And they call this vacation?

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Upon arriving in Yakima, I was immediately put to work. After painting the Lee’s laundry room and bathroom, I had a new job – putting up lights. Since I love the lights, I guess it’s a good gig.
Jim (Rach’s dad) had already put a lot of lights out, but this is a year for celebration, so we needed more. By the time we were done, several more trips were made to WalMart, Target, Kmart, and Home Depot – all in search of the “right” lights to complete our holiday festivities. All of it adds up to a beautiful Griswold family Christmas!

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A few frozen fingers and toes later, we had all the bushes covered in lights. New for this year are the lighted candy canes adorning the second story railing and the front tree – but you’ll just have to wait for those pics!

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Soon after this, we were headed to Stevenson, WA for fun with Dan and Jessica. In addition to my first trip to Portland, we returned to the newly named “Davenport Falls” to get some pictures I didn’t get last time due to ummm… technical difficulties — apparently you need these memory card thingies in these new digital cameras — who knew?!

Who said that?

Over the past several years, I have collected quotes that I have heard — some that are popular or come from famous people, while some are from friends or people speaking in church meetings I have attended. I just finished putting some of them into a database. On the right side of the page, under the pictures, one will be shown. You can see all of the quotes here, or click on the “Quotes” tab at the top of each page.

OH, THE WEATHER OUTSIDE…

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Friday night we took a trek to SLC to see the lights at Temple Square. It was glorious. The drive down was an adventure to say the least. It started storming that morning and got worse as the day progressed, but a little inclement weather was not going to stand in our way of this event! Our first stop was our social worker’s house in South Odgen to meet him and get home study info. After that we met up with the Hirschi’s at Outback for dinner. I have been craving a Queensland Chicken Salad for months and have been seemingly thwarted at every turn. FINALLY, I got my salad and we had a wonderful time.

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Walking among the lights on a snowy night was magical. The hot cocoa topped the night off perfectly. THe whole experience sent my head spinning to another time – my time at BYU where Temple Square was a regular occasion. Although I have many fond memories of that time, I would so much rather be with my sweet husband. It is good to be surrounded by friends and family. I know not everyone is so lucky. We are very blessed, indeed.
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seven random facts…TAKE TWO!!!

Jessica Anne doesn’t think my list is very random (for anyone who “knows me at all” as she put it) so I took this a challenge. Forgive my do-over. Here we go:

  1. I still have that one pair of jeans from high school that I hold onto “just in case”. I did fit into them snuggly right around my wedding in 2004. But then marriage happened and I trying to fight my way back down.
  2. I can’t take my wedding band off–literally. (haven’t been able to for about a year now) Another reason I need to work toward those jeans.
  3. I didn’t really care for one of my now best friends, Amy, when we first met. I think she was having an off week–as a friend from high school was visiting her. Jessica (and Amy) agrees with this first impressioned fiasco.
  4. Giving birth seemed like the most unnatural thing in the world to me for the first 27 years of my life. In fact, I never wanted to pregnant at all–only two or three people know that about me. Isn’t it ironic how life turns out sometimes.
  5. I knew from the very first time I spoke to Adam that he could, and would be my husband. Looking back, I think I’ve loved him from our first conversation, truly.
  6. Death and polygamy are two of my favorite topics to discuss. I think they are two of the most fascinating topics on the planet, probably because I understand them the least.
  7. Sometimes when were driving long distances and we go through the drive-thru I take some of Adam’s fries (actually a lot) and put them into my basket. This is soooo stupid because he will regularly give me his fries freely when he can’t eat them all. I just LOVE fries with lots of salt on them, and we never eat them unless traveling. Yummy!

Seven Random Facts!

I was tagged by a friend on scrapbook.com. The task is to write seven random facts about myself.

  1. I once jumped off a moving train while backpacking around Taiwan. (jump, jump….for all those familiar with the story)
  2. My favorite books to read are what’s commonly noted as “coffee table” books. I’ll pick non-fiction 8 times out of 10 over fiction.
  3. I LOVE Murder, She Wrote. I watch it whenever I can on the Hallmark Channel.
  4. I made my brother-in-law haul my huge tub of scrapbooking supplies from the dock to the houseboat we were staying on at Lake Powell. Who scraps at Lake Powell anyway?
  5. I spent five weeks in an African village in 2003–and came back transformed.
  6. I still want to get my Ph.D. someday–not sure in what though.
  7. I (and my husband) are in the middle of adopting a sibling group of four from Colombia!!!!

Adoption or Bust!

Well, we are really doing it–FINALLY. And we are very excited. Most of our adoption posts can be found at www.adoption.ourlittlemcfamily.com or just click on our adoption link from this page. We have a semi-referral for a sibling group of four (boy, girl, girl, boy–ages four to seven) and have submitted our letter of intent to the Colombian government. We’re just waiting to see if they accept it or not. We don’t anticipate any problems, but you just never know….especially when it comes to adoption. Our plan is to keep a regular journal on the adoption blog, but we will still post any major events or news here. We would be remiss at this point if we did not express our gratitude and gratefulness toward our friends and family. The support, excitement, and love we have received overwhelms us. Continue to follow our journey….you won’t be disappointed.