Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family...I hope each and everyone of you have a blessed day and please stuff yourself.

I am thankful for God putting Kayla in my life. She's given me a purpose and a lot of joy.

I am thankful for my parents who have supported me through every twist and turn in my life and have opened their hearts to Kayla.

I am thankful for cheap gas which made the Thanksgiving drive home so much better!

I am thankful for good food and family.

I am thankful for my dog, Reba, that she has so far made it through her illness and will hopefully stick around for a little while longer.

I am thankful for my job and the wonderful people I work with which is a treasure in today's economy.

I am thankful for the best friends a girl could have...you know who you are.

I am thankful for God and all the blessing above which He has given me and many more.

Starting Christmas Early

Kayla and I had yet another busy weekend and I am sure we will stay busy through the holiday season. She had a friend from her old school spend the night with her Friday and they went to a school dance together. I think they stayed up most of the night while I went to bed early.

Saturday night we went to see the much-anticipated Twilight. It was pretty good...the casting of Bella made me like her more but I'm still not sure about Edward's casting. I loved the rest of the Cullens, though, especially Alice. I thought they were perfect.

Sunday we went to a friend's birthday party for her son and then to see my friend Carrie's newborn daughter. She is so little!

We also got out the Christmas decorations this weekend. We decorated the tree together while playing Christmas music. Kayla realized, however, that we do not have anything to go on top of the tree so we are now on a mission to find something. Kayla also has us watching ABC Family because they are playing Christmas movies nonstop. So it is Christmas at our house and we haven't even had Thanksgiving yet!

National Adoption Day

Kayla and I attended a celebration party for National Adoption Day on Saturday, November 15. It was a gathering of all the people who adopted children this year in Pulaski County and all those who are wanting to adopt children. They had the Heart Gallery on display of all the beautiful children that are available for adoption. They also did a slideshow entitled "This is Home" of all the families that have recently adopted. A professional photographer held a photoshoot in September and took our photos specifically for this video. She took a bunch but my favorite shot is the one I posted above. There was not a dry eye in the house during the video. When they showed "The Gray Family," all the caseworkers cheered real loud. They love Kayla and call her "Miss Diva" and "Drama Queen." We also gave our caseworker, Monica, one of these pictures because without her I wouldn't have Kayla. They also let all the adoptive parents take home our children's "Heart Gallery" photo because "they don't need them anymore because they all have a home." It was a special night and also put a desire in my heart for maybe another one...a little one this time. I guess I'll just see what God has planned for me.

Reba...and Reba

Kayla and I went to the Reba McEntire/Kelly Clarkson concert Saturday night. Reba is my absolute favorite singer and she was at her best. This is the fourth time I've seen her live and she is still an awesome entertainer. Kayla didn't know many of Reba's songs but knew all of Kelly's...it was a great show and we had a blast. We had been looking forward to it for the past couple of months and hard to believe it's here and gone.

Last night, we had to rush my dog, Reba, named for the above-mentioned singer, to the emergency vet clinic. She had been coughing all weekend and last night started wheezing and struggling to breathe. Kayla kept saying "Reba, you're scaring me." They did x-rays and discovered she has a collapsed trachea. I was really scared last night because the doctor didn't sound too hopeful but we saw our vet today whom I absolutely love and she made me feel a bit better. It turns out Reba has kennel cough that exacerbated the collapsing trachea. The vet thinks that if we can treat her infection then she will probably be okay. So she is on antibiotics and cough meds. I took her to work with me today because I was too scared to leave her alone in case something happened. She's been resting most of the day and seems to be doing better. I hope so because I'm not ready to let go of her yet.

Nonstop activity

I've been so exhausted lately...the time change and total darkness by the time I leave work leaves me drained at night.

We had another busy weekend. Kayla went to the movies with some of her friends from school Friday night and was excited to be asked to go. And for me, I got to catch up on some much needed rest.

Saturday, we had brunch with my grandparents. They were excited to see Kayla and get copies of her school picture. We sat down with them to watch the Razorback game but then left after the first interception which led me to believe, rightfully so, that it would be a long game.

Saturday afternoon, Kayla and I both stopped into Supercuts and got our hair cut. Neither of ours had been cut since the early summer so we are sporting much healthier hair now.

We went to the Arkansas Repertory Theatre's Young Artists Production Saturday night and it was awesome. I think Kayla really liked it and would love to be in it. They hold auditions in the spring but she isn't sure she can do the singing part.

Sunday, we went to church, the grocery store and a two hour adventure to find some decent winter shoes for Kayla. She kept asking me "What are winter shoes?" and I told her "You keep telling me your feet are freezing so to me that means you need some shoes that will cover your feet and keep you warm in the winter." Myself, I learned never to go shopping in heels again and bought me some moccasins so I wouldn't have to...my feet feel much better today.

Election Day

Get out and vote!

Report Card

Kayla got her first report card yesterday since she's been living with me. She had 5 As and 2 Bs--which is a 3.75 GPA. I was pleasantly surprised and very proud of her. We went to the mall last night to buy me some jeans that will fit me since I'm apparently gaining some weight (it pains me to say that) and we found a great sale on some velour sweatsuits and Kayla talked me into getting matching teal outfits for us which she wants us to wear to our upcoming National Adoption Day party. It was money I didn't need to spend but how can you resist your 12-year-old daughter wanting to wear the SAME outfit as you. I don't think it will ever happen again and it shows how far we have come in these few months. That is priceless.

Hello November

We had another busy fall weekend. Halloween night we trick-or-treated in our dear friend's neighborhood and visited with her and her husband for a while. We even brought the dog. Then we had a late dinner at On The Border and a visit to Barnes & Noble. Saturday we had a baby shower to go to and then we went to see High School Musical 3. Kayla said it was better than the other two and I thought it was a really good feel good movie which is nice to see in these scary times. We also found a new dog store in the new shopping center where the theater was that is so cute. They had Razorback everything and we bought Reba a Razorback treat which she loved. Sunday we got up and went to church and then did our weekly chores--laundry and grocery shopping. The extra hour we got was wonderful. Kayla even cleaned out Reba's doggie room and the laundry room yesterday AND the back porch "just because." The weather has been beautiful but I'm ready for some cold--it is November after all.

This week we will have a new President. I'm getting up early tomorrow to be at the polls when they open. I hope everyone gets out and votes for the most important election of our time. We need change now more than ever.