OurLittleMcFamily.com

I’ve decided to stop the lameness! Who wants to check a lame blog that is never updated? I know that I don’t. Of course, a death in the family, an unexpected pregnancy accompanied by complications, and traveling the last month has taken its toll. Regardless, these are things I should be blogging, not lamenting as I lie in bed doing NOTHING.

Although we probably deserve a serious Christmas do-over, we are looking to the future. I am focused on my upcoming 32nd birthday (only 7-1/2 weeks away). I will share it with my best friends and sisters, as we scrap the weekend away. Adam looks toward our most sacred friendship tradition (four years running)–Memorial Weekend @ Zion National Park. He loves planning it with his best buddies. And we both continue to work on our adoption. With our pregnancy up in the air, we take comfort in knowing we will be parents one way or another.

Friday night we took a trek to SLC to see the lights at Temple Square. It was glorious. The drive down was an adventure to say the least. It started storming that morning and got worse as the day progressed, but a little inclement weather was not going to stand in our way of this event! Our first stop was our social worker’s house in South Odgen to meet him and get home study info. After that we met up with the Hirschi’s at Outback for dinner. I have been craving a Queensland Chicken Salad for months and have been seemingly thwarted at every turn. FINALLY, I got my salad and we had a wonderful time.

Jessica Anne doesn’t think my list is very random (for anyone who “knows me at all” as she put it) so I took this a challenge. Forgive my do-over. Here we go:

1. I still have that one pair of jeans from high school that I hold onto “just in case”. I did fit into them snuggly right around my wedding in 2004. But then marriage happened and I trying to fight my way back down.
2. I can’t take my wedding band off–literally. (haven’t been able to for about a year now) Another reason I need to work toward those jeans.
3. I didn’t really care for one of my now best friends, Amy, when we first met. I think she was having an off week–as a friend from high school was visiting her. Jessica (and Amy) agrees with this first impressioned fiasco.
4. Giving birth seemed like the most unnatural thing in the world to me for the first 27 years of my life. In fact, I never wanted to pregnant at all–only two or three people know that about me. Isn’t it ironic how life turns out sometimes.
5. I knew from the very first time I spoke to Adam that he could, and would be my husband. Looking back, I think I’ve loved him from our first conversation, truly.
6. Death and polygamy are two of my favorite topics to discuss. I think they are two of the most fascinating topics on the planet, probably because I understand them the least.
7. Sometimes when were driving long distances and we go through the drive-thru I take some of Adam’s fries (actually a lot) and put them into my basket. This is soooo stupid because he will regularly give me his fries freely when he can’t eat them all. I just LOVE fries with lots of salt on them, and we never eat them unless traveling. Yummy!

I was tagged by a friend on scrapbook.com. The task is to write seven random facts about myself.

1. I once jumped off a moving train while backpacking around Taiwan. (jump, jump….for all those familiar with the story)
2. My favorite books to read are what’s commonly noted as “coffee table” books. I’ll pick non-fiction 8 times out of 10 over fiction.
3. I LOVE Murder, She Wrote. I watch it whenever I can on the Hallmark Channel.
4. I made my brother-in-law haul my huge tub of scrapbooking supplies from the dock to the houseboat we were staying on at Lake Powell. Who scraps at Lake Powell anyway?
5. I spent five weeks in an African village in 2003–and came back transformed.
6. I still want to get my Ph.D. someday–not sure in what though.
7. I (and my husband) are in the middle of adopting a sibling group of four from Colombia!!!!

Well, we are really doing it–FINALLY. And we are very excited. Most of our adoption posts can be found at www.adoption.ourlittlemcfamily.com or just click on our adoption link from this page. We have a semi-referral for a sibling group of four (boy, girl, girl, boy–ages four to seven) and have submitted our letter of intent to the Colombian government. We’re just waiting to see if they accept it or not. We don’t anticipate any problems, but you just never know….especially when it comes to adoption. Our plan is to keep a regular journal on the adoption blog, but we will still post any major events or news here. We would be remiss at this point if we did not express our gratitude and gratefulness toward our friends and family. The support, excitement, and love we have received overwhelms us. Continue to follow our journey….you won’t be disappointed.

