Melissa, Geoff, and Mina

Mina's blessing and sealing

2010-10-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

Geoff blessed Mina in our ward and it was beautiful. He said he actually had an advantage because she was older and he knew her better. She played with the pens in his pocket during the blessing and didn't make a peep :)

Mina was sealed to us in the Mesa, AZ temple and we were so grateful for all those who were able to come and support us.

With our parents

Mina's birthday

2010-10-07T16:28:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Mina's birthday all week. On Wednesday we went to court and she became a Willis. On Thursday we opened some presents and had a cupcake. On Saturday we took her to the temple and she was sealed to us for time and eternity. (I'll post about that next.) We then had people over for cupcakes and Mina opened some more presents. Well, we helped her open presents since she didn't quite get the concept, but she sure enjoyed playing with the toys and books afterward! Then on Sunday she was blessed. It was a great week.

The remains of her cake. I have most of this on video and will see if I can post some.

Mina's first birthday cake.

This is a little singing mailbox and it was a hit with Mina from the first time she played with it. I, of course, now have all the songs memorized and would not mind if she fell in love with another toy, but she still isn't tired of this one. Ah well! She loves it and is so cute playing with it. Geoff spends time playing with her every night when he comes home from work. He sure loves his little girl.

It's official!

2010-09-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

We didn't get a phone call last night, so I was pretty sure everything was going to go as scheduled for our court date this morning. Sure enough! We met our adoption caseworker Hannah and Geoff's parents at the court and less than an hour later Mina was officially ours. Yay! Happy birthday Mina!

Geoff's parents.

The judge signing the final paperwork. Woohoo!

With Hannah, our caseworker on the left, and our lawyer (that we met this morning!) on the right. In AZ the county attorney's office will take care of all the legal stuff so you don't have to hire a lawyer to finalize the adoption. Pretty nice, even though it did take a lot of extra time!

Thanks honorable judge Thompson!

random pics

2010-09-02T18:58:00.000-07:00

We just got a jumperoo for Mina and she loves it. I'll try to upload some video, too, because it's hillarious watching her jump and jump. The little blue shoes she has on squeek, too, so it makes it that much better.

A day at the park.

For Sierra's b-day we went to the splash pad and Mina loved it. She scooted around on her belly in the water, got sprayed in the face and didn't mind at all. Sierra and the other kids had a blast, too.

This is a typical scene around Mina's high chair. As you can see, she doesn't mind sharing :)

Fun with gramps and more

2010-09-02T18:01:00.000-07:00

Gramps loves his grandkids and they love him.

These pictures are a little older. I can't believe how much Mina has grown!

This little car is a new favorite toy. Mina and Ethan "take turns" playing on it :) Sierra pushes her around on it and she loves it. It's great having a big sis! I got the cute glasses for a buck and she even keeps them on long enough for me to take pictures. She'll then take them off and try to put them back on again. So cute.

I play the piano every so often and when I do I soon find myslf surrounded by little piano players.

Swimmin!

2010-09-02T17:36:00.000-07:00

Mina loves the water. She splashes in it and doesn't mind if it gets in her eyes. This is the most Geoff has been in the water in a long time! He says now that he has his baby girl to play with it's a lot more fun.

D-backs game

2010-09-02T17:33:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun taking Mina to the baseball game with us. She loves hot dogs and baseball caps as you can see. We had to leave a little early when she started to get tired, but she did really well.

Trip to my parents and other random pics

2010-09-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

I took Mina for a hike up in the beautiful mountains. She does really well. I pack along some treats and toys to keep her occupied and she doesn't mind the wrap. I love being up in the fresh air with the beautiful trees and quiet. Ahhh!

Mina loves Gracie and crawls right up to her, on her, over her. She loves playing with her tags and Gracie is really good about letting her do just about whatever she wants. Mina and Sierra love playing together, too. They are great buds.

Mina is now sitting in a high chair when we go out to eat and loves to share whatever we have. She likes just about everything we give her. She got her first tooth at about 10 months and her second came in pretty quick after that, both on the bottom in the front. I'll have to try and get a pic.

Mina and I made a trip up to visit my parents for the fourth and as you can see Mina loved hanging out with gramps and grandma. We also got to see cousin Charlie for a little bit.

Fun with Geoff's family

2010-09-02T17:14:00.000-07:00

This summer cousin Tiny has come over and watched Mina for us several times when I picked up extra shifts at work. Mina loved it! Thanks so much Tiny! We miss you! (She is off to her first year at BYU, best of luck!)

Geoff's nephew got married in June and we got to see all the family. Mina had a lot of fun playing with cousins.

More hikin!

2010-08-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

My sister Elisa, brother Danny and his wife Shawnee, my dad, Mina and I all took advantage of the beautiful weather in April to go on a hike.

family reunion

2010-08-03T16:07:00.000-07:00

In April my family got together to celebrate the 8th birthday of my two oldest nephews. All of my family got to come and we had a great time. This first picture is of a hike we took. It was such a beautiful day with wildflowers and great company. Mina did really well in the wrap, too. She took a little nap and only at the end did she get a little restless so I turned her to face forward and she just let her little legs flap against me and loved it.

Gramps feeding Mina. Notice how her feet are nearly at the bottle. She likes to get them involved, too!

Hangin' with grandma and Ethan.

In this picture I'm holding Naomi, born last August to my older sister, my sister-in-law Shawnee is holding Mina, born in September, and my brother Danny is holding their baby Saffron, born in January. Three little girls all close in age. I'm excited for Mina to have cousins close in age. I have fond memories of getting together with my cousins growing up and hope she can have the same experience.

The three girl cousins! The only one missing is Ethan, who was born in July. Cute kids!

miscellaneous

2010-08-03T15:52:00.000-07:00

A Sunday morning looking for hair accessories for Mina. This one got stuck over her eyes and she couldn't figure out how to get it off, but wasn't fussy or anything, just turning her head back and forth like she was wearing a blind fold! I obviously got a kick out of it!
Cute Mina in her seat. We don't use a high chair but instead have this seat that attaches to a regular kitchen chair and it works great. The chair pushes right under the table when we're through so it takes a lot less room.

Ahh! A typical walk for the household! This was back when it was colder, but it is representative of how we enjoyed the outdoors with all 4 kids and a dog. You can't see Jacob but he's behind Ethan in Elisa's stroller. I just tie Gracie to Mina's stroller and it works great.

New haircut! I stuck the headband on for the pic but as soon as picture taking was done it was off. They don't stay on her head very well. I've actually got some small adult headbands that work great so I try to use those now.

This is my mother's mother, so Mina's great grandma. She came down for my family reunion in April and it was great spending time with her.

At the park

2010-08-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

Mina loves going to the park. The first pictures were taken a few months ago when it wasn't so hot (and her hair was still long!) She wasn't so sure about the swing, but really enjoyed the sand, with me close by to try and prevent her from eating it. Hmm. I think I was successful 80% of the time!

These next pictures were taken last week. As you can see, Mina just loved having me push her in the swing. It was a perfect cloudy day for picture taking, too.

Haircut!

2010-08-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

Mina got her first haircut a couple months ago and has since had it cut a second time. It's growing so fast! The first pictures are pre-haircut and the second 2 are just after her first cut. I think it turned out so cute! Thanks Heather.

2010-07-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

These are Mina's 9 month pictures. I guess technically she was 9 months and 2 weeks, but close enough! She will be 10 months old this Saturday, July 23rd and I can't believe how time is flying! We just love our little girl and feel so blessed every day to have her. She got her second hair cut just this past week because as you can see it was creeping in front of her eyes again!

She is overcoming her stranger anxiety and will usually go to other people now unless she's very tired. She is starting to clap and will imitate us now. My favorite is having her give us kisses. I'll say, "Give momma kisses," and turn my cheek to her and she'll lean in with an open mouth and touch my cheek. So cute! Slobbery, but cute! She also likes to spit and of course her daddy encourages this by spitting himself so she'll copy him. Hmmm! She will giggle and laugh with any kind of peek a boo game and has started to play this herself by pulling her bib up over her face then down again really quickly.

