Whine Flu

Ugh - - this has been a sick month so far. Actually it started in October with colds for both Ethan and Noah. Then Ethan was sick several days last week, and Noah got sick too. They were both sick a day and then fine a day and then sick a couple of days. I took Noah to the dr. and he got a prescription for Tamiflu and an antibiotic. I do think it was the piggy flu, because he had all of the requisite symptoms, including throwing up. Fun! Poor Noah is such a snuggle-bug when he's sick that I do enjoy it. He doesn't get grumpy, just a little clingy. Anyway we kept him home from church today because he still had a pretty gnarly sounding cough, but he hasn't had a fever for over 24 hours, so that's great. He is sitting in the TV room watching the finale to "Much Ado" over and over and over. What a funny kid!

Ethan had an interesting project for school - - a model of a plant cell. It took a lot of ingenuity, but we used plastic eggs, clay, fun-foam, paint, bubble wrap, push-pins, bouncy balls, toothpicks, a hollow spherical thing from a bowl of potpourri and lots and lots of hot glue, and I think we came up with a pretty darn good replica. If he doesn't get an A I'll be ticked. Teachers should realize that parents have to get heavily involved in these projects! I wasn't about to let Ethan get his hands on the glue gun, I had a hard enough time with it myself!


Ethan continues to work hard in school and play hard with his friends. He's got some buddies that live near enough for him to ride his bike to their houses, now we just have to get him a bigger bike! He is doing bowling in gym, and plays football with friends. He's reading Don Quixote now and writing a "dark" story about the Italian Mafia. A lot of his friends have "air soft" guns, which shoot little rubber balls (tiny ones) - - a cannister of compressed CO2 makes them shoot. He really wanted one and I said "no way no how." Fortunately there are some great nerf guns out there. I'm ok with that. I hate guns, but I remember when Ethan was about 2 and bit his sandwich into the shape of a gun and was playing with it. I don't know how he ever even saw a gun, all he watched was Barney, but I guess the shooting thing is just a part of male DNA.

More later . . .

Happy Fall!

I love this time of year, especially the cooler weather and the changing colors. I got to examine the trees up close and personally with Ethan recently. He had a school project - - he had to get leaves from at least 10 of 13 specific trees (maples and oaks). We looked in our neighborhood and got some maples, but no oaks. Then looked in another neighborhood. Then went to a big park. Finally we went to a nursery and I surreptitiously sneaked leaves off of trees that I knew were correct (it sounds worse than it is, the leaves were about to fall off anyway.) It was kind of a stupid assignment, but Ethan came to me this morning and said, "Mom, I'm glad we did that project together, because I think our hard work brought us closer together." So it was all worth it after all.

Ethan continues to sprout up like a weed. He is within a few milimeters of as tall as I am, and his voice has somehow deepened. He is really enjoying 7th grade, and is doing well so far. His favorite class is life skills, because he gets to cook food (and then eat it.) He is like a bottomless pit when it comes to food! Ethan recently read "Les Miserables" - - the unabridged, 1200 page version. He started it at the beginning of the summer. I honestly didn't think he'd make it through, but he sure proved me wrong! And I am so proud of him! One thing that really helped him was seeing the movie (it's his favorite) so he knew the story line. I took him and his friend Adam out to lunch and then to a movie yesterday to celebrate.

Today was conference. After the first session we went to Scott's cousin Cheryl's house in Antioch (about 45 minutes away). Cheryl and her husband, Dan, are a great couple. Their kids are in college, and their daughter was adopted, so we had a lot to talk about. While we were there Noah's pull-up overflowed (wet) onto their recliner. I apologized profusely, cleaned him up, and put a new pull-up on him. Sadly I didn't have another pair of pants, and this proved deadly a few minutes later when he had another accident, this one stinky, on their couch. I was mortified! Luckily Cheryl was a great sport. I told her that if Ethan vomited on her loveseat than we would have covered all her furniture. I think I'll send her a nice gift . . .

