shmorgasboard

So- we have been up to a few things lately and since Blogger was being dumb for a few days, I got behind and now you are going to have to deal with an all-in-one post. First and foremost, I promised a recap of

WICKED:
Well now, this was an exciting Clark family event if there ever was one. We don't even really need to be doing anything exciting to have fun together, but when you throw in something as awesome as Wicked, the time is extraordinarily fun. Yes, I know i just said extraordinarily. That's a big word for me. Anyway, it's true.

I left P-town at 9 am in time to pick up Che' by 10 and then our dear Aunty Linda (that makes her sound old and decrepit. She is actually young and hip) by 11am. When planning this event, Che' and I sent out an email stating that we Utah folks would be due to arrive in Boise at about 3:14 pm if our planning was correct. Those driving from Idaho made fun and said that we would never make it by 3:14 because we had two babies with us who would need to be fed and a Linda who is pregnant and needs multiple bathroom breaks. WELL- we sure showed them. We arrived in Boise long before they did and just barely missed our 3:14 pm mark. We only had to stop once and in fact could have been on the road quicker after that stop were it not for a one woman bathroom in the gas station where an unknown woman was already occupying the stall and taking her sweet time. Anyway...

By the time we all got to Boise and settled into our rooms at the hotel, it was time to get ready and head to dinner. We met my friend Kylee (why in the world did we not get a picture woman?) at a restaurant. She was kind and loving enough to take on the task of both Hudson and Jace (not to mention her own child) during the show. We owe her big time!

The show itself?? A-MA-ZING. I honestly thought I was going to be disappointed because everyone talks it up so much, but I can tell you that I was super impressed. My first order of business when I came home was to order the soundtrack and I have listened to it at least once per day since. Yeah, I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

The trip was super short as we woke up the next morning and hit the road by 8 am. Che' graduated that evening from the U's nursing program so we wanted to be back for the big celebration. Though it was a short journey, it was an excellent adventure, as usual.

Now some pictures....

Carlie, Grandma, and Jen at dinner
Suey and Jace
Che', Mari Ann, and Hailie (who turned the big 14 the next day! Happy birthday to her!)
Suey and Me
Che', me, and Grandma at the show. Poor grandma's eyes are closed.
Jen and Nort
We weren't supposed to be taking pictures, but hey it was intermission and you can't see anything anyway.
Well, don't we look all washed out? I seriously need a new camera. You get what you pay for...:)

Event Number Two...

Birth Mother/Adoption Celebration Walk:

Yesterday was the annual walk sponsored by Families Supporting Adoption at the Provo High track. Usually it is held on the Saturday before Mother's Day, which is Birth Mother's Day, but this year the track was booked so we had to push it back a week. I have been three years in a row and this year the event definitely was at its biggest and best.

There were fire trucks from the local department there, Cosmo from BYU, tons of balloons for the kids, donuts, a candy toss, a parachute, and of course roses for the birth mothers in attendance. I know people think open adoption is weird (mostly when they don't know much about it), but I think it is a beautiful thing. It was so fun for me to see a lot of my current adoptive couples, some I have worked with in the past with their adopted children, and many of my former and current birth mothers all there together. It is totally normal for the birth parents to arrive with the adoptive family and everyone has a great time together. I just love it.

About Cosmo: Hallie has an infatuation with him as long as he is over 20 feet away. If he got any closer than that, she would scream bloody murder, but if he was over that distance, she would ask about him incessantly: "Where's Cosmo? I want to see Cosmo!" I can't figure that kid out sometimes...

Anyway, I failed miserably at taking any good pictures, but I did get a few and here they are.



I actually took this one from my co-worker Paige's blog (thanks Paige) because my husband chopped half of Krystal out of the picture on our camera. Lovely. These are all my fantastic co-workers. I appreciate each of them so much and couldn't ask for a better team. From the left: Lauren, Koleen, Margaret, me (Hallie refused to let me put her down, thus, she is in the picture), Sandy (our trusty and faithful boss), Paige, and Krystal.

Margaret and Jace. Cute. Apparently the little guy in the background was born just one day after Jace. How fun, they can be buddies.
Hallie was most likely freaking out about Cosmo right here. Devin wants to toughen her a up a bit.
Finally, the next event...

Cleaning Linda's house:

Remember how I mentioned that my aunt Linda is pregnant? She is pregnant with her fourth child and has had real problems with her back/nerves during the pregnancy. She has been in a lot of pain and hasn't been able to do as much as she normally does. She still manages to work full time and take care of her husband and kids though. This weekend was her and Brad's anniversary, so they called Che' and Landon to come watch their kids so that they could go for a little getaway.

Che' and Sue started brainstorming about ways we could help Linda and decided that it would be nice if we could congregate while they were gone to deep clean their house. We all thought it was a great idea and a bunch of us came to help. We waited until they left and then arrived in masses. Che' and Landon had to keep up a pretty elaborate lie each time Linda and Brad called to check on the kids about what was going on and keeping the whole lot of us hushed was also a project, but it worked. We got the carpets cleaned, cleaned walls, cleaned out the fridge and cupboards, scrubbed baseboards with a toothbrush, organized closets, swept, mopped, did laundry, cleaned windows/blinds, etc. It was a BIG project, but with as many people as we had, it didn't take too terribly long. We had a great time. I should have taken more pictures of our faces and such...but well... these will have to do.

Grandma and the big mess. Getting things cleaned always involves a larger mess first.
A portion of the mess in the kitchen
Hudson loved hanging in the bumbo with his baby. Isn't that adorable??
Piles of stuff on the bed during the carpet cleaning.
Cleaning walls, closets, baseboards, etc.

We had such a great time and Che' said that Linda and Brad's reaction was priceless. I wish I could have been there to see it- but hearing about it was pretty awesome too.

Well there ya have it....all caught up on the shmorgasboard of happenings!