Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
What IF? Portrait of Infertility
This is incredibly powerful. I hope you'll watch it through.
What IF? A Portrait of Infertility from Keiko Zoll on Vimeo.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Matching Monday 4/26/2010
from the r house:
are these your children?
many of you are looking for your children. these children are looking for their families ...it seems pretty obvious to me.
"Running for those Who Wait"
May 29, 2010
7:15AM - 10:15AM
Murray City Park, Murray, Utah
Family Walk/Run 5k
Click Here for more information 
UtahIssac age 12.
When it comes to wardrobes, G.I. Joe and Isaac have many similarities. This fun preteen loves camouflage clothing; he has quite the variety of outfits and toys that have an army/camouflage theme. Isaac, like many boys his age, enjoys a good computer or video game during down time. He also really likes different outdoor activities, especially camping or fishing. This intelligent guy is able to create goals and works hard to achieve them. He has a great sense of humor and is sensitive to other\'s feelings.
A seventh grader this year, Isaac is showing good progress and is excited about his academic achievements. He is attending counseling, which will need to continue after placement.
It is very important to Isaac that his forever family allow and be supportive of contact between him and his biological mother. If your family can provide this terrific kid with the love and stability he needs, we urge you to inquire. Financial assistance may be available for adoption-related services.
This is a LEGAL RISK ADOPTIVE PLACEMENT. In a legal risk adoptive placement, it is expected that the family will eventually adopt the child, even though the birth parents’ rights have not been fully terminated at the time of placement.
For Utah children, only homestudied families from all states are encouraged to inquire.
Oregon
Lowla Rain & Sir-Justin ages 7 & 6.
Lowla Rain and Sir-Justin are siblings who have always lived with one another. Their social worker wants to place them with adoptive parent(s) who can help the children meet their individual challenges while giving them the opportunity to grow up together. Their worker believes that the children’s potential has hardly been tapped, so it will be important for interested prospective parents to have strong advocacy skills to help the children realize their full capabilities.
Lowla and Justin need strong advocates, who will continue to work with educators, counselors and other providers to meet all of their needs. Adoptive parents who have a solid support system of family, friends and community resources will do best for Lowla and Justin. These children need a committed adoptive family who will provide not only a safe and secure home, but a nurturing, patient and permenent family, who will love them for who they are now and help them to become all they can be. These beautiful children deserve nothing less.
AlabamaJames age 4.
James, born August 2005, is a very inquisitive and talkative little boy. His greatest strength is his abillity to light up a room with his fantastic smile and his energetic and affectionate nature will quickly win your heart! He enjoys playing with his foster siblings, running, and coloring. With a curious and adventurous nature, James is not afraid to try new things. Enrolled in special education classes for students with moderate mental delays, his physical, emotional and behavioral needs are also addressed.
James is eager to please and always happy to lend a helping hand, James will do best in a family which can match his energy level, and offer him the encouragement he needs to achieve his dreams. James is a special child who needs a caring, attentive and resourceful family, one who will remain committed to him while ensuring that all of his needs are being met. The ideal family will have experience in parenting children with significant medical and developmental needs. He needs a forever family with lots of energy and lots of unconditional love who can make a “forever” commitment in a structured environment.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Spotlight Saturday - Robby & Angee
Please take a moment to get to know Robby & Angee, a happy couple in our home state of Arizona hoping to adopt.
You can find out more about them and contact them by visiting their adoption blog:
Update: Congratulations to Robby & Angee! They adopted a girl in May!
Happily Ever After
Once Upon a Time, there was a King and Queen. They longed for a child, but for years their dream did not come true. Finally, they decided to search for an Angel. They knew this Angel would bring their miracle to them and bless them with a child. So the King and Queen prayed for their Angel. They told their friends to help search for their Angel. The King and Queen know she is out there and cannot wait to meet her. They are so excited to welcome their Angel into their home and their lives to complete their Happily Ever After.
About Us
We met in our Single's ward while we were both going to college. After a few misunderstandings, Robby completely ignoring Angee, and Angee dating Robby's roommate and that not working out, Robby finally asked Angee on a date. We went to a wedding... 2 hours away. We talked the entire ride there and back and quickly knew that we wanted to spend all our time together. 2 days later, Angee drove 3 hours to meet Robby's family. The next day, Robby drove the 3 hours back and met Angee's family. 2 months (exactly) from our first date, Robby proposed to Angee. She said yes and on our 6 month anniversary, we were married in the Mesa Arizona Temple.
