Christmas, Christmas time is here!

This Christmas we headed home to California. The original plan was to leave at 5 am, but we didn't end up leaving until 8am. Delay was due in part to me NOT sleeping and trying to finish Christmas presents, Nic only getting 3 hours of sleep and still having to pack. Every time we head down to Cali I say I'm going to get my packing done early and it NEVER happens. *Sigh* All is well.

Heading down, we got to stop in Lincoln and pick my niece (Jacob's daughter) Mia. Unlike most times she was happy to see us, we were greeted with hugs! I'm sure her mom did a lot of prepping with her. Laurel is really nice about letting us picking up Mia to bring her down to Merced to spend some time with her while we are in town. I'm so grateful for that. Mia is growing up sooo much. She is very independent and wants to do things all by herself. Mia and Nic got to be best buds. It was so cute to see her cuddle on Nic and want to spend some time with him. I can't wait for Nic to be able to do that with our kids-some day. We got to have two Christmas' with Mia. Well, more like Mia got to have two Christmas'. One was with us before she left to go back home and the other one was with her mom on Christmas Day. The last day there it was getting hard for her (being away from your other family for five days can be rough), so I told her that I ran into Santa Claus and he told me that she had been such a good girl that she got have two Christmas'. She was a excited but we had to make a call to Santa (aka Nic) so he could tell her himself.

My mom tells me that she loves it when Nic and I come home because all my siblings make sure to come over. One night the kids were in the front room playing a game and I asked my mom if her and dad wanted to come play. She said no, "I'm just enjoying hearing you guys laugh in the other room."

We took our Wii down and it was a HUGE hit! The first night we rocked out to Rock Band. My mom rocked out until 11:30 pm (waaay past her bedtime) and us kids stayed up until about 2 AM playing. It was fun. A couple of days later we bought Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 and that game NEVER went off. Our last night there Jacob wanted to have a championship match! Jacob's girlfriend Summer is usually pretty quiet, but when were were playing-I never heard her talk so much. I lot of smack talk too! If you haven't played this game, I suggest you do. Some of the concepts are gross (a burping contest where you try to destroy the city) but it's so much fun.

Christmas Eve we made tamales (with A Christmas Story playing in the back ground) and everyone helped this year. My mom wasn't used to having so many hands helped she would have to tell us to take a break. She still refused to let me help roll, even though I've made tamales several times on my own. Maybe in two years I'll be grown up enough to help. Oh! And to those of you that called me a tamale Nazi last year, I'm not nearly as bad as my mama. Trust me.

This year I must have been a very good girl because I got what I wanted for Christmas. A wok and a sewing machine. Well, technically I got a traveling case for my sewing machine and the machine its self will be here on Monday. When Nic put my present under the tree, I (thought I ) knew what it was, but he refused to let me hold it. Christmas morning I opened it and I was a little confused. Nic got a laugh out of my confusion. I also got two movies that I absolutely LOVE. The first one was from my brother Ricky-The Last Dragon. It is totally cheesy but it's so good. And Nic bought me Santa Claus the Movie. To me, this movie is the only Christmas movie that captures the magicalness (is that a word) of Christmas. I LOVED this movie growing up. Nic and I bought it a couple of years ago but we lost it. So I was REALLY excited when I got it this year. If you haven't seen this movie, you need to. It's great. The best Christmas present given Christmas Day? Ricky have Jacob a pair of Transformers underwear. I knew what it was before he opened it and had to do my best not to laugh.

Christmas night we went to go see Sherlock Holmes. It was good, but not the best movie I've seen. It's just nice to see that Robert Downey, JR turned his life of self-destruction around and is now successful. After the movie, everyone came back to my parents so we could play Cranium (my niece Brandie's request). My team totally dominated and we won.

Meeting Fayth

*Nic had a stuff bear when he had cancer, so it seemed fitting he give one to Fayth.

