Journal

Merry Christmas

2014-12-18T18:43:00.002-08:00

One of my favorite things about Christmas....is watching her eyes light up.

Running like a Turkey

2014-11-27T18:51:00.000-08:00

For the fourth year now we have been running the Norpoint Turkey Trot. We welcomed a new runner to our group this year. It was the warmest one we've run yet and we had the most amazing view of the Port of Tacoma. Samantha rode in style this year but next year she will participate in the kid's race since she will be 5. We all ran different paces but met up at the finish line.

And the food tasted so yummy after a morning jog.

The Catch of the Day

2014-08-13T09:08:00.001-07:00

The journey of a three thousand miles started our family vacation this summer through 5 states: Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Oregon.

5 days of our vacation we spent in Island Park, Idaho where Gigi and Great Grandad have a cabin. We enjoyed fishing, boating, hiking, games, reading books, and exploring. Our main goal this trip was to take Samantha fishing. We'd heard early reports that the fishing wasn't great because the river was so low.

But Mom and Samantha headed out early monday morning and let Doug sleep in. We cast off several times but got no bites. After a few more minutes Samantha had a tugging on her line. Sure enough she caught the first fish of the day. She was excited and nervous as the fish jumped out of the water. He was so little that we were able to pull him up to the dock with ease. He was a little guy but perfect for her first fish. Dad came down to take pictures for us. All in all we caught 6 fish. 2 got away and one we let go as he was too little. Samantha loved every minute of it and caught two fish by herself.

I find it is the most peaceful way to spend the vacation. There was not another person on the river that morning and Samantha and I just got to soak in the sun, the nature and the peacefulness. We watched as Turn dived over and over again to catch fish. And we cheered for him when he was successful.

I am so glad we get to pass on another tradition to Samantha. Next year we will try and see if she will eat it.

Swim Lessons

2014-07-09T07:52:00.003-07:00

For the last couple of days I've had the Olaf song from Frozen in my head. I love summer as much as he does. Recently we bought the soundtrack and have been listening to it in the car as we travel up and down to see family in Seattle. Samantha has learned a lot of the words to "Let it Go" and loves to always start the soundtrack with the ice cutting song, never in the middle.

Yesterday at swim lessons, Samantha's swim instructor let her go. She carried her a few feet from the stairs and talked her through swimming and then let her swim. I was impressed that Samantha didn't sink. She actually swam; legs kicking, arms pulling. There was also some screaming because Samantha didn't want to let go of her teacher. For weeks we've been watching her swim, dive, and jump in the shallow water but she was too afraid in the deeper end. We even tried to explain that if she sinks she will touch the bottom. She even practiced near the wall and discovered that if she lets go of the side she doesn't sink to the bottom she actually floats up. This was literally the beginning of her discovering her own abilities. I don't know why the teacher let her go but I grateful that she did. Samantha was ecstatic albeit a little nervous to try it again. She practiced and practiced on the stairs while the other kids were getting their one and one time with the teacher. She showed me the biggest smile and tried it again. I know that this lesson is the foundation of the rest of life. She can swim. Sometimes great things come about because we simply "Let it Go."

Our perspective on the changes

2014-06-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

What is our reaction to the impending changes to LDS Family Services? What effect will it have on our homestudy?

Firstly, we are not surprised or shocked by the recent news that LDS Family Services is now switching from adoption agency to a counseling resource. In January we were invited to meet with our caseworker at LDS Family Services to discuss these upcoming changes. Although we’ve known about it, we still acknowledge that this is a loss. A couple of sayings have come to mind as we grieve this loss:

"When God closes a Door he opens a window." ~unknown

"Fear departs when Faith endures" ~Naomi W. Randall

“When one door closes another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."- Alexander Graham Bell

My hope dear friends is that these new changes bring peace to your mind and soul instead of panic, distress or urgency. God has a plan. We have a faith that these changes are necessary to fulfill his plan.

We have always firmly believed that LDS Family Services is an expectant parent program. It was set up to give expectant parents an opportunity to place children in families of the same faith. We believe that the church is looking at that need and answering it by switching to a more single-parent program. The focus is thus the same: “the expectant parents.”

