October fun!

What does one do to get one's mind off of the doom-and-gloom of a crappy adoption (all referrals from ET have come to a screeching halt and there is no end in sight....it is not looking good for us, folks....not at all)? We get out and have some fun!

We started by getting out to enjoy these beautiful mountains just minutes from our doorstep.
A few weeks later, we had our first big snow storm, so of course my boys had to be the first up the canyon to go sledding and to scout out the ski slopes. Notice my son trying to force a smile. He was still in shock after his nightmare trip to Cookie Cutters. "We just asked for A TRIM!" My boy was so shocked at the stylist's misunderstanding of a trim.... which does not mean hacking two inches off... that he cried huge crocodile tears. In turn, the stylist cried, too. The drama! I still think he is a super cute little stinker, though.

Up, Up, and away!
And finally, a really big mind consuming activity was throwing our annual Halloween party. It was a total hit this year and the first party in our new home. We had over 40 people attend and kids were crying when they had to leave. I call that success. :) Got to hand it to our lovely house - it really is built for parties! As always, I forget to take many pictures, so the coolest parts of the party were not captured. The kitchen was filled with a variety of "spooktacular" food consisting of bone bread sticks in a bloody sauce, witch hat cookies, monster munch, and spiderweb dip. Here's a few highlights, though!

The kids started by snuggling in the garage to watch a frightful Scooby.
Next we roasted some weenies and marshmallows.
I whipped up some of my lizard tail, frog eye, snake guts brew. (Shhhh... don't tell, but that pirate was really Husband incognito. Nobody even guessed)
Last but not least, we surprised everyone with our disco room! They must have danced their little hearts out for 2 hours!

My cute little monster, Frankenstein. The girl behind him is his "future wife". He has been convinced that she is "the one" for two years now. Luckily, we like the parents so they have our nod of approval... when they are 30.
Can't help but show off my gorgeous little niece.
Fun times! It made throwing that massive shindig all worth it to see those smiling children (and smiling adult children, as well!).

I'll just take it as a sign.

Husband and I sent an email of our final decision to change our age request to 1-4 late last Monday night - meaning that WACAP would get it Tuesday morning and it would go into effect immediately. All day Tuesday at work, I had these wonderful visions of now walking off the airplane with a little girl holding my hand and no longer carrying an infant. It felt so good and so right. That VERY day I came home from work to find a package waiting on our front step from my sweet and thoughtful friend, Beth (she had no prior knowledge of us thinking about adopting an older child). There was an enclosed card saying she saw this lovely batik at an arts festival, thought of us, and knew she had to buy it. The inscription on the print says,

"Waiting on the porch for mama."

A few changes...

Here they are....

1) After hours, days, weeks, months of thinking and researching - soul searching and lamenting over where we were and where we are now .... we have decided to officially make some changes with our agency. No longer are we on the "infant" request. We are now open to adopt a toddler/child age 1-4.

2) We have had to make an official ending date to the madness. A date that has to be put out there to establish a mutual ground so that the potential blame and/or guilt is never felt toward the one that might have said "I'm done". Come December 31st, together we are pulling the plug.

I am at peace with this. Scared silly on many levels, but at peace.