Other than that Noah is doing great. He really is doing well in school this year, and is reading at a first grade level. We tried spelling, and his first test came back as follows:
(rat) rtq
(sat) lmpg
(cat) aanollqt
(at) alsieonsljiowsjfow

His teacher wrote a little note: "I think we'll hold off on spelling for now." Well he is still doing great in reading and math, and his behavior has been wonderful. He and Ethan both continue to be loving and helpful big brothers.

Little sister Meredith is growing up fast! She is almost 3 months old, and just as cute as can be. I love love love to hear her little squeals and coos! She is so happy and smiling all the time, it is wonderful. She's sleeping 6 to 8 hours at night, which is also wonderful! We are so very happy to have her in our lives!

Scott recently moved his office to a space about 3 minutes from our house. We are all very excited about the short commute! Now if I have something come up it will be so easy for him to come home. On the other hand he has been traveling a ton, and is usually gone 1 to 2 nights every week. So it kind of evens out. He plays a lot of tennis and has some good friends to compete with. Our United flight benefits run out in the springtime, so he is working hard to take advantage of these last few months of ultra cheap travel.

I love being at home with my little baby, although shopping is more of a chore. Meredith had her first "playdate" - - a lady in our ward has a baby boy just a few weeks older than she is. The babies didn't really connect, but my friend and I had a great time chatting!

We wish you all a happy autumn!

End of Summer, Start of School

Catching up! We enjoyed the end of our summer. It was a fairly cool and somewhat rainy summer here in Chicagoland, which was fine with me, because I don't like the heat and I didn't have to water the grass (although I have to admit my yard has really gone to pot, I just don't have the time to work outside - - keeping up with the inside is about all I can do right now!)

Anyway Noah finished up his NISRA summer camp and did another week-long camp at the Light Center, where they have animals and it's run specifically for people with special needs. He also got to do a lot of swimming. Noah is so sweet with Meredith. I do have to watch him pretty carefully, because he wants to hold and hug her, but he does try so hard to be gentle, and he has not shown any aggression toward her whatsoever. I worried about his reaction to no longer being the baby of the family, but he has adjusted beautifully and I'm so proud of him. He really does love his little sister!

Ethan also had a week-long camp, through the McHenry County conservation society. The only problem was that it took about 90 minutes to get there, it was way out in Johnsburg. So I spent many hours in the car that week. But it was worth it, a wonderful experience for him. He made lots of friends, including a boy who has a brother with Down syndrome (they're in our group.) It was quite a coincidence! He got to go canooing and learn about fur traders and pioneers and all kinds of historical things.

We also had our annual Down syndrome picnic. It was a bit rainy, but lots of people came anyway and we had a great time. Noah especially had fun seeing his good friends. What a great group of people! I'm writing the newsletter again, and though it's a lot of work it is definitely worth it.

I forgot to mention in my last post that while Scott and the boys were in Idaho for the Garner reunion they had a little baby shower for us. Since I couldn't be there they put me on speaker phone and Scott took pictures of all the gifts and emailed them to me. It was so much fun! And then in August my friends Michelle and Dwinell and Katie had a baby shower for me. I just love my friends. I had a great time and got so many cute things for Meredith. And 2 of my friends who have adopted were there, they have been so supportive of us.

Meredith is 8 weeks old today. She is growing so fast I can hardly believe it. She is filling out, but is still petite. Her hair is getting even thicker and longer. It is curly when wet, but as soon as it dries it puffs out like a little dandelion. She has started to smile, which is so wonderful. She usually has a very pleasant expression, but her smiles are just adorable. She loves it when Ethan wiggles her legs or arms. Both of the boys are so sweet with her! As soon as Ethan gets home from school he goes straight to her and holds her. He is getting quite good at feeding and burping her. Noah has been wonderful too. I was a little worried about him being jealous or aggressive, but he has been nothing but gentle. He sings lullabies to her sometimes. It's so cute!

Ethan has started 7th grade (can you believe it?) He is really enjoying it, and is making new friends. He is up to about page 800 in Les Miserables (only 400 more pages to go!) And he is as tall as I am and his voice is changing. Pretty scary, huh?!