Since we had the opportunity to do volunteer work with LDS Families Services we saw first hand how time-consuming adoption home studies can be for caseworkers. And almost as an afterthought caseworkers were expected to then help expectant parents. We are glad to see the program take a drastic turn to refocus back on the expectant parents. Hopefully now more people will seek help and be helped through this new program.

These new changes do create challenges for LDS infertile couples who hope to adopt. LDS Family Services provided a safe haven. Now couples will need to reevaluate their goals and change their plan.

Now to answer my second question. How does this effect our home study?

Our homestudy will be phased out unless we adopt by the end of the year. We’ve been approved for a second child since September 2011. We are approaching our third renewal. Our family goal this year was to either close our file or transfer our file somewhere else. The changes at LDS Family Services do not change what we already had planned. (We realize we aren’t getting any younger.) And the fact that we have three unopened envelopes on our desk from different agencies, gives you a clear indication that we are still undecided.

Adoption is a matter of faith. It is not for the faint of heart and for us requires perseverance, patience and an answer to prayer. We haven’t received that answer to prayer yet. We know for the time being we are comfortable where we stand. I like to think, “everyday we are not contacted by an expectant mother, means an expectant mother isn’t faced with the most agonizing decision of her life and her unborn child’s life.” This gives us peace.

We believe God works through other people and felt strongly that God doesn’t want us to give up. Last week (before the announcement) we had three different friends contact us about possible adoption situations. It encourages us that God hears our prayers. Our friends and family are truly our greatest strength to continue walking down the adoption path.

I was particularly comforted this week as I read the words of President Boyd K. Packer from his General Conference Address titled “The Witness”:

“Those who do not marry or those who cannot have children are not excluded from the eternal blessings they seek but which, for now, remain beyond their reach. We do not always know how or when blessings will present themselves, but the promise of eternal increase will not be denied any faithful individual who makes and keeps sacred covenants.

Your secret yearnings and tearful pleadings will touch the heart of both the Father and the Son. You will be given a personal assurance from Them that your life will be full and that no blessing that is essential will be lost to you.

As a servant of the Lord, acting in the office to which I have been ordained, I give those in such circumstances a promise that there will be nothing essential to your salvation and exaltation that shall not in due time rest upon you. Arms now empty will be filled, and hearts now hurting from broken dreams and yearning will be healed.”

We know President Packer speaks the truth and is inspired. Just as these changes are inspired. We have faith that as we allow God to guide us in our life, he will show us where he needs us most. My dear friends, please do not be discouraged by this announcement and don’t give up. The Lord has something greater in store. Just like the title of Amy Stroup’s song, “Hold on to Hope, Love”

If you haven’t heard about this, you can can read the two news articles below:
LDS Family Services changing its role in adoptions
LDS Church will no longer do adoption placement, focusing on counseling

Tulip Fields

2014-05-28T08:48:00.001-07:00

Another quick post to play catch up. One of our favorite family traditions is the tulip fields in Skagit County. We love the smell, the mud, the beauty and the people.

We were wise this year and purchased food before we got in the never ending traffic jam. We finally found a place to park and were full and ready to explore the flower gardens and fields. Samantha enjoyed trying out her new boots. She learned that mud has really powerful suction.

Green Run

2014-05-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

A few pictures from our run in March. I realized I haven't posted all the adventures we've had the last few months. I decided to scrapbook instead of writing a long post. The most eventful part of this trip is Marianne's fall. She twisted her ankle and was able to walk properly for a while. She is still on the mend but it's improving. Thus the lack of hiking posts. We enjoyed this fun run.

It was beautiful weather and right along the bay. Perfect way to celebrate Saint Patty's Day. Afterwards we found a bench and enjoy the St. Patty's Day parade. We loved seeing the horses' toenails painted green. Samantha was a good sport but she is getting old enough now to run theses races. Looking forward to a summer run kids race.