We love to watch movies together. Our first date, after the wedding, we watched 6 together. We love all kinds of movies though Angee tends to enjoy Disney movies and chick flicks more, while Robby enjoys action and drama (he calls them "thinking" movies). We also love to read together. Angee will read out loud to Robby while we are driving. She even convinced him to like listening to Twilight. Robby loves reading so much and could probably spend 95 percent of his time in a library. He is constantly learning new things and has taught himself how to do so many different things just from reading. He hopes to one day write his own book. Angee is more of a fantasy reader. She loves Anne of Green Gables and Harry Potter and has read them over and over again.
We love to go to Disneyland. We go several times a year and just love the magic that Disneyland has. We try to do something new every time we go but we do have our favorite things to do. Robby loves to go and draw while Angee loves to watch the parades and fireworks.
We both have a love of music. Robby plays the guitar and Angee plays the Tuba and sings. We hope our children will have a love of music, whether or not they play an instrument or sing, or just love listening to music, that will be fine with us. We also were in sports and want to allow them to choose a sport that they love and will work hard at, and be successful in.
Our Thoughts on Adoption
We have been dreaming about our future children for a while, and though some dreams have changed, such as having 9 months of a baby growing inside and having time to prepare, a lot of them have stayed the same. We want to instill a love of learning. We already have a small library of children's books and are building upon that slowly. We want to read to our children and spend time with them. Angee will be a stay-at-home mom and though Robby will work outside the house for now, he is working on building a business so that he can work from home and spend as much time as possible with our family.
When we learned that we would be adopting to complete our family, we began researching adoption. During that research, we learned about birth parents and open adoption. We have such a great love and respect for birth parents. We want our children to know that they have birth parents who love them and want our children to know their birth parents through out their lives. We are very comfortable with an open adoption and hope to build a lasting relationship with birth parents, because there can never be enough people in a child's life that love them and care for them.
Love,
Robby & Angee
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
March 2010 family recap
Although the first item of business actually occurred at the end of February, it didn't really sink in until March. We bought a 2004 Toyota Sienna minivan! This is life changing people. In August, we will celebrate our 9th anniversary. We've never had two cars before. Heck, there have been times in our marriage where we have been completely carless. I can't even tell you how spoiled I feel. There have been many weeks where I haven't been out in the daylight with the exception of going to church on Sundays. As Aunt Claudia (aka Nana) described it, we didn't purchase a car, we put a down payment on freedom.
We ended up taking 200 miles and 35 hours worth of road trips the next three weekends. It was both fun and exhausting. The end result is that we're ruined now. I don't think we could take a road trip with our kiddos in our Accord again. The minivan is so much more comfortable, spacious, and convenient for traveling.
The sunroof is great in Arizona.
Navigation and lots of buttons that Carter loves to explore.
And the DVD player was the luxury/necessity that kept Carter sane when Ruby was fussy.
Ruby hit her seven month mark in March. She accomplished quite a lot and we have been floundering to keep up with her. Just off the top of my head, she started clapping, crawling, pulling up, standing (she constantly has a bruised forehead from all the spills she's taken, about half of them thanks to Carter), talking (mama, baa for bath, and dadada for dad), and signing (she just signs bath anytime she thinks there's hope, like when we change her clothes or diaper -- baths are her favorite activity). She moved into size 4 diapers, 12 month clothes, and 18 month pajamas. She endured yet another fight with an ear infection (I think this is her 4th since December) and a cold, and her top four teeth moved in, leaving us awake many nights. What a doll baby though. She has never had to work hard to keep us wrapped around her chubby little fingers!St. Patrick's Day brought us to the table for a festive breakfast. Inspired by my creative friend Andrea, I decided to serve green pancakes with buttermilk syrup, green eggs and ham. We also used green dishes. Carter thought it was fun, so mission accomplished, right?
Carter got an overdue haircut.
These were the before pictures, but I totally spaced out taking an after pic...still, I love his faces in these. 
They are so HIM.Just a couple of our favorite quotes by Carter this month:
*While pushing his forearm up into a faux muscular bulge, he exclaimed, "It's a tree mountain! It grows up two times! See Mom?" And then he did it again, this time with sound effect to indicate growing, "Wooooopt!"
* While eating oatmeal for breakfast, Carter noticed Ruby crawl into the kitchen and look up at him. He explained, "Rube smelled my oatmeal and it smelled tasty. And she looked around and around and around and she said, 'Hooray! Where my oatmeal?!'"
