A Lumberjack and a Bee...Oh, and Others too.

Exciting News!!

We're adopting a baby boy! We are so excited and feel so much gratitude at this time for this blessing in our lives. We feel grateful to Heavenly Father who has answered our many prayers and for the wonderful birthmom who trusts us enough to give us this gift of love. Words really can't express it.

We get to meet this little guy in February when he is born. This is a picture of him as we got to see him at the ultra sound yesterday. Everything looked perfect. I know I'm biased, but I think he's so stinkin cute - even en utero. And Ethan wishes he were in color. :) He is so excited about his little brother. He's been telling everyone and he's been helping us think of names. The first night after we told him, he couldn't sleep and he hopped in bed with us and said, "I can't sleep. I'm thinking of the baby. Lets talk about some more names." The next day when we were heading home after school he goes, "Mom, lets go get a baby book." I said, "Oh, you mean a baby name book?" "Yeah, I just want to start preparing for the baby." So cute.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers on our behalf and for being some of our biggest advocates in this process.

The Goings On

Holy Cow, I'm already writing my third post in October and its only the 11th. I'm surprising even myself. So this is one of those boring update posts. I feel the need to do these sometimes mainly for when I'm wondering what happened, and when, I can remind myself.

Conference Weekend: I had a great whirlwind weekend. That Friday morning I drove down to SLC with my brothers Dave, Spencer, my niece Cassi and nephew Sam. That night we met up with my mom and sister at my mom's family reunion. This was a reunion with my moms aunts and uncles and cousins. I even got to see some of my own aunts and uncles and cousins there. It was really neat to be in the chapel filled with so many of my relations who I didn't know at all but somehow we were all connected. My great grandfather and his two wives (he was a polygamist) currently have 2200 descendants. Amazing.

The next morning my mom, sis and I went to the Saturday morning session of conference. We were in the nosebleed seats but it was still great to be there. I got to hear 3 of my favorite speakers in person. I know, I shouldn't have favorites, but I do. Afterwards we met up for some lunch at Pei Wei (love that place) with the rest of the clan, went back and watched the 2nd session and then headed home with my mom, sis and niece. I was gone a total of 36 hours. I hope none of my Utah friends whom I love are offended that I didn't see them. It was just one of those really quick trips. And of course I have no pics to show for it, since my camera is broken. :)

Enough about me and my trip. Ethan. What's he up to these days you might ask? He's really enjoying 2nd grade. He's got a great teacher and his best buddies are in his class. He was just telling us about a few girls he's got a crush on. He seems too young to have crushes. I don't think my first crush came til 5th grade. Anyway, Ethan's been playing soccer. He also started piano lessons a few weeks ago. I've been really impressed with his progress and he's still enjoying it at this point. Ethan's in charge of cooking one meal a week. I started having him do this about a month ago. He's actually enjoying it - I've been surprised. I'm of course right there next to him helping him. Its really boosted his self confidence and he likes picking out the meal.

Chadwick. He's doing his usual stuff. Working. Being a wonderful hubby and dad, and of course working in some tennis whenever he can. He just got a new tennis racket just in time to play my brother Ben (who's obsessed with tennis) and who happens to be coming into town in a few days.

The Santa Dilemma

Within in the last month or so Ethan and I have had a couple conversations about the validity of Santa. He's at the age where he's finally starting to question it. In a way I'm kind of looking forward to when he finds out because then I don't have to skirt around all his Santa questions anymore. On the other hand I'll be kind of sad for him when he finds out he's not real cause that's when Christmas becomes less magical for a kid.

One of our first conversations went a little like this. Honestly, these conversations are always a little uncomfortable for me.

Ethan: "Is Santa real?"
Me: Pause (I'm thinking, this could be it. Here's my opportunity to out Santa)..."That's something you'll have to figure out on your own."
Ethan: "I think you might be Santa...I can't believe I just said that! I've thought it before but I 've never actually said it."
Me: Chuckle..."You're going to have to figure it out on your own whether he's real or not."
Ethan: "I know how I can find out."
Me: "How?"
Ethan: "I can look at your bank account before Christmas and then I can look at it after to see if there's any money gone...OR I can look at the handwriting on the presents."
Me: Chuckle...
Ethan: "I think it is you. You're kinda laughing a lot."

In our second conversation he asked how Santa gets all the presents to everybody. I answered, "Its magic."
Ethan replied, "But there isn't magic in this world. So he must not be real."

Should I have told him? I couldn't. I can't be the one who squashes all his Santa fantasies.

Its been 90 degrees here, but that hasn't stopped me from making soup for the last few weeks. In my mind September = fall = soup. Despite the hot weather. I love summer and warmth but that is one thing I missed for those few hot months - soup. It got warm and all of a sudden I was out of meal ideas. The one that I'm addicted to right now is Tomato Basil. Mmmm. I've literally been making it once a week for the last few weeks. Chad, in his kind way has informed me he's kinda tomato basil souped out. Looks like I'll have to take a break from making it for a while. At least a couple weeks. :)

Since I love this soup so much I thought I'd share the recipe. I wouldn't dare eat it without homemade croutons so I'll include that recipe too.