Hike 5 of 52: Chuckanut Falls

2014-02-21T07:38:00.000-08:00

We were pleasantly surprised this year when Doug's boss said that he would get President's Day off this year. Since our hike at Lake Samish was short we figured we could fit in another one this week. On Sunday we had a major wind and rain storm. By Monday midday the rain stopped and just after 1 p.m. we set off to the Chuckanut Mountain Trails. Our goal was to follow the Lost Lake Trail to Chuckanut Falls trail.

We've never hiked through this area before but knew it is well used. The directions we had said to take the trail head from Arroyo Park. We plugged Arroyo Park into our Navigation and set out on our way. The instructions were misleading and our Navigation was confused. It had us stop on the side of the road to park but there was no obvious Park. I expected to see a playground and manicured lawns. (We learned Arroyo Park is more like designated open space.)

We checked again on our cell phones and another person said we should start our hike from the North Chuckanut Trailhead. We got back in the car and drove around the corner. This trailhead had a big parking lot and a map. We felt like that was a good start. As we studied the map we realized it didn't show us where we wanted to go.

Our directions said "first two forks stay left and the third fork stay right." We set out on the trail and short time letter we found an intersection of trails. We were confused and started going down one path, feeling uneasy doug pulled out his phone and found we were headed in the wrong direction. We turned around and followed another trail. We hiked for a while when we came upon a small set of waterfalls. Not knowing where we were and with no sign we decided that these waterfalls although very pretty were not the Chuckanut Falls. We played in the water and then headed down the trail again.

We met with another unexpected fork in the trail. We decided to stay to the left following the directions we had as our GPS couldn't tell us exactly where we were under the forest canopy. We descended closer to the water and then the trail took a hard right and steeply ascended back to the main trail above.

(In essence we should have stayed to the right and on the main trail.) We figured this is how people get lost in the woods. Then we navigated another set of forks and came to what we considered the last fork and we stayed to the right. We headed down the path for quite sometime before I stopped and said to Doug "That sounds like the waterfall... but it sounds like it is down there instead of along this trail." Doug pulled out his phone and the gps worked correctly to show us that we were above the falls. We debated beelining across the forest instead of hiking back down the trail but decided it's a waterfall and we might not be able to see if from the top or be able to climb down.

We climbed back down the trail and set off on the other arm of the Chuckanut Falls Trail and were pleasantly surprised at the simple beauty before us. We had finally made it. With all the rain from the last 48 hours the waterfall was full and beautiful. As we enjoyed our resting spot the fog rolled in and created a beautiful scene. Doug and Samantha hiked to the bottom of the falls so she could play in the water. Doug gave her instructions on the safe places to play and they enjoyed the beauty. I had fun changing the settings in my camera and capturing a few pictures. We saw further down another set of waterfalls but couldn't navigate a path down to them. We hiked back out and were pleasantly surprised how short the hike actually is when you know where you are going. Samantha took a nap on the way back.

This hike was a learning experience:

The trail took twice as long because we were confused by the directions.

1. Always take a paper map and tell someone where you are going

(just like the hiking merit badge teaches you.)

2. And don't leave home without our cell phones.

3. Samantha's boots are no longer water proof

4. The Chuckanut Mountain Trails are labyrinth. Be prepared for feeling a little lost and Plan on the unexpected and a few wrong turns. Signage or Cairns could have helped. Maybe a future Eagle Scout Project.

We look forward to trying out a few of the other trails in this area: Lost Lake, or Cedar and Pine Lakes. We felt like this was a good hike for families. There is only one part where the trail goes along the side of the hill that I would watch your kids closely. Otherwise it is wide, well maintained trail, and is well used. We figure the hike came in around 2.5-2.8 miles and elevation gain of 380. Pretty easy hike

Our little Robin Hood

2014-02-20T06:55:00.000-08:00

This week Samantha found a toy I had forgotten about in my closet. It was a dollar store bow and arrow set that I had purchased for her Peter Pan birthday party last year. The last week she has been watching the the old cartoon movie Robin Hood. In fact she has watched it everyday and repeats some of the phrases. Doug spent some time showing Samantha how to make the bow and arrow work and then she told us that she was Robin Hood. I dug out the peter pan hat I made for her birthday and we sent her out on a hunt in the backyard. It was fun to see her creativity and imaginative play.

