Happiness

It looks like we'll be waiting for two more months to do foster care. It may be a good thing after all.  The kids will be in school- already having established a schedule- and it will not be as super hot. Sometimes Heavenly Father really knows what is best for you. Ok- He knows what's best for you ALL the time- sometimes it just takes a little (or a lot) of patience on our side!

  We lost our niece Charlotte 4 years ago today. We love her and miss her and think of her often.  Molly and Charlotte I don't think that I have shared Charlotte's story with you all.  Charlotte was born healthy and happy- the 4th child of my twin sister Molly. There was no indication that anything was wrong physically. She grew and matured, eating and sleeping as a baby would. When she was about 9 or 10 months old- and I may be wrong about this age- she would get sick and would stay sick longer than usual. The first indication that I had that something was wrong came when she was about 13 months old. My Mom called and said that Charlotte had not eaten for several days and that she was not walking very much. I knew something was wrong. In June of 2009 we had a Hulihan Family Reunion at two rented houses in Utah, north of Salt Lake. The first night we got there I saw Charlotte. At 16 months, she was laying calmly in someone's arms as her Mother fed h...

   My Family: David is in the top row on the left I'm back again because today is my brother David's Birthday!! Happy Birthday, David! We love you and are so happy that you are in our family!   We've been picking up things here and there for our foster baby. Mostly gender neutral things as well. We haven't set up our crib, as the baby will sleep in our pack n play for the first few days and we're not sure if a baby boy can sleep in the same room as Elizabeth (because of opposite genders). Here is a stuffed Koala (which will travel with baby in they are reunited with their Parents/ new family)and a new fitted sheet (ours are old, stretched out and stained since we used them until they were 3 in a toddler bed). They have such cute things since Asher was a baby almost 7 years ago!  New cloth diapers to be used as burp rags- especially since we'll be using formula the whole time (a completely new thing for me), new washcloths and soap, binkies (age nb-...

Ok. I've been blogging a bit, but I have one more post and then I'll be done for a little while.  Some people have asked me how the fostering is coming along. We are so close. It's been hard not talk about it all the time, because I usually want to blog about everything, but I have been checking with Josh first and he tends to be a bit more reserved than I. We had our home inspection by the OLRC the Thursday before we left on our trip (the 6th). I was super nervous, but everything went really well. The lady was nice and really thorough. There was a long list of things we needed to have done. We passed on everything except for a few things- 3 fire alarms needed new batteries, our pool gate needed to be self closing (just a twist of the wrench) and one new medicine in the fridge needed to be locked up. We have one final interview left, that includes interviews with the kids and the signing of paperwork. We had it scheduled for this past Tuesday (18th) and I was so look...

  After visiting with my family, we headed up to Paso Robles, CA, where Josh's Parents and 2 sisters live for an Abbott family reunion. Everyone was able to be there except Josh's youngest brother Ben and his wife Barbara, whom we missed greatly! There were around 54 people there. Quite a crowd! But a fun crowd at that!  The First day we met at a park for dinner and took family pictures (those are to come). The second day we went to Star Farms- a local lake complete with a sandy beaches, kayaks, a platform to dive off of, an in-ground trampoline, picnic tables, a big bbq, hammocks and big palmy umbrellas. We spent almost the whole day there and it was a great place for our whole family to be. It felt like Heaven- having everyone together, warm weather, good food and fun activities to do!   Josh kayaking with Asher  Braden! Check out those palm trees!  Little Brian, who lives in Hawaii and we hadn't met before. So cute!  Eli...

We recently returned from a 10 day trip to California. We went for the purpose of an Abbott Family Reunion but we also saw some of my side of the family as well.  On the way there, up to Paso Robles, we stopped at my Parents house in Victorville on Friday and stayed Friday and Saturday night. We went to the Mojave River (mostly a large stream, walked down it and caught some crawdads. The kids had a blast! On Sunday we stopped by Larissa's, went to Church with them and had a yummy lunch. We drove down to Uncle Doug's and Aunt Sheelah's and went out to Giovanni's for pizza. We spent Sunday there and then went to the beach Monday. The kids loved it and they loved boogie boarding. By the time we got to Paso on Tuesday we were so excited to see everyone although a bit worn out from staying up late chatting with family. Maybe next time we won't try to do so much at once. But, it was worth it. Part 2- Abbott Reunion- coming up! Coco, Jonah and Cash playing a game...

   Larissa and me, after Church, this past week We've been out of town at Family Reunion in CA, but we are back now and on our normal routine and schedule . Happy Birthday, Larissa! You are 34! How the time flies! We love you so much and are so grateful to know you and to be blessed with you in our lives. So grateful that we get to be family! Hope your day is wonderfully awesome!

  My Dad and Baby Quincy, last June 2012 Today is my Dad's 63rd Birthday. Happy Birthday, DAD! We have a lot of June Birthdays in our family (4 out of 8) and his birthday starts off the festivities. I'm SO glad we get to visit him close to his birthday and wish him a happy one in person! My Dad Loving Kind Hardworking Noble Valiant  Unselfish Amazing Fun Loving Tender Caring Lover of Kids Lover of Reading Lover of Music Counselor Swimmer  Artist Husband Father  Amazing. We love you, Dad!!!

  The kids' school did a class talent show. Here is Jonah's class getting ready to start. They sang and danced to "I got th e Power" while their teachers (it was 2 classes) shook their h eads. It was pretty funny. Jonah didn't dance at all, he mostly just hung out on the stage. Next t o him are his really good friends Isaac and And rew. He was in the same class la st year with them.   Ethan's class san g and danced to "Let's Go Surfin' Now". Ethan danced as much as he could on stage and had a blast!   The Third Graders all brought home Poetry Books. This was my favorite of Ethan's - even though it's crooked. He describes him self perfectly!     Ethan and Jonah went to Cub Scout Day Camp last Fri da y and S aturday. They came home with some pretty cool crafts! Jonah in a knight hat- Ethan didn't want to make one.     Jonah with the pool noodle sword they made. They used pv c pipe for the i nside to make it more s...

As a soon to be Foster Parent, but not as much as a current Parent, I am somewhat hesitant to blog about the depression I feel sometimes. And as I have to put some bacon in the oven and grill (Ge orge Foreman style) some chicken for our Super Chicken Sala ds for dinner , I wi ll try to write quickly. As most of you know, I have Bipolar Disorder. It was di agnosed 4+ years ago and since then I have been doing super well. I am pretty normal. I am stable. I take my 1 med . regularly and rejoice that I don't have to deal with many R xs, side effects or high costs. I have a wonderful support group of Josh, my immediate family and friends I can chat with. For the past year or so, I have gotten depressed for 2 hours a day- from 3-5 pm - a lmost every day. I can feel it coming on- a sense of foreboding - and it permeates my afternoon.  I am able to do the normal, same things- help the kids with their homework, unload the dishwasher, read, blog. But, the re is a de pressi on u...