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Halloween has come and gone with all sorts of parties and fun! Now it will be Christmas before we know it. I told Zack, Ben, and Jacob that they need to start giving me ideas of what they want for Christmas - I think I get a new list every day now! And just in case I happen to forget they email backup lists!

We are all excited for Christmas this year - Grandpa (Keith’s dad) is coming for two weeks in December. We just saw Grandpa this summer, but Christmas is especially fun to share!

Give us a call or email us! We look forward to hearing from you!

Lanna

If you have read earlier journal entries you know that we are a family that loves to read. This week Diary of a Wimpy Kid #4 came out. It's been sitting on the counter all day just tempting us, but we finally got settled down for the night and started reading. It's such a funny little book it was hard to put down. Reading time is one of my favorite times of day - not just for the stories, but for the discussions that start because of what we are reading and for the closeness we feel because of this daily ritual. This is an activity I have carried on from my childhood and one I hope that my children do also. We cannot wait to share these types of things with your little one.

It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything. Maybe it’s because Autumn is on it’s way...the weather here is perfect for being outside. I love Spring and Fall the best. After church on Sunday we spent the rest of the afternoon out at the lake. We hiked around the lake and had rock throwing contests - the water was too choppy for skipping rocks, but we tried. The boys had a great time and got all worn out. Sometimes I just feel so blessed.

It's a beautiful day today. We went to a bbq/swim party at a friends' house. This will probably be the last one of the year...it only got up to 80 today. That's actually a little cold for swimming, but didn't bother all the kids at all. Us big people just enjoyed good friends and good food.

This time of year is perfect for bike riding. Keith rides his bike to work when the weather cooperates (about 6 miles each way). Every so often we meet him part way home on our bikes - there's a park that we meet at. I am a fair weather cyclist - I don't like it too hot or too cold. Keith is much more dedicated. We even have a bicycle trailer for little ones...they love to ride around and see new things. When they are really little it puts them to sleep perfectly! Can't wait to be able to pull the trailer out again!

We drove downtown to play at Riverside Park this afternoon. The thing that makes this park special is that it has interactive water fountains. The fountains shoot up out of the ground intermittently - we had a great time! A wonderful part of being a parent is seeing the world through your child’s eyes - sometimes it seems a magical place!

I talked to my younger sister today. She and her husband adopted a little girl earlier this year. It’s so fun to send her little things and spoil her. Of course, this gets me thinking even more about our adoption. It’s amazing to me how most of the people we know that have adopted have felt a connection with their birthmom - have really felt like it was a meant-to-be type of thing. That happened for us before and we can’t wait for that to happen for us again. We pray daily for that special birthmom to find us.

Well, I was wanting to keep my mind busy and God presented an opportunity that will do that and help me make a difference. I was asked to be a den leader for Ben’s (10 yo son) cub scout group. I am very excited about the coming year - it only goes for the school year. We will meet once a week and I already have the meetings planned through December. This is going to be so much fun! We are meeting at the church for now, but I can change that to our house any time I need to (in case there’s a little one that needs me here!). I’ll be sure to write more about this new adventure.

I am so impatient. I can’t help it - we have been praying and longing for our little one even more lately. I know, this can’t be rushed - it’s God’s timing and not ours, so I have decided that I need to busy my mind with something else. Our city has a wonderful recreation department with all sorts of classes. I’m trying to decide between Conversational Spanish or a Sign Language Class. I took three years of Spanish in high school, but sadly have not retained much due to lack of use. On the other hand, I have always wanted to take a Sign Language course. We did learn some basic signs so that our children could let us know what they wanted or needed before they even could say the words for it. Either way, I have about a week to decide, so I'll keep thinking on it.

I started a project this week that I have been meaning to do for a long time. I have cleared out one corner in our bedroom and am turning it into a reading area. I have chosen a big, comfy chair with floral upholstery. Big enough for two people (as long as one is kind of small!) to sit in and read. There is a small table and lamp beside the chair It all turned out just as warm and cozy as I had envisioned. Now we can snuggle in the chair and lay on the bed during reading time. We just started reading “The Indian in the Cupboard” last night, so it’s already getting some use. We can’t wait until your little one is part of this special daily family time.

It always takes awhile to get back into the swing of school, but it’s exciting to start a new year. Zack (12 yo) started his choir class this week. We encouraged him to take the class because he has such a beautiful voice. He’s a little shy and was worried about it, but made new friends already and is loving it. Ben (10 yo) is having a good time in science. His first big assignment was to observe with a magnifying glass the things in the flower bed. I rather enjoyed it also! Jacob (9 yo) got a new ipod shuffle and is thinking of nothing else - it’s amazing how many different types of songs he likes. The funnest part of our job is to see them get excited about new experiences and to be able to be a part of that excitement.

