Kaptain

This weekend, one of my very best friends, Kylee, got married in Boise. We made the trek to be there with her during her special day. Kylee and I met our sophomore year of high school during the first week of school. We were at some homecoming event and I was sitting right in front of her with my friend Haylee. It was my birthday that day and these boys had given me three pairs of those really hideous velcro shoes from Wal-Mart (you know the kind that old men wear). So, I was wearing a pair and she happened to notice and commented on them. Well, the rest is history. Kylee is the one who introduced me to my husband, so I have her to thank for my happiness in marriage.

Ky and I became really close very fast. We have a lot in common and have been through a lot together. She definitely kept things fun in high school. She later took my place in the apartment at school when I went to Ecuador. When I was so homesick for Ecuador after a few months of being home, she was the one who encouraged me to get tickets to go back and she came with me.

I just love everything about her and I am so grateful that we have become friends. I see us being the old ladies who take trips together when all our kids are out of the house. She is the kind of friend who would be there in a heartbeat for anything. I am now trying to convince her and her husband, Seth, to come move here so they can be near me! I think its a wonderful idea, but she isn't so sure yet. Anyway, enjoy some pictures from her big day. The beautiful bride along with Camille and myself. We probably have hundreds of self portraits just like this, but this one we can say is from her wedding day! WHOO!!Dev, Kylee, and Hals. Good thing they worked at Jamba together so that we could be introduced!Nice diaper shot, I know. Hals with Mille and I. She matched! Mille was happy to see her since she moved to DC recently. I am not so fond because I lost all my babysitters.

I love this lady!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Camille and I along with our other dear friend (and my cousin) Anneka, who trekked all the way from Washington to be there for Ky.

Oh, we did such a good job on that car. Except then Seth just took his keys and ripped right through all our saran wrap, so that wasn't any fun. Oh and since I have pretty much zero pictures of Seth (sorry Seth!) here is a picture of them cutting the cake.

It was a wonderful day and we were so happy to be there to celebrate with Kylee and Seth. I haven't had so much fun in a long time!! Love you guys and congrats again!

Sometimes You Just Never Grow Up

My cousin Che' and I have always really enjoyed dressing up, ratting our hair, and wearing our Grandma's clothes (we won't discuss the time when we asked her if we could try on her bra. We were 8.) I was reading my very first journal ever today from when I was in the 5th grade. What a gem. Back then, we used to save our money during the year so that we could go to our Aunt Linda's house in Logan every summer. Oh, what joys. Here is just a sampling of what I wrote:
"I am back from Aunt Linda's. I had a very good time. Monday afternoon, we went to Lagoon. We forced Linda and Brad onto the log ride, even though we weren't supposed to, we splashed them soaked!!!! Next, Tuesday, we went to the mall. We got kicked out of ZCMI for trying on the men's cologne. Che'Lyn clogged for an old man, Cortney counted her money on the floor in the middle of it, and we were paging each other. Thursday we drove home. It wasn't a normal drive. All us girls ratted our hair way up! Linda pulled over so we could spray hairspray outside. Then we ate at Taco Bell like that. Linda and Brad were very embarrassed. Then when we got home, we put on bell bottoms with our hair still up."

Ah, the good old days. I wish I had those pictures handy. Another time, we dressed up as bag ladies and pulled a wagon with treasures over to our Aunt Mari Ann's house. She didn't want to claim us, either.

Not to worry, we haven't grown up yet. This picture is from the last time we were at Grandma's house just about a month ago. We probably won't grow up anytime soon, so fam, don't hold your breath!

PS. The winners from the last post are my sister Jen and Lindsay B. You both win.... a fantastic game night with us when you are in Provo next Jen and when you move back Lindsay! Aren't we so nice? The groceries were just over $30.

The Price is Right!