If any of you are friends of mine on facebook, then you know about my campaign to help Fayth and her family this holiday season.


Fayth is the seven year-old niece of one of my classmates from high school. Fayth has stage 2 Leukemia. My friend was asking people for help to make this holiday season wonderful for Fayth and her family. Be it in the form of money (for bills and gas) or Christmas presents.


As many of you know, Nic had cancer when he was younger, so anything that has to do with this horrible disease, I always try and help. For about two weeks, all my FB status' were about asking for help in spreading Christmas cheer for Fayth and her family. My friend and Fayth's family were touched by my efforts and especially so to learn that Nic was a 12 year survivor.


My friend asked Nic and I to come over so Fayth could meet him and so Nic could chat with the family. We had to move somethings around but we were able to meet Fayth and her family. Can I just say that it was so special. I had to do my best not to cry.

Nic was his charming self and was able to put a smile on every one's face, especially Fayth. My friend told me that the whole day Fayth's mom, Danielle, was really quiet and itching to head to Fresno for dinner. But when Nic got there, just opened up and forgot about her plans. I think it was a relief for Danielle to be able to talk to someone who understood what little Fayth is going through.

After our visit, we were able to take some pictures to remember everything. This was an experience that I will never forget. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to meet Fayth and her family. The last update we got is that Fayth's leukemia is in remission, but they are still in need of some financial help to cover the medical bills. If you would like to help Fayth, please email me at: ward_family_2005@hotmail.com (subject line Fayth). Thank you to my friends who help make Christmas a little more special for a little girl and her family.

The slap, kick and punch to my self-esteem

Here's the story that you guys have been waiting for. For all intent and purposes, names of co-workers and place of employment have changed. Though I did not leave there with the best of feelings, I do not want to totally black ball them (especially since their listed with google search).



Here's some history: November of 2007, I left "my previous life" and came to work for Hunter Law. I had met with the head attorney, Mr. Sweet, and he was an amazing man. In December of last year, I had my year review. Within my year of employment I ran the office by myself for 2 months (with "help" from the Mr. Sweet's wife). I worked closely with the (then) litigation paralegal to develop ways for the office to be more effective. I was responsible for the pre-litigation work flow and training new employees. I worked close with the assistant/litigation attorney in developing spreadsheets in Access and Excel to help manage our case flow better. I formatted templates for our most frequently used documents (instead of having to find one that you remember using 3+ months ago), formed protocols for office flow and created an employee "how-to" guide for new employees. I was positive. I was happy. I was enjoying work. I was ready to work. Imagine my shock when I met with Mr. Sweet and he said: "Everything that you've told me is true, but I'm sorry, we just don't have any money. But if you feel you could make that money else where then go ahead. I'll write letters of recommendation for you." Not only was I not getting a raise, nor was he willing to negotiate more vacation time he was pretty much telling me to leave (though you may be reading it and it doesn't sound that way, trust me. It did). I continued working. . .not happily. . . but I continued.


The decision to quit was NOT an easy one. We knew back in July that I should leave. We knew that I should quit my job and be home. Getting our home ready for a child. But anyone that knows me, knows that I am a planner and quitting and doing nothing did NOT make sense to me . We had prayed about it but I wasn't ready to make that kind of jump. Through some experiences in my life, I knew that this was the leap of faith the Lord needed me to take. So, I made the decision to quit.


I gave my notice, and few days later all HELL broke lose and came to surface. Back in April(ish), the receptionist, Mustang Sally, was promoted to Litigation assistant. She deserved it. Most would think a raise would come with a promotion but it did not. Around the same time I gave my notice Mustang Sally received an offer she couldn't refuse. She shared with the Litigation attorney and he went and talked to Mr. Sweet. Mr. Sweet told him that they were already paying Mustang Sally "x" amount of dollars. Litigation attorney went to Mustang Sally, and she told him that simply wasn't true. Litigation attorney goes back to Mr. Sweet. Mr. Sweet goes to his wife (who makes all the financial decisions of the practice) and comes back to Litigation attorney and tells him, "I'm sorry. I was wrong. Georgia is actually making that much." Georgia is another paralegal in the office who has been here a year less than me. The litigation attorney was able to find out that within the last year Georgia has been here she has received THREE raises. One before I asked for mine. Another AFTER I asked for my raise and a third right before what would have (again) been my yearly review. She is making a very (VERY) significant amount more than me a year. If you know how much our adoption fee is, then you know how much.

