Ward Dance Party + Mikie's Birthday Party = A Whole Lot Of Partying

Mikie had her birthday on the same night as our ward dance party. She had a blast dancing with all of her little friends! We had a great time!

Can I just say that the people in my ward have some killer dance moves!

London! One of my sweet nursey kids and her family getting down!

My Ty dancing with his cousin! Love my nursery friends!

Mikie and her BESTIES!

Webkinz are the cool thing at our house!

I threw Mikie a birthday party this year because I was super sick and in and out of the hospital on her birthday last year. I didn't do anything for her and I felt so guilty about it! Luckily we had some sweet friends who brought her some presents and my friend Camilla made these amazing creme filled chocolate cupcakes for Mikie since she knew I was not up to the task. So this year I had to redeem myself!

We did a craft and played a bunch of party games!

Mikie requested a rice crispie cake and it barely got done thanks to my friend Erin who stayed and helped with the party! She finished it while I entertained the kids and fed the missionaries. That is how I got all of the pictures of the party too is because of my awesome friend Heather who played photographer and saved my heiny!

My Michael Lil is just the most tender, giving, and nurturing child! There isn't a second that she isn't thinking of everyone but herself! She is a little mother to Hallie and May and they fight over who gets to play with her and sleep in her bed!

Mikie likes to speak spanish! She makes most of it up and it sounds hilarious!

Mikie is absolutely brilliant! She is in first grade but goes to second grade for reading and intervention.

She is so girly and prissy! She loves her hair done and makeup and fancy clothes!

Happy Birthday my beautiful Mikie! It has been an absolute joy and pleasure to be your mother!

After Eighteen Months, It Is Official!!!!

Words can not express the relief, joy, elation, peace, and all of the other warm and fuzzy feelings that I felt today!

Hallie has ALWAYS been our baby but there is something about having the courts document it and make it legal and binding that brings so much comfort to me!

Our attorney and our LDS Family Services case worker met us at the Adams County court house bright and early and walked us through the process of the adoption hearing. We were interviewed before the judge by our attorney and by the judge and our case worker gave a statement of his visits to our home and said lots of nice things about us because he is cool like that! We were so blessed to have such an awesome guy as our case worker! He would bring his guitar to home visits and we would jam! It dawned on me today that he won't be dropping by all the time to check up on us and I was really bummed out about that! In that court room, as I looked at my darling little Hallie, tears came to my eyes as I swore to be responsible for her in good and bad times. I am her mother and it is as if she was one of my natural born children. People tell me that we cheated or that this is the easy way to have a baby but I am hear to say that I have labored for a long and arduous eighteen months to get that little girl here. At times it has been frustrating, overwhelming, and tiring dealing with the waiting, paperwork, red tape, difficult sperm donor, bounderies with Hallie's birth family... but it all has been worth it to have our beautiful Hallie in our life! She is so precious and I am blessed to have the opportunity to raise her!

The judge was very accommodating and he kept saying how special it was to be able to hear our case and how it is was a treat to do an adoption becauce it is a happy time for everyone. He posed for a picture and he gave Hallie a bear so that she would have something to remember the occasion by. I was not very happy about the fact that I forgot to bring my camera so I had to settle for the cell phone pictures which is better than nothing I guess.

I am pretty sure she knows that it is a special day!

Hallie and her adoption bear!


Hallie DeeLoris NASH!!! She looks pretty happy about that!




More importantly than this day, is the day that our family will be dressed in white in the house of the Lord where this precious little angel will be sealed to us for time and all eternity!!! That day can not come soon enough!!!

It's Called...

the fourth folder, fourth picture tag and it looked pretty darn fun!
Here are the rules:
1.) Go to your Pictures folder on your computer
2.) Go to your 4th folder- We got our first digital camera May of 2007 when we picked up Hallie.
3.) Get your 4th picture- Does it get any cuter than this?

