Feeling Blessed

These past few weeks have been surreal, nerve-wracking, exciting, and just about every emotion you can think of. About 2 months ago we inquired on many kids. We heard back on one. The ONE. A beautiful 11 year old girl, Sheyanne. We received her paperwork and before we knew it her team was considering us as a permanent family for her.

We had our phone interview with them 2 days before Thanksgiving. We were extremely nervous, however, I knew that if we were honest and tried to be ourselves as much as possible then if it was meant to be God would touch their hearts and choose the right family for Sheyanne. One week later on our 16th wedding anniversary I received "the call".  They had picked us!!!!!!!!!!!! That whole day and they day to follow I was sure we'd get  call or email saying it was a fluke and they had actually picked a different family. I had to keep reminding myself this was finally happening.

It is all feeling very real now! We started getting Sheyanne's room ready last weekend. It needs a few finishing touches, but we're off to a good start. We had our phone meeting to discuss any questions/ concerns we may have and schedule our visits. In spite of her overwhelming life she's had we do feel very good about her and we are excited to move forward with adopting her. We booked our first trip for 3 days after Christmas. We'll spend 3 1/2 days in Arizona getting to know her. I am so excited I can hardly stand it!!!

Sheyanne's therapist accidently told her about us. She read our letters and showed her our pictures. Her caseworker saw her right after she received the news and said she was surprised at how happy she seemed. She even used the word "jovial" which made us hopeful she'll be OK with the idea of us. One of my biggest fears is she'll completely reject us.

After a year of classes, countless hours of inquiring and following up with caseworkers, thinking and praying for this I have so much fear that comes with being an adoptive parent. The fear that something will happen and take all our dreams of this little girl away from us. I am hesitant to talk to people about her for several reasons. Fear of it not happening and fear of peoples questions. I have never been in this circumstance since we got Stella and Tristan as babies. With an 11 year old she has been through unimaginable things. I know I must protect her the same I would Stella or Tristan. It's foreign to me. We are learning as we go and I believe we will learn more from her on this journey than she will from us!

Fall Festivities

I've been a little off this month. It's gone by in a blink and I can't believe today is November 1st! We did manage to cram in a few of our fall traditions this past week. We went pumpkin picking and carved some pretty simple faces (we are not fancy like some of our cool neighbors). We did do the ward trunk-or-treat which I think we will be giving up that after this year. Candy isn't cheap people! We had our yearly traditional dinner with the Eichelbergers and Mowers before heading out for a night of trick-or-treating. Star Wars turned out to be the theme this year. The kids made out like a bandit! They had a blast and I guess now we officially move into the holiday season. (I did start listening to Christmas music last week. Don't judge.)

Such is life.

Goodness! It's been 2 1/2 months since I last posted anything! Life is crazy. These past few months have been a whirlwind! We've had football practices 3 times a week for 2 hours plus games on Saturday's that take up 3 hours. Stella has started dance one evening a week. Plus she is taking orchestra twice a week before school and Melody Choir one day a week after school. I have absolutely loved watching Tristan play football and will be sad to see the season end, however, I am looking forward to more free time in the evenings and less tantrums because he's torn between his favorite things: friends and sports. Such a hard life!
This summer has been particularly warm. Last month we all went to Fish Lake for Bill's hunt and the colors were amazing! I'm so glad we could go. He did get a little buck along with Jason, Gracie and Shaun all got theirs too. We did do a some family pictures with Emily and her family this month but it still looks like summer even though it's not. We were hoping for fall colors but were a few weeks to early.

My dear, sweet grandma passed away on the 12th of October. It was a complete shock. Her memory had gone down hill a lot since my grandpa passed away 17 months ago, but other than that her health was great! My dad called me at work and gave me the news of her passing and I rushed to be with my mom. She had lost her dad just 4 weeks before and she was still mourning the loss of him. I couldn't even fathom the loss she was feeling! She was very close to my grandma. She was her friend and the one who took care of her. My heart completely broke for my mom. I was able to see my grandma for a few minutes before her body was taken away. My mom thinks it must have been a massive stroke due to some blood clots that were in her neck.