Hiding and waiting

Hike 4 of 52

2014-02-20T06:50:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday we went to the south side of Bellingham and explored Lake Samish, (which is really different from Lake Sammamish but easily confused.) We learned a couple of things on this trip.
Bring a map, consider flat maps as not as similar to elevations maps, and how important signage would have helped us on the trail.
We were confused from the start. The directions in my head were this: Stay to the right and look for the trailhead map. We did not find the trailhead but found some stairs and a hiking symbol and started our ascent. We climbed most of the hillside, heard kids playing hide and seek and found a dead end with a purposeful post. We enjoyed finding all kinds of stairs on the trail, a set of small cascading waterfalls, and taught Samantha about rings in a tree.

We were protected from most of the rain by the large cedars and got soaked on the way down as we walked through switchbacks that followed a clear cut section for power lines. After doing further research at home, we figured the trail was a 1.3 loop, with an elevation of about 500. The dead end post was the eagle's nest viewpoint and the graffiti rock another view point. So all and all it was a success we saw what is there to be seen.

After we finished we were treated to a surprise on the lake. The UWO rowing team was practicing on the lake. We watched as they warmed up in the rain and cold. It was so cool to see them skim across the water. We had know idea that a rowing club existed in Washington. It was fun reminder of the different places and experiences we are having in the Pacific Northwest.

Hike 3 of 52

2014-02-11T14:11:00.002-08:00

Beautiful Bright Sunshine-y Day. We enjoyed a relatively flat trail. Our goal was to go the distance and get 6 miles under our belt but Samantha had a different plan. She wanted to throw sticks and rocks into the lake. She walked most of the first mile out of the backpack. We enjoyed skipping rocks, and meeting lots of new dogs. There were at least 50 dogs on the trail. My personal favorite was the long white haired poodle. After our stop at the "sweet spot," by the waterfall, we continued down the trail another .5 mile before we had to turn back as the sun disappeared behind the hill. All in all a good hike, at 3 miles, 100 ft elevation gain, took us three hours. Not a bad way to spend the day as a family.

Fruit Exploration

2014-02-07T08:52:00.001-08:00

For the last few weeks, I've been picking up a different fruit each week for our family to try. It started after I attended my weight watchers class and I thought, "I've not had a pomegranate in a long time, if ever." I picked up a pomegranate and brought it home. Doug showed me what he had learned at work about how to use a wooden spoon to remove the pomegranate seeds. Samantha loved whacking the back of the pomegranate to have the fruit fall out. We enjoyed it. Then we went to Doug's company dinner where the chef used them in his dishes. It was delicious.

The next time I went shopping I noticed next to the pomegranates were persimmons. It looks a lot like a tomato but it more orangish in color. I decided we should give it a try. Again Doug did the research to find out how to eat. We decided since we only have one we would cut it and eat it as wedges. It seemed like a cross between Peach and a Mango. The flavor was quite mild but different.

Last week purchased a Pineapple. Samantha loves to eat canned pineapple but I decided it would be fun to show her how it feels and looks before it is cut up. We watched several youtube videos on how to cut a pineapple before we cut into it. And for some reason I realized for the first time in my life I have never cut up a pineapple. I think I've been there when it was cut up but never done it myself. It was a surreal experience to realize at 34, I am still learning new things. Samantha asked us how Pineapples are grown. As I was explaining that they grow in a tree, Doug said I think they grow on a bush. He said, "Don't you remember that Amazing Race episode where they had to harvest pineapple." My answer, "Nope, I must have been asleep." So back to Youtube we went to find out about where Pineapples are grown and harvested. We found this cool video from Dole (see below). Doug was amazed that Pineapples are actual flowers fused together. We had such a different appreciation for what we were eating.

