Happy Birthday Tyler!!

Tyler turned 9 years old yesterday. Are you noticing a pattern? I was a day late posting about Brandon's birthday, and I'm a day late posting about Tyler's. Luckily in real life I did actually celebrate their birthdays on the right day.

We spent Tyler's birthday with my parents. He wanted to see "The Lightening Thief", so we all went to the matinee. Then we had dinner and cake. I of course left my camera at home, so we have no photos of him blowing out his candles. We also left his presents at home. Am I mother of the year or what?

Lucky for me, since we left his presents here we got to come home and take pictures of him opening them. Wes was operating the camera, and I don't know what setting he was using, but every single photo is blurry. This is the best of the bunch:

Today I got to make a birthday poster and take it to Tyler's class with some treats. It was fun to spotlight him. He is such a cute kid! I am so glad he is in our family; he makes me smile every day. We love the heck out of you Tyler!!!

Hapy birthday Brandon!

Yesterday Brandon turned 15. I am still amazed and so grateful that he is such a mellow teenager. It has been a breeze to raise him so far. We are so blessed to have him in our family.

He played his last basketball game yesterday and my parents came down to watch. It was a very tense game and they lost in overtime. But he played really well, so it was fun to watch. I made cookies for him to hand out to his teammates after the game. Hopefully they made the loss a little bit easier. ;)

All he asked for was a German chocolate brownies, so we've had to get creative in the gift giving department. If he can't think of something he wants pretty soon, I guess we'll have to resort to cash. Boring, but always appreciated.


We love you Brandon, even if you are hard to shop for. :)

An answer to our prayers

As most of you know, we have been working with a birth mother over the past few weeks. We had three different phone calls letting us know that we had been chosen and would be getting a baby girl. Each one was followed with another phone call informing us that she a-wanted to go with another agency, b-called another family and told them she had chosen them also, and c-that she was considering doing a private adoption. Very emotionally exhausting!

After our initial phone conversation with the birth mother, every single conversation was about money. We felt like she was really in need, but her stories weren't quite matching up with what her case worker would tell us. We weren't sure if things were as desperate as she was making them seem. To make matters worse, she told us her phone broke and she could only text. It's pretty hard to build a relationship texting. (Plus it takes forever and I can't pushing all those tiny buttons for hours on end.)

We were totally fine with helping her out, but had to work through the agency. It is actually illegal for adoptive couples to send money directly to birth mothers. And for good reason. That's why there is always an agency or attorney involved. She didn't seem to understand this, so it was stressful for us.

On Saturday, we prayed that we would know if this baby is meant to be ours. If we should continue to endure the stress because it would be worth it in the end. Our prayers were totally answered. Sunday we got a text asking us how much money we could send for groceries every month. We texted back that we would have to talk to her case worker on Monday. Then we got ready and left for church.

When we got home, there were two texts waiting for us. The first one said that if we couldn't send the money, she would have to find a family that could. The next one (three hours later) said basically that it was just too stressful for her and she would need to find another family. When I read that last message, I felt a flood of relief pass over me. I felt like I had a huge burden lifted off my shoulders. Wes said he felt the same. We knew that our prayers had been answered and that it was time to move on. We texted her back that we understood and wished her the best of luck. I felt more relaxed that evening than I have for weeks.

We spoke to our case worker on Monday and told her what had happened. We told her that although it is a disappointment, we are totally at peace. We know that our little girl is coming, we just need to find her. She told us there is still a small chance that this baby could be placed with us, but that it is a good idea to move on.

So we are back to square one. But this has been an amazing learning experience. Our case worker told us that only about 1 in 10 placements is this stressful. So unless we have to try 9 more times, it should be much easier in the future! :)

All's quiet on the western front

Well fortunately our week that got off to a rather rocky start has smoothed right out. Wes is fine and has been enjoying working from home. Brandon is home from school today with the cough/cold that all the rest of us had last week. Hopefully he will go back tomorrow.

