This is actually a baby blanket so hopefully it will get some use before the football season is over:)
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Game Day Ready....
So I have been meaning to make a USC quilt for a while and finally finished one! So USC's first game is on Thursday against Hawaii! Now we are game day ready!
This is actually a baby blanket so hopefully it will get some use before the football season is over:)
This is actually a baby blanket so hopefully it will get some use before the football season is over:) 
Friday, August 27, 2010
Back to work..
For the past month or so, I have not worked at the pilates studio because of everything that happened with the failed adoption. I have the most amazing boss, and when everything went down, she was so supportive and told me to take off as much time as I needed. Honestly, how many of us have boss's like that? Thanks Kristie! Anyway, I start teaching again next week and I am so excited! Our clients are awesome and I have made such amazing friends from working at the pilates studio. I thought I would post some pictures of our studio because a lot of people ask me what pilates is or what kind of apparatus we use. Here is also the link to the Pilates Body website: http://pilatesbodyutah.com/
Reformers, MVE's, Cadillac, Wunda Chair
Reformers, MVE's, Cadillac, Wunda Chair
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Run, Run, and Run some more...
So my remedy for anything lately is to run, run, and run some more. Somehow, running seems to draw out all of the disappointment and tears of trying to adopt. I also love it! The extra motivation has been good for me lately because my mom, sister, and I are running a 1/2 marathon in October. Anyway, the funny thing that I was getting at was that tonight I went up to the track to run with Keiko. The sprinklers were going and she loves to try to bite the spraying water, which usually hits her in the face. Well, it was pretty hot and so I took her over to the sprinklers so she could try to get some water. I was timing it just right when so we didn't get nailed by the sprinklers, but Keiko got so excited that she started running and I didn't realize how wet it was and I slipped. My sunglasses fell off and I face planted it into the water. I was soaking wet and then we got nailed by the sprinkler. After we got back on the track out of the water, I had to call Ron immediately so he could laugh with me. I really wish I could post a video of tonight's episode to see how hilarious I looked, but I am sure there will be other occasions:)
Here is a different video of Keiko instead.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Our adoption letter
Our online profile sometimes goes offline, so we thought we would post our adoption letter on our blog and also Ron just made a website for us so that our profiles are always accessible. We are still working on the website:) Thanks! Here is our link: http://web.me.com/rjs46/Meet_Ron_and_Darcee
Dear Friends,
We want to first express our appreciation and love to you for taking the time to get to know our family a little better as you begin to explore your options at this time. Although you have not met us yet, we have spent many nights praying for you. We are filled with love and admiration for you because of the choices you are making at this time. We have strong testimonies that each of our Heavenly Father's children has infinite worth and we hope that you feel His love throughout this journey. We pray that Heavenly Father will give you extra strength and peace as you make decisions that will bless you and your sweet baby.
A little about us:
We both come from loving families that are very supportive in our decision to adopt. We have seen firsthand the miracle of adoption as Darcee's sister had the opportunity to become a mom and adopt a baby girl in December. We will be forever grateful for the courage and love the birth mom demonstrated as she was able to place her baby with Darcee's sister. We know it was not by chance or coincidence, but that our Heavenly Father's hand was involved in the placement of our new beautiful niece.
