Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is kind of a big deal in our family. We usually celebrate all week long!

My Valentines from Hayden. My sweet little man surprised me with these the Sunday before. 

Pancake hearts for breakfast on Valentine's morning!

A little Valentine's dress up party... cutest little fireman ever!

Daddy was working until really late and so Hayden was my special little Valentine all day long. 

Kyle always sends me beautiful roses for Valentine's Day. I am one lucky girl!

Opening our gifts when daddy finally got home. I was glad to finally have my two Valentines with me at the end of the night!!

Two of my students surprised me with roses at our rehearsal... sweet boys!

Grandma surprised Hayden with some Valentines... he had no idea she would be bringing him anything and then she snuck away after she rang the doorbell. Best doorbell ditch EVER!!

I finally got to go out and be with my fabulous man over the weekend.  Yummy food and a great movie. I love my man!

Nana always makes an amazing Valentine's dinner for us. She has since I was a little girl. This year we had crab legs, steak and so, so much more. We look forward to it all year long!! YUM!

Hayden helping Nana pass out our Valentines... cutest little cupid!

The fam after our yummy dinner and special gifts from mom and dad. (Adrienne's family) We had a fabulous Valentine's celebration.

I hope that everyone felt loved and was able to share love with the special people in their lives.

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Adrienne

Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa came to see Hayden in his big solo debut last month. We took this picture on Kyle's phone and I just found it last night! We are so grateful for their love and support. Hayden was so excited when he knew that they were there to watch him perform.  We love you Grandma and Grandpa!

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Adrienne 

Fun and busy January!

I can't believe it's February already... CRAZY! January flew by, here are some pics of what we've been up to.

Kyle and I had a quick and wonderful weekend trip to So. Cal. Kyle got a great plane seat and finally got to spread out and straighten his legs. That's a big deal ya'll!

 Sick days and snuggle time. I love that I get some snuggles, even if my poor guy is sick!

Hayden was star of the week in Kindergarten. He wanted to share all of these pictures with his friends in class. I got to come to his class and brag about my amazing son!!

 Hayden finished his word set packet and started his readers... he was so proud of himself!

Play date and reading time with cousins.

Lots of snow days! Sledding, snow forts and snowmen. We have had a TON of snow!

 Happy birthday Kubla! He is now 13 years old. He still acts like our little puppy... just moves a little slower than he used to. We love you Kubbie.

Falling asleep at the dinner table!

"Look mommy, I put salt on the steps so no one will slip"... my sweet boy (Ninja Turtle).

Our studio had our big production show this month. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Annie Get Your Gun and Oklahoma! I was so tired by the end of the show, but our students did great!

Hayden getting ready to go on stage. He had his first solo this time around and he was so awesome!  Not even scared to stand center stage and sing his heart out. I was a proud mama. :)

He makes an adorable cowboy AND Indian!

Hayden got a fabulous report card. We love free donuts from Krispy Kreme... way to go buddy!

Celebrating Great Grandma's (Adrienne's Grandma) 94th birthday with one of his favorite cousins, Ty! 

Lunch and movie date with Nana, mommy and buds! We went to see Monsters Inc. 3D. What a fun day!

Impromptu mommy/son date. Santa gave Hayden a gift card to Boondocks and we decided to head over after school to cash in on the fun. We had a blast winning over 300 game tickets and Hayden beat me at bowling (he got 3 strikes). Such a fun day!

Waiting for Grandma to come and visit!

 Too bad the 49ers couldn't pull it off. Maybe next year!

I hope everyone is having a great winter. We are loving the snow, but we can't wait until spring!!

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Adrienne 

The Gift

Wow... wow, is all that I can say! If you choose to watch this video, you'd better get your box of kleenex's out.  And don't say that I didn't warn you.

This is just a small glimpse into the journey of one adoption through the eyes of all involved. It brings light to something that I hold precious to me in so many different ways. It is seriously amazing! (I also spied someone in this video that I hold very dear to my heart, but I won't tell you who it is because I cherish our relationship more than name dropping, ha ha!)

Just some thoughts that come from my heart tonight!
First and foremost, I am so very grateful for Hayden's amazing birth mom. I think of her every single day. She has given Kyle and I the most amazing gift in the world... Hayden. I will be eternally grateful to her for that and I think she knows that too. :)  My true miracle child who has brought nothing but joy into my world since the day that he was placed into my arms.

