Those were the first words that I mumbled this morning as I watched the dog run around catching snowflakes on her nose this morning. I am already mourning the beautiful weather that blessed us last week. Back to hats and mittens, heavy coats and boots. The snow is so pretty but man is it cold outside today. 16 degrees….with a high of 24 degrees. I am glad that it wasn’t my day for carpool (if you are reading Lana, sorry!).
Well, for those of you who are only here for adoption updates…..no travel approval yet. We are so ready to go!!! Bring it on! Once we receive our travel approval from China we can set up our Consulate Appointment and then ……………….we can buy plane tickets! Wow, hard to believe that we are even thinking about that!
On to the past weekend….
We had a busy weekend as usual. On Friday night, Scott and I dropped the kids off at my brother’s house for the night and headed to Denver. No, it wasn’t a romantic night out for us, which would be nice since we may not get one of those for some time, but a 4 hour parenting class that is required for travel. Saturday we spent the day celebrating birthdays. First, my nephew Zachary’s 10 Th birthday at Mr. Bigg’s. The kids had tons of fun and actually kept it together pretty well considering they had a sleepover the night before. Then we went to sushi for Stacie’s birthday! We were all getting a bit droopy but succeeded in filling our bellies.
Sunday, we played hookie from church and steam cleaned all the carpets. With a crawling toddler on the way, we figured now might be a great time to get that long put off chore finished. All the kids pitched in and helped get everything off the floors of their rooms. I wish that I would have taken a picture of their beds after The Great Bedroom Floor Clean Up! Piled high!
Today I am on the hunt for red envelopes. Any thoughts?

Have a great day. I am hoping to get lots done today and not stalk the computer for TA rumors. Good luck, huh?!?!?

Jennifer

Alice’s only comment regarding the new president was…
“Even Sasha has her ears pierced!” You can definitely tell what tops her priority list.

Sam’s class watched the Inauguration today at school and he was really excited when he got home from school. I couldn’t remember any childhood memories of watching a President being sworn in. I am sure this is one that he will remember. I know that I will.

Have a great day!
Jennifer

Another busy weekend behind us….

I won’t bore you with all the details but we did have a great weekend with beautiful weather. The kind of January weather that makes you want to be outside every minute of the day.

60 degrees, sunny….okay, now I am just bragging 🙂

Scott took Paige on a Daddy Date today and they went skiing. This was Paige’s first time on skis and Scott said that she did awesome. Her favorite part of skiing was the high chair (chair lift). Not a big surprise there! Here are some pics of Paige’s day out on the slopes.

While Scott and Paige were out enjoying the warm temps and great snow at Loveland, Sam and Alice and I went for a hike in Ute Valley which is just a couple miles from home. We were having so much fun, we didn’t want to leave.

Have a great week!

Jennifer

Anyway, here she is modeling our new purchase.

Look mama, I can take your picture too!

If you are laughing because you have just realized that my 3 year old pixie has just duped me into buying her a new leotard, you are totally correct. I fully realize that she has me totally figured out but if it keeps the water works at bay, keep the stickers and leotards comin‘.

Have a great day!

Jennifer

We sort of feel like we have been in motion since receiving our LOA. I am making lists and checking them off. This weekend we worked on Mason’s room. We moved the entertainment center out of his room and repositioned the guest bed so that it is out of the way. Scott and the kids put together the crib and I started getting clothes in the dresser. It is so exciting and REAL when you start folding those little t-shirts and mini cargo pants. I will post pictures of his room when it is finished.

Everybody got a turn, screwing together parts of the crib. It is so fun for them to have a part in all that we are doing to get ready to bring Mason home.

This afternoon, after church, we took the kids to Build a Bear and they made a bear for Mason. They picked a soft panda bear. It was so sweet to see them kiss three little hearts and put them in the bear. They stuffed it and gave it a “bath” and then brushed his fur so that it was fluffed up. Then they worked together and picked out a Rockies t-shirt and pair of jeans to fit the bear. We all had fun and I know that Mason will love his new bear. Scott and I are planning on taking it with us when we travel.

The kids went back to school last week on Wednesday. It feels good to get back on a routine. Sam was thrilled to go back to karate and Alice and Paige both missed ballet. They have been living in ballet dress up since we have been home. Grandma Peggy~ Paige loves her ballet bag and packed it full of tutus and extra leotards for ballet class last week.

