Here are a few videos from the last few months!
1) Jace singing "I Love to See the Temple" which we sang in church a few months back
2) Jace and Flor on a ride at Lagoon
3) Flor at the Jazz game
4) Devin and Flor (Isn't he the best dad ever?!)
April 27, 2015
Lagoon!
This past Saturday, we were able to go to Lagoon with my dad, Sharon, Jack, and their exchange student Dani (from Austria). We had such a great time. I was shocked by how much Flor loved it. Honestly, we had no idea how she would do. The first ride she went on, the carousel, she hated, but everything after that, she LOVED. She laughed and laughed on everything. Even the rollercoasters that she was big enough to go on. We are such good parents that we made her go on everything she was tall enough for. It was so great. I will try to upload a video of her.
Hallie was an animal as usual. She went on everything with Jack and Dani and loved it all. She was a tad bit short on some of the rides that required you to be 50 inches...but somehow she got on them too. She loved the Rocket, the Samurai, and Colassus best. The kid rides were far below her, though she did a few of them to humor her siblings. She is a dare devil (yet, she can't sleep at night without a night light- haha!)
Jace liked everything in the kiddie-land, but was kind of grumpy by the end of the day, just due to lack of napping, I think. So, I guess we need to take Flor to Disneyland next.
Here are a few (a lot) of pictures: (I even had the regular camera with us, but ended up just mostly using the phone. Bad idea.)
Thanks dad for taking us!!
Hallie was an animal as usual. She went on everything with Jack and Dani and loved it all. She was a tad bit short on some of the rides that required you to be 50 inches...but somehow she got on them too. She loved the Rocket, the Samurai, and Colassus best. The kid rides were far below her, though she did a few of them to humor her siblings. She is a dare devil (yet, she can't sleep at night without a night light- haha!)
Jace liked everything in the kiddie-land, but was kind of grumpy by the end of the day, just due to lack of napping, I think. So, I guess we need to take Flor to Disneyland next.
Here are a few (a lot) of pictures: (I even had the regular camera with us, but ended up just mostly using the phone. Bad idea.)
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| zoom in on this one if you can-- Hallie looks bored out of her mind and Flor is super jazzed! Haha! |
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| It was the perfect day, weather wise. A bit overcast, but still warm. There were no big crowds. The only mistake we made was going on the water rides still. We were the only ones in line for good reason. We got soaked and spent the afternoon freezing. Oh, and I earned myself my first sunburn of the year. whoo hoo. |
Sunday Post #7 (A week and a day late)
Okay, it's time to catch up. This is why doing it every Sunday is just so much better!
I don't really know what happened the week before last, except that we had some more major drama with our adoption process. Now that some time has passed, I can recap it. We're past it and moving on.
We compiled our addendum and I had it ready to go in an envelope on the piano on Saturday morning. I went off to do a home study and planned on taking it to the post office when I got home. The package was going directly to Ecuador per our agency's request. Anyway, I got home and my kind and sweet husband had mailed the package to help me out. What he didn't know was that we were supposed to send it priority mail and get it there ASAP. He just sent it regular mail without any tracking or anything. I was panicked, and then wrote our agency to tell her, and her response only served to panic me further, so let's just say that Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning were a bit tense around here.
We figured that since the package was dropped off at the end of the business day Saturday that it was probably still at the post office. So, we put of a Facebook post trying to find the post master to see if we could possibly get the package back. Well, we didn't get a hold of him, but through the power of people that know people, we were put in contact with multiple people who work for the post offices around here. They told us that the package would have definitely left the post office that afternoon and would have been on its way to SLC, then likely on a plane to San Francisco by Sunday.
