Bonfire at Mom & Dad's!

My mama and my daughter!!!!!!!

Mom and dad (Opa & Oma) feeding the boys pizza!
My nephew, Jack, and Ezra are only three months apart!

Ezra tried getting out of his booster and figured out he could just walk around!

My cousin, Trudy, holding Chavalah!

Opa giving Ezra his first Smore ever!

First bite of SMORE for Ezra! I think he liked it!

Ezra about two weeks ago wouldn't even look at the camera. NOW, he'll look and give you this cheezy grin! Isn't he a cutie!?

Our goofy Lainers! He'll find something silly in ANYTHING!!!

Daddy & Laine

Ezra & mommy

Laine & mommy!

Laine holding Chavalah!

Ezra enjoys moving "cars, buses, trucks" around on the ground now! Just started doing this!

My cousin, Trudy. We are Starbucks crazy's!!!!!

My incredible husband!!!

My cousins, Trudy & Joe, were in town this weekend from California. They came for the Thanksgiving holiday! It was so neat to see them again and spend some time getting reaquainted! I have the biggest family and it's so hard to keep up with every single one of them like I'd like to! Trudy the most beautiful lady, I would love to be more like her! Mom and dad had us all over for pizza and a cozy bonfire! :) THANKS, Mom and Dad!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Our Thanksgiving Table

My favorite boys playing games!

My dearest sister in law and Jack!

Opa is the BEST turkey carver!!! Laine was fascinated!

The coolest part about my Thanksgiving was having my Uncle Jake here from the state of Washington. Jake is my mom's oldest brother. Not very often I get to see him. What a treat!

You'll notice my mom laying on the couch in the back. She had the flu!! :(

This is a random picture I had to throw in. Laine is in his Sparks vest and Ezra in his sleeper. Ezra is now ADDICTED to his sleepers. He begs for them every night and when you put them on him he says, "Awwwww." If he gets up from his nap and isn't in his sleeper, he begs to put them on again for the rest of the night! He would live in them if I let him! So sweet!

I had an incredible Thanksgiving Day! I was so thankful for how it turned out. Thanksgiving morning, Laine and I got up and watched the Macy's Day parade together. I fixed the "day of" Thanksgiving meal items, threw the turkey in, etc. Pretty soon everyone started arriving between 11 and 11:30. We had my family and my Uncle Jake who was in town visiting from Washington state. The most special treat ever. Having my Uncle Jake in my home! My dear mama got the flu. Either that or a really bad migraine, either way, she felt MISERABLE and literally laid on our couch the whole day. We all hung out til about 4:00 and then all headed out to my cousin Stephanie's house for a big Abuhl get together. MY OH MY, there were 40 in all! I was delegated to bring 100+ "family recipe" rolls to the gathering! Mind you, I had attempted ONCE to make a batch and failed royally, so, needless to stay I was a bit worried, but my mom gave me some tips and I think I got it! :) YAY! All had so much fun together. It RAINED AND HAILED here in the middle of our gathering. UNHEARD OF!!!!! It was so wonderful! I loved every minute of it. Came home and went to bed! I was exhausted, but so thankful for family, and especially for my dear husband who loves me no matter what! I'm thankful for you, my friends and family that love me enough to keep reading my blog! :) I'm thankful for my amazing CHOSEN children God has so specifically chosen FOR US! They are adorable!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT IS FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our neighbor buddy, Jayden!

Ezra crawled right up on Ash's lap to read a book!

Jamie (mommy), Chavalah & Ashlin

Oh my goodness, what a RELIEF! We are officially finished with all areas EXCEPT the bedrooms and bathrooms!!!!! DONE! Can't believe it! It is THE BEST feeling ever!

Our friend, Andy, who used to be a painter by profession, gave us some help today and between Benjamin and Andy, it got finished. They worked from 9-12:30, then from 1-4. It was amazing. They did the stairs and the ENTIRE loft/office area!

Our neighbor stopped by and we ended up grilling out together and hanging out. Their kids are close to our kids in age, and they are so sweet. We had a great time! We are SO THANKFUL for great neighbors, a great street to live on. That's our day in a nutshell! Been busy, but so productive!