Jennifer

Sam got this super cool sled for Christmas from Santa. The only problem was that on Christmas it was 55 degrees and sunny, not a lick of snow anywhere. The day was beautiful and while the kids were opening presents we had the back door propped open and man were we enjoying the beautiful weather. Well, we left for Michigan for a week and that sled stayed under the tree. When we returned home on Saturday the weather still looked nice although we could see the storm clouds looming over the mountains. By mid afternoon the flakes started to fall and they didn’t stop until Sunday evening. We got about a foot of snow! It was so pretty around here. I really love all the weather in Colorado, sunny, snowy. So…I bet you can guess what we did. Sledding!!! Wow, I was just tired from getting all three kids is winter wear. We all had a ton of fun and left cold and happy.

Okay….maybe not windy. While we were gone, CS had a bad wind storm and our playground (that is what the kids call it) blew over, broke up and landed half in the ravine. Here is the damage.

Bummer!

Have a awesome day!!!

Today I am pondering paint colors for Mason’s room. Wish me luck!

Jennifer

LOA!!!!!!!

We received the call from our agency on the ride home from Michigan! We received our Letter of Acceptance (LOA) on January 2nd. We are so excited because this means that we will be traveling in 5-8 weeks! Wow! We have lots to do to get ready to travel including finishing classes, getting Mason’s room ready, tons of paperwork, sending off Mason’s 2nd care package, etc. etc………my mind is spinning! Stay tuned for more updates. Now we are waiting for our travel approval.

Here we come Mason!!!!
Jennifer

We are still here just busy visiting our family and friends in Flushing, MI. We drove (yes, we are crazy) last week on Christmas afternoon. It took us two days of pure family fun to arrive but we did make it safe and sound and not completely insane. Believe it or not, we only watched 3 videos and ate at McDonald’s once. Woohoo!! We are hoping to get on the road towards home on Friday morning. Stay tuned for more Wescott family fun.

Alice and Paige are having a blast playing with the dress up clothes in Grandma and Papa’s basement and hanging out with thier MI cousins. I will update with more photos after we get home.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Scott, Jen, Sam, Alice, Paige and Mason too!

When all through the house, Mom was running around in a panic trying to remember everything to pack!

Okay, so it really hasn’t been that bad 🙂 Boy does it take a lot of stuff for this family of five (soon to be six) to get on the road. 21 sets of kids clothes, 21 pairs of socks, 6 jammies, 21 pairs of undies, pull-ups, 4 pairs of tights, 2 Christmas dresses, 5 toothbrushes, a comb, too many hair ribbons to count, 3 pair of winter boots, 3 warm coats and snow pants, hats, mittens, extra mittens, camera, camcorder, 2 computers, snacks for the car, DVD player, DVDs, toys, games, books, crayons, presents, presents, presents….wow! And to think that we don’t even have to pack the baby stuff this year! No pack-n-play, bibs, bottles, diapers for a week, slings, booster seat…okay, well, you get the picture. So it definitely could be worse 🙂

Yes, we are driving all the way to Michigan this year. We are hoping to leave on Friday morning and get an early start. Depending on the weather, maybe Thursday night. I am hoping that we don’t have to leave on Christmas mainly because it would be nice for the kids to enjoy Christmas before the long drive. We are really trying to look at this as a really fun adventure. Think of all the cool stuff we will see on the way. Cows….errr…a couple trees…a farm in Iowa….more cows. We will definitely get tons of family time. That will be fun, right?!?!? Anyway, there is goodness at the end of the road, Grandma and Papa, aunts and uncles, many cousins will be waiting with big hugs and kisses. What could be better than that? We can’t wait!!

Today we will be celebrating Christmas Eve at my parents house with my brother and his family. We will also be joined this year by Kent and Victoria, Brendan and Ellie and Vic’s parents. It is sure to be a great day! Afterwards, we will head to the candlelight service at church, something I look forward to all year long.

We are thinking of Mason on this day, just as we do everyday and hoping that he is well and happy. We cannot wait to hold and kiss you and celebrate the day that you become part of our forever family. That will be the best present of all!!!!

Merry Christmas to all! May you find peace in this season….

From our family to yours!

Love, Scott, Jennifer, Sam, Alice and Paige (Mason too!)