Landon's Birthday

Landon turned 7 years old on December 5th. He had a huge party with a million little boys, or so it felt! Nana was AWESOME at helping me with all the games!! The kids had a great time. It was a "late night" party, like a sleepover, but they go home to sleep. The kids all wore their jammies. Landon then was given a birthday gift from us. It was a kitten!! He LOVES kittens. Sadly, he ended up being allergic to her and she had to find a new home today.

Performances

Landon and his first grade friends all put on a performance for Thanksgiving. They sang about Turkeys, colors, being thankful and Native Americans, to name a few. Landon was an indian. Nana came to watch him with mom and Korbin. We had fun and were proud of him for working so hard for this event.

Kayla had 3 seperate performances for choir. She sang at the Christmas Village in Ogden and in Eden and, also, at school. Unfortunetly I waited until the last performance to take a picture and my camera died!! She has practiced all school year, two times a week, before school. We are proud of her hard work and dedication, even thought it meant waking up so early!

The Last 4 Weeks or So....PART 1

Chris and I are both going to school full time at University of Phoenix. Chris is going into IT (information technology/computers) and will get his bachelor's degree in software engineering. I am going into elementary education to become a teacher. Chris isn't so thrilled to be doing it, but he's working hard. I, on the other hand, LOVE it!! We are half way through our first set of classes and we are both maintaining a straight A average. :)
Needless, to say, I am VERY busy going to school full time, being a mom full time and now with Chris going to school full time and working full time, it's like I'm a single mom. lol.....So, my blogging has been forgotten about. This post and the next post is a recap of the last month or so. (Note: We are at our halfway mark to finalizing Kayla's adoption!!!!! She's SOOOOO EXCITED to get baptised and get sealed to us.)

I like to take the kids to the hot pot in 12th street canyon, in Ogden. It's a naturally flowing hot pot, just right there in the canyon. Years ago, volunteers, created "pots" out it that you can sit in. Chris and I love to go alone in winter, while the snow is falling. The water is BURNING hot. The river runs right along side of the water and you can add buckets of cold water to get your desired temperature. This time I took Landon and Kayla with me. Korbin and I go while the kids are in school. It's nice. :)

All three kids just adore eachother. Landon and Kayla, especially, are best friends. They love to play with each other and hardly argue. I expected things to be more "contentious" than it has been. The kids just really do love each other.....that's just what siblings do. :)

Here's a cute picture of miss Kayla Maylee. She thought the changing leaves were pretty cool.

I LOVE this picture of Landon. He's such a cute little boy. I LOVE that blondie!

Landon started wrestling this year. He is apart of the Weberbilt team. They are all valley kids, who will eventually attend Weber High School. The valley kids have quite the reputation for being great wrestlers!! We have some state champs from the valley...well...from Liberty. People joke that it should be called "Liberty Wrestling" because most of the kids are Liberty kids. Apparently, it's a huge town event for Liberty!

Landon did a great job. He keeps saying that it is his thing, I think he's right. He must take after his dad. He participated in two wrestling meets. In his very first meet, ever, after a week of practice, he took 4th place. The following week he took 2nd place. He missed his last two meets due to being ill, but he had a great season! :) He LOVES his medals and has them hung prominently on his bedroom wall.

The Last 4 Weeks or So... PART 2

Here is part 2 of my "catch up".....

Landon played soccer again this year. I'm not sure he liked it so much this year, but he gave it a good shot! Last year he loved it, this year he said, "I think wrestling is 'my thing', mom.". His team is the Yellow Jackets. They are playing again next spring. (Notice Landon's bruised forehead? He fell on the concrete at school!)

Landon played defense. Here his is kicking the ball away from his team's goal. Go Landon!!

Kayla and Korbin played at the playground, while Landon had a FREEZING game of soccer!

Korbin at Landon's soccer game!

After the soccer game, I took the kids to Huntsville Park, as promised. It was freezing!! The kids were glad to go, though. Here's Korbin climbing up the playset!

Korbin and I took a walk in North Fork. He LOVES to kick the leaves...