Ever since my grandpa died my grandma would say that she was just "ready to go" and she didn't know why she was still here. She got pretty depressed and her quality of life was pretty sad. Even my mom was praying for the Lord to take her this year. She didn't want to see her deteriorate and forget those who she loved so much. We were suppose to be moving her that very weekend into full time care for her Alzheimer's, but ended up having a funeral for her instead.

Emily and I spoke together. We shared our memories as well as our brothers. It was hard but I'm glad we did it. My mom and Annette spoke and then Gen and Aberdeen sang Somewhere Over The Rainbow. It was a good funeral (as far as funerals go anyways). The next day we went to Brigham City for the burial and had lunch at the Maddox after with all those who attended. We were all pretty dang drained after that. The whole week had finally caught up with me! I guess the one benefit is all the time I got to spend with my family. They're the best and I love being with all of them!

I am thrilled for my grandparents and can just imagine that reunion! The pure joy they must have felt to be young, healthy, and most importantly together again. My regret will always be that I didn't listen to the promptings that I had received just a week before during conference to go see my grandma. For some reason I always felt like I had to bring her a treat or something when I'd visit her, but it was conference Sunday and I was still in my pajama's and hadn't gotten ready for the day. I brushed it off and figured she wasn't going anywhere and I'd visit her soon! A week later she was gone and my heart broke that I didn't listen to the Spirit that day. You never know when your time is up. Or when someone else's for that matter.

I know this was a very long post, but this is my way of journaling! I'm awful about keeping a journal since my kids were born so this is it! Here are a few pictures of our life these past few months :)

Prepare for complete PHOTO OVERLOAD!!! Seriously.

 Tristan and Koda while hunting with their dads

Our one and only family boating trip this year 

First day of 3rd and 6th grade 

Ms. Davies class in the portable 

Ms. Einzinger's Class 

Passing time at football practice 

Stella's new violin!  

Game Day 

Sunday drive around Skyline Drive 

Bill's best catch of the day while fly fishing 

 A little hike together while the kiddo's are at school. Not a bad way to spend the day!

(Aside from the blisters that is) 

Practice Time 

Fish Lake Overlook 

Beautiful leaves. Beautiful kids. 

Pretty cool to have your name and number on a sign! Oh, and real men wear pink ;)

A few of our current family pics 

I'm sorry but how gorgeous is this girl! Love her. 

Rocking the afro!  

I love this little family of mine with all my heart and soul! Even when we drive each other crazy. I don't know what I did to deserve them, but I love being a wife and mama. My whole world right there.

Summer's End

Summer is coming to an end in exactly 8 days. Ugh. I can sense that my kids are getting bored and restless so I think it's time for THEM to go back. As for me? I've never been ready to go back to school not matter my age! After spending the first month and half of summer trying to get all our family past walking pneumonia and the flu I feel like I really need to fit as much fun into these past few weeks as possible! So here are a few of our end of summer fun activities:

 

Play date at a Herriman reservoir with friends

 

We signed Tristan up for his first season of tackle football through the Copper Hills football league. He had a full week of 2 hour a day try outs to see which team he'd be on. He made it on the "A Team" which is for the most skilled players! He (and the rest of us) was ecstatic!

 Way to go buddy!

 



 

The kids and I went to Gardner Village one afternoon to feed the birds some extra bread we had sitting around. Turns out the fish wanted the bread more! We made a trip to the candy store and it was so hot and the stores are overpriced so we headed home.

 

My parents joined us for a little field trip to the Aerospace Museum. I love this place! It is so full of war history and it's so cool to see the different types of planes! It makes me miss being on the USS Midway. I kept thinking I wish I could have been there just once with my grandpa. He would have been telling me all kinds of stories! I miss that man.

 

 

Tristan's football tryouts got rained out after an hour so we were able to attend Bill's work party at the aquarium for a bit. We got to see the baby penguins (which didn't look at all like babies).