Some of you are aware of our adoption drama lately, but I figured it was probably time to fill the rest of you in. To make a very looooong story short, we found out last week that a birth mother in North Carolina had chosen us. Needless to say, we were thrilled beyond words. Then we found out she may have chosen another family instead, or decided to find an attorney and do a private adoption. It was a stressful week of phone calls with the birth mother, with our case worker, and with her case worker. The emotional ups and downs were drastic, and it was draining to say the least.

After a few days of the emotional roller coaster, I just prayed that we would have peace. My prayers were truly answered and I have felt calm ever since. She is meeting with her case worker tomorrow for the first time, so she should come to a decision very soon. We are praying that she will be comforted and know what is the right decision for her and her baby. I know that if we are meant to have this baby, she will come to us and everything will work out. If she is meant to be with another family, I know we will find our girl soon. If it isn't soon, at least I will have more time to crochet blankets, sew clothes, and make hair bows. She is going to be one spoiled little girl!


Today I am grateful for the miracle of adoption, even with its ups and downs. Birth mothers are amazing and I have so much love and admiration for them. I can't imagine making such a difficult decision. They are some of the most courageous people in the world!

Dang, this one is off to a rocky start too!

After last weeks hectic, stressful, and emotionally draining week, we were hoping that this one would be smooth sailing. Alas, it has not started out that way. Yesterday morning Wes woke me up with "I'm sorry to wake you up, but I think I need you to drive me to the emergency room."

He'd been up for two hours with horrible head pain and ibuprofen wasn't touching it. Luckily it was just an ear infection. If you're laughing, it's because you've never had one as an adult. I had one a few years ago. Oh.My.Goodness. They are seriously painful. I remember feeling like the whole side of my face had been hit with a sledgehammer. You can't tell if the pain is coming from your ear, your head, your eye, your throat, or your neck. The whole thing just hurts.

Anyway, they gave him some antibiotics and pain meds. Of course being Wes, he came right home, showered, and went to his High Council meeting. He didn't want to miss the first one. He came home and slept for three hours, went to church, then came home and slept again. He is feeling much better today, but since he get's dizzy when he turns his head, he'll be staying off the road and working from home.

As if starting off the week in the ER wasn't enough, our adoption saga from last week continues. At least Wes is here so I won't have to deal with all the phone calls, texts, and decisions alone. I am grateful for that. I'm not so sure he is. ;)

Bit of an overwhelming week

This has been one heck of a week so far.

Wes was just called as a high counselor in our stake.
He hasn't been released from his calling with the young men.
I am getting over a cold.
Wes has the cold I gave him.

It's my month to be in charge of the nursery and teach the lessons.
It is my turn to drive the basketball carpool.
Every day.
We had scouts today.
I am planning and typing up the wolf den schedule for the entire year.
I am in the process of de-junking every room in our house.
I am teaching a cooking class tomorrow night to about 50 ladies.
Six of them are coming over in the morning to help me prepare the food. My house is a wreck.



And I can't focus on any of it. We are having a very emotional adoption week. We thought that we had some great and wonderful news. Then we got some not so good news. Then we thought we had some great and wonderful news. Then we got some more not so good news mixed with some good news. Needless to say, I have been a basketcase. One hour I am elated, the next I am on the brink of tears.
I am so grateful for my amazing husband. I know this week has been hard for him too, but he's been level headed and solid as a rock. I couldn't have survived without his support. I know we'll get through this, and I'm praying that we will be guided through some tough decisions.

And I'm hoping I won't have a nervous breakdown.

Under the weather

After enjoying a fabulous weekend with my parents (who came down for a couple days), everyone in our family has come down with a cough/cold thing. It's not really horrible, just mostly annoying. Hopefully it will pass quickly and we can all get back to normal.
I am grateful that we were all healthy while my parents were here. We thoroughly enjoyed their visit!