December festivities!

So much happened in December. We were not as good about doing our daily activity as we were last year, but I attribute that to the fact that I was in school and just a bit busier than normal. But, we still had a great time and did a lot of different things.

Here is a totally-out-of-order picture tour of some of our activities this month:

 Movie Outing:
A few days before Christmas, we had cousin Kylie come with us to see Despicable Me 2 at the Dollar Theater. She is here from Russia with her family so we have to make the most of our time together!

 Caroling: 
Possibly a new tradition?! We went caroling with all of Devin's family to a bunch of houses in his parent's neighborhood. I failed to take many pictures, but I do have this one. Jace got to ride on the sled the whole time (lucky boy). I have no idea how this picture is making itself snow. I swear, I had nothing to do with it. WEIRD.  After caroling, we went back to Devin's parents' house for donuts and hot chocolate. YUM! Oh, and while we are speaking of them, they just opened their 3rd mission call (but I failed to take pictures)-- they are going to the San Francisco/Oakland California Mission and leave March 10! We are excited that they will be so close this time-- maybe a visit is in our future?!

 Sugar Cookies: 
Christmas Eve we went to Che's house to make and decorate cookies for Santa! Christmas would not be complete without making our Aunt Linda' sugar cookies at least once. We had a messy great time!

 The Nativity:
Contrary to what many of our photos show, we did talk about Christ and the true meaning of Christmas often throughout the month. We also did a nativity (on our own for the first time ever!) on Christmas Eve. The kids costumes were rather lacking if I do say so myself---we had to improvise with Devin's shirts and fireman hats. It's the thought that counts, right?! Jace is a wiseman, Hallie- Mary, and Flor- an angel in case anyone was really curious. I know you can't tell from the costumes...

Thanksgiving Point Lights: 
Quickly becoming a favorite tradition of ours. It is oh-so-cold, but it is so much fun to ride through and see all the amazing light displays while riding on a horse drawn wagon. We always meet up with Che' and Landon and kids and load up on hot chocolate before the ride. It is only a 15-20 minute jaunt, but it is really quite fun. The only improvement we suggest is adding music. :) You hear that, Thanksgiving Point people?

This pictures so awesomely shows that I do in fact have the biggest nose in the world....But Jovi was so cute bundled up that it is going on anyway.

0/1 on family pictures...

0/2 on family pictures....at least it appears that I had fun here. Not sure about the rest of them...

 Provo River Christmas Cruise
Yes, yes, the Provo River has it's very own Christmas Cruise!! Who knew?! This was by far the most freezing event of the year. The kids were in snowsuits from top to bottom, plus they had to wear a lifejacket. HA! That alone made the trip worth it-- to see them waddling around was classic. Flor cried the whole time because she was so mad at me for dragging her out there. The boat cruises up and down the river to another amazing light display and then Santa arrives in his canoe to greet the kids and to give them a candy cane. We went with my sister and her York in-laws, who are always so awesome to include me in every family event they have, even though I am not family. Pseudo in-laws....they are awesome.

Jennifer and girls stayed the night here after and we had a good laugh about the girls' sleeping bags (presents from my mom last year for Christmas). Caroline and Aubrey look happy though, don't they?!

 Letters to Santa: 
We wrote letters to Santa again this year. Hallie requested a gumball machine and princess rollerskates. (???) and Jace requested a blue sucker, Mickey rollerskates, a train, a dinosaur, and a monster. Flor didn't know what to request, so mom helped her a little.

Did you know that Santa has an actual address?? Well, he does, so the kids and I mailed their letters off and lo and behold, Santa wrote back!! The only thing is that he forgot that Jace's letter actually told him that he has been naughty instead of nice and Flor didn't get a letter from Santa at all. How sad. The other two were thrilled, though.

 Decorating:
HA! Me, decorating? I know. I did make my first craft ever though, with the help of my friend Jill and these humongous rice crispy treats that we had to get us through the night. It only took me 4 hours, but I came out with this fantastic wreath. I was quite proud of it myself...

 SNOW!
We have honestly not had that many opportunities to just play in the snow. Flor hasn't been out to play in it at all this season (she hates it), but Hallie and Jace went out a few times. We have not been sledding at all. Sad, I know.

