Bla di bla

Life is good. I'm starting to feel settled in our new house. The boys love their school and their teachers. I got called into the primary presidency and #1 man is in the Elders quarum presidency. It's kind of nice to be in a ward where we are needed again. It's funny though, because most people around here are new families just starting out there is a lot of welfare need so we have already recieved new coats for the three boys in elementary school. I guess big retail companies donate coats to the kids at school who need them. I didn't sign up for anything so I'm not sure why the boys were given them. I appreciate it but I feel a little guilty because I know there are a lot of kids who might need a new coat more than mine do. Oh well, I'll just donate all the old coats we have.
Here are more pictures of the girls. This lovely lady just adopted two girls. One is the one she is hugging. Our girls are there. Josephine is holding Nadia.

Here they are up close. Josephine looks thinner than she did so I'm a little concerned. We finally got all our stuff done for our homestudy so It should be done in two weeks. We just found out though that our social worker's wife passed away suddenly and two days later his father also passed so I will not be expecting it to be done on time understandably.

I am enjoying or first snow of the year. It has snowed twice in the last two weeks. It's not enough to stick yet but I'm sure that will be happening soon. Hope everything is great with all of you.

The new house!

Here is the new house. What do you think?This is the front porch. I love it! It also has one in back just like it.

Here is the kitchen. The only room completely unpacked. Here is the front room. I just bought those curtains and I love them!!!! Well there it is. I decided not to post the pictures of all the messy rooms full of boxes. It's just too discouraging. I need to stay energised to get it all done.

My sister Amy is here. It is so nice to see her. I miss her and all the family a ton. I'm still not used to being so far away from everyone. Five hours really isn't that far though. It just seems far. Hope you are all well and having excellent nights or mornings depending on where you are in the world.

Wow that was fun.....not!!!

I am so glad that is over. I have decided I don't want to be the moving girl anymore! It used to be so much easier when we didn't have so many kids. Now it is horrible. It has been a week and several things have made it impossible to get any unpacking done. well except the kitchen that was a must. #1 Man's cell phone got dropped in a toilet just before the big move so he doesn't have one at the moment. #1 boy's truck stopped working and we were told there is no help for that beastly thing. Only 5 out of the 8 pistons are still moving Yeah!!!! I have had to drive everyone everywhere. There is no bus for our school and since we live on the edge of the district that means I get to drive there three times a day because I have a kindergardener. I have been switching back and forth between driving the man and the boy to where they need to be all day as well. WE NEED A NEW CAR YESTERDAY!!! I think I will buy one tonight. Hee Hee!

Well on to a sunnier note I got new pictures of the girls. Aren't they cute!!!! Josephine looks older than seven but I guess we have to keep her birthday what they made it. She loos more like 8-9 to me but oh well. She will need to be younger in order to catch up in school. You can't really see Nadia's face but she does look the age she is supposed to be which is about 1 and 1/2. We will be done with our homestudy soon. My background check finally got done we are just waiting for boy#1's to get done. He has to have one now because he is 18.

I will try to post the pictures of the new house soon.

Girls Update!

Here they are! Aren't they so cute!!! They are officially in foster care so that means as soon as we get our homestudy done we can start the process of adopting them. Yes our homestudy is still not done. My fingerprints were not right so they had to send a second set and for some reason that has taken forever.
We are moving out on the 30th so I have been packing. It seems easier this time around. Either we have less stuff or I'm getting better at packing. Probably both are true. Well I've got to get back to packing.
Have a great day.

And Now For Something Completly Different...

Well just a different house we are buying. Remember the last post when I said it was quiet around here that didn't last long. We are moving in two weeks. We should be moving into our new house but it might be one of those things where we don't have a place for a couple of days. We'll see what happens. We have to be out on the first of Oct. I love the house we are going to buy for sure. It is great!!! It is in Ogden right in the middle of things which could be really great or not so great. We'll let you know which it is when we've been there awhile. I'll try to get the picture I have of it to post but I haven't had any luck so far. Wish me luck again please. We really don't want this falling through too.