The above position is how she gets around. I call it the modified commando crawl. She pushes with her little toes, too and she'll leave a trail in the carpet down the hall. So cute!

I love the little mishievous look on her face in the photo above! It's like she's saying, "I'm getting my shoe mommy, what are you going to do?" Those cute little red shoes are actually shoes my younger sister Cynthia wore when she was a baby. They are plastic/rubber and Mina loves to take them off and chew on them.

This is my favorite pic. Her little eyes are so bright.

New adoption hearing

2010-06-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

We got a letter from the attorney generals office informing us that our new adoption hearing is scheduled for September 22nd. I must admit I'm still holding my breath and am leery of making plans. But.....it should happen in September.....the day before Mina's first birthday.

Remodel update

2010-06-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

Our backyard was a mess after our remodel, as you can see by some of these pictures. We hired a landscaper to help us make our yard look beautiful. We love it! It turned out great and we spent a lot of time outside before the 100 degree weather came. We also have a garden now and have started composting. Geoff has done a great job keeping the yard looking nice. Thanks sweetie!

Before and after with the front yard. There used to be a semi-circle flower garden in the front and for a time I attempted to keep flowers there. But the soil wasn't very good and there were snails eating the plants, so I eventually gave up. I think now I'll plant flowers in pots. We have a beautiful, maintenance free front yard. Woo hoo!

These pictures are from our master bed and bath, except for the picture with the couches, which is in our computer room. We love our new room and bathroom and I've used the jacuzzi tub a lot already. It's our own little sanctuary.

the exersaucer!

2010-06-10T18:38:00.000-07:00

We love the exersaucer! It's a great place for the two little ones to play while keeping them contained. Ethan is crawling now and Mina is scooting, and they're fast! I thought it would be fun to put them together, too, though that didn't last long, as you can imagine! They were so cute, though.

The saucer is now at it's highest level because of how tall Ethan is. Mina is on her tiptoes! She doesn't mind, though.

Mina's 6 month photos

2010-06-10T18:29:00.001-07:00

Mina did so well for her 6 month pictures. She has developed "stranger anxiety" as the doctor calls it, so it takes her a while to warm up to people now. But there was an employee at the photo studio that Mina "took to" and we got some good smiles. I tried 2 different hair styles based on requests from Geoff and suggestions from Elisa as well as my own preferences. I think the two pony tails turned out the cutest. It's hard to see the little clips in the other pictures.

I found this cute dress at Goodwill. I think it's so cute! I've also found other great things there with the tags still on. I must admit I love shopping for baby clothes, so Goodwill is a good place to go because I can get a lot for a little.

Geoff especially likes these pictures of Mina sucking on her bottom lip because it is a look we see on her face a lot! She is now using consonants, and that sucking of the bottom lip turns into "ba, ba ba" and just recently, "ma, ma, ma." It's so cute!

bath time!

2010-06-10T18:09:00.000-07:00

Mina is still small enough that we can bathe her in our bathroom sink, great for my back! She loves it, too, splashing in the water, playing with the faucet. She doesn't even cry when I pour water over her head to rinse out the shampoo!

Adoption hearing update

2010-06-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

We got a call from our caseworker yesterday telling us the attorney generals office had called her requesting more information. Long story short, the adoption hearing has to be postponed, likely for 2 months. So our temple sealing and blessing are also being postponed, bummer because all of Geoff's family is in town this week.

The good news is that the adoption itself is not in jeopardy. It will just take longer to happen. I'll post our new hearing date when we get one.

Our adoption hearing

2010-05-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

We asked the county attorney's office to submit a petition to change the date of our adoption hearing. We did this because Geoff's family will be in town early in June for his nephew's wedding and we wanted them to be able to come to the sealing and blessing of Mina also. The attorney's office told us there was no guarantee that the date could be changed, but that it had happened before. I tried not to get my hopes up because I had initially hoped the hearing would be set in April when my family was here. When that didn't happen I was very discouraged.

But we just got a letter from the county attorney's office stating that our new adoption hearing date is June 2! It is an answer to prayer! Thank you all for your love and support and everyone is still invited to come that weekend for her sealing and blessing (though we now have to set that up!)

Mina picture collage

2010-04-14T20:00:00.000-07:00

I figured out how to use Picasa to do these collages so I could get more pictures on the blog for my download. Yay! I had to snap these pictures of Mina's smile and hair. She had a pony on the top of her head and when I took it out this is what it looked like. I just love Mina's smile.

Mina is eating solid food now. It is so cute to watch her! When we first started feeding her she would open her mouth as wide as she could and then lean forward toward the spoon. It made it a little difficult for me to aim! We're both better at it now, though.

Mina and her cousin Ethan are almost twins. They share the same toys, often the same food. She's got more hair but he's got more girth! Sierra is such a good baby sitter for both of them. She loves to hold Mina. One of her friends came over and wanted to hold Mina, too, but we realized pretty quickly that she didn't know what to do! Sierra really has a skill and seems to know just what to do.

Mina actually got this Christmas outfit from Elisa and Ethan who got it from aunt Patty and uncle Larry. Ethan had grown out of it by Christmas so it was passed down to Mina. We didn't mind! We got the cute bib from our neighbor.

I love to see what position Mina will end up in when she falls asleep now. We used to swaddle her and she wouldn't be able to get out. Now her hands are out almost immediately. She likes to pull the blanket over her eyes and roll over onto her side or stomach. It's so cute! These pics also show Mina with her grandparents. We just need a new one with Geoff's mom!

The wrap

2010-03-08T12:29:00.000-08:00

For the first few months of her life Mina cried whenever I set her down. She only took about 20 minute naps when she did fall asleep. They diagnosed her with reflux and we started her on baby zantac, which helped. I also wore her in my wrap a lot and thought I'd post some pictures. I could wear her around the house doing chores, or on a walk or to feed her. It's been great! These pictures were actually taken in November. I've only worn my wrap once in the past 2-3 months because she is taking naps and playing on her own now, but when I did wear her again she still loved it, fell right asleep.

Photo shoot

2010-03-08T08:49:00.000-08:00

Mina finally grew into her 3 month clothes a few weeks ago. This outfit is so cute! These pictures were actually taken on her 5 month birthday. The stuffed animals were given to her by her brothers and sisters before she was born. Aren't these pictures cute! As you can see, everything now goes in her mouth, fingers, toys, whatever is available! Notice also how long her hair is.

My cute Mina

2010-03-08T08:23:00.001-08:00

We put Mina to sleep by swaddling her in a blanket to help her calm herself and keep her from getting over stimulated. She has now been working her arms out and we eventually find her like this, or with her arm over her eyes, or completely out of the blanket with the blanket pulled over her eyes.

Mina with a cute smile for my dad. For a short while she wouldn't smile for other people and we were beginning to think she was really going to be a mommy and daddy's girl. But she's really started smiling at family and friends now. She does still seem to be a home body though, being happiest at home. When I want to show off her great smile and laugh when we go out it doesn't always happen!
Grandma feeding her, and of course Mina is now trying to help. See her hand on the end of he bottle? She's even starting to hold her own bottle very briefly. Mostly, though she keeps pulling the bottle out of her mouth with her hands so I have to hold them down.

Isn't this a cute outfit! The outfit and the chair we got from the shower from good friends. I love how she is reaching for Sierra in this picture. She really loves Sierra, Jake and Ethan. Sierra and Jake can really make her laugh.

Wild hair girl! We just had to get a picture of this hairdo. You gotta love the look on her face, too!

Valentines day

2010-03-07T11:01:00.000-08:00

This is the outfit Mina wore for Valentines sunday. It's actually a dress I bought for Sierra for her first Christmas five years ago. Isn't it cute? And isn't the baby cute? I put pigtails in her hair for the occasion. Geoff had to help me hold her head still, but it worked! Her hair is getting longer and I don't know what to do with it! Geoff doesn't want me to have it cut yet. He loves his wild haired girl.

