Merry Christmas

We hope that you had a Merry Christmas! We had a great holiday spending time with family. Here are some of our adventures:
On Christmas Eve day we went to Adam's parent's house and had fun with their new Kinect. We all tried to get our groove on with a dance game. Not only was it fun to play, but very entertaining to watch.
Adam and his awesome sister Alesha

Katie and Adam's Dad, Kent

Later, we went to Katie's parents house because it was our year to spend Christmas with her family. We opened presents from siblings and played a rousing game of FARKEL!
Katie's sister Abby after Farkeling

Then, Katie's sisters and brothers-in law all got together for a sleep over in the basement so that Santa could come visit. Of course Abby and Adam had to slide down the stairs first.


On Christmas Day we opened presents and we went to a nice program at church. This is all Katie's family before church.

We had a great Christmas lunch with family and friends. Then went to visit more family. This is Katie's Grandma and Grandpa Stucki. They are awesome people. We can't wait for you to get to know them.

December Celebrations

The last few weeks have been pretty eventful and we have had a lot to celebrate. Adam has officially graduated college! He has his bachelor degree in Human Biology. We are now waiting to see if he will be accepted into graduate school. Adam was not able to walk in graduation because of a family funeral, but he wanted his picture taken in front of our Christmas tree anyway.

We went out to dinner with Katie's family to celebrate the much awaited graduation. Adam chose to eat at Texas Road house. He is such a meat and potatoes man.

These are some of Katie's family members who celebrated with us. Nate, Abby, and Carolyn, and Jeff (her parents). We are going to celebrate with Adam's family later because his dad was playing Santa at their ward Christmas party.

This time of the year we are also celebrating the Savior's birth. Last night Abby, Nate, Carolyn, and Jeff went with us to a live re-enactment of the nativity. A lot of the actors were children so it was cute to watch and we got delicious homemade donuts afterward. The re-enactment was outside so this is all of us huddling in the car before. Adam was given a nice new camera for graduation so he was playing with it in the car. He is in love!



We want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Meet Savanna and Joe

This is Savanna and Joe. They are Katie's sister and brother-in-law. Don't worry, they don't usually dress like they live in biblical times.
They were in a Christmas play in the little town they live in. They were basically the stars since they were Mary and Joseph. Both of them had solos and did a great job. They both love music. People in their stake said that they were the perfect couple and looked so good that they should be on a postcard. Savanna made a great Mary since she actually is pregnant, but with a girl instead. This will be the first grand baby on Katie's side of the family so we are all excited. Katie got to feel the baby kick and was thrilled.



This is Katie's Aunt Deanna and Mom. They went with her to the small little town to see the play.

Thanksgiving

As we mentioned earlier we are very grateful for the blessings we have received while we have begun our adoption journey. We are grateful for those who are supporting us. We are grateful for adoption. We're grateful for eternal families.

We had a great Thanksgiving with all of Adam's extended family. It was a weekend of food, family, fun, and shopping. We volunteered to make apple pie for Thanksgiving. Last year our apple pie looked like it had skin cancer and Katie's dad said the apples were too hard. This year, everyone loved our pie! It was a great improvement.

Thanksgiving morning we were also in charge of making "Peanutbutter Jiggers" in the family hotel room. It was certainly a challenge. We feel like we should write a hotel room cook book. Measurements would be in coffee mugs which would also have to be used to crush items. Cups, no matter the shape, would been used as rolling pins. This is what we did!

We ended up melting chocolate for the top in the microwave at the church house we were eating at. Adam insisted that we should add milk to the chocolate to make it creamier. He said, "I know this will work! I watch CHOPPED all of the time!" Well, it didn't work so much!
Later, Adam went Black Friday shopping with his sister, Alesha. He made sure everyone knew that he loves shopping on Black Friday... and eBay He helped her get a new TV for her house and an ipod. The next day we hit some sales to finish our Christmas shopping.

Early Thanksgiving

Luckily Katie got off of work early tonight so we are heading over the river and through the woods so that we can spend Thanksgiving with Adam’s extended family. It was a blessing for Katie to get off of work early so that we can try to get to our destination before a storm hits.

What we really wanted to write about today is our early Thanksgiving experience. Our hearts are truly full today and someone out there deserves our thanks. Here’s why: We pulled out our credit card bill and bank statement to balance our check book today. We were almost done when we ran into a deposit on our bank statement that we didn’t recognize. The description for the large deposit said, “Heard you’re adopting. So happy for you.”

We couldn’t believe it! Someone cares so much about us and our adoption endeavors that they would secretly give us money. We’ll admit that that we were so touched and Katie cried a little bit. We feel that this is another way of Heavenly Father helping us in our journey and confirming that this is the right path for us to take. He has an angel out there helping us. Whoever you are, thank you.

Our Journey to Australia

Great Analogy from Dear Abby
In 1995 a woman named Diane Armitage wrote this article directed to childless couples who are considering adoption. She is an adoptive mother of two children. Her mother sent this to Dear Abby. It is one of my favorite analogies about the adoption journey. I hope you enjoy it."
"Deciding to have a baby is like planning a trip to Australia. You've heard it's a wonderful place.You've read many guidebooks and feel certain you're ready to go. Everyone you know has traveled there by plane. They say it can be a turbulent flight with occasional rough landings, but you can look forward to being pampered on the trip.
So you go to the airport and ask the ticket agent for a ticket to Australia. All around you, excited people are boarding planes for Australia. It seems there is no seat for you. You'll have to wait for the next flight. Impatient, but anticipating a wonderful trip, you wait and wait and wait.
Flights to Australia continue to come and go. People say silly thing like "Relax, you'll get a flight soon." Other people actually get on a plane and then cancel their trip, to which you cry, "It's not fair!"
After a long time the ticket agent tells you, "I'm sorry, we're not going to be able to get you on a plane to Australia. Perhaps you should think about going by boat." "By BOAT!" you say. "Going by boat will take a very long time and cost a lot of money. I really had my heart set on going by plane." So you go home and think about not going to Australia at all. You wonder if Australia will be as beautiful, if you approach it by sea rather than air. But you have long dreamed of the wonderful place and finally you decide to travel by boat.
It is a long trip, many months over many rough seas. No one pampers you. You wonder if you will ever see Australia. Meanwhile, your friends have flown back and forth to Australia two or three times, marveling about each trip.
Then one glamourous day, the boat docks in Australia. It is more exquisite than you ever imagined, and the beauty is magnified by your long days at sea. You have made many wonderful friends during your voyage, and you find yourself comparing stories with others who have also traveled by sea rather than air.
People continue to fly to Australia as often as the like, but you are able to travel only once, perhaps twice. Some say things like "Oh be glad you didn't fly. My flight was horrible; traveling by sea is so easy."
You will always wonder what it would have been like to fly to Australia. Still, you know God blessed you with a special appreciation of Australia, and the beauty of Australia is not in the way you get there, but in the place itself."