...and fall over to play in them!

This Fall we took Libby and Thunder to the corrals in North Fork quite often. It's a perfect place for Chris to train Thunder. Kayla rides Libby around, while Chris trains. Kayla is really pretty incredible with the horses, you'd think she'd been riding her whole life. I can't handle watching her run, it scares me, but I know she does!! Chris will take her on a dirt road away from me and I can hear them!! Then Kayla comes back and tells me. :) (She wants to learn how to barrel race next summer.)

Landon likes to ride, too, but only for a few minutes. He likes to hop on the back of Kayla and let Kayla ride them around. Korbin likes to be lead around by mom. :)

The Monday before Halloween, we had a Family Home Evening and carved a family pumpkin. Each of us was assigned a face part like the eyes or the nose, etc. and we had to draw it without looking at anyone else's. Then, we brought all parts together and carved our "family pumpkin".

Our front door all decorated for Halloween.

Here's a buck on "our property". OK- it's not ours, but we want it. :) We found some land that we'd like to build on when we can. We are hoping it'll be around when we are ready. :) It should be because it's on a mountain. :) It's recreational property, but there are a handful of people that live their year-round. You are required to maintain your own dirt road and plow yourself out in winter, but the neighbors have a rotating schedule, so we only have do it once every 6 or 7 snow storms. :) Yes, we are adventurous!! We can't wait to get to "our property"......whenever, that may be.

Having a girl is more fun than I thought! And having Kayla is AWESOME!! She's such a "girly girl" that loves to wear fluffy dresses and skirts. She LOVES her purses and always wants her hair done. Her teachers always ask me how I manage to get her looking so cute each morning and I tell them it's because she just is so cute! :)

Having said that she is a girly girl, she LOVES to hunt with her daddy and can't wait until she can pheasant hunt, herself. She was very disappointed she didn't get to go elk hunting with dad and she is so excited to one day move to the mountains. :) She said she's looking forward to waking up early (as she gets older) and taking her horse, Libby, on mountain trail rides.

It's a Random Life!

We sold our sweet horse, Eden, to a rancher in Wyoming. He is going to use her to move cows. She will probably enjoy herself very much, although, I cried saying goodbye! We drove over Monte to get there. There was snow up there. Kayla had never seen snow before,so we had to stop on the side of the highway to play! She LOVED it! Landon had a lot of fun, too, especially when Chris got out and played with them!

Here's Daddy getting ready for a snowball fight!!

Here's Mommy with Landon & Kayla. The sunset was very beautiful on our drive home, although, the picture doesn't do it justice.

Here's the kids in their "sunday best". Aren't they cute?!

I took the kids to Temple Square in Salt Lake City, UT, for General Conference. (Daddy was gone hunting.) It's a traditon we have. We literally had to park up in the Avenues and walk! It was pouring rain. We had so much fun running through the streets in the rain! The kids kept laughing about it and I told Kayla she'll always remember her first time at Temple Square.
Here are the kids in front of the Christus Statue.

Kayla had never had a bath in a jetted tub before. She wasn't feeling well, so I loaded it up for her and put some bubbles in. I showed her how to turn the jets on and off. But, it wasn't long before I heard, "MOMMY!" I ran into the bathroom and the bubbles were overflowing onto the floor! I could only see Kayla's head! We laughed and laughed!

Landon lost his first tooth about two weeks ago! He was so brave. Daddy tied fishing string around it and yanked hard! The tooth fairy came. :) Then just the other night, Landon lost ANOTHER tooth! Kayla, hearing the excitement, jumped out of bed and exclaimed that she'd like to loose a tooth, too. Mom was too busy helping Landon to notice what Kayla was doing, when she suddenly ran in the room and said, "I lost a tooth, too!" A night to remember! Landon lost his 2nd tooth and Kayla lost her 2nd to last tooth!

Bye, bye glasses!