Noah is so happy to be back in school. His teachers said his math and reading skills improved over the summer, so I must have done something right! The other day I asked him not to be a baby (about going potty or something) and he said, "I'm not a baby, I'm a fourth grader!"

What a wonderful life, what a wonderful family!

More About Meredith

I never really finished telling Meredith's story (somehow I've been busier than usual lately!) We'd met with Amy, the birth mother, and her friend and also the caseworker on Sunday at breakfast. Afterwards we took the boys over to the hospital to meet their little sister for the first time. They were so adorable with her! Noah's first words when he saw her were, "oh cute!" They both held her so tenderly, and were so sweet and protective of her. I think the pictures of them with her are worth a thousand words.

Scott took my mom and the boys back to our rental house and I spent most of the rest of the day there. He came back in the evening and we all spent some time together, and then had to go home and get a little bit caught up on sleep.

The next day, Monday, was almost as stressful as Saturday had been. The Illinois agency we were working with had a bunch of paperwork that hadn't yet been finished. We knew Meredith was going to be released from the hospital that day, and unless the paperwork was finished she wouldn't be able to be released to us. She would have to go to a foster family, which would be terrible for us and for the birth mother as well. Scott had a business meeting in Phoenix, and he spent the entire drive there and back on the phone trying to make sure everything got done. Our Gladney caseworkers really worked hard for us and, thank goodness, everything fell into place. I left the hospital with Meredith and Scott and I both ended up arriving at the rental house within just a few minutes of eachother. So we got to bring Meredith "home" together.

She spent her first night there with us, and did quite well. The next morning (Tuesday) the birth mother signed the relinquishment papers. Afterward we met our caseworker, Vanessa, at a Starbucks and signed all of our papers (even more signatures than when we bought our first house.) Finally we were all done. I didn't realize how stressed I'd felt until it was all over and a huge weight rolled off of my shoulders. Vanessa gave us a teddy bear for Meredith, and she'd given a matching one to Amy. We then went to Amy's house so that her children could meet Meredith. It wasn't something you'd do in most adoptions, but we felt very good about doing it. 2 of her kids were there, an 11 and a 12 year old. They were so sweet, and had written a note for us, thanking us for taking care of Meredith. Amy got to have "closure" - - we talked for about 45 minutes and she got to hold Meredith one last time. It was somewhat emotional right at the end, but Amy said over and over that she knew she was doing the right thing. What a wonderful lady she is, to make such a sacrifice for us. We were so happy!

The next day Meredith had her first doctor's appointment (a requirement before we left the state). Then we drove to Phoenix to wait for clearance to leave. We stayed in a nice condo/hotel with a kitchen and laundry, very convenient. There was also a swimming pool, but it was so hot that I didn't even venture out. Scott did swim with the kids though. Speaking of hot, I left my cell phone in the car and the heat ruined the screen. Yikes! It got up to about 115 while we were there. I don't know how people manage to survive those kinds of temperatures!

That weekend was the Garner family reunion, and Scott decided to go and take the boys, leaving Meredith and my mom and me there in AZ. It was kind of a nice break. We spent several hours at the mall, just to keep from going stir crazy. Lots of people commented on Meredith, saying what a beautiful baby she is. A couple of people said how great I looked after just having had a baby, and I had to admit that I hadn't actually given birth. It was nice though! And at least no one said, "wow, you only have about 10 pounds left to lose!"

Scott left Ethan in Idaho with his parents, to "work on the farm" for a few days. He and Noah came back and Omi left. Oh it was so nice to have my mom there for me! She was so helpful, watching Meredith so I could nap, and we had a lot of fun talking and reading and watching tv and eating (Mom is a great cook, and always puts me to shame). Anyway it was a huge help and support to have her there, I don't know how we could have done it without her!

Scott and I had a couple of nice days together with Noah and Meredith. We had Sunday dinner at the home of our friends the Woodwards, who moved from Illinois a few years ago. It was so nice to see some familiar faces, and great to chat with them. We were really hoping to get clearance to travel on Monday, because Scott had business in Illinois on Tuesday, and sure enough, it came through. I was a little bit nervous about traveling with Noah and Meredith, but they both did great! It was wonderful to finally be home with our little angel.

