Forever Family

On June 13th, Frank and I took the kids to the temple to be sealed to us. I'm not sure why I have been putting off blogging about this, but I have. Maybe because it was such an emotional experience and I don't know how to express it. It was truly awesome. Getting everything together that we needed was a little rough. And because Brittney and her husband Cody were being sealed right before we were, we caused a lot of confusion. They thought Frank and I were being sealed to each other too. We were sealed when we first got married in 2002.



Being sealed together was the main reason we did the adoption last year. There were some others but that was the biggest. I wish you all could have been there. I was emotional leading up to it, but I really struggled not to lose it when the kids came in wearing their white clothes. It was an amazing experience. We now have the opportunity to be a family forever. Is there anything greater?



We actually went to the temple ahead of the kids so we could go through with Brit and Cody. Their escorts brought them later, so we didn't see them leading up to it. I had hoped that going through it would remind me of when I was sealed to my parents when I was really young. I can't remember anything from that day except being in the children center. I vaguely remember playing with toys, but I don't remember anything else. But I was so caught up in the moment, I didn't even think about it. I hope that the kids will always be able to remember that day. That they will respect the experience and that it will help their testimonies grow.



We were able to share the experience with close friends and family. What a great day it was. It has strengthened my testimony and I know that it will be something I will always remember and treasure.



Afterward we had a big BBQ at my parents house. Over 60 people celebrated with us. It was also Franks birthday. I felt bad that it wasn't recognized more but he said that it was the best birthday he could have had. He's so great.

Battle in the street!

This year Jacob played the violin in school. We had a hard time getting him to practice and half way through the year he was ready to quit. But he persevered (or maybe it was just that we wouldn't sign the paper allowing him to quit) and finished the rest of the year. About a week and a half ago he had his final concert and had decided that he would practice a little. Much to my delight. And he told me that he was going to do this practicing outside on the front porch. I said that was fine and he asked me if I knew why he was going to practice outside. He told me that he was playing outside so that "when the people came out of their houses to get the mail, they would hear me playing and think,"He's good" and give me a thumbs up." Cute, right? It gets better.

I went into my room and since we have been having beautiful weather I had the window open. Keep in mind Jacob doesn't like to practice and I hadn't heard him play in awhile. But with the window open I could hear him quite clearly. I was pretty impressed. He really improved a lot over the course of the school year. I was listening to him and noticed that the playing had gotten a lot quicker and much better. I was really impressed. Then I realized that I was hearing two separate instruments.

I went to the front door to see what was going on and when I opened it Jacob was setting down his violin and I asked him if someone else was playing an instrument too. He said,"Yeah, the guy across the street is playing a clarinet. We're battling in the street." He ran past me into the house and told me, "I gotta get my book. This guys hardcore!" I went back to my room and he went back out to play.

I listened for awhile longer and heard Jacob shout across the street to the clarinet player if he new a specific song. (I would tell you exactly which song, but I don't know how to spell it.) They then played "together" for awhile. Turns out Lorri knows the clarinet player from school. He even came over a few days later and played music with Jacob for about an hour. I thought that was cool that a high school student would be nice enough to spend time with a fifth grader. I wish we had discovered him sooner. Jacob may have practiced a lot more.

Catching Up.

I wish I had a great excuse as to why I haven't blogged in months, but I have nothing. I like to try new hobbies. Things like sewing, scrap booking and all other crafty things. However, I tend to do them for awhile and then lose interest. I usually come back to them eventually. So I'm back. I can't make any promises that it will last long, but I will try.



Here is a collection of pictures that I had on my camera from some of the things that we have done since the beginning of January. They are in order from oldest to most current.





Lorri had her 15Th birthday. We alternate family birthdays with friend birthdays every other year. This year was a friend year and Lorri chose to go to the Olive Garden. I must admit that I prefer the years that the kids have family parties, but the friend parties are OK as long as they are not at the house. No set up and no clean up. That makes me happy.

For her birthday Lorri got a new bed set. She likes adding stuff to her room. This was taken right after her birthday and her room already looks different.

My birthday was also in January. I turned 30 this year. I didn't get a picture of my cake that I had for my party, but I got some pics of the ones from work.

This was really cute, but if you had any your teeth, lips and tongue turned this really nice, but awfully bright blue. It was pretty funny.

Lucky me! I was doing my annual cleaning of my locker at work and found these awesome wrestling cards. It's amazing the things I find in there. Usually it's just expired medicine so you can imagine the surprise when these real gems turned up. I have to admit that I have no idea who the second two guys are.

Johnny also attended his fourth wedding.

For Christmas two years ago my sister gave my mom this giant puzzle. I can't remember how many pieces there were, but each quarter of the puzzle measures 3x6 ft. It's huge. Well it's finally finished. We helped off and on but the majority of it was all her. Next challenge? Finding a place to hang it.

I am one of the activity day leaders at church and one of our activities was donating these bears to the fire department for kids who ride in the ambulance. They were donated to us and we covered the logos on the shirts with cute pictures and gave them matching scarves. The girls had fun and the bears really turned out cute.

I also quilted my first quilt. I have made quilts in the past but I just learned how to do the actual quilting. It was a little easier than I thought it would be but I admire those who do it often. It takes a long time. Now I don't know what to do with it. It took so long that I think I'm afraid to use it.

We also got the Scout running again a couple months ago. Or rather Earl got the Scout running again. Just in time for me to drive it a few times when the weather got nicer, before it broke down again. Some things never change.