So, last week we went shopping at this new market store in town. To make a long story short, we ended up getting a lot of fresh produce and a few other items for a pretty good price. So, we decided to see how smart you all are and tell you what we bought and then let you guess the price! Here is the list in no particular order:

- 5 lbs. of ground beef
- 4 bunches of green onions
-20 bananas
-15 nectarines
-15 white peaches
- 7 braeburn apples
- 3 large tomatoes
- 5 cucumbers
- 4 zuchinni
-10 green peppers
- 3 large yellow onions
- 5 oranges
- 1 pineapple
- 1 head of romane lettuce
- 2 jalapenos
-17 loose carrots
- 1 head of broccoli
- 1 stalk of celery
- 2 cans of Nalley Chilli
- 1 package hot dog buns
- 1 package hamburger buns
- 2 drinks (you get parched after a trip like that)

As you can see, this was no small order. Put your great shopping skills to work and guess how much this cost us!

Remember When?

I don't know if any of you have a grandma that would make you Mickey Mouse pancakes when you were little, but mine did. It is a very fond memory of mine from my childhood. Now, whenever I have pancakes, I am tempted to make them Mickey Mouse style. I hadn't ever done it until the other day when we made oatmeal pancakes and we made on for Hallie. I don't think my Mickey Mouse pancake is nearly as good as my grandma's, but I'm pretty sure no one will ever equal her Mickey Mouse pancaking skills.



Yeah, see, mine looks like a heart. I will keep working on it Grandma!

Adoption...

...It's About Love.

I have been meaning to write this post for a while, but have had other things going on. LDS Family Services' new website, http://www.itsaboutlove.org/, which is improved from an older version, is now live. Go check it out and be inspired by the wonderful stories found there. I can't tell you how blessed I am to have the job that I do. I don't talk about it much on this blog, but it is a large part of my life and something I am so grateful for. I get to be right involved in the Lord's work of creating eternal families. I have had sacred, spiritual experiences too numerous to name over the last year that I have worked there.

I tell my adoptive couples all the time how strong they are. I don't know if they believe me, but I honestly admire so much the strength that they have. Not many people can go through something so trying, yet be so grateful for it. I have been blessed by my association with such amazing people. Infertility is tough, but it is the refiner's fire for people that go through it. There are special experiences that adoptive couples go through as they expand their families that some of the others of us don't get to have. Being in the temple with each child and having them sealed, for example. What an amazing experience! I admire adoptive couples because they have to have such faith in the Lord and His plan for them. Most of us like to have some element of control over our lives and to have a plan for when and how we are going to do things, but that isn't possible for couples in the adoption world. Though it can be frustrating to not know when things are going to happen, it is incredible to see the faith involved in knowing that when the timing is right, the Lord will provide.

Sitting in the infertility chair would be, in my opinion, one of the most difficult trials to go through. I have listened as so many people (mostly women) bear their souls and describe how heart wrenching it is to feel "broken" in a society where childbearing is honored, respected, and even expected. "What do I say to people when they ask me when we are going to have kids?" or "I want to be happy for all my friends that are pregnant and having babies, but it is so hard, because I want so badly to be there too." These are common sentiments expressed by adoptive couples. Hearing their stories has definitely changed the way I think about others. I wish for each of us to be a little more sensitive because we just never know what situation someone else is in.

On the flip side of the coin are the amazing women who choose to place their babies for adoption. Something I learned my very first day on the job was the positive adoption language, such as "placing the baby" versus "giving up the baby" (That makes me cringe now). Do you see the difference? Birth mothers give everything to that precious baby that they choose to place in another mother's arms. One of the messages on our phones that plays when you are on hold is this quote that runs through my head a lot, from a birth mother: "If I had loved him one ounce less, I would never have let him go." True, so true. I think birth fathers are often left out of the equation, but they too are amazing (most of the time) people who think first of their child's needs over their own. I have had equally spiritual experiences working with birth parents as I have with adoptive couples. I have learned to rely on the Spirit to direct the things that I say and do. It is incredible to see the results of something that I said or was directed to do not on my own. I had one of those experiences last week. It just reaffirms that the Lord is in charge and that I am simply an instrument. I strive to live the way that I should so that I can receive those promptings. Each person is different and each person needs different direction at different times. I don't know how I would do it without the Spirit.

