Happy Halloween

Someone made a higher offer on the house we wanted so last week we hunted some more houses.  We found a builder that we really liked and were leaning towards building.  When we called our realtor to find out more about building she told us that the people who had out offered us hadn't been able to get their financing so the house we liked was still available.  We didn't really like the offer they wanted though so we called the builder to find out what they would do for us.  They came back with a great deal and we decided to take it.  We filled out the contract on Monday and if they accept it (which they should because it was their offer) then we will have a house at the end of February!  We're very excited and of course will share lots of pictures when they start building.  Right now there is nothing to take a picture of but dirt.

Because of all the house stuff we had a really busy week last week.  We went to the store Monday night to get a pumpkin and they were sold out!  We tried another store on our way home that night and found one lone little pumpkin sitting in an aisle.  It was kind of on the smaller side but we grabbed it because it was that or none at all.  We carved it Tuesday night.  

This year we decided to do a Picasso pumpkin.

 

On Halloween we went to a party at a friends house.  I brought the camera and then forgot all about it while making dinner.  We had a lot of fun at the party and then went to the trunk-or-treat.  We dressed up and had stuff to decorate our trunk with but when we got out of the car we realized we forgot the tape.  We had 10 minutes so we ran home, grabbed the tape, and came back.  When we pulled up they were ready for the trunk-or-treating to begin so we only had enough time to pull out the candy and dump it in a bowl.  Then we realized that we left our camera at our friends house so we came away from our fun evening with no pictures.  It was a lot of fun though.  I like to make people do tricks for their candy and it was a lot of fun to see what the children could come up with off the top of their heads.  There were a few who came prepared and one of them did a magic trick for us, it was pretty good too!  We also saw some cartwheels, round-offs, princess twirls, and one little girl turned me into a toad!  Clever.

We went to an adoption conference on Saturday.  It was in Phoenix so we had to leave at 5am to get there on time.  One day I'm going to go to one of these things with my hair done and not have to do my make-up in the car.  At least I didn't poke my eye out trying to put on mascara.  

We took a class about race in adoption that gave us a lot to think about.  Some things the instructor pointed out that I really appreciated  was: to make sure you celebrate your child's heritage and to make sure they are around other people who look like them.  I can see how it would help a child to know they aren't the only one's that look the way they do - especially when their family all looks different from them.

Another class we took was about talking to your children about adoption.  One thing that the instructors said that we really liked was "The way you talk about adoption and their birth families is the way they will feel about it."  So, if it's a big secret that is sort of taboo to talk about then they will be ashamed of it, but if you talk about it in a positive way and it's something your family can bring up at any time and be comfortable with it then they will know that it is a wonderful thing, something to be proud of.  I think this will also make them more comfortable with themselves which is always very important.

We went to another birth mother panel and it was wonderful, as always.  We are so grateful for the selfless sacrifice they make for their children.  What wonderful, brave, and loving women they are. 

 

Fall Time Fun

This is the hole Allan got in his pants during the boyscout camp out he went on last week end.  It's quite the hole.  I'll be patching it this week.

We counter-offered on the house that we want...hopefully they'll accept this offer and we'll be able to move forward to closing!

One of Allan's school buddies came into town this week and we were able to spend an evening with him.  They had a lot of fun talking together and reminiscing about school.

We went on a picnic with some friends this Friday.  They have a little boy and are expecting a girl in a few months.  I watch their little boy from time to time.  He is a blast to watch.  This last week he wanted to go outside pretty badly.  I told him we couldn't go this time but when he wants something he doesn't give up easily.  He saw my shoes, brought them over to me and set them by my feet.  I put them on and then he grabbed my hand and walked me to the door!  What a cutie.

Our friends H and J, Allan, and Allan's school buddy, K (in the red shirt)

The picnic was a lot of fun.  We forgot how early it gets dark here and ended up eating by make-shift lantern.  Good thing my friend frequents pinterest.  She was able to create the lantern from a water bottle and flashlight.  Genius!

Their little boy.  He had a hot dog in one hand and a cookie in the other - he was a very happy little camper!

We went to a corn maze this weekend as well.  We love doing things outside and a corn maze is always fun!  We took our time wandering around, trying to get to every part of the maze.  Several times we had people stop and ask us which way to go, they were pretty disappointed when they discovered we were just wandering around.

This year there were several squash plants along the paths.  I think the blooms on the plants are gorgeous.

There were also a lot of extremely rotten corn cobs.  They look pretty weird.