Wow it's quiet!

Hey all. I am enjoying a very quiet house today. All therse cute boys are now in school. I can't believe it. To top it off baby is taking a nap. Most days it is just me and boy #5 and boy #6. Weird!!!!! I need a little quiet though so I will enjoy it until next week then I will probably be sick of it and need to go do something fun!
Boy #1 is now 18!!!! This is him at about 10. I can't believe it. We had a big party for him in Boise over the weekend. It was a total blast. We rented one of those big inflatable waterslides. It was 18 feet high. So much fun! His girlfriend has found a new place to live so she is moving out this week if she can find the time between the two jobs that she is working. Did I mention that she has been staying with us trying to move closer? She graduated and wants to stay close to her love. She is doing very well for herself. I'm sad she won't be here to hang out with me when everyone else is off doing other things but oh well this is good for her and good for #1 man's sanity.

Well have a great day!!!

New girls pictures

This is Nadia The lady holding her is Holly. She just brought home her little boy Ari from the same village. This is Josephine. Aren't they cute? I hope these are the girls we really get and that we don't have to go through any more referrals.

First day of school

Today was the first day of school for the boys. They were so excited. They all came home happy and well. I love school.
We didn't get that house after all. It turns out it was a short sale. Oh well. There is another house I like better anyway that we put an offer on today. Wish us luck with that one.
We got a referral for two more girls in Ghana. They are cousins. They live in the Kwahu Mountain region of Ghana. One is six or seven and has no parents. They died when she was very young. Her name is Josephine. The other is about 2. Her mother is very young and was in school when she got pregnant. She wants to go back to school so she can't care for her daughter and go to school. Her daughter's name is Nadia. Hopefully it works out with them. Pray lots for us. I'll post pictures in the side collum.

A home of our own again!

They accepted our offer without countering. We are so excited. We will be moving in a month. I can't wait. To be in a home I own again will be so great! I love to paint and change things. It is so hard to just look at my red kitchen every day and not be able to paint it!!! I hate the red!!!! I don't know what I will need to do, probably nothing but at least I have the option if I want. Yeah! something finally to be excited about after a lot of disapointment. Also we will have the lowest mortgage we have ever had excluding our first house so that is way great and this house is in a great place. The kids will be able to walk to school and we will be able to walk to church. I've never lived so close to everything before. I hope it will be great. Did I mention I'm excited? 934054 is the mls # so if you want to see it look it up on utahrealestate.com

Super sad news

I don't even know what to say. We have lost the girls. The cheif of the village decided that he wasn't going to allow any adoptions from his village all of a sudden. We don't know why. His decision halted seven children from being adopted. We are heartbroken. Sorry it has been so long since my last post but getting back in the swing of things was taking awhile and then we got hit with this news so I wasn't ready to face it just yet. I know all things happen for a reason and I am sure there are other children for us I just need to process it because I felt like these were my daughters. I still want to help their village but don't know how. Anyway pray for them.

We are probably moving. We got permission from our landlord to go ahead and find a place. We are trying to keep it cheap this time so we can be free to do fun things in the future. We found a house we like that we are going to put an offer on. Wish us luck because we have put offers on two houses already and have been out offered if that is even a term. We just decided to look at houses that are actually in our price range instead of a little over.

Well I hope things are well with all of you. Good luck with whatever adventure you are in the middle of.

I'm home

So I still haven't been able to get the pictures off the phone to poston the blog but I uploaded about half of the videos onto youtube. Just type in juliepuckett into the search bar at the top and they all pop up. They are in the completely wrong order but oh well. It's amazing that I can share my experience at all. Hope all is well with you. Goodnight.

