Tag: All in the Family

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fhe–service

19 April 2010
Service, by Adam

We fed the missionaries dinner so we did a lesson on serving others. Valerie had her baby on the 18th so we took her a yummy Sonic Drink at the hospital. There was no ooooing and ahhhing over the baby by the ninos either. Nope, none! We had tons of fun. Thanks for letting us intrude, Val!

Song:
I am a Child of God

Treat:
Sonic chillers

Nightly Funny: 
Just a lot of talk of where babies come out. You can imagine the ewwws I get every time I explain it. Hilarious!

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bombs away

Here’s some awesome sledding video from our trip to Washington. Where it gets really interesting is at about 1:50. Adam’s true colors shine through. I love being married to this guy!!!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yuklsai0Ps8

Adam uploaded all of our sledding videos here.

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baptism de ezzy

Ezzy–we participated in your baptism this month. We are so proud of you for making the decision to follow Jesus. Lately, you are consistently the first one to remind the other kids when they have forgotten a prayer at the table. You are maturing before our eyes, physically and mentally, and we are so pleased with what we see. Your face glows with happiness and love. You take your responsibility as the oldest girl very seriously. You are almost always the first to offer assistance and to help me and the other children. We are privileged to have you in our home.

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Ezzy wore my baptism dress. A splish of Oxyclean and a splash of vinegar later….a perfectly white dress that fit her perfectly. It brought me great joy to pull the dress out of my hope chest–like a dream that I never thought would be realized.

I remember standing in my grandmother’s bedroom as she and my mom dressed me for my own baptism some 25 years ago. It was my eighth birthday, and I had just gotten a perm and pierced ears as presents from grandma. Mom worked so hard to sew my dress and to have it ready for me. She also crafted a small box for my new earings. It had a rainbow design across with a blue piece of yarn that secured the box in place. I remember it as though it were yesterday–wishing desperately that Ezzy’s great-grandma was still here. The picture of Grandma Penning doing Ezzy’s hair is that much sweeter to me because of my memories.

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Thank you to everyone who took the time to attend and support this special event in our daughter’s life. It is a day that will stay with her for the rest of her life, as mine has with me. These are the things that matter most to us, and we are so grateful to have such a broad circle of influence around our family.

Thanks for flying, Grandma and Grandpa Penning!

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flyin’ by

Ezzy’s eighth year is going so fast. She started attending Activity Days. One of her first activities was a Daddy Daughter Dinner. How cool is it that she has a daddy to take her?

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October always bring Fall Conference to our home. It is one of only two times a year that we intentionally stay home for church–glorious internet. The kids did awesome. They sat through all four sessions of conference while coloring ties and pictures of the speakers, and writing down the main themes of each talk. What a difference a year makes when it comes to communication, right?

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I started exercising again today. Yeah, it was only a mile walk. But I also went out and walked with the kids later in the day too. Maybe my motivation is slowly returning. It would be really good for it to hit around the holidays. Perhaps it will stave off extreme amounts of weight gain due to even more extreme amounts of consumed peanut brittle and sugar cookies. :)

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got family?

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Since my entire immediate family planned to come down the end of March, we jumped at the chance to update our group family photo. I think it turned out great for a somewhat spur of the moment, in the midst of chaos, and set the timer and run kind of picture. Here are some other snaps that turned out.

We also took a quick photo with Adam’s family a few months ago. We posted those on the photo site awhile ago, and I finally got my sweet husband to post them in the blog gallery. It makes me super happy when I see the pictures of all of the grandkids together. I LOVE IT. Hopefully, we will be able to add more to the chaos in the future.

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*thanks for the letting us borrow the lighting equipment, Val*

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for better or worse

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I am not really sure what to write. Unfamiliar territory. I always envisioned ONE temple sealing–my marriage to Adam. Although we talked about adoption very early on, even as we dated, I never considered the possibility of participating in another sealing.

Adam and I decided to go to the temple a little early so that we could have some quiet time to reflect before the event. Our assigned helpers were floored that we managed to arrive early with four children in tow. “Usually families are late, never early…” Okay, so we had a little incentive to arrive early. 1. our house was crawling with loved ones and 2. we knew we could drop the kids in the nursery and head to the cafeteria. Adam munched on a cinnamon roll while I blubbered on about our kids.

What did I feel? Joy. Humility. Wonder. Overwhelmed by the sea of loved ones who graced the sealing room. Grateful for the deepened sense of solidarity I felt between Adam and I.

What is the temple sealing all about? It is about binding families together forever. We do not believe in “until death do you part,” but instead in “time and all eternity.” It is about exactness, honor, and glory. Temple worship is also about conducting our lives in a way complementary to the Savior’s–trying our best to emulate his teachings, his example, and his goodness.

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This picture is almost everyone that was able to attend. There are also many more loved ones and friends that were unable to enter the temple, but who were just as supportive and attentive to our family. We thank you all for your kindness and your support of our children. The ninos’ journey has only just begun, and I already see small miracles coming to pass.

I know that many adoptive families (not all) struggle with Doubting Thomases in their midst. I know that they struggle with the varying levels of support and concern from different family members and friends inside their circles of influence. I am not saying that our own people didn’t think we were crazy. Some did. Heck, we were among them at times! But we knew this adoption was meant to be from the moment we finally decided to go forward in October 2007–and we have felt nothing but joy and unconditional love since.

Go here for more sealing pictures.

