Happy Thanksgiving!

I must have thought fifty times today...'I am so so thankful'- This Thanksgiving signifies the first Holiday celebrated as a family of 5 (Matt was out of town on the 4th of July)........we are so blessed and I am so Thankful!  To all of our friends and family both here and in Hawaii........We are so thankful for you!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

P.S. This is what getting a pic of my 3 kids sounded like today....

me: Knock it off Ryan- Eli, see if Ellie will look at me

Crud you guys, Ellie's ribbon is in the way and for PETE'S SAKE
Ryan, smile normal

Getting Better but RYAN open your eyes a bit more!

Look over at me Ryan- boy's we are almost done

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH Elle's look at mommy

Seriously You guys be serious..........

??

Good Enough!

10 favorites for Miss Mommy

I am linking this blog post to a Blog I follow called Miss Mommy- she does what is called 'Tuesday Ten' which is 10 of your favorite things.............

My dad getting ready to catch my nephew Eli

I love you babe

My middle son Ryan

My oldest Eli (L) and Ryan

Annelle, I love this pic- I hope this is Ellie (my daughter) and I in a few years!

I buy at least 5 boxes a year........could eat the whole box in one sitting and have a
MAJOR sugar low (that is absolutely worth it)

The smile on my niece's face (while my sis in law kisses) is priceless

Not the best pic taken of my man and I but definitely us 'in the real'

I love to travel...........a lot

My little Brother's with the Leak Detector's and Commercial Property Listings!!

This week flew by!  Besides making Doughnuts (smile) and taking care of everything that goes on in us ladies life on a daily basis, I worked for both of my brothers this week.........For my brother Chris, whom is 4 years younger (but he has more gray hair than me...hee! hee! I love you Chris-toe-fur) I updated listings on the sites that he advertises the properties he is representing for sale/lease (He is a Commercial Real Estate Agent in our town).  For my littlest brother Levi, whom is 6 years younger, I listed on e-bay some stuff that he has accumulated at auctions over that last year or so...........I learned how to create an e-bay store yesterday- I also learned what Hamar Laser's, Ultraprobe Leak Detector's, and Unistrut Controlled strut squeeze shoulder's are good for (my brain hurt after studying the literature on them) because that is some of the items my brother Levi was having me list on e-bay............Today, we went to church, Matt and the boys went out after church to work on a rental we have in a town about 15 minutes away, I am making soup for a 'soup dinner' we are having at church tonight, and Elle's is sleepping :)
Hope you all are having a great Sun.!!!

One of my favorite pics of my little bro's and dad (Chris is on the left and Levi on the right)

:) I love you guys

Chris playing cards with my nephew Shad (R) and Ryan- they were playing for bullets 

Levi and Ryan going hunting in Hawaii

Puff Ball Doughnuts...Yes Please!

Matt was in a meeting last Fri. night in a small town about 15 minutes away from our home town- The meeting was on the way to our destination that night- which was another small town about 15 minutes farther than the town that Matt's meeting was in- Our destination town winds around a river known all over the US for it's fishing, jet boat tours, and scenery.......this past Sept. my mom asked Matt and I what we wanted for our birthdays- We told her a night away, without our kids, to a Hotel- She got us a gift certificate to a Hotel on the river- Because it is the off season right now we were able to use the gift certificate for a Jacuzzi room with french doors that opened to the river!! WHOOP WHOOP!!
O.K. I am totally getting away from myself here........Back to Matt's meeting in the small town 15 minutes away from our home town- So........Matt goes to his meeting and I needed to find something to do for about an hour- It was Veteran's day so quite a bit of stuff was closed- I was driving down the main street of town and a very small store front squeezed between several other stores had a open sign lit up in the window- It was a used book store- As I walked in, the smell of musty used books mixed with whatever the gentleman was eating for an early dinner caught my attention first- As the smells compartmentalized in my head, the books captivated my attention- He had every nook and cranny of his 500 square foot shop filled with books.
Every type of book you could imagine was in his little shop- To make a long story short, I walked out with 2 books- The Hard Bound Version of Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place and The Alaskan Cookbook for Homesteader or Gourmet By Bess Cleaveland..............I was surprised how many recipes I found to make in The cookbook- The first of which I made tonight................The Puff Ball Doughnuts are Delicious!  They are easy and quick to make and a wonderful treat to serve your family (if your not apposed to sugar and deep frying :)  Even though the recipe did not call for it, I rolled the balls in cinnamon and sugar right after I took them out of the deep fryer.
I hope you all had a great Tues.- If you have a hard time reading the recipe, send me a message and I will e-mail it to you........For my friends that live in Hawaii, these doughnuts taste a lot like the doughnut balls that the lady outside of K-Mart sells-

