"So... Is She Gonna Die Or What?"

This is the question my nephew Kyle asked me and my Mom when we were talking in front of him about my little sister Stephanie being pregnant. At the time she was only a couple months along and having some minor complications. That's what I like about Kyle, he's a straight shooter, he doesn't waste any time getting to the bottom of things and even though he told his entire first grade class that "he and his aunt Janet kiss on the lips when no one is around" (not nearly what it sounds like and a story for a different time) I still love him! Fortunately Stephanie is not going to die. She has expressed a desire to do so several times but I keep reassuring her that no one has ever been pregnant forever. She of course counters by saying "there's a first time for everything". I also told her that I was positive her nausea would go away after 9 months to which she said "yeah but then it moves to a pain in my butt for the next 18 years". I'm at a loss really... Luckily, she is doing better and after finding out it's.... A BOY and seeing him for the first time, she is much more excited and death is not at the fore front of her mind. She is so cute and I know this kid is going to be a lucky one. He already has his first tie and pair of loafers.

Stephanie being pregnant is definitely some of the biggest news of the summer but it isn't the only thing that's happened. Paul and I have been to Bear Lake with my family, Oregon with his and St. George with his. We've had people getting knocked up or "PG" as my sister Shelley calls it (pregnant for those of you who use politically correct terminology - a concept I understand and use but can't seem to have as much fun with). Stephanie isn't the only one expecting... It's not me though so don't freak out and get too excited, it's Paul's sister Quela, she will be expecting her third - her and her husband Matt told us while we were playing Catch Phrase. The clue was "what's inside Quela's stomach" of course someone yelled "A BABY?" and Matt said "YES!" it was really cute and all but... "baby" really wasn't the clue and cheating is cheating Matt j/k!! We've also had a foreign exchange student who stayed with my oldest sister Jennifer. Her name was Nanako and she was from Japan. I made sure to show her that American's are not ignorant by asking her what life is like in China :) Also, Paul and I tested our sanity by taking 5 kids all at once over night and one of our family members went to jail for a few days. Not necessarily in that order but there's a lot that can happen in a few months time.

I've thought a lot about how I'm going to do this; whether I should post one big blog about everything or just do a few at a time and slowly show them all. I think the few at a time is the better plan. I'm way too lazy to wait for all those pictures to upload. For now, I'll just stick with the present.

Paul and I are doing well, Paul has been gone for most of the summer but we are really hoping that will slow down and we can get back on track. Paul is still scout master as well as doing 10 other callings whether he officially called to them or not. I teach the 7 and 8 year olds and they are hilarious and SO cute! I did almost make one of them cry last week but I think it was because we were talking about Isaiah so really I blame the subject matter. Plus a boy in my class makes sure to tell me every week that "there is a kid named Isaiah in his class that does mean things and blames him for them" so talking about Isaiah is a traumatizing subject all the way around! I think we should all work hard to limit our exposure... there is still so much we don't know about the human brain and trying to understand some of the things Isaiah is talking about is like trying to follow a political speech - you know they are trying to say something that they think should be important and you know that if you don't understand it, it could have the potential to affect your life in a huge way but there is so much fancy language and malapropisms (made up words for those of you who didn't take communications at MSU) that you can't break it down in time to know how you feel about it. The only real difference is that the things Isaiah said will probably actually matter and happen someday whereas the things politicians say... well there just things they say. We're lucky we have the media to tell us what to think or we'd never know how to vote j/k :)

Anyway, other than trucking along and trying to recover from the busy summer that's about it for us. I'll be blogging about our summer adventures as time moves forward. I hope all of you are doing well.

Below are some pics of a little but of everything...

Lots of Blogs, No Babies...

These are some pics of Paul and me in Portland Oregon. The top is the church that was Paul's home ward then there's us at the Claim Jumper and lastly the two of us in front of a bush (yes its a bush not a tree - I was suprised too). We are in the middle of the summer and we've had a lot of fun with our family and friends. Besides our Oregon vacation, we have recently gone on a weekend trip up to Bear Lake with my family for the 4th of July so, needless to say we have a lot of pictures to post and stories to tell but what we are focused on the most right now is adopting a baby to start our long awaited family. It's hard for us to think of much else, we are so excited!

