Some of the pictures!

The amazing birthmom, Jessalynn, that took our pictures- got some of the pictures she took up on her blog. Come see!

Scouting base camp and PINEWOOD!

Scouting, scouting, and scouting! Isn't it wonderful?? This last Sat. we had the opportunity to go to a scouting base camp. They had a rock climbing wall, a zip line/ropes course, booths, and had a ... starting out garage band playing. It was fun! Tiring, but fun. We had three of the boy scouts with us. We were put in charge ... okay, we choose to be in charge of the zip line/ropes course. Our jobs were to help the people sign permission forms, help the people put on a harness and hook them to the course, help them get around a corner, and off the course. We were getting a good system down when our shift was over. Here are some pictures from the event.

One of our scouts helping at the beginning

Sorry, kind of bright. This is to give you an idea of the course

Bright once again... sorry. Another view of the course

Another scout waiting to help someone around the corner.

I have to admit. The course looked like a lot of fun, but I think I'd be scared the whole time, if I did it.

Another exciting event was our pinewood derby!! So one more confession... I'm glad it's over. Takes a lot of prep! Reminded me a lot of throwing a blue and gold banquet. Anyway~ it was a success! The boys had a blast... despite the problems we had with the track.

At the start up line

There they go!!

More watching the cars

This is my fav.! Look how enthralled the boys look

Those are our latest adventures. Stay tuned as we have a fun-filled weekend ahead of us too! No, not scout oriented. It's Payne family oriented! OH! And... also check back to see how our pictures turned out from our photo shoot from the contest.

Contest results

Well, no sadly, we did not win the contest. It was so much fun to be involved any way. I really appreciate and feel honored that we'd even be nominated and then to be chosen as the top 5 is incredible to me. So~ we don't get a photo shoot from that lady. BUT! Just for being involved, we get the following (and this is taken from an e-mail I received. I did add a comment):

1. i have added your profile to my blog roll of couples hoping to adopt and a link to your profile will post on my blog today as a post. i hope this increases traffic and awareness of your hope to adopt. (this woman has one of the most well known adoption blogs)
2. A birth mother who is now married has offered to photograph your family, give you a CD of images AND design a pass along card for you from your favorite image. she said she is waiting for your email and can't wait to work with you.
   
3. abbey kyhl photography (www.abbeykyhl.com ) has sent me a coupon to share with you-- a coupon from for 500 free passalong cards when you book a family photo session with her. she also includes great discounts on your session when you get placed with.
4. hopingtoadopt.org (a new finding site like parent profiles) gave me a coupon for you as well. it's a $100 coupon which is good for 2 months of free listing (no obligation, cancel any time) and a waived activation fee.if you would like either one of these coupons, please send me your address and i will get them in the mail to you ASAP. ;)
   
5. also, i have an email group called "hoping to adopt" where i send out information on available adoption situations that i hear of. i would love to include you all on the list if you would like. just let me know.
   

WAY COOL, right?? I think so anyway. I may be a dork, but I think it's awesome to have all this help to get our name out there. I feel so blessed. I definitely know now that Heavenly Father is up there cheering us on too. Lots of family and friends cheering us on too. Thanks a million. We love you all

we need your help!

One of my amazing friends nominated us to win a photo shoot!! We need your votes though so we can win. Please go here to vote. There's only 4 more days, so please hurry! Thanks so much in advance!

Busy, busy, busy!

Let me start out by warning... this is a longer post. I included lots of pictures though, so that should help, right? :0)

This last week or so have been so dang busy! It's been fabulous though. It's been full of great and exciting things. The events I got pictures of, I'll post as I talk about them. So it all started last weekend, the weekend of the 11th. We went up north to see Jared's sister and her family. Jared's sister has a business of selling THE cutest hair bows. She had a booth for Peach Day's (for those who don't know... each city up here has a weekend of celebrating/honoring the city. So they have celebrations like Peach Days, Strawberry Days, Freedom days, Fiesta days, etc). We went up and watched her kiddos while she and her husband ran the booth. Here are some pictures from that weekend.

Us with the kids at the parade... Sorry, it's a bit bright.

This is Jared's sister's cute booth.

Outsider her booth was the main attraction... for the kids at least.

Our niece playing at a play ground.

On the sidewalk by the play ground, there was a bunch of water running. These two had a blast! If you can't tell ... they're both soaked!!

Go ahead and check out the picture section of our blog if you want to see more pictures from this weekend.

Moving on... On Mon, the 13th, I took state board for my P.N. This is just a step below and R.N. Let me tell you! I was sure I failed. I was so emotionally drained after I walked out of there. I was so lucky to have had my mom come into town, so between her and Jared... I was getting all the emotional support and cuddles I needed. Late Tuesday night I found out the results... I PASSED!! I am now an L.P.N. No more C.N.A. work for me! lol totally just kidding. It feels so good and was such a relief to have taken the next step.

Me with my mom! Yes, this is from our wedding. The woman is worse then I am about being in pictures.

Here's my wonderful, supportive Jared.

Here's me holding my P.N. license!!!

Wed. was a good day for us, bad day for Buddy. We just hung out, relaxed and celebrated my passing boards. While we were having fun poor Buddy was getting neutered and microchip-ed. Here's a picture of him wearing "the cone of shame". Which he has to wear when we're not paying attention to him.

Thurs. was dull, and so was Friday during the day. Fri. night though we went to watch one of Jared's boy scouts play hockey! I had never been to a hockey game. It was intense. I just wanted to cringe every time those players smacked each other into the sides. They were vicious! I have to admit is was a blast to watch. It was so worth going to the game. Oh, and as a side note... our team won!! 6-3

At the game

Our last excitement for this week was cub scouts! We have the pine wood derby coming up (yes, I will take pictures) and on Sat. we gave the boys an opportunity to come and get help with their cars, or if the dad's didn't have the tools, the could come use them here. So.... a pine wood prep day if you will. I have to admit, I wasn't excited about the pine wood before. Just seems to be a lot of work, which it is. After Sat. morning though, I am so stoked! I can't wait to watch these boys race.

Jared helping one of the boys

A dad helping his son

Part of the group

So... I think that about tells about all our excitement for this week. Hope life is treat you all well!

Just a quick update

I thought I'd update since it's been a bit. Nothing new is really going on here.

Jared is still extremely swamped at work. He's hoping their product releases this week. We'll have to see though. The network at his work has been down, so it's been really tough for him to do any work. Scouts is keeping him really busy too. He's loving life though.

I'm swamped trying to get a schedule for the semester down. So far this semester hasn't been too bad. Ask me next week after my first test though. I will say this, it has been SSSSOOOO nice to be back on a hospital floor. I miss working so much. Heavenly Father has a different plan for me though, so ... I think I better do what He says. Anyway~ Scouts has been keeping me busy too. We have our pinewood derby at the end of the month. I'll definitely post pictures and update on how it was. Hopefully it'll be a success. Life is without a doubt fabulous!

Buddy is ... well, a puppy! He loves life, playing, chewing, and performing for treats. He can now do dance, a version of playing dead, hide and go seek (well, we hide and he seeks), and circles. He's learned to stay, come, down, and your basic commands ... alright. He does good for being a puppy, but if he's too excited for one reason or other Buddy definitely has problems listening. I still can't believe he'll be 6 months soon.

So, that's about it for us. Hope everyone else is doing great! We'd love to hear from you guys.