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Just got back from vacation. We spent a week in Montana visiting family and enjoying the beautiful mountains. Then we spent a a little over a week in Idaho visiting Keith's family swimming, motorcycling, and fourwheeling. The boys love to see their grandparents, aunt/uncles, and cousins...the whole time is packed with activities and fun. We look forward to some visits from them this winter. Vacations are always fun, but it sure is nice to be home!

Keith took the afternoon off and we took the boys to the zoo. It was the first Wet-and-Wild days of the summer. Every Friday during the summer the fire department comes out to the zoo and sprays the big hoses into the air (into a big, open field). Tons of kids come out for the fun. The boys had a blast! Saw the new penguin exhibit also...Zack's favorite animal lately is penguins, so he really enjoyed that. Looking forward to sharing our fun days of summer with another little one. Hoping and praying it will be soon.

Summer vacation has officially begun - yeah! It's already starting to get hot, so we are looking forward to lots of time at the pool and in the sprinklers. Yes, even I can be seen running through the sprinklers from time to time!

Dallin (17 yo) is starting his summer with a trip to Disney World. He called last night to tell us how awesome it is. It's his graduation gift/trip.

We are looking forward to our vacation in July. Montana mountains are sounding so good right now! We've decided that next year we are going to take a vacation to the ocean. I grew up in the Seattle area and miss the ocean. I think we'll try warmer beaches though. Still in the planning stages, but the boys are already excited about it.

The weather is warming up and Spring is finally here in Kansas. We spent part of yesterday getting the yard and garden ready for the coming months. Adam (15) spent the afternoon getting his neighborhood lawn mowing business up and running for the year - he mowed his first two lawns of the year. He's gotten very good at it and I'm sure business will be good for him this summer.

Zack's birthday is coming up next week. He is choosing Eclaire cake for his birthday - a layered cake that is beyond description! He wants a trampoline for his birthday. We've put it off for a long time, but think this just may be the year to get one. It would be a ton of fun.

Our youngest son, Jacob, just turned eight years old on Sunday. Birthdays are always so much fun - any occasion that brings so much happiness to kids has to be fun for adults too! One thing we always do for birthdays is let the birthday person pick the dessert. It's been many years since we've had a regular birthday cake. Jacob's birthday "cake" was actually a copycat recipe for Applebee's Blondie brownies - they turned out super yummy!

We know that we are so blessed to have such wonderful sons and an awesome life. But we continue to hope and pray for the little one that will complete our family.

This week is Spring Break. Adam (our 15 yo) flew to Arizona to spend the week with Grandpa (he spends his winters in AZ). They will be going to Mexico at the end of the week. Adam is very excited.

We spent our first day of Spring Break with a houseful of kids - it was the perfect excuse to have a play day with friends we don't get to see often. I'm sure the rest of the week will be more of the same. This weekend we will be having a birthday party for Jacob (he turns 8 yo) and then Easter dinner and Easter egg/candy hunt with friends on Sunday. It's nice to be able to share good times with friends.

The boys went on their big campout this last weekend with their dad. Zack had a blast and can’t wait to be able to go again next year. This week we are working on building their race cars for Pinewood Derby - an activity where all the little scouts build their own racecars out of a small block of wood. Then they get to race against all the other scouts. Theyve designed, cut out and are working on painting them. It’s fun seeing the boys get so creative!

Christmas break is over and school has started up again. It's sad to have the holidays over, but it's always a little exciting to enter a new year full of new possibilities. We are busy again with piano and scouting activities. The boys have a big scout campout coming up called Trapper’s Rendezvous. It’s a yearly event and hundreds of scouts come from all over. Keith takes the boys every year, but this year is special - this will be the first year for Zack (10) and he is so excited...he has been looking forward to it for a couple of years! As always, we are praying for a birth mother to find us soon.

We have had a great Christmas. We have been baking, visiting friends (and Santa), and attending get togethers. We love it! Still, this time of year is so much about family that we couldn't help feeling like we were missing a little one to share all this joy with. We pray daily for a birth mother to be led to our family...a special person who can see the tons of love we have to offer. In the meantime, we are looking forward to a new year full of possibilities.

This is our favorite time of year. The Christmas tree and decorations go up the day after Thanksgiving to give us as much time as possible with that wonderful Christmas feeling. Now it's time to start experimenting with baking to decide what will be given out to neighbors and friends...so much fun!

We got back home yesterday. What a wonderful time we had. It's always a little sad to say goodbye to family, but good to be home again. The boys are already planning out their letters and calls to their cousins.

Even during vacation adoption is on our minds. We are so looking forward to holding our sweet, little baby. It didn't help that the family kept asking if we had any news yet - they are excited to have a new, little one also. My sister keeps buying us baby clothes and things. She says she can't help herself! I love family!

We are in the mountains of Montana...my favorite part of our vacation time. I love the mornings here - the peacefulness and beauty amazes me every year. We never tire of the simple things like seeing deer wondering through the property or hearing the little stream. The boys are already out hiking with their dad hoping to see some deer or elk (I'm sure our little dog, Buddy, is hoping for that also!). We will be going into town to a family bbq later this afternoon to see aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. We have three more days here before we head to Idaho for the rest of our vacation. Such a simple vacation, but we all love it so much.

Today was our 18th anniversary! We spent part of it driving Adam to scout camp - he will be attending their National Youth Leader Training for the next week. The day after he comes back we will take Dallin out to work at camp for six weeks. The day was spent surrounded by family - and that's exactly how we like it. We have spent the last 18 years growing in ways we hadn't imagined and loving more than we could have dreamed. We have been very blessed.

This is the last week of school and we are all looking forward to summer. Dallin (16 yo) will be working as a counselor at scout camp for the next six weeks. Adam (14 yo) is looking forward to being able to keep up with his lawn mowing business - he’s up to eight lawns a week this year. He’s quite the business/salesman. The other boys are just excited for time at the pool.

Life is good...really good. Still, every day we wonder if this will be the day that we get the email or phone call that we are so looking forward to. We hope that the birthmother for our family - the one that is in our prayers so often, will find in us just what she is looking for.

There’s been so much on my mind lately and I just had to write about it. We have been making plans for our vacation in July to Montana and Idaho...I am so ready. We always visit our families - grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins. The boys are so excited to see everybody again and are already trying to decide what fun things they will be doing this year. While we are in Montana we stay at a cabin in the mountains near my mom’s home. It’s so peaceful and beautiful and draws us back each year. With that and just being able to visit with my mom it is a perfect place.

Our trip has me thinking about the special relationship between mothers and daughters. This is something I yearn to share with a daughter - something that is my heart’s deepest desire. We pray that soon our dream will come true.

We had a few snowstorms recently and the boys have loved playing in the snow. Couldn't resist adding a few pictures to our album of all the fun.

We updated our photos today. We added a more recent picture of the boys and also some pictures from vacation. We went to our favorite place in Montana. Zack and Ben loved the horses and sure wanted to bring one home!

Thank you for taking the time to get to know us a little. We look forward to hearing from you so we can get to know you better and answer any questions you may have.