Look at that smile! It melts my heart. This is how she smiles whenever she sees Geoff and me. She gets so excited and starts kicking her legs and flapping her arms. I call her a "mover and a shaker" because she's always moving. She's now rolling onto her tummy and has once or twice been able to roll back again, but usually gets stuck and starts to cry after a minute or two. So I help her roll onto her back and within about 10 seconds she's rolled back onto her belly! Silly girl! She's also really reaching and grabbing for toys now. It's so cute to watch her grow and develop.

Garage sale!

2010-03-07T10:21:00.000-08:00

Our computer room now with the new couches we just bought. We still want to paint and put up curtains, nice pictures etc, but it's a definite improvement!

During the remodel we moved a lot of our stuff into the computer room to get it out of the way. The room was unusable for several months!

At the end of last year Elisa emptied out her storage unit and Geoff and I emptied out the computer room. Most of the stuff went on the carport, which I didn't get a picture of, but this is a picture of our house during the remodel. Imagine that the carport is stacked with boxes and there is no room for the car. That's how it looked for several months.

Well, we finally got a notice from the city that we needed to clean up. This gave us the incentive to go through all of our stuff and have the garage sale we'd been talking about. We got rid of a lot of stuff and made $250 in the process. It was a little stressful for me, though, worrying about getting the right price for an item, then worrying about not selling it at all. Ah, perfectionism! It was a good learning experience, and now we can park our cars under the car port again.

vestibular neuritis

2010-03-07T09:53:00.001-08:00

Well, I came home from our trip to Utah with the flu, bummer. I found out at the end of that week that I had an middle ear infection also. By the next Tuesday I was feeling pretty good and Geoff and I actually went for a walk in the park. I woke up on Wednesday feeling slightly dizzy and by that night I was pewking every time I moved in bed. I felt terrible! The room felt like it was spinning any time I moved. Geoff got me to the Dr on Thursday, which wasn't a pretty sight! I had my pewk bucket under my chin the whole time, was dry heaving and belching in the waiting room and couldn't walk without falling unless I held onto Geoff. That was the shortest waiting room wait I've ever had! I think they wanted to get me away from the other patients!

The Dr. diagnosed me with labrynthitis, an inner ear infection, gave me a shot for the nausea and sent me home. I spent the next three days in bed with Geoff or Elisa walking me to the bathroom. I finally got out of bed on Sunday and could sit up if I had my head supported for about 4 hours, then right back to bed. I started to hate my bed! I felt so cooped up. I took for granted being able to dress myself without help, take a shower and brush my teeth standing up. (For my first shower we put a chair in the shower so I could sit. It felt so good to be clean after about 5 days!) Luckily the shot and then the pills they gave me for the nausea worked. I was just very dizzy.

Every day I felt better and about a week after it started I decided to call the outpatient department of the hospital where I work. They have an audiologist and a physical therapist that specialize in vestibular problems. They tested me and told me I actually had vestibular neuritis which is when a virus attacks your vestibular nerve. They also told me I had sustained 40% permanent damage to that nerve. That didn't sound very good to me! but they seemed happy that it wasn't 70% or more, which I guess is typical. Luckily I didn't have any hearing loss. If I did then the diagnosis would have been labrynthitis like my Dr. thought. It is still unclear how people get a virus in the inner ear and it isn't very common for younger people, but the audiologist said I was the third young person in 2 months to come in with this diagnosis.

Any way, they started having me do therapy, which included things like looking at an X in front of me and turning my head side to side, then up and down. They gradually increased the difficulty of the exercises as I improved. I had to stand with my feet together or on pillows. It really amazed me how poor my balance was when they tested me! After being in bed for 3 days I had been happy that I was up and moving around the house. I had even thought I might be able to go back to work. (I now work one day a week.) But the therapist assured me it would be very difficult and challenging to return to work and I'm glad I took her advice!

The first time I went back to church I got dizzy just walking into the chapel and looking at all the pews, turning my head to find a seat. It was also difficult to talk to people because nodding my head in response to what they were saying (something I didn't realize I did so much!) made me dizzy.

I kept going to therapy and doing my exercises and the good news is that I graduated from therapy early. Yay! I didn't mind going, in fact I'd take Mina with me because the other therapist loved watching her. It was just nice to know I was going to recover. I still feel a little dizzy when I turn my head fast, and the therapist said I'd have some residual deficit (there's my therapist talk coming out!) for the rest of my life, but it should only affect me during really high level activity like roller blading or something like that.

The therapist at one point said that I was taking my decreased balance and dizziness with a very good attitude, that most people are very discouraged when they see how bad it actually is when tested. I told her that after spending all that time in bed I was just grateful to be able to walk to the bathroom and function by myself. I was free again, even if my balance wasn't great and I got dizzy when I turned my head fast. It takes being down to realize how blessed I am to move and function freely.

I now hardly ever feel dizzy and have returned to normal life. I do wonder, though, how my next roller coaster ride is going to go! Maybe I'll have to bring my pewk bucket along!

another adoption miracle

2010-01-26T17:16:00.001-08:00

Our good friends Stephanie and James were blessed with a baby girl in January. We are so happy for them! Little Maggie is full hispanic, just like Mina, and we believe they are kindred spirits. We are so grateful to Stephanie and James for their words of encouragement and advice through our adoption process, having adopted once before themselves. By the way, I can't believe how big Mina looks next to Maggie!

This is a pic of my sister and her little girl Naomi who was born just a month prior to Mina. Aren't they cute?

Post Christmas

2010-01-25T19:21:00.000-08:00

We had planned to have a second Christmas with my parents and Elisa's kids the week after Christmas, but since we went up to my grandfather's funeral we never did get together. So I took these pictures last week before I took the tree down, just to get pics of Mina's first Christmas. The bib in the pic above is from our neighbor. Thanks Alla!

This Christmas outfit was actually for Ethan from aunt Patty and uncle Larry, but he outgrew it before Christmas so Elisa was kind enough to pass it on to Mina. It looked so cute on her!

This is a typical look for Mina, too, hands together, in mouth. She will bring her hands together, look at them, then stick them in her mouth, take them out and start the process over again.

Cute girl with the tree. I broke down and bought a fake tree this year :( After paying $80 for a real tree a few years ago I decided it was better to buy a fake tree to save the money. It wasn't as bad as I though it would be. The tree turned out nice and we'll be able to use it for years to come. Plus, it was pre-lit, no stringing of lights!

Christmas

2010-01-25T18:54:00.000-08:00

My whole family with the exception of 2 brothers in law and 3 cousins.

Gram and Gramps with the grandkids.

Cousin Conor making Mina laugh. So cute! (Thanks for the pics from your blog, Krista! I took my camera on the trip without realizing the memory card was full. Woops!)

These pics are from Geoff's sister Kathy. THese are the yummy wings we ate while there. MMMM!

The wings gang.

We had a quiet Christmas this year. For Christmas eve it was just Geoff, Mina and I with Geoff's parents for dinner. His sister and her family came later. For Christmas we went back to Geoff's parents and had yummy Christmas breakfast! The cousins exchange gifts and Mina's gift from cousin Jill was a cute outfit and little book. We then went to see Blind Side while Geoff's sister and his mom watched Mina (thanks again!) It was a great movie. I got teary, especially since we ourselves just adopted. It hit close to home! We went back to Geoff's parents for dinner and that was about it.

The next day we went to see Sherlock Holmes, an excellent film. When we got home I got a call from my brother saying that my grandfather (my mother's father) had just passed away. He started coughing up blood, the neighbors came to help my grandma get him to the hospital and he actually died of cardiac arrest on the way. It was sudden, and that's the sad part, because we didn't get to say goodbye, but my grandpa was 84 and had progressively worsening dementia. He didn't remember who I was the last time we saw him. My grandmother said she was having more and more difficulty caring for him at home now, too. With all the lingering and suffering I see working at the hospital I was glad for my grandpa's sake that he went quickly and didn't have to suffer much.