 Idaho: 
We made a weekend trip to Idaho for my cousin Houston's mission homecoming. He came home from the Ohio Colombus mission and we were so happy to see him and for him to meet Flor. They hit it off right away, as you can tell. Houston is just adorable with my kids. He came and stayed with us the weekend before Christmas too and we had a blast. Welcome home, Houie!!

 Gingerbread Houses:
While in Idaho, we got to participate in my mom's annual Gingerbread House extravaganza. I SUCK at making gingerbread houses...it is true. Steve had to build the walls for me after it kept collapsing on me and my mom really did most of the decorating. I just don't have it in me. So sad. Devin was unable to come on this trip, thus you will not see any pictures of him. We missed him immensely though.

I mean just check out that hideous door and window--my work, right there.

Thanks Lara for the pictures!! Good thing I have a sister in law who blogs her pictures for me to steal. :)

Verrrrrry professional. 

Cute girls!! Love Sadie's face in this one...

Lara and Claire with all the pretty finished houses.

 Oh, this is totally random:
I finished my 2nd semester at school!! Proof that I went-- here is a picture of me with my group members Ali, Faeiza, Aaron, and Michelle. Fantastic group that made the semester that much better. We had a group project spanning the entire last two semesters that was basically the bulk of the class, so we spent a lot of time together. Glad I got a good group!! They all knew each other since they just graduated from the BSW program together, so I tagged myself on to the group and boy am I glad that I got a good one!

 Temple Square and MOTAB concert: 
We have been lucky enough to go to the MOTAB concert every year for the past few. We went to Salt Lake to Hudson's birthday party the weekend of the 14th, then walked to Temple Square from our hotel to the concert. My grandma and Doyle had seen it the night before but jumped at the chance to go again since they had loved it so much. I loved, loved, loved spending that time with my grandma. She was so funny that night! It was almost like I saw glimpses of quirks that I have in her. She was tad giddy at the end and it totally reminded me of myself. We had to do a bit of walking, but she did fantastic in her 83 year old body with two fake knees. This was a highlight of the season for me. The concert was incredible, but the time with my Grandma was extra special. Even though I see her a lot, this was more one-on-one time and I loved it. Thanks to Hailie, Che, Mari Ann, and Carlie for watching my kids. Yes, it took that many of them and they were brave enough to take them swimming while we were gone too! We stayed that night in a hotel downtown because the next morning was sweet Jovi's blessing. I failed to take any pictures of that for some odd reason...but suffice it to say that it was a very special day.

My grandma adores Devin. I though it was so cute that he was holding her hand and helping her along the whole time. What a darling husband I have. 

Whew! Still to come- a mass load of pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas, plus a few from New Year's Eve. That was an amazing Christmas season. I am always so sad to see it go because it is by far my favorite holiday of the year. I love everything about it. The magic just seems to be in the air the whole month and it is beautiful.

Changes (Part 2)

I am so behind on this poor neglected blog!!

Okay, here we go with the saga that is part 2 of the life changes story. I will try to be short-winded (ha ha) this time.

So, through October and November, Koleen, Lauren, and I plugged away at our business and getting everything ready there. A few of the long list of things that ran around like crazy people and did:

• Met with an accountant 
• Met with an attorney and set up an LLC
• Filed business paperwork with the state
• opened a bank account
• Got a PO Box (PO Box 2 in case anyone wondered. Doesn't that have a nice ring to it!?)
• Wrote all of our own adoption forms
• Formatted the process for ourselves and clients
• set up a phone number and email accounts
• Started the website process- contacted a web designer, met with him, and wrote all of our web content
• Set up liability insurance for all of us (A HUGE headache!!)
• Recruited an LCSW to join our team (more on that in a minute)
• Meetings, meetings, meetings...
• etc.....

So, we were busy. We were trying to hurry to get everything done before LDSFS made their big announcement so that we would be ready to go. Well....cue the drama (after some pictures of course)

We're official! 

Signing all the legal mumbo jumbo-- don't ask me what it says...but the bottom line is that we are co-owners of a company (a wonderful one at that, might I add) :) 

A very blurry selfie (bet you couldn't tell!) but it is the only one I have of all four of us. Me=Crazy Eyes, yes?