Akwaba

That is a traditional greeting here in Ghana. I can't download pictures or video here due to the lack of internet speed. Just to get this post on here will take awhile. I have been forever changed. I had no idea how bad the conditions here are. I think I will set up a blog specifically for my experience here when I get back to the states. There is too much to tell in a few posts.
We have decided to adopt two girls. The girl in the picture and her little sister. We completely fell in love with them both and their family. There was a little mis communication about her name. She is called Mayvis (Mayvees). Her sister is called Doriti. I should not have been nervous meeting her mother we sat by each other and talked through a translator for a long time. She is a very strong good natured gentle person. She wants her girls to have the opportunity to go to school and get out of the village. There is no good food and water in the villages. Very few have wells. The village where they live is trying to raise funding to build a market where people from all over would come to trade goods. This would ensure that they would have healthier food and money to buy it. They eat mostly palm nuts which don't have many nutrients. They only need about 3,000 US dollars which is about 5,000 cedis to build it. I spent more than 3,700 us dollars just for the plane tickets to get here. The other thing that would help is a well which is another 3,000 dollars. They aren't even trying to get that because they think it is impossible to get 6,000 dollars. I mean we spend 6,000 on our vacations or recreation. All they want is water that is safe to drink. I know I'm starting to sound like a commercial for the peace corp. I just can't believe that this is a reality. In America we don't struggle like they do every day. Even our poor don't struggle like they do.
Well I'll get off my soap box now. I hope all is well with you and that you have a place to sleep and food to eat tonight.

Time for our big trip!

Sorry for the delay in posting. I have been a little busy getting all out documents ready for our first trip to Ghana. We leave on the 7th of July which is a week from today. My arm is still sore from all the shots I got on Monday. I think we'll be protected from most things except Denge fever which there is no vaccine or medication for. I think I'll be going through a lot of bug spray! I had no idea how many illnesses there could be curtailed if they figured out how to control the mosquitos. We are packing two large suitcases full of notebooks and pencils, clothes, jolly ranchers, and toys to donate to the kids in the village and of course gifts for Stephani. I want to get her family something but I'm not sure what to get. Yes I will be meeting her biological family. I am totally nervous about that. On Saturday we will travel to the village where Stephani was born. I get to hand out the clothes, toys, school supplies, and the candy to the children there. I am looking forward to that. I am sure this trip will be life changing. The hotel we are stying in looks really cool. The only thing is that there are lizards that come into your room. At least it's not snakes. ;) There is little hot water and the beach that will be very close is too dirty for us to swim in although I've been told that all the locals still swim there on the weekends. We are not supposed to go anywhere at night. We have to keep cash on us and copies of our passports under our clothes. It's hard not to get a little nervous about all those things. We aren't supposed to eat anything from vendors on the street and of course we can't drink the water or have any ice or anything that hasn't been cooked that we haven't washed with bottled water. I'm not a very clean maticulous person so I am just expecting to get sick. I've packed a lot of imodium.
Well I guess that's all. Wish me luck. I probably won't post until we get back because I'm a little busy getting ready. Have a great day!!!!

Workin'

I have good news. Boy #1 got a job! yeah!!!!!! He starts on Friday at Shopko. I am so glad. He is really excited too but a little nervous. He's going to do great!
I had a lovely morning with a quiet and yummy breakfast all to myself. The kids stayed up late last night and are sleeping in. It's kind of nice. I like having some quiet time in the morning to read my scriptures and pray and just think. It helps me have a better day. They are still sleeping =) I was a grump last night due to lack of sleep so I opted to not watch the movie. I think they stayed up till like 1. Crazy!
Well I hope all of you are having a good moment right now. If not make a good moment happen. =)

Baptism Day!

Isn't this the cutest? Boy #3 always makes this face when I try to take his picture. We had a great weekend. A lot of the family came to celebrate with us. Both grandparents came and three aunts and uncles and their families. Even my father-in-law's cousin came. We had so much fun! I love having everyone over. We stayed up way too late, ate way to much and laughed until it hurt. I miss living closer but I love that people who come to visit stay for a few days instead of a couple of hours. It's quiet in the house now which is nice but I already miss the craziness of the crowd. Oh well I'm sure we'll all do it again soon.