Kayla went to go get a new pair of glasses and found out she shouldn't have been wearking them in first place! Go figure! She's quite estatic about it! Although, not so pleased she will be having surgery to correct "eye deviation". (Her eyes don't work together, only one at a time, so cover one eye and then the other and that's how she sees.) She thinks it'll be worth it though! She's most upset she will miss 3 weeks of school....I figured she'd be excited about that!! Anyway, goodbye glasses!! Hello beautiful eyes! (Have you checked out her lashes?? She just fits right in!)

A Mother's Prayer

This is one of my favorite Celine songs, always has been. I imgaine Kayla's birth mom telling me this. :) I am grateful to her for bring Kayla into the world or we wouldn't have her. Thank you, Angela.

Our Adoption Story

A Plan Made in Heaven
By Christina McDowell


A long, long time ago, in Heaven, there was a very special little girl. One day Heavenly Father took this little girl by the hand and walked her into a large room. He said to her, “Here are all the mommies and daddies, which ones do you want?”

The little girl walked around the room for a long time looking at all the mommies and daddies. They were all very different; some of them where tall and some of them where short. Some of them could sing very well, while others could make beautiful quilts. Some of the mommies where very beautiful and some of the mommies could give great big, loving hugs. Some of the daddies would be farmers and some would be movie stars. There were so many to choose from!

The little girl walked around the room for a long time. She looked at all them and spoke to some of them. Finally, she pointed to a mommy and daddy and said, “They are my favorite and I’d like them to be my mommy and daddy.”

Heavenly Father looked at the parents she had chosen and said, “When it is your time to go to earth, they will not be ready for you. Your mom will be in high school and your dad will be on a mission. You will have to wait for them for 10 years. Are you sure that is what you want?”

The little girl thought about this for a moment and said, “Yes, they are my mommy and daddy and I will wait for them.”


The next day, Heavenly Father told the mommy and daddy that it was there time to choose there children. They didn’t know they’d already been selected. He took them each by the hand and walked them into a large room. He said, “Here are all the children, which ones do you want?”

The mommy and daddy walked around the room for a long time looking at all the children. They were all very different; some of them had blonde hair and some had brown hair. Some of them could play the piano very well, while others could skateboard. Some of the girls could sing beautiful songs and some of them danced. Some of the boys played football and others rode horses. There were so many to choose from!

The mommy and daddy walked around the room for a long time. They looked at all of them and spoke to some of them. Finally, they pointed to a boy riding a skateboard and the daddy said, “He will grow to be strong and bring happiness to all. We would like him to be our son.”

Heavenly Father wrote the boy’s name down in “The Big Book of Families” and asked the parents to continue looking for more children. They looked a bit longer and found another boy standing next to a black horse and the mommy said, “He will grow to be steady and sure and bring joy to the world. We would like him to be our son.”

Heavenly Father wrote down the boy’s name down in “The Big Book of Families”, but this time He turned to the mommy and said, “It will be very hard for you to bring children into the world. You will not be required to have any more.”

The mommy and daddy looked at each other, smiled, turned to Heavenly Father and both said, “There is one more, a girl.” They pointed to a young girl singing in the choir and the Daddy said, “She will grow to exceed all odds and bring strength to our family. We would like her to be our daughter.”

Heavenly Father looked at the daughter they had chosen and said, “When it is her time to go to earth, you will not be ready for her. You will be in high school and you will be on a mission. You will have to wait many years for her. Are you sure that is what you want?”

The mommy and daddy thought about this for a moment and said, “Yes, that is our daughter and we will wait for her.”


Heavenly Father knew all along that the little girl belonged to this family. He had already decided where each of the children would go. He just wanted the families to choose each other, so they would know that they belonged together.

Heavenly Father took out his pen and wrote the girl’s name down in “The Big Book of Families.” Next to her name he wrote, “This brave daughter of God will go to many families before she finds her forever family. She will bring them all joy and happiness. She will strengthen them and they will grow because of her. A plan will be provided so that she will find safety and love. Her forever family will find her on an adoption photo listing in 2009 and they will be ready for her.”

So there her name sat, in “The Big Book of Families”, next to her daddy’s name, next to her mommy’s name and next to her brothers’ names, with a special note promising her that a plan would be made, a plan for her to find her forever family.