#GMAP_SIT(”120.545317@31.873147″;”13″;”400″;”200″)#

Well, here’s where I am right now. I’m staying at the Guomao Hotel; if you ever come to ZJG, try to avoid this hotel. Not to say that there are better options (maybe the Jinling is better), because you won’t find American service in a Chinese hotel. There may be exceptions in some of the multinational chains in Shanghai or Beijing, but that would be atypical.

An example:

<rant>

My room is too hot. The windows face south and the sun had warmed the room considerably. I have already complained two days ago that the AC isn’t working and the room is too hot. I was assured it would be fixed, no problem. I got back to my room yesterday around noon and it was very hot. The air conditioning is set to the lowest possible setting, but is not working. I call the front desk and am told someone will be up immediately to check it out. The girl from housekeeping did arrive after 3 more calls. Argh!

Our conversation (slightly edited for brevity and effect):

---

Me: My room is boiling hot! Please fix the AC!
Housekeeper: No, it feels great.
Me: No, really it is too hot. Why doesn’t the AC work?
Housekeeper: (Fiddles with thermostat) It really is fine. See, the thermostat is set to cold - so it is cold. See?
Me: The thermostat has been set to cold all day and the room is still hot.
Housekeeper: (Calls front desk) OK, it will be on in 5 minutes. Then it will be nice and cool.
Me: You PROMISE it will be on in 5 minutes?
Housekeeper: Oh yes, it will be cold as an igloo in winter!
Me: We’ll see.

---

Several minutes pass and nothing changes. I need to leave and decide to talk to the assistant manager on the way out.

---

Me: Hi, my room is too hot, and despite several calls, nothing has been done.
Manager: I’m sure the AC will be working soon. Besides, it is very cool outside. Why do you need AC?
Me: My room is NOT cool! I feel like a turkey on Thanksgiving morning!
Manager: I’m sorry, I don’t understand your American holiday reference.
Me: Whatever! When will my AC be fixed?
Manager: Umm, well, actually, we don’t turn the AC on because it’s sooooo nice and cool outside. Gee whiz, why don’t you know that.
Me: Why did you tell me it would soon be fixed then?
Manager: Well, it’s a company policy.
Me: To tell me that the AC will be fixed when you have no intention of fixing it?
Manager: Actually, it’s a government policy.
Me: It’s a government policy to tell me that the AC will be fixed when you have no intention of fixing it?
Manager: Well, ummm. (Hoping the annoying American will leave) That’s that. Sorry. Enjoy your stay at the Guomao!
Me: Grumble, grumble.

</rant>

We’re in Washington for the blessing of our two new nephews this weekend and found a fun spot to go mountain biking. It’s called Cowiche Canyon — the mesa above the canyon is criss-crossed with single and doubletrack. The trail in the canyon below was a railroad line in a former life. The tracks have been removed and turned into a trail for hikers, bikers, and equestrians (all of whom we saw). It was a little over 8 miles on the loop we chose; I brought the GPS and here’s the elevation profile and an overview of the trail in Google Earth.

I had to snap these pics last night because this is a familiar scene in the Hirschi’s basement, and I want to remember it when we leave. Most nights Brooklynn begs either Aunt Rach or Uncle Adam to go in the hot tub, watch a movie, or scrapbook. Last night, Uncle Adam won.

Adam and Brooke have a bit of a love, hate relationship. Well, Brooke seems to have that with all of us lately–but especially uncle Adam. Often, I hear her tell him to get away and then the next moment find her snuggled up next to him watching cartoons. Last night was Curious George. Adam doesn’t mind Brooklynn duty because he can do homework or work on his laptop on the comfy couch.

Below is a double page layout I did for my wedding album. I love scrapbooking to preserve memories. My grandparents and great aunts and uncles have all had a major influence in shaping my beliefs and outlook on family, sacrifice, and dedication. This layout is just a small tribute to a few of them. I intend to do much more of this in the years to come so that my children and their children will understand how amazingly blessed they are to be a part of our family.

Announcing Baby Haiden Basford. My fifth nephew (third living) to be born. How precious is that? He belongs to my baby sister Lindsey. The black hair is his mommy’s. She was our little Indian baby when she was born, with that same amount of hair. Totally opposite from his big brother Logan who had his daddy’s features and hair from the beginning.

We are going to Washington this week to see baby Haiden and baby Chase. I can’t wait to snuggle and nuzzle them both. Below is Great Grandpa Harvey who lives with mom and dad.