We have both planned and prepared throughout our lives for marriage and children. When life doesn't turn out the way we planned, our Heavenly Father has something even better in store for us. On this journey toward parenthood, we have learned much and had a lot of fun together. Ron has earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree and Darcee has obtained her degree in Respiratory Therapy. We love to be active--Darcee enjoys running, swimming, pilates, and soccer, and Ron plays racquetball, volleyball, frisbee, soccer, or whatever. We have been learning Japanese and it has been SO funny trying to understand each other. We hope to go on a mission in about 30 years so hopefully we will be fluent in a second language by then:)
Darcee: I want to tell you a little bit about my amazing husband. I never thought I could be so happy and laugh so much with someone. Since the first time I met Ron, I have been amazed by his selfless service and his love for his family. I remember when we just started dating, Ron teared up a little bit when he was telling me about his sisters. He has always treated the women in his life with the highest respect and love. I really do get treated like a Queen! Ron loves to learn! He has told me on multiple occasions how he loved every minute of dental school and he continues to go back to USC to teach and learn. Not only does he love to learn about things pertaining to his career, but he loves learning about anything that will benefit our family. Ron loves to serve and is always serving our family and neighbors with anything that he can. Ron is incredible with kids and I have always loved to watch him interact with children. I remember when we were first dating and my five nieces dressed him up as a princess and he had a tea party with them. He is also the uncle that plays basketball and wrestles with the boys, and is always making them laugh. The greatest thing that I love about Ron is his solid testimony of our Savior. It was one of the first things that impressed me when we were dating and continues to impress me everyday. He truly lives what he believes and our marriage has been blessed with so much love, peace, and happiness. Ron is such an amazing person and I am so excited for the precious child that will know him as their father and be able to feel the love and happiness that he brings into my life.
Ron: Well, falling in love with Darcee was pretty easy. Anyone who has ever met Darcee has fallen in love with her in 5 minutes or less. At church I spend half of my time receiving compliments from other people about how great my wife is. She has blessed the lives of all the young women she worked with, and the primary girls she is teaching now. She is keenly aware of the needs of others--there are many people that she isn't called to teach but she still notices their needs and helps them. When we first got married I was out working in the yard and it was a pretty quiet Saturday. Our next door neighbors have 10 kids, but that morning I hadn't seen any of them. A while later, Darcee came outside and was helping in the yard, and all of a sudden there were 4 or 5 of the neighbor kids all following her around the yard in a row. It was definitely a funny sight, but that was just the first of many times that I noticed Darcee's aptitude for children. They just seem to have an instinct that they will love being around her. Darcee is a great missionary - she shares her testimony of the gospel with devotion and sincerity. She tries harder than anyone I have met to live the way she feels Heavenly Father wants her to. A few months ago when I got a new calling I was set apart by our Stake President. During the blessing he said that I had "chosen very well" speaking of my wife. I definitely know that, but it was nice to hear it from the Lord.
Darcee's family is a lot of fun to be around. We get along with both sides of extended family very well and have soaked up the traditions of both families. On New Year's day we go to her dad's house and he teaches us how to make traditional Japanese foods--well, mostly I just eat the traditional Japanese foods, but Darcee learns how to make them. She has become quite a Sushi chef lately. There is a lot of variety in our families, and they are all such great people.
About 15 or 20 years ago when I was still a kid, the Spirit started guiding me toward adoption. So for many years, I have planned to adopt some or all of the children in my family. Darcee comes from a family of 4 kids, and I from a family of 6. Even before we were married, Darcee and I discussed adoption because we knew that there was a good chance that we wouldn't be able to get pregnant, but we want a large family. We have both felt the Spirit confirm that this is Heavenly Father's plan for our family, and we are very excited about it.
Again, we are truly grateful for you taking the time to learn more about us. We look forward to meeting and getting to know you also. After meeting several adoptive families and birth mothers with open relationships, we prayed about what would be best for our family. We feel very comfortable with an open adoption. We look forward to exchanging emails, letters, pictures, etc. with you and to begin to have an open and warm relationship. Our hearts are truly full of love and admiration for the choices you are making and continue to pray that our Heavenly Father will be with you every step of the way!
Much love,
Ron & Darcee
Dear Friends,
We want to first express our appreciation and love to you for taking the time to get to know our family a little better as you begin to explore your options at this time. Although you have not met us yet, we have spent many nights praying for you. We are filled with love and admiration for you because of the choices you are making at this time. We have strong testimonies that each of our Heavenly Father's children has infinite worth and we hope that you feel His love throughout this journey. We pray that Heavenly Father will give you extra strength and peace as you make decisions that will bless you and your sweet baby.