Oh, before I get to the drama. At one point, after reading the Utah Adoption code for the hundredth time (or so it seemed), we determined that we would be better off having someone with an LCSW to co-sign all of our home studies. We want to use best practice, and even though the law allows for an SSW to sign studies him/herself, we felt it would be better to have someone with higher licensure to read and sign each of our studies. At that point, we recruited Krystal, another LDSFS employee to join us. We all love Krystal and she could not be a better fit for us. She is a full partner in the company and as she just moved to southern Utah will be an asset in doing studies for that end of the state. 

So- as we were rushing to get everything ready (there were a LOT of late nights, let me tell you!), I was again called in to my boss's office around early November to meet with her and to have a conference call with her boss. It was then that they told me that no changes were going to be coming to LDSFS afterall, at least for the time being. I won't go into all the details, but supposedly all necessary approval had not been given for the changes. This was kind of a slap in the face because we were told specifically that ALL approval had been given that was needed when we were first told that our jobs were disappearing. This new news also meant that my job was safe. I think everyone wanted me to be excited and to feel relief, but honestly, I just felt upset. I felt like my life had been messed with and no one really cared about the consequences for me in this big mess. My thought was that if all SSWs were sat down and told that jobs were disappearing and that changes were coming, they should expect that people are going to make other plans for their life, which many of us did. They should never have had that conversation with us unless they were 100% sure that that was the path the company was going to go. 

With the new news, I felt like I was in a position where i was going to need to make some difficult decisions. Do I wait it out at LDSFS to see how things are going to go? Or do I put my all into this business that I have already poured so much of myself into? It was such a tough and uncomfortable place to be. On the one hand, my job at LDSFS was incredible. I have absolutely loved what I do. I would miss so much by quitting. But on the other hand, the rumors were still flying (and still are) that changes were still eventually going to come, but that the process would just be slower than initially thought. So, do I wait it out and hope I make it until the changes come and hope by then that I have a Masters? Do I risk having them drop the bomb (again) that my job was gone in a few more months? There just seemed to be too many unknowns. Staying at LDSFS seemed to me like a direct conflict of interest with the new business, too, and there was no way I was turning my back on Utah Adoption Specialists. Koleen and I were very open with our boss and her boss about what we were doing and what our intentions are for the new business and we were told that we could in fact do both- work at LDSFS and run our new business. The more I thought about it though, the conflict seemed too great to me, especially since we serve the same client base. I would never want to be caught in an ethical dilemma, even if unintentional, and those chances seemed to high. 

I knew after weighing everything in my mind, praying about it, and talking to Devin extensively that the decision I needed to make was to leave LDSFS. However, I still held on. Giving up on something I have loved for so long to jump into such a big unknown is scary. So terrifying that I was paralyzed with the fear for a long time to actually make the decision and put my two weeks notice. Doing so when our business is still in its infancy, we have no website yet (hopefully soon!) and we are just barely ready and able to provide home studies but with little advertising so far, seemed so risky. And it is. But, eventually, after knowing for weeks what I needed to do, I finally said it out loud to Devin.  He agreed that it was right, telling me that "I have my pole in too many ponds" (truer words have never been spoken). I cried for hours that night at the thought of saying goodbye to this job, but I knew it was right. I still get sad when I recall that conversation. Before I lost courage, I went in to talk to my boss the next day to let her know my decision. She was very supportive, but reminded me multiple times that due to the hiring freeze, they wouldn't be able to take me back if I really did make the plunge. I was fully aware of that and fully ready to take both feet into the uncharted territory of business ownership. 

I gave my two weeks' notice on Friday Dec 13, but my two weeks actually was only one as we decided it would be best for me to wrap things up and get my caseload transferred before Christmas. My internship was kind enough to give me the week of, so I spent that whole next week at LDSFS wrapping everything up. It was bittersweet and very sad at points, but I felt the calm peace throughout that the decision was right for me and for our family.

