Catchin up on Parties

Christmas Party with my mom's side of the family. Girls chatting...
while the boys watch football...

Come What May and Love It

I watched this video today and I think I'll start watching it more often. We can never be reminded too much to make the best out of our circumstances and trust in the Lord. It brings me so much peace to hear that "...While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude."

It's easy for me to know that our tears of gratitude and rejoicing will come from a little baby being placed in our arms. But, we all experience loss where we don't know what those joyful tears might look like or when they will come. I've been thinking a lot today about the tears of a birthmom. About how her sacrifice will be the thing that brings us tears of joy and gratitude but the same sacrifice will bring her tears of pain and loss. It breaks my heart to think about this. Hopefully, there will be a lot of peace and comfort too. I already feel so much gratitude for these amazing women.

More Christmas

We had dinner at Jon's mom's house last night and opened "Christmas Eve" presents since we won't be together on Christmas Eve. Jon's mom bought a new family boat this past fall and so we got a ski and buoys! We are all so excited for this summer to use the new boat!

Guess who's 2!

I realize I'm blogging, a lot. Probably too much. But, we've had a lot going on lately and so I figure I might as well take advantage of it since normally I can't think of anything to blog about! Little miss Hadley Mae turned two this weekend. And so, there was a party...

And Jonny was the horse...

But sometimes that doesn't turn out so well...

And, Preston wanted a picture of his mean face (or is it his mad face?) but it always turned back into a smile when the camera clicked...

And, Maddi wanted to be the photographer and so she was...

It's been a crazy week, with another crazy one ahead but we have had so much fun!

Just Relax

Sometimes I think back to when we were still doing infertility treatments. Some of that feels like another life. Over thinking about everything you eat, making sure you take that vitamin every day, hoping any little pain or cramp is a sign that this time it worked, taking your temperature before you do anything else, analysing that chart that tells you everything is going right, the doctor visits that use to give you butterflies now become almost a weekly routine, you take pills, use creams, have little bruises on your belly and lumps in your hips from shots, and you bleed, long and hard, from a baby that never came. Over and over again for years... Oh, how I am grateful that part of the experience is over.

For those that know me well, you know that my mind can run a million miles a minute. When I'm worried about something, I think of every possible scenario, every good thing and every bad thing that could possibly happen. I make long lists of things to do in my head, how to move forward, how to fix things, until I remember to just relax, that everything is fine.

I was just reading a blog, one where people were talking about adoptions, adoption agencies, their experiences. They talked about agencies where people get babies, fast, a lot faster than most people do through LDS Family Services. This isn't the first time I've heard about these specific other agencies but this time I start to panic. Maybe we need to start signing up with those agencies. Maybe we'll never get picked. Maybe we'll get picked and then the birthmom will change her mind. Maybe a birthdad won't sign the papers and we'll be in court for years. Maybe we'll wait F.O.R.E.V.E.R.

And, maybe it will be the most wonderful, incredible, amazing thing we will ever experience. This one is the truth, I can feel it. Too bad I can't always keep those other thoughts out. And, maybe someday we will need to look into other things, but that day is not today.

When Boy Met Girl

Ok, so I guess I have put this off for as long as I could. I am finally done with finals, so I am out of excuses. I don't remember the time that Angela and I hung before we "officially" met the summer before 10th grade. We started to hang out because one of my friends ran into some of the girls that I went to elementary with and I guess they decided that we should hang out. Angela was friends with the girls I went to elementary with so she was there. I don't remember what I was wearing that night or what she was wearing, but I do know she looked hot, however I did not finally remember her name until about the third time we hung out. She was really flirty and was really flirting with one of my friends on about the third or fourth night we were hanging out and I was a little jealous so I guess that was the first time that I knew I liked Angela.

About two weeks or so after we started to hang out I was invited to go to a football camp in Rexberg, Idaho with Skyline's football team for a whole week. I was a going to be a junior and it was only seniors going so I was excited to go, but I was not happy to leave because I didn't know if we would still be hanging out with these girls from Olympus when I got home.

We continued to hang out over the summer and when summer was coming to an end I didn't know what was going to happen. I knew that I was starting to really like Angela so I didn't want it to end, but with football and school I didn't know what to expect. When Skyline's homecoming came around I wanted to ask Angela to go with me, but I did not like high school dances so I didn't know what to do. About a week and half (or probably less) before the night of the dance I finally bit the bullet and asked her to go with me.

to be continued....

Dinner and the Temple

Last night, we went out with my mom for our Christmas outing. We ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then decided to go to the Draper temple because there weren't any activities that we were dying to do. It was really nice to go do a session. We haven't been to one there since it opened!

Parties, Parties

Last night we had a Christmas party with Jon's dad's side of the family. It was fun to see everyone. We missed all of you that live out of state!

