Joy in the Kitchen!

I decided I needed to blog about cooking. Cooking and baking are two of my favorite hobbies... playing on the internet is another! What a great combination! I also thought my older children who've moved away from home could find use in my blog because I'll post the recipes of some of their favorite foods so they can learn to make them themselves. :)

Check it out at http://joy-ajoyfullife.blogspot.com/

Let me know what you think!

Joy

The Back To School Parade

One day a week or so before school started, Grandma Bolander invited us all over for a Back to School Parade. :) The girls were SO excited to decorate their bikes and take them to Grandma's. They paraded up and down the driveway, ending up in the orchard and then when Grandpa came out, they did it all over again! Grandma served cookies and punch in the shade of the orchard. What a fun day full of memory making!

Here are a few pictures.... We had McKay & Wesley leading with the lawnmower, Jaylyn and Nicole on bikes, and then Myelle was pushing Bentley in the stroller with Grandma helping. Notice that Grandma is carrying her school books. :)

Traveling and Traveling!

Dave & I counted up on the calendar last night & we've been away from home a total of 13 days this month! No wonder I feel like I can't keep up with the house! We've been camping, family reunioning, rescuing kids, and lastly, we drove a propane truck back to Minnesota and then after Dave attended a few meetings we flew home.

Here are a few pictures of our adventure!

Dave & I as we were ready to leave...



The Minnesota Twins vs. Chicago White Sox game we got to attend courtesy of CHS!



Our Cushy ride there....



The Wrangler Inn in Mobridge, SD - fun little hotel & terrific restaurant!





Meeting Dave's Mom's second cousin Bernice & her husband Warren in South Dakota! We had so much fun catching up and meeting in person after exchanging a few letters over the past 15 years.

Family Reunion Fun!

We hosted our McKinnon family reunion this year at Bear Lake. What fun it was to see everyone again and meet for the first time younger cousins and in-laws! It had been over 10 years since we attended this reunion. We'd forgotten how much we love you guys!

Here are a few pictures...

McKay Rash

Holiday Food Art!

Occasionally I find the urge to be creative. Not often, but once in a while. We had a small party for the 4th of July and I (with the inspiration of another) spent about an hour creating our centerpiece.


Here is a picture of a much fancier design that inspired me... absolutely beautiful.



It was a lot of fun letting the little girls help thread the skewers and they had so much fun eating their creations! We'll definitely try this again.

Early Summer Fun!

We've had a busy schedule since Memorial Weekend! We had our usual campout in Mom & Dad's orchard and this year we had a photographer come to get a few family pictures!

Here is one of Mom & Dad with their children and spouses...


And few more with just the kids in the orchard where we were camping:



We also went camping at Stoddard Creek the next weekend - we had fun! Here are a couple of pics of the kids there....


Myelle and Wesley usually have fun playing together. They're buddies. :) Audra & Erick & Mom & Dad all came with us. We rode 4-wheelers that Mom & Dad shared, ate wonderful food, hiked and biked, and relaxed and visited around the campfire. Best of all Dad played his harmonica - my favorite part of campfires. Brett & Brianna joined us for the evening on Friday... we had fun visiting with them as well! Next time we'll have to try to get the whole family camping at once!

Many more activities planned & hopefully I'll have myself organized enough to post more often this summer!

A few pictures... Why not?

TWO DAYS IN A ROW! So I guess you may not be as impressed as I am. lol

I've been feeling so blessed lately with such terrific kids, a wonderful husband, a great life all in all. (okay - so there ARE times things aren't so great, but why dwell on it, kwim? )

Here are a few pictures from our Adoption Hearing Day. The first is our family... well, most of us, we are missing Brett & Bri and Erick.

Here are Dave, myself, Wesley and our lawyer, Kevin Peterson, and Judge Boyer, who, even though he knows us personally, still approved our adoption!


Here's the whole crew of us who attended the hearing! Thanks everyone, for sharing our exciting day!

What a blessing to be able to add to our family through adoption. I know some judge our sanity and question if it is responsible to have such a large family.... and I can say without a doubt... yes, we ARE crazy!... Crazy in love with our kids! And with such a responsibility comes so many blessings it becomes easy enough to handle.

Life IS Good! I have never felt Gods hand in my life more than on this decision. It is through His will that we are able to enjoy this blessing.

Hidee Ho!

Yep - it's Tuesday & I have a ton of things I SHOULD be doing instead of blogging. BUT I had to point out that Audra prettied up my blog for me... and even added one of my favorite Chicago songs for us to listen to when we hang out here. Thanks Audra!