Ethan flew back home along with Grandma Garner, who stayed for several days. That was wonderful too, because it took a lot to keep the boys entertained and take care of a baby at the same time. She also watched them while Scott and I took Meredith downtown to do some legal stuff. We had to go to the Daley Courthouse and meet with our attorney and present her at the sherrif's office where she was "served" with papers (the guy had to literally touch her with the papers!) Then we had to go before a judge, who asked us a few questions about work and our living arrangements. Meredith was perfect throughout. It looks like the adoption will be complete sometime in January. Could be sooner, but we're not counting on that. But barring a felony on Scott's or my part, she's ours!!!

103 Reasons I Love Being a Mom

This is for me to read over on the days I'm not as grateful as I should be . . .

1. That new baby smell! I'd forgotten how wonderfully intoxicating it is
2. Watching Ethan become such a fine young man
3. The way Ethan's hair is has become a little bit curly (although he definitely needs a trim!)
4. Kissing Noah on his little bald head
5. The way Meredith scrunches up against me
6. Noah's excitement when he sees me, even after just a short time away (like at church)
7. Little baby sighs
8. Little baby sizes :)
9. Personal jokes and Simpsons trivia with Ethan
10. Watching Ethan experience books I loved when I was growing up. And watching him read books I haven't read yet (he's 600 pages into the 1200 page unabridged edition of Les Miserables!)
11. Noah's pages and pages of numbers. He sometimes writes letters too, and makes people that have hair sticking out all over like amoebas
12. The way Noah spells some words, like "zoo" so that we can understand what he is saying
13. Watching Ethan play with his little buddy Noah so sweetly
14. Hearing Ethan say how cute Noah is
15. Meredith's big blue eyes
16. Ethan's famous french toast
17. Noah's lists of things to eat, always including chicken and honey nut cheerios
18. Teeny-tiny diapers
19. Buying school supplies
20. Watching sleeping babies and sleeping big boys
21. Experiencing school again, this time through them. I didn't realize how much I'd forgotten (or never learned)
22. Decorating Meredith's room (so much pink!)
23. The fact that Ethan loves classical music
24. The fact that Ethan opted for classical guitar, not electric (whew!)
25. Ethan's laugh
26. Noah's laugh
27. Meredith's little sleeping baby smiles
28. The way the boys look in their cute jeans
29. Ethan's first real suit
30. Noah's penchant for wearing ties - - with everything
31. How soft Meredith's skin is
32. Noah's first words when he saw Meredith, "oh cute!"
33. My always increasing gratitude for my parents
34. The kids' relationship with their cousins
35. The kids' relationship with their grandparents
36. When Noah says, "of course!" when I ask him to do something
37. Anytime Ethan does something nice without being asked
38. Reading Ethan's school essays
39. Ethan's quirky sense of humor
40. Noah's goofiness
41. How great the boys are on airplanes
42. Noah's love of elephants
43. Ethan's love of penguins
44. How much I've learned about elephants and penguins
45. Family traditions, like fresh guacamole
46. Family words and sayings, like "spelunking," meaning eating all the m&ms out of trail mix, or picking the cookie dough chunks out of ice cream
47. Watching Scott play with the boys
48. Seeing how sweet Scott is with Meredith
49. Knowing I couldn't possibly have chosen a more wonderful father for my children
50. Bragging about my kids
51. Reading stories and going to the library
