We are pretty secure

So, I decided a while back to make our blog private...not because I wanted to but because I felt like I needed to as a form of protection for the kids. We have tried many times to 'find ourselves' on the interent and although there are many, many Kristen Self's in the valley (wierd, I know) never have we been able to find us. But, with some issues with some birth moms we felt it was wise to keep some little ones a little safer. We also ran into an old high school friend on Thanksgiving and he mentioned he had been searching the internet for Shane for a couple of years but could not find him either. (that's good news) In this wild world of cyber space and all the crazies out there it is a bummer to have to make our blog private. We want to share our story with as many people as God wants to touch...we really see our life, our choice to foster as ministry and all the ups/downs have given us many opportunities to attempt to shine God's light in any circumstance. So, for now, we are still private, but down the line we may open it back up again...as God leads if He chooses. For those faithful readers out there...thank you. Your prayers and love make a huge defference in our life.

Thanksgiving 2009

Feeling incredibly blessed by our Savior for my family. We love these kiddos and everything about our life right now. We have been tested and streched in ways we couldnt even think and are so much stronger. We have seen God's divine hand handle all the stress of the summer and court cases. I am intriged by what God has planned for us in the next 12 months and we are open to the growth He has to offer....in a sense, bring it one! :-) Much love to all during the next few weeks.

Purge

Who doesn't like to grab that motivation bug by the horns and run with it? Well, that is exactly what happened this week at the Self house. Our church is having a garage sale tomorrow to support our Mexico Mission trip in Feb and I took full advantage of getting rid of as much stuff as I could. The saddest place in my house was the closet under the stairs...I call it the black pit of death because frankly anything put in there went there to die, execpt Christmas stuff of course. This space, I assume, was intentionally meant for storage by the builder and yet some how it became the 'catch all the crap and never let go' place. I went through bin after bin filled with nothing but old papers and misc. scrapbook stuff. There was no rhyme or reason to the space. Well, that is no longer the case!!! I spent several hours diving head first into the mess and although I filled the black garage can I can say that 50% of the mess has been purged. It looks so pretty now, if a closet can in fact be pretty. In addition to the closet I finally put some thought and organization into the kids crafts, crayons, activity books...etc. I went to IKEA and Jacob helped me build the new unit in the picture. Can I just say how amazing it makes one feel to have clutter and mess taken care of? I still have many more places to work on, including my master closet...another dirty little secret of mine. I desire nothing more that to take this momentium into next week and tackle these other hidden places.

All Dressed Up

Samantha and I at the wedding of my cousin on Sat.night. We both enjoyed getting dressed up as it seems like it only happens a few times a year for me. We ate great food, shaked our little booties and laughed with all our family. It was a beautiful wedding....and great girl time together.

Mini-Me?

Samantha decided she wanted short hair...so I of course jumped at the chance because frankly, the screaming and crying when hair needs to be done is more than I can handle. So I let her look at a few style books and this is what she picked. She LOVES it!!! (And so do I!)

Birthday Bash

We celebrated Nathan's 3rd birthday on Sunday. We went to the park, ate great food and enjoyed dirt pudding cups for dessert. He of course received a few baseball and train things and did very good at saying thank you to everyone.We are still practicing holding up 3 fingers, maybe we will have it mastered by his actual birthday on Friday!