A little about us:
We both come from loving families that are very supportive in our decision to adopt. We have seen firsthand the miracle of adoption as Darcee's sister had the opportunity to become a mom and adopt a baby girl in December. We will be forever grateful for the courage and love the birth mom demonstrated as she was able to place her baby with Darcee's sister. We know it was not by chance or coincidence, but that our Heavenly Father's hand was involved in the placement of our new beautiful niece.
We have both planned and prepared throughout our lives for marriage and children. When life doesn't turn out the way we planned, our Heavenly Father has something even better in store for us. On this journey toward parenthood, we have learned much and had a lot of fun together. Ron has earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree and Darcee has obtained her degree in Respiratory Therapy. We love to be active--Darcee enjoys running, swimming, pilates, and soccer, and Ron plays racquetball, volleyball, frisbee, soccer, or whatever. We have been learning Japanese and it has been SO funny trying to understand each other. We hope to go on a mission in about 30 years so hopefully we will be fluent in a second language by then:)
Darcee: I want to tell you a little bit about my amazing husband. I never thought I could be so happy and laugh so much with someone. Since the first time I met Ron, I have been amazed by his selfless service and his love for his family. I remember when we just started dating, Ron teared up a little bit when he was telling me about his sisters. He has always treated the women in his life with the highest respect and love. I really do get treated like a Queen! Ron loves to learn! He has told me on multiple occasions how he loved every minute of dental school and he continues to go back to USC to teach and learn. Not only does he love to learn about things pertaining to his career, but he loves learning about anything that will benefit our family. Ron loves to serve and is always serving our family and neighbors with anything that he can. Ron is incredible with kids and I have always loved to watch him interact with children. I remember when we were first dating and my five nieces dressed him up as a princess and he had a tea party with them. He is also the uncle that plays basketball and wrestles with the boys, and is always making them laugh. The greatest thing that I love about Ron is his solid testimony of our Savior. It was one of the first things that impressed me when we were dating and continues to impress me everyday. He truly lives what he believes and our marriage has been blessed with so much love, peace, and happiness. Ron is such an amazing person and I am so excited for the precious child that will know him as their father and be able to feel the love and happiness that he brings into my life.
Ron: Well, falling in love with Darcee was pretty easy. Anyone who has ever met Darcee has fallen in love with her in 5 minutes or less. At church I spend half of my time receiving compliments from other people about how great my wife is. She has blessed the lives of all the young women she worked with, and the primary girls she is teaching now. She is keenly aware of the needs of others--there are many people that she isn't called to teach but she still notices their needs and helps them. When we first got married I was out working in the yard and it was a pretty quiet Saturday. Our next door neighbors have 10 kids, but that morning I hadn't seen any of them. A while later, Darcee came outside and was helping in the yard, and all of a sudden there were 4 or 5 of the neighbor kids all following her around the yard in a row. It was definitely a funny sight, but that was just the first of many times that I noticed Darcee's aptitude for children. They just seem to have an instinct that they will love being around her. Darcee is a great missionary - she shares her testimony of the gospel with devotion and sincerity. She tries harder than anyone I have met to live the way she feels Heavenly Father wants her to. A few months ago when I got a new calling I was set apart by our Stake President. During the blessing he said that I had "chosen very well" speaking of my wife. I definitely know that, but it was nice to hear it from the Lord.
Darcee's family is a lot of fun to be around. We get along with both sides of extended family very well and have soaked up the traditions of both families. On New Year's day we go to her dad's house and he teaches us how to make traditional Japanese foods--well, mostly I just eat the traditional Japanese foods, but Darcee learns how to make them. She has become quite a Sushi chef lately. There is a lot of variety in our families, and they are all such great people.