Needless to say I was a little upset. I'm not mad at Georgia. She is a fine paralegal, but do her abilities supersede mine? Not at all. We're pretty fairly matched, though my being technologically savvy saved the firm money. They didn't have to hire an outside cameraman to interview Dr's for a big case. I was able to do that. When a family friend, of a big case, dropped by a video of them before the accident I was able to extract and reformat the video clip. We didn't have to send it out (and pay more money). When the firm needed photos for the web-site, they didn't need to hire a photographer, I did it.


I did A LOT of things for Hunter Law, but apparently they didn't think they were important enough. After I gave my notice Mr. Sweet's wife didn't talk to me at all. She didn't even ask me what my plans were for Thanksgiving-she asked everyone else. Now, I'm not asking her to be my best friend, but at least show a little professional courtesy. *Sigh* All is well. Over and done with and I am a free woman.

However, there are a few things that I would like to tell Mr. Sweet's wife. They are as follows:
1) Medicaid and Medicare are to completely different insurers. Their policies are procedures are COMPLETELY different. I've explained this to you many times. I'm glad I don't have to explain it to you again.

2) When you save a scanned document, you're not saving it to Word Perfect. You're saving it to the computer. It's not even in Word Perfect format.

3)You know that twitch that your lip starts doing when you get upset? It drives me crazy. There have been times that I've wanted to hit you to make it stop.

4) When you stick your nose in files when you have ABSOLUTELY no idea what is going on and go complain to Mr. Sweet, you cause unnecessary drama.

5) If "nothing has been done" on a file, it's because nothing can be done.

6) Though you hail yourself to be a good "Christian" you're greedy actions and behavior say otherwise.

7) I do not wish harm on people, but I think I'd be okay if a house landed on you.

I am free woman people!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

The BIG 3-0!

This handsome devil turned 30 in September. Since it was a milestone birthday, we celebrated really big. I did "30 Days of Nic." It was really fun coming up with things to do for him. I had wanted to buy him a present for every day, but due to the whole in my pocket (i.e. no dinero) I bought him some big gifts and did small things for him and cooked some of his favorite meals. One thing I planned was a kickball game to remember the days of yester-year. We played at the field area in front of our subdivision. I went and got dinner and had Nic meet me. We were enjoying our meal when some friends of ours pulled up. Nic said: "Hey, look who just pulled up." I told him they must just be coming to the park for FHE. Next thing we know the kids come running out with big happy faces: "Are you ready to play kickball?" Nic looked up at me and said: "Kickball?!" "Happy 30 days of Nic!" More friends came and it was a fun time.

Some of the big gifts included a grill (too bad he won't be able to use it until next year), a video tribute, Metallica tickets (I bought them back in April-I almost gave them to him for Father's Day) and a book of stories that I collected from his friends and family. It was really fun getting everything together. Some of the stories were funny and some were really tender.

The day before his birthday, we had a surprise party for him. Bless Nic's little heart he almost found out about it, but when he saw the invitation on a friend's fridge he backed out of the kitchen and said he could not go in there. Saturday morning I went over to my friend Sarah's house to get everything going. Nic was away with the scouts for a camp out so it worked out perfectly-however he got back earlier than I had expected so I had to ditch Sarah and come home. I hurried to get ready and we went to a movie with the excuse that Sarah had invited us over for dinner and that we needed to be at her house at 7pm (on the invitations I said the guest of honor would be getting there at 7 SHARP!). The movie ran later than I had expected and we didn't get there until 7:30. I felt like such a loser. I'm kind'a anal when it comes to gatherings starting on time and the fact that it was my own party and I was late kind'a made me sad. . .all is well. Everyone had fun.