52. Looking forward to all the girly things I'll get to do with Meredith, like dollhouses, painting fingernails, and reading the Laura Ingalls and Anne of Green Gables books
53. Talking to Noah on the phone
54. Meredith's yawns
55. The perfect quiet of the house at 3 a.m. when I'm feeding my baby girl
56. All of Noah's hard-won accomplishments
57. The fact that Noah's Down syndrome has opened so many wonderful doors for me
58. Seeing all the positive reactions to Noah when we travel (we've had some negative responses, but the smiles far outweigh the frowns)
59. How protective Ethan is of Noah
60. How gentle Noah tries to be with Meredith
61. Looking at baby pictures
62. The incredible kindness people showed to us after Noah was born
63. The way people have celebrated Meredith's adoption with us in such a loving way
64. Ethan's testimony of the gospel and enthusiasm about being a member of the church
65. Listening to Noah pray
66. Listening to Noah sing
67. Listening to Ethan play the piano or guitar
68. Learning to use sign language with Noah
69. The truly awesome people I've met because of Noah
70. Being a member of the "parent of a child with Down syndrome" club
71. The fact that Ethan and Noah seem to have forgiven my first fumbling attempts at parenthood
72. The fact that I get another chance to try to get it right
73. The fact that Ethan still isn't too embarrased to be seen with me in public (unless I start singing)
74. Watching Noah try to be brave when he gets an owie by taking a deep breath and showing us his muscles
75. The fact that the kids aren't very picky eaters, a plus for someone like me who doesn't like to cook
76. All the things I've learned about people with special needs
77. All the things I've learned about adoption
78. Going through infertility, because it made me more thankful than ever that I could give birth to my first two children
79. Waiting 9 years for Meredith because I treasure her all the more now that she's finally here
80. Learning to depend more on my Heavenly Father for help in raising the spirits he has entrusted to Scott and me
81. Learning to really, really pray
82. The buff biceps I'm getting from carrying Meredith's carseat around (man that thing is heavy!)
83. Passing along baby boy clothes to my sister and remembering how cute my little guys looked in them
84. Footed pajamas
85. Onesies
86. First haircuts
87. Not having to get Noah's hair cut :)
88. The two-second rule
89. Learning to relax about keeping the house spotlessly clean
90. Sitting and watching TV or reading and not feeling guilty about it because I'm holding a baby
91. Having a good excuse for not breastfeeding Meredith after feeling so guilty about giving on on nursing the boys after 2 weeks/one month
92. The wonderful, amazing birth mother who gave us the most precious gift in the world - - we will love her forever
93. Knowing that we're a forever family
94. Knowing that someday I'll be able to stop changing diapers (please, oh please)
95. Learning to trust my gut when it comes to figuring out what is best for my kids
96. Working together with the most wonderful husband in the world
97. All our crazy memories and adventures, like the time we had to spend the night in the Malad middle school because of a blizzard
98. How fast Noah can run, except it's not so great when I'm chasing him through Wal-mart
99. How even total strangers have helped out when Noah has gotten lost in stores because he has outrun me
100. Jumping to the front of the line at Disneyland
101. Seeing Ethan and Noah become more independent
102. Knowing that Meredith is, for now, completely dependent on me
103. Knowing that nothing in the world is more important or more precious than the job I'm doing raising these three fantastic, wonderful, amazing children

