Pancakes & Conference

Last weekend we were the hosts of one of Megan's family's traditions: pancakes and conference.

Twice a year our church holds General Conference. The meetings are aired world-wide and we usually watch via television from home. 

For the Sunday morning session we always gather together to enjoy delicious whole wheat pancakes while we watch our prophet and other church leaders give instruction and share inspirational messages. 

THE pancakes--Yummy!

The kiddos (and Sam) playing conference bingo.

three cute kids--and yes, that's snow outside. 

It's always hard to choose, but one of my favorite talks was about the Atonement. I loved what he said about there being no pain or sorrow that can't be healed through Christ's Atonement. I have such a strong belief of this. I don't know how I could have accepted Katrina's gift, the opportunity she gave me to be Cohen's mom, had I not believed this. I'm so grateful I've been able to experience the healing power of the atonement in my own life, but it's even sweeter to see it at work in someone else's.

While I was snapping photos I took one of this lamp Sam made recently. His dad rescued a really old train light and he knew Sam could turn it into something useful. It turned out to be pretty darn cool, too.

Caught!

Today I caught Cohen doing something very grown up ...

I hope he doesn't mind if I still read to him now and then.

Another Reason Why Open Adoption Rocks!!

We have VERY exciting news! Katrina is going to serve a mission for our church!! This is something she's been wanting to do and working toward for a long time. We are so proud of how patient she was with the process and with the positive attitude she's had about everything. We are so excited for her, but what will we do without her for 18 months??! I'm sure we will survive, but she will be missed.

She just received her mission call a few days ago. She wanted to go through the temple ASAP, so yesterday was the big day. She invited us to be there with her--of course we went. We love her so much and are so grateful we could share this experience with her.

Outside the temple with Katrina--we sure do love her!!

Katrina really is an integral part of our family and we feel so blessed that we can be a part of her life. She doesn't leave for a few months, so we're going to spend as much time with her as we can until then. 

He's In!

Living where we do has been an eye-opener in regards to the process people must navigate in order to move to the U.S. (and even just visit sometimes) from other countries.  Our good friend Victor FINALLY officially became a U.S. citizen today!!!  It was a long road from Nigeria, about 20 years long to be exact.  We are so happy for him and hope his wife, who lives in Canada, can join him very, very soon.

v-day

Check out these YUMMY treats Sam made for me on Valentine's! This brought me back to our first Valentine's Day together. We had been dating for a few months--he made me a bunch of these and I wrote him a cheesy/funny poem on a card I made for him. The strawberries are gone of course (luckily he makes me more every year), but Sam still has that card.

Once in awhile I get in a crafty mood. I'm a little low on Valentine's Day decorations, so I thought I'd make a centerpiece for the kitchen table. I friend of mine from high school has this awesome crafting blog/website where I remembered seeing this cute paper craft around Christmastime. I decided to make a Valentine's version, but wanted to make a few alterations. I do this a lot whenever it comes to anything that requires following directions, especially when I craft and cook.  Usually everything turns out just the way I want it. That was not the case this time. My changes to the banner piece (making it double sided, and hanging on ribbon at the base of the topiaries) resulted in a lot of frustration and WAY too much wasted time. However, my sweet husband and a lot of hot glue saved the day.  Here's the (almost) final product.

I still have to finish the bases but I'm giving it a rest for now.

Happy Valentine's Day to my two guys! I am head over hills for you both. I am the luckiest girl in the world!!!

Gucks

The other day we were all a little stir crazy. It's been cold and hazy lately, but today we had sunshine! It was still pretty cold, but sun was such a welcome site we headed to the park with some old bread to feed the "gucks". One of Cohen's first words was "guck" (duck). He now says "duck" but I prefer "guck".

Check out that view! I LOVE those mountains!!

Cohen didn't seem to notice the freezing temps at all.

Cheese

Tonight while I was making dinner, Cohen got ahold of the cheese and decided to help himself. I had a choice to make--either get get upset or laugh. I decided to laugh--at least he didn't grab it off the grocery store shelf and take a bite out of it like my older sister used to do when she was his age (she was notorious for doing this so that my mom would have to buy whatever it was she bit). I also decided to take a picture so that I would remember to laugh about it again later. 

I sliced off a piece for him to snack on while I finished cooking. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. Go figure!