Allan took some pictures of me when I wasn't aware.  The funny thing is when he took this picture I thought "Is Allan taking a picture of me...no...I'd hear the camera..."  Guess not.

The view from the bridge that goes over some of the maze.

 I don't know what this is but I thought it was really pretty.

The sunflower field.  It is so gorgeous!

One of the pumpkins.  I love the vine that is coming off of it.

It was colder this year than last year so we didn't see any caterpillars.  In fact, we didn't see very many insects at all, mostly just bees.  That was kind of nice. ;)  We decided that next year we're going to go through as fast as we can and time ourselves.  Then we'll work our way backward and explore the rest of the maze.  Then we'll really confuse people!

Hunting Houses

I didn't post here last week because I hurt my ribs and couldn't sit at the desk long enough to type a blog up (don't worry, nothing serious, just painful).  However, Allan decided that this was a good excuse to purchase a wireless modem.  So we have officially gone wireless in our house.  Woohoo!  I'm not sure the injury was worth it, but I'll still take the wireless, I'm loving it!

The last two weeks have been busy for us. The first thing we did was jump into house hunting.  We weren't going to look into buying a house until next year, but we suddenly felt really good about doing it now.  I met with several realtors and between the two of us we looked at 9 houses but didn't like any of them enough to buy them.  However, the following week (last week) we looked at a house that we fell in love with and made an offer on Monday!  We know we're going to have to counter-offer back and forth a bit, but with any luck we'll have a house by the end of the year!

The house we want is a 4 bed 2 bath, it has a decent sized yard, a nice open kitchen/family room, and a formal living room, lots of storage, and a 2 car garage.  It was the model home for a new subdivision here and hasn't been lived in yet and it's been on the market for quite a while.  Hopefully it will be ours soon!  I would show pictures but we forgot our camera. :-/

We had a fun evening at the county fair a couple weekends ago.  Our favorite thing to do there is look at all of the children's art work.  My favorite drawing this year was "The Saxophone Fairy".  I wasn't aware that there was a fairy watching over saxophones, but I love fairies and saxophone music so what better combination can there be!  It really was a great drawing.  We also loved the poems the children wrote about a picture of sunflowers.  One of them said: My sunflower is "more fragile than dry wall and more beautiful than the mine".  Haha!  Allan and I had a good laugh out of that one!  Another of my favorites was My sunflower is "as interesting as dirt bikes", I have my doubts that he really meant that...  It was so fun to see what was on the kids minds the day they wrote those poems!  There were also some really sweet ones that said My sunflower is "as beautiful as my mom".  Awww.

We also saw this awesome cake:

For a treat Allan got me an elephant ear!  For those of you who aren't from around here elephant ears are Navajo fry bread.  I LOVE these!  My mom used to make them for us when my sisters and I were little.  I make them every now and then but I can't make them nearly as good as my mom or the amazing people around here.  I got honey on it and Allan, like the gentleman he is, carried it for me while we went to find a seat.  On our way he suddenly stopped and looked down to discover honey all over his belly and down his legs!  He was just embodying his sweetness ;)

Allan wanted a pumpkin pie shake from Dairy Queen for his treat that night so we stopped there on our way home.  They make a delicious shake!

Our ward has a Halloween tradition - they "Boo" people.  Someone starts by making a couple plates of treats and then leaves them on your doorstep with a sign that says "You've been booed".  It's a really fun tradition.  One of our sneaky friends booed us and we got some yummy treats!  They were delicious!  Thank you whoever you are!

For family night last week we made some of Grandma's famous sugar cookies so we could boo some people in return.  We had a lot of fun decorating (and eating) the cookies, I think they turned out pretty cute!  Allan took a plate to work for his coworkers to enjoy as well.  I have a lot of good memories of decorating sugar cookies when I was little, and I can't wait to do it with my kids one day.

The college here did "The Ark" this weekend.  It's a musical about  Noah's Ark.  I was expecting it to be super cheesy and it certainly didn't fail!  We laughed through almost the entire show.  The cast did really well too.  In this show the animals on Noah's ark are the audience.  At the beginning of the show the actors went around greeting people as hippos, zebra's, cows, and hyenas.  My favorite was when one of the actors found a man sitting all by himself.  The actor says to Noah "Weren't they supposed to come in pairs?"  Noah says yes and the actor say "Well, I think we're missing one of these."  (haha) Noah consults his list and says "No, just one unicorn."  Haha!  Gotta love the cheese!