Jacob had to do his first science project this year at school. Bottle rockets. I have to admit, it was pretty cool. He had way more fun shooting off the rockets than writing down all the data and getting it on the board, but he did manage to get through it.

He also had his very first D&D game with just his friends. He usually joins in on Franks games, so he was pretty excited when he got to set this one up and invite only his friends. It was a little loud. He hasn't had another yet, but I think he is planning on it.

Brittney, Sonja, my mom and I are doing the Relay for Life today. This will be the third year for Brit and I and our work is the sponsor this year. Hopefully we don't get rained on. Spring can't seem to really catch hold this year. Forecast looks good though.

Johnny's Christmas

Becky, here are some Johnny pictures for you. From vampire to Santa, he is so versatile.

Here is Johnny as a Christmas mouse.

In front of the tree (with the real Santa).

And last but not least, Johnny attacking the tree. Very frightening.

"Deep Freeze"

Jacob had his first violin concert ever on December 11th. It was so cute. (Don't tell him I said that.)

Of course there is a picture like this. It wouldn't be Jacob if there weren't.

It has been snowing here for a few days now. And we are not used to very much. It started out as just a little and now we have a lot. They even canceled church today. Which was pretty weird. I didn't like not going at all. We missed the Christmas talks and lessons. And I love singing the Christmas hymns. I am hoping that the snow is gone soon and we can get back to life as usual. The only thing I like about the snow is how pretty it looks. We have a lot of big trees and everywhere you look you see this....

I do enjoy playing in the snow, but I would rather go away to the snow than to have it at my house. This is what our back yard looked like after the first day. It is much worse now, I just haven't taken a picture yet.

Fortunately we live very close to my parents house and every time it snows we walk over there. We only get snow a few times a year. I don't ever remember getting this much at one time before. Lorri and I helped push a car that had gotten stuck on our way home.

Frank and Jacob were having a snowball fight using my car as a shield. I have not driven it since it started snowing last Saturday. It has rear-wheel drive and every time that I drive it to work when it snows, it gets stuck in the parking lot and someone has to come pick me up. This year Frank dropped me off every day and either my mom or dad picked me up in their Suburban every day.

This may look like an action shot perfectly captured, but it's not. When he saw me take out the camera he froze. I don't even think he threw it in the end.

Here is the back of my car all covered in snow. And it is still snowing. Although this may not seem like a big deal to you Utah residents, we are rain people, not snow people. There is a thick layer of ice on all the roads and it is quite slick. We just may have a White Christmas this year.

Merry Christmas everyone!

For all you Twilight fans!

Anyone who knows Lorri, knows she is a big Twilight fan. Of course she loves Robert Pattinson, the guy who plays Edward in the movie. Well, the kids and I were hanging out in the kitchen eating pretzels and Jacob just turns around looking like this and says, "I'm Edward." We cracked up.

On Wednesday Jacob had his D.A.R.E. graduation. Here he is with his friend Sam and Officer Correa. He had a lot of fun in the program. When we got home I asked him what he was going to say no to. He said, "drugs, alcohol and tobacco." And when I asked him what he was going to say yes to, he said, "chores". I'm so proud. I may have to remind him of this next time I ask him to do something.

We set up the Christmas tree last week. Here are some shots of it being decorated.

The kids wanted their pictures taken in front of the tree with their pets.

This was the best shot of everyone. Probably won't see it on a Hallmark card but it works for us.

Trying to get everyone in the picture was a challenge. One dog didn't want to participate and the other one looks like she was passed out.

Odds and Ends

I was going through some of my pictures and thought I would post a few old ones. This is Terra. My 1976 International Scout. It belonged to my cousins for 11 years and I bought it last year. I love it. Only it rarely runs. This was one of those beautiful sunny days when I was able to take the top off and take it for a ride. Unfortunately it broke down on the next beautiful sunny day and had to be towed home. Someone from our ward is a mechanic at a dealership and he has offered his help to get her running again.

This is my copilot, Molly. She's not allowed in my car very often so she likes it when the truck is running.

One day I dared Lorri to wear a cape from an old Halloween costume of Jacobs to the grocery store. As you can see she did it.

One day I had gone into Jacobs room to get something and his cat followed me in. I then went into the kitchen to do something and I turned around and found this. He has a pair of pointy scissors attached to a magnetics piece attached to his collar. He picked up the magnet in Jacobs room and the scissors from the table. I'm glad I noticed before he got too far. Of course I had to snap a picture before removing it. Ironically, his name is Lucky.

The other day Jacob had to take a poll for his homework. He had called my sister and when she called him back I answered the phone. She asked for him and when I called him into the room he came around the corner with an ace bandage wrapped around his head. I started to laugh and told my sister that he was a mummy. He said, "Mom, I'm not a mummy, I'm a terrorist."

These are pictures from last month. I thought I should post them before thanksgiving. Frank and I went to a corn maze with my parents and my sisters and their husbands. This is Johnny holding Brittney's hand.

For Halloween Lorri was a vampire, Jacob was a "punk", and Jacob's friend Sam was Jigsaw. I remember the first time I went trick or treating with the kids. Jacob was a power ranger and he was so little. We realized after awhile that instead of saying "trick or treat" at the houses, he was saying "Chuck E Cheese". It was so cute.

I made Johnny's Halloween costume. As you can see he was also a vampire. I had to sew his fangs on. I figured that would be the best way for easy removal.

These are the Halloween cookies I made. I was pretty pleased that they turned out.