The Long Awaited Call!

Monday, November 19 started out as a normal day.  The kids and I went to our homeschool coop and then, unfortunately, we had to go to a funeral of a longtime family friend, Steve Ewalt.  After the funeral, Jason noticed that we had missed a phone call from our adoption agency.  He quickly called them back as we were standing in the parking lot of First Baptist Church.  We were shocked to find out that we were picked by a birth mom to be the adoptive parents of her baby.  We had submitted our profile to this particular mom a month before and had given up hope that she was going to choose us.  We were told that a call was set up the next day for us to meet her and see if we were a match.  Tuesday was a nerve racking day as we anticipated talking to someone that we didn't know and who would sacrificially allow us to raise her baby.  After a few minutes of introductions, we felt very at ease with the conversation.  The baby will be delivered via C-section on January 14, 2013 and I will get to be in the delivery room.  IT"S A BOY and we are going to name him Jackson Lee Baker.  Words cannot express our excitement over this new addition to our family.  It has been a long 4 year wait and we are ready to have the process behind us. 

It's Christmas Time!

Puppies, Puppies Everywhere!

Our golden retriever female, Taffy had a litter of 9 puppies on October 11.  We have enjoyed having them.  My favorite was the runt of the litter that I named Underdog.  After syringe feeding him and caring for him like a baby, we realized that he was just not thriving.  Unfortunately, he died and we miss him.  My intent was to NOT get attached.  That didn't happen and I was so sad to lose him.  We have 3 sold of the puppies at this point and are hoping to find good homes for the rest of them. 

Hallowean 2012

Happy Birthday to the Man I Love

Jason turned 41 years old on Wednesday. We have been together as a couple for 20 years. It is hard to believe so much time has passed but one thing I can say is that my love for him continues to grow. I am so thankful for the husband that God gave me. He is the spiritual leader of our home, an amazing father and a thoughtful, loving husband. Happy Birthday, Jason! I love you so much.

Miramar Air Show

Yesterday, we went to the Miramar Air Show. We arrived at 9:00am and didn't leave until 5:00pm. Grandpa Hyatt, Grandma Jeanne, Nana,and Papa joined us. It is nice to have our 12 passenger van on days like this so that we can drive together. The show was spectacular with the highlight being the Blue Angels. I couldn't help but wonder about the path that God has chosen for Dallas. He has always had an appreciation for aviation and knows so much about all the different planes. Jason, Brayden, Dallas and my dad have all been enjoying RC planes and a flight simulator game. Who knows, we may just have a pilot in the family someday.

A Visit to the Pumpkin Patch and Apple Orchard

Fall is my favorite time of year. We had a week off of school and decided to take advantage of the free time and do some fun fall activities. We went to Riley's Farm with Maria, Anabel, Wyatt and Emmitt and enjoyed picking apples, eating apple pie and exploring. On Wednesday, we went to Bates Nut Farm. This is one of our favorite pumpkin patches. There were not many people there so we were able to do alot without having to wait in long lines. The girls rode the ponies, the boys raced each other in a hay maze and we all enjoyed a hay ride and picking out pumpkins. The weather cooperated well as it was cloudy and misty.

5K Family Fun

On Saturday morning, we participated in our first 5K. The 3 older kids and Jason and I have been training for it since August. The Hixson family also came to run. We camped in our motorhome Friday night in Huntington Beach, and walked across the street the next morning to where our run took place. The kids did amazingly well. Not only did they run the 5K but they decided to run the 1K also. Needless to say, they are very sore. We love being able to pariticpate in a sport together as a family. We hope to do 2-3 runs a year.

Shine Pictures!

Patiently Waiting for our New Baby!

The room is ready, and we purchased a 12 passenger van. Now all we need is the phone call informing us that we have a baby. This has been a long wait but we are anticipating that it will be soon. Boy? Girl? Twins? Any guesses?