So the adoption is FINAL! Woohoo! And yesterday was Brett's birthday - Happy Birthday Brett! ... and on Sunday we are blessing Wesley at church. Audra is on bedrest until further notice (which I think means - until you deliver :D ) so I'm trying to help with Myelle and help her keep up with general house stuff. I don't know that I'm doing very well helping.

The weather is BEYOOOTIFUL today! Around 40 degrees and the sun is shining it's little heart out. There are puddles everywhere, but it's okay as this is the path towards spring. :)

Almost Final!

Wesley is 8 months old today! We've had him since he was 3 weeks old. What a sweet little boy. :) In 2 days we have our hearing for the finalization of the adoption! I'd like to say "how times flies", but I have to admit that it has been a tedious wait. Once everything is finalized we can have Wesley blessed and have him sealed to us in the temple! THEN I will relax and he will be ours forever.

Wesley learned to crawl just after Christmas. Now he crawls everywhere. FAST! He is pulling up to furniture and hangs our our legs when he wants held. One busy, busy boy! We are so blessed to have him as part of our family.

Has it been so long already?

Shoot, I just wrote on the 12th & here it is December 30th!

Jaylyn turned 8 on the 21st. Busy day. She was so excited to be baptized! She opened gifts in the morning at 9am, we had church from 12:30-3:30, her baptism was at 5pm, Community Christmas concert that Jaylyn, Nicole, McKay and Keeley were involved in was at 7pm.... and then home for cake & ice cream. Whew! We survived and it was a wonderful day.

Christmas was wonderful mainly because our entire family was here at our house. I LOVE the craziness involved when we're all together. Noisy, cluttery, loving, WONDERFUL! Thanks for being here everybody! Wesley had a ball crinkling up the wrapping paper, I don't know if I got enough pictures of him opening gifts. He really just didn't get it.... first there's pretty, crackly paper, and then it disappears & there's a toy. lol He much preferred the paper.

Now, to finish off the old year, we're sharing a bout of the stomach flu. Anyone care to join? First was Wesley - then Darren - this morning Nicole - and now Jaylyn. Who's next? I'm opting out, we all know Mom's don't get time off for sick days.

Have a wonderful New Year's Eve celebration tomorrow night! May your reflections on 2008 find many happy moments to cherish.

Happy Birthday!

Wow! Nicole is 6 already! Happy birthday sister! She is excited to have a few friends over after school for a party. This evening we'll have dinner with the family (Brett & Brianna and Darren here make it extra special!) and then do gifts and cake & ice cream.

When I asked Nicole what she wanted for dinner she said: "You know that kind where you put a whole bunch of stuff on the counter and then we get to choose? Like a... a... a... buffet? lol! On her buffet she wants chicken, salad, mashed potatoes, and a whole carrot. :D Ah.... to be 6. :)

A Thankful Heart

You know those days when your heart just swells as you remember all your blessings? I've been having one of those days. :) I am so thankful for:

My dear, patient, husband... if we had been married "for better or worse" he'd probably be wondering which part this was lately. lol He is kind and thoughtful, hard working, fun-loving. He is terrific!

My family. I am so blessed with an abundance of children! I so enjoy that my married children will share the fun of their early married years with us... brings back many memories. :) It is fun to have them visit often. I am thankful Darren gets to come home for a few days for Thanksgiving. We miss having his humor make us laugh. Keeley and McKay are old enough to be fun in conversation and games and are a pleasure to hang out with. The little girls, Jaylyn and Nicole are such fun to watch as they play using their imaginations. They are best friends most days and best enemies on occasion. They add so much life to our household! Wesley is a joy. I can hardly remember not having him here. He is a happy baby and very social.

I live in a wonderful, relaxed community, close to my parents and Dave's parents, and several siblings who live within 20 minutes. I am grateful for the continued association with them.

I have good health and the ability to care for myself and my family. It is a blessing to be able to do 20 loads of laundry, wash 14 batches of dishes, change an average of 35 diapers, bake 6-12 loaves of bread, prepare 21 meals and at least 7 snacks every single week! In exchange I get uncounted thank you's, at least 14 bedtime hugs and kisses, several "guess WHAT Mom!'s", and unlimited family fun. :)

Life is good. I am blessed. May I live in a manner worthy of all I have been given. :)

Getting Ready for the Holidays!

Well.... I checked, and it appears as of my blog, life ended when Brett got married. LOL! Time to start blogging again!

I am so excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year! (Well, not as much Thanksgiving, but I DO love dinner!) I've been Christmas shopping, mostly online for several months now and am getting close to done. Need to help the little girls figure out what they are getting for everyone, and be sure that Wesley has something for everyone. :)

I've been planning my Christmas Candy - maybe I'll get ambitious and post a few recipes on my Kitchen Kreations blog. Some of them are just so easy to make it's almost sinful NOT to make them. So far I'm for sure planning: fudge, caramels, cracker candy, toffee, marzipan, and dipped pretzel sticks. I MIGHT try divinity this year - it is intimidating to me and I've only done it a few times. Cookies are fun too... I'm making: Snowballs (like pecan sandies), double crunchers and frosted sugar cookies.

