Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is a day that I will never take for granted! It is a day of many emotions for me, and at the end of the day, I find myself counting my blessings!

My first blessing I count is my dear angel mother. I was her ninth child born (out of ten), and I always grew up knowing that I was her favorite. (I still think that, even though I'm sure that my nine siblings think the same thing!) I can't say enough about her great example she has been and continues to be to me and so many others. She has unwavering faith in Jesus Christ, and is a very valiant woman. She is not afraid to share the gospel with anyone and everyone she meets at any time, whether she is shopping, traveling or exercising in the swimming pool. She is funny and warm and a very comfortable person to be with. I miss her so much and often wish we lived closer to "home" so I could bask in her love and friendship more often. I pray that I can be the woman she is.

My second blessing I count is my dear Mother-in-law. I have no doubt that she loves me and totally accepts me in our family. She is also very valiant and has an unwavering testimony of the Gospel. She raised her four children to be strong, hardworking, smart, loving, and totally dedicated to family and the gospel. I am the recipient of her dedication as a mother through my wonderful husband.

My third blessing that I count is my many childless years full of longing and heartache. You may wonder why I count this time in my life as a blessing. Well, during that time, I didn't see it as a blessing. It was too difficult. Every year on Mother's Day, I would cry many tears, often wanting this holiday to pass quickly. I prayed many prayers pleading for the great blessing of being a mother....wasn't that a righteous desire? I now see much growth in myself from that time of heartache. I also know how to help others who are feeling the same way. Isn't that exactly what trials are for? So we can learn how to succor others in their trials. I can finally say with certainty that this trial has been a blessing in my life. The longing and heartache will never go away, but I can now see the blessings associated with it.

My fourth blessings I count are my two beautiful children! I have two children that fill my heart with laughter, sunshine, curiosity, art, music, tears, work, giggling, tickling, stories, cuddling, hugging, kissing, cleaning up after, teaching and learning from. Rachel and Daniel are the joys of my life, and I will forever be grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with the two best children in the world! I love being a mother and learning from these two children who are so valiant and strong and talented. I loved sitting in church today with my children and my husband sitting close and snuggling together. I love being a mom!!!!

My fifth blessing I count today are the two precious birth mothers who gave the greatest sacrifice that can be given. Stephanie and Jeniffer gave us Rachel and Daniel in the most unselfish gift that I have ever received! These two mothers will forever be in my prayers of gratitude. I can never repay this gift in this life! The best I can do is to never take for granted the gift they gave me. I am trying to enjoy every day with my children. They are my most precious gifts and I thank these two women for sharing their lives with me.

I truly have many blessings! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!

The Best Part of May!!!

STRAWBERRIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY JAM!!!!!!!!!!!! Need I say more?

TIMBER!!!!

OK, so we chopped down three trees! What's the big deal? We are re-doing our backyard, and these trees HAD to go! They are Liquid Amber trees and they drop "pokies" all over the yard. Also, the roots are taking over the backyard and lifting up the patio. It was quite a scary process chopping down three very tall trees...(I was praying the whole time that no one would get hurt and there would be no damage to home or property. Thank goodness for our good friend and neighbor Russ for his expertise and help! Here are some pictures of the event.

Soon, even those lovely stumps will be gone!!! Then on to glorious grass!!!!!

Spring Break!!!! (Finally!)

Well, I'm finally posting about our fabulous Spring Break trip! Last week, we packed up and drove to Southern California for a week of sun and fun. We left on Monday and drove to San Diego with a few stops along the way. We stopped at San Juan Capistrano Beach for some fun sand play. That was incredible for me because when I was a teenager, my parents rented a beach house right on that very beach three different summers. I haven't been back there for many years (I won't say how many because it makes me sound old!!!:) We walked down the beach until I found the right one. It was such a beautiful day, and the kids had lots of fun playing in the water and sand.
We then continued South until we came to the San Diego Temple. WOW! It is so beautiful! The grounds should have been closed because it was Monday, but there was a lone security guard there and he let us in. We were able to walk around and enjoy the beauty of that place for about half an hour. When we left, he locked up and it was closed.
Tuesday dawned bright and sunny (different than what the forecast called for!) We spent the day at Sea World! It was such an amazing day! We got to see the Dolphin Discovery show, The Shamu Show Believe, Pets Rule show, and at night we saw Shamu Rocks! It was awesome! We sat in the "soak zone" for each show, but we didn't get wet! Oh well. We also saw all the exhibits and went on all the rides.