Adoption update we will most likely be taking our first trip to Ghana mid July. I am working on visas. Yeah! I have to make us appointments to get all our shots. There are a lot!

I have to put in a plug for my sister's online store. it is designerchildrensboutique.com She just got it up and running so if you want to find awesome quality children's clothes check it out. I know I'll be buying one of the taffeta dresses with the bolero jacket. So cute!!!!!

Well hope all is well with you. Keep your chin up with an energy for life!

One step closer to many things

Well I know I'm a bit obsessed about our adoption but I figure it's just like being pregnant. It is what is happening in my life so get used to hearing lots about adoption and the process. I mean if I was pregnant I'd be telling you about my weird cravings and my swollen ankles so just think of it like that. We have our personal interviews tonight with our social worker for our home study. I'm a little nervous just because I don't know what to expect. I think he is just going to go over the same questions that are on our questionnaire. I hope so. They are questions like what was your relationship like with each of your siblings during your childhood and now? How often do you have contact with each of them? Very personal but not horrible. Luckily we both have good relationships with our families so it shouldn't be to bad.

I've been working on my music again. I don't know if I've blogged about it before. I write music. It's mostly inspirational so I'm hoping I can do something with them. I love singing but I don't have a lot of free time right now so maybe I'll just try to sell them so other artists can use them. I figure God wouldn't inspire me to write them unless he wanted me to do something with them. I'll post more about that as I get more of them done. I'm working on 4 songs at the moment. I'm just trying to get the basic melody written on a program I have. I try to put accompaniment to them but I don't play the piano so it's hard. I will just keep tinkering away at them.

Hopefully I'll have more pictures soon I just always forget to take them anymore. Oh well. Hope everything is going good this morning for you all.

Hello from Hollywood!

So all the boys with boy #1 as the leader have been making all these awesome movies. They are so great. One is just hilarious. I think he is seriously considering studying film which would definately be in line with what he loves. He is actually pretty good. He has been making these funny videos since he was little. We have lots of tape of him doing funny stuff. We keep it around as blackmail. =)
Well we almost have all the paperwork collected that we need for our homestudy. If anyone out there is even considering adopting make sure that you order extra copies of all the adult's birth certificates, marriage certificates, and any other certificate you may have (they take the longest) and get copies of any court procedings even if you weren't convicted. I don't know why but my birth certificate still hasn't showed up yet. Frustrating. I think I will order it again through one of those companies that promise to get it to you in two days. I'm tired of waiting.
Well everyone here is doing gret. Boy #3 is getting baptised on Saturday. It should be great. I will be sure to take lots of pictures. (hopefully I will remember) I am trying to get more done in school. Seriously WGU is the school for busy moms. It is awesome check it out wgu.edu. I am still studying to be an elementary school teacher but I think I would rather teach English. They don't offer it at WGU though so I will just stick with what I am doing for now.
I hope you ll have a great day pursuing your passions in life! (or finding out what they are) =)

Potty training again.

Yeah Boy #5 decided he does like underwear and he's been doing great with the toilet today!!! Yeah that much closer to a diaper free world. Well not really I still have boy#6 and he's only one. I'm just so excited that I may not have to change and buy so many diapers soon.

Adoption update: We had our first home study visit last week and our second is on Thurs. We still haven't received my birth certificate. I am anxious to get it because that means we can start our passport work. I wish I could find my other copy. Oh well. I'm trying to not let it take over our lives because we still have six other children that need my love and attention but it is hard not to get overly obsessed.

Hope all is well with you!

P.S. Check out the blog nieniedialogues.com it will change your life!!!

Paperwork is fun to do!

