Merry Christmas!!!

After sending 50 of these photos to the wrong store (Lindon, UT), I'm resorting to this post.

We hope all of our family and friends around the globe are happy and well.

We are grateful for the part each of you has played in our lives over the years and always look forward to times when our paths cross.

Our family has had an eventful and miraculous year.

Like most families we have stayed busy with school, work, church, sports, and music lessons, taken some exciting trips and weekend excursions.
However, the majority of the excitement & travel revolved around the newest addition to our family. At the beginning of 2010 we decided to adopt Marlee, a beautiful 3 yr. old little girl. The next few months were spent traveling to Arizona for visits as we were preparing for and anticipating bringing her home.

We were able to bring Marlee to Missouri in April. Although there were obvious adjustments to make Marlee fit right into our family dynamics. Maggie, Cora & Cooper were thrilled to have another sister and we all wonder what life was like without Marlee in it.

The adoption was finalized on November 4th. One month later we traveled to Rochester, NY and were sealed as an eternal family in the Palmyra, NY temple.

Needless to say, as our numbers increase so does the craziness, but our joy increases even more! What a wonderful blessing this entire experience has been for each member of our family.

Merry Christmas!

We love you!

The Gadd Family

Kevin, Molly, Maggie (9), Cora (7), Marlee (3), & Cooper (1)

p.s. if you would like a physical picture, please ask.

I am more then happy to order more (at the correct store) and send one to you.

Adoption Day!

What a crazy wonderful day!

The little ones didn't wake up at the crack of dawn as usual, so we woke up at 8:00 am and needed to get six people ready and out the door by 8:30!

We made it out by 8:45 and in the doors of the court at exactly 9:30.

In all the craziness I forgot my camera. I was so upset. Luckily we had our phone. This is right after the judge approved the adoption and told us we were good to go. Our sweet adoption worker, Beth, did the best she could with our phone.

Afterwards we celebrated with breakfast at Cracker Barrell, our favorite.

We finished off the day with a little dance party in the kitchen and a great family home evening, since we missed it on Monday.

Marlee gave us a wonderful lesson about the Smith Family frame home & the sacred grove. We are getting ready to visit my parents on their mission in Rochester, NY, as well as preparing to take our family to the Palmyra temple to be sealed for time and eternity.

Our next great family adventure!

Thank you everyone for your love and support.

So many have worked hard for our family to make this adoption possible.

Others have loved and cared for Marlee until it was the right time for her to join our family.

While still more people helped and supported us while we went through the throws of the adoption process.

Not to mention the countless prayers we know were offered in our behalf.

THANK YOU!!!!

It's the Little Things

It's the little things that make me realize how much my life has changed in one year.

Things like the number of pumpkins glowing on my porch this Halloween.

When I found this photo of last years pumpkins it served as a tangible reminder that I actually have four children now. You'd think the actual children wreaking havoc through the house would be reminder enough, but sometimes it truly is the seemingly insignificant things that hit me the hardest. I set the picture of the three pumpkins as our desktop background. When Cora came home from school even she said, "Oh ya! We didn't have four pumpkins last year."
Which served as more proof to me, that things are just as they should be. This sweet little girl who as rounded off our number of kids from 3 to 4 is right where she belongs and it feels like she has always been here.

We had a great Halloween, with a lot of celebrating.
We trunk-or-treated at the church, had Cora's birthday and passed out Candy on Halloween.
Cowgirl Maggie

Cora the Cheerleader & her biggest fan.

The cutest little witch.

(Marlee got yet another cast last week, so we made sure to color coordinate with her costume)

Littlest Fly Boy, Cooper J

Passing out candy on Halloween. The kids actually loved this, and I have to admit I was grateful not to have to get them all dressed up again and traipse around in the cold.

Mar was being such a nut. I took about 5 pictures and she pulled this face in every one!

Halloween Birthday Party

Cora turned 7 yesterday and we had her much anticipated Halloween birthday party.

It turned out so fun!

We played games, had pizza & cake, opened presents, bobbed for apples & roasted marshmallows.

Fortunately it stayed warm enabling us to have the whole party outside. Unfortunately no one got to see my cute set up on the table. However, I'd rather not have 16 first grade girls running amok in my house with chocolate cake!

Party this way!

Bean Bag Toss Babes

Naomi getting mummified.

The final product!

Happy Birthday Cora!

The girls loved bobbing for apples. Most of them figured out how to grab the apples by the stems. Cora had a rough time since she has no front teeth!

The best part of the party: Impromptu Dance Party!

S'mores!

We had a great night last Friday roasting hot dogs and marshmallows.

Not all these pics turned out great, but they show what a good time we had.

Thanks Hendricksons for letting us borrow your fire pit!