So, with that, I am not fully invested in Utah Adoption Specialists! I am excited and anxious for this new adventure. I really feel good about it. I know that it will take times for the ball to get rolling and for business to pick up. I fully expect that things will be slow for the first while, but that is okay. I am also excited for the flexibility that working for myself will provide. I can do the majority of my work from home and can work whenever I want. This will work well with being a mom and allowing Devin to work days (which he hasn't done at all for our entire marriage). Lots of questions still ahead, but I feel good about where we are going. 

Know anyone adopting?  If they live in Utah, I know some fabulous people who provide awesome home studies! :)

Changes (Part 1)

Life is a never ending saga, is it not? Things don't always go the way we want to them to go or the way we plan them to go, but nevertheless, things seem to work out the way they are supposed to. We are in one of those eras of life where we are going, "What in the world? This isn't how we planned things to go!" We can't see the end from the beginning yet, but we are hopeful that things will work out the way they are supposed to for our family. I have an unusual (for me) amount of confidence about the decisions we have made recently, so I guess that's good at least.

But let me back up.

You all know that I started school this past summer to pursue my MSW. In doing so, my goal was simply to stay at LDS Family Services and get a pay raise for the time being, plus having my MSW would allow me much more flexibility to work outside of Utah should Devin get a job somewhere else (a likelihood we were ready and willing to embrace). Devin put pursuing a career job on hold for another year while I was in school so that he could be home with the kids during the day and work at night. Isn't he a trooper? The school thing is a big time commitment with traveling to Salt Lake for classes as well as my practicum for 20 hours per week. Luckily the practicum is local. Anyway, this has been a sacrifice for all of us, but particularly for Devin. However, we figured that it was one year and we can do anything for one year. And might I add, I only have one semester left. YIPPEE!!!

It was my first week of school this fall semester and my first week at my practicum when my boss at LDSFS called me and told me that I needed to come in and meet with her AND her boss. I was really perplexed. I had never in my almost 6 years at LDSFS been called in to meet with my boss's boss. I had no idea what to expect when I went into meet with them so I was incredibly nervous, as you can imagine. My co-worker Koleen had also been called in and we went into the meeting together. It was then (this was the last week of August) that we were told that LDSFS would be restructuring the way they do adoption services, so they would no longer have jobs for SSW's (those of us with Bachelor Degrees) starting Dec 20. We were told that we would have the couple months to wrap things up there. We were also told that a big announcement was going to come that week to all of our adoptive couples that LDSFS would no longer be working with adoptive couples, but would be referring them the community to get a home study done, which they could then bring in to LDSFS to be published on their profile-hosting website. The reason for this was to put more emphasis on finding and serving expectant parents, which in turn would serve adoptive couples as well if more expectant parents are looking at and choosing adoption plans.

I was totally blindsided by all this information. I immediately starting crying at the thought of losing my job. It has been such an incredible job and I couldn't imagine myself being happy working anywhere else. I asked about the possibility of them considering letting me stay since I would be getting my Master's a short 4 months after my job disappeared. (Remember they were keeping anyone with a Master's Degree).  I was told that my situation had been brought up specifically, but that they were firm that I would have to go in December. I was told that the only slight possibility they could see of allowing me to stay was if I were to switch internships and intern there; then if there was a job at the end of the year, they would hire me back on as an employee.

I was really upset about this news because I had desperately wanted to intern at LDSFS and had been told that I could do so all summer long by both the school and by LDSFS up until a week or two before I had to have my practicum submitted. LDSFS then came to me and told me that they wouldn't pay me as both an intern and as an employee. I volunteered to just be paid as an intern (a pay cut) and to maintain my current caseload with my intern hours plus keep up the responsibilities of my clinical internship hours. I was told no. So all the sudden I was being told that I would be able to intern there afterall? What?! This made no sense and upset me even more. I didn't take any time to make that decision and immediately told them that I would not break my commitment to my current internship. Plus, given that I wouldn't likely have a job at the end of the year anyway (LDSFS has had a hiring freeze for ages), I wanted and needed to develop other skill sets for future hiring potential. (My internship is in the substance abuse/addiction area and that is completely different from anything I have ever done).

