The House of God

You can look at this beautiful place one of two ways. A place you want to get into...

....or get out of.

Either way, this is where their story starts. Two beautiful people who fell in love.....

And two handsome little boys..............became a FAMILY.

A Beautiful Family....Forever

Feedin' the Hungry Ducks

A friend of mine (her and I carpool our boys) and I took our boys out to feed the hungry ducks of the lower Provo River. I nearly ran out of Cherrios and freed up my pantry of stale or moldy bread. We had fun watching the little ones in amazement as these ducks walked right up to them.

At the second spot there were literally hundreds of ducks being held at bay by three lone geese. If the even attempted to cross the line formed by the trees sticking out of the river, they were chased off. All of them were forced to make due with the soggy left overs that floated a little way downstream.

Those CRAZY Cousins...Need I Say More?

Wow! What A Crowd!

Remember, none of these have been edited so forgive the bad lighting and the few folk that aren't looking at the camera. I will fix all that when I get home and can work on my own computer. Thank you all, especially all the guys, who came. Well have to do it again in another two or three years.

It's FINALLY over!!

I can't believe that it's finally over! It still seems so surreal!! But it feels o good at the same time. We can't wait for tomorrow morning to be sealed to OUR little boys!! It's going to be such a wonderful experience and I hope that the boys will be able to remember at least some of it. Ryan keeps telling me that we're going to Jesus' house and we're going to see Jesus! Maybe he will? I firmly believe that children have a special bond with Heavenly Father and they know more than we give them credit for!

Anywho, after the adoption we took the boys, my mom and Grannie down to Chandler forour 3D ultrasound. I absolutely loved it! I think we'll do it for all of our pregnancies. It was a really special experience to be able to see our little guy. We could really see what he looks like but we can't decide who's nose he got!

Court Info

So, adoption day is tomorrow! Is everyone as excited as we are? I didn't think so!! I just wanted to post some last minute info about the court hearing tomorrow. The set time is at 9:30am but they could be running a little early or even a little late. So, if you're coming, plan on being there about 9:15am at the latest. Otherwise you'll just see us coming out of the court room! Also, bring your cameras! We'd love to see everyone elses point of view of the proceedings so feel free to bring your camera and snap away! If anyone needs it the address of the court house is 1810 S Lewis St in Mesa. It's off of Mesa Drive and the 60 in the Juvenile Court Facility. From the 60 you'll turn right on Javelina, go past the Maricopa County Superior Court and then turn right on Lewis. If I remember correctly it should be on your left side from there. (Peter and I have only been there once. Everything else we've gone to for the boys has been out in Phoenix.) Feel free to call me if you have any other questions or if I didn't explain something clearly enough! We love you all so much and can't wait to see you tomorrow!! :)

To Mindy et al....

Mindy, here's the link I told you about for the treasurebox grocery site. Reiko, you can look, too, but no one else because you couldn't bother coming to dinner on Sunday. (Just kidding. I hope everyone (at least those in AZ) can get some use from it.)

http://www.thetreasurebox.org/index.php

Family pictures

Here is the link for our new family pictures we had taken. User name is Kari Vanderpool.
https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTPP0722114830JCP

A VERY Cold Christmas

With all of the snow outside it is nice to know that in the middle of winter, my family has the comfort of a working furnace. At least we thought until yesterday. I woke up in the middle of the night to a high pitched squeeling noise downstairs. I sent Jon down to investigate. Upon his return, he reported that the motor on the furnace was having problems and that he would take a look at it in the morning.
In the morning, Jon took a closer look at the furnace and said that the motor needed to be replaced. With a 5 day old baby in the house, I wasn't about to let it get any colder than it already was at that point. After calling a few companies, one agreed that they could come over and take a look. Diagnosis...a cracked heat exchanger and the bearings were completely gone. According to the serial number, the furnace was used when the house was built in 1990 making it just about 20 years old. By code, he wasn't supposed to leave our furnace running. But he wasn't about to leave us totally without heat. So this kind man ran home and brought us two of his personal CO2 detectors to hold us over until we could get another furnace installed.
About half an hour later, a co-worker of his came to show us the different options we had to install. He stayed for a good hour. Remeber, this all happened on Christmas Eve. A time to spend with family or do last minute shopping. And yet, here they were, in my home helping me with my families dilema.
The result in all this. Monday, we are going to have a new furnace and A/C system installed and the swamp cooler taken off our roof. Something we had intended to do in the spring. On the way home from our Mary & Joseph dinner Jon turned to me in the car and thanked me for his Christmas present. I asked him, "What present"? To which he responded, "A/C" to which I then thanked him for my furnace that he gave me.
This story continues. All night long, noise continued to come from the fan and the motor of the furnace. Chrismas day I called the company back and told them the furnace had completely stopped working and it was getting colder. This kind man gathered all of the space heaters he could find from his house, the company shop and other places and delivered them to our home...Merry Christmas to all and to all a warm house.

Better Pictures of Archur

I had the same gal come to take Archur's pictures as did Alex's in the hospital. They are really cute. Go to
www.utahportraits.com
and click on web nursery and find Archur under Dec. 18th. My mom and I pulled up both photos of Archur and Alex to compare. Try it. Alex's birthday is Oct. 18, 2007. Do they look like brothers. I think they do but mostly the nose, mouth and chin.

Also, Jon and I just heard about Herb and I called Granny. We are so sorry for your loss. It is a loss to us all. We will miss him and his humor. Our prayers are with you.

Archur Aaron Vanderpool

This was Jon and Archur waiting for his bathtime. There were six babies born right in quick succession so he had to wait about 45 minute for his bath time. He could have cared less. Yes, that is a yawn.



I don't know who came up with the stocking idea but so cute. This is how they brought him back to me in recovery. So cute.



A whopping 9 lbs. 3 oz. But according to everyone in the room, very proportionate to the rest of his body. He is 19.5 inches long.


Aunt Jackie served a few purposes. She was great for conversation and keeping my Mom company but she makes a great birthing video. It was so great to have her there. Thank you Aunt Jackie.

Adoption Update!

We are so excited to tell everyone that we FINALLY have an official date for the adoption! January 21, 2010 at the Mesa courthouse at 9:30! We're SO excited to finally have this part of our lives come to an end. And we're even more excited to be able to be sealed to these beautiful boys soon after the adoption is final! If anyone wants to join us at the courthouse please feel free to! Just remember it's a courthouse and probably won't be fun for little kids. We are planning on having a party after it's official to celebrate with our family and friends. We'd like to say thank you one more time for all of the love and support and prayers that we've received. We couldn't have made it through this with out you! We love you all SO much!!

Team Perry

Hi Granny!! These are for you.

Christmas Pictures

The cat was in just the right spot.

Colin & Paige