I had an interesting conversation with Zack, our 12 year old son today. He sees his older brothers making decisions about their future - one has always known he would go into science and the other is thinking about firefighting or maybe real estate. Neither appeal to Zack, so he asked me what I thought he should be. It was tempting to offer a suggestion, but I wanted him to think about it and not feel boxed in by anything I may say. I feel so grateful for the opportunities and blessings that our children have - they can do anything if they are willing to put in the time and effort. Success is measured in many ways...I hope each finds their passion and follows their dreams. It’s awesome to be a part of that. By the way, Zack thought he may like to become an artist (for today anyways!).

ah...the best laid plans. Good thing I said it didn't really matter what we did this week because it was one rainstorm after another until today. That meant a lot of indoor activities for us. We redecorated Zack & Ben's room - they got a new bunk bed and then decided to decorate in a Guitar Hero type theme. We even found a red guitar that had a crack in the back, but looks great up on the wall. They also decided to put glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling and wall so that when they turn off the lights it's like sleeping outside. It was pretty awesome when they got done! I'll try to get a picture up soon. As for our other plans, we are going to go swimming this afternoon.

I thought maybe you would like to hear what a typical day would be like for your baby. As I pondered that, I realized that we are just an average family - we play at the park, go bicycling, have movie nights and pizza nights, birthday parties and family get-togethers. We don’t go to DisneyWorld all the time or even travel to exotic places. We do spend a couple of weeks each summer at a cabin in the mountains of Montana...but we use that time to be with family. I guess that’s what it’s all about - family. It doesn’t matter where we go really, we just like to be together. It’s important to us to create memories and to create an atmosphere that our children will continue to want to come back to even when they are grown. Maybe all it comes down to is creating a sense of security and love that a person takes with them throughout life. That’s done one day at a time - whether that’s playing together or working together - that’s what a typical day is filled with for our children.

It seems that the last little bit of summer vacation always goes by so quick. I love all of the summertime activities. Next week is the official last week before getting back into the school routine, so we decided to make it special. Each of us get to pick a day and decide what we are going to do with it. We've been tossing around ideas all day. It's times like this that we especially think about our plans to adopt - when our thoughts seem to go to the one that isn't here. Zack was talking today about how fun it would be to teach his new baby brother or sister how to swim. Ben thought he should be the one because he is such a good swimmer. They are all excited to totally include a new sibling and talk about their plans all the time!

I had a plan this week for dinners, but today what I had planned didn't sound good. Sometimes we’ll go out or order in pizza when that happens. Today we didn’t feel like that so we ate breakfast for dinner. Do you ever do that? I have to admit I rather like it! Our very favorite breakfast for dinner is German pancakes...delicious! It was fun to see everybody so excited over dinner!

Have you ever had one of those weeks that it seems everything happens at once? I guess that’s where the saying “when it rains, it pours” comes from. It made me think of when I was in high school - I noticed that my thoughts were getting negative and I wanted to change it. I decided that every time I thought a negative thought I would make myself think of something positive about the situation, person, etc. that I was thinking about. Pretty soon it became habit and has helped me a ton through the years. I don’t know, maybe that sounds a little like Pollyanna - not a surprise - one of my favorite books. What can I say...I believe in the power of positive thinking.

Jacob, 9 years old, is our youngest. He loves swimming lessons and playing outside. Jacob’s favorite time of year is summer - he would spend every waking hour outside if he could! He almost always has a smile on his face and is just a joy to be around. Jacob loves music (he can't get to sleep without it) and is looking forward to sharing his favorites with a little brother or sister!

Ben, our 10 year old, is our adventurous one. Ben loves to go rock climbing with his dad, ride his bike, jump on the trampoline, and just be a boy! Ben has been taking piano lessons for several years and is getting quite good. Ben is fun and funny - he keeps us all laughing. He says that he can't wait to teach his new brother or sister how to do things!

I want to help you get to know our children more - future big brothers. So I will start with Zack, our 12 year old. He is our sensitive one. He is always concerned for others and their feelings. He loves playing with friends, jumping on the trampoline, and reading (animals are his favorite topic). Zack also likes to spend time in the garage with his dad figuring out how things work. Zack is very excited to get a baby brother or sister!

I really like that there is a place to share with you our day-to-day lives. I hope you enjoy getting to know us a little better this way. So here goes...today we spent the morning at music lessons. All the boys have taken piano and/or violin lessons. It isn't always their favorite thing to do, but after doing it awhile they are proud of the skill they develop. Ben is wanting to take guitar lessons - I'm sure this is partly due to playing Guitar Hero. After lessons, we headed to the library. We are reading a lot of stories about dogs lately. Other favorites are Fablehaven and Wimpy Kid Diary books.

We are finishing up our paperwork and will have our profile up within a few days. We are all so excited to add to our family. We can't wait to spoil a little one with lots of hugs and love.