For lunch, we had tickets for the Dine With Shamu meal which was amazing! We ate right around the whales pool, and they came right up to where we sat. We got to ask questions and talk to the trainers. The food was pretty good, too! All in all, our favorite part of the day was Shamu!!! We think he rocks!!!!

On Wednesday, we headed on over to the fabulous San Diego Zoo. We started the day off with the bus tour of the whole park. That gave us the scope of the place, and helped us figure out what places we wanted to see again. We got plenty of exercise walking around this gigantic zoo! We loved taking the tram that went over the park, and we loved seeing the baby cheetahs. By 3:00 we had seen just about everything and we were wiped out! We headed back to the hotel and rested up and then swam in the pool. It felt great!

On Thursday, we spent the day at the Wild Animal Park. That is an amazing place! We also took the guided bus tour and were able to see the animals in their natural habitat, without cages. My favorite were the huge lions that were very close, and the cheetahs. We felt like we were in Africa on a safari. We also saw two shows - Frequent Flyers which high-lighted some of the park's amazing birds, and Animal Encounters that showed a variety of different animals with their trainers. One of the highlights of our day was the Butterfly Jungle. This is a big enclosure filled with all kinds of beautiful butterflies - large and small - with every color! As you walked around they would land on you, coming and going quietly. It was amazing! We all got at least one butterfly on us, but Rachel got two that would not leave her - one on her hat, and one on her back. She walked around for quite awhile with these two. Finally one of the workers had to remove them for her so we could leave. We all loved it!

On Friday, we went back to Sea World and did all our favorites again! This time for Shamu's show, we sat in the soak zone where we knew we would get wet! This time we weren't disappointed! We got a really good splash! We also saw the Sea Lions show which was fun, and went on the Sea World Sky Tower. After doing some shopping and getting our souvenirs, we headed out of town around 3:00. We left for home and arrived around 10:30 at night. We were tired and happy to be home after a very full, exciting week!

We loved this vacation for many reasons! Of course, being together for an entire week without the stress and busyness of everyday life was great! But we were also reminded of the endless creations that we have been blessed with on this earth! Not only the numerous animals, but also flowers and plants throughout the parks that were varied and beautiful! We are so grateful to Heavenly Father for allowing us to experience so many of His creations in such a beautiful place! This was definitely a memorable trip!!!

Mini Vacation!

Last week, we took a little trip up north. We spent three days in Fairfield, California for some appointments. We had a great time together! We stayed in a hotel with a "heated" pool (yea, right!) I was the only smart one in the bunch who decided to sit it out and stay warm!

We also visited the Jelly Belly Factory! That is a cool place! It is candy heaven! They have lots of other candy they make there...not just jelly beans. We loved the Volkswagen Bug with jelly beans all over it! We escaped with bags of candy!

We also had the great opportunity to stop over in Petaluma and see the hospital where Rachel was born. This really meant a lot to her, knowing that her birth mother was there at some point. She has strong feelings about connecting with her past, and this helped a little being able to see where she was born.

We also visited some very special people in our lives. Mark and Sharon Spaulding, who were Rachel's foster parents for the first three months of her life. These dear people took such good care of her as a baby, and we are so grateful for their love! The last time we saw them was when we adopted Rachel ten years ago. What an amazing experience it was to see these people again and remember that exciting time in our lives when we became parents. Rachel has always felt very strongly about them, even though she didn't know them. They made a special scrapbook for Rachel of her first three months of life, which we are so grateful for. Rachel has looked at that book numerous times throughout her life, and was so excited to be able to see these dear people again. We wouldn't have any pictures of Rachel as a newborn if not for them.

They took us out to dinner at a favorite pizza place, which we all enjoyed! It was like sitting with dear friends. We feel like we have known these people all of our lives!

This trip brought our family closer together in many ways, and we truly saw the Lord's hand in our family's life. There are so many people that come and go in our lives. Impressions are always made, whether good or bad, and I am so grateful for all the deep impressions left in my heart of so many wonderful friends who have always been there for me!