I also had a SUPER yummy cake made-no lie! It was the best cake I've ever had. I lady in our ward makes cakes. She did a fantastic job!

I found a cake design I liked and she went for it. The colors were exactly what I wanted and the flavors were DELICIOUS!! The top of the cake was a two layer white cake with a chocolate pudding filling and the bottom was THREE layer (yes 1-2-3 layers) chocolate with raspberry filling. I am not a huge chocolate and raspberry fan but it was sooooooooo incredibly yummy! The fondant was good too-it was marshmallow fondant. If you live in the Boise area and need a cake you need to get in touch with Mayona. You will not regret it! I'm trying to think of another reason I would need to get a cake from her.

I know I've taken to our blog a lot to say how much I appreciate my husband but it's so true. He is everything I could have wanted in a husband. He helps me and encourages me. He makes me laugh and helps dry my tears. He works hard. I love him so much!

Happy Birthday babe! I hope it was a great day for you.

p.s. When I posted the note about being a bad blogger, Nic felt kind'a sad that I didn't post anything about his birthday (which was before I even posted that). Sorry babe :(

Summer Lovin'

had me a blast! Summer lovin' happened so fast.


Summer came and went (and yes-I'm just barely blogging about it). I started out training for a triathlon but my knees and hips (read right knee and hip) did not agree with that so I had to stop. Majorly bummed, but I went and supported my two friends that I had started training with. They did AWESOME! But it made me super depressed that I couldn't compete.



This summer we spent some time at the lake (see previous post) with friends and it was fun. I love spending time in the water, it makes me feel at peace. We also went camping with Nic's family this year at Hell's Canyon, but it was so BLOODY hot that I never took my camera out but on an over-cast day when Nic and I went for a drive. Totally uncomfortable. Rumor is next year we are heading to Florence, Oregon-I'm totally down for that!

Instead of a mid-summer trip to California, we went at the end of August for my 10 year high school reunion. It was a blast. But the trip was too short and I didn't get to spend a lot of time with my family. Bummer. The nice thing though was that Nic and I FINALLY decided to take our time getting there. We stopped in Reno and stayed at Circus Circus on the way to Cali.

The day before the reunion (Friday) we had a gathering at a local park-a pack and play. We encouraged people to come with food and their kids. We didn't have as good a turn-out as we would have liked but it was still fun. I was able to catch up with my brother from another mother (at least one of them-he's s twin) and it felt just like yesterday we were running through the streets of our neighborhood playing ditch and home-run derby. The next day (Saturday) was the actual reunion. Which had a couple of surprises.

Surprise #1: Nic working the bar. Yes the bar where they serve alcoholic beverages. The actual bar tender somehow convinced Nic to help him tend. At first it was just water. Then wine. Then beer. Then mixed drinks. I expected him to start spinning and flipping bottles by the end of the night. The plus? He go tipped out. Surprise #2: We had enough food for everyone. We thought we would run out. But there was plenty left over. And the final surprise. Surprise #3: I was taking pictures of everyone having a good time and dancing the night away and then I hear cheering. Then I hear: "Elaine! Elaine! Look! Take a picture!" I figured it was one of my fellow classmates tearing up the dance floor. I look over and guess who it was? Yep. Nic! *Sigh* My hubby. . .

The reunion was really fun. Hopefully for the next one we will have a larger turn out.

I'm a bad blogger :(

Well, what can I say. I try and try and try to keep an updated blog but it's just so stinkin' hard. Our life really isn't that exciting. We're boring people. We pretty much work, come home, cook dinner and go to bed. And then it starts all over for us. Boring, huh? I will be posting in the next couple of days though so stay tuned (if any one even reads this anymore).

