the one where we get a new brother and sister

Last weekend we went to Idaho. The purpose of our visit?

Meet the 2 children Nathan's parents are in the process of adopting.

I will be the first to admit that this was weird for us at first. I know it was weird for my inlaws at first! They have toyed with the idea of adopting again (They adopted Jaden from Ukraine when he was 5) for a while, but they didn't think it would be such young kids. But these guys stole their hearts. And this weekend we found out why.

Nathan and I were both worried that it would be weird with two new kids around. We worried it would change the whole dynamic, and we worried that these kids would never feel like siblings. I think those are pretty normal concerns, but we were so excited to meet them. I can tell you, that they DO feel like siblings. Kinda like a mix of siblings/niece and nephew, but they do feel like family. They slid very easily into place. Jassmine is 6, almost 7. She is outgoing and energetic and a little spitfire. She didn't seem uncomfortable at all. She was so excited to meet us and SO excited to be with Sadie. She wanted to be around her 24/7 and would just look up at me and say, "I love being Sadie's aunt so much!!!" She would often look at us and say, "You're my sister!" or "Nathan, you're my brother!!" She is so happy to have family. She is so sweet. And, honestly, she looks like my mother-in-law. It's funny.

Cori is a hilarious two-year-old. He thinks everything is funny, and his laugh is probably the most amazing thing I have ever heard. He is loving and constantly ready to play. He loved Sadie, and was also worried about her taking his toys, haha. It will be fun to watch them grow up together. When he first came to my inlaws, he was non-verbal and not super affectionate. He has completely changed and it starting to talk and is so sweet and loving. His social workers have been amazed. I am really glad my inlaws can give these kids love and a good home.

I am going to be all weird and special right now, but it just kind of feels like they were always a part of the family. It didn't feel strange with them around. It just felt normal. We both have worried about this a lot, I know the whole family has. But they are the sweetest kids, and all they do is add to the family.

ANYWAY!!! The adoption is not final yet, so I sadly can't post any pictures of the kids. Which is a huge bummer because we got some reeeaallly cute ones! Maybe one day I'll post them. I still took enough pictures to feed an army (yeah, it makes sense) even without the ones of them. So maybe it's good I can post everything. Here's the internet-allowed pictures we got. 

It was such a fun weekend!! We drove up Friday. First road trip in our new car! It was awesome.

It was crazy windy on Saturday and Sunday, but so warm! We played outside most of the day Saturday, and some baby goats were delivered!!

BEST PICTURE EVER

Sadie LOVES Molly. And the feeling is mutual. Whenever Sadie was on the ground, Molly was there. Usually licking her face.

This kid a full-blown, freaking teenager. He's almost as tall as me, he has a deep voice, the works. It's so weird! I have known this kid since he was a little 6-year-old boy who still didn't speak full English. Now he's almost a man.

You can't see her face! See how sneaky I am?

Handsome much? I've always said Jaden was gonna be a lady killer.

He's still weird though.

So is Shawn

Uncle Jaden has the best ears.

We loved having the extra day. We could relax all Sunday instead of packing up and leaving. We went to church and just hung out. Sunday evening was so beautiful. We walked around the property and played with the goats and just sat on the grass and talked. We watched Napolean Dynamite that night and mom made awesome homemade ice cream and cookies.

We had a contest to see who could copy Dwight's face the best. We all sucked.

 Saturday we had a huge breakfast and enjoyed it outside since there was finally no wind! Then we watched Star Wars because I have never seen it and no one was okay with that, haha. We had to leave after, but we had such a great weekend! Love my family, including those two new ones!

Saying goodbye to Aunt Heather, and attacking Uncle Shawn