We have been chosen....

I have been a little hesitant to post anything about our expected adoption because you never know what unexpected things might happen, but in hopes that this will help others learn more about adoption, I would love to share our experiences. Also, it is amazing to feel Heavenly Father's hand bringing our babies safely to us. It is not by accident or chance that our girls are in our family. They each have a unique story and I feel that this baby has a unique story as well. We love her already and have felt her coming for quite a while now....... A little over 2 weeks ago, on a Wednesday night, our caseworker called me and told us that our profile was complete and that it was published online. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the adoption process (at least the process at LDSFS), before birth mothers can view your profile, you need to complete background checks, have an interview with your caseworker,home study,  complete 12 hours of adoption related online courses, complete online questions about your childhood, parenting technique, your marriage, your spouse's strengths and weaknesses, racial background, physical characteristics, schooling, etc. Anyway, there are lots and lots of questions. You also need to write a letter to the birth mother and put together a photo album. I think the average time it takes to complete your profile and have your profile published is 3-6 months.  So we were published around 9:00pm on Wednesday night and we were contacted by our birth mother on Friday night. I was so surprised when Ron called me and told me we had been contacted, but then when he told me about the baby and the birth mother, I felt the spirit very strong. We found out that the baby is a girl, the birth mother is of African descent, and that the baby is due Sept 30th. I had a little anxiety for about a minute with the baby coming soon, but I realized quickly that this is the baby and the birth mother I have been praying for for the past 7 months. About 7 months ago, before Nora turned 1, I started getting really strong feelings that as soon as Nora turned 1, we needed to start our paperwork again to adopt. I remember, at the first of February, I had a dream that we were adopting another baby girl and I woke up and told Ron that I felt like she was conceived and on her way to us. I continued to feel a sense of urgency to get our paperwork in  and I started to pray for this baby and her birth mother that I knew would be trying to figure out what to do. I prayed that this birth mother would be filled with the spirit and be guided to us. March is always a busy month for us with Nora's birthday on the 14th, our Anniversary on the 15th, and Reese's birthday on the 27th and so I was just busy planning birthday parties, while having bronchitis. I continued to feel that this baby that I wasn't sure was even real was growing and would be coming to our home soon. On May 21st, we met with our caseworker and started our paperwork again. On June 1st, we were notified that LDSFS would be changing their adoption program and if you were not in the system prior to June 1st, you would have to just wait until the new year to try the new adoption program that was mostly dealing with private adoptions, in which you would need to get your own lawyer. Anyway, we had met the deadline by about 1 week and so we could go forward and try to get our profile completed and try to be chosen by a birth mother by the end of the year. So knowing that we would only have a couple of months to get matched with a birth mother, we completed everything very quickly ( let me add that the average wait time with LDSFS to get matched with a birth mother is 2 years).

Anyway, going back to when our birth mother contacted us, it was less than 48 hours after our profile had been published. She had told us that she had looked at over 500 couples and just didn't feel good about any of them until she found us. She is such a sweetheart and is so humble and has such a kind heart. Later that night, I prayed to know if we were the family that Heavenly Father had prepared for this baby to come to and be a part of? I guess I just prayed if it was right? Immediately, I felt the words (that doesn't make sense, but you know what I mean) "you don't need an answer" and then my mind went back on all the times I had prayed for this baby, felt that she was coming, tried to prepare my girls to be big sisters, dreams, and felt certain things about this baby that I didn't even know for sure existed. It was overwhelming at just how much Heavenly Father had been preparing us and making sure that this baby girl makes it safely to us. I am humbled beyond belief that I have been chosen to raise this sweet baby girl. For about a month before our birth mother contacted us, I felt an overwhelming upward pull to be better. This quote pretty much described the way I have been feeling.....
"Man is a spiritual being, a soul, and at some period of his life everyone is possessed with an irresistible desire to know his relationship to the Infinite. . . . There is something within him which urges him to rise above himself, to control his environment, to master the body and all things physical and live in a higher and more beautiful world." [True to the Faith, comp. Llewelyn R. McKay (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966), p. 244]
 I wanted to create this more beautiful world or at least a home where my children and the baby that would be coming to our family deserved. I now know that one of the reasons for this upward pull is because I will be raising one amazing daughter of our Heavenly Father and I will need the help of Heaven to help her become what Heavenly Father knows she can become. I have felt this upward pull before we adopted each of our girls.

Sorry about my novel, but there are so many experiences that have happened that testify to me that Heavenly Father's hand is definitely involved and watching over our baby girl and her amazing birth mother! Ahhhhhhh, our sweet baby girl will be here in just a few weeks!

Ogden Temple Open House

I can't even express how much I love this picture! There is nothing better than to see your children in the temple. I love the Ogden temple. I have so many memories of going to the temple early in the morning before my college classes. It is great to have our beautiful temple back. The temple truly is stunning inside and out. We were able to take our girls and 6 of our nieces to the Ogden temple open house. I have been grateful for the opportunity to take them to two open houses now. It is so neat to see all these beautiful cousins together in the temple. Reese absolutely loves the temple. It is really neat that she has had the opportunity to go in the temple twice already. The first time was when she was sealed to us and the second time was when Nora was sealed to us. I think Reese has gone to the temple open house 3 times so far:) I am grateful for temples where our children can be sealed to us for eternity. That is what it is all about!

Weber County Fair....

 A couple of weeks ago, we went to the Weber County Fair with the girl's cousins and had a lot of fun! I think each year gets more and more fun! Reese absolutely loved the baby pig and feeding the goats. The goats were a little aggressive so they scared Nora, but she loved talking to the goats that were sleeping and couldn't reach her:) I think the best part of the day was when Papa Tom bought the kids pony rides. Reese was all smiles and just beaming. She loves horses and was so excited to actually ride one. We loved watching the sharks, looking at the bunnies, eating snow cones, getting prizes from the fish pond, and getting our faces painted. We were also able to go to Chili's afterward and meet Ron after he was done with work. Reese was so excited to show Ron her tiger face.

 I absolutely love watching my girls experience things for the first time and to see their huge smiles and their excitement that shines in their eyes.

 Nora was supposed to have a puppy painted on her face, but she decided she was done about half way through. So she kinda looks like a puppy/polar bear/cute little girl.

Selfies at Chilis!!!

Davis County Fair

We had a fun time at the Davis county fair with my dad and nieces. I hadn't been to this fair before, but the girls had a blast. They loved riding the horses and watching the bears and elephants. They also had a petting farm and Reese was able to pet lots of goats, a camel, a pony, and loved petting the baby goat. It was a hot, but a great day at the fair.

My water babies....

 We have spent a lot of time in the water this summer! Reese and Nora absolutely love the water and they are fearless when it comes to water. We actually have to be pretty careful around water with these two. Reese has always loved putting her head underwater and has that natural ability to hold her breath for a long time. Nora has also figured out how to put her head underwater without getting water up her nose. Reese loves to jump off anything into the pool and Nora loves Splash pads. I was going to put Reese in swimming lessons this year, but our sweet neighbor said that I could come over and work with Reese in their pool whenever we wanted. She is definitely getting better! It has been a great summer in the water!