Remembering 9/11

I posted this last year, but I decided to post it again.


It was a Tuesday. I was lying in my bed listening to the radio, debating whether or not I wanted to go to class that day. All of a sudden the song cuts out and the morning show DJ says: "We just got a call from a listener that said an air plane just crashed into the World Trade Center. Please stay with us as we try to verify the details." I immediately shot up in bed and started thinking 'Oh my gosh! If there's any truth to it, it will be on CNN.'

I ran upstairs to our living room and turned on the TV. And there was live footage. I couldn't believe my eyes. Smoke was coming from the North Tower. As I was struggling to make sense of what was going on, I saw the second airplane crash into the South Tower. I couldn't believe what I was seeing; I could feel the tears start to swell up.

My roommates are amazed at me being up and seeing me glued to the TV. I hear them asking me questions, but I ignore them hoping that they will glance at the TV to see what's happening. I'm frozen, still trying to make sense of what I'm seeing. The next thing I see are the towers crashing and people running in fear. I'm no longer able to hold back the tears. Why is this happening? Who would do this? Why? Why?? Why???

After watching live footage, for what seemed like forever, I finally peel myself away from the TV and head to campus. The feeling on the BYU-Idaho campus that day was one that I will never forget. It was so somber. As you walked on campus, it was so eerily quiet. No smiles. No laughter. You could feel there was a sense of loss that day. You knew that no matter our circumstances, we were all changed that day.

The President gave an address that night and I listened. He said that those horrible acts my have shattered the steels of those buildings but "they cannot dent the steel of American resolve." We as a nation united that day. Policemen and Firefighters became super heroes. Young men made the decision to put their life on hold and rise to the special calling of defending the freedom of our nation. My freedom. Your freedom.

That week on campus it was homecoming. One of the last homecomings for the school but instead of celebrating with the big razzle dazzle, it was filled with moments of silence and the singing of the song "(I'm proud to be an American) God Bless the USA." As we sang that song, it brought a sense of pride. One that I had never felt before. The chorus of that song took on a special meaning that week:

"And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.

And I won't forget the men who died,
and gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up! next to you
and defend her still today

'Cause there ain't do doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA."

I was changed that day. From that day forward, I cry every time our flag is raised and our National Anthem sung. I'm not going to stand here and say whether the war is a good thing or bad thing but all I know is that these men are defending my freedom. On this day, I would (again) ask that we do not criticize our President's decision to send our men off to war but that we stand beside them as they put their lives in danger to defend our very freedom and help rebuild a nation.

Dear Pita Pit

I love, love, LOVE your pitas (especially the Philly Steak) but do you really need to put so much lettuce in it? Lettuce makes up 3/4's of my pita. We need to work on this.

Love,
me

Can you feel it? Can you Smell it?

In exactly 28 days Nic and I will be decked out in:

OR

to watch some of:

AND

AND


AND

Remember THIS post? Well, this time around it's on our home turf and I think the turn out is going to be just a little different.

The boys are back in town baby! I LOVE this time of year!!

BOISE! STATE!!

Boise Twilight Criterium

After spending a good part of the afternoon at the lake, we headed down-town with the Phelps Family to watch the Boise Twilight Criterium. In Audra's quest for some power bars a guy told her about the Criterium and there would be booths there with free samples. He was wrong. But we were so glad we went.

At first, we were at the Boise Centre on the Grove and we were surrounded by a beer fest-literally. It was some type of going green festival that was celebrating "natural" beer. I thought all beer was natural, but whatever. Luckily, Nic had his phone and I had him search the criterium. We were just a block away.