Afterward, as per our tradition, we went and got frozen yogurt and then drove around the neighborhood we hope to live in soon.  It was a fun afternoon, and we really appreciated the time together.  Allan's been pretty busy lately and we've missed each other.

Allan also went on a boyscout camp out this weekend.  They hiked in 2 miles to an old plane crash, camped there, and then hiked out the next day.  Allan said it was quite the hike.  For a lot of it there wasn't any trail and they had to climb rocks and go through a lot of heavy brush and stuff to get there.  The boys were pretty tired afterward.  They all came out with some minor scrapes and bruises because of the brush, and Allan came home with a huge (and I mean HUGE) hole in his pants! (Just so you don't have to wonder, I ripped it on a tree branch while trying to squeeze between it a large rock. I guess that I just didn't go skinny enough.)

We had the primary program this week.  Before I tell you about that though I have to tell you about last Sundays practice for the Primary Program.  We had just finished going through the program and were about to go through it again.  The kids had a LOT of energy that day so Sister A (in the primary presidency) stood up and talked to the kids about how they should stand.  She told them that they needed to stand up tall with their hands by their sides, their chests out, their shoulders back, and they should be very, very still.  They all got ready, and then I got up to lead them in a song.  I'm leading and the kids are doing great, then one by one they start looking at me and giggling and slowly they start to loose their perfect singing stance.  Suddenly I realize that I am swaying and stepping side to side to the music, and my non-leading hand is definitely not by my side!  As nonchalantly as I could I stopped my little dance, put my hand by my side and tried to be the good example I was supposed to be.  They did really well after that.  It's amazing how well behaved they can be when I am well behaved!

So, this Sunday we did the real deal.  The kids did great!  They said their parts perfectly (there was only one sweet little boy who started to say a prayer instead of his part), remembered the words to the songs, and were amazingly well behaved.  I even made it to the 2nd to last song before I started swaying to the music. ;)
My favorite song that we did is Easter Hosanna.  The song is about Christ coming to the Nephites and the joy they expressed when they saw their resurrected Savior.  I didn't give enough time to the younger kids for them to learn the verses very well but they had the chorus down great.  So, we had the older kids sing the verses and then when the chorus came the little kids would pop out of their seats and sing "Hosanna!  Blessed be the name of the most High God!"  Those sweet kids sang those words with so much power and happiness.  It was really powerful. (Kami does a great job teaching them. She is great at getting them excited to sing and at helping them learn the words.)

Clear Passage is Awesome!

Seriously, it is!

For me it was an answer to prayer.

Clear Passage played a big part in our journey down the infertility road.  If you've read our post "Why Adoption?" you know that I got really sick in 2009.  Here are some of my symptoms:

Morning sickness
Pain in my pelvis
Having to pee about every 5 minutes

Crying for no reason
Hungry all the time but can't eat
Always tired
Weight loss
Swollen abdomen

You'd think I was pregnant right...um, no.  Just some of the weird things scar tissue can do to your body.  So, I spent 9 months (ironically) with all of these symptoms.  The pain was so bad that I could barely walk.  I couldn't stand up straight, lay down flat, or sit.  I couldn't hold my nieces and nephews or get down on the floor to play with them.  I had to choose one thing to do a day besides get myself ready for the day because after doing one thing (usually dishes or making dinner) the pain would be so bad I couldn't stand up anymore.  If I did something like teach my dance class or go to the grocery store it would take me a day or two to recover.  I'm usually a pretty active person so laying down on the couch doing nothing about drove me nuts!

It was in an odd way a blessing.  Because I had this pain our insurance covered some exams it normally wouldn't have and we were able to find out why we couldn't get pregnant.  Through these tests we discovered that the same thing that was causing me pain was causing our infertility.

We prayed every day for a miracle to happen.  We received countless priesthood blessings that I would be healed.   We went to several specialists and the only thing they could offer was surgery to remove all of my female organs.  Yikes!  More surgery always means more scar tissue.  Scar tissue is the problem in the first place, why would I want more unless it was at least going to give me a baby?

While we were trying to decide what to do Allan stumbled across Clear Passage.  I am so grateful to have a husband that never gives up.  While he was researching Clear Passage he had a really good feeling about it and was certain that this would work for us.  I prayed about it but I was such an emotional and physical wreck at the time that I couldn't figure out what to think.  I just trusted Allan and let him make the appointment.  In July of 2010 I went to California where the nearest Clear Passage clinic to us is located.  One of my mission companions let us stay with her and her husband!  I really enjoyed catching up with her and she saved us a ton of money.  I will always be very grateful to her for that!

