Well, we have been busy, busy, busy. We have been going shopping to see what we need for our new little girl. We haven't bought anything yet, but we found our car seat and stroller. It is called the Duo Glider LX by Graco. We figured we would eventually need a second spot so we are going with the double stroller. Our car seat is a Graco as well. It is the snugride. We heard that all we need right now is a car seat to take her home in. Tom is ordering that soon online. We have been emailing our birthmother quite frequently. She is really a cool gal. We look forward to her emails. If you haven't seen what she looks like yet go to her family website under www.stufflebeam.org. Her name is Brittney. She is a sweetheart. Last night, we went to dinner with our friends from Logan. THey are moving to Kansas so we said good bye. Today at church Tom got called on to say the closing prayer in the middle of sacrament. good thing he was listening! Today's theme in Church was raising a family. It was a really good 3 hour block. I told my R.S> sisiters about our adoption and they are rallying to give me a shower after we have our girl. Our ward is great...I would not have said that a year ago, but they are growing on me. Each week the sisters would ask me how the adoption process was going so last week for our good news minute I said that we were getting approved. Then this week I raised my hand again and one sister piped up and said...Is your good news that you are adopting? I said yes and there were screams. I told them briefly the info. It is fun to have others excited for us. We already have some sisters bringing by some clothes and a swing. They are too generous. Well, long blog. We will let you know more later. We meet with the birthmom on Tuesday at 4. Wish us luck!

WE'RE ADOPTING IN A FEW WEEKS!!!

We truly are blessed. I couldn't sleep because I have so many emotions right now. We both do. We have so much love for this little baby girl and her mother. This mother is making the ultimate sacrifice. On a smaller scale, she is doing what Heavenly Father did for us. I'm sure that the same emotions that Heavenly Father felt are the same. Brittney (the birthmom) is only 18, yet so strong and mature. I am so impressed by how she is handling things! I am going to send you the letter that she gave us to let us know that she picked us. Well, be ready for a little baby girl in a couple weeks!

Family Gathering in Enterprise/St. George

Dan and Cassie with their friends.
All the kids playing on the playground. They buried Emma in this picture. Grandma and Rod just hanging out and enjoying the company.

Combat fishing as far as the eye can see.

This is the cruise we went on in Seward. We saw puffins, sea lions, seals, seagulls, a whale, and some magnificent scenery. Alaska is beautiful!

Momma Tootsie next to the year marker of where the glacier was in 1951. It is also the year she was born? Or is it....:)

More Alaska Pictures!

Since we just couldn't get enough of Alaska and Rod requested more pics...here are more pics! This is at the glacier.

Sacrificing for Halibut!!!

Tom filleting another halibut.
This is Don (Hall family friend) filleting the big fish.

This is our HUGE halibut that we caught. It was so heavy that Tom had to hold it up.
This is on the ocean fishing for Halibut. It was cold...or colder than I was used to.

Chinaputte Hugewavesapputte

Well, well, well...We almost didn't survive. We decided that we scored a ton last time we went dip netting in Chinaputte that we would try it again. So, we drove to Homer and went to Chinaputte. We were there for 4 hours and didn't catch 1 fish. We were shocked. Everyone around us didn't catch anything either. On our way back to Homer our boat died on us. It was scary because the waves in the ocean were about 5-6 feet at the highest waves. Tom got the boat going again and we found some nice people to follow us in case the boat died again. We caught air on some of the waves and made it back safely. We won't be going to Chinaputte for a couple of days or until the boat gets fixed. Bummer. Well, I didn't get any pics so nothing more to post. We are going to Seward tomorrow to explore. Tom may do some fishing on his own. Who knows. We barely get sleep, but it is worth it. We love it up here.

Halls Happy Moments: Dip Nettin

Halls Happy Moments: Dip Nettin

Dip Nettin

This is the view right outside of the Chinaputte. We were sitting on the bank next to the boat when we took t his picture.
This was at low tide around 1 am. We were stuck there whether we liked it or not. No worries, we got out!
Tom filleting the fish. Check out our stash of fish!

The peak is Chinaputte. The place we went dip nettin' is right below that peak.
Tom guiding our boat to Chinaputte
Homer

Dip Nettin

Dip Nettin! I caught 2! It was a TON of fun and something everyone has got to try! We are going clammin' tomorrow

Dip Nettin in Chinaputte

Tom, Colleen and I went to Chinaputte to go dip netting. It is a huge waterfall across the ocean about 12 miles from Homer. Homer is about an hour and a half from where we are staying. We went in at high tide and couldn't get out until high tide came in again. So we were fishing from 6pm-2am. We caught 70 red salmon! It was a lot of fun because we would take our nets and 1 in 5 swipes we would catch a salmon. In this pic Tom has the "bonker" that kills the fish. I caught 2 in my net. The most I caught was 3 and I think Tom got 4 one time. Colleen was very wise and knew to let us do most of the fishing....She knew that we would be VERY sore today! Tom filleted the salmon and we packaged it up. This took the whole day to do. I have a lot more appreciation as to the time it takes to get the yummy fish. Right now we are going on 2 hours of sleep so I am going to post a couple of pics and call it a night.

Mamma Hall and Tom!

We went canoeing. This is on the lake right next to the place we are staying. It is about 11:00pm. We almost found ourselves almost totally wet when Tom wanted to change places right in the middle of the lake. I got the giggles and that made it even more challenging. We did, however, come out unscathed...:)

More Girdwood in Alaska

This is still Girdwood, but in the background is Aleyeska...the local ski resort. BEAUTIFUL!

Girdwood in Alaska

So, we went to this hippie fair...no that's an understatement...it was pure GRANOLA!!! We were definitely outnumbered and kinda the ones that stood out. This is a ski boat with flowers in it...SO Mary! It was fun to go around the little shops and booths and see what people made and were selling (very overpriced). Tom ended up with a mini kid rocking chair that he can make fairly easy. It was a lot of fun!

Anchorage Temple

Beautiful isn't it?!? We did some sealings. The temple is very small, but very detailed inside. Do you know what the thing that is stolen the most within temples? It is the gold lining on all the walls. Cool fact eh?

MORE ALASKA!!!

Tom and the clan roasted marshmallows and went kayaking and canoeing. This is like at 11:00pm. Crazy...

Here we went rafting down the Kenai from Bings to Centennial. Man it was a looooonnnng trip...a bit longer than Mary anticipated. Beautiful nonetheless...so no complaints.

ALASKA!!!

Ok, so it's been awhile since we have posted...ok, a long time...We are repenting! We promise (will try) to be better. Tom remembered the password so we are back in the game! Alaska has been BEAUTIFUL!!! Great weather, green everywhere, lush, and Tom has been chompin at the bit since we got here to go fishin. FOR EXAMPLE.... We arrived at 2:30am. At 10:00 am we were still in the hotel and Tom was itchin to go. I am an 8 hour girl and Tom is wearing me out! Go, go, go...Yesterday we drove around Anchorage, went to Costco (of course), and then drove to Kenai. Along the way, we stopped at Girdwood, a very granola, hippy town. They were having a festival so we hit some shops and listened to their granola music. It was quite fun and very beautiful! The air is so fresh and everything is so lush! After Girdwood we stopped for some ice cream and then made it to Kenai. Cool town. Well, today (Sunday) we went to church, took a LONG nap (Tom said it was ok), then went for a drive and visited some of the Hall's friends the Hansen's. We are getting a bon fire going and are going to make some smores. We will keep you posted and hopefully get some pics on here soon. It is already 10 and still as light as if it were 5. Crazy...~