Happy Birthday Justin!!

I can't believe that my baby is 5 years old today. Seems like yesterday he came into our home with his dark eyes, dark hair, and adorable smile. The time is going by waaaay too fast! He should still look like this:He should not be old enough to be starting kindergarten in the fall. Sigh.

He is really, really excited about his birthday, so I'll try not to be too melancholy.

In honor of his fifth birthday, here are five things I love about Justin:
-I love it when he wakes up in the morning, finds me at my computer, and climbs up on my lap for a good morning hug. If I'm really lucky he'll even stay for a minute or two.
-The way he walks around the house singing songs.
-Listening to him upstairs playing with cars and making all the car sounds. Then finding his cars parked all in a neat row at the top of the stairs.
-The way he uses "her" instead of "she". You know, like: "her shared her cookies with me", or "her is my friend". The rest of his vocabulary is way too grown up, so I love that he hasn't outgrown this one.
-His darn cute face. And that he still lets me kiss it.
Man I love that boy. Justin, I am so glad that Heavenly Father let me be your mother!

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Didn't know if we are coming or going!

Kind of a crazy afternoon. We found out last night that Spencer had a double header tonight. One game at 4, one at 6. All the boys have piano lessons on Monday, so I couldn't pick him up from school to take him to the game. I called the coaches wife and she said she'd pick him up with her son. The plan was that we would all come to his game at 5:00 when lessons were over. We were going to have salmon for dinner but I decided to make chicken salad instead so we could just eat it at the game.

Got a call at about 3:20 from the coach, saying he heard the games might be canceled because the fields are wet. Called Wes to tell him the games were off. Started downstairs to get the salmon from the freezer.

Phone rang. It was the coach saying that on the website all the games were canceled but ours. Scratch salmon, back to chicken salad. Call Wes to tell him games are back on.

Wes calls the rec office to see if we really are the only ones playing a game. Guy who answers the phone isn't sure, but tells him to check the website.

Wes sends me a text message. Yes indeed, for some strange reason, our games are not canceled.

Five minutes later Wes calls to tell me that now on the website our games have been canceled. Yeah, now Spencer can make it to piano lessons.

Spencer doesn't come home. I get a text from Wes saying that since all of the team was there, the coach decided to hold a practice.

Are these people trying to make me loose my mind? Because they are doing a good job!

Weekend Re-Cap

Let me just say that I am really looking forward to this upcoming week. I actually have some blank spaces on the calendar. Woohoo!

Our entire family had to speak in church today and it was so incredibly stressful for me. With our adoption homestudy, the last week was completely draining, physically and emotionally. When Wes agreed that we would speak last Sunday night, I knew that the timing was horrible and I wouldn't even be able to think about the talks until Friday evening. The topic was the Atonement and that is a difficult subject, especially when writing talks for kids to give.

I struggled mightily writing my talk. I don't remember ever having such a difficult time. I read over a dozen talks, listened to a few, searched books and scriptures, and prayed. Nothing was coming to me. Nothing! I really felt like my bucket was empty and I had nothing to give. It was so discouraging. It wasn't till 9:30 on Saturday night that I finally found a talk that really spoke to me. It was by Jeffrey R. Holland. I just love him. I feel like his talks always speak right to my soul.

So I managed to pull it all together at the very last minute. Luckily Wes helped all of the boys with their talks. They did a phenomenal job and I was really proud of them. Mine went fine except for the crying part. Which happens every time. And I can't even help it. It is strange really, because I hardly ever cry outside of church. But every time I have to teach a lesson, give a talk, or even say a prayer in church, the waterworks start. I hate it but I don't really know how to make it stop. It is so embarrassing! I am very glad that it is over.

My brother Jon is visiting from North Carolina with his girlfriend Andrea. We went up to my parents house to celebrate his birthday and meet Andrea. It was a ton of fun to see everyone and we all love Andrea. If he doesn't marry her I just might have to punch him. (Sorry Jon, but it's the truth.) They actually came down to listen to our talks today, so now Andrea knows what a crybaby I am. :)

Tough Decisions

So, we came home from our camping trip with about 20 loads of dirty laundry. Sweaty, smoky, covered in dirt laundry. I spent two days getting it done. Then started to clean the rest of our house in preparation for our annual adoption homestudy. First the vacuum broke, then the steam cleaner that I use in the bathrooms and to mop the floor. Not a good sign. Luckily Wes was able to fix the vacuum. My awesome visiting teacher Cynthia not only came over and helped me clean, but she let me borrow her steamer. The house wasn't perfect for our visit on Thursday, but it was good enough.

Our caseworker is wonderful, and we talked about exploring other options. We have looked into several other agencies that have a better birth mother/adoptive couple ratio. We know that one of the most successful ways to adopt is through a friend of a friend, so we are trying to decide how to do a better job of spreading the word. We are facing some difficult decisions about adoption right now, so we would really appreciate your prayers. We know that if we are meant to have a baby girl, it will happen. We just want to do everything that we can and rely on the Lord for the rest. Hopefully we will be buying a lot more pink by the time this year is over!!

