Pictures of Jenna! She is doing really well and bonding quickly. It is now just a little over three weeks that she came over to stay.

 

 

 

 

 

These pictures are of our 2nd time skiing. It went so much better! I don't remember falling down once and I was able to go a lot faster. And I had fun this time. Last time was somewhat fun, but this time was great!!! I can't wait to go again!

 

 

 

 

Count down time!!

Grommette is 24 days away!! I can hardly wait!

Here is a picture that will give you an idea of how big she is.

Our family has been enjoying immensely "Ski School"! My mom and dad have skied in the past, but this is the first time that any one of my siblings, or myself, have had the opportunity. The first time was a lot of bangs, bruises, and bonks, but we are improving! :) This is a 6 week class that we signed up for and we went for the second class today. We all did so much better!! I didn't have to go at snail's pace, which sure was nice!! We are still on the bunny hill, but next time it sounds like we will move to the next hardest! Exciting!!!


Here I am attempting to learn how to use these things without getting hurt!


Here Corbin is doing the pizza!


Here is Calvin. His motto is do everything as quick and daring as you can--usually! :)


A picture of all of us, except Cal.


Here is Kayla trying out the new concept of using skis!

 

Okay, I think that everyone needs an explanation of this picture! I accepted the Photo tag/Photo dare that my good friend Bethany placed on me. :P For rules go to http://iluvmygoats.blogspot.com. This was taken when one of Mom's old friends, who lives in Califonia, came up for a visit. Needless to say, we had a great time showing her the farm!!!! :)

Here are some pictures of Jenna.

Tonight I was able to feel Grommette's babies strong and hard!!! I have been able to feel them in the past couple of weeks, but not very often and when I did, they were very light kicks and movements. Tonight, the babies were kicking lots. Once, I was able to feel a ribcage and once a nose moved across the palm of my hand!!! Being able to feel babies, brings such a delight to me!!

Grommette's due date is February 17. Only 31 days! :)

With all this snow, our neighbor has had to plow our driveway a couple of times, making for a big berm (quickly getting smaller with all the rain we are having). Yesterday it wasn't raining, so all my siblings, except Jenna :), played outside. We made a tunnel in part of the berm and then worked on making a den. We didn't get it completed,and this morning the roof had caved in with everything beginning to melt :(
We had fun though, trying to make other dens and tunnels. I didn't get any pictures of us, or else I would have posted them. Maybe if it isn't to far gone tommorrow, I can get some pictures :P

Jenna came home to stay on Friday!!! We were planning on the Krouses coming down for a visit and then going up the mountain to visit them on Saturday, but Mrs. Krous sent us an email saying that she was bringing Jenna and all her things!! We were very surprised and delighted. :)

After making 8 trips on the snowmobile to bring everything down to the car, they drove here. Several boxes and bags full of Jenna's clothes made their way into the girl's room. We unloaded several beautiful dresses, sweaters, and shirts among other nessacary articles. Then we ate dinner and chatted until about 9:30 p.m. at which time Jenna went to bed.

Next morning found us all eagerly waiting to be able to get her up and play with her. The day went by delightfully with each of us learning more about how to care for a baby. It's been a long time since I had to feed, change, and care for one. Here are some pictures of that first day.....

 

 

 

On Sunday we headed up to see the Krouses and our little girl. We had to park about 2 miles from their house and complete the trip on their snowmobile! It was great fun holding on and whizzing up the hill, while getting snow in our face! We had a great day playing with Jenna, playing Pit (a card game), and eating a delicious lunch. Cherish (Jenna's Aunt) showed me her new horse, Mocha. Mocha is a very pretty white horse with brown spots. She is a very silly, people friendly horse. Then when it was time to go, Cherish, Calvin, Kayla, and I grabbed some sleds and went sliding part way down the hill that had sides of snow built up like a tobaggan run. The ground was so icy that it was hard to stop the sled! Alissa (Jenna's Aunt and Cherish's sister) was going back and forth on the snowmobile bringing people and bags down to the cars. It took about 45 minutes to bring everything down to the cars, but it sure was fun!!! :)

Here is a miraculous story that recently happened to our family. Here goes.

