Jemma Louise May 1997-August 2009

Today was a sad day in our family. We had to put our dog, Jemma, down. She got an infection in her leg and it just got too bad so we had to make the hard decision this afternoon to send her to Heaven.
Jemma was such a good dog. I remember the day we got her. We were so excited. Jeff and I had been married for about 8 months and Jeff's friend's dog had puppies. We had moved into a house so we thought it was perfect time for a dog. I picked her out and chose her name. I liked her coloring. Jemma was so tiny that she couldn't even make it up the one stair of our front porch and we remember the day she made that big accomplishment. We were so proud. As she grew, Jemma became Jeff's "farm buddy" going everywhere with him riding in the back of our truck. Jeff would take her on horse rides all the time. In fact, when she would hear our truck fire up she would whine until we put her in the back of it to come along. She would also go along with him when he went roping. Jemma has been such a good dog. I remember introducing her to Abbi when we brought her home. She didn't quite know what to think about this little person who was joining our family. But Abbi and Jemma soon became good friends. In fact, looking through scrapbooks trying to find pictures of her, I saw that Jemma was one of Abbi's first words. Jemma was such a loyal dog. When we would take her on walks with us, she would stay right behind Jeff and would only go in front of us when given permission. She also wouldn't go off our property without one of us with her. We could let her out in the front yard for hours and she wouldn't run away. We're going to miss her so much. She's been part of our family for almost 13 years.
Goodbye Jemma, we love you.

New Family Pictures

The lovely and talented Michelle took our pictures again for us. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them. As always, she did a fantastic job.

First Day Of Third Grade

School started today and Abbi is now in 3rd grade. I can't believe it! Last night she laid out her clothes for the first day and then this morning, she got right up and got ready. I am sad that summer is over, but I am happy that she's excited about school. We met her teacher for the first time yesterday and she is SO nice and seems like such a good teacher. She got great reviews from everyone I talked to so I'm happy that Abbi got her. I know it's going to be a great year for Abbi.

Liberty Park

Teressa and I have tried to get together a couple of times a month through the summer since Abbi has been out of school. We met at Noodles and Company in Sugarhouse and then went to Liberty Park in Salt Lake on Monday. It was such a fun park that I had never been to. There was a small carnival with a ferris wheel and those swings that go around in a circle up in the air. They also had a few smaller rides for little kids that Hallie loved. Korver's favorite was the Merry-Go-Round.

There was a really fun park with fun things for the kids to do. They had big chimes that the kids could hit with a stick to make music. They also had a sand pit that Abbi loved playing in.
There was this cool wading pond for the kids to play in. It was very clean and the kids loved it. It is in the shape of the Great Salt Lake and then there are rivers that all pool down into the Great Salt Lake. The girls LOVED it so much.

It was a really cool (and huge) park. We still didn't see everything. They also had basketball courts and horse shoe pits. There were a couple of museums and a green house as well. I want to go back so that we can see everything.

Lunch For Eleven!

Back Row from left to right: Jenny, Rain, Teressa, Me, Jordann, Hallie, Diane (my mom.)

Front row from left to right: Miney, Michelle, Korver, Abbi.

Probably the funnest thing about having 3 open adoptions is the additions to my family. I haven't just adopted 3 beautiful children, I've adopted 3 amazing families as well. Teressa, Jordann and Michelle and I all try to go to lunch together once a month. We have kind of slacked through the summer (I've done things separately with each one.) So Jordann put together our lunch for August. We ate at Olive Garden which was yummy as always. This time, we invited my mom, Jordann's mom and Teressa's mom. There was eleven of us all together. Poor Korver was surrounded by girls!
Abbi loves her little sister, Rain. Rain was having Abbi put lip gloss on her.

This blog is giving away some really cute stuff. Click on the picture to enter (and see their awesome stuff.)

Awesome Giveaway!

The R House is giving away an awesome book on her blog. Go enter! My birthday is coming up. You should all go enter and then you already have my birthday present taken care of if you win!!!

Life On The Lake

Abbi, Hallie and Kristen on the tube.

Weston wake surfing. It's where you take the bindings off the wake board and surf on the wake. He has only done it a couple times, but he's pretty good.
After the baptism, my little sister, Kristen, and her husband, Weston, invited us (actually I'm pretty sure I invited us) to go boating with them. We went out to Utah Lake. It was such a nice day for boating. The lake was almost like glass. The kids had fun tubing and jumping into the water. We even put Korver in there with us.

Jeff wake boarding.

Me TRYING to wakeboard. Haha! Hey, at least I got up... and it was my first time.

Me and the girls out in the lake. It was such a fun day.

Abbi sporting her goggles and life jacket.

Abbi's Baptism

Abbi made the decision to be baptized and her special day was August 1, 2009. It was a great day. Jeff baptized her and then we went to the park afterwards for a lunch in her honor. She had so many people come and support her. Lots of people love this little girl!

We had invitations made up and used these two pictures for them. The lovely and talented, Michelle, took them (of course!)

Here is Abbi with her daddy right before the baptism.

Swimming Again!

I have to say that this summer has been one of the funnest yet. We have done so many fun things. One of our favorite things to do is to go to the pool. My favorite pool is the Veteran's Memorial Pool in Provo. It has 2 really fun tube slides, a lap pool and a shallow pool with a playground in the middle for the kids to play in. It also has tons of grass and shade which is nice when Korver wants to take a nap. Apparently, this pool does not let you take pictures, but I was able to snap a few before the lifeguard came and told me I had to put my camera away. My friend, Cindy, and I took our kids over one hot day to let the kids cool off. Our kids play really well together which makes it nice.

Mr. K loves the pool so much. He will literally sit there for hours splashing in the water.
I absolutely love this picture of Hallie. She looks so cute in her sunglasses. She is my little fish. She loves to swim!