A little more than a month ago Paul and I finally took the leap and started the adoption process by handing in our application to LDS Family Services. We had known for awhile that we wanted to adopt but we had been waiting to start and worried about the first payment but little did I know, my sweet husband Paul had been putting money aside for months to save up and he suprised me with it. [I had always dreamed of one day being able to suprise him with a positive pregnancy test (urine still on it and everything j/k) but this suprise felt just as good coming from him.] We had our first interview and then last Tuesday we handed in all the documents and needed paperwork. Now, we are just finishing up our online information so that we can have our personal interviews and then move forward to our home study and adoption classes and then post our online agency profile.

We have felt so much love and support from all of those who have found out we are trying to adopt but we thought maybe you'd be willing and able to help in another way as well. The agency told us that the best thing you can do is put the word out to everyone that you know that you are looking to adopt and ask them to keep their ears open on our behalf (that's where you come in). Within the next month or so we will have a seperate blog up (in addition to the LDS Family Service Profile that will be on their website after our process is complete) as well as some pass along cards with our information on it but the agency has assured us that regardless of where we are in the process, they will speed it up for us if we find a birth mother. So, if you know anyone who is interested, here is a little about us:

As of July 1st Paul and I have been married for six years. We started our relationship about 9 years ago. We met when we worked together; I was 18 and Paul was 22 and just like most return missionaries he was of course ready to get married. I had just graduated from High School and was... not. Needless to say it took a few years of dating before I finally accepted the greatest things that had ever happened to me and married Paul for eternity in the Bountiful Temple - (we got married in Bountiful because the Salt Lake Temple was closed for cleaning and because Nielson's Frozen Custard is right off the main road from the temple. We made sure to grab some custard first thing after we were married, like most LDS couples j/k).

After we were married we moved briefly to Bozeman, Montana for Paul's job as a sales rep. He traveled a lot and I attended MSU and worked as an assistant manager at an apartment complex. A little over a year later, right after we found what we were hoping would be our first house, Paul's work changed his area back to Salt Lake so we went back to where is all began and instead of Bozeman, found our first house in Salt Lake.

Paul is very active in his work as HOA President (not my idea since we are the youngest in our circle by at least 25 years and I've never met so many people concered with the exact length of their grass growth and other pressing matters in my life) and his calling as Scout Master (aslso not my idea but the bishop rarely asks me before hand and I never see Paul as happy to be stressed as he is when he is planning a camp out or preparig his merit badge presentations). He is so good with kids and they love him. He loves to fix things around the house (not so much ours as other peoples but whatever makes him happy and keeps him busy is fine with me) and when he isn't doing any of those things he's providing free advertisements for his other love, the iPhone. He loves it and when he isn't playing on it, he's talking about it.

I keep busy with work, school and our kitties (cats) (over the years I had to deflect my desire to nurture to animals since the babies weren't coming :)) I soak up all the time I can with Paul and when he isn't around, I do crafts (quilts, scrapbooking, cross stitch) and clean (a habit passed on from my childhood) all while watching as many TV show crime drama's on DVD as I can (I can't get enough of them). I also work in the nursery, I feel a lot less intimidatd there than when I worked in Relief Society. In nursery, I at least have some change of having more life experience and wisdom than those that I teach (it isn't a sure thing in nursery though because some of those kids are pretty smart ;).

Anyway that's us in a nutshell (or in a home in Salt Lake trying to find our family). We have prayed, fasted and know with all our heart that there is a child for us and that our family won't be missing someone for much longer but, we also know that just won't be in the way most kids come to parents. We are so excited to give all the love and affection we've stored up to a special baby that comes our way and we can't wait to meet the special lady that will give us the most beautiful and precious miracle that anyone could ever hope for. We hope you will help us in our search to find our baby and please feel free to contact us and ask us any questions you have. We know this process is going to take us being open and we are.

