Christmas Fun!

We had fun today decorating for Christmas!! Our foster child loved the Santa hat and the Christmas lights.

Ta-da!!
Opa & Oma gave us a gingerbread house kit. We had a blast putting it together.

St. Nicholas at Wolf Creek

Since my mother is from the Netherlands, we have always celebrated St. Nicholas (Dutch Christmas). This year we celebrated on the weekend before Thanksgiving, since we would all be together(it's usually on Dec. 6th). As part of the tradition, we all draw names and make a homemade gift and write a poem about the person whose name we drew. A candybar is always included as part of the gift :) Here are some of the highlights:

No Hicken get-together would be complete without some kind of music performance.
I had Jay, and made him a space simulator.
We were fascinated by the Denison's ability to communicate while brushing their teeth. Apparently they plan their days this way.

Going Private/ Foster Parents!!!

Clint and I have been selected to be Foster Parents!!! We super excited!

Happy Halloween!!

Clint and I were Hillbillies for Halloween!We helped out again this year at Mystique's Trick-or-Treat. The kids had to be brave enough to come and get their candy bar off the old man's lap. Clint and I traded off being the old man. We added scary lights and music, but even without it looks pretty creepy.
These shrubs scared the kids as they left.
We make such a cute couple!!!

Clint as the old man (I really hope this is not a glimpse of my future...lol):
Me as the old man :)
Our orange colored Chocolate Chip Pancakes. This one is smiling :)
Our fabulous pancakes:

Dad & Mom Ross

Clint's parents came to visit. It was wonderful to see them. We were able to spend some time with them in Salt Lake and went to Saturday Morning Conference. Then last weekend they spent some time at our place. It was Mom's birthday on Oct 13th and Dad's is on Oct 18th, so we were able to celebrate their birthdays while they were here.

28 on the 28th

Last month I had a special birthday. I turned 28 on the 28th of September!! Clint totally spoiled me. He took me to Chili's and bought me perfume. Love you Baby!!!

The End of Bakers Club

I wanted to thank all of you who have supported Bakers Club. I like to think that we made a little bit of a difference. I am discontinuing the club, because I am following another service venture, and I hope all of you will check it out. I was asked to participate in creating a trial website ServiceProjects.net It is still a work in progress, but it is currently up and offers service opportunities for anyone interested in the Pocatello area. Please check it out and keep on servin'!!

-Heidi Ross

PRIDE Class Foster Care/Adoption

Clint and I graduated from our PRIDE class this week! HOORAY!! Now all we need is a home study and we'll be licensed Foster Parents. Clint and I have been exploring all our adoption options. If we adopt through the state they want you to take the PRIDE classes and foster the child for 6 months before you adopt them, to make sure the child is a good fit for your family.

Clint and I started taking the class, mainly to adopt, but the classes really opened our eyes to what Foster Care is all about. We were so touched by the stories and the training that we have decided to do Foster Care, whether or not we'll be able to adopt the child after. We figure at some point we will Foster a child that we'll have the opportunity to adopt, but in the mean time we're taking it slow and excited to provide a home for a child/children in need.

As for the 2 children I mentioned in my previous post. The state is still trying to decide what would be best for the kids, and "exploring all their options." We'll keep you posted!

Webtec

Clint and I have started a company called Webtec. We Design Websites, and so far it has been going really well. Our poor little website has been a bit neglected, because we've been busy with other site, but we finally have our site up and going. We can build websites for companies anywhere in the world, so if you know anybody looking for a designer, please send them our way :)

Adoption 1 or 2?

Clint and I have been working with Social Services for the past couple months trying to adopt. There has been a 3 year old girl that we have been particularly interested in. It has gone back and forth, over and over again, whether or not we can adopt her. I can't really get into details, but they want to place her with her siblings and to go to extended family members if possible, however, now they are considering us again.

She has a 5 year old brother, who we have met and he's adorable, and Social Services are now asking if we would be willing to adopt them both to keep them together. Since we've never been parents we are nervous about adopting two at once. On the other hand they could be good playmates for each other. I would love to have input from ya'll out there! Especially those of you with kids :) Is it easier with two?

Hicken Reunion 2009

The 2009 Hicken Reunion, minus Clint and Jay :( (who had to work). Me and my siblings

Grandpa Hicken wanted to show the grandkids the twisted trees. He took them all on a nature hike.
M. brought Grandma a little yellow flower. T. wanted to give Grandma a present too, and brought her a handful of rocks..lol.
Kevin and Anna showed up with these awesome shirts.
Two of my favorites sisters.

Adoption

To make a long story short, Clint and I are trying to adopt. When we decided to adopt, we didn't realize the innumerable decisions that came with adoption. How old? Boy or Girl? LDS Family Services or Social Services? to name a few. We've just started a couple months ago and I've already experienced the emotional roller coaster. We're trying our bests to trust the Lord and follow our hearts. We welcome any advice, thoughts or insight.

Technology is Amazing!!

I'm so blown away by this video. I think it's now one of my life dreams to be invited to the TED conference.

Aladdin at Mystique

More Fun Aladdin Pics

The Magic Carpet Ride:
Clint's Awesome Pyros:

The Cave of Wonders:

4th Fun

Happy 4th of July!! This year we had a barbecue at my brother Tom's place. I found these really fun 4th recipes. The pic above is a Patriotic Drink with Cranberry Juice at the bottom, Blue Gatorade in the Middle, and Diet 7-up on top. The layers stay separated because of the different sugar contents. Here is the recipe.
This is my Patriotic 7-layer Bean dip. It looked a lot better before we traveled with it :/ The white stripes are sour cream and the red stripes are tomatoes.

Brittany

Aladdin Opening This Week

We've had a crazy couple of weeks. Aladdin Jr. opens at Mystique this upcoming week. Clint does the lights and sound, and I am designing & painting the scenery. I've also been lucky enough to have Rachel come and stay with us for a couple weeks to help me paint. We're excited for the opening, it should be a cute show. Here are some of the cast pics we took yesterday.

The Cast & Crew:
Both Casts:
Cast "B"
Cast "A"

Family Fun Party Site

Family Fun Party.com
We finished another one. This one was pretty fun to do :)

Happy 30th Birthday Clint!!

Clint Turned 30 this weekend. Happy Birthday Honey!!! To celebrate we went up to Island Park and stayed at Macks Inn. Some friends of ours run the Playhouse there. They are putting on a hilarious show called Less Miserables, A Whole lot Less Miserable. While we were there we also went up to the Playmill in West Yellowstone and watched our friend Daniel in Footloose. On Friday we spent most of the day on 4wheelers. What a blast!

This is the cabin we stayed in. No, this is not a Monet. The water was so clear we could see the plants at the bottom.












Clint's Island :)


At the end of the trip we decided to go up a mountain with some snow at the top. We didn't make it all the way, and you can see why. With no gloves it was too cold!!
We were very grateful to have a gas fireplace back at our cabin. With some hot chocolate in hand we were warmed back up in no time.