On the 14th of Nov. 2008, two days after I wrote the post about us no longer pursuing adoption, the Harneds, dear friends, informed Mom of a baby girl named Jenna who was being cared for by her grandparents and was up for adoption. The grandparents wanted to be grandparents rather than care for her as a parent would. So, they searched for a family that would meet their criteria. The grandparents were willing to care for the little girl if they couldn't find the family with the same goals, but they really wanted to step into a grandparent's role.

On the 18th of Nov. they came over for an afternoon visit. Our two families were amazingly like-minded.

On the 20th of Nov. they called and informed us that they would be delighted if we would pursue adopting Jenna. Of course we said that we would gladly adopt Jenna!

Both of Jenna's parents had not relinquished their rights, which meant that she was not legally free. This was a major step that needed to be accomplished in order that Jenna could be adopted.

On the 24th of Nov. we made the 1 1/2 hour drive to their house, which is beautifully located on the side of a mountain. We had a great time talking, playing instruments, and getting to know Jenna.

On the 3rd of Dec. the birthfather signed all the papers releasing Jenna for adoption!! We were excited as this meant that only one parent was left to relinquish rights.

On the 5th, the birthmother relinquished her rights by not showing up at her court
appointment! She had also chosen to not participate in Jenna's life prior to that court date. This left Jenna free to be adopted!

On the 11 of Dec. the Krouses came over for a visit and Grandma and Grandpa Fraley flew in from Utah, so we were able to get family pictures with Jenna! It was a lot of fun.

Today our family enjoyed having the Harned's over. Their mom was shopping in some stores near our house and instead of going shopping, Michelle, Matthew, and Brett voted coming over to our house to play! :) Us kids didn't mind in the least!!:) We spent a couple hours playing Capture the Flag. It sure added a fun dimension to the game in trying to run through deep snow! The game seemed to be going in my team's opponent's favor, but at the very end, my team won!!! After that exhausting but thrilling game, we headed in the house to eat and play "in-house" games. Corbin, Brett, and Calvin played Risk which Corbin won. Kayla won the rest of us at a game of Monopoly.

Later that day, we went outside to feed the animals and brush the horses. They didn't have much icicles on their back, but their feet were sure packed with ice. I tried a while to get it out of our smallest pony with not much luck. The bigger ponies were a lot easier.

We had a great time with you....please come again soon Harneds!!!! :)

Here are some pictures that will hopefully be able to give you an idea of what it looks like around our place!

We are getting dumped on. It is kind of hard to know how much it snows, because where we live, the winds blow a lot and drift the snow. Yesterday the snow was approxamently 1" to 1' high. Today it is 1' to 3' tall!!!

Wow! It sure has been piling up snow today, even though the forecast only showed flurries. Well, I suppose even the 'Forecasters' are wrong sometimes! We have been 'enjoying' freezing temperatures and having to fill waterbuckets up by hand. :P I am sure thankful thought that we have wood heating and hot water to warm us up with!

Corbin had a wonderful birthday on Dec. 5th. We went 2nd hand shopping and Dad met us at Costco for lunch. We were able to quite a few things at the stores. Then when we were done shopping, we came home and Corbin received his gift. It was money to get a pistal. Corbin is very excitedly shopping around to get the best pistal to fit his needs!!

Dad celebrated his birthday four days later. He had to work, since it was a Tuesday, but when he arrived home we played Monopoly. Corbin won!


My Grandpa and Grandma came up on Wednesday to celebrate Corbin's 16 birthday, Dad's birthday, and an early Christmas. They live in Utah, so we see them about 3-4 times a year. We have had a great time shopping, playing cribbage, talking, and working together.