We're Not in Kansas Anymore!

Jenna and I joined Papa Nick and Grandma Liisa for a trip to Kansas to visit Papa Stu and maybe look at some investment property to buy out there. We had a fun couple of days. Stuart had to still work the whole time but that was okay. Gave us some time to explore Kansas, where I felt like I had gone back in time and was exploring quintessential Americana; red farm house barns, random run down pianos in burnt out houses, a classic truck junk yard in the middle of nowhere, and some of the most beautiful sunsets we have ever seen. Plus, a little shopping thrown in there for good measure. It was a really fun trip and it was so nice to get to see how Stuey is living. We miss him so much! 

If she's not on one plane, she's on another...

Nick and Liisa ended up buying this house. It was a cute little 900 sq ft home.

I picked up this fabulous little Michael Kors rain coat for a dream while we were there. Who would have guessed? 

Remodel Day Eighteen

I started changed out all of the switches and outlets. The electrical outlets in this house were so old that when you would plug something in, it would immediately slide right back out. It was so frustrating when you were trying to use a power tool and couldn't ever get any power...

We also started changing out all of the light fixtures. A big thank you to Papa Stuart for all of your help, Mr. I Can Do Anything! 

Now that we actually have flooring, We brought in some of our furnishings. It's starting to feel like a home around here...finally!

It's Thursday Again!

I love Thursdays! We get to go to lunch with Grandma Liisa, Papa Stuart, and Uncle Bretty! We have the greatest time. Jenna adores her Uncle Bretty and it is so wonderful to watch how sweet their relationship is. And she loves how her Papa Stu feeds her salsa habit.

Uncle Brett the Injin

We went to watch "Uncle" Bretty Berry perform in the Special Needs Mutual play last night. He was so fantastic. We went to lunch with him earlier in the day and he was starting to get a bit nervous, but he performed marvelously! We went last year as well you can see it here. This year they did Peter Pan and Brett was a Indian. I got a little video of it. I'm discovering that my new iPhone isn't perfect after all. The pictures and video aren't fabulous. But I think you'll enjoy it nonetheless. Brett had quite the fan club there. I think there was probably 20-30 of us. How do you not love someone as genuine and loving as he is.

Jenna was just as entertaining at the play. She danced and clapped and sang along. I felt like my head was on a swivel Jenna-Brett-Jenna-Brett-Jenna. It was a great night.

Jenna dancing with Papa Stu

Jenna's ONE!

 

Jenna turned one today! Can you believe it? Because I can't. I think about what was going on one year ago today. It started out pretty much like any other and ended with me listening to her heart beat in a hospital nursery in Roosevelt, Utah. What? As the great Ferris Bueller once said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." But I regress...

We had the big blow out in San Diego as you can read about here. But we thought we would do a much scaled down version at home on her actual birthday. We had our local nearest and dearest join us and Casey's mom came down from SLC. It was a great time. Pretty laid back and full of cute. My dear friend Heather Kearl made Jenna not one but two AMAZING cakes. She is so talented. I printed 24 8x10's; two copies of one picture of each month she has been alive, and hung them all over the room. That's really as crazy as I got. And for those that know me, know that the was a feat in and of itself. Restraining my ever present need to over do it. What can I say, it's my mother in me. It was a genuinely wonderful night.

We are so very blessed to be surrounded by loved ones though living away from both of our families. We will forever be grateful for the Freis, Breinholts, Berrys, Mitchells, Henries, Kearls, etc. Can't believe how lucky we have gotten in the friend department. Thank you all for you unconditional love and support! 

Thought you might enjoy the invite too.

Picnic in the park

We went and had a picnic in the  park today with Uncle Matt, Grandma Liisa and Grandpa Nick, Papa Stuey, Rick and Kay Berry, and the Kitchens. It was so beautiful outside and we had such a nice time. Since we couldn't make it Weber State's football game, the least we could do was to get Jenna in her purple and use our Weber State blanket. Good times!

Are you leaning? Because it looks like your leaning

So, Jenna has started doing this new thing where she tilts her head to one side or the other and grins at you. I tried to capture it a couple times at work today. Don't think I really got a great shot, hopefully one day I will be able to capture it.


Then Papa Stuey arrived and the cuddlefest began...

Adoption Finalization

We finalized the adoption today. It was such an amazing experience. Our judge, The Honorable Eric Ludlow, was so kind. Casey's friend and co-worker Todd Emerson agreed to be our lawyer for the procedures. He was amazing! After we were sworn in, Todd asked us a series of questions, starting with Casey. i.e. full name, age, how long we had been married, (cute Casey was so nervous he totally spaced on what our anniversary is. It was pretty funny.), if we have a good marriage, etc. Casey was so choked up, it was very sweet. Then it was my turn; full name, if I was a minimum of 10 years older then the child we were going to adopt (chivalrously not asking my age), whether she had been in our care since she was born, that we plan to care of her and raise her as if she were our natural child, etc. Then he asked our social worker, Kristy Barlow, of Children's Aid Society, a series of questions; who she works for, what her title is, whether she was licensed, if she had done our home study and found us to be fit parents, if she performed our post placement visits, the child's condition during the post placements, whether Courtney relinquished her rights, etc. Todd then submitted documents into the court records; our petition for adoption, the pre and post adoption evaluations, our background checks, the affidavit of adoption fees, and the finding of fact. The judge then reiterated to both of Casey and I that we understood that we were now 100% responsible for Jenna physically, emotionally, and financially including all rights of inheritance. He then asked me to read into the court records the names of all the fabulous friends and family that were in attendance in the galley. Until this point I had done pretty well at holding it together. But when I turned to see all the faces of love sitting behind us, I gave up the cause for lost. I introduced my mother-in-law Lorrie Madsen, and brother-in-law Matthew Madsen, our dear friends Nick and Liisa Frei, Brett Berry and Stuart Breinholt. The judge then read the Decree of Adoption (at which point, tears really started streaming), and I quote, "The Court, after having heard testimony in the matter of the adoption of Jenna Rose [last name of the birth mother], hereby decrees that Jenna shall be the lawful child of Petitioners Maclyn and Kate Malan Madsen, and that said child's name be legally changed to Jenna Rose Malan Madsen." signed The Honorable Eric A. Ludlow. My whole being was emitting love and awe. It was a moment I will never forget, and I was so grateful to have such loving people surrounding us to share it with us.

Memorial Day

We had a GREAT Memorial Day! We took Jenna swimming for the first time at the Frei home. (They are such amazing and generous hosts) Jenna loved jumping on the trampoline with her Uncle Matt and enjoyed her time with Stuart's granddaughter and her "Uncle" Bretty. She is such a great baby and so easy going. We feel so incredibly lucky!