I have been having fun gathering all the papers for our homestudy. I am sure my husband is getting tired of the crazy lady that keeps calling him to remind him of the two papers he has to get. He keeps saying it's all going to work out and that I just need to calm down and take it one step at a time. I'm not doing that well. I try to get everything done all at once. It is hard knowing your daughter is in a bad situation that you can change if you just get all the paperwork done. A lot of it is out of my hands anyway. There is a lot of waiting for mail and thinds like that but I'm sure I'll look back on this time and think it all went by so fast. Funny how perspective changes with a little time.

Hopefully the new addition.

Here she is we think. She lives in Ghana and we are going to start the process to adopt her if we can. Pray for us. Because she is on a waiting list the process won't take a year. It could be done in as little as three months! Can you believe it?All this waiting to rush to the finish line. Well to rush to the starting line I guess. Is there a finish line ever in this life? I don't think so. Have a great day whatever you are starting or finishing.

Prom!!!

Here he is anxiously waiting for his sweetheart to come for pictures before they left.Of course they had to have the traditional exchange of flowers.I told her to just put the pin straight in and slam it hard to get it to stay. She didn't follow my advice. Here they are just before they left. Aren't they cute!!!

The BIG trip

Yay!!! The beach is my favorite place in the world. It is one of the few places in the world I feel truly at home. This was our first whole day in Oceanside CA. It was a Sunday so we just walked up and down the amazingly beautiful beach.

We also walked down the pier.

And saw some pellicans (yes I was that close to it!)

This ws the next day. We spent the whole day just playing in the water and on the sand. Wow I wish we could live there. We were lucky our car broke down (sounds funny I know) We were going to go to Disneyland that day but it turned out to be the only really beautiful day we had there so thank goodness our car didn't work =)

Everyone was covered in sand.

I guess this explains why =)

Boy #6 thought that the sand was really tasty. Yum Yum! He ate a lot of it! Such a wonderful day!!!!!

Here are some pics of Disneyland. This is us waiting to go into the Tiki Room. I took the babies while the older ones went on Indiana Jones. I got to go on it later.

Here are the jedi training acadamy actors. They cancelled the show because of the rain but they still came out and took pictures with everyone. Did you know yesterday was Star Wars Day? May the force be with you!

Captain Eo!!!! I was so glad they brought it back and that we got to go with everyone. They all loved it even if it was just as cheesy as it was 20 years ago. I forgot that the seats shake and that it is so loud. It was a ton of fun. Of course we did all the other rides there I just didn't get pictures. =(

Here is Seaworld. We loved it! This is all of us watching the sea lion show which we got soaked watching because of a major downpour halfway through the show.

Here we are in front of the penguins.

Here is San Diego Zoo. The first thing we did was ride the tram.

And see the snakes... Have I ever told you I have a huge fear of them?

Isn't this neat? We were lucky to get many pictures like this because when we were there most of the animals were really active, probably because of the rain.

#2 Boy goofing off. There are so many more pictures but mostly of just animals.

Here is another night at disney.

#1 Boy missing his lady and texting her in the candy shop.

#1 Man looking more tired than I think I've ever seen him. Well we are home now and I'm missing the ocean again but I'm grateful we got to go. It was so fun!!!

Another eventful month

This picture is of our super fun trip to temple square with the whole clan. #1 Boy's girlfriend came up for a visit during her spring break and we had a ton of fun. She is so sweet and so much fun! Sorry the picture is so tiny.
Well, life for the past month... hmmm... I'm not sure how to describe it. I don't get a lot of sleep mainly because of babies and staying up late with my teenager but I'm happy. I love having him here. I definately appreciate my parents more now. Homeschooling is going well but I'm starting to slack. I am just not the kind of person who is diciplined enough to make the kids do their work. It sounds way more fun to watch a movie or go to the store or go outside (outside counts as PE time). I think we will try to do public school again next year. I love homeschool but I am not doing well at actually teaching them anything. Plus it seems that because I am so focused on the two homeschoolers I don't spend as much time with the other kids. I usually just put them in front of a movie.
We are planning a family trip to ..... Disneyland!!!! I can't wait. We decided to not spend all of our tax return on debt so we could go. We will be staying at a beach house near San Diego and driving around to do alot of fun stuff like going to the san diego zoo, Disneyland and maybe even sea world. I can't wait to see the ocean!!!!
We are diving back in to adoption. #1 man and I both felt that we still need to look at Ghana Africa so that is where we will go to find our little girl. We have been planning on adopting since 2006 so it is about time we did something about it. Wish us luck!
We were able to attend the Sun Morning Session of General Conference with our teenager. It was awesome being there with so many people. He is investigating the church so any prayers for him would be appreciated.
#6 Boy is walking. Yikes!
Well I don't have anymore news not that what I wrote already isn't enough. Hee Hee. I hope you are all well and life is good. I look forward to catching up on everyone's blogs that I haven't read in a month ;)

