A bit of Random

In our house we call Hallie's 2 year old stage the "terrific two's." There are several examples of the more often used 2 year old stigma; she is definitely not always showing us her "terrific" behavior... But along with all those frustrating moments, there are some pretty terrific ones as well. So I thought I'd start by sharing a few:)

Tuesday we spent the day chatting and singing all the way to Park City. Hallie gave loves and was SO happy the whole time. On the drive home Hallie said, "Mommy can you hold me?"
"Right now?"
"Yes," with a sweet and mischievous smile. (how do they accomplish that?!)
Laughing a bit, "Not right now sweetie, I'm driving"
This response creates a bucket full of laughter and then she informs me,"I just made a silly joke!"
This conversation happened about 3 more times, always ending will Hallie excitedly laughing about her hilarious joke! :)

Simple and Sweet..
We were grocery shopping and stopped by the photo section to develop a few pictures. Nothing going on at all and Hallie wraps her small arms around my belly (she's in the cart) and says, "I love you mommy."

Now for another highlight of my week...a Chinese food craving and an unforgettable restaurant.
The past week at around 5 o'clock every evening my mind was consumed by thoughts of lo mein, kung pow chicken, and sweet and sour pork. Springville is at best a small town so there was little hope of good food within a reasonable drive. I looked up possibilities on line and was directed toward a restaurant with the unlikely name of T-Bone.. hmm I was a little nervous. But by day 5 of the Chinese hullabaloo I had it and was willing to try just about anything.
I called in and tried to get an idea of what to order for take out and was quoted about half the menu before I decided to just go in and check it out myself, order there, and bring it home...best decision ever.
A little picture for you.. walking in the foyer area is covered with ads and posters about yoga, acupuncture, etc. Entering the restaurant I felt like I was back on a road trip through Kansas and had stopped at an old 70's trucker stop that had tried a 50's theme unsuccessfully and had decided to become a Chinese restaurant by hanging red lanterns periodically from the ceiling. My eyes grew even wider and I couldn't help but smile when I walk in a few steps more and saw.. the bar. It was fitted up with stools and 4 cowboys (hats, boots and all) sipping their drinks and discussing cattle with a few cuss words thrown in ever few minutes. At that point I didn't care how the food tasted (and was sure it probably wasn't going to be all I had dreamed of) the ambiance made it all worth it! At tiny Chinese woman handed me a menu, I ordered, she brought me complimentary soup and I waited trying to keep a somewhat straight face. One of my other favorite things about this place I found as I waited and sipped my soup I perused the menu. Not only can you order General Tso's, egg rolls, and fried rice, but there was chicken fried steak, onion rings, and mashed potatoes! Suddenly I had a new favorite place. If only Kurt from Gilmore Girls was the waiter.. all my dreams would have come true! Surprisingly enough the food was alright:) But needless to say I will be going back again sometime (maybe not too soon) because I am sure I will never find a place like that again...

And a Merry Christmas To Us!

We've had an amazing Christmas break spending time together and having fun; snowmen, games, family, and of course food:) However, there is another reason this may be our most memorable Christmas ever.. It is a Christmas gift we received. A gift that is to us our own personal Christmas miracle. Christmas morning at around 11:00 we had finished our little family Christmas and were on our way to Hayden's parent's house when we received a phone call from some birthparents that we had been receiving emails from for the past 2 weeks. They told us that they had a Christmas gift for us, they wanted us to take their child into our home. They said that they knew the child was supposed to be raised and loved by us and that we were supposed to be the parents. I'm shaking even as I write this!! We are beyond excited! We feel so incredibly blessed to be able to have our family grow! She isn't due until June 2nd so we have a long wait (I know it's not all 9 months..lol but it's long to us). At first we were still a little nervous because with adoption it's never 100% set until they sign the papers and the baby is in your arms, but in our recent conversations and visits we've felt so good about the birthparents and the situation that we are just excited! I think there will always be .1% of our hearts that will be worried, but the rest of our hearts are occupied with hope. :)

Here are some pictures of the rest of our holiday!
Visit From Santa!

All the Cousins got Big Springs Shirts!

Romping in the Backyard Snow!

Mom and Dad were the Bunko Winners!

Gingerbread Houses!


Christmas Eve Train Ride in Santa's Village

Reading the Christmas Story on Christmas Eve!

Playing Catch Up!

So life has been fabulous and full lately. Christmas alone as added to the To Do list, but I always seem to tack extras on top of extras. :) Here's the list of extras and just an update on our lovely life!

1. Potty Training- About 9 months ago I read this book called Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day. Perfect! Right? The basic idea is wait until they are ready and then have a really fun, all about them day that focuses on teaching them how to go potty by having them teach a doll. It was really fun; presents, decorations, treats, games, books, movies. Needless to say I was a zombie by bedtime. :) Hallie is not a mess girl so there was trauma whenever her doll had an accident, and I don't think she really likes "Megan" very much anymore because of all her accidents, ha ha. But I must admit it was pretty cool. Hallie has had 2 accidents in the last 5 days, and one was my fault cuz she told me she had to go and I took to long. So hooray, diapers are gone and we're good to go!

2. Adoption - Before I left for Iowa I was in a complete scramble. Everything was done for our adoption paperwork to be put through and I can completed our online profile, questions, and pictures; all except the 2 collage pages with 20 copies of each and then 26 additional pictures that I completely forgot about. So the day before and the day of our departure I tried to finish the selection and assembly of these pictures and pages. Easy right? Nope. Every picture I looked at I thought, "will this one show the future birth mother that WE'RE the right couple?" "what if I add this flower, will she like that?" "is it too girly, plain, colorful?" Every little decision I made was the make or break on whether we would be chosen. It's silly now to look back at it, but... what can I say we just want more kids so bad!!:) I did however finish and we've been online ever since, hooray!
(adoption blog - haydenandcheyenne.blogspot.com)

3. Christmas - We went into the mountains and cut our own tree this year. We use to do it all the time with my family, but then we moved north and didn't fancy the drive. This year was so fun and we have a beautiful tree! Also, every year all of Hayden's siblings create scrapbook pages from the year for his moms Christmas present. My last scrapbooking experience was obviously a little tense so I'm trying to gear up and do some for Christmas.... I am officially ready otherwise and SO excited for Hallie to open her presents. Santa is still a creepy old man to her, but presents and toys almost make up for it. :)

4. Callings - Camp Director and Personal Progress Leader...hmm didn't they realized I'm not that organized. It's great though, I love the girls. Hayden is in Young Mens again so we got to go caroling together, lol. He's also working full time, studying for the MCAT and finishing his last class. HOORAY for Christmas break. Unfortunately he's on call Christmas Day. Keep your fingers crossed that no one will need surgery.

Anyway, that's the low down. We're good, we're happy and we're cold with all the snow.:)