13th Annual Christmas Party

We had my annual friends Christmas party last night at my house. (Jess, will you verify the number of years for me? ;) It was so much fun and there were some pretty funny moments. I'm seriously not sure if I've ever laughed quite that hard in my life. My face was completely sopping wet with tears. And, today I feel like I might have gotten hit by a bus, my head and back both hurt and I think that must have been from my convulsing body laughing so hard. Anyways...From left to right, top to bottom: Sarah, Jessica, Laura, Lindsay, Mindy, Brittany, Whitney, me, Linden, Sheena (and baby Violet, baby Jude missed out on the picture because he was sleeping on another couch)

Don't worry, we don't normally have a couch in front of our fireplace, but since we use our dining room as a family room, the couch came into the living room so that we could eat in the dining room.

We decided instead of drawing names this year, we would bring homemade gifts and draw numbers. All of us were so impressed with each other's gifts! I think that we are going to have to start doing this every year. It was so much fun!
Whit with bag made by Jessica
Jess with scarf made by Brittany

Laura with 40 (holy cow) cards made by Linds

Sar with apron made by Whit

Lind with hat and cards made by Sheena

Mindy with a Book of Mormon made by me (and an eyelet setter because I didn't want to just give someone the small Book of Mormon, it gave us all a good laugh)

Sheen with a Happy Birthday sign made by Linden

Brittany with loads of cookies, recipes, and platters made by Mindy

Linds with cards, caramel and salsa made by Laura

And me, with yummy toffee made by Sarah

(I had to put this one in instead of their smiling one because it's just so much better!)

We missed all of you that couldn't come! Can't wait for next year!

So thoughtful

(I really messed up this post and I don't even really know how it happened. So, this will be a fun puzzle for you to figure out the order things should have been in because I'm going to bed)

I picked up this from the post office today...

It came from this handsome cowboy in Brazil. He's my little brother, if you didn't know.

He is really one of the most kind and thoughtful people I know. He sent a Christmas gift for each of us, including grandparents and little Dakota, the puppy.

When we got approved to adopt, he sent us a little baby
onesie with a Brazilian flag on it.





It looks like he's been having fun...

Maybe a little too much fun?

But mostly he's been doing this...

We miss him so much! Only 15 more months to go!

Something you may not know about Jon

Much of Jon's time this week will be spent working on finals. I got home from some errands to find him like this...listening to the soundtrack of this...

It never surprises me to come home to Jon watching any kind of sport but sometimes this side of him still catches me off guard. I love how well rounded he is!

Kurt Bestor

The fun of the Christmas season has begun!

Saturday night we went to the Kurt Bestor concert with my dad. It was great as always. His guest artist, Jonathan Butler's, rendition of O Holy Night was incredible. I loved it.
Thanks, Dad!

The story of when girl met boy...

Preface: I want to be a good blogger. I want birth parents to feel like they know who we are through this blog. So, I want to tell the story of us. Actually, I want Jon and I to tell the story of us but he thinks it's a better job for me and says he'll blog about the Wii. My vote is that he does both. So, this post will be about when girl met boy, but if you'd like to hear the story of when boy met girl feel free to leave comments of encouragement!

10th Grade Journal Entry 9/18/99 by Angela:

"I hung out with Skyline boys today. Some of them were way cute. This one named John (spelled wrong) was way cute."
Little did Jonny know, after that day, I started daydreaming about him, this rival high school boy with his driver's license, when the boys at my school seemed less than desirable.

We didn't meet again until the next summer, in June 2000. He had gone to elementary school with some of my friends. His friends and my friends ran into each other one day and wanted to get together. I had forgotten all about this boy named Jonny.

For some reason, I remember exactly what I was wearing that first night. It was one of my favorite outfits of that summer; a red Abercrombie t-shirt with navy blue shorts and tennis shoes, hidden ankle socks, of course. It was cute, trust me. He was (still is) very good looking with his dark tanned skin and beautiful eyes. He was built more like a man than a 17 year old boy. It was the season for football practice and so his head was shaved, just like the rest of his team's. And, may I add, he has a very nice shaped head. ;)

There were a lot of boys that I liked that summer. I had a Lake Powell fling, an EFY crush, and old boyfriend all on my mind but, we kept hanging out with these "Skyline boys" throughout the summer, and, the quiet boy named Jonny, was always there.

He was, actually, very quiet back then and probably still is a little bit now. It took a little longer to get to know him. He was slowly opening up and seemed to be showing some extra interest. One of the first times I think I really noticed this interest was when he showed up to swim at my friend, Whitney's house, by himself. That was out of character for him, to come without his friends. He was shy but that shell was starting to break. We had so much fun that day, raising a pole higher and higher to dive over and competing to see who could do the better tricks.

The summer came to an end and I wasn't sure what would happen with this boy named Jonny. Skyline's homecoming dance was early in the year and two of his friends had asked two of my friends to go with them but Jonny hadn't asked me. I wanted him to ask me but, I wondered, would he?

to be continued...

