Mom and Daughter Date

This past weekend, I was able to spend the afternoon with two of my favorite ladies ... my mom and my daughter. For Christmas this year, Greg bought tickets for us to go and see Ballet West's production of "Madame Butterfly." He even special ordered the story book so that Kate and I could read it together and get familiar with the story. I know he spent alot of time trying to figure out what seats would be the very best because we had AMAZING seats! This had to be one of THE most thoughtful gifts that he's ever given me! He knows how much my mom, Kate and I LOVE the ballet, so this was very exciting for us!


I had never seen Madame Butterfly before and hadn't been to Ballet West for many years. This production was INCREDIBLE and the dancers were UNBELIEVABLE! We had such a great time and hope to make this annual tradition.

I had great intentions of taking a picture of the 3 of us, but got too caught up in the moment. Maybe next time!

Thanks again, honey, for the very thoughtful and very much appreciated gift. You are wonderful and I love you very much! Mom and Kate, thank you for such a great day! It will be one that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Our Valentine Surprise

So, for Valentine's Day we had a special surprise planned for Kate and Josh. Check it out!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Yes, you heard it right ... WE ARE GOING TO BE ADOPTING A BABY GIRL IN JUNE! We are SO incredibly excited! We were going to try to keep it a secret for a little longer, but now that the kids know we're pretty sure EVERYONE will know.

In case you couldn't hear the poem that Kate read, here it is:


As you can imagine Kate and Josh are VERY excited and can hardly wait. After we told the kids, Kate and I had to run to the store and she kept telling me, "Mom, we need to buy baby food" and "We need to buy diapers." I assured her we've got plenty of time to get ready!

Our baby girl is actually due on our Anniversary ... kind of special, don't you agree? Her birth mom is AMAZING and we already love her SO much! We have made arrangements to meet in March and we are counting down the days! This is truly an answer to many, many prayers and we are grateful for all of your love and support!

Kate's 9th birthday

Last week was a very exciting week at our house because Kate turned 9 years old! She has been anticipating her birthday for a long time and it finally came!

First off ... her actual birthday. We have a tradition that on your birthday you get to climb into mom and dad's bed, have Happy Birthday sang to you, open presents and have breakfast in bed. So, that's exactly what happened. And even though it was a school day, we threw in a little cartoon watching as well. What the heck!

Then I checked her out of school long enough to take her to Wendy's for lunch. It was that or join her for school lunch. Not a difficult choice. That night she had the choice of either going out to dinner or having me cook her favorite meal. I didn't take it personally when she chose to go to the Pasta Factory. Who can blame her?

Friday was the big day for her friend party! She decided about 2 months ago that she wanted to have a Nancy Drew Detective party. I don't know who was more excited ... me or her! I LOVE planning birthday parties, especially ones built around a theme. We made invitations that had to be "decoded" by holding them up to a mirror (they were written backwards), played some detective games, had birthday cake in the shape of a magnifying glass, went on a scavenger hunt to recover the "stolen" birthday presents and ended by watching the Nancy Drew movie! It was a hit and SO much fun, even for Greg and I. Such a great group of girls and they kept telling me that "this party rocked!" So, I must have done something right.

Now the birthday celebrations are over and done and Kate and Josh are already planning what their parties will be next year. Ahhhhh ....

I love you Katie bug! Thanks for being my sweetheart!

Mr. Defense

A few weeks ago, Josh started another season of basketball on the Cavaliers team. He has a really great coach and only 4 other boys, but they have a great time.

I've mentioned here before that Josh LOVES the Utah Jazz and he tells anyone who listens that he is going to be a Jazz player some day. As you can see from the video, Josh has obviously gotten the picture of how to play defense this year. It makes us laugh every week because he REALLY focuses on guarding and yet, as soon as he gets the ball, he passes it and goes right back to what he was doing. He has made a couple of baskets and I wish that I had been able to capture the look on his face. Pure JOY!

Great job buddy! You're doing a good job! Keep playing defense and who knows, maybe the Jazz will recruit their first 6 year old!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

My baby girl!

Today my baby girl turns 9 years old. How is this possible? I can remember every minute of that day and every emotion that I felt. It was a day that I had dreamt of my whole life! I was finally a mommy and I felt so incredibly blessed ... still do!


I love my Kate beyond words! She is my little buddy and I'm grateful that she still enjoys spending time with me. (I hope that never changes, but we'll see.) Here are 9 things that I love about Katelyn Hope Hardman.

1. I LOVE everything about her adorable little face - her smile, her big eyes, her freckles and her cute button nose.
2. Kate is FUN! She loves to be silly and truly enjoys life!
3. Kate is incredibly caring! She is always concerned about how others are feeling.
4. She is a GREAT big sister. She and Josh are the best of friends!
5. She is smart and loves to learn. She teaches me on a daily basis.
6. I love Kate's self confidence. She doesn't let what others think bother her too much!
7. She is talented. She loves to dance, play the piano, play soccer and draw, to name just a few.
8. She isn't afraid of ANYTHING (that can be good and bad) and she isn't afraid to try new things. I wish I was more like that.
9. Kate is a good. She tries to always do what's right.

I could go on and on, but since she's 9 now, I decided to stick with that number.

Kate ... I want you to always remember how VERY, VERY much I love you! I will be eternally grateful that Heavenly Father made it possible for me to be your mom. You are my sweetheart and I'm excited to see what you do with your life. I love you forever and forever!

Mom

It's coming ... spring!

I can feel it coming ... spring! The kids are outside playing, I can see the first little buds on the trees and today while driving around, it was warm enough to open the sunroof. Oh the joy! It makes my heart sing! I know that those darn groundhogs promise 6 more weeks of winter for those of you farther north. But hang in there, cause it will eventually come your way, too! Feel free to remind me of my early spring when it's 115 here. Yuck! THAT thought is revolting. For now, I'll enjoy my 63 degrees!