We talked as a family and decided we're decorating a gingerbread house this year as well... we had a ball last time we did it. I need to hunt down my recipe.

Well... Wesley is hollering for attention so I will end for today - and you will understand why I don't blog as much anymore. lol

Feel Wonderful!

A beautiful Wedding Day!

As you may know - Brett and Brianna were married yesterday the 27th. It was beautiful weather and I think pics turned out terrific!

Brett & Brianna right outside the temple.

Our whole family with all the new additions.

Welcome to the family Brianna! Brett - we're so pleased with your choices. Keep up the good work! :)

A Beautiful Day

I am finding much satisfaction in being a SAHM right now. Today I managed to stay home all day... baked 6 loaves of bread... made some chocolate cookies for after school snack... we had Family Home Evening and talked about listening to the promptings of the spirit to help us do right.

There are still clothes to fold, several loads of laundry to wash, floors that need vacuumed & swept, apples to sauce, corn from the garden to freeze. BUT today I DID cuddle the baby, do enough laundry, fix and clean up meals for 6-9 people (depending on the meal) and have time this evening to laugh and play with my family.

I have much to be thankful for.

Kindergarten Blues

Today was Nicole's first day of Kindergarten. She was SO excited she could hardly go to sleep last night! She and Jaylyn chose to wear matching outfits and did their hair the same... so cute. I'll post a picture once I get the computer fixed up for downloading again. She claims her favorite part of the day was recess. That's my girl! lol

It's a good thing we have Wesley now, otherwise this would be my first year at home alone in 18 years! I can't believe how quickly that time has gone by. Amazing.

Oh The Irony

Ah.... we are enjoying our new baby Wesley. He sleeps, eats, dirties diapers and has some wakeful time. He is happiest when being held whether he's asleep or awake. I love holding him BUT there are some things that are just easier and quicker to do with two hands.

The Irony? People all around are saying "Well, I'll bet it's so nice to have so many older children, you must have a lot of help with the baby" or "My, that should be so much easier with all the help of your children." HA! What people who say that don't realize, is that older kids have their own lives... they work, they socialize, they stop in at home often enough to sleep, eat, dirty clothes (this sounds somewhat familiar!) and dishes. Most of their wakeful (and helpful) time is spent away from home. lol

School starts here soon so my best help which is Jaylyn and Nicole, 7 & 5 years old, will be gone a good portion of the day. McKay has been excellent help when he's not helping Grandpa mow lawn & work in his yard or moving pipe with his friend.

Ah well... this baby stage will pass quickly and then instead of being up at night with feedings, I'll be up at night waiting for him to come home from dates and activities with friends. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly time passes. I will enjoy snuggling this baby even IF it is in the wee hours of the morning as all too fast this time will be gone.

A Picnic to Remember

Yesterday we were invited to a picnic for the AFCA Adoptive Families for Cultural Awareness. We met so many wonderful people who have adopted african american children and have become multicultural families. It was great to chat with several Moms there who really understood what we're going through in reference to waiting for the probation period to finish and bonding and thoughts about birth parents. Also met a wonderful Mom who has 5 birth children and 4 more adopted children - she mentioned the word crazy a lot & that's my favorite description of ourselves going into this wonderful adventure. lol It IS crazy in some ways, but we've been a wonderful sort of crazy for years and we love it. :)

Wesley is doing great. He sleeps the best when he's being held. I'm torn between holding him and making up for lost time, and wanting him to get on a schedule of sleeping and napping that doesn't include me holding him. :) He is adorable. Nicole has been so loving to him - cooing to him and kissing his cheeks. Both little girls enjoy holding him and feeding him bottles.

One of these days I'm going to start an offshoot blog for my cooking adventures.... I've got to wait until I have a few minutes to cook AND type though. :)

YAWN!!!

Well... Wesley and I are at odds on what time of day we like to play. I MUCH prefer playing during daylight hours and HE seems to be enjoying the wee hours of the morning... before there's any light at all. LOL I'm going to have to get back to having a nap in the afternoon when HE has a nap.... but it sure is a great time to get some housework done.

We're heading to town here in a few minutes to stock up on diapers and formula... I think he's on a growth spurt as he is starting to eat more AND more often.

I am SO enjoying not working right now. I have all day to figure out dinner and am enjoying being home with the older kids too. We can spend all day telling stories and playing with them. I hope we can swing it for me to stay home for quite a while. :)

Enjoy your day!