A few days after the big conversation at LDSFS, I was riding the train to school and sat next to my former co-worker Lauren. Lauren and I talked about the changes that were coming and how there was going to be a need for people to provide home studies in the community since LDSFS was not going to be doing so any longer. Lauren had recently quit LDSFS and had been told all the same information that I had been given, so she was in the loop. We decided on that train ride that we were the perfect people to provide home studies, since we have been doing them for years and would be in a position to make the change not-so-difficult for our former clients since they know us and are comfortable with us. I don't remember officially saying that this business idea was what we were going to do on that train ride with Lauren, but it felt right and within weeks, we had a business plan and had begun the formation of our new business, Utah Adoption Specialists. (Check us out on Facebook! We also have a website coming that should hopefully be up in January. Yay!) We recruited Koleen to join us since she would be losing her job as well. There were a lot of ups and downs with getting the business going, but we will have to talk about those another time.

And, now I am sick of writing, so there is going to have to be a part 2. :) Wouldn't it be nice of that was just the end of the story and we all lived happily ever after? But of course life doesn't work that way. More like twists and turns and drama all the way. This has been no exception!

Thanksgiving 2013, Part II

Let's get this wrapped up, shall we? I think it is as ridiculous as you do that it has taken me this long to write about Thanksgiving. I mean, Christmas is only next week...

CHOPPED
The most fun activity (in my opinion) that we did at the cabin was a family Chopped competition. Have you seen the show? If not, do yourself a favor and watch it (or at least read up on it, here). Carlie, Che', and I planned out all the details ahead of time and bought the secret ingredients. Carlie played the host and with her little helpers divided up the ingredients. We had 12 people participate, so we drew teams of two. Three teams competed in the appetizer round (we also drew for which round you competed in) and three teams competed in the entree round. The winner of each of those two rounds went on to the dessert round. It was hilarious, competitive, disgusting, and all around fun. I highly recommend this at your next family function as well!

We had the following secret ingredients:
Appetizer round: Pesto basil sausage, canned sardines in oil, and aloe vera water
Entree round: Seaweed, eggplant, and leg of lamb
Dessert: Gouda cheese, peach nectar, and gingerbread cookies

Carlie, Ryen, and Avery hiding in the laundry room to make the secret baskets

Some crazy cooking action

The judges- the three sisters and the honorary judge (Grandma). Apparently Mari Ann is not buying whatever someone is trying to sell her in that picture on the left.

And...the teams. Landon and Barb (who won the whole thing! You would never have guessed based on Landon's approach in the appetizer round. He took the sausage and added whatever he could find as a coating and grilled it-- i mean he must have had at least 20 different things with his sausage. Sick!), Lynn and Cortney, Che' and Natassia (winners of the entree round- but they got chopped in the dessert round), Jennifer and Emilee, Tim and I -we failed miserably in the appetizer round-- though it looked very pretty if I do say so myself. The judges said it tasted nasty and that is what matters. :(  and Mikey and Neil. 

 Good times, good times. New annual tradition? I think so.

Thanksgiving Day:
Devin's brother and his wife are nice enough to host whoever wants to come from the Perry clan each year for Thanksgiving Day. It is always a good time and the kids enjoy running around and wreaking havoc (good thing it was a decent day and Shane and Marcene have a lot of room to run around outside!). I really failed to take a lot of pictures here, but I am blaming that on chasing after three kids myself. Devin had to work that day...bummer. Here are the few pictures I did get:  

Brynlee and Hals showed up in the same shirt! The last time we saw Alisa and kids, Brylee and Flor were wearing the same shirt. We must have the same good sense of style in kids clothes. :)

Dinner time- yum yum! The food was super good. I love Thanksgiving food- probably one of my favorite meals. So twice in one week was extra awesome. 

Playing outside without coats even! 

Flor had a good time bouncing on the trampoline and that is a good way to keep her occupied...so win/win for me!

And, yes, hate us all you want, but devin and I went shopping that evening. We got almost 100% of our shopping done where we hadn't done any before that night, so I'd say it was a win. We were gone until the wee hours of the morning. Luckily, Devin's parents were nice enough to let us put our kids to bed at their house so that we could go. Devin had to work the next morning at 5 am too, so I think he may have gotten 2 hours or sleep that night. Yikes. What a good sport to go with me though! 

Well....now that that is done. MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!