And that is what happened in April 2009, when her mommy, not remembering what had happened in Heaven, pulled up a file of 10 year old girl on an adoption photo listing. She turned to her husband and said, “Look at her.” The daddy had a strange familiar feeling, a feeling like a promise had been made a long, long time ago and said, “That’s our daughter.”

The mommy and daddy did all they needed to do to bring their daughter home. They took hours of classes, they gave finger prints, they fostered other children, they had a home study, they filled out piles of paper work and they prayed every day. The day finally came, when they phone rang and the caseworker on the other line said, “Congratulations, you’re going to be a new mommy, again.”

It wasn’t long before the girl in the photo listing was sitting in a car with her new brothers next to her, mom and dad in the front seat, and a smile on her face, driving to her new home in Utah.

The mommy and daddy didn’t swaddle her in a small pink blanket. They didn’t see her take her first steps. They didn’t hear her first word. They didn’t watch her loose her first tooth. They didn’t even walk her by the hand to her first day of school.

Instead, they wrap her in a blanket, quilted with love from her new grandma and cuddle on the couch. They watch her run off the bus and throw her arms around them because she’s just so glad to come home to her family. They hear her first brave, “I love you.” And the sweet sound of “Mom and dad I need you.” They get to watch the last baby tooth come out and pay to get the braces put on. But best of all, they get to walk her by the hand, dressed in white, through the Temple doors and seal her to their family for all of Eternity, for this was the plan that was made in Heaven a long, long time ago.

Back to Onieda!

For Memorial Day we headed back to the Onieda Narrows, in Idaho. It's quickly become one of our favorite places to camp.
Here we are just coming out of the Ice Cave in Nitter. Kayla and Landon were so brave and went to the very end of the cave with Chris! (They had to crawl at one point!) Korbin was freaking out, so I waited in the HOT sun with Korbin, while they froze in the ice cave. When they got back, I went into the cave with the two older ones. I didn't even make it a 1/4 of the way! I'm such a baby!! It is fun though!

Here's everyone in Nitter, outside of the cave, trying to dethaw.

We went swimming in the Onieda waters! It's awesome because you can walk out FOREVER and just doesn't get deep for a long time. It has a really muddy bottom and Landon's sandal got sucked in by the mud. We never found it!

On our last day, we drove over to Lava Hot Springs, ID and checked out all the Native American Stores. The kids brought there allowance $$ and bought things. Then we went to the Lava pool. Chris and Kayla went on the speed slides!! She's such a dare devil that it can be scary at times! lol...Landon and I enjoyed the twisty slides. And Korbin was content to swim. I didn't get any pictures at Lava.
Our trip was a lot of fun! Can't wait to go back next summer!!

Sk8r Boi: Landon

Landon started skating at a young age (thanks to cousin, Tally) and he's just a natural at it. I'd LOVE to get him into classes, when I can afford it!! (It's SOOO expensive!) For now, he's awesome on his board. He's been practicing tick tacking and he's trying to work on jumps.

He goes off the ramps and jumps at the skate park....NO JOKE!! The teenagers ALWAYS stop and say, "Hey, check out that little kid".




Last school year, Landon worked REALLY hard and earned himself a nice board. He had a chart of things to do and he did it every single day, no lapses. The last time we were at the skate park, some teen said, "Check it out, that kid has a nicer board than me!" lol... Hard works pays off!

I really need to get some pictures of him going off the ramps, at the skate park, but here's these for now. And just as a note, Landon always wears his helmet, elbow pads, knee pads and gloves when he's on the ramps. He's very safe about it!

It's a Dog's Life

Diamond keeps sneaking onto Korbin's bed and sleeping. I guess there are worse things she could be doing! (It is pretty cute!)

First Day of School

Landon started 1st grade. He has Mrs. Coy. She is super nice and does all these cute things, like have the kids wear "witch fingers" to read. She give suprize yellow dots when you are behaving and Landon was excited because he got the first yellow dot of the school year.

