantly. The other night we we sitting at dinner and this was our conversation about it.

Kenedy: "Mom, we are a family, right?"

Mom: "Yes sweetie!"

Kenedy: "No one is going to take us down, huh?"

Mom: (Chuckle) "Nope, they won't take us down!"

Kenedy: "Because we are STRONG and BRAVE and we will FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"

Hand the little lady some pom poms she is ready to cheer for you! She is a hoot. She prayers everynight that the judge will let her keep her little brother. She has taken this whole legal matter into her own hands. This is how she has decided she will take care of things.

"Mom, I am going to go on a plane and fly to the judge building. I am going to go fight the judge. Don't worry mom, it is not a real fight, just a pretend fight. He won't fight me for reals because I am too cute. I will say, "Judge can I keep my baby Lincoln because I love him so much!' He will say, "Sure Kenedy!" Then I will come home and get you guys and then go to the temple to get married! Good Plan?"

If only it was that easy right? These little kiddos have my heart and I don't know what I would do without either on of them.

SUMMERTIME

We have had lots of sand time, swimming time, and cousin time the last month! There are times I curse that stupid sand as I am constantly sweeping and vacuuming my floors, but the kids love it! Kenedy and Lincoln spend hours in that sandbox, so I guess the work is worth it!



This is what happens when the only toys your cousins have are girl toys or baby toys!


WE LOVE AMERICA!!

15 Months

I can't believe it! Lincoln has grown way faster than I remember Kenedy growing. We can't get enough of him and thank our Father in Heaven daily for him! His little personality has really come out the last few months. He is hilarious!

Loves: Phones, remotes, anything with buttons, loves to pretend he is talking on the phone, suckers, Popsicles, Murphy, mommy, playing outside, climbing, the water bottle, exploring, animals, books, his blue blanket, peekaboo, singing, head bang, clapping, baths, buckles, taking things on and off, swimming

Hates: strangers, not getting his own way, when people take things from him, his diaper changed, getting dressed, when mom leaves, getting in trouble

Words: Hi, more, mom, Mike, ball, book, milk, dog, dad, bye

Signs: more, done, tired, milk, food, drink, gentle

Sounds: dog, bear, cow, duck, monkey, water bottle, all other animal sounds are a growl

Murphy
We added a new member to our family the past month. Sweet, little Murphy. My brother recently got divorced and inherited a dog which sat at home while he worked and went to school. He wondered since we familiar with the whole adoption thing if we would take Murphy in. We were thrilled! We had grown to love this little dog and were sad when he didn't get to come around for awhile. After a quick dog lesson and a kiss and a hug, we were dog owners! What a nice uncle! The kids love Murphy! Kenedy loves to feed, walk , and take him to the potty. Lincoln loves to growl at him and fight over toys. What could be better than a dog that is potty trained, nurtured, eight months old and only cost a kiss and a hug? Welcome to the family Murphy!

This is my favorite thing about actioned packed summer days! CUDDLES!

COURT UPDATE
Our birthfather has slapped us with a temporary custody motion. We will be going to court Thursday, July 23rd in Idaho! WHAT A NIGHTMARE!! WILL IT EVER END? We are still working on the case in Utah. We are hoping the judge in Idaho will STAY (put on hold) the case in Idaho until a judge in Utah has ruled whether or not our birthfather has any rights! That should take place sometime in September. Keep those prayers coming, we honestly can't tell you how much they really do help! We know one day our family will be sealed for Time and all Eternity! We long for that day! In the mean time we are living life and loving being together!!