Spring Break

One thing I have learned over the past 8 years is that spring break in Utah is more like winter break. Seriously, the weather is hardly ever good. This year was no exception. We took a camping trip with 6 other families, and as we were leaving, there was 2 inches of snow and it was still coming down. Luckily we headed south, so it was slightly warmer. But not much.

We did have an amazing time, despite the chilly weather. (The heater in our trailer that didn't work the first night, and it was pretty nippy. Luckily we brought mummy bags and lots of blankets.)

The boys had a blast riding four wheelers, hiking, hanging out with all the other kids, playing in the dirt, and catching lizards. Six of them. We brought one home and he is currently living in our sandbox. It really was a great trip. The worst part about it was that I didn't have a camera. I am such a dork. I was so sure that I packed it, but we couldn't find it anywhere. Of course, when we came home and unpacked, it showed up. I still have no idea where it was hiding for the entire trip. So I am very sorry, but we have no photos of our amazing spring break. Sigh. Maybe next year.

Busy Weekend!

Thursday morning I tied a quilt with a bunch of ladies. That afternoon I taught a neighbor how to make bread. Went to Spencer's first baseball game. Stayed up till 1:00 in the morning that night making an Easter bingo game. Because I told my friend I had an Easter bingo game she could use for the class party. Couldn't find it. Anywhere. Didn't want to leave her hangin'. I'm crazy like that.

Spencer played in a baseball tournament. One game on Thursday, three on Friday. They tied one game and lost three. We were sad that they didn't win any games, but not too sad because that meant we didn't have games on Saturday.

Friday my sister Heidi and her kids came down for a visit. The kids all decorated sugar cookies, colored Easter eggs, and played in the back yard. I think that my phone rang about fifteen times while she was here. One call was to inform me that we had a no-show ref at a soccer game at the park. I had to drop everything and solve that problem. So fun.
I had so much fun visiting with my sister, and the kids played together the whole time with not even a single argument. It was wonderful and we really need to do it more often!

Saturday we spent the morning doing laundry and cleaning our house, then went up to my parent's house for an Easter egg hunt and wonderful dinner. Most of my pictures turned out pretty cruddy, so I'm not even going to post them. Danggit.

Today after church Wes and I actually both managed to sneak in a nap. Then we all went for a walk and played in the back yard, totally enjoying the sunshine!

Spring break starts Wednesday and we are going camping with six other families in our neighborhood. I am not looking forward to cleaning out the trailer, but I know we will have a blast!

My life is almost mine again!

I am nearing the end of the nightmare that is spring soccer organization. I still have a few ref that need to come pick up their gear, but most of the headache is over. Fields are reserved, coaches are found, teams are organized, jerseys are delivered, equipment is handed out, refs are trained, rosters are typed, rules are posted, money is counted, schedules are made, candy for the snack shack is purchased, the snow has stopped, and my brain is fried. Now I remember why I don't like to run spring soccer. Remind me next year, will you.

We are due for another adoption home study. I can't believe it's been a whole year since the last one. Our caseworker is coming on April 23rd. Since we'll be gone for spring break next week, I thought I'd get a bit of a head start digging out of the hole. Then the vacuum cleaner broke. And the steam cleaner I use for floors and bathrooms. OK, I guess I won't get a head start. Maybe we're just destined to live in a messy house. Sigh.

Had a little bit of free time yesterday before I had to head to the book fair to help with the take-down, so Justin and I made Easter treats. He had a lot of fun, and honestly, so did I. It was a nice break. Don't you just love the concentration on his face: Here he is showing off the completed nests: Tyler first soccer game of the season was Tuesday. We were lucky because that day happened to be the most beautiful day we've had in weeks. Sunny and warm, no wind. Perfect. It only lasted a day though, yesterday the temperature plummeted and it is cold and rainy today too. But we sure enjoyed our one day of bliss.

Spencer's first baseball game is this evening and I can tell it will be miserable. It is cold, wet, and rainy. I'm thinking I might need to take some hot chocolate. Sheesh!! Thank goodness he has a pair of under armor. I wish we all had some!

I need a What?

I had the following conversation with Justin yesterday. We were just finishing up lunch, when out of the blue:

Justin: Mom, you need a boyfriend.
Me: I already have a boyfriend-dad.
Justin: Dad's can't be boyfriends, they're just who they are.
Me: Why do I need one, what would I do with a boyfriend?
Justin: Um, you kiss boyfriends.
Me: Don't I do that with dad?
Justin: Yah, I guess you don't need a boyfriend.

Then he finished his last bite of sandwich, hopped off the chair, and ran upstairs to play. Man that kid makes me laugh!

April Fool's Day Fun

Just thought I would share the fun dinner that I made for my family last night.

It actually was quite frustrating because Walmart didn't have any of the ingredients I needed, so I totally had to improvise. Walmart stinks!