When we got there a men's race was just finishing. We walked around a bit and founded a perfect spot before the race started. Watching was really exciting. The racers bike for 50 minutes and then when with like 10 minutes left the start counting down laps. Every lap there is a prize. There pretty small prizes, but if you win a lot of laps it adds up. For a few laps one guy would be in the lead and then a few laps later, someone else would be in the lead. The men's race we watched was cool. The biker that was in the lead about 40% of the time had fell behind within the last few laps. Like all the way to the back. Somehow he totally pulled through on the last lap and WON-totally sweet!

(Beginning of the men's race)

I don't know about you all, but I would be so nervous riding in a group like that. I'd freak myself out and hit someone. Yikes! They rode around so stinking fast. I almost wanted a wipe out to happen so I could get a picture of it.

<-----This is the guy that won. This isn't his winning shot I didn't like the way it turned out so I deleted it. :( After this race, all of us were pretty much ready to go. Too much sun but then they announced that the women's race was getting ready to begin that it would be Olympic Gold Medalist, Kristin Armstrong's (who lives in Boise)last race as she would be retiring. * * * Side note: why is it that olympic athletes retire after they get the gold? Wouldn't you want two or more??? Is Michael Phelps considered an over-achiever??? * * *

As we're waiting for the woman's pro-race to start, Audra's mentions to me: "Is Jen Halladay (a lady in our ward) racing?" As they are announcing the beginning of the race we hear her name. For get about Kristin Armstrong, we were all about rooting for Jen. . .I think we were the only ones. The mens race was fun to watch but it felt SOOO long. The women's race was totally different. I think it was because we knew someone and we would always be on the look out for her.

This is Jen in the lead with her pink socks. That's how we alway knew it was her. We would just have to look for her socks. ----------------->

And it case you're wondering what it looks like to have an olympian trailing behind you, it looks like this:

We were so proud of Jen. We kept yelling: "you can do it!" "You can beat her!"

Even though it's blurry I LOVE this -------> picture of Jen. You get a sense of how fast she's going. Unfortunately, Jen didn't win and Ms. Olympian did. Jen was upset, but she was happy that it was Kristin. She said they're like sisters and Kristin didn't care about beating anyone else except for Jen-good ol' sibling rivalry :)

We didn't stay for the men's pro because we were exhausted. But we will definitely be there next year for the whole thing. So much fun!

Lucky Peak

My friend Audra recently introduced me to Sandy Point as we were looking for a place to practice our open water swimming for the Y not Tri (which sadly I won't be doing now-I'm totally bummed). So, a couple of weeks ago Nic and I decided to have a BBQ out there and invite some friends out to Sandy Point Beach. While I have been up to Lucky Peak quite a few times (above the dam) I have never been to Sandy Point the whole SEVEN years I have lived here in Boise. This trip was long over due. It was so much fun!

(Adeline with her watermelon tongue)

(Sweet McKenna who just recently learned what a camera does. She would see me holding it and say 'cheese' or something to that effect)

(Henry enjoying lunch)

(Allison smiling for the camera)

(Lora soaking up the rays)

(some of the gang)

(The Hubby)

Sandy Point is really cool because there is a fountain out in the middle and the water is shallow enough that adults can walk out to it and back (it comes up to just pass my chest). The only real downer is that the water is FREEZING but on a scorching summer day it feels oh so good! The Phelps family brought a raft that they were generous to share with the Howard family. We through McKenna and Allison in there and they had a blast. We would walk out to the fountain and then walk back to shore and then do it again. A little boring for us adults but the kids had fun. The funniest thing was when we were coming back to shore once and we saw Audra's son Henry smiling at us sitting on another person's raft! The had brought him out because he was at the shore crying for his mom.

We forgot Nic's camera (which is h2o proof) so we didn't get any pictures of the kids in the raft. We'll get some this weekend.