I was sitting in church on Sunday just mad about how everything has gone lately. Everything seems to have gone wrong, am I right, or am I right? I honestly do not remember this kind of opposition with Flor. Anyway, I prayed mightily that morning, telling Heavenly Father that I can't handle any more. It was a lovely attitude, let me tell you. Anyway, I went to church just not feeling it, but then I was sitting in class and felt the spirit tell me again that everything would be okay. Beyond that, I had inspiration strike me-- that all the parts of the package need to be translated and instead of wasting time waiting for the package to arrive and then waiting for it to be translated (which will take some time- it's probably about 30 pages total), we could re-gather the documents pretty easily and then scan and email them to our agency to start the translation process. Then, hopefully the package will arrive by the time the translation is done. We are definitely still praying that the package arrives in record time-- and that it arrives at all since we can't track it. Those specific prayers are appreciated.
So, while that was rough, we are surviving. Can we just have it easy from here...please, oh, please?
Here are a few pictures from that week:
While working at ORMC one day, we had the fun experience of being locked in our office for a time. The funny thing is that we were ALL in the office for the one and only time probably for the week. We have vendors bring us lunch every Tuesday, so there we were having lunch, with extra people in the office (vendors, a few NPs, a few others from other departments who like free lunch- who doesn't?). Anyway, we were kind of crammed in and the office has no windows. So, someone goes to leave and the door will not open. We called maintenance to come get us out and they took our sweet time, probably thinking it wasn't that big of a deal. When they finally showed up, they tried to get in a few different ways and nothing worked. They finally told us all to stand back and the next thing we knew, the door was being sawed down. It was quite the funny experience. The only downside was that I had to go to the bathroom pretty much the whole time and knowing that I could not made it that much worse. So, that made for a fun time! Good thing I like my co-workers.
Okay, that's that week. Next...
I don't really know what happened the week before last, except that we had some more major drama with our adoption process. Now that some time has passed, I can recap it. We're past it and moving on.
We compiled our addendum and I had it ready to go in an envelope on the piano on Saturday morning. I went off to do a home study and planned on taking it to the post office when I got home. The package was going directly to Ecuador per our agency's request. Anyway, I got home and my kind and sweet husband had mailed the package to help me out. What he didn't know was that we were supposed to send it priority mail and get it there ASAP. He just sent it regular mail without any tracking or anything. I was panicked, and then wrote our agency to tell her, and her response only served to panic me further, so let's just say that Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning were a bit tense around here.
We figured that since the package was dropped off at the end of the business day Saturday that it was probably still at the post office. So, we put of a Facebook post trying to find the post master to see if we could possibly get the package back. Well, we didn't get a hold of him, but through the power of people that know people, we were put in contact with multiple people who work for the post offices around here. They told us that the package would have definitely left the post office that afternoon and would have been on its way to SLC, then likely on a plane to San Francisco by Sunday.
I was sitting in church on Sunday just mad about how everything has gone lately. Everything seems to have gone wrong, am I right, or am I right? I honestly do not remember this kind of opposition with Flor. Anyway, I prayed mightily that morning, telling Heavenly Father that I can't handle any more. It was a lovely attitude, let me tell you. Anyway, I went to church just not feeling it, but then I was sitting in class and felt the spirit tell me again that everything would be okay. Beyond that, I had inspiration strike me-- that all the parts of the package need to be translated and instead of wasting time waiting for the package to arrive and then waiting for it to be translated (which will take some time- it's probably about 30 pages total), we could re-gather the documents pretty easily and then scan and email them to our agency to start the translation process. Then, hopefully the package will arrive by the time the translation is done. We are definitely still praying that the package arrives in record time-- and that it arrives at all since we can't track it. Those specific prayers are appreciated.
So, while that was rough, we are surviving. Can we just have it easy from here...please, oh, please?
Here are a few pictures from that week:
While working at ORMC one day, we had the fun experience of being locked in our office for a time. The funny thing is that we were ALL in the office for the one and only time probably for the week. We have vendors bring us lunch every Tuesday, so there we were having lunch, with extra people in the office (vendors, a few NPs, a few others from other departments who like free lunch- who doesn't?). Anyway, we were kind of crammed in and the office has no windows. So, someone goes to leave and the door will not open. We called maintenance to come get us out and they took our sweet time, probably thinking it wasn't that big of a deal. When they finally showed up, they tried to get in a few different ways and nothing worked. They finally told us all to stand back and the next thing we knew, the door was being sawed down. It was quite the funny experience. The only downside was that I had to go to the bathroom pretty much the whole time and knowing that I could not made it that much worse. So, that made for a fun time! Good thing I like my co-workers.