Geoff and I were able to join the rest of my family in Utah for the funeral and it was a nice reunion, despite the circumstances. All of my siblings were together for the first time in several years. We were actually only missing one brother in law and 3 cousins. It was great spending time with them. We also spent time with Geoff's sister and their family who treated us to good food and great company. Thanks again everybody!

cute Mina

2010-01-08T16:40:00.000-08:00

Mina has really been smiling and laughing a lot this past 2 weeks. Here are just a few of the cute pics I took. I sure do love this little girl! It's hard to believe she's only been in our lives 3 months.

more cute pics

2009-12-22T12:44:00.000-08:00

Elisa with Ethan and Mina

These next pictures capture Mina's smile, bummer they're blurry!

Gotta love the hair!

Cute baby Ethan.

Mina update

2009-12-22T12:40:00.000-08:00

We all went to JC Penney for pictures on Saturday and I think they turned out cute. I was hoping to get a really good one of Mina smiling but is was not to be. She is really smiling and has started laughing now, too. It is so cute! She is also really alert and everyone comments on how unique this is for her age (she'll be 3 months tomorrow.)

So cute!

National Adoption Month

2009-11-12T18:15:00.000-08:00

Just by chance I spoke to two amazing women today. The first was a birth mother Geoff and I had met just prior to Maria. We had a good connection and really liked each other after we met. We found out on a Saturday, though, that she had picked another couple to adopt her child. She had met them and the spirit told her they were the couple for her child. I admit, it was hard on Geoff and I. But how could we deny the influence of God in this work?
It was actually only 5 days after that that we got the call about meeting with Maria, and two weeks after that we took Mina home.
This birth mother had just heard that Geoff and I had adopted and she called to congratulate us, apologizing that she hadn't chosen us, telling me she had been thinking about me a lot ever since she made her decision. What an amazing woman! She herself was going through a difficult time of decision making in her life and yet she was thinking about me, not wanting to hurt Geoff and I, and wishing that it could have been us, but knowing she couldn't deny the spirit. She has a great relationship with the adoptive parents of her daughter and sounded very happy on the phone, stating that the adoption process had turned out to be one of the best experiences of her life. It was great talking to her and being blessed by her amazing character.

Maria also called today and it was great talking to her. She is also an amazing woman, doing a great job raising her other children, maintaining her positive and happy nature. I feel so blessed that she picked us and that she has become such a good friend. I can see God's hand in this work more and more every day. God knew that Mina was meant to come to us and if the first birth mother had picked us we would not have been able to adopt Mina. Maria felt a connection with us just by looking at our picture and we all felt that connection when we met. It only took Maria two days to decide that she was serious about adoption and that we were the couple to adopt her child.

Geoff and I recently listened to a program on NPR about abortion and one of the Dr's on the show mentioned that women who choose abortion are actually unselfish because they realize they would be unable to care for a child. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, especially after being involved in the adoption process and having met birth mothers who had made the decision that really was unselfish. Birth mothers, too, realize that they would be unable to care for a child, but proceed with the pregnancy and give life to a child as a gift for someone else. Not much comes closer to the atonement of Christ, giving a life while putting their own life in danger, literally, to do so.

I found this poem about birth mothers and would like to share. Geoff and I are in awe of these amazing women.

Birthmother

by Leslie Gallimore of Charlotte Pregnancy Center *as published in the July 2004 BirthMom Buds Bulletin

B is for the bravery of putting your child first
I is for the interest you have in your child
R is for remaining true to what you believed is best
T is for the tears you shed
H is for the hours you spend pondering adoption
M is for the months you were pregnant
O is for the overwhelming and mixed emotions
T is for the terrific woman you are
H is for the honor you deserve
E is for the experience of labor
R is for the reward of choosing life

Geoff and I want to honor all birth mothers and encourage everyone to do the same, especially during this month celebrating adoption. Let's celebrate birth mothers and the miraculous decision they have made.

Mina's real photo session

2009-11-04T21:03:00.001-08:00

This is Mina at 6 weeks old. Isn't she cute? This first picture is my favorite.

Pics from the baby shower

2009-10-18T17:38:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Heather, first of all, for taking these pictures! I think they turned out great.

It was great to see everyone at my shower. There were friends from college and my singles ward, like Jodi on the far left; my family, sister Elisa, nephew Charlie, sister Cynthia and mom from left to right; and members of my ward like Winnie on the right. I feel so blessed to have such great friends and family.

Friends from previous places I'd worked like Kimmee and Mary on the left and more good friends from the ward Claudia and Kathryn.

Here are my two great friends that threw the shower, Lindsay and Kathryn. Thank you both so much for a wonderful shower! I couldn't have asked for anything more.

Ahhh! Great food! Thanks to everyone who helped provide all the eats! They were wonderful!

Geoff brought Mina by at the end of the shower so everyone could see her. She's asleep in this picture but they got to hear her cry, too when she got hungry! She's my sweet girl and I love her so much.

Mina with family

2009-10-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

Gramps feeding Mina. We're grateful for all the help we've had from family.

Jacob loves to kiss her! He'll come up and say "kisses?,"kiss her on the head, then ask again. We have to remind him he has to wash his hands before he touches her, though, so now whenever he sees her he says, "wash hands?" and runs to the bathroom to wash his hands!

Sierra is such a good little helper! She fed Mina while I was eating dinner the other day and it worked out great!

Mina with grandma

Minas photo shoot

2009-10-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

I've tried several times to get Mina dressed up and take pics and I did get some good ones. As you can tell by some of the photos further on, however, she wasn't really in the mood to get all dressed up for photos! This outfit is a preemie outfit, one of the few that fit her the first few weeks.

Elisa found this dress at a garage sale and thought it was a cute doll dress. Then she looked at the label, which said "preemie." It fits Mina just great, though she wasn't very happy when I was taking this picture!

We got this cute hair bow from our neighbor.

I got lucky and caught her smiling. A "gas" smile as Geoff likes to remind me, but a smile none the less!

More pics of Mina

2009-09-29T19:27:00.000-07:00

So many people were asking for more pics I thought I'd oblige! Every day Mina's more alert. She has the most beautiful, thick black hair and eyes. Both her birth parents are hispanic.

Little Ethan, born 9 and 1/2 weeks ago isn't so little any more! He's smiling and cooing a lot now and it's so cute!

Sierra loves holding Mina. She'll just hold her and rock her for up to 15 minutes! It's very cute. When Geoff's mom came to visit and was holding Mina, Sierra told her, "You're holding her too long," because Sierra wanted a turn! We had to remind her that she'd get lots of time to hold Mina since we all live together.

Geoff has been using Elisa's "breast friend" (that's the real name by the way!) which snaps around your waist, because it really does give you support when holding a baby. Notice the remote control in the front pocket! He actually forgot he put it there and was looking all over for it until he remembered.

Sweet little Mina! She's so tiny that only a few of her clothes actually fit her! We went out and looked for a couple outfits yesterday and all the 0-3 month outfits were huge! We finally bought one newborn and one preemie outfit. Even the newborn diapers are a little big.

Mina's home coming

2009-09-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

Mina had jaundice so she had to be under the lights for 38 hours. She had to wear the little "goggles" to protect her eyes, and as you can see she didn't like it! We could only take her out for about a half hour at a time and then she had to go back under the lights. There was also a light under her, the cover of which got all poopy as Geoff and I tried to clean her first muconium (sp?) diaper. She just kept pooping! As soon as I'd clean her up more would squirt out on the new diaper. We went through 4 diapers, got poop all over her, our hands, the light underneath her. Phew! She was breaking us in! Actually, none of her poops since then have been that bad, thank goodness! I'm sure you parents out there are saying, "just wait!"

They gave me a band so I could get the baby out of the nursery also, so here are the three girls with our arm bands.

Beautiful Maria. She dressed Mina, carried her down in the wheel chair and helped Geoff put her in her car seat. I sobbed again as I hugged her good-bye. She had just given birth but wasn't going home with the baby. She is an amazing woman. We all met the next day, Saturday, and she signed the papers that terminated her rights. We then went to her house and introduced Mina to her brothers and sisters. I know this has been hard for Maria, but that she knows she made the right decision. This is a completely open adoption and we'll be seeing a lot of her and her family which I know will make this easier on her.