Samantha came shopping this week and wanted to buy another pineapple. Since my goal is to buy some thing different each week, I asked her if we could get a baby watermelon. She agreed and we bought a mini watermelon. I have always purchased watermelon in the summer when they are huge and then we have too much of it. We cut it up for dinner and found it to be slightly different than summer watermelons. The fruit was ripe all the way to the rind, it was less watery, and more dense flesh. We enjoyed it so much that we nearly finished it off at dinner. Samantha explained to us that we don't eat the black seeds. I'm not sure where she learned that bit of information but I am glad she shared.

We've also tried some other varieties of Pears, and Apples in our exploration. Kiwi has become a stable at our house now and we learned at church that they grow well in the Pacific Northwest. Someone had left a huge box of ripe Kiwi outside the Relief Society door. The note said picked in October, ripe now, and free to a good home.

I'm starting to believe that the Pacific Northwest is a fruitarians heaven on earth. We have so loved the Raspberries, Blueberries, Strawberries and Blackberries that grow so abundant here. I can't wait to see what Samantha thinks of the Lemon she bought this week. It will be her first sour fruit.

Hike 2 of 52

2014-01-21T16:40:00.002-08:00

Our favorite local park is Hovander Homestead. It is a county park and reminds me of favorite park in Colorado, Sandstone Ranch. They are both homesteads turned into free local parks. Hovander is known for weddings, Scottish festival, and for the animals (bunnies, turkeys, cows, goats etc). It's not a petting zoo but rather just a lookie-zoo. It's still unclear to me if you are allowed to feed the animals as the signs say "Don't feed the goats" but yet people feed the bunnies, and chickens.

We decided to try out the brand new Hovander River Trail. And we were amazed. The trail is not an upgrade to the muddy dirt road but a totally new trail. The county cut down all the black berry bushes and put the trail along the top of the dike. You are able to see the Nooksack River as you walk along. I was seriously in heaven. This seemed so similiar to the St Vrain Greenway Trail that we loved so much. The dog walkers were still able to use the open field below for off-leash dog walking. I think this trail will be well used by runners, walkers, and bikers.

This hike was more a walk about but decided we were going for distance. We hoped to walk 5 miles from the boat launch to Slater Road but the cold wind encouraged us to take a detour at Tennant Lake. Samantha enjoyed the puddles, temporary pond, and the water covered trail. Soon the water filled her boots and we had a cold wet Samantha. Doug volunteered to run back to the car (no easy task in hiking boats) as Marianne took Samantha for a potty break. Soon we were all home having hot chocolate.

We are looking forward to next Saturday's outing. The forecast calls for sun!

Christmas Sorting

2014-01-15T09:31:00.003-08:00

Today I spent the morning sorting through our Christmas pictures. I found this one that I think sums up Christmas this year. Samantha enjoyed it thoroughly and loved playing with her new toys and trying on her new clothes.

The best part of Christmas is when we would hand her a gift and she would say in a high pitched voice as if she was surprised each time, "For meeeee?" She was so excited to finally open all the gifts.

We love that we can drive a couple of hours and be with family. We had an extra special visitor this year, Marianne's sister Sarah was here. Samantha warmed right up to her and they were instant "Best friends" Aunt Sarah even put Samantha to bed. Thank you Aunt Sarah for making Christmas extra special.

Meeting Santa on Christmas Eve was less than exciting. Someday I think she might outgrow it. We were excited when he walked through the door that she didn't start screaming. It wasn't until we tried to put her on his lap that the tears came. Maybe next year.

Love Sandwich

2014-01-07T20:27:00.001-08:00

Meet my love sandwiched post. I haven’t posted in a while about adoption or infertility and I figure that if you are reading this than you need the love that comes at the beginning and end of this post. ;)

Thank you to my wonderful family and amazing friends who have traveled along on our adoption journey. The outpouring of love we felt in 2007 when we announced we were beginning our adoption journey was uplifting and encouraging. Thank you for being compassionate and kind. Thank you for not giving up hope when we wanted to and thank you for enjoying the journey with us. Infertility is a rough road. Adoption has it’s own hills and valleys. For the most part people have good intentions, sometimes we just need a small reminder how to elevate another rather than the opposite.