Elaine Sunglasses

As you many of you know, we have a god-daughter named Allison. She is adorable and we have shared many adventures and funny times with her (you can go here, here or here to check 'em out). Well, a couple of months a go I got a text from Mel saying that they took Allison out to pick out some sun glasses and she picked out some Hannah Montana stunn'a shades because "they look just like Elaine! (that is a direct quote from Miss Allie)" We went over to Mel's house that day and Allison was very excited to show me her sunglasses. We finally got a picture of us with our fabulous stunn'a shades on a couple of weeks ago while up at Sandy Point.

What do you think, do you me match?

p.s. Pictures from Sandy Point will be coming!

You have to laugh

Today Nic had the opportunity to go with the youth of our ward to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. He was waiting to go into the waiting room and one of the sister temple workers came over to him. Here is there conversations:

Sister: You can go ahead and head on in there.

Nic: Oh, I know but I never like being the first one to the party.

Sister: Well, there's a cute girl in there.

(Nic peaks into and sees one of the girls from our ward, and yes-she is a very cute girl)

Nic: Yeah. . . I don't think my wife would appreciate me sitting next to a cute girl.

When he told me this, I just had to laugh. Nic has a full beard. What kind of 16-18 year old do you know that has a full beard?!

Just because

This is my hubby:



I think he's pretty much the greatest thing since sliced bread. . .no-since chocolate! He always impresses me with his strong work ethic and his willingness to do (now) whatever it takes to make sure I am home with our children (when they start coming). He always listens to me complain and never asks: "Are you sure you're not over-reacting?" though, I might be just a little. He does the dishes when I cook (and even when he cooks). He tells me I look good, even though I've put the weight back on that I've lost (darn you stress eating). I know that I can be myself around him. He has never expected me to be the "perfect house wife." He lets me know he loves me every day. He smiles when I burp. He gives the best hugs. I know that after a bad day, I can fall asleep in his arms and know that everything will be okay.


Thanks babe! I love you and I'm so grateful for everything you do.


That's it. Just wanted to make you readers jealous! :)

Day of Father

Today is the day that we celebrate our fathers.



I'm grateful for my dad and for the example he is in my life. I'm grateful for his hard work and the encouragement he has given me and continues to give me. I'm so glad that, with his support, I feel I can do anything. He's stood by every decision I have made, and has been there to catch me if (and when) I fall.



I appreciate my father-in-law for raising such an AMAZING son and being there for his children when they need a helping hand. I appreciate the active role that he plays in his grand children's life.

Thanks for being such wonderful dads.

p.s. If you couldn't tell: Nic's dad is on the left and mine is one the right ;)

It is finished!

Our adoption pass along cards are done-and we are very excited to start passing them out. you can CLICK HERE to see the final product. Nic and I have decided that from here on out we are not going to be putting any adoption/IVF related stuff on here. Though, this journey is a part of us we don't what it to seem that it's the ONLY part of us, does that make sense?

But in case you don't frequent Our Journey to Parenthood we would like to ask that if you would one of our pass along cards mailed to you, send your address to: ward_family_2005@hotmail.com and we will be sure to get one (or two or three) to you.

Adoption Profile

We have finished our Adoption Profile-finally! If you take a gander to the right, you can click on our wonderful picture and it will take you to our profile. But the fun doesn't stop there, you can also copy and paste it on your blog too! Don't know how, I'll tell you (it's really easy).

First, log-in to your blog and go to your layout. Click on "Add a Gadget." Select "HTML/Java Script" as your gadget. Copy and paste the code. And there you go!

If you haven't already, you can go here to look for more ways you can help. Our application will be turned on June 1st and we are so excited. Technically, I guess we are doing things kind of backwards, but we want to spread the word now that we are adopting. We know that if we are doing everything we can, the Lord will help us.

Up and Running

Our Journey to Parenthood blog is LIVE again. Be sure to check it out. I think you might like it (if I do say so myself). Thanks!

Adoption Pass Along Cards-Part II

Here are the other samples that Amada has done up for us. Let us know what you think! Don't forget to visit HER SITE. Thanks guys.

(these are clickable)