Thanksgiving 2013, Part 1

I know Thanksgiving was eons ago, but since I slacked off and haven't updated the blog in some time, you get it now. 

We celebrated Thanksgiving twice- once the weekend before at the Crapo family cabin in the middle of nowhere, Idaho, and the second time at Devin's brother Shane and his wife Marcene's house in the middle of nowhere, Utah (just kidding Shane and Marcene!). Since I have a lot to cover, we are going to break this up into two posts.

 You know what's sad? I have zero pictures of Flor, Jace, or Devin from the weekend at the cabin. I mostly got these pictures from others (We have a family Facebook page where everyone can just upload their pictures and then everyone else can just take what you want-- brilliant idea if anyone is looking for a brilliant idea). So, despite the photographic evidence pointing to the contrary, Flor, Jace, and Dev were all present at the cabin.

The cabin was a blast. We had a fantastic time for the two and a half days we were there. It was so much fun to all be together and to be able to put the kids to bed and stay up playing games, etc. We also had some pretty awesome activities planned and they turned out really fun f I do say so myself. :) I will let the pictures do most of the talking, as I usually do. And you can thank me later that I made a bunch of collages of the pictures I have instead of making you view them all one by one. You're welcome.

First things first: Friday night we got to go go the local high school's production of "The Sound of Music" because Hailie was performing! She did a great job and we women enjoyed it while the men enjoyed watching football at the cabin. Win, win. 

Can't beat this view, right? Beeeeautiful. That's the Grand Teton in  case you wonder.

 A bunch of random (but cute-- they made the cut) pictures of the cabin time:

Right out of bed getting to hold a baby? Nothing better. 

Game time!

It just wouldn't be a Clark family party without entirely too much soda. Seriously? Is this necessary? Apparently so.

During Thanksgiving dinner, we got to go around and say what we are thankful for as per tradition. This year was extra emotional as  many people were grateful for the health of this man, my Uncle Judd, who is doing remarkably well after a nearly fatal stroke earlier this year. We have so much to be grateful for. 

Apparently I have a LOT of pictures of Hallie at the expense of the other two kids (so sorry kids). Claire and Hals.

Really late night games. Bet you can't tell.

Oh and yes, at one point we really did eat a fantastic traditional Thanksgiving dinner! Yum, Yum.

Oh the things we do late at night. Che' had a box of Bertie's Every Flavor Beans from Harry Potter World that she was saving for a special occasion, and this was just the time. We had a great (and disgusting) time testing out the various flavors. Some were delicious and normal and others-- well others were of such flavorings as earwax, dirt, vomit, bleach, earthworm, etc. You couldn't tell which was which just from looking at them.  I think the faces speak for themselves as to how the bad ones tasted....

Minute to Win- It:

I am sure you have all seen the TV show Minute to Win-It and probably a lot of you have played some Minute to Win-It games with your family. If you have not, I recommend it. Good times had by all. We divided the entire family into three teams, babies and all. We then had 8 games and each team picked a representative from their team to compete in that game. 

Some of these pictures are not the greatest because there were so many windows surrounding the area, but oh, well...This game was one where there were multiple bags of various heights on the ground and each competitor had to pick them up with their mouth without having more than two limbs touching the ground at once. They had to transfer each bag to the table behind them and the first one done with all their bags won.

In this game, the three people had to have a yo-yo tied around their waist and then they had to swing it to knock down ten cups on the ground.

The classic pull all the kleenex out of the box fastest game.

The game where you have to get the cookie from your forehead into your mouth without using your hands.

In this game, the competitors had to scoop up all their candy canes just using another candy cane and get them all into their bowl first to win.

Hopping on one foot while carrying an egg on a spoon. Yes, we did have eggy carpet after this one and YES...the pregnant girl (Des) won!

Blowing the cups with a straw off the edge of the table- harder than it looks for some! Hallie got zero, I believe. :)

Annnnnnnnd, last but not least-- the most entertaining of them all- the attach an empty kleenex box to the back of the person and shake out the balls game. Hilarious. I mean, just look at the bottom left picture and Mari Ann (far left). HAHAHAHA!! (Yes, I know that one of the pictures is in that collage twice-- for some reason, it would only do it that way. Weird).

Alright, part two coming up another time!