{sunday reminiscing}

In August 2006, we took a family trip to Southern California for a little Disney and San Diego. It was a wonderful family vacation. I met Bob in Las Vegas with the children and they did not know that after Vegas, we were heading south for some family fun. They just thought the vacation was Las Vegas. They didn't even realize we were headed in the opposite direction of home until we were in Los Angeles and we couldn't keep the surprise any longer! I was dying to tell them we were going to Disneyland! Maddie started crying she was so excited! Honestly, it was the most fun we've had together as a family.

One of the highlights was going to the beach in Coronado. William had never seen the ocean before (that he could remember) and he was so excited! He loved walking along the water with his dad and playing in the sand. We had stopped at a little market on the island and picked up some munchies like cheese and crackers, bread and drinks and little white powdered donuts. :D Maddie of course could live on the water-she is fearless and loved every second of it-I think she would be a surfin' beach girl if she lived on the coast. We stayed for a while and swam, ate dinner, played and relaxed. It was a great day! And we ended it at The Cheesecake Factory for dinner...could it be any better!

(click to enlarge photos)


p.s. I was there...

{sunday reminiscings}

William's Adoption

William was born April 9, 2003 in Provo, Utah. He came to our home on April 11, 2003. Maddie was nearly 5 years old and we were more than ready for another child. William was a little miracle in that we found out about him in February and less than two months later, he was in our home! We never met his birth parents and know very little about them-only that they made a difficult decision in choosing to give Will a better life than they could. Our social worker called us as soon as Will was born, but we weren't allowed to see him in the hospital so that the birth parents wouldn't see us. But...we just happened to be at the hospital and thought we'd take a look in the nursery...there he was...our little boy! We pretended to be looking at all the babies so that it wouldn't be obvious incase someone was there looking at Will too. I was so happy, but so sad because I wanted to hold him so badly! He was crying and there was no one comforting him. Leaving that nursery was one of the most difficult things to do. Needless to say, I didn't sleep the next two nights, wondering and thinking about him. Two days later, our doorbell rang before we were to go pick him up at the hospital, and there was our bishop, with Will! It was so exciting-special delivery! For the rest of the day, we just sat around holding him while friends and neighbors came over to meet him. It was a wonderful day!

I can't believe how Heavenly Father has blessed our lives. We have two amazing children-they are perfect for our family and to think that they would not be our children if I'd been able to biologically have children-the thought is unbearable. Not only to think they wouldn't be ours, but to think of where they would be instead is also unbearable. They have so many people who love them, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, church leaders and neighbors...Before Maddie and Will were born, I was so frustrated at not being able to get pregnant and have children...why couldn't I? It was a righteous desire...a good thing; yet, it would not happen. But I know now...our children came to us in a different way...they were always meant to be ours and they needed to be able to come to a family where they could be part of an eternal family. So many children are born without that blessing. I am so grateful for my eternal family.

William's Finalization, Sealing and Blessing

On October 22nd, William's adoption was finalized in Provo with Judge Lynn Davis. He was so great-very pro adoption. It was truly an amazing experience and I'm so happy my family and siblings were there. We went out to breakfast afterwards and were looking forward to the next day at the Temple.

On October 23rd, William was sealed to us in the Mt Timponogas Temple. Nearly all of our family was there. It was a wonderful sight in the Temple to be surrounded by family and true friends. William was blessed by Bob in our home later on that day.

The weekend was a very special one -it will never be forgotten.

{Sunday Reminiscings}

As long as I can remember, Maddie has wanted a dog...among other animals. But "dog" is right at the top of the list (okay, maybe equal with "horse"). Every year, "I want a dog" is on her Christmas List. Well, for her birthday last year, Mitchell, her very generous cousin, let her take his dog, Ringer, for what was supposed to be about a week. We ended up keeping Ringer for about 5 weeks! Maddie is amazing at taking care of animals. She never complained about doing anything that needed to be done for Ringer. I never had to remind her to feed him, walk him, or bathe him. She proved that she is more than capable of taking care of a pet.

::Her favorite thing to do was sleep with Ringer. At night Maddie would go to bed with Ringer. He would lay his head on the pillow and the sheet and blanket would be up under his chin-so cute. Before I went to bed, I would put Ringer in his kennel (not my favorite thing to do).

::She and her friends loved to play soccer with Ringer

::Ringer pooped in the house twice, in the same spot. Maddie stepped in it barefoot. We were both gagging...seriously (I'm kind of gagging right now thinking about it).

::Ringer LOVED Bob. He would lay in between Bob's legs while Bob was watching T.V. (soooo funny!) When Bob got home from work, Ringer would go nuts to see him.

::William loved Ringer. The opposite is not as true :). Although Ringer was patient with William and could occassionally be found on Will's bed.

::By the end of Ringers visit, Maddie was ready to give up responsibility of Ringer. She realized that dogs are a lot of work and maybe she would just enjoy Ringer when visiting Mitchell from now on. WHEW!

So to all moms who have children that "think" they want a dog, let them borrow someone else's for a month and make sure you do NOTHING to help them. It's almost a guarantee that their desire for a dog will start to fade (at least for a little while).