I just wanted to write this post to say how thankful I am for my job and the wonderful people that it puts me in association with. I was reading my journal from my senior year of high school a while ago and I had written goals for my life, one of which was to work at LDS Family Services doing adoption. I had forgotten that that was a goal of mine, even back then! But I am so happy that it has come to pass and that I am privileged enough to be doing the work I am, even when there is so much to do it is almost to the point of overwhelming. It is still worth it, even then! :)






Image from here

Mischief

The Cracker Queen

I gave Hallie one cracker and then put the pack down on the floor. I thought it wasn't close enough for her to get to, but I was sorely wrong. I turned my back to continue cooking dinner and this is what I got! Oh, how excited I am for her future endeavors...

Just have to tell you...

Hallie and her cousin Ryder, who is 2 weeks older than she is. I promise, she is wearing a skirt under there, though you sure can't tell!

...Hallie has now broken the 20 lb. mark. Yep, I know. Big Girl.



We took her into the doctor yesterday because she has a cough (she's fine, of course...) and our doctor was booked, so we saw someone else at his practice. The doctor came in, took one look at her and said "My, my, my, what a BIG girl!" Yeah, I know doc, thanks for helping my complex about it. He then proceeded to tell me that "normal" babies double their weight by 4 months and triple it by one year which he was telling me to make me feel better. Except, he didn't know that she is only 7 months old. Nice.



What can I say? I like to eat. She likes to eat. It's all in the family.

A Stroll Down Memory Lane

This week, my old roommate Stefani was able to come visit for a few days. Kylee came down as well so that she could hang out with us. I hadn't seen Stef since her wedding last summer in Chicago. I just have to say that I was so lucky in the roommates that I had during my single days. All were wonderful and I have remained friends with each of them. I lived with Stef my sophomore and junior years, so 2 out of 3. Having her here made me recall lots of fabulously funny memories from our time together. Here is a TOP TEN for your enjoyment!



10- We had a list of "Family Rules". My favorite should not be repeated, so I won't. Stef was the firm enforcer of the rules, which included, "In this family, we don't go to the bathroom with the door open" and gems such as that.

9-One night, Camille, Kylee, Stef and I decided to watch "The Notebook." We ended up crying, laughing, and eating gallons of ice cream all night long. We took hundreds of horrible pictures.

8- The time we went to Yellowstone once with some of my friends from IF. Stef had never been and she was super enthralled with taking pictures of the buffalo. I am so over that, since my mom has a huge box of pictures of just buffalo sitting at home. Nonetheless, it was fun.

7-We played flag football both years and Stef and I attempted to be just like the boys, so we had a body slam that we would do whenever we did something good in the game. I am sure we looked super professional.

(our fiercest faces, yes I know, mine is pretty pathetic!)

6- Our "Family Photos". We took these very seriously. We went to Wal Mart the first year and spent a total of $5 on a huge packet of photos which we proudly hung on our wall and distributed to anyone who would take one. The next year, we had a friend in our ward take our pictures. Again, we were so proud.

5- Stef had some strange sleeping habits (still does, I am sure). It was not uncommon to find her asleep upside down in the front room chair, or in equally awkward positions. She was dating Ronnie (her husband now) during our second year together when her and I shared a room. Ronnie was across the country, so let's just say there were far too many 4 am phone calls for my liking...poor Ronnie would just sit on the other line while Stef slept through it. I am kidding about the poor Ronnie thing, poor me is what I mean!

4- At the time, we were way into abbreviating everything. One time, we went to IHOP (we frequented that and Denny's for their hot chocolate) and the waitress told us something was "delish." We still laugh about that one.

3- Though Stef might deny it, Camille and I actually are responsible for her marrying Ronnie. Without us, she wouldn't even know him. He was in our ward our freshman year and then she moved in sophomore year after he had moved to Louisiana for Law School. We suggested that they started emailing, then visits started, and ya know, the rest is history!

2- Stef had the funniest eating habits. Her diet consisted of oreos, spaghettios straight out of the can, cheerios, and macaroni and cheese with tuna.

1- Number one has to be the time that we all drove to the hot pots past Spanish Fork (which we did many times), but the time I am thinking about, we had 13 people or something and no flashlights. We always went in the middle of the night and it is hike to the hot pots, so we all had to do a human chain to get there. I think this was also the trip that Ronnie was sick throwing up and the time that Stef claims he saved her life because otherwise she would have fallen off a cliff.

Here we are in our old age (now).

Love ya Stef! Thanks for being such a great friend.