The View from our Room

Pictures for Heather (Our Birth Mom) and Carolyn...

Heather,
It was so nice talking to you this morning- So glad to hear that you guys are doing good!  Below are some pictures of Ellie- Also wanted to let you know what is going on with her:

• She is 22 inches long and weighs just at 12 pounds
• She turned 21 weeks old last Sat. (11/12) and will be 5 months old by the calendar the 18th
• You should see her roll :) She rolls from end to end in her crib before she finally settles on a place to sleep
• Her newest thing is grabbing......hair, earrings, anything and everything
• Right after grabbing at everything she will try to put whatever she grabbed into her mouth
• I just looked at her bottom gums- she should have 2 teeth by Thanksgiving 
• She will drink her bottle and hum herself to sleep when she is really tired
• She is not sitting up yet but can steady herself when supported by her Bumbo

WHO WANTS A GREAT DINNER RECIPE?

Liz and I

I was sitting on my sis in law Liz's couch a couple of nights ago- we were chattin' it up......( when I say chattin' it up- by story example I mean:  Once my friend Val came to lunch with us- I forgot to warn her that we (Liz and I) talk really fast and change subjects A LOT! When lunch was over, and as Val was heading to her car she looked at me and said 'Wow, that was a little crazy!')........as the chattin' was picking up between us- we touched on subjects that included adoption, marriage, Bible Study, and then, what I am about to picture blog about happened.........out of the blue she mentioned that she had bought a food item at Big Lots- She grabbed the item she had bought- It was Potato Gnocchi!!!!!!!!!!!! Liz had made Chicken Potato Gnocchi Soup for dinner...........After she talked about how delicious it was I knew I must try to make it- I used the recipe that is attached to the Potato Gnocchi I typed above (just click on it and the recipe will come up) and for the soup base I used THIS recipe..........YUMMMMMMM! It's totally worth all the effort- My boys absolutely loved it- I made a huge pot yesterday and it is gone!
Sorry the below pictures are ugly- I am not a big food picture taker- I can never seem to capture the food in a good light-

P.S. Gnocchi is pronounced KNEE AH KEY

My home made Gnocchi balls

I boiled them before I added them to the soup base- I also doubled the nutmeg

I followed the recipe except- I used 2% milk instead of 1/2 and 1/2 and I also added
nutmeg- not a ton just enough to give it a slight nutty taste

GUESS WHAT.. WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our adoption finalized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The trauma of all of our legal drama has worn off (I know I said I was going to blog about the finalization but honestly- the only think I can think of when I go to blog about it is exactly what I wrote tonight!) and with it came in an overwhelming desire to tell you all just one more time..............

IT'S DDDDDDDDDDDDOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

I love you so much Ellie Marie- Daddy absolutely adores you- your brother's treat you like a princess- Your cousins, grammy, grandpa, nana, poppy, aunts, uncles, friends, yada yada yada LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!

As we've always said- Your adoption was God's story to write on our lives and to God always be the Glory for your precious life......We are honored that He choose us for you!

Our first family photo with a finalized adoption