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and the gathering begins…

Our weekend of celebration with family and friends started Friday night with Daniel’s baptism. Due to scheduling issues, we held the baptism in our friends’pool. Well, actually in the hottub. (Thank you for heating it, Jeremy) Our guests were very very patient as we waited for my family’s plane to arrive. They were delayed in Seattle for 1.5 hours, which delayed the baptism until 8:30. Thank you, thank you, for being patient and flexible. We fed our guests some yumminess while we waited, which helped. :) Who says you can’t have dessert first?

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The talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost were given in Spanish–thanks Uncles Robert and Seth. Adam baptized Danny (in Spanish), Grandpa McCracken and Uncle Mike were the baptismal witnesses, and Uncle Brian confirmed him. The grandmas said the opening and closing prayers. A special thanks to Mark Stewart for not only conducting the baptism, but also presiding over the children’s blessings on Sunday. My sweet girlfriends, Jaime Lynne, Jena, and Valerie, took care of the music, the program, and the delicious mini cheesecakes and other desserts that night. They outdid themselves as usual!

Danny was ecstatic about the evening!!!

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Daniel, we are so proud of you. You are clever and warm-hearted. You are amiable and sensitive. You try your best at everything you do, and your sweet smile melts my heart. Right now, your favorite things are climbing, baseball, and scouts. Oh, and how can we forget the Wii. Thank you for giving us the chance to be your parents, and to teach you about the Savior.

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happy 33rd to me

6350YUMMY peanut butter cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory.  My mom and dad were in town on business during the week of my birthday so Adam and I were lucky enough to spend the evening out with both sets of our parents. I had the Luau salad, as usual. And we ordered the Factory Nachos as a starter. Does food get any better? Thanks again, mom and dad, for treating us. And Thank You–Angelina and Emily–for watching the kids–and for the scrumptious cupcakes. They were so cute, I didn’t want to eat them.

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So becoming a mother is the only goal I wasn’t able to reach in my 25-30 five year plan. Instead of one healthy baby, I mourned three losses. Somehow, even at 33, I am still insanely jealous of those who reach that same goal. I think it is simply because I am used to doing whatever I say I am going to do. In that respect, not bearing children has been a completely humbling experience for me. And yet, I am still jealous. I guess I have a ways to go in the perfection department.

There were some momentous positives to my before 30 plan. I got married, traveled to five more countries, and finished my masters degree. All things I am extremely proud of, and grateful for. So at 33 I am left wondering, why didn’t I make a new five year plan at 30? I am all about goal-making and attaining. I think fertility and adoption took over my life for awhile, and it was difficult to focus on anything else. I am now resolved to have a two year plan. I will post the results when I am finished contemplating.

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my cart overfloweth

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Total Value: $254.00

Total Saved: $157.88

Total Out of Pocket: $97.00

Savings Percentage: 62%

# of items:75

Total price/item: $1.29

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Armed with coupons, and a Grocery Smarts list, off to Albertson’s Adam and I went for our Friday night date:) And boy, did we have a blast. Once again, I walked out ecstatic. My heart was pounding with pride as I watched the $1 coupons roll off the already discounted items. What a feeling. I never knew that saving money could be so addictive. I am hooked!

Since we were there so late (10:00 p.m. on a Friday), the checker was more than friendly and didn’t mind that I divided my purchases into FOUR transactions. I did that so I could save $20 instead of $5 using the Albertson’s current promo. And after hearing our adoption story, she was even more wonderful. She is actually the same lady that helped me last week when I used my first ever coupon. Anyway, she gave us two helpful hints that I thought I would pass along:

1. The butcher block– they puts left over ground beef out every night at 9 p.m. for $1.50…that’s a steal from the butcher block.

2. Pizza Fridays–apparently all frozen pizzas are discounted by 16% every Friday, even the ones already on sale. Who knew? (well, probably all of you, but not me.)

I am so grateful Adam was there–he couponed like a champ finding soda cheaper than we were expecting–he helped divide everything up, and he was very patient with me. I about jumped out of my newfound frugal skin when he wanted to try a box of off-brand cocoa krispies. Yeah, it was $3.00. You’ll notice from the picture that he got his cereal–because I L-O-V-E him.

 And for all you friendly nay-sayers out there–Yes, I know there is a lot of “sugar” on the table–I realize this. But we are stockpiling soda for our family get together the end of March. Four of the bottles are Mountain Dew, and they are all for my brother-in-law, Brian. If you are coming, you’ll have to ask him if he will share. :) He has always been so stingy and all–never sharing any of his good fortune with the rest of us, right? The massive amounts of fruit snacks and granola bars were also on my hit list–just because I’m now a mommy doesn’t mean I want to lose my “coolest aunt” status with my nieces and nephews.

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not so “quick care”

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Before the head staples!!!

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After the head staples!!!

Adam wasn’t home from San Antonio but 10 minutes when the boys decided that wrestling on the stairs was a good idea. Hello!!! Wompy knocked his head (where Danny had already given him a goose egg on Halloween) on the corner of the banister–leaving a giant splotch of blood on the moulding.

Needless to say, instead of Sunday napping, we spent a few hours finding a Quick Care that took our insurance and then getting Juan P. treated. We are really proud of his bravery though. He didn’t cry when he brought a handful of blood down to me, nor did he cry during the stapleing procedure.

And he’s so stinkin’ cute that the doctor gave him TWO dulces. Yummy!

***the ouchies on the front of his head were for something the day before–oh, the five year old. :)***