We rented a beautiful house in Moab, UT over the weekend of March 19th for the 2010 Canyonlands 1/2 marathon and 5-mile race. Shane ran the 1/2 marathon and I the 5-mile. Shane did pretty darn well for not running for the three weeks prior to the race (since he ran Ragnar). I finished. And not in last place! So, I have to admit I was pretty proud of myself.
It might not seem like much, but 5 miles for me was scary. My heart kept having freaky palpitations and I could barely walk for days following the race. I even ended up at Urgent Care thinking I might have a fracture in my foot, but the doctor said it's a bad strain/sprain and could take up to 8 months to heal. But I finished!As an added bonus, we had visitors in Moab. Shane's parents and youngest siblings, Joseph and Sarah, stayed with us the first night and took care of Carter and Ruby during the race. My two oldest nieces, Eliza and Lizzie, joined us the afternoon following the race. They stayed with us that night and we had a blast! Thank you all for making the drive. It made the trip so much more fun!
We also were happy to get to see/meet adoption friends at the race!
Here I am with the famous (in the adoption world) Mrs. R! I hate this picture of myself, but had to include it for the love of adoption!We went out to lunch afterward together and I just wish we would have had more time to spend with those fab girls. Thanks to Lindsey (aka Mrs. R), we planned ahead to do the race together. You can see her post about the race here. Adoption rocks!!!
Shane had the chance to meet up with a friend from high school (at the zoo with the kids) while I was at an adoption workshop on the 27th. Here are a few pictures from that day.
I was working feverishly preparing items for the Boutique in the Barn.
I had a lot of fun being part of a Spring swap.
Carter talked us into showing him how to use the camera (under our close supervision - it's heavy) and ended up with some surprisingly nice shots, all things considered.
This one was with a timer, but Carter composed it.After seeing his excitement with photography, Shane gave him his old camera phone and put it in airplane mode. He gets so excited and comes running in to tell us when he takes pictures of Ruby, or the ceiling fan, or his subject of choice - his finger half covering the lens. Love that boy!
Last, but certainly not least, we were saddened to learn of the loss of Shane's Uncle Kevin. It was a blessing to be able to make the trip to gather with everyone in celebrating his life. What a beautiful, faithful family he has here to take care of one another in his absence. In closing, I just want to say that our thoughts and prayers continue to be with Kevin's wonderful family. We're so grateful for the knowledge of the gospel in our lives!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Spotlight Saturday - Jacob & Lisa
Please take a moment to get to know Jacob and Lisa, a fun-loving couple in Florida hoping to adopt.
You can find out more about them and contact them by visiting their online adoption profile:
Hello,
Thank you for choosing to learn more about us. We’ve always liked the John Lennon lyric, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” Life’s pathways have led us to where we are now; and it is love that has placed us on our own adoption journey. We hope that by learning more about us, you will feel confident in our desire and ability to care for, love, protect, and raise a child through their own journey in life.
Introductions
Our names are Jacob and Lisa. We are both originally from the Pacific Northwest and moved to sunny Florida over 2 years ago. We like to joke that we literally had to chase each other around the world before we found one another and fell in love—we grew up only a few hours from one another; we attended the same university, overlapping by one semester; we lived in the same small village in northern France (Lisa as an exchange student and Jacob as a missionary); and we have traveled all over the world. But, it wasn’t until we were introduced by a mutual friend four days after Lisa moved to Seattle that our paths finally crossed. The rest, as they say, is history. Since that meeting we have become the best of friends and enjoy spending as much time as possible with one another and our two dogs—Boo and Luna.
Lisa is a naturally nurturing and caring person, and she is blessed with job opportunities that allow her to use her skills and personality to help others. She has worked with people from many different backgrounds and cultures and quickly finds herself at home in most situations. Lisa currently works from home as a curriculum developer, creating trainings for health workers in developing countries. This plays to her desires to do good in the world, sample new adventures by sometimes traveling to other countries, and still stay where she is happiest--spending leisurely time with her husband and her dogs. Lisa grew up the oldest of three children in Oregon and at one point lived on a Christmas tree farm.
If you need to know a random fact, Jacob is your man. His natural curiosity and love of learning, mixed with a vast bank of sports and music facts make him a prime partner for any trivia game. Combine that with a healthy dose of humor, thoughtfulness, and a knack for gourmet cooking and few people can resist wanting to spend time with him. Jacob is the oldest in his family, growing up in Washington with four younger sisters. He is an avid photographer and is currently training for his first triathlon.