Thank you for all the love and support that we have received, please pray for us :)

Our New Son & Gold Hill!!

Paul and I had the chance to go out to Gold Hill again this Memorial Day with our friends Marissa (whose family owns the cabin), Cindee, Adam & Cristina and our newly claimed son Ethan (you may hear from Adam & Cristina that he is actually their son but... just because he looks like them, has their last name (and Adam as a middle name) and "technically" lives with them, that doesn't mean it's their son. Just look how cute me and him look together. I think the pictures speak for themselves and soon so will the forged birth certificate and out of country re-location j/k).
It was so much fun. We didn't get to do much spalunking this time because the BLM seems to think that old mines are "dangerous" and "un-safe" or whatever. How can you call underground tunnels over a 100 years old (in some cases) unsafe? So, most of them have been closed off but we did a lot of riding in the 4-wheeler, on the motorcycle and in the ranger (thanks Whittakers). As always there was lots of good times. I also learned new things about friends I've known for a long time and a little more about myself. For example; Marissa is still hard core and she can still go into any situation with complete confidence however, even she has no come to realize her own mortality. Last time we went to Gold Hill she crossed a ladder-like walkway dozens of feet in the air and stood in the middle over a canyon while we took a picture (See the picture of her in the yellow jacket). This year she didn't quite make it to the middle or even a few feet out (See picture of her in the beige jacket) but that's okay because we like having her around and we're glad she's a little more careful.
I also learned that Adam does in fact have a soft spot and is capable of showing he's scared as was evident several times as he watched Ethan play on the rocks or above steep places - (why he is worried so much about my son is strange but cool I guess j/k ;)
I learned that Cristina is one of the best mothers ever! She is always prepared and keeps us all fed and taken care of. One time I said "geeze, I wish Cristina was my Mom" and Ethan said "no, she's my Mom" (he gets confused at times but we're working on it).
I also learned Cindee has a wild streak in her. She is always dressed up with perfect hair and make-up and rarely wears anything but heels but, she knows how to rock the 4-wheeler with the best of um'!
I learned that Paul does have some things about the outdoors that he doesn't like. We were sitting in front of the waterfall trying to have Cristina take a picture of us but she had to do it about 3 times because Paul couldn't hold still for two seconds and stop swating the little flies out of his face - I mean, what kind of Eagle Scout can't handle some flies on their face for a few seconds? Before I meet Paul I had only been camping a few times but I managed to sit still. It could have been my training as a girl though. Every girl knows that you can't afford to do something stupid when your getting your picture taken. You sit still and hold that smile until the shot is done!! I never let myself look stupid in photos especially by posing with inanimate objects or cartoon characters or posing in abandanond unabomber cabin closet or pretending like I'm eating a dried up dead snake... it's just not right :)
Finally, I learned that just because you almost die several times, on or in many different types of motorized vehicles (in say head-ons with semi's or rolling a couple times across a highway or spining out across black ice and narrowly missing a ditch or almost rolling a 4-wheeler) that doesn't mean you can't go ahead and try it again (as long as you have a helmet and keep your hand/foot on the brake at all times just in case and never go on trails that aren't completely flat with packed dirt and never exceed a certain set speed, and never go by yourself and always go during a well lit time of day and in areas that your familiar with and never go up steep hills or down rocky ones) I'd have to say that I didn't realize how brave I am, as I'm sure all of you can tell.
Mostly, it was just so much fun with my buddy Ethan, I am so lucky to have him. He loves calling people dude or midgets (which is pre-mature but may not be out of place since it will probably only be another year or so since he's taller then me). Its so strange though... Adam and Cristina don't like me to wander off with him, like I'm crazy or something. It's like their worried I might take him. Sheesh! You can't even get one on one time with your kids these days. I mean when Columbus claimed America nobody freaked out or told him he was wrong right or threatened to call the cops? Why isn't it the same with kids? j/k It was nice that the Smith's shared him with us and I was glad to be able to hang out with him (at least when his "Dad" Adam wasn't around acting paranoid) :)