Texas White Christmas!

We had snow in Texas...last time the Dallas area had snow on Christmas was 1898! Of course Jadon had to taste it...he he

Banket....

My wonderful Grandma H. Used to always make this Dutch treat. It is basically made of a pie crust type dough with an almond filling. Hopefully my attempt would make her proud!

Oh Christmas Tree . . .

I am not quite sure why my lense was throwing such weird reflections . . . hmmm . . . anyway, some of my favorite's . . .

I am so thankful for this kiddo!

San Antonio and Sea World!

We were so lucky to get to go to San Antonio in early December! We just love all the Christmas lights on the riverwalk! This year it was FREEZING though! Usually it is around 65 - 70 degrees but this year it was more like 40!

Anyway, we decided to get Sea World season passes due to the fact they were the same price as a day ticket AND they are good for all of 2010! We are definitely looking forward to visiting once it get's warmer.

Here are some of our pics from the trip!


Jadon and his light up sword on the riverwalk.


Feeding the dolphins! So much fun!

Picture with fake Shamu . . .

REAL Shamu!

The Sea Lion Christmas show!

The Sea Lions are Jadon's favorite!

How Jadon walked the Riverwalk!

The Alamo . . .

Riding the trolley back to the hotel.

Adoption Scrapbook . . . . Enjoy!

10 years and counting!

Stephen and I celebrated 10 wonderful years of marriage last Friday (December 11)! We decided to go to Pappasito's for dinner (since they catered our wedding and we really didn't get much that night). It of course was fabulous! We also were able to stay at the Hyatt in Richardson, TX as we had won a free night stay there when we attended a marriage retreat at our church earlier this year. It was so nice to get to spend that time alone with Stephen! Thanks Grammie and Big Daddy for keeping Jadon for us!! Here is a pic from our wedding . . . goodness we look so young!

We have definitely been through our ups and downs over the 10 years but I would not want anyone else beside me than this man! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and I look forward to the next 10, 20, 30+ years with him!

Moving on . . .

We found out today that the birthmom in the situation I spoke about yesterday has decided to parent. I am happy for her as we felt like this is what she desired all along. I hope and pray for her she has the support she needs to get through this time.

So . . . today we took the final steps to be officially waiting with agency #2. They will not tell us when they are showing our profile . . . we will just find out when we have a potential "match". So now we wait and see! Thanks for all of your prayers!

Crazy Times . . .

Waiting . . . . last week Monday agency #2 came out to do the home visit that they needed to do in order to approve us. All week I had been joking around about agency #1 calling while agency #2 was at our house. Well . . . they didn't call while they were there but agency #1 did call about 1/2 hour after agency #2 left. LOL

So as funny as it kind of is (story of our lives) . . . agency #1 is showing our profile to a birth mother in Dallas that is due in early January. We have been waiting to hear back from agency #1 about the situation before going further with agency #2.

If we are not chosen we will immediately take the steps necessary to make our profile live with agency #2 since they e-mailed us today telling us that we were officially approved with them. Soooo at least we will have our profile shown just that much more! Anyway, hopefully we will know something this week . . .

We were able to get away to San Antonio last weekend with Jadon. We had such a blast going to Sea World, the riverwalk, eating out WAY to much, riding the trollies, and just enjoying time together. I will be uploading pics sometime soon.

We ask that you continue to pray for our future birth family and child. We couldn't get through all of this with out our great friends and families!

So what is going on with the adoption?

Well, there is not a lot to report on that front. The main thing is that we are now with 2 different agencies. We started last March with the same agency we adopted Jadon from and we just currently started with another agency. Both will let us work with other agencies simultaneously which is great and BOTH are Christian agencies which is extremely important to us. We definitely need God right in the center of all of this.

The new agency did still need to do a home visit so since our first home study expired last Saturday so we decided for them to hold off and do their home visit until next Monday so we would just have a whole new home study that will be valid for the next 6 months. We remember all too well how fast little Jadon happened to come in our home (16 hours) so having a current home study is a nice relief!

Anyway, we have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving! Jadon is right at the top of the list. One other thing we are extremely thankful for is that Jadon's agency was able to locate his birth father. We had found out about a month ago that none of our letters and pictures had been sent since he was about a year old because the birth family had moved around.

We have a semi-open adoption (birth family request) and we knew that the birth family loved getting the letters and pictures previously so we requested for the agency to see if they could locate them. We found out that they did in fact find the birth father and he was happy to get all of the letters and pictures forwarded to him so we quickly got together a new letter, new pictures, and Jadon drew a picture to forward on. They should have received that today . . . . we are just soooo happy that they contacted the agency for Jadon's sake.

Now we pray that Jadon's birth mother will do the same. The agency has yet to hear from her and we pray for her daily. I know it may seem weird to some that we are seeking out Jadon's birth family but when we entered into the adoption process we always wanted what was best for our child . . . and we think him knowing the truth and having answers to his questions is the best way to go.

Anyway . . . lots to be thankful for . . . Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Halloween . . . pumpkins . . . Jadon, and Allie!

Halloween was a blast this year . . . like always! We always have lots of fun carving the pumpkin in the same exact spot on the kitchen floor every year! Jadon even remembers now that it is just a tradition!

Here he is with his beloved pumpkin!


It is always the best to find the guts!


I ADORE this picture of Jadon looking at his Daddy! Pure Joy!


Playing with the guts of course!

Half way there!

Notice the little dog in the background? She sat there all night watching . . . waiting for just a little to fall for her to snatch up and eat . . . . little scavenger!

The pumpkin stare down . . . Allie is a little bummed . . . no snacks . . .

Jadon and his proud creation!

The final glowing product . . . and a little dog that wishes she could eat it . . .

Jadon really wanted to be a ghost . . . he chose this!

We went to firewheel to do some trick or treating with Jadon's little girl friend Paige!

The end of the night . . . they were so tired but had so much fun together!

Fort Worth Air Show!

Back on October 24th we were able to take Jadon to the Fort Worth Air Show. What a BLAST!! It was so fun watching the air planes and watching Jadon just enjoy every minute of it! Enjoy the pics!



Trying on the parachute . . . he thought that was so cool!


Sitting where the "army men" sit.

Pure awesomeness!

Loving the big trucks!

The Blue Angels . . . need I say more? AWESOME!!!