A True Bedtime Story

This is the story I told Isabelle tonight at bedtime.
Preface: Tonight we told the children that Isabelle's birthmother is expecting a little boy. They were excited but Isabelle asked, "Is she going to keep him?"

Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl named Shanda. One day Shanda found out that she was going to have a baby. She wanted very much to be a mother but you see, she wasn't married. Her baby wouldn't have a Daddy. Shanda loved her baby so much, she wanted to give her everything in the world. She wanted her to have a Daddy who would love her and who would be excited to see her every day when he came home from work. She wanted her to have a big brother who would play with her and protect her. She wanted her to have a mother who could stay home and be with her instead of needing to go to work.
So she prayed to Heavenly Father to know what was the very best thing for her to do for her daughter. Honestly, there was a part of her that wanted Heavenly Father's answer to be, "Shanda, this baby is supposed to be your daughter, you are supposed to raise her and be her mother." But Heavenly Father's answer was that she was supposed to find the family that her baby was to be a part of. And so she began to search for the right family while she continued to pray that she would be strong enough to do what was best for her baby.

Then one day she found a family. There was a Dad named Scott, a Mom named Sunny and a two year old brother named Ryan who had been praying for a very long time that Heavenly Father would help them find their little girl. Because they knew that there was a little girl waiting to be in their family.
Then came the day that the beautiful baby girl was born. Shanda held her in her arms in the hospital and loved her. She touched her face (I touched her face), stroked her beautiful brown hair (I stroked her beautiful brown hair), touched her eyebrows, (etc.) and memorized every bit of this beautiful girl because she didn't know when she would see her again. (At this point, you may imagine that my eyes were teary, but picture my sweet Isabelle with a quivering chin and rubbing her eyes to keep the tears away.)

Now the story begins a new chapter, the chapter where she comes to our home, our lives, our family and our hearts. Izzy has heard variations of this complete story many, many times in her little life. She loves to hear it. But tonight she needed to be reminded of something very important and this is how the story ended tonight...

(With Izzy in my arms) She loved you so much. She still loves you so much. I am so, so, so thankful that she had enough strength and enough courage to do what Heavenly Father told her she was supposed to do. I am so thankful that she found us. Because I love you more than you'll ever know and I'm so glad that you're my girl.

Shanda, we love you (more than you'll ever know) and we are so excited that your arms will be filled very soon with your own little treasure.

Ryan's Baptism

Ryan Scott was baptized by his father August 1, 2009.
He shared his special day with one of his longest and best friends Sean.

Ryan was so excited to be in charge and to choose the program (with Sean).
I forgot to tell my sisters and sisters-in-law that we wanted the nieces and nephews to sing - but other than that everything went smoothly.
Ryan asked his cousin Riley to speak and had Grandma Allen say a prayer.
He loved that he got to do his interview with his Dad.

Afterwards I asked him about his day and wrote in his journal for him (writing is a bit of a chore for him). He said that it felt good to be baptized. (He wasn't very verbose.
I can't believe my little Ryan is eight. It's amazing! I hope that I have prepared him well enough and that I'll continue to prepare him well.
I am so blessed to be Ryan's mother. He is a delight and a treasure and I can't imagine my life without his joyful presence in our home.
Love you Ry!

The many faces of Ashley

Isn't she beautiful? Of course, she's better in real life!

Grandma Party

I have an amazing mother. She is such a fun, enthusiastic person. She is a hard worker and manages to be successful at whatever she tries her hand at. I am so thankful I'm her daughter. Why am I writing about her right now? Because we just finished up the annual Grandma Party.
She throws this fantastic party for the grandkids age 4 and up. This years party theme was The Creation, so everything about it was a creative activity.
In preparation for the party each child was to decorate a canvas bag however they wanted and memorize a scripture about creating. After showing off their bags and reciting their scriptures, they divided into groups and began the fun.
Each group decorated a colored shirt with a bleach pen (which was washed by the mom's and ready for the kids to wear later), made their own personal pizza, and created a group skit with props like a gorilla head, iridescent pink high heels (my favorites of my mom's shoes growing up - I think I may have helped pick them out), googley eyes, a witches nose, etc.
After their pizza dinner they went on their treasure hunt - solving clues, painting with pudding, playing with playdough.... Among other things they each received a small lego set which led to the next activity. With three sewing machines, two sergers, an ironing board, one grandma, and six moms, each child sewed their own pair of shorts. (This is really the spot where I acknowledge that I will never "measure" up - I have no desire to run a project like this primarily because I don't think anyone would wear shorts that I was in charge of putting together!) Anyway, the kids thought it was fantastic and they love their shorts!!!
While they weren't sewing they were building with their legoes with the assignment that the come up with their own creations.

After the shorts project they created their own ice cream sundaes and then got out pj's and sleeping bags. When all was ready for bed the kids performed their skits for each other which was highly entertaining.
After goodnight kisses the mom's all went their way and Grandma started an add on story after which it was lights out.
The next morning after a gourmet breakfast the kids had two relay races and then the fun was at an end.
Wow, I'm out of breath just recording it.
My thoughts:
I love to see my children create and they love to create, so they were in heaven!!!
My mother loves her job...being a mother...and she does it incredibly well.
Once again, I will say that I want to be like my mom when I grow up.

Fun with cousins

I love how much my children love their cousins.
We've been busy playing for the last week. Each day when my children get up the immediate question is, "What are we doing with the cousins today?"




We've been hiking to Stewart Falls and the "Y", toured the humanitarian center (where we donated two quilts we tied earlier in the week) and the Sweets candy factory. We went canoeing to Tipplefork (where Izzy was delighted to play in the mud while Ryan and Scott attempted unsuccessfully to catch a fish). We hit Park City twice, got rained out once and enjoyed the Alpine Slide and Coaster(the Coaster was hands down the favorite). We went rappelling (Scott rappelled, Ryan chickened out at the last minute and Izzy scaled the cliff with no gear and nearly caused Scott to have a heart attack). We ate lots, laughed lots and generally enjoyed each other.

24th Adventures continued

This is Ryan

24th Adventures

I'm late in posting this and there are more adventures currently, but if I don't record it now it won't get recorded. Over the 24th of July we went with my family to the Heber Valley Camp. We had such a marvelous time. The kids had a great time with their cousins (as usual). Ashley did great and although I was very worried about it, she only kept me up in the night - not the rest of the camp - good girl! We enjoyed marshmallows over the campfire, my dad's guitar playing, canoeing on the lake, avoiding the stinging nettle, and being together. The highlight for my family was the zipline. I was so proud of my kids, it was quite a challenge to get to the top to where you "zip" but they did it and were thrilled. I got to the top (where you have to cross a rickety bridge) and I thought, "This is insanity! Just keep moving, just keep moving!" Then once they hooked me on and off I went I thought it was fantastic, just like the kids!! Even my parents got in on the action! I don't know how much video space I can upload, but I'll try to show the videos.

This is Isabelle!