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| See those saw marks coming on in? |
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| part of the crowd waiting to escape |
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| We took a few selfies during the experience, because what else do you do when you are locked in the office? |
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| Hals-- I took this pictures just because she's cute. |
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| Flor donated her hair to Locks of Love for the second time! She has such beautiful hair and loves to share it. |
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| Plus she looks so cute with short hair, right?! |
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| Just cute! |
April 19, 2015
Jace's 4th Birthday!
I am totally not feeling up to the regular Sunday post. Let's just say that it has not been a pleasant last few days on the adoption front and I am tired, overwhelmed, and so done with it. I posted a few times in the Facebook update group, so if you want the updates, they're there. If you're not on Facebook, maybe I will have the energy to write about it all next week.
Anyway, since I never posted about Jace's birthday, I'll do that instead. It's high time, since it was almost 2 months ago. Yes, yes, I continue to be MOM-OF-THE-YEAR over here!
Jace's birthday was on a Sunday, so we let him pick an activity for Saturday afternoon. He chose bowling. By the end of it, Devin was so jazzed about the whole thing that he decided we all needed to run out and buy our own bowling balls and shoes. You see, there are very few activities that we can all participate in as a family (ahem: Flor), so when we find one, it's extra special. Flor loved it and so did everyone else. So I guess we need to go bowling more often. It is kind of pricey though.
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| Really not sure why we only have a picture of Flor bowling and no one else, but that's okay... |
*Jace is social, social, social. He has no shy bone in his body. I think I posted a few months ago about our family singing in sacrament meeting, but if not, here is a repeat story. We sang "I Love to See the Temple" and we all were rather quiet because who likes to sing in front of a crowd (not to mention that i have a terrible voice!) But not Jace...he got right up in front of the microphone and belted that song out from the bottom of his heart. It was adorable. Half of the crowd was laughing and theo ther half was crying.
*Jace loves trains and more trains. The kid is obsessed. He also likes cars, fire trucks, riding his bike, playing school and store with Hallie (bet you can guess who instigates those), playing legos, and 'pets'- all his stuffed animals.
*Jace is a smart boy. He can count up to 30 and easily has the ABC's down. I of course taught him none of this. He can write his name and it's pretty cute if I do say so myself. He loves preschool that he goes to twice per week. He always comes home telling me about some interesting facts he learned about clouds or some other random thing.
*Jace is just starting to play soccer, so we'll see how that goes! He still has the biggest hands ever...so he's going to have to use those to his advantage in some sport! He has big feet too- he and Hallie wear the same size.
*Jace is the most loving boy. He loves to give us hugs and kisses and if we leave before he can, he is really upset. He is always saying "I love you, Mommy!" and "You're the best mommy ever!" how can you not love that?
*Jace is still a really good sleeper-- he goes to bed at 7 and wakes up at 6:30 or 7 am. Most days he still naps in the afternoon too. Must need rest for all the energy he has.
Here are some Jace-isms- some are quite old. They've been sitting in a post that I never got posted. Haha.
*While laying with him in his bed one day: "Mom, you're getting my skin white!" Me: "What??" "Your skin is making me white!" Me: "WHAT?!" Jace: "I am getting white from you!" I finally realized he has overheard Devin and I talking about how Hallie got his skin tone and Jace got my whiteness. He was talking about it like it was a disease that I was passing on to him (which it kind of is...)
*After I was singing one day, "Mom, if you're going to do that, you'll need to just do it at choir with dad." (Devin was in the choir at church. Apparently Jace thinks my singing is awesome, which it is...)
*Jace had a picture from church that Hallie wanted. To her: "No, this is for boys...if you can turn into a boy, you can have it. Then you go back to a girl."
