Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone had a great Christmas this year! We can't believe it has already come and gone! We're still getting use to writing 2013 on things... I don't know where time goes! We had a pretty good Christmas this year! Christmas Eve was at our house again, we had Tanners family and my family all over to celebrate! We had yummy food and opened all of the PJs! We put the kids in bed on time at 8 which was a Christmas miracle! Tate kept asking to go to bed I guess all the fun exhausted him! Santa came and went by 9pm! I have a feeling I should enjoy that while it lasts because I don't think we're going to be as lucky next year!

Christmas day my parents and Hunter came over to Skype with my brother Tyson serving his mission in Sweden (click the link to the right to view his blog with more info!) it was awesome to hear from him! I'm so lucky to have brothers who are such amazing brothers and uncles to my kids and such amazing examples. If I could be half the person they are, I'd be lucky.

Then, we went over to the Ricks to see all of the aunties and those Grandparents! (and uncle Dallin) It is always fun to visit them but the kiddos were again exhausted from the day's festivities so we ran home, took naps and went to my parents (along with Tanner's parents) and had our annual homemade pizza Christmas dinner! It was great! We are so blessed that both of our families celebrate the holidays together! We can be with everyone at the same time! We are so blessed to have such amazing family and a such a big support system! We love them all and they are the ones we are most grateful for this holiday season!

 

Also, we'd like to give a shout out to Tanner's Grandma Ricks. She passed away last week and her funeral is tomorrow. She was his last living grandparent; she was such an amazing example of what it is to love and nurture your family and teach your children and grandchildren the way they should go. She had a strong testimony of the gospel and is an excellent example to all of us. She had a long bought with her health after being diagnosed with a brain tumor  4 1/2 years ago on our wedding day. We will miss her, but she is reunited with her husband Emerson Llyod Ricks who passed away a few months before our baby Emerson was born. We feel and see their legacy through our children. They will always be loved and missed.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!



FINALLY....waiting....

It has been 8 weeks since our licensor came to inspect our house and interview us and now we are FINALLY....OFFICIALLY....awaiting a placement.

Here are the steps we have taken since the beginning of August (5 months) to begin the actual waiting process which could be anywhere from a few weeks to a year...

 

1. Meet with a recruiter

2. Take 8,  4 hour long classes through the month of September/ prepare our house for the home study

3. Meet with the licensor and have her inspect our house. She then types up our official home study and submits it to the Department of Child and Family Services.

4. DCFS reviews our home study through the board and decides to accept or deny our application to become foster parents....they accepted thank goodness!

5. Meet with the Resource Family Consultant (basically the caseworker that represents the foster parents, children in care are represented by their own caseworkers) She goes over things with us and does another interview

 

6. WAIT for a placement.

 

That's right, we've been waiting to wait. But now, it's official, any day we could get a call with a placement (though it will likely take a LOT of days...) but we're excited to get to the waiting part. Now, we just pray everyday for the children who will someday be in our home, that they will feel a sense of peace and comfort and that we will be prepared to welcome them, love them, and meet their needs as they become part of our family (hopefully) forever, or maybe just for awhile.

 

Thanks for your love and support, we will keep you posted on our progress.

 

PS. Our kiddos are doing great and getting so BIG! Tate is adding words to his vocabulary everyday and we couldn't be happier! Emy just started walking a couple weeks ago (she took her time!) and her cute face and smile always lights up our day!

 

We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!