Spooky Acres...

It used to be that I wouldn't allow my kids to be anything creepy or scary for Halloween. They dressed up as cute spiders, fairies, gypsies, princesses, and other non-frightening things. Now that they are teenagers that time is over. Saturday they all went to the Church Youth Halloween-Dance. This is what they came up with for costumes...

Jackie as a "Night of the Living Dead-Cheerleader"

Jackie's friend, Jairen as a "Night of the Living Dead-Prom Date"

...and then together

Amanda ended up looking like one of the "Volturi" from "Twilght"

She ended up matching her friend, Joe, who went to the dance as a vampire.

*Sigh*
I'm sad to say THESE days are over.
I'm wimpy enough to prefer cute and silly to weird and scary.

Guess I'll just have to leave the weird and scary to my kids. haha

Birthday's are special, but...

This is the day Kevin and I remember most! We were living in Salem, Oregon. Six years of trying on our own, a year and a half of waiting for a phone call that seemed as if it would never come, and many, many miscarriages later... Our miracle occurred!!!

We had gotten the phone call the day before, "We have a baby-girl for you!". Kevin rushed home from work, thinking of all the possibilities those words foretold. More even, than I imagined. Toddler, school-girl, high school, college, mission?, and a mommy, herself. I couldn't think beyond the idea that we were FINALLY going to have a baby of our own! We snatched up Kevin's mom and drove to Portland. When we got there, we were told there had been complications and the baby would have to stay overnight in the hospital. With fear in our hearts, we took the longest drive of our lives, back to Salem. You see, by Oregon law at that time, until the adoptive family took custody of the child, the birth-mother could change her mind. We clung to the shreds of our faith, and prayed for peace.

Mandy's hospital portrait.

While we prayed and hoped, Amanda's precious Birth-mother had extra hours to snuggle and love this sweet baby-girl. She wrote to us later, describing how she held "Sarah" (as she called Amanda), sang to her, and told her how much she was loved. This extra time allowed her to find peace in her decision to give this child the home and family she felt Heavenly Father wanted for her. What an amazingly unselfish person. She will have our love and gratitude forever.

The next morning, we got "the" phone call again. This time, LDS Family Services had our baby at their Salem office. Again, we set out to meet our miracle-child. Grandma and Grandpa Webster came with us to record the event. Kevin and I were ushered into a HUGE conference room. An enormous table, surrounded by chairs and lit by a wall of windows, dominated the space. In a back corner, almost hidden by everything else, was a tiny cradle and a bundle in pink blankets. Our Adoption Counselor said, "I'll leave you alone to meet your daughter." "Our daughter".... those words almost seemed unreal to me. I was so afraid to touch her for fear that she would disappear and I'd wake up. I made Kevin pull the blanket back from her little face.

As soon as we saw her, we both knew her. It was instant recognition. "Oh, THERE you are!", I thought, "Of course you're ours!" Then Kevin said, "It's Amanda Noelle!". We had several names picked out, but as soon as we saw her, we knew who she was. Soon, she was enchanting every member of our family. She was our miracle, and brought-out the sweetest feelings of love from all our family and friends.

Right from the start, we called her our "Angel-Girl".

Seventeen years later...she still is!

We love you, Angel-Girl!!!! Thanks for being our daughter!

"She had a Birthday, Shout Hurray!!!"

Here are a few highlights from Amanda's 17th Birthday...

Birthday cards are fun, ESPECIALLY when they contain surprises like cash and gift cards!
Thanks, everybody!!!

Kenyon College is near her "Auntie"
...AND the logo is PURPLE!!
Thanks, Auntie & Uncle Charlie
(the necklace is beautiful, too)

Mom got creative with the wrapping...

YAY!!! New bedding to match the newly-painted bedroom walls!

...and the GRAND-FINALE...
tickets to see the "Scarlet Pimpernel"
at the Hale Community Theater in Orem!
It was a great show!

She had a very Happy Birthday!
Thanks to everyone who made it that way!

PS: Joe (her date for Homecoming) got her a bag of her favorite candy for her birthday!

Let's say it all together, now: "Awwwwwwwwww". (He really is a nice guy)

There's something in the air...

I think it's Fall! This is my favorite Season of the year! I love the hint of a crispness in the air, the long, deep, afternoon shadows, and the warm, vibrant colors. There's a sense of anticipation that perhaps comes from the last burst of energy all of nature gets before the long sleep of winter. Maybe it's the snap and spice of color and scent before the cold, white that's coming. Whatever it is, I love Fall!!!

Yesterday, I saw it all around me. In pumpkins on display...

and trees showing off their autumn splendor...

Maybe it was the nip in the air that I felt as I poked my nose out my door in the morning that inspired me. Whatever it was, it got me started. Inside my house it was warm, quiet, and cozy. Perfect for baking bread...

So I did!

As I finished up and the warm loaves were cooling,
I listened to my first (and one of my favorite) Christmas albums of the year...

I could feel my heart lift and my soul settle -
I felt peace, joy, and contentment...
Ah, the arrival of Fall!
Life is good!

It's a DATE!!!

A week or so ago, Kevin and I ran away from home. We didn't go far, but we needed a date. Since money WAS an issue, we decided to be creative and cheap. We chose to let Mother Nature entertain us, and drove up American Fork Canyon. It is one of our family-favorites, so we knew we'd enjoy the drive.

Autumn was just beginning to make itself known and it showed in the beautiful reds and golds we saw along the way.

We talked and talked and talked...and enjoyed just being together. Eventually, we stopped and hiked up a trail to see if we could find a better view. We even tried a self-portrait...not our best effort. But the view was GREAT!

Fortunately, we met some new friends and exchanged picture-taking services. They did a better job on us than we did on ourselves. ha ha

Along the path, Kevin picked me a flower (see the picture above...)
The drive home came a bit sooner than we would have liked; but holding hands on the way helped.
Besides - the date was wonderful!

Home at last!
New pictures, sweet memories and my wildflowers in a vase.

*sigh*
I'm an awfully lucky-lady!
Thanks, Kev! I needed that!

Homecoming 2010

Here are the pictures of Amanda's first Homecoming Dance. Her date's name is Joe Price. We got to meet his parents tonight. They were SUCH nice people. We really enjoyed visiting.

Last night they took Amanda with them (the whole family) to find a tie for Joe to wear that matched Amanda's dress. She really enjoyed her time with them. I think they did a great job on the tie. All in all Amanda and Joe looked lovely together!

Enjoy...I know we (the parents) did!

This one is my favorite!

PS: Mandy and Joe had a wonderful time!

This one goes down in the books as a success!
YAY!