A few Sundays ago, an acquaintance, who was sitting in front of me in Sunday school quietly turned around and said I feel impressed to give this to you. I stared at a folded up piece of paper and opened it. My head spun as I pondered what was in the letter. I opened the note and looked inside to see a full page of typed text (presumably download from the internet without author name or website address) about how gluten effects infertility.

In the kindest way I can, I say, “Thank you but we are actually considering a full hysterectomy.” She says a few words and I mustered out…“Well, I appreciate it because it shows care and concern. Thank you.”

I rattle off more non sensical chatter as my brain fires at warp speed. I feel like my brain is imploding and I feel as though I’ve been totally blind sided. It has been a several years since anyone has (played doctor) given us unwanted medical advice. I feel ill prepared for this situation.

I am completely at a loss for words.

Later I ask myself. Didn’t she get the memo? We are hoping to adopt! Yeah!

Jokingly I say to Doug, “Um, Guess I need to start passing out our adoption pass along cards like candy.”

I remember an article written by resolve.org titled “Infertility Etiquette” (I’ve included the link below so you know it’s legit!) and felt compelled to reread it to myself. And there on the last page, the last paragraph, were the words I needed to hear. The words I need to have memorized. The words I could have had prepared.

Support Their Decision to Stop Treatments

No couple can endure infertility treatments forever. At some point, they will stop. This is an agonizing decision to make, and it involves even more grief. Even if the couple chooses to adopt a baby, they must still first grieve the loss of that baby who would have had mommy's nose and daddy's eyes.

Once the couple has made the decision to stop treatments, support their decision. Don't encourage them to try again, and don't discourage them from adopting, if that is their choice. Once the couple has reached resolution (whether to live without children, adopt a child, or become foster parents), they can finally put that chapter of their lives behind them. Don't try to open that chapter again.

http://www.resolve.org/support-and-services/for-family--friends/infertility-etiquette.html

I can say with an honest heart that I am grateful that this woman felt impressed to give me the article. I feel impressed to give her “Infertility Etiquette” and maybe this acquaintance can help support her family member who is also navigating infertility.

Our family path has been gloriously made bright through adoption. I would not change our adoption story. Samantha is a blessing. She is a precious gem and her birth family has taught us how to love and trust in the most incredible way. They have given us the gift of new life.

Thank you to the many friends and family who have supported us, prayed for us, encouraged us, written reference letters for us, prepared meals for us, babysat for us, and even sent diapers. Some of you have even wept with us. Oh, and thank you for asking questions! We love sharing our love of adoption. Thank you for being our support system, our needed lifeline. We have great hope for 2014.

52 Hikes in 52 weeks

2014-01-02T20:29:00.000-08:00

We've been so blessed this past two weeks. We have had amazing rain-free weather. We are enjoying the mild temperatures and dry days. On January 1st we made a new family resolution to complete 52 hikes by December 31st. There are no rules except to have fun and enjoy nature. I saw on a friend's post on facebook that she completed 52 crafts before her birthday in December. She was inspired by the fact that she wanted to feel as though she had accomplished something in a year's time.

One of my favorite parts of our new goal is exploring this new area we live. I find I still get lost some days and although it can be aggravating when I'm late, I love that I tried something new and know a different way. I am excited for the trails we already mapped out on our goal to 52 and can't wait to look back at all we will have learned.

Our first hike was through the Stimpson Family Nature Reserve. I love that a family wanted their land to be preserved so turned it over to a Land Trust and made it accessible to the public. We saw runners, fast walkers, and lots of water. The northwest beauty is so different from the arid country we used to live in. Sometimes I feel like I've walked into a Dr. Seuss book.

Snow Day

2013-12-23T08:17:00.000-08:00

We wish you a Merry Christmas, We wish you a Merry Christmas, We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. On Friday it finally snowed and finally feels like Christmas. The snow was the real, fluffy, play-in-it-all-day kind of snow. We enjoyed building snowman, snow forts, snow angels and sledding. Last week we had a skiff of snow and Samantha tried desperately to make a snow angel but Friday she was able to make a dozen snow angel. I loved how she giggled as she made them. She loved leaving her footprints in the snow.

