Adoption Finalized!

I just posted on our Adoption Blog, that our adoption of Caleb has been finalized.  On Saturday, April 24th, we received the final adoption paperwork for the Court stating that the adoption was finalized on Thursday, April 22nd.  Mike and I are so thrilled to be Caleb's parents and to know that he will always be a part of our family.  Parenthood is treating us well and we are having so much fun.  I love being a Stay-At-Home-Mom and working as an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.  Mike enjoys his full-time career at Talecris.  We also enjoy living so close to Talecris so Mike can easily and quickly come home for lunch or go to Drs. appointments for Caleb.

Caleb really does have a very sweet disposition and is now 7 months old!  It is so fun to see him grow and make new discoveries each day.  He loves to giggle and smile.  Each day his personality shines through more and more.  We are blessed that he is a very laid back, relaxed baby.  He doesn't cry very often unless he is in discomfort which lately involves teething - poor little guy has had bloody gums as he is teething.  We are taking Caleb to physical therapy to deal with a mild case of Tortocollis (shortened neck muscle on one side) as well as helping him with some of his gross motor skills.  The Physical Therapy is once a week and we will probably go as long as our insurance covers the appointments which means we have around 30 appointments available.

Caleb at 7 months...

This summer Caleb and I will be visiting Minnesota arriving on Thursday, June 24th.  We will be in Minnesota for 3 weeks leaving on Monday, July 12th.  Plans are being made to go up to the lake near Nevis, MN on Friday, June 25th and probably stay through Tuesday or Wed. of the following week then we will be back in the Twin Cities.  Randy, Lori and the girls will be arriving around July 1st dropping the girls of for an extended visit with Grandma & Grandpa Schmidt.  Then Daddy will have Caleb all by himself for a week while Mommy goes to Salt Lake City, Utah for the Stampin' Up! Convention.

Lots of Love,

Pam, Mike & Caleb Staples

Oops... It has been too long.

I've been a bad girl not posting to the Staples Blog but instead focusing on my scrapbooking and stamping blog at www.sunnygirlscraps.com!

Mike and I have had a very interesting summer with some of our vacation plans having to be canceled. We are now back on track and looking forward to visiting family and friends in Minnesota the month of September. Unfortunately, we are not able to bring the puppy dogs along for the visit.

We also miss seeing some of our family. Mike hopes to visit his sister, Melissa, in Georgia towards the end of September and early October while I'm away at a couple different scrapbooking retreats.

I am excited to share that at the end of March, I became a Stampin' Up! Independent Demonstrator. It is so much fun using my creativity selling Stampin' Up! My hope is that I can make it into a thriving business while teaching others how to create beautiful handmade cards, scrapbook pages and gifts. If you have a chance, take the time to check out my SunnyGirlScraps blog! Also, if you know anyone that enjoys making cards, scrapbooking or making handmade gifts email them a link to SunnyGirlScraps so they can see all the great projects that I've posted. My Stampin' Up! online store is available 24/7 for purchases from anyone located anywhere within the United States!

All my best.

USS Wisconsin Battleship!

Here are photos from our visit to the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, VA.



And, of course... Old Glory - The Stars & Stripes!

Kings Creek Plantation... USS Wisconsin!

We are on vacation in Williamsburg, VA staying at the Kings Creek Plantation. This place is absolutely beautiful. Our accommodations consist of a beautiful 2 bedroom townhouse that can accommodate up to 6 people. There is plenty of room and I'm seriously thinking I'll have to arrange for a week get away scrapbooking retreat in February 2010!

Mike and I enjoyed visiting the Nautilus today in downtown Norfolk, VA and touring the USS Wisconsin which is in the same class of ship as the USS Missouri. My Uncle Otto served on the USS Missouri when the Japanese surrendered at the end of World War II. It was very interesting. Did you know that the USS Wisconsin is in "reserve" and can actually be recalled to active duty? Now you do!

Tomorrow we are planning to visit Yorktown and Jamestown Settlements along with visiting some lighthouses along the VA Beach coastline.