I did 20 hours of therapy in 5 days.  Now, this is not one of those nice massages where you leave feeling relaxed.  They really dig in and it hurts...BAD!  But, after the first session my pain had decreased.  By the end of the week I had:

NO PAIN for the first time in 9 months!
I could stand up straight and actually gained half an inch in height.  I was always exactly 5'2" and now I am proud to say I'm 5'2 1/2"!
 I could walk,sit, and lay down without pain!
My stomach had always been rock solid and I always thought it was because I had great abs, but after Clear Passage I have a softer, more pliable belly, all that rock hardness was just scar tissue. :-/
My right rib has always had really low mobility.  When I would take a deep breath my left rib would extend out like normal, and my right one would pretty much stay where it was.  Now it moves too!  It's made it a lot easier to breath!
I have always been flexible, but I gained more flexibility and can actually do a backbend!  Hadn't been able to do one of those in years!
I had regular bowl movements for the first time in my life! (I'm sure you wanted to know that...)
I could eat meat and other foods that are hard to digest.  Some of these foods I had not eaten in 8-10 years!
My female organs are healthy now (except for the hydrosalpinx), and I no longer have all those weird hormonal pregnancy like symptoms.
My bladder was freed up so now I don't have to pee every 5 minutes! (Hallelujah!)
I had also been having pain in my left foot and leg that I thought was unrelated but that has been significantly better since I went there.
I couldn't go more than 2 days without exercising or I would get a massive headache, now I can go for a week without getting a headache!  (Although I try not to...)
I also gained more mobility in just about every part of my body.  I can jump, run, and dance a lot easier than ever before.

I am still infertile but I no longer have chronic pain.  Clear Passage healed me so that I could care for the children that will hopefully enter my home through adoption.  I am grateful every day for the experience I had with them.  They were great!

Me with my therapist.  She was so fablous!

They also worked well with our non-sufficient student insurance, and half of the cost was covered.  They teach you how to do some of the stuff on your own too so you can continue to heal.  I want to go back and continue the therapy.  There is so much more they could do for me, 27 years of scar tissue doesn't go away in 20 hours of therapy.  It sure did help a lot though.

If you have chronic pain or know someone who does, look into these people.  It will be worth your time.  The infertility stuff obviously didn't work for me but it has for a lot of their patients, and I think is worth looking into if you are suffering from infertility. Here is their video:



Their website is www.clearpassage.com.  Right now they are offering a free treatment if you like them on Facebook.  There is a lot you can do to get entered in multiple times so check it out!

Old Age is Coming Quickly

I spent the first two days of this week without Allan.  He was in Utah helping with a career fair.  I usually travel with him, but since we just came back from Utah, and he was only going to be gone for two days, we thought we'd save some money and leave me at home.

While he was gone I went to a girls night.  I can't remember the last time I went to a girls night...but it was fun.  I got to know some nice women in our ward that I hadn't really met before, and a woman who is not in our ward - but I wish she was because she is absolutely hilarious!  At one point in the evening a couple of the girls started talking about how they are 25 and when they get close to thirty they will feel "SO OLD"!  I about spit my water all over the room because I was trying to hold back my laughter!  I am 29 (very close to 30), I didn't realize I was "SO OLD"!  (LOL!)  This isn't the first time that's happened though and I always get a big kick out of the shock it creates when people learn that I am closer to 30 than 20.  Just in case you were wondering...I don't feel old...I feel about the same way I felt 10 years ago.  It was a fun evening and the girls were very nice; I hope to get to know them better.

Later that week a friend and her little girl were over.  We were making dinner for someone.  The little girl, C, is 3.  My age came up and when C heard that I am 29 she said "Your 29!" with shock written all over her face.  I said "Yep, I'm old huh!"  C frowned and said "No...you're little."  Phew!  If a 3 year old doesn't think I'm old I think I'm safe for a few more years!  That's assuming she meant that I am young and not short!  Haha!

We had a really fun date roasting s'mores up on the mountain again.  We really enjoyed the cooler weather and seeing the stars.  It's really nice to have the mountain so close.

We attended another birthday for a little girl who turned 6.  I love going to children's parties.  Allan is never really sure about it, but I know the fathers of the little girls are always relieved to see him and have someone to talk to through all the girlyness.  I went to this girls older sisters party earlier in the year.  Their mom does such a great job planning and executing these parties.  She has it down to an hour and a half with games, presents, lunch, and cake and ice cream.  She is a pro, and they are always so fun; the kids always have a blast. 