Second of all, I know that his birthmother feels like we were a gift to her because she wanted to give Hayden more than she could give him... a mother and a father. I know that Hayden is and will always be grateful for that gift as well. His birthmother often expresses her gratitude to us for who we are and what we mean to Hayden and we always feel the same about her. She is a true gift! I'm grateful that we will always have that wonderful bond.

Third, I am so glad that my birthmother was selfless enough to give me more and give me my two amazing parents... a true, amazing gift indeed! On a side note, I identified with the baby girl most in this video because I am the living example of the gift of adoption and what a miracle it truly is and can be throughout a person's life.  My birthmother gave me life and she also gave me more. She gave me my family!

And last, but definitely not least, I am so grateful to my parents and the gift that I was given by having them in all parts of my life. They taught me and helped me to become who I am today. I know that I was meant to be in their family and I will never be able to express my gratitude to my birth mother for being courageous enough to give me my parents. I needed my parents at birth and I still need them now. every. single. day.  I am blessed to have an amazing relationship and bond with both of them. But most of all, I am blessed because they are my family forever. Families are forever. My greatest gift indeed.

After all of the heartache that Kyle and I have been through this past year with failed adoption after failed adoption... I still find solace in the true miracle that is adoption and I know that our time will come. I have faith that my Heavenly Father knows me. He knows my family. He knows our next child and He knows when the time for him to come into our family will be.

I also know that when our next child comes... at that very moment of placement, there will be so much joy and so much sorrow, all at the same time. Joy for both parties in the gift that has just been given through adoption and sorrow on both sides as well. A loss still occurs at that time and it's hard not to feel that heartache, even as the adoptive mother who has just received the biggest gift ever... a new baby, swaddled in my arms.  It is a bittersweet moment for everyone involved and that gift definitely comes with a price of sacrifice. A sacrifice that I will be eternally grateful for.


The Gift from Jared Fadel on Vimeo.

My last thought comes from watching the sweet little boy at the end of this video. I see pure love and joy on his face for his new baby sister. All I can think of is Hayden and what a gift "his new baby" (what he asks Heavenly Father for every single day) will be to him. I can't wait to share that moment with him. It will be like stepping back in time and reliving Hayden's placement and the miraculous gift that he was to us. I am so grateful to know that I will be able to share that moment with him as well!

Adoption is a wonderful gift to every single person involved. A very difficult and miraculous gift. I'm grateful to this specific birth mother for sharing her experience so that others can get a glimpse into the world of adoption. This is a very wonderful part of our life. So much of this video reminds me of our experience when we adopted Hayden. What a special time in our life. I'm glad we were able to share it with his birth mom. I'm also looking forward to the day that we get to do again... soon, I hope! :)

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Adrienne 

New Years Eve

We just can't get enough of our fun family! We all got together to play games, eat yummy food and bring in the New Year. 2013 is going to be OUR year!!

New Year's Eve

Cousins watching the "tricks scene" in Home Alone 1 and 2. I know I should't let Hayden watch this because he ends up trying to reenact the tricks on Kyle and me (that's another post in and of itself, that little stinker)!  He definitely LOVES these movies and playing tricks on everyone else- mostly his parents!

Happy New Year! I'm exactly where I want to be right now. I'm surrounded by people I love, most importantly, Kyle and Hayden. They bring me all of the happiness that I could ever need in life.  I also know that we have a very bright horizon ahead of us. 2013 is going to be amazing!

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Kyle, Adrienne &Hayden

Christmas Break

Lots of fun stuff to do over Christmas break!  Here's just a few of our activities.

Christmas break

Lots of SNOW to shovel!

Pedicures with my mom and sis!

Special time with cousins!

You're looking at what it takes to get an actual picture of all of the grandchildren with Grandma and Grandpa. I didn't even get one! I hope someone else did, HA!  We all got together with Kyle's extended family to celebrate our yearly Christmas party. This was a very small part of the group that we had over. We had a very fun and memorable night!

Hayden was exhausted by the end! He looks how I felt over the holidays... I'm just BARELY recovering!

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Kyle, Adrienne &Hayden