When we brought our little Hallie home, we put her in Mikie's room in a crib. One night I came up to tuck all the little ones in and this is what I discovered! Don't ask me how petite Mikie was able to get Hallie out if the crib but it became a nightly occurrence! I couldn't pass up the photo op!
4.) Tag four people. Hmm let's see...Mike & Misty, Tracey, Sherry, Christine, and anyone who is looking for a fun tag to blog about!

Hallelujah!!!!

We just got a call from our family attorney today and we were FINALLY given the date for our FINAL adoption hearing on the 21st!!!!! Can the wait truly be over?! It has been a LONG eighteen month journey! I am just elated that we are FINALLY to this point! Just thought I would share my EXCITEMENT!!!

WOOHOO!! YIPEE! WHOOT WHOOT!!!

This Is Halloween!

WARNING: A PHOTO IN THIS POST IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART OR FOR THOSE THAT ARE GROSSED OUT BY FAT PEOPLE! BE ADVISED!

This is what I wanted to be this year for Halloween, a singer from The Lawrence Welk Show! I inherited some hideous (and I mean that in a loving way) polyester dresses from Grammy that she wore in the fifties and sixties and this time of year is pretty much the only time I can pull off wearing such outlandish dresses. I had my hair up in hot rollers, ready to rat to high heaven and was applying my fake eyelashes when Mike called an hour before the ward Halloween party telling me that he bought costumes and that I HAD to go along with it. No matter how much I pleaded and begged he refused to tell me what we were going as. So when he came home with Adam and Eve costumes I was not very happy...AT ALL! My attitude about the costumes did not improve when I finally squeezed into the blasted thing and took a look in the mirror!

ME: "This is going to show all of my rolls and curves!! I can't pull this off!"

HUSBAND: "That's what makes it so hilarious!"

ME: "This is SOOO disgusting! I DO NOT LIKE YOU RIGHT NOW!"

HUSBAND:"You gotta throw dignity to the wind! Just be cool."

ME: "This is SO not cool!"

HUSBAND:"You really look naked!"

ME:" Oh that makes feel SO much better{insert sarcastic voice here}!"

I REALLY struggled about whether I should post this picture at all. No one wants unflattering pictures of themselves floating around on the world wide web. I am not proud of this body and the way I have let it get this heavy but that is a depressing discussion for another day. I figure that if I let what people thought of me or my insecurities prevent me from having fun in life and having a good time than I would never do anything for fear that people might judge me or what they might be thinking or all of the negative thoughts that I have going on in my head. I know thin, athletic women who are not comfortable with their bodies and I just don't get how they can't appreciate what they have because it is beautiful and the positive features of their bodies outweigh the features that they hate but why should I be exempt from that thought process? I have learned that I have to be happy and love my body no matter what shape it is.

Trust me, I came up with every fat joke and comment imaginable to ease the tension cause if I joke about being fat than I am distracting people from actually seeing it. We were a hit at the ward party though! We even won the costume contest! It wasn't so bad and all night I was catching people glancing at my leaves he he! I still feel ripped off that I didn't get to wear my pink polyester dress. Maybe next year





Michael is enjoying himself WAY too much! I am frowning on the inside I promise!

Good and Evil! My friend Liza and I! She isn't really evil...maybe a little wicked!

Doing a Halloween craft! Hallie really enjoyed this!

Yup... he is carving a pumpkin in my living room! You might be a redneck if...

Smiling for Ash the photographer!

This is what it is ALL about! Kids make everything so magical and exciting!

I think I got them all to look at the camera between the two shots! I take what I can get!

Ash was Sharpay from HSM, Mikie was a butterfly fairy with no wings because she didn't put them in a safe place and lost them, Madse was a Jedi Knight, May May was a caterpillar (wowy powy bug), and Hallie was a little white rabbit. The little ones didn't last long and came home with me and were in bed by eight. Mike, Rick, and Tracey took the older kids up to celestial hill where all the good loot was! We are left with candy wrappers coming out our ears and kids with candy induced diarrhea but it will be a Halloween that we will always remember!

ONE Of The MANY Things That I ADORE About The Fall!

I just can't get enough!