The Father Heart...

Today is almost over,
and I have been thinking all day
about my sweet husband.

Until today, I had not yet blogged about Law School Graduation, because I wanted to save it for a special day. It is an emotional experience, watching your best friend completing a goal that he has always dreamed of doing. When they handed David his Juris Doctorate, I was overcome with joy, for the man I love. Lincoln and I broke all the rules and cheered really loudly, because we knew that not only was that wonderful man, an attorney,
more importantly,
he was our Daddy,
our superhero,
our favorite person in the world,
my Lover,
my sweetheart,
and my best friend

(In front of our house, that sold this week)

David has what I call
the Father Heart.
When David walks in the door after a 12 hour day,
it is not uncommon for me to get a kiss
and the kids to sit and tell Daddy about their day.
(Lincoln usually speaking of Molly, his swim coach, and riding his bike, and Henry usually jabbers da-da-da)
Following this, David gets out the scriptures, and leads our family
in scripture study and prayers
But, nothing grabs at my heart strings as much as watching David
carry our babies to bed,
telling them stories, and
singing lullabies of eternal importance.
He knows they are children of a loving Heavenly Father,
and his Father heart
reminds me of the love
that Heavenly Father has for our family.

In 6 years of knowing him,
I have found that the Lord knew me so well,
and had my happiness in mind
when he allowed me the great privilege
of being courted by, and marrying
David Earl.

The other day, Lincoln said,
Mama, Daddy is my favorite person in the whole entire world.
My heart was so full of joy that this three year old
understood what goodness was, and that he knew it was all inclusive in
his Daddy.

When David gets home,
Henry kicks his hands and his feet
and yells until
David picks him up.
He loves when he gets tickled and snuggled by David.
It is easy to see that he has a special place in his heart for the wonderful man
he calls da-da.

When David and I were dating, I saw him one day
reading his scriptures, and I had a strong impression
that He loved the Lord.
I knew I wanted a husband and a father who loved the Lord the way that David did,
and it was no wonder what my answer would be
when he got down on his knee, and asked me the most important question of my life.
Eternity has been so good to me.

In 6 years, I have seen the making of a man of valor; a man who I know
loves the Lord, and is choice and highly favored of the Lord.

A man made of:
strength
wisdom
integrity
compassion
goodness
kindness
service
and Love.


Sweetheart,
Happy Father's Day.
We love you.
Tons Bit.

Shelf-reliance....

Last year at Time Out for Women, they had a giveaway from

shelf-reliance.com.

(click on that)

I didn't win.
Bummer, as my three year old said,
but I'm sure the woman who won was very grateful, as
this company does amazing things for gaining a year supply of food storage.
They even have a group to join on
facebook.
They have a group on
youtube.

Anyways,
they are doing another drawing, and someone
will be a lucky winner.

Tears and Trust

As you watch this beautiful story of faith.
I hope you feel the spirit testify of the wonderful plan of adoption.
I know I did.

After twins, and four years of searching for answers,they found out they couldn't have any more biological children.

"I couldn't understand why. I was trying to do everything right. . . I couldn't understand why such a righteous desire wasn't being granted to me."

for those who have prayed an waited, you understand this feeling.

"...The hardest part for me was giving up control and deciding that I was going to be okay, even if I didn't get what I wanted."

the amount of faith she has is inspiring. Many times, during the struggle of infertility, I pleaded with the Lord to strengthen my faith.
He did.

"There was a lot of yearning and a lot of hope that something would happen...because he was mine, in every way to me,"

TEARS. TEARS. TEARS.

Click here to watch

Profound

LINCOLN: "Mama, you are so lucky."

ME: "Why am I so lucky, Good Boy?"

LINCOLN: "Because you are pretty."

Family Picture 2009

Heart

We heart Arizona.

We have been swimming.
We have enrolled Lincoln in 2$/2 week swimming lessons.
He can monkey around the pool by himself, and
jump in and swim to the top.
Henry absolutely loves the water.
He loves to be dunked.
It's like glorified bath time.

We are the also the proud parents of a three year old
T-Ball Player.
(Had it not been for the bar, David would have been the coach!)
And, yes I have cried that I get to be a "soccer mom,"
(I guess it's technically a tee ball mom.)
I get to take treats to his games, and cheer from the side line.
This is a dream come true.
Seriously.

and my big boy starts preschool in the fall.
this is a happy/sad moment for me.

