lots going on around here. lots of things that i haven't taken the time to blog about.

one of which is our work at the mission.
ever since tyden was a baby i've been going down to the mission during the summers to sing with the kids there. another mom from my church does a bible lesson and then we play games with the kids.

we took last summer off as the other mom was adopting 2 boys at the time, and the summer before that we had our little "sunday school" in a neighborhood close by the mission (some of you might remember when I wrote about "summer sessions on wiswall.")

this summer i recruited some more help and we are back at the mission.
and it is awesome. i cannot even describe what a blessing it is for my kids and i to get to spend time with the kids there. the kids sing with all their hearts and the learn my songs so quickly. they listen really well to the lessons, they LOVE game/craft time, and the say the funniest things. (last week a girl asked if katie, my sister in law, was my daughter- really funny, right??)

another thing i haven't written much about is the adoption.
a couple of weeks ago my lawyer called me and said neiko's birth mom was not ready to sign any adoption papers at this time. i was really confused because she had always acted more than ready to give him up.
after a week and a half of waiting to hear again from the lawyer and wondering if neiko's mom was going to change her mind i finally just called her.

and i'm really glad i did. we got to talk for a long time and catch each other up. i got to fill her in on all of the milestones neiko has hit and tell her a little about how he's grown and changed and all that he's learned.
and she told me that the lawyers had things confused. she is still very sure that she cannot take care of neiko and that he is in a better place than she could provide.
and that he looks so happy in all the pictures that i send her and that's all that matters to her.

and then she told me that she was moving the next day to a different state. i promised her i would let our lawyers know and find out what that meant as far as the adoption.
we both assumed that that meant that she would have to fly back to new orleans once we set the court date.
well, after talking to the lawyer i found out that her moving is a really bad thing. it means that all the work we've done in new orleans is void and we have to start all the way over with a different set of state adoption laws.
frustrating. but i'm not letting it get me down. this is totally God's doing and i'm just along for the ride. no use being anxious as i have no control.
i'm trusting in my Savior to bring the adoption about in His perfect timing and in His perfect way. not mine.

and one more thing going on in my life right now is shelving. i'm learning how to install the wire shelving in all the closets in the new house. and i have lots of helpers.
needless to say installing shelves takes me a looooong time. but we try to have fun doing it.











baking and decorating cookies. for no reason at all :)



wren relaxing outside. having a little alone time here in the corner....



the theme of the summer so far has been "next week things will finally slow down."
i'm starting to lose hope....