*One morning, to me: "Mom, why do you have a beard?" Gosh this kid is good for my self-esteem...
*Jace: "Mom, I'm sooooo sick!"
me: "What hurts?"
Jace: "It feels like bees are swimming around in my mouth!"
*During tithing settlement, the Bishop asked me "So, are you in school?" and Jace pipes up, "No! I can't go to school until I stop peeing my pants!" I think the Bishop was so super impressed...
*During a prayer, "Please bless that we can eat tomorrow and please bless that I can eat Daddy all up!"
*After Jace came into my room at what felt like extremely early one morning:
Me: Jace, what time is it? What does that clock say right there? (thinking he'd read me the numbers)
Jace: It says, It's the crack of dawn!!! (in his most enthusiastic voice). Ah, gotta love him!
Jace after church one day: (Instagram repeat) "I want to follow the prophet SO SO bad so I don't have to wander in the wilderness for 40 years!"
We sure love our little buddy!
April 12, 2015
Sunday Post #6
Well, this has been a good week. Not too busy, but busy enough to still be exciting. The best news is that we got our addendum signed and ready to be sent to the state capital again tomorrow. Yes, another round of apostilling. We could pretty much do this routine in our sleep.
The highlights of the week are as follows:
Devin: He got a new pair of shoes. Yep, that's the most exciting thing I can think of for him.
Hallie: Hals had her first soccer practice and will have her first game next week! 'Bout time we get our kids involved in some extracurriculars, eh? Devin watched the practice and said that she has a bit of work to do on her soccer skills, but hey, it's all about fun, right?
Jace: Jace has been praying every night, on his own accord, mind you, for M. He says, "Please bless that we can say hi to "m" soon. Heavenly Father tell Ecuador that everything is alright." Yep. From the mouths of babes. I hope that prayer ascends far.
Flor: Flor lost a tooth at school, one of her molars. Her teacher is a bit of a worrywart and called me at work because it was bleeding. Yes, that happens. Kind of like last week when Flor got a black eye (no idea how) and she called me to come pick her up 15 minutes before school ended. Okay....since black eyes are contagious and all. Interesting. Anyway, Flor has one less tooth!
Also, Florinda appeared in the newspaper for the second time this year. She is becoming quite famous. I'll attach the scanned article and picture here for memory's sake. It was in the Davis Clipper and showed her getting her new bike.
Me: I made my reality TV debut. Yep. One of my adoptive couples is on a reality television show (not airing yet- it will air next year) and of course the show wants to take the whole adoption angle because it is emotional. So, even though we were done with their interviews, they really wanted me to come down and film one afternoon. So I went and we looked at the baby nursery, checked out their profile and gave them some tips, etc. The director then interviewed me quite extensively in the front yard and asked me the same questions over and over in different ways. It was only after I left that I realized that I am probably going to be edited to sound like a jerk...I am sure they will edit my comments and not include the full thing, but just take the bits and pieces that will go with what they wanted me to say. Oh boy. I actually hope that something more exciting happens (like they get a baby) so that this part can be edited out. Ugh. I don't think TV is my forte. Anyway, it made for a really interesting experience, to say the least!
All of us: My mom and Dave came into town this weekend, so we got to spend some quality time with them. We went swimming at the Little America on Friday night, which brought back great memories of my own childhood and staying there with my Grandma. It hasn't changed, pink carpet and all. Saturday the kids and Devin picked up Grandma while Popp-E took his grandkids fishing. I had two home studies in a row, so I missed out on everything, but the kids went shopping at Station Park with Grandma and then to the Cinderella movie. I didn't know if Jace would like it, but he relayed the entire plot to me over dinner, so apparently he liked it. Anyway, we had a very enjoyable weekend.
I can't think of much more to say. I know. It's a record.
How about a few pictures (and I do mean a few...apparently I did not take very many photos this week):
Happy Sunday all!
The highlights of the week are as follows:
Devin: He got a new pair of shoes. Yep, that's the most exciting thing I can think of for him.