Henry walks everywhere, and he is turning into a copper baby
in the sunshine.
His laugh is adorable, and he loves to be "naughty"
which at our house means incredibly cute.
He loves to go up and down stairs, and play in the blinds
(which he knows he shouldn't do, so he laughs and when you see him, he goes even faster)

We are the excited auntie, uncle, and cousins to be of
Dan and Tina's new announcement!
(click on their names)

We have been to numerous thrift stores.
We are the owners of a $1.98 tricycle that daddy spray painted red.
We bought a 99 cent pony, that with new batteries, sings, and which Henry loves to snuggle
because it reminds him of his blanket.
Also, we have begun our Christmas shopping at these awesome thrift stores
because 3 and 1 year old kids just don't care, and I have somewhat
of an addiction to SAVERS SPEEDWAY OUTLET

It looks like after the summer, we will be turning in our adoption papers again.
So, a heads up: If anyone knows anyone facing an unexpected pregnancy,
let them know about us.

We have enjoyed the dry heat.
Immensely.

We Heart Arizona

It's About Love...

When I called our Joanie Girl, and told her we were moving to Arizona, her response was so gentle and kind. She said, "Well, that's good, you will be able to take care of the boys." This was followed by silence, and I knew there were tears. We were so grateful that she came to Henry's first birthday party. It was not only a celebration of his first 365 wonderful days on the earth, but it was an emotional celebration of a brave young woman, who made such an eternal sacrifice.

At Henry's party, I wanted to share with my family, my friends, and Joanie the feelings that I have had over the last year.

So, I wrote a song.
(click above)

The first verse (I sing this one) was from my perspective as an adoptive mother; not quite sure what to do or say at first; not sure how to say thank you; feeling like my happiness and her grief were inevitably tied;

but knowing that the Lord could heal.

The second verse (that's my sister-in-law Becky, who created the beautiful alto voice) is from the perspective of a birth mother, speaking to the baby she placed; who someday may wonder why and how she did what she did; and she shares that even through heartache,
the Lord is always there.

Writing this song was a very emotional and a very spiritual experience for me. I felt the Lord's hand in my life as the lyrics and the music flooded my mind. The day that birth mother's verse came to my mind, I sat and bawled as I looked at my boys. My heart was so full of love for a Heavenly Father, who had allowed me to be a mother; not once; but twice, and I am still in awe of the decision Joanie made, and we love her.

My heart has a special place for her filled with reverence, love, and respect.

Let me be perfectly clear, the phrase, "the day that I let go," does not imply that I think birth mothers should place a baby and then say goodbye forever. When David and I started the adoption journey, we were on the end of the spectrum of , "absolutely no contact, we want it closed." But, when we met Joanie, and we heard her story, and we recognized that this young woman had been guided by the Lord to make a selfless decision, we knew that her ability to "let go," just meant that she would be able to give him what he needed by placing him for adoption, and in turn, she would be able to go through a refiner's fire and be purified.

We Love you Joanie Girl.

I love this picture, because Joanie saw that Henry wasn't happy eating cake,

so she came and held a lollipop in his mouth. She stood and held it as long as it made him happy.

Joanie as part of our family.
My mom, Joanie, Henry, Me, Lincoln, David's mom, Grandma

Joanie, Henry, and me.

It's About Love.

I love you Arizona....

When we were an hour from Tucson, our 26 foot rental truck broke down and required three tows to be finished with it. We drove into a 100 degree day, and we moved into a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment. And you know what?

I AM SO HAPPY.

The morning after we got here, my girlfriend Car-Car brought us paper plates and cups, and made us breakfast. Since then, we have enjoyed pizza and swimming with our two families.

Today, we went to church in what I refer to as my home ward, even though my family has not lived here for 11 years. I knew almost every member of the ward, and it was a very warm welcome.

In front of us sat my voice teacher from my youth. She has a beautiful voice, and I hope that she will teach me the words to "I love you Arizona," so that the beautiful song will not be forgotten.

Behind us sat my very special friend, Cali who has not forgotten one member of my family.

The Swiss family, our lifetime friends, kindly invited us over for dinner,

I was most grateful today for Brother Baker, who is the nursery leader. To be honest, I was a little emotional to see a man who taught my brothers in young mens teaching my big boy, and I know that as Lincoln listens to him, he will grow up to be a righteous priesthood holder, just like my brothers.

Plus, Arizona gave us some treasures. For my 29th birthday, I went to the Salvation Army and got these:

(I don't usually have a love for furniture, but when I saw these, I fell in love with the style and the color.)

And of course: we have already taken advantage of this and this.

Once again we thank our Heavenly Father for the blessings He has so lovingly given to us. We feel His hand in our lives on a daily basis.

I am grateful for my husband for working so hard, and being so willing to have a new adventure. Sweetheart, thank you for bringing me to Arizona.
I know that you already know how much this means to me, and I can't wait for our upcoming adventures together.

Indeed, the best part of this new journey, is being on the adventure with my boys. I am head over heels for these boys.

I love them tons bit in the whole world.