Crunch

That was the sound I heard as I walked out of my bedroom today after taking my shower.  It was one of those moments that as soon as you heard the sound and felt the object under your foot, you cringe and don't want to look down, because you know exactly what it was that you stepped on, and it's not good, or cheap.

It was Cierra's glasses.  /Cringe/  Yup.

I yelled downstairs for her and she replied "Did you clean them, Mommy?"  She had placed them in front of my bedroom door while I was in the shower for me to clean.  I don't know if she yelled through the door about them or not, I didn't hear her if she did.  I was able to un-mangle them pretty well, and they are okay, but they definitely won't live through another situation like that. And I am NOT willing to wait out 2-5 days to get replacement glasses when these do get broken (not if, when, with a 4 year old and metal glasses).  Her behavior has been 10000000% better since getting her glasses, and I'm not going back to the screaming fits for ANY length of time.  So, I loaded the kids up in the car and got Cierra a new pair of glasses - the flexible kind!  These are the kind that you can wrap the ear pieces around your finger and twist the nose bridge into a spiral and they bounce right back.  Plus, we got 25% off!  Not bad for peace of mind and peace for the family!  Now we have a back up pair, and my blood pressure has returned to normal.

My Kids Are Awesome Because....

On my adoption forum a member started a thread about how her daughter was awesome and why, then invited us to tell about our kids.  I posted there, but I wanted to share with all of you why I have awesome kids.

My kids are awesome, because...

My oldest daughter is such a great person. She tries to do the right thing and is so nice to others. One of her little friends told me that when a kid gets hurt or sad at school, she walks them to the office and stays with them until they are okay. Melted my heart!

My youngest daughter is so confident and strong. She knows what she wants and will not be bullied into something she doesn't want to do. Plus, she is doing so much better with her glasses, and I can't believe how it must have been for her before she could see!

My little boy is the sweetest kid ever. Friendly, too. He is always saying hi to everyone, waving and talking about his day all the while batting his 10 foot long eyelashes at them. I'm really going to have to keep an eye on him!

These are definitely not all the reasons why my kids are awesome, there are too many to write, but maybe now you know a little bit about why I think they are pretty cool kids.

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18 Months and Counting...

It has now been over 18 months since we started the process of trying to adopt a child, and I'm getting sort of discouraged.  We started out with Domestic Infant adoption through an agency, but the fees just got too high for us (we're talking an average of $30,000 per situation).  So we switched to foster/adopt through the state last spring, and we have been licensed and waiting for a placement for 3 months now.  It is such a hard thing to pray for a placement when doing foster/adopt, because that means that children are put into a situation that warrants removal, which I would never wish on anyone.  But I also know that we are being lead to our new children this way, and I am trying really hard to have faith that we will get the child(ren) that are supposed to be ours forever in Heavenly Father's time.  If anyone feels like they could pray for us to be able to find our new child(ren), we would appreciate it.

Primary Program

Sunday, two weeks ago, was our primary program at church.  I know, I know, I'm behind, sorry!  Anyways, the kids did great!  Ashley went right up and said her what her favorite scripture story was ("the Liahona"), and Cierra and Gavin went up with their class and said their part.  You could really hear Cierra because she stood right in front of the microphone, in fact, she was the only one you could hear!  Bryan sat in the congregation, and I sat with my Valiant 9 class (which rocks btw, I'm so going to miss them in January).  Bryan said that the kids sang their little hearts out, even when they didn't know the words (in Gavin and Cierra's case).  I wish I could have seen them!  As for the pictures, we got matching dresses for the girls and a new Sunday outfit for Gavin, which happened to match really well with the girls' dresses.  They looked so cute!

Happy Birthday Bryan

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday.  I have to say, on this day I have thought of how lucky I am to have him as my eternal partner and father of my children.  He is such a great husband, father, and all around great guy.  He goes to work and works his butt off so that I can stay home with our kids, and then listens patiently to all of the shenanegans those wonderful kids pulled on me that day (but I wouldn't trade it for the world).  He is a champion human jungle gym, and keeps evolving in the ways the kids can "play on him" as they get older (read: bigger and heavier).  The latest incarnation is dragging them upside down to bed, which they absolutely love.  I really can't name all the reasons why I love him, just know that I do, with all my heart.  Happy 34th, Bryan.  I look forward to all the rest, throughout all eternity!

Happy Birthday Cameron!!!!