Jacob giving Mina kisses. So cute! Both Sierra and Jake love her already, though Jake kept calling her Ethan at first. Aren't all babies Ethan? Speaking of Ethan, he's more than twice her size! He has grown so quickly and Mina is only 6 lbs 9 oz. Ethan was 9 pounds when he was born!

Mina has been sleeping in the clothes basket by our bed since we don't have a crib yet, and it has actually worked out pretty well. Yep, sleepless nights! though she is sleeping up to 3 hours at a time. Geoff has this week off work and has been helping a lot.

Mina is home!

2009-09-26T20:20:00.001-07:00

This is going to be quick, so don't get your hopes up! I just wanted to thank everybody for their love and support. We took Mina home from the hospital yesterday. Another emotional day! We met Maria and our case worker today and she signed the papers relinquishing her rights. It will be about 6 months for the paper work to go through the courts for the adoption to be official.

I'll post pictures when I'm not so tired :)

Pictures of Mina

2009-09-24T03:36:00.000-07:00

Everyone keeps telling me I should sleep while I can. Well, it's 3:30 in the morning and I'm wide awake! I figured I might as well post some pics.Geoff got to feed her for the first time.

Our angel birth mother. I asked her if she minded if we posted pictures of her and she said go ahead. What an amazing woman! I cried as I helped her through the delivery. It was a natural birth and the baby's face was up so her shoulder was caught and it was very painful. Mina's face is bruised from coming out face up. They say that will clear up, though.

Just after delivery. She didn't cry at first and they were a little worried, but then she found her lungs. Her heart rate kept dropping every time Maria had a contraction leading up to the delivery and they were worried about that, too. Turns out there was a knot in her cord though it wasn't pulled tight. Everything is fine, though. She is a miracle! I'm still in shock and pray for Maria as we go through these next few days. I know this will be hard on her. The state of AZ requires that the birth mom wait 72 hours before signing the papers so we'll take the baby home when she's released from the hospital on a temporary foster license. Once the birth mother signs the papers the baby is ours. It takes about 6 months for the adoption to be finalized in the courts with the birth certificate stating that we are the parents. That's when we'll be able to bless her and seal her to us. You all will be invited to that blessed day.

The baby is coming!

2009-09-23T09:20:00.000-07:00

I just got off the phone with our case worker who is with Maria in the hospital! She started having contractions last night and is dilated to 2-3 centimeters. The contractions have now stopped but the Dr. decided to admit her and give her patosin. Geoff and I are headed to the hospital as soon as he gets home! Thanks for all your prayers and support! I have such wonderful family and friends.

We're adopting!

2009-09-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true! We were chosen by an angel birth mom to adopt her baby. We met with her a week and a half ago and three days later she called to tell us that she had decided to place with us. I couldn't believe it! I've been in shock for the last week. Maria is actually the 6th birth mom we have had some kind of contact with, so it has been hard for me to get my head and heart around the fact that it will actually happen this time. Maria is great and has been very patient with me! She is a wonderful friend and truly an answer to prayers. She invited us to go with her to her Dr. appointment last Saturday and we got to see the baby on the ultrasound, but it was not clear enough to tell if it's a boy or girl. Maria is due in a week so we'll see what we get when the baby decides to come!
Please keep us and Maria in your prayers. I'll try to keep the blog updated when we hear any news.

final post of the night

2009-09-06T18:58:00.001-07:00

Sierra started pre-school this year. The main difficulty is that it starts at 7:45 AM, and as you can see, Sierra is tired. She's used to sleeping in until 9:00 and does not appreciate being woken up in the morning! Elisa asked me to take her to school on Friday and I thought I got up sufficiently early to get her there and then get to work on time. However, by the time I was getting breakfast ready for her it was time to go. So I gave her a glass of my protein shake and a piece of toast and put her in her car seat. Well, the ride to pre-school wasn't very long and she was still tired, so she had only taken a few sips of the shake when it was time to get out of the car. So I brought the piece of toast with us while we were walking hurriedly to her classroom. Sierra was running along, taking bites of her toast with me encouraging her to keep chewing! We got to the classroom just in time and I took the toast from her and went to sign her in. As I was signing Sierra in she came right up to me. I thought she was going to hug me good bye, but she lifted up my hand and took one last bite of toast! Poor girl! Going to school tired and starving!

The electricians installed can lights throughout the house as well as our new bathroom lights. This is where the vanity will go. The vanity cabinetry actually arrived last week and was supposed to be installed, but there was a mis-communication between the contractor and the guy he sent to pick it up. The worker didn't realize he was supposed to install it so didn't bring the right tools. Well, apparently he has been busy on other jobs since then because I haven't seen him again! I'll need to call our contractor this week and see what's up. Maybe they were just waiting for the tile to get done.

Elisa came into the living room one day to find Gracie in Geoff's lap, snuggling. Aww! Can you believe how big Gracie is?! What happened to getting a medium sized dog? Oh well. She just got a haircut and is very fluffly and cute right now. We won't mention the fact that she has been eating and pooping out kid socks. Hmmm! Yup, they go all the way through! Elisa has to buy new socks for the kids almost every time she goes to the store!

more pics of Ethan and the fam

2009-09-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

This is typical for Jake: mouth stuffed with food, playing with his car at the table. :)

Elisa and kids.

Ethan is so big now! He no longer fits in the 0-3 month outfits because he's too long. I can't believe how fast he is growing.

Ethan is really starting to recognize faces and smile now. It is so cute!

the lastest remodel pics

2009-09-06T18:40:00.000-07:00

I got a page at work on Friday from Elisa stating that the plumbers were at the house ready to install the new toilet in our master bathroom. The problem was there wasn't a new toilet. I tried to reach our contractor to no avail, so we ended up moving the toilet from the front bathroom into the new bathroom so we would have a toilet while they tiled the front bathroom. I really don't mind because the toilet you see here fits me just right. :) I picked it out when we replaced the original and I've been very pleased with it. So the new toilet will go in the front bathroom for Elisa and the kids, whenever it arrives, and the plumbers return....

We got new tile! We decided to replace the tile in the front bathroom and kitchen as well as tiling the new laundry room and bathroom. I think it is beautiful! The tile guys did a wonderful job. The tub surround looks amazing! I can't wait 'til there's actually a tub in there!

The front bathroom.

Our new tub surround!

We finally got rid of that old linoleum in the kitchen. Yay!

2009-08-08T08:54:00.000-07:00

Sierra was holding Ethan when I came home for lunch one day and I got this great video. She is so cute!

Remodel update

2009-08-08T08:42:00.001-07:00

This will soon be my new Jaccuzi tub. Note the color of the walls. The first green we chose didn't turn out exactly like we thought. Geoff said it looked like a muppet had thrown up on the walls. So we picked again and got it right. It's a little hard to tell in these pictures, but it's a very calming green, perfect for relaxing in the tub.

I think our blue accent wall in the bedroom turned out nice also, as did the brown for the rest of the walls.

Our new porch! We decided to leave the beam exposed because we think the wood is pretty amazing: one long beam of pressed wood. My dad cleared the junk off the porch and the kids have been playing outside and loving it. They don't seem to even notice the heat! We have to remind them to come in and drink water, otherwise they would just stay out there and play for hours. We also discovered that the back porch is the perfect place for all the noisy toys. Our new windows don't let in much noise at all!

The blue outside trim didn't turn out exactly as I'd hoped, a little light, but it's growing on me. I'll have to take a picture of the front of the house, too, because they repainted all the trim and it looks so much better than the previous army green. Our front door is blue now, too, which I love.

The new hallway! It's painted now and we all agree it makes the house look bigger. We all really like the brown paint, too, which is hard to see in this photo. Eventually we'll use that color on most of the house.

2009-07-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

Gramps and Ethan. Elisa is narrating.

2009-07-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

It looks like Ethan just has his hand in his face, but this is actually a video of Ethan sucking his thumb, which he found all on his own.

more baby Ethan

2009-07-27T15:54:00.001-07:00

Sierra and I with baby Ethan

My sweet Geoff with the baby.

me again! It feels so good to hold him.