I loved that we had our own sledding hill right behind our house. We had fun playing in it til our noses were red then we came inside and sipped hot chocolate. School was of course canceled but Daddy had to go to work so he to help tear down the trade show booth to send to Las Vegas for the upcoming CES conference.

Marianne asked if he could stay home a few hours so we knew how slick the roads were. Amazingly enough the town we live in owns a plow and had cleared a path to the freeway. It was smooth sailing for Doug. The presents are wrapped, the grocery shopping is finished, a few more things to put in the laundry and we will be ready for Christmas.

Traditions, Traditions: Turkey Trot

2013-11-29T08:47:00.000-08:00

We had fun celebrating Turkey Day with a Turkey Trot. This is the third year we have run this race. It was relatively warm but had very thick fog. The fog was so thick that when we arrived we could hear the fog horn blowing from the Tacoma Seaport. Marianne's brother Adam also joined us. A couple of his cross country buddies run this race and this year his good friend won the race. He was first overall.

We had a first of our own. Samantha walk, ran, rode her first 5k. For the last mile or so she rode on Doug's back. His shoulders were sore for a few days afterwards. The best prize was when she said she thought it was so fun. Hopefully this is the start of something great. The playground at the race is pretty sweet as well. It had zip line style swing. Samantha enjoyed playing on it. Afterwards we headed out to the Kitsap Peninsula and enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at Marianne's brothers house.

Adam, Samantha, Daddy, and Mommy

Finished her first race.

Preschool Fun

2013-11-06T09:17:00.000-08:00

I am saving my journal writing for another day (wink, wink) but here are some pictures. We've had a full and abundant October. We are grateful for it. And it is nice to stay busy.

Halloween Costumes

2013-11-02T21:24:00.001-07:00

This year I hit some inspiration early for costumes. I scoured the internet on how to make a circle skirt, rummaged through our give away clothes box and decided that we could pull of Gnomeo and Juliet costumes. If you haven't seen the movie it is a Romeo and Juliet type love story based on garden gnomes. I loved the movie so much that I watched it twice in one weekend. It came out in 2011 so I'm sure it's available on Netflix.

We followed the directions for circle skirts online but ended up needing to make our own modifications as we somehow doubled the waist size. We both screamed as the dress fell to the floor. Then we laughed. We decided never to try and do geometry after 10:30 p.m. We cut out the excess, stiched up the back and added an elastic waistband. For Doug's vest, Doug designed it with a paper pattern he created and cut it out. I stitched up the sides and shoulders. Doug created the gnome hats just by freehand. I found an old white pillowcase that I turned into the apron. I found a pattern online for a pioneer apron and followed the tutorial. An hour before our Halloween party were quickly hot gluing on the rickrack as sewing was an impossibility so late in the day, which by the way is the best way to do rickrack in my humble opinion.

Samantha's outfit was a from the dress up collection at Toys 'r' us. She loved being Minnie Mouse.

On their way to Daddy Daughter Halloween Party.

30 years new

2013-10-30T20:44:00.002-07:00

For a three year old, it's all about choices and letting them make the decisions. On Sunday morning I laid out three church dresses for Samantha to choose. One of those dresses was one I had worn as a little girl. It was her pick for church. I called my mom to tell her that Samantha fit the dress and that she wore it to church. She recalled that it was a dress my grandmother had sewn for me. It was a special treat to see my sweet daughter wearing a dress that was a favorite of mine 30 years ago. I especially love how she strikes a pose.

Time Out for Women: Tacoma

2013-10-12T23:00:00.002-07:00

This past weekend, Doug took some time off work so that I could drive to Tacoma for Time Out for Women, which is a women's conference with inspirational speakers, music and videos. Friday night my friend that was supposed to meet didn't show up but I ran into another friend from my childhood. It was so fun to catch up with her and to talk til the wee hours. On Saturday we promised to do lunch together with our moms.

Some of my favorite highlights from Friday night was the speaker Heidi Swinton. She talked about her experience writing the autobiography of Thomas S. Monson. She related stories about working with the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and how he personal had edified her life.