I have a friend (whom we affectionately call DDW) that has a special little boy named Cameron.  This little boy has gone through more in his one year of life than most people would go through in three or four lifetimes.  Cameron was born with a condition called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, and had his first open heart surgery when he was less than a day old.  He pulled through, and has been defying the odds ever since!  Now, in 5 days, he is turning one year old. Cameron, you are so strong and determined! I feel so lucky to know you and your parents.  Happy birthday little guy!  Keep it up! 

Drum Roll Please!

Cierra has glasses now!!!!  Doesn't she look cute?  We found out she has a condition called Amblyopia, which is when one of your eyes starts to not see very well, but instead of the other eye compensating, her brain decides to ignore the "bad eye" completely.  It can lead to blindness in the eye that is "shut off" if it isn't corrected, but we caught it really early.  She shouldn't have any problems, but glasses (or contacts later on) will be her constant companion from now on.  She is doing a really good job of keeping them on, but she still hasn't quite gotten the hang of not touching the lenses and dirtying them.  That's okay, though.  I'm just glad they have really cute frames for little kids!

Halloween 2008

Halloween started out with a costume parade at Ashley's school.  She was so cute as a princess riding a unicorn!

That night, all the kids got dressed up (again) and got ready for trick or treating.  Gavin is a dragon, Ashley is a princess riding a unicorn (with makeup on!) and Cierra is a skelleton with green bones (with green eyeshadow all over her face for an eerie look).

Yes, it rained all night.  So, we just broke out the umbrellas and soldiered on!

This is Ashley with her best friend, Hannah Brown.  She lives just around the corner from us and we went trick or treating with her family.

Here's the whole crew!  Ashley, Josh Brown, Cierra, Gavin, Hannah Brown, and Nolan Brown.

Cierra just LOVED her costume.  She picked it herself at the store, and wouldn't be talked out of it!

Ashley had the idea to wear the princess dress over the unicorn.  It worked out so cute!

Gavin was a cute dragon.  We bought it at the first of October, and it fit him, it really did!  By Halloween, he had grown about 2 inches, and it was a little small.  Oh well.  He was cute!

So Proud of Ashley

Ashley got a great readers award from her first grade teacher, Mrs. Marshall, for reading 60 books!  Plus, she got a good behavior award in October, too.  Ashley, we are so proud of you!!

Pumpkin Time!

We carved a pumpkin for Family Home Evening 2 weeks before Halloween.  We decided to try doing the cat carving (little did I know.....)

The kids LOVED scooping out the insides of the pumpkin.  I think they thought this was the best part.

Ashley got right in there to get the stuff out!

Here I am, hard at work carving the little cat.  It took a lot of work, but....

It turned out pretty good!

Visit from Angie, Grandma Peggy and Kiddos!

Angie, her kids, and Grandma Peggy came over to visit all of us Northern Utah people over UEA weekend last October.  It was so much fun.  The kids were counting down the days until their cousins came over.  We went on a Halloween ride down the Provo River with everyone.  It was pretty fun, and as Andrea said, we should make it a Halloween tradition!  Then we went to the zoo together the next morning before all of the Hurricanites had to go home.  Above is a picture of the kids (plus a couple big kids!).  It's Gavin, Bryan, Amberli, Ethan, Kate, Ashley, Cierra, Angie, Samantha in the Bjorn, Andrea, and Seth posing in front of the big elephant at the Zoo.

This is everyone on the big rhino at the zoo.  Amberli is sitting right on the rhino's face, and the horn is holding her on.  She walked tenderly for a few minutes afterward!

Playing with the cool water globe. You can see Cierra in the pink shirt, Ashley's head peeking out on the left, Kate in the back, then Ethan on the right, and the little guy is Seth.

Of course no day is complete without spending at least a little bit of time glued to a video game.

This was Ashley's favorite part of the whole trip.  She just couldn't get enough of little Sam!

An Historic Day...

I just wanted to try to express the feelings that I had last night as I watched our country make an historic decision. I literally started crying when it was announced that Senator Barack Obama had won the presidential election. I was so proud to be an American at that moment as we showed the world how far we have come. I was also so very proud to be a part of the decision that made Senator Barack Obama into President-Elect Barack Obama. Even more so, I was proud to share that with my children. They were with me in the voting booth as I cast my ballot in this momentous election, even if they were crawling around on the floor! Even Ashley was there. She was sick and stayed home from school, but it was just way too important to vote. So I felt horrible dragging her along as miserable as she felt, but I knew that when she was older, it would be so important for me to be able to tell her that I voted in the 2008 Presidential Election, and that she was right there with me along with Gavin and Cierra. I am so very proud to be an American, and come January, I will be proud to call Barack Obama my President!!

Happy Election Day!!!!

Did you vote? I hope you did.