Hallie: Hals had her first soccer practice and will have her first game next week! 'Bout time we get our kids involved in some extracurriculars, eh? Devin watched the practice and said that she has a bit of work to do on her soccer skills, but hey, it's all about fun, right?
Jace: Jace has been praying every night, on his own accord, mind you, for M. He says, "Please bless that we can say hi to "m" soon. Heavenly Father tell Ecuador that everything is alright." Yep. From the mouths of babes. I hope that prayer ascends far.
Flor: Flor lost a tooth at school, one of her molars. Her teacher is a bit of a worrywart and called me at work because it was bleeding. Yes, that happens. Kind of like last week when Flor got a black eye (no idea how) and she called me to come pick her up 15 minutes before school ended. Okay....since black eyes are contagious and all. Interesting. Anyway, Flor has one less tooth!
Also, Florinda appeared in the newspaper for the second time this year. She is becoming quite famous. I'll attach the scanned article and picture here for memory's sake. It was in the Davis Clipper and showed her getting her new bike.
Me: I made my reality TV debut. Yep. One of my adoptive couples is on a reality television show (not airing yet- it will air next year) and of course the show wants to take the whole adoption angle because it is emotional. So, even though we were done with their interviews, they really wanted me to come down and film one afternoon. So I went and we looked at the baby nursery, checked out their profile and gave them some tips, etc. The director then interviewed me quite extensively in the front yard and asked me the same questions over and over in different ways. It was only after I left that I realized that I am probably going to be edited to sound like a jerk...I am sure they will edit my comments and not include the full thing, but just take the bits and pieces that will go with what they wanted me to say. Oh boy. I actually hope that something more exciting happens (like they get a baby) so that this part can be edited out. Ugh. I don't think TV is my forte. Anyway, it made for a really interesting experience, to say the least!
All of us: My mom and Dave came into town this weekend, so we got to spend some quality time with them. We went swimming at the Little America on Friday night, which brought back great memories of my own childhood and staying there with my Grandma. It hasn't changed, pink carpet and all. Saturday the kids and Devin picked up Grandma while Popp-E took his grandkids fishing. I had two home studies in a row, so I missed out on everything, but the kids went shopping at Station Park with Grandma and then to the Cinderella movie. I didn't know if Jace would like it, but he relayed the entire plot to me over dinner, so apparently he liked it. Anyway, we had a very enjoyable weekend.
I can't think of much more to say. I know. It's a record.
How about a few pictures (and I do mean a few...apparently I did not take very many photos this week):
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| I think this is pretty self-explanatory, but in case you wonder, here we are swimming :) |
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| Just because he's cute |
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| Florinda in the paper, round 2. :) |
April 5, 2015
Sunday Post #5
So, this one will be quicker, I think.
Let's start with the good news:
1) We took the Sonata in for safety and emissions and it passed on the first try! WHEW!
2) The van failed both safety and emissions and while this is not good news, we got both issues resolved enough for it to pass. Whoo hoo. Eeked out another year.
3) We have our addendum to the home study with all their ridiculous questions almost done. We are waiting to get pictures here from Costco showing how amazing we are with our kids on a daily basis, but other than that, we have all supporting documentation, too. I really feel blessed that we were able to get this done so quickly. I think we have angels helping us. Now, really just praying that they accept it...
The best parts of this week were of course Easter and General Conference. Oh, how I love conference! I just want to say that I 100% sustain and support the First Presidency and the Quorum of the 12. I love them and I know that they work tirelessly as God's leaders here on Earth. I am so grateful that I know that we have a living prophet here, who guides and directs us. I didn't get to listen to conference yesterday as I was working, but I will catch up on it over time. I loved today's sessions. There's just something incredible about it every time.
