Random....

I plugged my camera card into my computer to transfer pictures, and this is what I found.....

I can tell from the feet that it is Kenneth.......with his laundry hamper on top of him.....

However, I am missing the details of how this happened and who was behind the camera.....

Man, I love this kid!

Book of Mormon Challenge

On Sunday we challenged the youth of our ward to read The Book of Mormon in the next 75 days. That is not very much time! BUT, I know they can do it.

Before our ward split, we did a 75 day challenge earlier this year and it was amazing. We took all of the young women that completed the challenge to Salt Lake for Young Women's Conference. So I know it is possible to do.

The reward for this challenge is a weekend trip to a super nice cabin about an hour from our home. We did a similar challenge last year and it was fantastic!

Since both Mike and I are youth leaders, we all get to participate. It is a great family experience! Last time we were all so into it that we ended up speaking "scripture speak".

Instead of saying....

"hey, will you bring that to me?"

we would say

"O my son, wilt thou go and get that for thine mother?"

It was pretty funny to catch ourselves doing it....but I think you had to be there to really experience the humor :)

This also qualifies as the virtue project for Personal Progress.

I am so close to earning my medallion........I only have a few things left, and one of them is the virture project of reading the Book of Mormon.

I have read the Book of Mormon twice in the last year...which is great....BUT.....I have to keep a journal while I read.....which is where I have faltered both times.

I am determined to complete the project this time!

I have my new Book Of Mormon that Mike and Kenneth gave me, my study guide, and a cute stripped notebook for my journal.

One thing I have decided to do different this time is to write in page headers as I go. I got the idea from Shannon (she inspires me to be a better person every day). I love being able to flip through and find a particular story or topic just by glancing at the top of the pages.

Monday night our little family gathered in the master bedroom and began to read together.

It made my heart smile.

Yahoo!!

I received an email from Dale today telling us that everything had been turned in and our profile had been reviewed and "published". This means that birthparents can now look at our profile online!!

Here is the link directly to our profile....

https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/25996283/ourMessage.jsf

Please share it with anyone you know that may be interested!

One More Hurdle

I knew that there would be a few bumps in the adoption journey. This "bump" is just frustrating.

We were fingerprinted back at the beginning of April. I just got an email today that informed us:

"The first fingerprinting was rejected by the FBI as unclassifiable."

What does that even mean?

Mike thinks that they must not have been readable. So I will wait until written notice comes with further explanation. I will have to be fingerprinted again, we just hope they won't charge us the $55 to do it again.

I just keep telling myself....this is just one more hurdle...

On a happy note, Mike's background came back clear within the week of being sent in.

UPDATE:

I received an envelope today (6/27) with a new finger printing card. I can take it to my local sheriff's office to complete. I think I know someone who can hook me up :)

That means I don't have to make an appt. and wait weeks for it to be completed. Even better, they won't charge me the $55 fee to process them again.

14 Years

In honor of Kenneth turning 14 I thought I would share:

14 Random Things About Kenneth

.....he loves animals and knows lots of random facts about them.....

.....he wears a size 11 shoe.....

.....he can prepare a talk in 10 minutes when he forgets he is suppose to speak in sacrament meeting...

.....he loves playing sports - football, soccer, snowboarding.....

.....he hates to wash the dishes without rubber gloves.....

.....he is almost as tall as his mom now....

.....he leaves me random sticky notes that brighten my day and make me smile.....

.....he is amazing on a variety of percussion instruments.....

.....he hates taking piano lessons.....

.....he tries really hard to make good choices.....

.....he has a fantastic sense of humor.....

.....he likes to read Calvin and Hobbes books.....

.....he knows how to do his own laundry, but prefers mom to do it for him.....

.....he is the best teenager we could ask for.....

Love you tons!!!

The Birthday Boy!

WOW - How can he be 14 already?

Kenneth had a great day.

He was able to sleep in.

He had lunch with Mom, Dad, Grandma Susan, and Janey.

Grandma and Grandpa J took him to see The Green Lantern and out to dinner at Winger's.

We had scrumptious cheesecake.

Daniel came over to spend the night and they stayed up waaayyyyy toooo late.

One Step Closer

The following is the email that I received from our case worker, Dale, today.

Hi Mindy,

Your home study will be completed soon and then you’ll get “published”, meaning your profile will go live on the “itsaboutlove” website. So I don’t think you have any more to do except wait. We will let you know when you’re published.

Dale

Paperwork Completed

We have finally completed all of the adoption paperwork (I think). I emailed our case worker, Dale, and let him know everything from our end is done.

Now we wait....