Savvy Girl...

Savvy is our newest family addition. She is a Golden Retriever rescued through the Neuse River Golden Retriever Rescue. Savvy comes from a puppy mill in Virginia. She is a wonderful girl and very sweet. We've had her since early March.

Savvy is very attached to me and has to be by my side all the time especially in the house. In mid-March, we started obedience classes which are definitely helping but she still has work that needs to be done. If she knows she is in trouble, she really doesn't want to listen or will go hide under our master bed.

Here are a few pictures:

Snow Snow Snow!!! 4 to 6 inches in Smithfield!

Hi friends and family,


We are enjoying the first and probably only snowfall down hear in North Carolina for the 2008/2009 winter! Yes... You heard me - WE have SNOW in Smithfield, NC. On Tuesday, January 20, 2009, we had a "dumping" of 5 inches of snow.


The world came to a screeching halt hear in the "south!"


Schools closed for both Tuesday and Wed. because the roads were hazardous to drive on. Lots of businesses were either closed on Tuesday or closed early with some opening late on Wed. The roads were earily silent and devoid of traffic for the most part. They definitely do not know how to clear the roads of ice or snow. By late afternoon on Tuesday, the Governor of North Carolina declared a "State of Emergency."


Now the fun part was going outside to play in the snow. Gabriel and I enjoyed playing catch for a while. But then he lost his tennis ball in the snow and I couldn't find it either - yep, we had enough snow to cover his tennis ball. It really was a lot of fun watching everyone's reaction to the snow.

The snow was still on the ground today and with the sun shining it was a beautiful day. I pulled out my new camera and it the road in search of snow photos. It was interesting driving and did find myself on some roads that were very icy. Then there were some VERY SLOW moving vehicles that I was stuck behind but since I was looking for interesting photography subjects I didn't mind.


In downtown Smithfield, I enjoyed walking along the Neuse River photographing the snow covered trees. There was also lots of running water and ice to photograph. The scenery by the river was beautiful. It was also lots of fun watching kids with sleds run down the path looking for a hill to go sledding on.

Finally, I decided to make my way home. When I got home I decided that I wanted to make a small snowman so I started with my small snowball rolling it in the snow until it started to grow. Once I had a snowball about the size of a soccer ball I decided it was a good size for the base of my small snowman.

Then I started on the second tier with this snowball being slightly larger than a softball. Of course, I had to have eyes and arms so I went for a scavenger hunt in the garage where I found some of my golf tees. I tried to find two matching blue golf balls for eyes but only had one so I decided to just use the golf tees.

The finished snowman actually looked kind of cute. So I decided I had to take a photo of my handy work. I managed to take one photo just before Gabriel decided that the Snowman's head looked like a fun ball to play with leading to the BEHEADING of my snowman. Alas, my snowman didn't last much longer than a few minutes. I put his head back on but Gabriel beheaded him a second time in less than a few seconds. Before I knew it Gabriel was eating the snowman and having a great time pouncing in the snow. You would think he was a cat the way he was playing.


All-in-all, we have had lots of fun with the snow!


By tomorrow afternoon I expect all the snow to be gone. It was fun while it lasted...

Our Adoption Blurb...

Mike and Pam, married 4 years

Our faith in Jesus Christ is the binding force in our marriage. We are a happy, affectionate and loving couple. The deepest desire of our hearts is to share our love by raising a family. It is with eager anticipation that we hope to expand our family through adoption by bringing a baby into our home.

Whatever your decision, we hope it brings you peace and, if it does include us, we will be joyously devoted to your baby. We hope that you find reassurance that your baby's future with us will be full of love, laughter, encouragement, and opportunity. Every child deserves a safe and secure home where they can flourish and thrive.

God has a beautiful way of connecting the right people at the right time and in the right place! Adoption is part of God's perfect plan for creating families and can bring people together in a powerful, meaningful way. We pray for you daily and hold close to our hearts the following bible verse from Romans 12:12 (NIV):

“12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”