Flag Pole Fun

Car Accident

Due to the fact that this is a journal of sorts for me, I feel the need to back track a few weeks ago and share an "experience". It is not one of my favorites but one I don't want to forget. On August 31, I took the girls with me to go get my blood drawn at Kaiser Permanente. I was in a hurry to get there before it closed and as I was on my way on the back "wine country roads", I realized I really needed to get gas. So, I made my way to a gas station and realized I had forgotten my wallet. This meant, I had no Kaiser card and no money. I searched Jason's car and found $10 hidden and used that to get gas. Annoyed, I decided to continue on to Kaiser and hope that they would have pity on me even though I had no identification whatsoever on me. I pulled up to a stop light and the car in front of me (although in the middle lane) felt the need to try to turn right which left the rest of us waiting until she could safely do that. All of a sudden, we were rammed into from behind. It didn't feel like we were hit hard and I was more frustrated that I didn't have my wallet than I was about the fact that we were hit. I didn't even ask the girls if they were okay because I assumed they were. It wasn't until one of the other drivers asked if the girls were okay that I realized that Providence was hurting. She said her chest hurt because she had been bending over when we were hit. Due to her pain, and the "seizures of another lady", an ambulance was called. I truly felt that she was okay but they decided to put her on the "board" to prevent any potential spinal cord injury. I fully expected to be able to ride in the ambulance with her but due to the fact that there were now two patients, they told me there was no room for me and that I would have to follow. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find the hospital and they rambled off some directions and told me to follow the ambulance. I was given different directions from the paramedic and the police officer and I was starting to panic, thinking I might lose the ambulance and not find my way to the hospital. I tried to get right behind the ambulance, but another ambulance had come on the scene, and cut me off so that I could not see the ambulance in front of me. I had comforted Providence with the fact that I would be right behind her even though I couldn't ride with her. Long story short, because the second ambulance was blocking my view and I assumed it was going to the same hospital, I ended up turning the wrong direction on the 15 freeway and realized that Providence was long gone and heading the other direction. It was 5pm on Friday so you can imagine that there was alot of traffic and I was in it and not even heading to the right place. I called Jason panicking and asking him to help me get to the right hospital. Thirty to Fourty minutes later, I made it to Rancho Springs Medical Center and was sent into the emergency room to find Providence. Praise the Lord, she was okay and not crying, although completely alone. After a chest X-ray and assurance that there didn't seem to be any major injury, we left to go home at about 10:00pm. Praise the Lord, that the other lady was fine. She had a seizure condition and the impact had caused her body to react. However, she was expected to be fine.

More Road Trip Pictures

Road Trip Adventures

Daniel and Wendy's Wedding

We were blessed to be a part of Daniel and Wendy's wedding. I think this is the most God honoring wedding that I have ever been too. Not only was the gospel very clear but Daniel and Wendy even saved their first kiss for their wedding day. We are so glad that we were able to drive to Colorado and celebrate with family and friends.

Baker Academy is Back in Session!

We had a great summer and now we are back in the swing of school. It is refreshing to be back into a routine. We have started a "Workbox System" that is working wonderfully. As the kids mature, they are able to be more independent and excel in subjects on their own. Some of our favorite classes are: Science- Zoology 3 (Land Animals), The Mystery of History (Ancient Times) and Teaching Textbooks for Math.

Jeep Ride to Idyllwild with the Hixsons!

More Alaska Pictures!

Anniversary Cruise to Alaska!!!

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Tommy is 21 years old! Yikes!

Once again, I am wondering where the time has gone. My nephew Tommy turned 21 on June 5 and we celebrated with a party at our house. It is so encouraging to see a group of Godly kids celebrate this milestone with no alcohol and just good old fashioned fun. Tom and Maria barbequed the food, the kids played pingpong and went on the zipline. They set up a target of a mock Zombie and practice shooting it as they were going down the zipline. That was a little scary!

They were at our house until 12:30am. We really enjoyed being with them all.

More Birthday Photos!

Dallas had a wonderful birthday. He spent the day with Grandma Jeanne and Sierra enjoying a trip to Boomers! For his birthday party, we went to George's Pizza and enjoyed the fellowship of friends and family. Dallas enjoys creating "masterpieces" with his Legos, so he was overjoyed to receive more Lego sets. Our hope and prayer for Dallas this year is that God will reign in His life, making him more like Jesus. We pray that he will accomplish His will by glorifying and enjoying God in all aspects of his life. Dallas is very focused on sharing his faith and he has been active by placing tracts on the windshields of vehicles in various parking lots.

Reading Glasses!

I have always dreamed about wearing glasses. That may seem absurd to some people but with all of the lovely options available, who wouldn't want to wear them? I have tried the fake ones, but feel like a fraud and my friends have laughed. I have gone to the eye doctor and tried to convince him that I need them but to no avail. He handed me eye drops and said to use those. Anyways,enough about me! Providence had an eye appoitment two weeks ago and test results show that she needs reading glasses. She is so excited and I am happy for her. She wants to wear them all the time and claims that they help with everything but she really only needs them for reading and schoolwork. Purple frames were the color of choice and they suit her perfectly.

Inexpensive Summer Activities!

We are enjoying summer! We have been taking advantage of the different summer programs offered by the library and Regal Theatre. Today we saw Dolphin Tale at the San Jacinto Theatre for $1 each person. It was great. We then headed to Hemet Wheelhouse for 2 hours of roller skating. The kids had earned free admission to the skating rink (from our local library) for reading 15 minutes a day for a week. I had not been to the roller skating rink since I was in Jr. High and it had not changed a bit. I felt like I was going back in time. We basically had the place to ourselves. There were 6 other people who were at the facility. We had so much fun and can't wait to earn more prizes in the weeks to come.