Help Advocate for Adoption

The federal adoption tax credit is set to expire at the end of 2010. This tax credit makes it possible for so many to afford otherwise unaffordable adoptions. Losing this benefit would make it nearly impossible for some families to ever adopt. There is a Bill (HR 213) which was written to make this tax credit permanent, but we need to get it passed. Adoption needs to continue to be a priority.

Here's how to help:

1. Find the name and Washington, D.C. mailing address of your Representative and Senators at http://www.congress.org/. To find e-mail addresses, click through to the Senator’s or congressperson’s Web site.

2. Next, log on to http://thomas.loc.gov/ to find out whether your Congresspersons are already co-sponsors of the legislation. On the thomas.loc.gov opening page, under “Search Bill Summary and Status,” search by bill number for H.R. 213. Then click on “Bill summary and Status.” On the page that comes up, click on “Cosponsors,” “Text of Legislation,” or “All Congressional Actions” to follow the progress of the bill.

3. If your representatives have not signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, send them your request that they do so. Tell them how important the tax credit was to you when you adopted your children, or how much you and other families you know are counting on it to be available in the future.

You can make a difference!

Next Year

We got our first one of these in the mail today!

I think checking the mailbox each day for Christmas cards is one of my favorite parts of December. I also feel a little sting of guilt that I'm not contributing to the fun by sending out my own. My excuse for years has been that I'll start sending Christmas cards when we have kids. Being that this has stayed an unknown for longer than we anticipated, I decided today that next year I'll send them, kids or no kids. I wish I could say that I decided to send them this year but I'm just not sure that I have time to pull it all together at this point! ;)

Projects

One of my recent favorite crafts has been etching things into glass. For my young women's lesson today, I etched the girls names into these small glass jars. I love all the projects that are made easy with the cricut.So, cut out the words or shapes onto vinyl, take the excess part of the vinyl, put it on the glass, put etching cream in the negative space, and...
wahla! Except with such a thin print I couldn't get it to show up on camera, but don't worry, it really does turn out well.
(Just be careful because the etching cream bleaches and takes the varnish off of faucets, lol)

Well, I guess it is official, I am now part of the blogging world! I guess now that college football is over I have a little bit of time in between work and school to blog. The past few weeks have been crazy for me. I have been staying up really late to finish group projects for school. I am glad that I will be done with this semester in about two weeks. I watched the BYU/Utah game at my mom's. Her big screen t.v. is from about 1990 so the picture is not that good. The t.v. takes about ten minutes to warm up and you can barely see the players numbers. Because it was the BYU/Utah game we couldn't watch the game on a bad t.v. so we watched the game in her room. My sister and two of her kids came for the last part of the game, which was so much fun (I love be with my nieces and nephew). It was a great game and I was really excited that BYU won. Four years ago Angela walked into my mom's basement right as Beck hit Harline for the winning touch down. I was really excited and going crazy when BYU scored that touch down and Angela wanted to get a picture of me going crazy so she came for the last part of this years game hoping that I would be going crazy. She had the camera ready to go during the last several minutes of the game and in overtime, however she got distracted talking to my sister about Black Friday and she almost missed her chance, but she got a picture of the the end of my celebration. She also took a picture of our niece, the next little BYU fan, celebrating the big win.

November

We had a fun November. Every year my dad goes to the Zurmott in Midway for a work conference and we tag along for the dinner and facilities at the end of the conference. This year, my dad was the proud winner of a $3000 OC Tanner watch. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of that weekend, but I'm working on getting better at remembering to take them.

Jon woke up bright and early to go play football in a Turkey Bowl with his friends Thanksgiving morning. I was just relieved that the weather was better and he wasn't sick like last year.

We went and did some visiting to my grandparents house before heading over to Jon's mom's for dinner.

My mom and I were getting ready for our Black Friday shopping. My grandmother and my dad.

Grandpa, getting ready to play cards.

We went to dinner and the movie, Blind Side, with my mom later that weekend. If you haven't seen that movie yet, you definitely need to. It was so good.

I spent the rest of the weekend putting up Christmas trees and decorating. It's finally starting to feel like the holidays to me! And, Jon watched the BYU/Utah game. It's been cracking me up, all this hype from the game. It's funny, Jon and I frequently are seen with him wearing his BYU sweatshirt and me wearing my Utah sweatshirt at the same time and people ask if we've got a big rivalry going on but we totally don't. Maybe I need to start pulling out my old Aggie sweatshirt instead to show that I am Switzerland? But, I have to admit, I am totally planning on getting our kids little BYU sweatshirts to match their dad!

We have so much to be grateful for. After all that we have been through the last couple of years trying to start our family, Jon and I are especially grateful this year for the opportunity of adoption. I can't imagine living in a time where there really are no other options to have a family.

I am also so grateful for wonderful parents who are so giving, an awesome brother who is such an example to me, great in-laws, supportive friends, stable jobs, a nice home, the best ward (especially the young women ;) and neighborhood, and most of all for the most wonderful husband who really is my superman, accomplishing more than I could ever imagine to do, all the while being my rock.

I hope all of you had a fabulous Thanksgiving!