Both our families still live in Oregon and Washington. Luckily we are able to visit each other regularly.
Enjoying Life
We are both explorers at heart and enjoy traveling near and far—be it a safari in Africa or finding the best fish tacos on the Florida coast. While they were never extravagant or expensive, both our families valued taking family vacations and discovering what this world has to offer. We’ve continued this tradition in our family—making time to travel together and explore new places. We both grew up active in sports (both playing soccer) and continue to love attending sporting events like baseball and basketball games when we can. We also love winter sports and attempt to ski/snowboard whenever possible, although this has proven to be a bit tricky now that we live in Florida.
Learning about people and cultures is important to us, and we try to appreciate the beauty in the world around us. We often will spend time visiting museums and participating in cultural experiences. We also enjoy simple things—like trying new restaurants, listening to music and going to movies. Most importantly we love being together and creating our own new family traditions like making tamales and key lime pie every Christmas. We enjoy life and hope to share these things with our children.
What we value and hope to teach our children
Both of us grew up in families that allowed and encouraged us to explore and develop our talents. There was no shortage of love and encouragement to dream big and achieve our goals.
We hope to give our children every opportunity to explore and learn about the world, both near and far. We want them to find what they love in life and be able to develop their unique talents and gifts. We’ve both been blessed with advanced educations and will encourage our children to take those same opportunities as they relate to their own goals and desires. Most importantly we hope to raise our children to be confident, happy and optimistic through their life’s journeys, to have a testimony of the Savior, and to know their value as a child of our Heavenly Father.
Conclusion
Adoption is about love and we are excited to grow our family in this way. Thank you for your time and consideration. We invite you to contact us if you would like to learn more about us.
With love,
Jacob and Lisa
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Spotlight Saturday - Nicholas & Rachel
Please take a moment to get to know Nicholas & Rachel, a great couple in Colorado hoping to adopt.
You can find out more about them and contact them by visiting their adoption blog:
http://rachelandnicholas.blogspot.com/
Update: Congratulations to Nicholas & Rachel!
They adopted a baby girl in February.
"Life has no limit if you're not afraid to get in it"
In the Beginning...
We met as college students living in the same apartment complex in the fall of 2004 at Brigham Young University. We slowly got to know each other and, after 8 months, started dating right at the end of the school year. During the next summer Rachel went home to Oregon and Nicholas headed off to Ohio for an internship. We were both surprised by how often we called and e-mailed each other after only a couple weeks of dating. When we got back to college in the fall we continued to date and in November of 2005 we were engaged. We were married 5 months later in April 2006 in the Portland Oregon temple.
Since then we have finished our bachelor’s degrees from BYU and then moved to Colorado where we both began our graduate degrees. It has been an exciting 5 years together as a couple and we look forward to all the unexpected events of the future!
Nicholas’ Thoughts on Rachel
Rachel is an amazing woman. She is beautiful, talented, courageous, and a lot of fun to be around. When something is important to her she goes after it full-throttle. For a long time now she has wanted to be a mother and be able to focus her life on that most-important task, but in the meantime she has worked hard to prepare herself by building her testimony of God’s love, going back to school for her Master’s degree, and working with children in church and professionally.
Rachel’s Thoughts on Nicholas
My first year of college was a defining time of my life. It really caused me to live on faith, since I had no money to live on! One of my roommates sat me down at the end of the year and told me straight out that I could be happy despite all the problems my family and I were having. Shortly after that I began dating Nicholas, and I have never been happier! The Lord gives us trials, then blesses us for seeing them through and trusting in Him. Nicholas is a blessing for which I thank God daily. He is a brilliant and humble man who takes his role as provider for his family seriously, yet in a fun and patient manner. He has a solid testimony and everyday with him is a joy.
Not to brag too much, but he also earned the cutest smile award in his preschool!
Our Thoughts on Adoption
We did not want to begin the adoption process without knowing this was the right choice for our family. After much prayer, fasting, and discussion, we knew this is what we should be doing for our family.
We know that a baby can never have too much love, and therefore we feel very comfortable with an open adoption. Rachel loves taking pictures which we would be happy to share along with letters and other updates. We would be comfortable with receiving updates from you too. We are willing to explore a level of openness that is comfortable for everyone.
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Waiting...