On Saturday morning I woke with a bit of a sleep deprivation headache and quickly showered, dressed and raced out the door to find parking and buy a ticket for my mom. In the rush of the morning my mom found a friend who gave us seats on the 6th row. It was so cool, we could actually see the presenters up close and it made the whole conference a bit more magical.

There are so many stories to share. Of course my favorite songs were performed by Hilary Weeks. She is an amazingly talented woman and so inspiring. It makes you want to go home and create something. I cried when she sang a Beautiful Heartbreak, which I noted needed no introduction or story background. She just sang it and I cried. I love how deeply this song connects to me. I love music and the messages that can be shared through music.

One of the most comedic speakers of the night was Mary Ellen Edmunds. She talked about gardening your thoughts. If you want to harvest attributes of love, peace, charity you can't sow seeds of hate, anger, or envy. So true. We need to plant good seeds. As I read her bio, I was amazed on all the "things" and "stuff" she has done in her life. It made me say, I want to be like her. She is a true gem.

Hilary shared a story about how our words make us who we are. She related a story about rice. The powers of our voice with the words we use can directly effect all living things. I loved this song that she shared about positive words. Say love, say kindness, express joy, nice words.

On of the questions they asked us to think about was, "What is one thing that you would regret if you don't do it by 80" and I thought to myself. I am not sure. I mean I would love to have more children but that is not something I have control over so I am grateful for what I have. I am have had a rich life and have been greatly blessed. Even though I couldn't think of anything, I still stated that a person needs to have goals. And committed to right a list of goals that I want to achieve. It was the way I tackled the question because I don't really live my life in regret. Life is for living.

I am grateful for encouraging words we heard through the conference and that I got to share it with my mom. It was a special treat. The joys of living in the Pacific Northwest is all about family. I'm excited for the upcoming holidays and the family we will get to see.

Sara Bareilles - I Choose You (Live at the Manderley Bar)

2013-09-27T13:53:00.001-07:00

I am loving this song right now. I was first introduced to Sara Bareilles' music on Itunes. I now listen to her music on Pandora as I'm cleaning the house, running on my treadmill, at the dentist or just need to relax. Today Samantha and I danced around the house to this song.

Celebrate Good Times

2013-09-08T15:44:00.001-07:00

Over the summer Doug and I took a road trip to Utah. We had the opportunity to drive around Provo. We saw our first apartment, our old work places, and drove past the apartments where we met. It conjured up such warm memories. We enjoyed living in Provo but we were also ready to move when we got our first job in 2005. It made us feel nostalgic for our old simple life but we also like our new life just fine. We enjoy some great comforts and have wonderful opportunities that were never available to us in Provo. Life is full of adventure. We are grateful we have shared those together.

It is hard to believe that 10 years ago we graduated from college and also were sealed in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple in American Fork.

We decided the best way to celebrate is to create a new memory and try something new: ziplining through the forest. To explain it to Samantha we told her we visited "treehouses" She said she wants to go with us next time.

Summer Adventures

2013-08-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

Adventure is out there. We have so enjoyed this summer sunshine. We've taken several small trips exploring the area around us. It has been so nice to discover new places and make new memories. Last month we headed to the San Juans for a camping trip. Our ferry wait was the hardest part of our journey at a 3 hour wait.

Waiting at the Ferry Dock

Such a beautiful, peaceful day

We enjoyed setting up camp and then doing some needed maintenance to our fire pit. The brush was so thick over our fire pit that we worried it would catch fire. We cleared the brush away, started our fire and cooked our tin foil dinners. After dinner we took a moonlit hike down by the river. It was so clear and calm. In the morning there was fog. But Samantha got us up early and we took a trip down to the beach. Luck for us it was tide. We explored the rocks, beach, and found all sorts of little creatures. (star fish, crabs, eels, anemones) It is the most fun I've had at a beach in a long time.

After a quick nap we headed up to Mt Constitution. The fog had cleared and we were rewarded with awesome views of the San Juans. We could almost see our house way back on the shore. It seemed so funny to drive aways and take a ferry to a point where we weren't not far from our home. It's always nice to get a change of perspective. Enjoy the pics.