At this party I ate the first hot dog I have had in 13 or 14 years!  I'm not the biggest fan, but I did enjoy it.  One day I'm going to go back to Chicago and try a Chicago dog and discover what all the hype is about.

I finally finished the baby afghan  I was working on!  I had to take it out about 6 times (sheesh) but it's finally done!

I also made a mobile out of ribbon for our nursery.

I know the afghan and mobile are really girly.  We have felt for a long time that there is a little girl out there for us.  We were going to plan a neutral nursery, but we finally decided that we would embrace that feeling we have and plan a nursery for a little girl.  If we end up with a boy then we'll have a good laugh, celebrate, and then re-do the nursery.  Until then I plan on making it as girly as possible! ;)

We really enjoyed conference this weekend.  We love the extra cuddle time and the spiritual uplift.  I was especially touched by President Eyring's and Elder Oaks' talks.  After a lot of thought and prayer we decided not to do foster care at this time.  After hearing Elder Oaks talk we had to reconsider our decision.  There are so many children out there that need loving, nurturing homes, and we really want to provide that.  However, after much prayer again, the answer was still clearly no.  So, we will continue to wait.

Elder Eyring said "Many of us in moments of personal anguish feel that God is far from us.  The pavillion that seems to intercept divine aid does not cover God, but occasionally covers us. ...We can't insist on our timetable when the Lord has His own. ...Sometimes our insistance on acting according to our own timetable can obscure His will for us."

This talk was very fitted to me at this time.  The longer we wait the harder it is to accept God's will and timing.  And we've only been waiting for 4 years, we know many who have waited for 10 or more!  I certainly don't understand God's will and I have to admit that sometimes I just don't really like it.  But I know that is because I don't understand.  One day I will.  That will be a wonderful, long-awaited day.  Until then we are trying to take it one day at a time and trust God.  It's easier said then done, but He has never failed us yet.

Where did the time go?

I've been a slacker lately and haven't posted on this blog.  I know that you are all DYING to know what we've been up to lately...(heehee).  So without further ado, or excuses, (and of course there are many, good one's too), here is our update:

We started going to a Foster Care class.  The class is to learn about foster care and then certify if you so choose.  We're still not sure if we're ready for foster care but we have to make a decision soon.  Now, this doesn't mean that we are no longer hoping to adopt, in fact it means quite the opposite!  We are still HOPING TO ADOPT, (please tell everyone you know!) this would just be another avenue to find our child.

We took one of our favorite families out to eat in August.  Well, in to eat actually because one of their children was injured and couldn't leave the house.  It was a lot of fun though.  M (the little girl I once babysat) is part of this family.  We took orders on what kind of ice cream everyone wanted.  M changed her mind so many times that we actually ordered her two ice creams instead of one!  When the ice creams came she tasted the one she chose last and decided she didn't like it and then ate the other one.  Good thing we got both, she would have been very disappointed.  Her dad loves sweets and I'm pretty sure he was happy to have extra! ;)

I went to Utah to visit my family for a couple of weeks.  I was with my youngest sister, K6, and her new baby for a week and then Allan joined me at his parents home for 4 days.  It was so nice to be with family again.  I really enjoyed the baby time.

 She is the perfect little thing too.  She rarely cries or fusses and is very cuddly.  If only we could be so lucky when our time finally comes.  I really enjoyed talking with my sisters, K5 was there too, eating way more sweets than a person ever should, playing with K6's doggies, and shopping with K5.  It was very refreshing to have some sister time.  My mom and step-dad also came to visit while I was there and it was wonderful to see them as well.  They made us all jealous talking about their upcoming trip to Hawaii.  K6's in-laws came to visit too.  They are part of our family like another Aunt and Uncle and I loved seeing them.  And of course, I got to see K6's husband for a short time as well.  It was fun to see them together loving their new baby.  I am so happy for them!

Allan decided not to shave while I was gone.  His beard doesn't grow in evenly and he has several spots on his face that don't grow hair at all.  When he went to church on Sunday M saw him.  She looked at him for a while and then said "Look Mom, Allan has some hair here, and here, and here" pointing around the bald spots!  When our ward discovered that I was gone for the week they decided Allan must be fed!  They fed him VERY well too!