"The children of Israel waited 40 years before they could enter the promised land.
Jacob waited seven long years for Rachel.
The Jews waited 70 years in Babylon before they could return to rebuild their temple.
The Nephites waited for the sign of Christ's birth, even knowing that if the sign did not come they would perish.
Joseph Smith's trial in Liberty Jail caused even the prophet of God to wonder, 'How long?'
In each case, Heavenly Father had a purpose in requiring that His children wait.
Every one of us is called to wait in our own way.
We wait for answers to prayer.
We wait for things which, at the time, may appear so right, and so good to us, that we can't possibly imagine why Heavenly Father would delay the answer."
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf,
180th Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,
April 2010 (Priesthood Session)
President Uchtdorf shared these words as part of an excellent address on waiting and patience.
As he spoke, I couldn't help but reflect on the feelings I had while waiting 22 long months for Ruby to come to our family. It was SO hard to wait for her. Looking back now, it seems like such a short time. Her arrival was such a well orchestrated symphony of miracles, that it could only have been planned out by a loving, all-powerful Father.
I also thought back to the time eight years ago, in a Cardiologists office, when we first decided that adoption would be the path to our forever family - and the next five years of delays related to Megan's open heart surgery and recovery - as we yearned with all our hearts to become parents. We waited as patiently as we could, with empty arms and hearts full of love to give, until Carter's birth family came into our lives and brought him to our family.
If only our foresight were as keen as our hindsight.
We know many of our friends are in a seemingly endless wait right now. Many are hoping to adopt, others are struggling with the frustration of infertility and/or miscarriage while hoping for a pregnancy. Some are waiting to find their eternal companion, or waiting for a lengthy trial of another kind to pass.
"Every one of us is called to wait in our own way."
Set aside 20 minutes of your day soon to listen to this whole talk.
You'll be glad you did.
(Or right click the link and select "Save Link As" to download it and put it on your iPod.)
180th Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,
April 2010 (Priesthood Session)
President Uchtdorf shared these words as part of an excellent address on waiting and patience.
As he spoke, I couldn't help but reflect on the feelings I had while waiting 22 long months for Ruby to come to our family. It was SO hard to wait for her. Looking back now, it seems like such a short time. Her arrival was such a well orchestrated symphony of miracles, that it could only have been planned out by a loving, all-powerful Father.
I also thought back to the time eight years ago, in a Cardiologists office, when we first decided that adoption would be the path to our forever family - and the next five years of delays related to Megan's open heart surgery and recovery - as we yearned with all our hearts to become parents. We waited as patiently as we could, with empty arms and hearts full of love to give, until Carter's birth family came into our lives and brought him to our family.
If only our foresight were as keen as our hindsight.
We know many of our friends are in a seemingly endless wait right now. Many are hoping to adopt, others are struggling with the frustration of infertility and/or miscarriage while hoping for a pregnancy. Some are waiting to find their eternal companion, or waiting for a lengthy trial of another kind to pass.
"Every one of us is called to wait in our own way."
Set aside 20 minutes of your day soon to listen to this whole talk.
You'll be glad you did.
(Or right click the link and select "Save Link As" to download it and put it on your iPod.)
Saturday, April 03, 2010
Spotlight Saturday - Ray & Lois
Please take a moment to get to know Ray & Lois and their two boys, who hope to be big brothers soon.
You can find out more about them and contact them by visiting their adoption blog:
http://www.makingourfamilycomplete.com/
We are a family of four hoping to be a family of five in the future. We want to add a little princess to our family to compliment our two princes.
Hello and thank you for taking the time to learn more about our family, and our life. We have so much to offer a child: a family filled with stability, love, potential, and two boys excitedly waiting to be big brothers.
We are Ray and Lois. Our family consists of a father, a mother, two loving sons, and an energetic dog. Being parents has brought us days filled with joy and laughter. We desire to have another child to cherish; love and nurture, and we look forward to expanding our family.
Laughter is a huge part of our life. There is nothing as infectious as the laughter of a child, and both our boys sure know how to laugh. Believe us when we tell you that our two little men can make pretty much anything or any situation humorous. Just hearing their laughter cannot help but bring a smile to our faces.
After the birth of our second son, we felt our family was just not quite complete, and that we were still missing a member. We would love to add another child to make our family complete, which is why we have begun our adoption journey. We are praying that God will bring the right addition to our loving family, as well as help you in making one of the most important decisions in your life.
Best wishes,
~ Lois and Ray
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