We love cousins!!!

After 18 months my mom and dad are headed home from serving their mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Sydney Australia! We couldn't let them get off the plane without us, so the littles and I jumped in the car and headed up to Washington to be a part of this monumental moment. Now after a weekend of fun and games and hours before we were going to meet our missionaries at the airport there plane was cancelled and now we must wait another day before seeing them.

😱 Noooooo!!!

But thats okay. Because we Love our cousins. So heres some more impromptu fun.

Simple things

Clouds in the sky and the sun peaked out.

So out we went to explore. So see. To feel.

To taste. (Eww)

To run. To chase.

To glide.

to fall.

This us. Enjoying our simple day.

Tanner's Finalization Hearing

We have been blessed with so much this past year. The greatest blessing of all is how little Tanner came into our lives. We love adoption. It is an amazing process where our Heavenly Father can build eternal families. It is a difficult process for all parties involved. And the emotional roller coaster is one that, had I not experienced it, I would not be able to imagine it. But having a strong testimony and a belief in Families makes all the downs and emotional chaos worth it. Having Tanner in our lives makes everything about our struggle to build an eternal family, worth it!

On September 8th at 9:00 Pacific Time, Tanner Keaton Parks was officially made a legal member of our family. Which makes me laugh because to us Tanner became a member of our family the day Tine placed him in our arms. But Hey the legal system has to have it's say to, and to them that day was last Thursday.

After so many prayers and fasting, we were lucky enough to be granted our petition to do the finalization hearing over the phone instead of in a Las Vegas Court Room. A huge Blessing. So we got ready, borrowed the Bishop's office at the church, had the Watson's entertain Mason and we talked to the judge over the phone.

Here's a fun fact: our Attorney was a woman, the Nevada Agency's social worker was a woman, the Wyoming Social Worker was a woman, and the judge was a woman. I'm very certain Mitch was the only male on this call. If there was another man in the room, he never said a word.

The call was short, official, and in a matter of twenty minutes everyone was agreed and papers were signed and Tanner was ours. I am grateful for everyone involved. So many people are involved in the adoption process, so many that sometimes it feels more complicated than it should be. However when it all works out, you can't help but recognize the hand of God in it.

So Family and Friends, for your prayers, your thoughts, your encouragement, and just being there for us. Thank you! Tanner is now legally a Parks, Soon he will be sealed to us for Eternity and all our dreams will have come true.

Together Forever, this is my family.

.... Extra Post for Mason

Mason is singing 2 guys on a scooter. He is obsessed with Studio C and has decided he needs to watch it every morning. (Yes I am in trouble)

Mason saw that we were taking pictures for Tanner's 7 months and decided he's going to take pictures with him every time. He found his blue shirt, which he calls his pictures shirt, and he grabbed Chris and said, "Lets go take pictures".

Mason is going to start preschool. A few ladies invited us to join them in their preschool rotation and Mason is thrilled. He looked at me with big hopeful eyes and asked, if he gets to do preschool with other kids. Perhaps he's a bit tired of just learning from Mommy.

Mason loves his brother. I'm often telling him to get off of Tanner because he's on top of him trying to make Tanner laugh. And Tanner's laughing but Mason often forgets how much bigger he is than Tanner.

Mason is giving the scripture in Primary next week. He is prepared and excited (Though I'm now slightly worried he's going to get up there and start singing "2 guys on a scooter")

Mason is in charge of reminding us to have FHE. Last week was a huge disappointment. We forgot to have FHE and Mason reminded of us of that mistake all week long. This Monday rolled around and he kept say, "Mom remember we have Family night tonight, right?" So I have a feeling we'll never miss it again.

Mason takes his own scriptures to church and doesn't have to be reminded to take them from class to class and he brings them home on his own.

Mason is trying to eat new things. For Sunday dinner we had daddy's special "Sunday potatoes" and "Sunday Sausage" (Ribs and seasoned potatoes) It took some times but Mason tasted them all and eventually decided he could eat that. Same with last night, we had stuffed Peppers. It took some time and convincing but he tried it and discovered he liked it. I don't think it's going to get much easier, but at least he's eating more than just Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches and pancakes for every meal.

That's all that's new about Mason.

He also noticed I was writing a post about Tanner and said he should have one too.
Voila!

LOVE This little family of mine.

PS: Mason Lost his Sunglasses shortly after the photo-shoot. He was playing at the park and somewhere they fell out of the stroller. He's pretty devastated, because they were his R2D2 glasses but he said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to help him find them, so he's optimistic he'll find them the next time we go to the park.

Energizer Birthday ...

It keeps going and going and going and going!

So Mason has been practicing his days of the week. Thus, when his birthday was approaching he knew exactly which day and how many days were in between. However when his birthday past he still insisted that when we once again reached Monday, it would be his birthday again. Convincing him otherwise, was not easy. However Monday rolled around and I'd just started to feel like we'd moved past this false belief, when out the front door a box of gifts appears for Mason .... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Why not.

The look he gave me was hilarious and quite triumphant.

Turning four is amazing. I love how creative Mason is and how excited he is about learning. Except for the letter E. We've been stuck on that letter for two weeks now and every time we sit down to practice writing it, Mason suddenly disappears. I don't think he realizes how important the letter E is going to be in his life. Oh well. Eventually he'll love it!

Story End. Now pictures ...