Mom, big brother Jacob and baby Ethan

new nephew!

2009-07-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

My sister Elisa had her new little boy Ethan Gabriel on July 17th. Elisa and her two older children are now living with us and Elisa actually chose to have a home birth with a doula and mid-wife so this little guy was born right here in our house! Quite an interesting experience I must say. Elisa and the baby did great, though. He was 9 pounds! I'm very proud of my sister and think she is a great woman and mother. Thanks for sharing your kids with us Elisa!

My dad holding little Ethan. He and my mom have really been helping out and we are very grateful!

With my mom

With his older sister Sierra

Mom and baby on the bed where he was born.

more remodel pics

2009-07-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

Pics of the drywall being put up around the double sliding doors into the new bathroom.

Our new walk in closet with lots of shelves!

New siding on the eaves

more drywall pics. Isn't our new door beautiful?

we're so close!

2009-07-27T15:33:00.001-07:00

We are getting so close with our remodel! The whole house smells like paint today because they have started painting the new addition. Then the final electrical, plumbing and floors need to be done. I'm counting down the days!

The new raised ceiling in our hall. The duct work was all redone and should distribute air much better. It means we have some type of construction in every room, though!

new outside stucco. Yay!

Geoff home for lunch observing the work on interior paint.

the outside door from our new bedroom all prepped for paint.

The inside door all prepped for paint.

The magic touch

2009-07-07T17:18:00.000-07:00

Normally Jacob cries and resists when it's time to have his teeth brushed. Well, we've discovered that Geoff has the magic touch. Jake not only lets Geoff brush his teeth but he likes it! Good job sweetie!

My good man

2009-07-06T14:52:00.000-07:00

My sister and her 2.9 kids (she is due with her third on July 11th) moved in with us for a while and my good husband has taken them in with open arms. I have really enjoyed watching him interact with the kids. It has truly brought out the best in him and he has stepped up to the task without complaint. He gets up at 5:30 AM with Jake, cooks him cream of wheat and takes the dog for a run. He bathes the kids, brushes teeth, reads stories, and occasionally even changes a diaper. He helped my sister buy a new car, is handling the remodel, working full time, helping with household chores, cooking dinner and serving at church. Oh, and taking care of the dog, too.

It was a little bitter sweet for him on father's day, having 2 kids with us at church but realizing that they're not really our kids. It's been a little difficult for me, too. I was thinking about this in the shower the other day (a good place to think) and the thought came to me: all children are God's children. They belong to Him first and He asks us to take care of them, whether or not we bore them. My good husband has really taken this to heart. You would never know these weren't his children because he treats them like he would his own while still respecting my sister and the children's father. He not only will be a good father when we are blessed with children of our own, but is a good father figure now and will only get better. I am lucky to have him. Thanks for all you do sweetie.

more crazy remodel day

2009-07-06T14:32:00.001-07:00

The blog will only let me add so many pictures at a time, and I'm also not used to thinking in reverse, so you'll just have to reverse all my blogs and pictures! In other words, don't start with the most recent blog if you want to follow chronologically!
Poor Gracie spent the day in her crate, and poor us listening to her barking!

The air conditioning guy in our current room. I did my best to cover things up and they used plastic, but there was still dust everywhere. Notice he's wearing a mask. Those of us living in the house just got to breathe in all the insulation and dust! My sister eventually took the kids to the play place at the mall to get out of the house. Meanwhile, I was still transferring stuff from the den into the front room and onto the front porch so they could get to the duct in the den.

In the new addition we have our contractors and the electrician. He put in new can lights throughout the house. He didn't bother to use plastic when sawing through the ceiling, so, you guessed it, more dust. It was about this time that Geoff and I started talking about staying somewhere else that night because they were going to tear out the hall ceiling to put in new ducts at 6:00 AM the next morning. We ended up staying 2 nights at the hotel because the house was such a mess and they were basically in every room.

They have the outside in the back all ready for stucco.

Aah, roofers in front and back! Just imagine the noise of roofers up top, the guys putting in ducts inside the house, the compressor in the new addition and the noise of 2 little kids and a dog! What a day. Oh, and did I mention that the guy came to put in our new dishwasher that day, too? So, roofers, duct workers, electrician, dishwasher guy, contractors. Phew! I was happy to be out of the house and not too excited to come back to the mess. Geoff and I spent 3 1/2 to 4 hours after work on Friday cleaning the house so it was livable: vacuuming the floors and couches, dusting everything, sweeping, cleaning the bathroom (I think I've cleaned the bathroom and the floors every other day in the past 2 weeks), wiping down everything in the kitchen. I vacuumed and cleaned the bathroom again today. The joys of remodelling!

Crazy remodel day!

2009-07-06T14:25:00.001-07:00

Last Wednesday was a crazy remodel day. Here are niece and nephew Sierra and Jacob eating breakfast. Around them there was chaos!

The workers from the air conditioning company were here to put new air ducts in all the room. Notice that pile of insulation from the roof. We're still finding it in cracks and crevices all over the house, despite the plastic.

All of the stuff from our old bedroom and other stuff we had stored in the front two bedrooms ended up in the den when my sister and her two kids moved in with us. Of course, they had to put a duct in this room so I had to move the stuff out of this room and into the living room when they finished there.

The roofers started at 5:30 AM, pounding in all the new roof tiles.

I love the new color of our roof! We'll be having the trim painted also, and we're thinking of a gray/blue color. The black car out front is the new car Geoff helped my sister buy. Isn't it cute?

Geoff knocking down the wall

2009-07-06T14:19:00.000-07:00

Remodel update

2009-07-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

The addition is really coming together. Geoff and I even got to knock down part of the old outside wall. It felt great swinging that sledge hammer and having bricks go flying! Geoff enjoyed it so much that he came home from work and spent another hour knocking down the wall. The next day our contractor told me I should inform Geoff that he shouldn't do any more demo because it could cause too much of the wall to collapse and there would be a big hole in the side of the house!

I come home from work every day for lunch, hence the work outfit, including pager. That sledge hammer was heavy!

Geoff pulling a funny face. Look at those buff neck muscles!

My cute sweetie with our cute dog

2009-06-04T19:47:00.001-07:00

Aren't my sweetie and my dog so cute! Geoff actually asks Gracie for kisses (something I choose not to receive from my dog!) I can't believe how big she is now. She weighed 32 pounds when she went to the vet last Friday. She also got her new summer hair cut a few weeks ago and is looking pretty sharp. Other than her occasional "teenage" rebellions, she's doing well for a pup.

the latest remodel pics

2009-06-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

I took these first pictures a few days ago to show the progress on the house, but I had to take new pictures today because everything is moving pretty quickly now. Yay! We had to move out of our bedroom Tuesday night, a big chore, and they have since torn out the old closet and built the frame for the new one. Just a little difference in size, wouldn't you say? Hee hee! I'm really excited for my new walk-in closet. Of course in moving all our stuff and "storing" some of it in our den we've realized we can probably get rid of a lot of it. If we haven't used it in the past 5 years we've been in the house do we really need to keep it? So we'll have to have a huge garage sale at the end of our remodel. I've been thinking we'd invite the neighbors, too and have a community garage sale. Hmmm. I'm not sure how well that will work in 110 degree July heat! Yes, hopefully we'll have the remodel done in a month. We're crossing our fingers. We are still waiting for the gas company to come move the meter (it's been atleast 3 weeks now.) They're also charging us $600 to move it, another of those costs that tend to crop up during a remodel. Oh well, I'm pleased with everything overall and have been very satisified with our builder and the contractors.

This is our bedroom before. Notice the size of the closet. I had some trouble getting a good angle of what they've done so far with the new closet, but you can see where the old closet was and how much bigger the new one will be.

They've started work on our beautiful back porch! It's going to be so nice, so much more open than the old one.

most recent remodel pics

2009-05-31T14:58:00.000-07:00

The new foundation was poured last week and the old porch roof was taken off.

and they tore out the old nasty shed on the side of the house. Yay! no more smelly shed! The feral cats used to live under it and you can imagine the smell. Yuck!

