Just call me..."Mrs. Fields!"

A few days ago, Aaron asked me to make some goodies for him to take to work for Christmas. I agreed, thinking that it would be fun. I haven't baked in quite awhile and decided it was time to do some baking (plus, our church choir is going caroling on Sunday and I've been asked to bring cookies, so I can kill 2 birds with one stone...). I have the day off from work today and decided that's how I'd spend my day.


I made chocolate chip cookies, Applesauce Raisin cookies, Chocolate cookies, & snicker doodles (my all-time favorite--and I've only eaten 1!!!). All told, I ended up with about 125 cookies. Plus, right now there are pumpkin cheesecake bars (with gingersnap crust) in the oven for my work Christmas party tomorrow. Wow! I think I might be crazy!!! :-) I don't think I have EVER spent all day in the kitchen! But, even as tired as I am, I feel SO good that I was able to accomplish so much and do something sweet for my hubby.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

BRRRR!!!! Well, winter has set in here in Colorado with a vengeance! Right now it is 7 degrees outside. Yes, I said 7! I don't remember ever being this cold, except when I lived in Minnesota. It makes me so thankful we have a house with new windows (2 new windows anyway) and lots of blankets and each other to keep us warm! Luckily, today was Sunday so we didn't have a lot to do. All we had was church and Choir practice. The rest of the time we have stayed nice and toasted here at home. At least we have been getting snow with this cold. To me, there is nothing worse than it being freezing cold, than to not have snow. I may be weird, but at least the snow adds beauty to the cold. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Christmas Decorating

Aaron and I are decorating our Christmas tree and listening to Christmas music tonight. I just love this time of year! It's so filled with hope and love. I don't necessarily enjoy decorating the tree, but I love it when the decorating is done. I'm taking a break from the tree right now while Aaron keeps at it. He is so good! He will put an ornament on and then stand back to make sure it looks good..then pick up another ornament and stand back to figure out the best place to put it. Then he repeats the whole thing again. He is so amazing! I have trained him well! :)

My decorating "specialty" is our living room. We have 2 nativities and a plethora of other decor to make our main living area festive. (Our tree is in our downstairs family room.) I just love making our home inviting and welcoming. I also like decorating so that all who come to our home will remember why we celebrate Christmas.

It's Official--We are POTENTIAL Adoptive Parents!

Oh my goodness! We received an early Christmas present from our caseworker at LDS Family Services. All of our paperwork has FINALLY gone through and we are approved as an adoptive couple. Jim, our caseworker, emailed us the good news yesterday. I have to confess that I cried when I read it. All I want to do is be a mother and it is just on the horizon. Now our profile can get to the birth mother who is carrying a miracle and the greatest gift we could ever receive. It is hard to imagine that in the near future, I could be holding a child in my arms who would be able to celebrate having 2 moms. My heart is so full right now. What a great blessing to be thinking about bring a baby into our home when we are celebrating the birth of the greatest of all--our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Playing Aunt & Uncle

Yesterday we were so blessed! We were able to have my nieces, Teyghan and Kiari, for the afternoon. Ryan and Laurel (my brother and "sister") went to the BYU vs. Air Force football game while we played with the girls. We had so much fun! I love watching Aaron with them. He is so amazing with kids and they just love their Uncle Aaron. After Teyghan and Aaron romped in the leaves (while Kiari napped and I rested) I took the girls to the library to look at books. We had so much fun. Books are such an amazing imagination builder. We brought several home and read until Ryan and Laurel came home. It was so good to spend time with them and be able to share our love with them. Thanks Ryan & Laurel! (I think us giving you the tickets to the game benefited us all!)

General Conference Musings

WOW! What a blessing it is to know that we have a prophet on the earth today and that we can "sit at his feet" every 6 months and be taught by him and his apostles. There were so many things that Aaron and I needed to hear. Here are some highlights that touched my heart:

• A temple in Missouri and Rome--the gospel is moving forward boldly and is covering the earth. The thought that struck me at this announcement is that we are getting closer to the coming of our Savior. The center of the Catholic church is now going to have a "Mormon" temple there and Missouri, which state drove out the Mormons back in the early days of the Restoration, now will have a prominent reminder that "no unhallowed hand will stop the work from progressing."


• Elder Perry--Don't allow the stress & anxiety of life get to you. Remain positive & optimistic; the best is yet to come!


• Neil A. Anderson--Part of our victory as disciples of Christ is how we act in the face of fear, discouragement, doubt, & feelings of inadequacy.; You don't know everything, but you know enough.; Adapt cheerfully to the challenges that come your way.


• President Uchtdorf--Hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness. It is a principle with a promise as well as a commandment!


• Elder Wirthlin--Come what may..and love it!