Kayla started 4th grade. She has Mrs. Graves and Mrs. Johnson. She has met some really nice friends. Her "best" friend is Anna. Anna is in our ward and has a very nice family. We are glad she is making friends.

Horse Back Riding

We LOVE to ride our horses. The kids think it's about the greatest thing ever. The horses are usually rode at least 3 times a week. The kids go at least once a week, but lately, they have been going more frequently. Gotta get our rides in before the winter hits!

Kayla has ridden a horse twice. She is a natural on a horse and loves Libby.

Landon is doing so well ridding! He has really made some big improvements just recently! (I think he more naturally takes after me and, although, he loves the horses, he's not as "natural" with them and is having to learn, like I am.)

Korbin would ride a horse all day if we let him!

Candle Light Ceremony

Our last night in Oregon, a very special Candle Light Ceremony was held. This night it to celebrate the joining of our family with Kayla. Kayla's caseworker, Lydia, conducted the ceremony. I will recall it the best I can.

Lydia: On this very special day, we are gathered to join Kayla and the McDowell Family into a new family. The first candle to be lit is to honor Kayla. (a candle was lit) Being able to love is a gift you were born with. There have been many people in your life who have loved you. Do you remember who loved you first?
Your biological family loved you first and they still do. Then, there have been foster parents love you and teachers, friends, therapists and workers. All these people love you.
(Second candle was lit by Kayla's candle)
This candle represents your biological family.
The last candle to be lit will be lit in honor of your new family. (We all helped Kayla lit the candle with her candle.) Your new family is here to love you and provide you a safe home. This is your forever family.
All three candles will remain lit for the rest of the evening. This is to remind us that we never have to blow out a candle to lite another. Our love just gets bigger and bigger for those in our future and those in our past.
Kayla was then asked to read the following:
"To My Mom and Dad,
I want to live with you and learn to care for you as my family. I am ready to accept my responsibilities as your daughter and as a family member."
Lydia then asked: "Kayla, are you ready to be a part of the McDowell family, to respect and learn to care for Chris and Christina, as your parents?"
Kayla said, "YES!" and then signed her name on the pledge.
Then I was asked to read a statement on behalf of Chris and I:
"To Kayla,
We welcome you into our family. As your parents, we promise to love and take care of you. We'll provide a safe environment for you to live in. As our child, you will be entitled to full family rights. Through good times and challenging times, we will grow together as a family."
(Of course, I was crying, as I read this. )
Lydia then asked, "Chris and Christina, are you ready to accept these parental responsibilities and to care for Kayla as your child, growing as a family through both good and difficult times?"
We said, "YES!" and signed the pledge.

Lydia then asked the audience to stand and said, " Being a family isn't always easy- all families have good times and challenging times. It's important that the entire McDowell family be able to count on your support. So, I ask you, will you pledge your friendship and, if needed, your help? Everyone in attendance replied, "Yes."

Lydia then said, "I am happy to present the new McDowell family!!"

Meeting Kayla in Oregon

Our first family photo shoot in Bandon, OR on the pier.
Check out the seagul at the top of the picture! Pretty cool touch, if you ask me. :)

This is "Kayla's Beach", otherwise known as Sunset Beach, in Charleston, OR. This was our favorite part of the trip, other than meeting Kayla. It was beautiful and the crabbing, in tide pools, was way fun!

"Here little crabs, where are you?"

Kayla found a lot of crabs! Here she is holding one.

Kayla showing off one of the best crabs of the day!

Although, it wasn't as cool as this big guy! Check out Chris's arm! That's a crab.

Kayla loves her new brothers and loves to "baby" Korbin.

Chris and Korbin walking the beach in North Bend, OR, next to the sand dunes!

We had so much fun in Oregon, that I think we are going back next year, but this time with 4-wheelers! You can 4-wheel right along the beach and they have tons of sand dunes! Awesome! Chris said we are going in Septemeber, when the salmon are running. The hotel we stayed in was waterfront and you could literally fish off of their deck.

(I'll be doing another post about the candle light ceremony later. I haven't downloaded pictures yet.)