Santa on the Fire Engine...

Our first picture as a family of 5. I LOVE these kids!

Last week, my sister Christine and some of her family came to visit us from Oregon :)

My sisters Colleen and Patti

Waiting for Santa to come on the fire engine at Grandma Sally's house on Christmas Eve.

Our feisty three-year-old.

Zack, scarfing down his candy cane from Santa.

The love of my life...

Our most beautiful gift of all...

Lots of the grandkids came to Grandma's to see Santa!

Not too sure about the hairy guy that brought him candy (Santa)...

Me and all of the kids with Santa.

Our new kids informed me today that Santa has never come to their house before, so I think they will be in for a surprise in the morning when they see all of the presents under the tree and the stockings filled with treats. I feel so blessed to be able to share the true meaning of Christmas with these children, as they do not know who Jesus is. To hear them thank God for their food before every meal just melts my heart. We are so blessed.

We hope you all have a beautiful Christmas. We will be updating the blog soon with more pictures!

The New Adventure...

A week ago, we were asked to take a sibling set of two kids into our home. We gladly accepted the challenge :)

We have a 5 year old boy and a 3 year old girl. They are adjusting well to being with us, but still are very emotional about wanting to go home. Getting to know these little ones, I whole-heartedly agree with CPS's decision to remove them for the time being. They visit with their family often, but for now, everything is "up in the air" as far as how long they will be here, what the reunification plan will be, etc.

Both kids are VERY affectionate and need a lot of reassurance and love. They love to be cuddled and hugged on...which doesn't bother us one bit! :) They are learning their manners and how to talk to people with respect, as well as how to take care of themselves and their bodies (that's a big one). Our biggest challenge is bed time and getting them to fall asleep and stay in bed. It's often a long battle of the wills and makes for some late nights and SUPER early mornings. It's like having a baby all over again!

We are quickly falling in love...

Cold day in November...

Lights, Camera...Action!...

Today, Emily had to have minor surgery on her foot, so Logan came over to play. After pulling out every toy and having a big lunch, we cooked up some popcorn and popped in a movie. The boys had a great time together today :)

Lions and Tigers and...Flamingos?...

Yesterday was a gorgeous day, so I decided that Zack and I would go to the zoo...just the two of us. We had such a fun time! He was thrilled to see all of the animals and to ride the train. I love building special memories with him like that. I won't ever forget it.

"Holy moly! Mom brought fruit snacks! SCORE!"

We packed a nice little picnic and shared it with the squirrels :)

Almond butter and apricot jam...our favorite!

Last week, our best friends took us to see a comedy show in Sacramento. We had a great date night, starting off with a wonderful dinner at Tower Cafe.