We had "cupcakes", which was actually meatloaf with mashed potatoes on top. These didn't look very real because I didn't have time (because of all the time I spend searching at Walmart) to "frost" them. I just had to smash the potatoes on top so Wes and Brandon could eat fast and leave for young men's. Oh well, at least they tasted great.We also had "pizza." Sugar cookie dough with jam, drizzled with white chocolate. It was supposed to have green peppers (green fruit roll ups), olives (sliced black licorice ropes), and mushrooms (using cashews). Walmart didn't have green fruit roll ups. They didn't even have any plain red ones. I had to cut around stupid tongue tattoos printed on the roll-ups to get the circles for pepperoni. They also didn't have black licorice ropes. (And they were out of rice crispies for another recipe I was going to make--how lame is that?)

The pizza actually tasted a lot better than I thought it would. It was really yummy and I think I might start making it into bars or cookie strips. Minus the fruit roll up pepperoni of course.

Our Hawaii Trip

Wes and I got back from our trip to Hawaii last Thursday. Even though I was so stressed out that I wasn't even excited to go, it was a wonderful getaway. I needed it. Now that it is snowing here, I'm wishing we wouldn't have come home. I hate winter. Especially when it should be spring. Did I mention that I hate winter?

Anyway, it was a wonderful vacation. (They say that when going out of town, if you take the kids it's a trip, if you leave them home it's a vacation. This was definitely a vacation.) I don't remember the last time I felt so relaxed.

Here is a recap:
Friday: Arrived at our condo at 11:00 (7 Hawaii time). We were exhausted. I was too tired to even eat, even though we hadn't had dinner. Wes was starving though, so we went to the nearest restaurant, ate, and then went straight to bed.

Saturday: Woke up early. Not by choice. The entire island of Kauai has built in alarm clocks. The batteries never run out, you can't unplug them, and they go off, every day, at approximately 4:00 am. They have no snooze button either. Yep, that's right. Roosters! They are everywhere. They have no predators on Kauai, so they have pretty much just taken over. Did you know there are no snakes on Kauai?

After being so rudely awakened, we got ready and headed out to do some site seeing. We stopped at a local farmers market and bought some produce from the locals. Some of it was mighty tasty-some of it, not so much. Left because a fierce wind picked up and it started raining-a lot.

Rain stopped. Went to Spouting Horn.There is a huge hole in the lava bed. When the tide comes in, the force shoots up waves of water every few seconds. It was pretty cool.

Stopped at a scenic overlook. Beautiful! We were going to come back later and visit the lighthouse, but we never did.

Drove to the highest point on the island. It overlooks a huge canyon and was just stunning:Went shopping for groceries and a few things we forgot to pack.

Sunday:
-Drove halfway around the island to go to church. Everyone was so friendly! It's so nice that you fit right in no matter where you go. I love being a Mormon!

-Drove home and ate some of the groceries we had purchased. Drove around to do a little more sight-seeing. Found a church that was right around the corner from where we were staying. Oh well.

-Relaxed, listened to some talks Wes brought, and read books.

Monday:
-Explored beaches.

The water was a little cool at the beach on Hanalei Bay.At Ke'e beach we came across a Monk seal resting on the sand.It is a common "sunbathing" spot for the seals, so they have ropes up so people won't get too close to them. We sat on a log and watched for about 30 minutes. The ocean is very relaxing!

Stopped at an underground water cave:Tuesday:
Stopped at Opaekaa Falls:Took a tour of an ancient Hawaiian village:From there, we took a guided canoe ride up the river to Fern Grotto. Our guide was AMAZING! Knew all kinds of interesting facts about the area, the village, and the plants. When we got to the grotto, no one else was around. He told us that they used to let people actually walk up inside the cave, but in 1992 a hurricane hit and loose stones started falling occasionally. So they put up new railings at the bottom so now you can just view it from a distance.

I mentioned what a bummer it was that you couldn't get closer. His response: "No one else is around here, would you guys like to go up there? I think I can make a path." So he hopped the fence and found a "path". We climbed the fence and followed him up. It was incredible. It was slippery and I got filthy dirty, but it was so amazing.

Here is a photo from the bottom below the railing:He ran back down the hill, hopped the fence, and took this picture of us at the top:We're those two little specks in the middle. Wasn't that cool of him?

On our way home, we rented a tandem bike and rode a bike trail up the coast. Stopped and took a few photos:It was lots of fun, but I don't know how people can go biking on a regular basis. My tushie was still sore two days later!

Wednesday:

-Took a 6 hour catamaran tour of the Na Pali coast. It was absolutely fabulous and the highlight of our entire trip. We saw some amazing scenery (the Na Pali coast can only be accessed by boat). We also went snorkeling, but didn't have a waterproof camera, so no photos. The best part was watching the wildlife.
We saw lots of dolphins right up next to the boat:Not the greatest picture, but we switched to camera mode, so that's all the still photos we got.

We also saw a mama and baby humpback whale. This is the baby:It was an amazing vacation!