Dad's Birthday

Me, Dad & Ben

Laine helping Oma put the birthday candles in the cake!

Making a birthday wish!

My nephew, Jack, and I!!!

Laine made his very own birthday card for Opa!
First time writing his own letters! He was so proud!

Our sweet little Chavalah sucks her fingers ALL THE TIME!

Uncle Ben reading to Laine.

Oma & Chavalah

Opa playing the piano and dancing with the boys!

As if cake wasn't enough, Opa had feed all the boys cookies!
Needless to say, they all three were his best friend! :)

Monday was my dad's birthday. We celebrated Tuesday night with a yummy homemade meal at mom's and the BEST cake ever! THANK YOU, MAMA!!!! Happy Birthday, dad!

He Is Ours

My dear sister, aunt to all my kids, sent me a simple card with this poem in it! I've been crying ever since! BEAUTIFULLY PUT!

HE IS OURS
By Valerie Kay Gwin

We tiptoed into your room one night
We watched you sleeping there.
Your tiny body looked so snug
Wrapped in peaceful slumber's care.

We thought of how you came to be
The child we'd longed to know.
We wondered at the sight of you:
"How could she let you go?"

Tears streamed down our cheeks as we
Felt the pain she must have known.
For we will have to let you go
Some day when you are grown.

A mother we might never meet
Had given us her son.
Yet surely as you've filled our heart,
A piece of hers you'd won.

"How could she let you go?"
The question kept returning.
And in the depths of our own heart.
A question kept on burning.

"How can we ever let you go
When years have come and gone?"
We stood there by your crib until
The nighttime turned to dawn.

And as the sun peaked through the shades,
The voice of GOD broke through!
"I trusted her to give him life
And now I'm trusting you.

"To show him what is right & wrong,
To love him and to be
The one who teaches him the way
To come back home to me.

"He wasn't hers to give, you know.
And he's not yours to own.
I've placed him in your life to love
But he is mine....on loan."

Great Friday!

Can you tell who was excited? Look how empty!

Ezra on a wave runner!

The biggest rocking horse EVER!

I had to throw this in there! :) It makes me grin! Real big!
God has blessed us with the most beautiful, unbelieveable GIFTS
ANYONE could ask for! He chose very specifically for us, who would've thought!?
I'm proud to call them my own! Thank you, Jesus, for such miracles!!!
That said, look how different they are!
On the right, short & pudgy muscly legs!
Guess who!?!? :) Ezra!
On the left, LONG & skinny legs!
Guess who? Laine!
Although from different biological mommies, they are connected as ONE!
BROTHERS!

Are you wondering what the boys are doing? More to come! Check back Tuesday morning!

Daddy & Laine roasting marshmallows!

Laine likes his "flaming" so he can burn them out!

Laine & mommy like our marshmallows with graham crackers & Hershey's chocolate!

Daddy like his right off the stick, no extras! :)

It feels like the weekend! :) Alright, so maybe it is, but now it's over for me as Ben works Saturday and Sunday through the weekend, but when he does that he gets Friday off, so we took advantage and had a FABULOUS family day! Been awhile since we've had this with the move and adoption, etc. Laine too has been coming home with lots of stickers and stamps since last Thursday, so we're celebrating even BIGGER! That means he did GREAT at school. Listening, being kind to others, etc. YAY LAINE!!!!!!

We picked Laine up from school today and headed straight for Chuck E Cheese! It couldn't have been a better time to go! The place was like a ghost town! We shared the entire place with about 3 other families and that's IT! Quiet, kids could go crazy touching all the buttons, hardly any "no's" were spoken and it was SO NICE for a change!

All came home and took late naps! All slept! Then tonight we did our first bon fire of many this season! This is an incredible time weather wise out here in Arizona! SUNNY ALL THE TIME! It's still in the mid 80's during the day and 50s-60s at night!!! This is worth enduring the hot summer! Have I tempted any of you readers to come out for a visit in the next few months!? :) We do have one set of visitors coming in January and I can HARDLY WAIT! They are my second family! You'll have to read back in January for who it is! :)

Thanks for reading our blog! I love hearing from those that do!