They removed the inside coat closet and created an inside opening to the laundry room. The outside door we used to use to get to the laundry was closed off. It's so nice not having to go out in the heat to do laundry!

our house remodel

2009-05-31T14:32:00.000-07:00

These are the "before" pictures of our back yard and back bathroom prior to the remodel. We are expanding our master bedroom and bath, which I am very excited about!

They had to replace the old clay sewer pipes because they wouldn't hold up under the new foundation and they also had to remove the tree.

Geoff using his "new" shower, ha ha! after they tore everything out.

The tree ended up in the alley.

Gracie and Sierra and Jake had a lot of fun running up and down the big pile of dirt.

little me

2009-05-03T23:38:00.000-07:00

My mom just sent these pictures to me so I thought I'd share. Aren't we cute? These pictures are proof that my hair was once curly and red! These were taken when I was between one and three years old. My sister Angie is 14 months older than me and my brother Danny is 20 months younger than me. My mother is a saint! I don't know how she did it, but I sure love her for it.

We are with my dad's mom in this one. She passed away as a result of a brain tumor in 1990 at the age of 60. I was only 16. It was so sad to think that my younger sisters and cousins would never get to know her. I know we'll all be together again someday and it will be a great reunion.

Training Gracie

2009-04-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

This should be my final post for the day and I think it speaks for itself. Enjoy! Those interested in Geoff's dog training fees can feel free to contact us (hee hee!)

Stroller and Charlie

2009-04-26T15:25:00.001-07:00

I got to watch me nephew Charlie, my sister Cynthia's son, this week. He is so cute, especially when he laughs. He loves to suck on his fingers. He has the biggest brown eyes and we're pretty sure he's going to have red hair so we'll have another red-head in the family.

Here's a picture of the infamous stroller mentioned earlier. For some reason Sierra and Jake didn't want me to take their picture. As you can see they share the same seat, which starts out all right, but it's a good thing the park is close because it's not too long before Sierra starts to complain about how heavy Jake is! I've told them they're going to have to work this problem out if they want to keep going to the park. We'll see what they come up with! Note the bottom of the stroller which I mentioned in a previous post, imagine that the seat is gone and that the kids are standing up in the bottom! Can you picture it? They thought it was pretty cool.

even more Gracie

2009-04-26T14:43:00.000-07:00

Gracie and the slide

2009-04-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

I trained Gracie to go down the slide one day at the park. It took me a while to do it because at first she was scared just to go up the steps to the play place. I just sat on the steps and waited for several minutes and she finally got the nerve to climb up with me. Then I picked the really small slide and went down it, waiting at the bottom for her. It took her quite a while to follow me but she eventually did and I was so proud of her! I gradually took her to the big slide and would slide half way down and let her come to me. Eventually, as you'll see on this video, she got to the point where she does it on her own, and she loves it! She tries to climb back up for more! Gracie's really cute and has really started to grow on me. She's almost house trained and is at the top of her puppy training class. The trainer even said she's ready for intermediate training, which is unusual for a 15 week old puppy. She's been really good with kids, too. She loves to play with them and let them pet her. Her new love is the dog park. The first time we took her she found a dachsund who wanted to play and they chased each other all over the park, our ungraceful Gracie biffing it when she tried to take a corner too tight! Geoff and I were laughing out loud watching those two dogs. Gracie would then go get a drink get all wet, then plop in the dirt to play again. She was filthy when we took her home and we had to put her directly in the bath. It was worth it to see her having so much fun.

Sierra and Jake

2009-04-26T13:55:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted and now I have 3 or 4 to add, so be prepared! I watch my niece Sierra and nephew Jake every Monday while my sister Elisa attends community college. I really enjoy the time I spend with them. They love playing outside in the dirt, making "soup" out of leaves and sticks and whatever else they can find. They also love going to the park which is close to our house, feeding the ducks and playing in the park. My sister Elisa gave me an older one seated stroller she got for cheap on Craig's list and a few weeks ago I took it apart and washed the fabric. Well, it took me a while to get it put back in, so for one trip to the park the kids stood in the bottom of the stroller. They thought it was great fun! We had a little adventure when one of the straps holding the bottom onto the frame snapped. Of course this happened right as we were about to cross the street, Gracie was pulling on her leash because she's scared of the cars, and Sierra, who now had to walk, didn't have her shoes on. I had to lift her out and we just waited on the side of the road, me trying to calm Gracie and Jake, while Sierra put her shoes on. We all ended up laughing about it. Well, I don't know if Gracie was laughing, but the kids and I considered it an adventure. I have since replaced the seat in the stroller, complete with fuzz balls from the towels I washed it with. (Yeah, it looks a little trashy! Oh well.) The other day Sierra started showing me her kung fu moves. (They recently watched kung fu panda.) I couldn't resist recording her. Notice Jake in the background just turning in circles and then falling down...over and over!

We have a dog!

2009-03-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

We have a dog. I can't believe we have a dog. This all happened very suddenly. Geoff was looking at goldendoodles online, a mix between golden retrievers and poodles and we saw one we thought was cute. Geoff called the number and we waited to hear from them. I imagined we'd go meet the puppy, see if we liked her, and possibly consider buying her. Well, it didn't quite happen as I imagined. I got home from work 2 days later and Geoff told me he had good news. He had spoken to the owners and purchased "Gracie!" I wanted to know why I couldn't meet her first and he said he had a very good reason. It was: she was in Indiana. She was scheduled to fly to AZ in 3 days time. I was in shock.
Geoff picked her up last Thursday and I have to admit she is a very sweet dog. Geoff is remembering how challenging it can be to train a puppy, but it helps that she is very good natured and follows commands well. She has had several accidents in the house, but my good husband always cleans it up. And she doesn't shed! We took her on a walk tonight and she just walked right along side us, didn't pull on the leash or try to sniff every tree. It was very relaxing.

She's a beautiful dog, too. As you can see she's growing on me. I never imagined I'd be a dog owner, but Geoff is very good with dogs and has promised to train Gracie well. She's a little bigger than I would have preferred, but Geoff says that's so she can go on walks with me and protect me. (I actually doubt she'll be much of a protector because she's so good natured!) I'll have to keep the blog updated with Gracie news.

Trip to Utah

2009-03-28T20:49:00.000-07:00

Our nephew came home from his mission to Italy 2 weeks ago and we went up to welcome him home and spend some time with Geoff's family. We also got to go to the Salt Lake temple, which is beautiful. I'm always amazed at the skill of the craftsmen who built it without the benefit of all the tools we now have. It's pretty cool thinking of the history of the temple, too, that it took 40 years to build, that the prophets walk the halls. Pretty amazing.

Geoff with sweet little niece Jill, the youngest of the nieces and nephews on Geoff's side.

We spent a lot of our time playing the wii. Here is Geoff with brother-in-law Ron. I don't know if you can see or not, but notice which level they are playing. Hee hee! It had been a while since Geoff had played so everyone that played him gracefully played at a higher level to give him a chance. Of course, that didn't stop him from trash talking when he won! (his level 1 beating someone else's level 6!) I of course was creamed by everyone as I had never played before ever. It was still fun, though. I especially enjoyed the hoola hoop competition! I took a video of Geoff and I'm tempted to put it on here! We'll see.

We went to a yoga class with the nieces and I remembered how inflexible I am! When you look at the picture of me, just imagine that my knees are very bent, because that's what's allowing me to reach anywhere near my toes!
Geoff tried to keep up with Hannah (on his right) and complained of soreness the rest of the weekend!