We had a blast with Allan's family.  We were there for his brother D's wedding.  It was a wonderful day.  D and his wife J (and all the family that helped) did a great job with the wedding.  It was beautiful.  J looked gorgeous, of course, and we are so happy to invite her into our family!  Some pictures:

The family with the Bride and Groom.

Allan and our nephew, H, had a grand old time playing together.  Allan was keeping him out of sight of his mom so that she could take some pictures.

  One of our nieces fell in love with their cake and made me take about 10 pictures of it!

I think my favorite part of the wedding though was sitting in the nursery with the kids and their parents. 

We went up to the mountain last weekend and had s'mores.  It was so nice to be outside where it was cool.  We found Butterfingers and Cookies and Cream bars that we could use for s'mores.  They were really good.  Much better than the normal milk chocolate!  I highly recommend using butterfingers!

We had a Relief Society activity this week in which we made 60 freezer meals in an hour!  We all took home 3 meals.  It was a great activity and now I have my freezer meals done for a couple of months!  Woohoo!

I babysat a little boy this week, D.  I've babysat him several times before.  He is the most docile child I have ever met.  He's the one that is happier when I ignore him.  This time I was making bread when he came over.  He was very upset, as always, when his mom left.  I helped him get his favorite toys out (my exercise ball and drum mallets) and then walked over to my mixer.  As soon as I turned it on he stopped crying and said "Ooooh!"  He was utterly amazed by the noise it made!  I got a kick out of turning it on and off and hearing his little ooooh's!  He actually played with me this time too!  We danced, read stories, turned the lights and the ceiling fan on and off, chased the exercise ball, played airplane on the ottoman, and drummed as many things as we could.  It was a very fun morning!

We went to M and L's to make sugar cookies this week.  I made them some of Grandma's sugar cookies when M broke her leg and since then their dad has been consistently asking us to teach them how to make them.  When we got there L came running up to me and said "Game? Game?"  He knows that when I come we always play games.  It was difficult to get him away from the games to make the cookies.  We really enjoyed making the cookies with the kids.  More than one of the children ended up covered in flour.  At the end of the evening when it was time to go little L climbed up in my lap, looked at his parents and said "Bye" with a big grin on his face.  They said "Oh, are you going home with Allan and Kami?"  and he promptly said "YES!"  What a cutie!

We went to the children's play this week for our date.  They did Oliver Twist.  As always it was very cute!  We were glad to support some of the girls in our ward and see them perform.  It's so fun to see the children's joy and pride in themselves.

Allan went to a boy scout camporee this weekend.  The boys did a great job in the competitions and received a first place ribbon!  Allan said it was a success because nobody got injured!

I really enjoyed the General Relief Society Broadcast on Saturday.  The new presidency's testimonies of the Savior were beautiful and very comforting.  President Eyring said in his talk that "the Lord's path for you will be marked by Him in the service you give to others." (that is not a direct quote)  I, like so many others, love to give service and I have seen the Lord's path for me take shape many times as I have served or been served by others.  What a great promise from a prophet of God.

Last week in Primary I did  "Punch It".  M's mom made the punch it board when she was the chorister a couple of years ago and gave it to me recently.  The kids loved it.  The boys especially loved punching through the tissue paper as hard as they could!

Today we practiced for the Primary Program and then had an extra long singing time combined with the older children.  I brought bubble wrap, it's a favorite, and combined that with the ribbon dancing, instruments, and bean bags.  It was quite the day in primary.  The kids had a blast though.  They were so excited they kept quietly sneaking up to pop a bubble on the bubble wrap!  One of the sunbeams was trying his hardest to follow me in the ribbon dance.  When I flung my ribbon up over my head though it was a little too much for him.  He flung his ribbon up so far that he fell over backwards and landed on his back on the floor!  He wasn't injured but he was very startled and looked at me like "What did you do that for!"  When we were playing the instruments he drummed his little stick so vigorously that it broke in half!  Poor little guy.  It was a rough day for him.  I always get a good laugh out of primary, it never, ever fails!

Still Looking

We are no longer expecting a baby in November.

Our caseworker told us on Monday that K feels uncomfortable with her decision and she wants to take some time to look at other options.

Of course we are heartbroken.  Adoption is really, really hard.  We wish K the best and we hope that she will still consider us as she searches for answers.

For us it is time to move forward and start searching again.  Please let everyone know that we are hoping to adopt: your friends, family, and neighbors, your hairdresser, your Bishop and Relief Society, the guy sitting next to you on the bus....you never know who might know someone who is looking for a couple to place their child with.

Thank you all for your love and support, and your help on our journey to grow our family.