Tomato Basil Soup

16 Large Roma Tomatoes, peeled, and seeded

12 Cups Tomato Juice

50 Leaves Fresh Basil

3 Cups Half and Half

1 Cup Butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

Blanch tomatoes in very hot water until skin splits. Peel tomatoes and seed. Place tomatoes and juice in stock pot over medium heat. Simmer for 30 min. Puree the tomato mixture along with the basil leaves, and return the puree to stock pot. Place the pot over medium heat, stir in half & half and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Heat, stirring until butter is melted. Do not boil.

Serve with croutons, mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil if desired. Serves 12

Editor's note: We have a family of 3 so I half the recipe and we always have a lot of leftovers. I use half milk and half cream instead of half & half. I used half & half once and it gave it a weird texture. Once I peel and seed the tomatoes I puree them in the blender with the basil and then add the mixture to the pot with the Tomato Juice and then simmer for 30 minutes.

Croutons

Cut cubes of bread (I use french bread)

Melt about 1/4 Cup Olive Oil and 1/4 Cup butter

Add it to the bread in a larg bowl and mix.

Heat oven 375 degrees

Place croutons on cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes, turn bread and cook for another 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Season with any seasonings you'd like. I usually use garlic salt and paprika.

ENJOY!

Lost & Found

Chad and I were babysitting my nieces and nephews tonight and we were all out front when their parents showed up. Courtney, who went inside to say hi to our dog Tito came back saying that she had looked everywhere inside and in the backyard and she couldn't find Tito. I went and rang the doorbell, since that's always a sure way to get Tito out of his hiding place, and sure enough, no barking. No Tito. There we all went, on a big hunt in the neighborhood for Tito - 2 carloads, 2 walking, and one on a bike. A neighborhood kid even hopped on his bike to help us find him - so nice. We looked for 45 minutes, it was dark and by that time I was getting nervous we wouldn't find him. I was having visions of having to call my friend who gave us Tito and let her know we lost him.

Anyway, I wanted to check back at the house in case someone found him. We get there, say a prayer in the car and hop out of Courtney's car. I wanted to ride around on my bike to see if we could find him that way. Ethan and I go in the garage, turn on the light, I happen to glance in our car and there's Tito! He was in the car the whole time! It was a relief that he was there but boy, did I feel dumb. I had completely forgotten that I had put him in the car. Earlier that evening I had opened the door to get something and he hopped in and I closed the door and completely forgot about him. Anyway, we're sure glad he's home safe, even though he wasn't technichally ever lost. He was probably starting to wonder when he'd get the heck out of that car. Poor little guy. We're so happy he's back. Thanks to my sis Courtney and bro Spencer for continuing to look for Tito even when I told you to go home. You are Tito's true friends.

In the way of other stuff going on...We're back to school. Ethan's my big 2nd grader and I'm back to working on the playground. The first two days were problem free since the kids were still getting in the swing of things but come the third day, yep, the same old playground issues came up. Oh well. The good news is my friend Jamie is back. She had to stop working and fight cancer, which she did successfully. She's one of my favorite people. We're food friends. We both LOVE food. Whenever there's a treat in the teacher's lounge I can count on her to grab some for the both of us and then we'll chow down on our break. She's always lookin out for me. She's awesome. I'm glad she's back. The playground just wasn't the same without her.

grateful

One thing is for sure, I'll be grateful when I get a new computer. I don't blog much lately cause my computer is as slooooow as molasses.

Last weekend Chad, Ethan and I took an unexpected trip back to Chad's hometown in Cali. Chad's childhood friend Jason had passed away. Its when I go to someone's funeral, especially someone so young, it always helps me reflect on what's important in my life. Its in these moments that I'm so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jason died from brain cancer and had been suffering with it for over 10 years. I didn't realize that he was diagnosed with it only two years after he had gotten married. Crazy. He left behind a wife and 3 young children. Admittedly, when I found out he had passed I immediately felt happy for him. I don't mean to take his death lightly, because I know his family and close friends miss him dearly. He had suffered so much, especially near the end of his life, that I feel relief for him. I feel grateful for my belief in a loving God, who has a plan and a purpose for each of us. I'm grateful that Jason is in a safe and happy place now, free from pain.

I also feel grateful for the scriptures in my life. What I love about them is I can read them over and over and get something different out of them every time. One that I've discovered recently is this one in Doctrine and Covenants, "...for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God (Doctrine and Covenants 101:16)." That scripture gives me relief from my worries and anxieties and gives me permission to relinquish this perceived control that I think I have over my life. It reminds me to just trust Him for all flesh is in His hands. Be still, have patience and let Him be God. He knows the past, the present, and the future. He's all powerful and all loving. And He knows exactly what He's doing, even when it comes to my life.

And those are just a couple of things I'm grateful for. The list goes on and on...