{Sunday Reminiscings}

I thought I would start something that I do each Sunday...{Sunday Reminiscing}. Since I'm so behind on my scrapbooking, and don't see myself ever catching up, I'm going to try and chronicle some of our family memories each week. Here goes the first one:

NEW YORK 2006

It's hard to believe it's almost been a year since Bob and I went to NYC with Kevin and Kellie. Last year, Bob turned 40 and I surprised him with a trip to New York. My mom was working for Jet Blue at the time and she gave us some Buddy Passes to use for the flight out there. It was so great. We took the midnight flight to JFK and arrived about 6 in the morning. That was the worst part of the trip...we were so tired. We stayed at a Marriot in New Jersey, but the PATH station was right outside the front doors of the hotel. We spent the first few hours on Thursday morning sleeping in our hotel room! We wanted to go into the city so bad, but we were just too tired. We finally dragged ourselves out of bed and then dragged ourselves around the city. We went into a Banana Republic and Kevin sat down in a chair and fell asleep! I took a photo! We caught up on our sleep that night and the by the time we had to come home we were tired again. We had a great time together. I wish we could make it a yearly tradition...but I know how those things go...they don't!

Some highlights:

We saw "Wicked" the night we arrived. I loved it. The music was fantastic. I could watch it over and over again. "Mary Poppins" was the second show we saw. We bought our tickets from a guy selling them on the street...the one thing we were told not to do. But it turned out just fine-although I was the one who was going to take the heat for it if was a bust :O! Our seats were not that great but we still enjoyed the show. We all agreed that the kids would have loved it.

We rode the ferry over to Ellis Island and to the Statue of Liberty. Both Bob and I had been on the ferry to see the statue but just as a "float by". Getting off and visiting the museum at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty was so worth it. We walked up as far as we could in the statue. Since 9/11, you can no longer walk to the top of the Lady Liberty. It was a little chilly and it rained quite a bit at the statue...but we didn't mind.

SOHO...we spent a lot of time there...shopping and eating! Even Kevin shopped. And of course Bob shopped...for shoes! Kellie had some Friends and Family discount cards to Banana Republic that were good while we were in NYC. Kevin and Kellie purchased some things for themselves. Bob spent most of his shopping time in shoe stores...go figure. It is so funny to see the different way the two of them shop. Kevin just sees it and does it all at once. Bob goes into the store and looks at the shoes 4-5 times (on different occasions) before he buys them!

Kellie and I bought some fun things for the kids at the Scholastic Store and some fun shoes at the Skechers Store. The Skechers Store on Times Square was so great. They have a DJ stand at the back of the store where the employees, (one in particular), DJ the super loud music. This "sister" was so dang funny. She was singing and dancing and offering discounts if you purchased in the next 20 minutes...which we did!

We also found this really great store-UNIQLO. They had some cute kids clothes for great prices. Kellie and I got some great shirts and jeans for the boys. And I actually got something for myselft too. That was the first time Kellie used her bargaining skills. We had both been rung up and paid but then a lady at a register next to us was getting quite a discount. Kellie asked about it and the employee then returned everything Kellie bought, rung it up again and gave her the discount. Kellie then made her do it for me. Not happy employees...too bad!

All of our traveling in and out of the city was through this PATH station. It is the site of the former World Trade Center. The station is huge and a major connecting point. Since our hotel was actually in New Jersey, we always took the train into the city and then connected onto the Subway from there. Thank goodness we had Bob as our guide. He is amazing with the maps. Of course, he is not spontaneous at all and is not happy if we accidentally get on the wrong train. I say, go with the flow!

We had some yummy eats. If you don't know where to eat in Manhattan it can be a little overwhelming. I mean, where do you go? I think you absolutely need to find out where to eat ahead of time from people who are in the know. My mom and I and Maddie had been to Balthazar in SOHO before, so we knew we couldn't go wrong. Balthazar is a little French bistro with delicious food. And the atmosphere is so European-loved it!

We also grabbed a sandwich at Dean and Deluca, one of my favorite places. Kevin got some of the most delicious cheese I have ever tasted-it had ash in it-I wish I could remember the name.

And of course, we had to have New York pizza. However, I must say, it was not as good as I thought it was going to be. We still haven't found the best New York pizza there is to offer...I'm sure of it.

On our last night there, we were in SOHO (of course) and we wanted some really good food. Not knowing where to go, we walked up and down the streets and we. were. starving. We decided to go in this little Italian place...bad idea! We sat down and I think, Bob or Kellie went to the restroom...YUCK! Yes, it was Kellie and she said the bathrooms were dirty. We all decided to walk out! I've never done that before but boy was I glad we did! We found the absolute yummiest Italian food I've ever eaten. Apparantly it is a favorite of the locals. We all really enjoyed our food and would have gone back if we'd had another night. YUMMO!

Since our trip, I've watched the Food Network and seen a few different shows on NYC. There are a few places I would like to try.

One of the great things about the trip was the weather...it was the end of November and the beginning of December. Instead of Winter weather we had Spring temperatures. In fact, there were a few times, it was too hot because of the clothes we were wearing. We never really needed our coats, except for the day we went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. If we took our coats with us, we were sorry we had them because we just had to carry them around with us-I'm not complaining. :)

We had such a great time...I hope we can do it again sometime!

p.s. thanks Mom and Dad for watching the kids-we couldn't have gone without your help.