About 15 or 20 years ago when I was still a kid, the Spirit started guiding me toward adoption. So for many years, I have planned to adopt some or all of the children in my family. Darcee comes from a family of 4 kids, and I from a family of 6. Even before we were married, Darcee and I discussed adoption because we knew that there was a good chance that we wouldn't be able to get pregnant, but we want a large family. We have both felt the Spirit confirm that this is Heavenly Father's plan for our family, and we are very excited about it.
Again, we are truly grateful for you taking the time to learn more about us. We look forward to meeting and getting to know you also. After meeting several adoptive families and birth mothers with open relationships, we prayed about what would be best for our family. We feel very comfortable with an open adoption. We look forward to exchanging emails, letters, pictures, etc. with you and to begin to have an open and warm relationship. Our hearts are truly full of love and admiration for the choices you are making and continue to pray that our Heavenly Father will be with you every step of the way!
Much love,
Ron & Darcee
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Need a dentist?
BBQ
Last saturday we had a BBQ at my mom's house and it was so much fun! I love my famil and we had so much fun together! Ron was in California teaching his last course at USC for the summer so he was not able to be in our water balloon fight.
We had a water balloon fight and Kennedy was trying to get me wet.
Kennedy, Kaiya, and Kelsey.... SO cute!
Casey was so funny! He put on this old police helmet with a visor and Kennedy was chasing Casey with water balloons! This picure below was how Casey defended himself!
I am not sure what is going on in this picture below, but Kaiya is sitting on Casey:)
I love my family!
Casey was the entertainer of the night! One of the girls put a mask on him as he was playing the guitar for us!
We had a water balloon fight and Kennedy was trying to get me wet.
Kennedy, Kaiya, and Kelsey.... SO cute!
Casey was so funny! He put on this old police helmet with a visor and Kennedy was chasing Casey with water balloons! This picure below was how Casey defended himself!
I am not sure what is going on in this picture below, but Kaiya is sitting on Casey:)
I love my family!
Casey was the entertainer of the night! One of the girls put a mask on him as he was playing the guitar for us!
I love where I grew up! I forget how pretty the backyard is! I loved the big open backyard and then the basketball court and trampoline are on the outside! One day I want to have a backyard like this!
Training Keiko..
A few weeks ago we bought Keiko a harness for pulling sleds in the winter time. We had to try it out and see how she liked it. Ron brought home a wagon one night and we had Keiko take our neighbor kids for a ride. The kids loved it as well as Keiko! 
Ron ran along side of Keiko to make sure she didn't go too fast and I think Keiko and Ron were pretty beat by the end of the night! Brooke and Dillon getting ready for a ride! We love the Rylands!
Ron ran along side of Keiko to make sure she didn't go too fast and I think Keiko and Ron were pretty beat by the end of the night! Brooke and Dillon getting ready for a ride! We love the Rylands!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Sushi anyone?
So I have felt bad since Ron's birthday on the 27th of July because we have not really celebrated his birthday. Karsen was here on his birthday and so we decided to postpone everything. Anyway, I finally surprised him with his birthday dinner......SUSHI! Ron loves sushi and could easily eat 5 rolls in one sitting. I am not a sushi chef by any means, but Ron likes my sushi and that has to count for something:)
Everytime I make sushi I am tempted to make a roll called the "Super Spicy Jensen." Which is a special roll that my brother Casey created last New Years Day. It was so funny! My brother in law had asked Casey to make him a roll and so we put tons of wasabi in it and called it the "Super Spicy Jensen." We laughed so hard when my brother in laws eyes started watering.
Back to Ron! I just have to say that I love my husband and he truly is such an amazing blessing in my life. Happy belated birthday Ron! I love you!
Everytime I make sushi I am tempted to make a roll called the "Super Spicy Jensen." Which is a special roll that my brother Casey created last New Years Day. It was so funny! My brother in law had asked Casey to make him a roll and so we put tons of wasabi in it and called it the "Super Spicy Jensen." We laughed so hard when my brother in laws eyes started watering.
Back to Ron! I just have to say that I love my husband and he truly is such an amazing blessing in my life. Happy belated birthday Ron! I love you!Babysitting Isla...