Ode to pears

2009-03-01T17:50:00.000-08:00

So our ward took on a project from the humanitarian center several months ago to color books for children. I took one home intending to color it within the next week and return it. Well, it is now several months later and I'm just finishing it. I only have one page left to color! I was held up partly by the fact that I did not have colored pencils and would forget to purchase them when I went shopping. Of course, I don't like shopping, so that further delayed the acquisition of pencils.
I eventually did purchase the pencils and have been dutifully coloring my book: 2 ice cream cones; 4 turtles; 8 kites. I've enjoyed choosing colors for each page, trying to make it interesting for the children.
Then I got to number eleven: 11 pears. Now, how do you make 11 pears interesting? How many colors can I actually use for pears? Couldn't they have chosen something like "11 balloons." That would make it easy to use a variety of colors. No, it had to be 11 pears. So I picked the obvious colors, yellow and green, and recalled seeing reddish pears somewhere, too, and I colored several pears. Then I decided to make it interesting and really see if the kids were paying attention. "One of these things is not like the others...." See if you can pick out the random pear in my picture. Hee hee! Oh, and I'm not done yet. All of these pears have noses. What color is a pear's nose? Should I not color them at all? Should I color them black to show signs of early decay? (that's "Missy 2.0" talking as Geoff would say!) What color is a pear's nose? Please, feel free to send your suggestions.

Kickball!

2009-02-03T19:17:00.000-08:00

We have been playing on a kickball team through the city since January. I heard about it through a co-worker and it sounded like fun so I convinced Geoff to join her team with me, even though neither of us have played since grade school, and we don't drink beer (which we discovered is the reason a lot of people play kickball!) Our team really isn't very good and it's definately taken time for Geoff and me to warm up. BUT, we won our second game of the season tonight! Yay! I suppose I should clarify that we played our tenth game tonight. That explains why there is excitement about 2 wins! And I actually scored tonight! Woohoo! Geoff had a great game, too, and caught 4 balls for outs. (Is that correct kickball lingo? Hm!)

2009-01-30T18:15:00.000-08:00

Our first successful Craigs list sale! We finally sold my sisters washer and dryer that have been hanging out on our back porch. We attempted selling them a few months ago but were probably asking too much. Anyway, they were just loaded away in someone else's truck!

2009-01-23T18:07:00.000-08:00

Our adoption profile is working now! For the past week the pictures haven't been showing up due to a glitch in the system, but now they're up. Yay! Of course reading through it I found several typos (is that how you spell "typos?" hee hee! that's funny! I can't even spell when writing about my spelling errors!). I went back and fixed them but I think it will take some time for them to update it again. Oh well! So check out our profile by clicking on the link to the right. --->

2009-01-23T12:13:00.000-08:00

We just got this picture on Geoff's family blog and I thought it was great! These are all the nieces and nephews on Geoff's side, excluding his oldest nephew who is on a mission in Italy. We just found out his release date is in March and we're excited to see him again.

2009-01-11T22:12:00.000-08:00

Geoff just watched the videos I put on the blog and his comment was "You're such a goober!" Well, you can see where I get it! You can also see my brother got it, too!

2009-01-11T21:56:00.000-08:00

One of the best parts of the trip to Mexico was listening to and watching my mom with her Christmas present. Let me give some background. She served a mission in Argentina and brought some records home of her favorite music. I grew up listening to these records and still really enjoy the music. My mom has been wanting to get these records on CD and a year or so ago I told her I'd get it done for her. Well, time passed and I just barely got it done this Christmas. So I brought the CD's along and that's what we listened to the whole trip. Picture us driving through Guaymas and San Carlos with all the windows down (my mom's and brother's idea,) the music blaring, and all of us (except my sister-in-law) singing along! It cracks me up!

2009-01-11T21:43:00.000-08:00

I went to San Carlos, Mexico for New Years with my parents brother and his wife. Geoff couldn't take the time off work :( We enjoyed lots of good Mexican food (yum!), lounged on the beach, took walks, hiked around the hotel, and just took it easy.

Note my brother's Mexi-stash in these pictures!

Here's proof that I got in! It was COLD but the water was so beautiful I couldn't resist. That's my dad next to me. He got in at least once a day, one day 3 times!

This is actually a view of the hotel where we stayed. It was perfect, very quiet, right on the beach.

Being on the beach brought back a lot of memories from my mission having served on the coast of South Africa. I'm homesick for it! Luckily my sister-in-law also served in South Africa so we got to swap stories and compare experiences while we were there. The previous time I'd been to San Carlos we stayed in a hotel more in the bay, which was like a lake. I was disappointed at the time because the last time I'd seen the ocean was in South Africa and it was not like a lake! This trip I was not disappointed because the hotel where we stayed was more on the open ocean and we got to hear waves crashing right outside our window. What a peaceful way to fall asleep.

2009-01-11T21:36:00.000-08:00

We went up north to spend Christmas with my family. We got to see all of my siblings except my sister who lives in Ohio. It was great to see everybody. The picture at the left is missing a few people (like my sister in Ohio and her family) but you get to see my newest nephews in the front row. We acted out the nativity and that was my niece Sierra's favorite part of the holiday. She kept asking to reinact it and play each part. It was cute.

Geoff and I got to sleep in a Wigwam! I actually really enjoy it because they're cozy, warm (I crank up the heat!) and you can hear the trains go by, which is what I fell asleep to growing up.

2009-01-11T21:07:00.000-08:00

We said goodbye to Kidder after

Thanksgiving :( Well, she went to her "mom" so it was a good thing. My dad loves Kidder and spent the week they stayed with us spoiling her: taking her on walks twice a day (with no attempt at making her heel!), letting her sit on his lap, paying all sorts of attention to her. She started whining in the morning if he wasn't up soon enough to pay attention to her! Good thing we gave her back to her mom!

My niece and nephew miss Kidder, too, but it was good timing because Geoff and I are planning on remodeling in a month or so and weren't sure what we were going to do with Kidder! I could just see her running down the street when someone left the back gate open, thinking what a fun game it was to have us chase her! Hmm! Last I heard Kidder was enjoying her new home, had dogs next door to play with, and has already had to be chased around the neighborhood. Oh yeah, and she has fleas! I swear she didn't get them here! I'm sure we would have noticed! Ah well, maybe we won't get our own dog after all :) (Don't mention that to Geoff!)
Notice Kidder sitting safely on my lap in this picture. She followed me around for protection when the kids came over, a little annoying when I couldn't walk in the kitchen without stepping on her! You'd think she would be able to figure out a place other than right under by feet to be "safe!" Silly dog. I do miss her.

2008-10-25T13:37:00.000-07:00

For my birthday weekend Geoff and I met my parents up in the mountains for a nice retreat. We did some hiking and it was so beautiful! The leaves changing colors were amazing. Of course I couldn't help stopping frequently to take pictures, but I won't put them all on here :) It was great spending time with Geoff and my parents.

With my dad. He and I make great hiking partners because neither of us is in a hurry and he taught me how to stop and notice all the little things around me and be grateful for nature's beautiful creations.

We came upon this tree as we rounded a corner of the trail and it just glowed it was so red! (See the previous picture also)

Kidder

2008-10-12T20:33:00.001-07:00

Well, Kidder isn't technically ours. She belongs to a friend of mine and we are actually watching her for a year or so while my friend finishes her doctorate program. Kidder is a rat terrier and is about 2 years old. For the past few weeks or so she has been running outside (through her doggie door) whenever Geoff or I come home. We had no idea why she was doing this, so I decided to watch when I was home and Geoff came through the door. As soon as Geoff opened the door Kidder ran out to the back yard, headed left, jumped and sniffed all along the left side, the back wall, then the right wall of the yard before coming back in. She was doing a perimeter check! I think it's so funny! As you can see she's not very big, so I don't know what she'd do if she actually ran into a real threat! She's really friendly, too, and would probably lick someone before she bit them!

Kidder is really good with kids and they love her. She's also claimed one of the couches in our front room and wasn't too pleased when Geoff used it to take a nap! She squeezed in anyway, though!

with Bryant, Avery and Jeremiah

2008-09-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

I recently went to Ohio to visit my sister and her family. It was a lot of fun!

With Bryant by a river (whose name I can't recall!), but isn't the sunset beautiful?

Avery playing pirate, which is the boys favorite game to play.

I loved having little Jeremiah, "little J" as his brothers call him, fall asleep in my lap.