I'm back! (sort of)

Well I should learn that whenever you complain about being busy the Lord lets you know how busy you could be. My life has become a completely full time adventure! My sweet stepson has moved in with us full time. This is him with his cute girlfriend. I won't get into the details of why I'll just say that he and his mother need to be apart for awhile. Boy #3 has been doing home school along with my stepson which makes my day a non stop learning and teaching extravaganza! I am learning just as much as them. Between high school algebra and second grade history ( Romans! Cool!!!) I am getting a pretty good education myself.

We are going to live here for awhile I think. We need the space now. One room for school another for an extra person. Just a side note I have had to up our food budget again!! With all these people we eat so much! I have had to cook and clean like a feind in the evenings now instead of during the day. It's so crazy that I used to complain about cleaning when I had all day. I was just so lazy and I didn't even know it. Spaghetti, stroganoff, and roast with mashed potatoes have become weekly staples because I can cook a lot with little effort.

By the way it was my birthday on Sunday. I had a great day but I miss the big family parties I usually have. I miss being close to my families but there have been a few things recently that have made me think it is sure good that we are here. Boy #1 moving in for one. We have a great house with tons of space and he can be away from all the drama for awhile. My sweet sister can come here to visit her kids that live in SLC. That has been so fun for me and I hope for her too. I also think this job of #1 man's is teaching him so much. It's not always fun but he is definately learning how to deal with difficult people and circumstances.

Well I miss you all and hope to be able to visit soon. Have a stress free day and if you can send those stress free vibes my way. I need them!

Crazy is my companion

I thought my life was starting to calm down. We had decided not to move and just do foster care. So much for that plan. We now don't know if we are moving or not (limbo again :P) We are going to put off doing foster care for awhile at least until we know where we are going to be in the next couple of months. We will probably move into an appartment again which I am looking forward to. We need to get rid of the dogs but in order to do that we have to wait until Cleo has her puppies (yes she is pregnant again). I guess the only thing I can do about it all right now is just start organizing and getting rid of stuff.
Boy #2 has been playing the piano and is pretty good. He loves it a ton!! I just found some beginner books at DI. He zipped through them both the first day. I better find some more books. Boy #3 started playing the guitar. He loves it too but the book I have is a little over his head. I need to find one for kids. He really wants to play the drums. I wish I still knew someone who plays. We will have to get him something to start on. I must admit I like him playing the guitar better than the drums. Oh well. ;)
Hope everyone else has their life figured out. I'll let you know when mine is if we ever get there.

Boise trip ect.

Here are some highlights of our trip to Boise. Of course we went to the Cheesecake Factory. Yummmm!!!!!!


Then we had a party for #1 Man and boy #6 's birthdays. We went to Wahooz. I hate that name. I don't know why I didn't get pictures of everyone but oh well. I'm glad you all came. I had a great time. I know everyone else did too. This was on little man's actual birthday. We had a party complete with chinese food and cupcakes. It was a lot of fun.
I am missing Idaho today. I guess I am really missing my family and old friends. I'm glad I have your blogs to look at. It helps me feel like I've talked to you. Love you all.