Owen, cards, and more...

We have been busy getting ready for Halloween. My porch is decorated with 20 pumpkins in all differend sizes and we have cornstalks that are from our garden. That is my favorite part. Paul and I are trying to plan a weekend get away to a bed and breakfast. There is a place called the Homestead here in Utah that is breath taking this time of year. It is in Park City and very romantic. We will be married for 7 years in December but it is hard to have an anniversary celebration a week before Christmas so we always celebrate in November. This year will be so fun spending Thanksgiving with Paul's brother and all of our nephew's and nieces. Paul's brother that lives in Seattle has 2 kids at BYU that we get to see often. We love it. We took our little nephew, Owen who is 3, all day to play last week. We took him over to my Mom's because she has such an awesome yard that we can all play in. My parents are not his Grandparents but they totally love him and get a kick out of listening to him. They love to have him over at the house! He is the cutest funniest kid. He is so smart. We took him to the mall to get a pretzel and he saw a bow and some arrows in the window and he said, "look Aunt Jenni at those arrows and that shootie!" His brain is unfiltered and so he sais what he thinks. I think that a bow should be called a shootie now! HA HA HE HE! That is what a bow does, it shoots. Of cours it is a shootie! I love my family.
I keep forgetting to post that Tricia and Hailey chopped off their long hair and they look darling. Tricia looks so much older. I miss her so much since she moved in to my brother-laws to be a nanny for them. She loves it and she is so busy. She is working at Office Depot and nannying and she is also going to start school in January. I am so proud of her. I love how close my girls are. Hailey and Tricia are the best of friends.
I made these cards last night so I thought I would share with you what I have been creating. I have my first class at my house in a few weeks. I am so excited to get back to teaching what I love to do. I am having a big group at my house. I am also creating cards for an amazing decorating and gift store here in Clearfield. They sold 17 of my cards last week. I am getting great feed back. HI to all of my friend in St.Louis! I miss you all so much! I am going to post this without fixing my errors because Paul just walked in with flowers and a gift and I want to go be with him and open my present. He is so thoughtful. He is always surpising me. I have the most thoughtful hubby ever. Goodnight!

A Very Happy Day In Court!

Our family is so happy! Yesterday, we had our day in court. Paul was finally able to adopt my four children that were from my first husband that died many years ago. My two youngest children were so young at the time that they don not even remember their biological father. They have known Paul as their Daddy for 7 years now. They have always called Paul Dad and they have always wanted to have his last name. For years the children have told everyone that their last name is Haywood but at school they would go by Carter because the schools had to go by their real name. The first few days of school are always so hard on my kds because they have to explain to the teacher and the other students why they had two last names. We finally hired an attorney to get this finalized. We now have the documentation that sais they are now and forever Haywoods! The kids were so excited. The Judge was so sweet! He had the entire family come up to the stand and introduce themselves. He asked the kids questions about Paul and he asked them how Paul treated them. The kids had sicere and sweet answers. Paul was glowing with pride. My sister in-law, her 2 kids, and my Mom and Dad were there at the court house to be supportive. Tricia, our oldest, got the day off of work so she could be there also. All 8 members of our family were there. The Judge had us come up to the bench so we could take pictures of our entire family with him. After the Judge said that there last name was now Haywood, I looked back at my Mom and Dad and they were both crying! My Mom and Dad have played such a huge role in all of the children's lives. They love Paul as their own son. Tricia and Taylor, my two oldest children from Paul's first marriage, are so close to my parents. My Mom and Dad have always treated them as their own grandchildren. Taylor is especially close to my Dad. It has been so cool to watch them grow so close over the years. Paul is such a wonderful Father! From day one Paul has treated my four children like his own. He has always changed diapers, helped with homework, listened, taught, loved and laughed. Now my children have their Father's name. That means so much to so many people. We are truly blessed.