For Easter, we usually do a family egg hunt and dinner, but our schedules didn't allow us to do that this year. Instead, the kids came to my work to have an egg hunt. I clocked out for lunch and joined them for a bit. They liked it and that's all that matters. No money in those eggs though! Today, we spent the entire day at home as a family and it was wonderful. We've done this with two major holidays recently (Thanksgiving and today, Easter) and it has been really nice. I think there's something special about spending time alone, but there's also something really great about being with extended family too. I am glad we get a good mix of both. We cooked ourselves a nice ham dinner today, complete with Devin's homemade rolls (because I don't do that, of course). We had strawberry shortcake for dessert that was divine and took a big family walk and made sure to stop and pose for a few candid "look how amazing we are as a family" shots for Ecuador. :)
I'll throw up a few pictures from the week and call this one done! I know, record shortness. You can thank me later.
Randoms:
Easter:
Until next week! 5 weeks in a row...I am not doing too bad!
Let's start with the good news:
1) We took the Sonata in for safety and emissions and it passed on the first try! WHEW!
2) The van failed both safety and emissions and while this is not good news, we got both issues resolved enough for it to pass. Whoo hoo. Eeked out another year.
3) We have our addendum to the home study with all their ridiculous questions almost done. We are waiting to get pictures here from Costco showing how amazing we are with our kids on a daily basis, but other than that, we have all supporting documentation, too. I really feel blessed that we were able to get this done so quickly. I think we have angels helping us. Now, really just praying that they accept it...
The best parts of this week were of course Easter and General Conference. Oh, how I love conference! I just want to say that I 100% sustain and support the First Presidency and the Quorum of the 12. I love them and I know that they work tirelessly as God's leaders here on Earth. I am so grateful that I know that we have a living prophet here, who guides and directs us. I didn't get to listen to conference yesterday as I was working, but I will catch up on it over time. I loved today's sessions. There's just something incredible about it every time.
For Easter, we usually do a family egg hunt and dinner, but our schedules didn't allow us to do that this year. Instead, the kids came to my work to have an egg hunt. I clocked out for lunch and joined them for a bit. They liked it and that's all that matters. No money in those eggs though! Today, we spent the entire day at home as a family and it was wonderful. We've done this with two major holidays recently (Thanksgiving and today, Easter) and it has been really nice. I think there's something special about spending time alone, but there's also something really great about being with extended family too. I am glad we get a good mix of both. We cooked ourselves a nice ham dinner today, complete with Devin's homemade rolls (because I don't do that, of course). We had strawberry shortcake for dessert that was divine and took a big family walk and made sure to stop and pose for a few candid "look how amazing we are as a family" shots for Ecuador. :)
I'll throw up a few pictures from the week and call this one done! I know, record shortness. You can thank me later.
Randoms:
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| March is National Social Work month (who knew?!) so my boss at ORMC has this hanging on the door at work. I thought it was sweet of her. Had to take a picture, of course. :) |
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| Hallie's feelings in her own words about getting a new sibling. We're adding this to the dossier to pull at their heart strings. Jace on the other hand had about two things to say and then was done. Hopefully they'll understand that he is four... |
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| Hallie is really into drawing and writing...she left me this gem on my pillow the other night. I think she's seen a few too many of my work brochures. |
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| Jace is obsessed with trains. He picked out this horribly boring train movie from the library that just shows footage over and over of trains rolling by. He insisted on continuing to watch it one afternoon but when I came back a little while later to check on him, I found him fast asleep. This NEVER happens. Must have bored him more than he wanted to let on... |
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| We did get around to dying eggs this year, but I am a total doofus and used the kool aid dye idea from Pinterest. Bad idea- we ended up with red eggs only. Nice. |
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| The Easter Bunny came with much needed spring clothes! |
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| At the ORMC egg hunt! They had a great time. |
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| Waiting for it to begin...the anticipation is killing them, can't you tell!? |
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| With their loot |
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| Conference! We love it. Legos are a great conference activity, I've decided. |
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| Don't mind that I look scary without any makeup and without my hair done. Flor wanted to cuddle and that's picture worthy! |
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| Our delicious meal. It was divine, if I do say so myself. I think the only time I take pictures of our food is Easter. Must be because it's good. |
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| Out on a family walk. Love these people. |
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| You better believe this one is going to Ecuador. |
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