 

Saturday afternoon we headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon with Emily, Cole and Dylan and hiked to Donut Falls. We had a little picnic when we got there. I always feel happiest when I'm in the mountains. So beautiful and peaceful.

 

And the not so fun of summer. This sweet girl had to have 2 more teeth extracted to make more space in that tiny mouth. Being the brave woman that I am I had my daddy come support the both of us (just in case I pass out again, ya know).  I can't handle seeing my babies in pain. He was so sweet. He gave Stella a blessing and she was such a trooper! Not scared at all and she said "the shot freakin' hurt!" Can't wait for her to be done with braces!

One more week to live it up!!!

The Rez

A few weeks ago we were able to get away to Huntington Reservoir with the Eichelbergers. They had invited us and we were so happy we could go camping with friends! We haven't been able to get much camping in this summer. It was a fairly close drive and you'd never know it was there if you weren't looking for it!

We had dinner in town and of course as soon as we were all set up the kiddo's  jumped at the chance to check the reservoir out. The section we went to was very rocky and I heard lots of complaints from Stella. Tristan was trying to surf off any small wave he could. Didn't have much luck. The boys all had fun playing on the raft the Eichelbergers brought with them. Our first night there the sunset was absolutely beautiful! It was a wonderful start to our trip!

 

 

 

The next morning the kids were up and ready to go back to the water as soon as breakfast was done! We headed to another part of the reservoir where it was less rocky and there was a big inflatable slide for anyone to play on. We spent a majority of our day there and the kids had a blast playing in the water and attempted some fishing. Ty got the first catch of the day!

 

 

 

 

That evening after dinner we did a little more fishing. The kids were trying to catch some crawdads with some raw chicken legs. Ultimately in the end it didn't work. However, there was some success with fishing. Each night was topped off with s'mores under the stars. One of my favorite parts of camping! Sunday night Tristan and Ty did a few skits to pass off some scouts certification. That was a good time had by all!

 

Saturday we went for a drive, found a lake, and did more fishing. It was a bit slow to begin with, but after a little time and patience T was on fire and caught 3! Stella had a bite but it got off. If nothing else the kids were able to get in some practice of casting and reeling in. Plus it was a beautiful view! In the evening we hung out at the rez and the boys had a mud fight, Stella and Bill played in the water, Melissa and I tried to stay out of the line of fire and find some shade on the dock.

Sunday morning Bill and I were able to get in a morning stroll around the lake before packing up and leaving. It was a great way to end our trip. (But then we had to actually pack up and the kids didn't care too much for that - but we'll pretend it ended on a good note!) We had lunch in a desolate place in the blazing hot sun on our way home. The kids shot some arrows at a target and that was the end of our weekend trip. It was fun and beautiful and relaxing. It was just what I needed! What I think all of needed.

Losers

In the hopes of expanding our family soon we decided to buy a van. Yes. A. Van. I never thought I'd buy one but to tell the truth I love it! The kids have their own space. The seats clean easy. It has a built in TV. I can download my music onto my radio and don't need to have the CD's. I have a place for my purse. Many cup holders. Seats fold down. Ahhhhh. It's pretty nice!

We tried to sell our car and didn't have luck so we took it off KSL for a few weeks. We decided to lower the price some and list it again. Bill's friend had mentioned he had luck selling his car after parking it at a soccer field on a Saturday since there's a lot of people there for games. Since Bill had to work really early Saturday we left it at a soccer park Friday night. Duh.

I got 2 calls Saturday morning morning from two different cops informing me that my car was basically trashed. It was TOTALED. Someone thought it would be fun to jump on the car, throw 3 big rocks through all the windows, slash my speakers, ruin the radio and dash, break every single mirror and light. LOSERS. Fortunately for us we still had insurance which covered it. They called it a complete loss and cut us a check. Lesson learned. If you want to get rid of a car fast - leave it overnight in a parking lot! :) Kidding.