There was so much more (that's just the first session!) that I won't share here because it would take me two days to post it all and my thoughts and feelings. I'm so excited for the transcripts to be posted so I can learn even more as I read them. We are SO blessed!!

One step closer to having a child...

After years of struggling to have children, we have decided to proceed with adoption through LDS Family Services. The paperwork is GRUELING and is finally in. We have an all day class at the end of the month and several more meetings/home visits before it's "official" and our profile is up for birth parents to view, but we are almost there. Heavenly Father has been leading our steps and actions. It took a "lightning bolt" in the form of a patient at work who didn't want to keep her baby (the third in as many months) to convince me that this was the right time to move forward (Aaron was ready months ago!). Unfortunately, it's not going to work out with her, but she was an answer to our prayers and helped us find the direction we needed to be moving in.

At this time, we want to ask for your prayers in our behalf, that we will be able to continue in the faith and be blessed with a child. Also, please pray for all those birth parents out there struggling to make the decision to place their child for adoption.

Saturday on the Arkansas River

Aaron and I wanted to do something fun this holiday weekend, since it's the last "hurrah" of summer. Because Aaron loves to fish, we decided to go to Buena Vista, which is about 2 hours away, to fish and relax. We had a wonderful time! The weather was perfect and the river was great. Aaron loves it when he can get out on the river and I enjoy watching him and enjoying nature. It was a little scary for me because this is the same river we went rafting in a few weeks ago and the current was very strong. So, being the worrier that I am I had to always make sure Aaron was safe and staying out of the rapids! :) He was safe and we had fun. He didn't fall in and neither of us got sunburned. I relaxed on the shore with a book and some magazines. I wish I would have gotten pictures, but my phone (which I was going to use for a camera) was in the car and I was too lazy to go get it. So, you'll just had to imagine a tree lined river with boulders protruding out of the water every so often and my hansome husband standing in it, casting his line.
Here's a picture I found on the internet to give you an idea of how pretty it was:
It is so wonderful to be able to enjoy God's creations. I am so grateful that we live in this beautiful state where there is so much to see and do. I'm glad that Aaron likes to get out in nature, because I think I would take it for granted and not get out at all were it not for him. Heavenly Father has blessed us with beauty all around and I can't help but think of Him as I am outside. We are SO blessed! We were going to stay the night but couldn't find anywhere that had availability (ah, the joys of last minute plans!) so we just made it a day trip.

State Fari

So last night we went to the State Fair with Rob, Ruann, & Jared. Oh, what fun we had!! We wandered around looking at the animals and ate funnel cake (We all spilt one because they were huge and also expensive!! ). Ruann and I got lost in the "Creative Arts" building. The quilts were AMAZING. It makes me want to take up quilting!

It brought back fond memories of the Box Elder County Fair back home. We would go every year and wander through and look at the accomplishments of those who participated. You would spend hours admiring people's talents. The Colorado State Fair was a little disappointing because of the "skimpiness" of the entries. Instead of a whole building of artwork, there was one small wall. I'm not sure why there wasn't as much "stuff" but it was still enjoyable. It makes me want to go back home and see what a "real" fair looks life! I know, I'm probably biased, but what do you expect from a country girl?? :)

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun...

So, it's been forever since we updated our blog. Oops! Life got busy and time got away from us. Here's an update on the past month:

We had a great time with the Van de Merwe clan at East Canyon. How wonderful it was to be able to see people we hadn't seen FOREVER! There just wasn't enough time and we are hoping to make it to the reunion next year.

My brother Jeremy and his wife Nichole, blessed their baby the first weekend of August. It was wonderful to be there with them and the rest of my family as we celebrated Xander. Jeremy's kids from Utah were here as well and we had so much fun!

Aaron & I were able to go rafting with "my girls" and the other young men and young women from our ward for youth conference. We had an amazing time, even though we flipped over and saw our life flash before our eyes. :) The theme for the conference was "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the Lord giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." The rafting trip was the day after workshops about this very topic. It turned out that our "adventure" rafting was a VERY tangible lesson that we will be in turbulent water sometimes and that we shouldn't fear. We have been given instructions on how to survive and as long as we listen, we'll make it safely to shore. It was a great way to end the weekend. It also ended my 2 year run serving with the Young Women of the Ridgeview ward. It was a sad moment, but I know that the Lord knows what he's doing.

On another note--we have started the process of adoption. As we have struggled for the last 4 years to have children, we finally have been led to LDS Family Services and know that it is Heavenly Father's will to bring a child into our lives through adoption. Please pray for us and for those mothers out there who are struggling to make the decision to give their babies up for adoption.

That sums up what has happened in the last month..I promise I'll keep up now!