Yesterday, I watched my niece Isla for a while and it was a lot of fun! She is such a happy baby and so cute! A couple weeks ago, she tried out our piano for the first time and went crazy on it so now she loves playing the piano whenever she comes over.
I was so excited for Isla to tryout our little baby walker. I think for the first hour she was in it, she had an emotional overload:) So many things to play with and not enough hands. It is the coolest walker I have ever seen. One leg stays stationary and then the baby can walk in a circle.
Our sweet friend Kathy bought this walker for us at our baby shower and it is amazing. She said she bought this one because it had a family tree on it that you can put pictures in. SO cute! We are just waiting for our little baby to come so we can start our family tree! Thanks Kathy!!
Later that day, I took Isla for a walk in our new stroller. (Yes, I have to tryout everything!) I only walked down the street and back. A total of maybe .25 mile and two people stopped me to see if this was our new baby! I would claim her anyday, but I think my sister and her hubby kind of like her:) So I had to tell them our dissapointing news. Anyway, it was a fun day with my niece!
I was so excited for Isla to tryout our little baby walker. I think for the first hour she was in it, she had an emotional overload:) So many things to play with and not enough hands. It is the coolest walker I have ever seen. One leg stays stationary and then the baby can walk in a circle.
Our sweet friend Kathy bought this walker for us at our baby shower and it is amazing. She said she bought this one because it had a family tree on it that you can put pictures in. SO cute! We are just waiting for our little baby to come so we can start our family tree! Thanks Kathy!!
Later that day, I took Isla for a walk in our new stroller. (Yes, I have to tryout everything!) I only walked down the street and back. A total of maybe .25 mile and two people stopped me to see if this was our new baby! I would claim her anyday, but I think my sister and her hubby kind of like her:) So I had to tell them our dissapointing news. Anyway, it was a fun day with my niece!Friday, August 6, 2010
Moving forward....
I think we have been blessed very much to be able to move forward in faith toward our next adoption. When everything went down, Ron and I were thinking that InVitro wasn't sounding all that bad, but then we remembered some of the promptings we received in the beginning to adopt. I know our baby is out there and that we just need to be patient and be prepared for when he/she comes. It is difficult not knowing when our baby will come, but I know we will be parents soon. It feels good to go into the baby's room and feel like it is not Karsen's room anymore, but this baby that will be coming to our home. It stinks to again have to publish our profile online and wait, but nevertheless, we have and could use everyone's help! If you feel it helpful to share our profile with someone or direct them to our blog, we would really appreciate it! This is our information for our profile on itsaboutlove.org.
https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/24618073/ourMessage.jsf
Thanks again for all your love and support!
https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/24618073/ourMessage.jsf
Thanks again for all your love and support!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
My primary class...
I think I might have the cutest primary class in the world! Yesterday they gave me this bouquet of flowers with little notes from each of them. Definitely a pick me up! I love my calling and the girls in our class are amazing. They have the strongest testimonies and are beautiful outside and in. A little over a week ago, we had a little pizza party with the girls and I had not put the pictures up yet.We missed the girls that could not come! We had a lot of fun and they are amazing dancers! Thank you for the cute notes and I love you girls!
baby's room.....
I know a lot of people were wondering what the baby's room looked like, so I thought I would take a couple of pictures before I took back a bunch of the jungle stuff. The crib and dresser look black, but they are actually expresso. I also didn't get a chance to put up his jungle lettering I had made, but I still think it was pretty cute. I thought that if I took back his bedding and some of the jungle animal stuff I would feel better. What I didn't think of was that you actually have to go inside the baby stores to return your merchandise. Not the greatest idea! Anyway, I was going to buy a big jungle looking tree and this big giraffe that was at Cuddle Haven, but I guess I don't have to now. So, this is what his room started to look like. 
I didn't get a chance to organize the closet just yet:)
I didn't get a chance to organize the closet just yet:)
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