(Note to all my friends who are mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, or teachers - - this was really a wonderful exercise for me, I've been in a great mood thinking up all the things I love about my life, and I could come up with a million more!)

Meredith Leigh

Our little angel is finally here. Baby Meredith arrived at 2:43 a.m. on Saturday, July 11th, 2009. We got the call late Friday afternoon that Amy, the birth mother, was in labor. We really weren't expecting that - - she wasn't due until August 4th, and the doctors were planning to induce labor on the 28th of July. We'd had everything planned out, we were going to go down a couple of days early and we had a house rented and everything. But Meredith decided to change our plans, and although it got a little hairy for a while there, everything worked out.

Our biggest concerns were getting to Tucson and finishing up our home study. Our IL agency was scheduled to come the very next morning. We tried our best to get them to come Friday night but we couldn't get in touch. So we spent the night running around packing and making phone calls to cancel everything we'd had planned for the next couple of weeks. I'm so glad it's summer and we didn't have to deal with the kids missing school or anything (Noah missed some summer camp, but that was not a big deal).

Saturday morning we got up at 4 a.m. to finish packing and clean the house up (usually at a home visit they go through your house with a fine toothed comb). Our caseworker came at 7 a.m., and spent about 15 minutes asking us questions that could have easily been answered on the phone. She didn't even ask to see the house (although I did show her the nursery). There was a form they hadn't given us that needed to be notarized so we had to stop at a bank on the way to the airport to get that done, and then stick it in the mail. We arrived at the office park where we leave the car and were just in time for the 10:00 shuttle. Unfortunately it didn't leave for 15 minutes, causing us to miss our flight. It was so frustrating! We were flying standby, but that first flight had seats on it and we probably would have made it on with no problems. As it was we weren't able to get on another flight to Phoenix or Denver, although we tried desperately. We were running from one end of the airport to the other for about 3 hours with no luck. Finally we sat down to regroup. In the meantime we learned that Meredith had been born, and we even got to see a picture of her (and her adorable sticky-up hair). Well it was just killing me to know that my baby was there and I wasn't!!! To make matters worse, Amy wanted to check out of the hospital, but didn't want to leave until we got there. We knew that she wanted us to be there for the birth and we felt bad that it wasn't possible. She told Vanessa, her caseworker, that she would stay there at the hospital until we got there. Well this posed a bit of a problem for us because we didn't want her to become too attached to Meredith. I told Scott that one of us had to get out there. Plus my mom was going to be arriving in Phoenix. Well Scott worked his magic and found a Northwest flight leaving about 30 minutes from them. I grabbed my stuff and ran to the other terminal. I can't even explain the stress I was feeling - - it was emanating from me like stink lines in a comic strip. When I reached the gate I realized that Scott still had my ID from going through security. I think the gate agent realized that I was on the verge of tears because she let me use my Costco card to board the plane. The flight went to Milwaukee, and then I had to get on another flight to Phoenix. But I still needed my ID so that I could pick up a rental car and get into the nursery at the hospital. Well I arrived in Milwaukee and Scott and the boys had managed to get on a flight through there as well. Their flight was delayed coming in, but mine was delayed leaving, so we were able to meet there and I got my driver's license. Whew!

I was exhausted by this time, but way too wired to sleep. My flight arrived in Phoenix - - I was in one terminal, my luggage was in another, and Mom was in a third. We finally all got together and picked up the rental car. Fortunately for me the drive to the hospital in Tucson was very easy. Mom and I chatted the whole way, which made the time fly by. We got there at about 9:30 at night. Vanessa had told us that Amy had checked herself out of the hospital, but was planning on coming back so she'd be there when I got there. Oh the emotions as I walked into that hospital room. The first thing I did was go straight up to Amy and say "thank you" and give her a big hug. I'm so glad I did that, because it meant a lot to her. She also said that the look on my face made the whole 9 months worthwhile. She'd never known she could make anyone that happy.

Then I saw my little baby for the first time. She was all wrapped up like a little burrito, lying in the bassinet. Red round face, with soft brown hair sticking up in a mohawk. She was absolutely beautiful, and I knew she was the precious little spirit that Heavenly Father intended for Scott and Ethan and Noah and me to have as part of our family. She didn't make a peep the whole time I was there, just snuggled up in my arms and slept. Amy and Vanessa and Amy's cousin chatted with Mom and me for a while and then they left. Vanessa (who lives in Phoenix) had been there for the birth and stayed all day with Meredith. I was so grateful for her dedication! Throughout the whole experience she and the other people at Gladney really went the second mile for us.

Mom and I just sat there and stared in adoration at our little angel until Scott got there. He had quite an experience himself. He and the boys made it to Denver just fine. There were 2 flights leaving within 10 minutes of eachother, one to Phoenix and one to Tucson. He was near the Phoenix flight so he checked in and they cleared him to board, but said to not get on quite yet. When the flight was getting close to leaving they announced that it had checked in full. Scott asked about his seats, and sure enough, they'd been given away. The gate agent hadn't even bothered to tell him. And the other flight to Tucson was way at the other end of the terminal. Well Scott had Noah ride on the suitcase, and he and Ethan ran to the other flight. As they got there the door was closing and the jetway had pulled away. Scott explained the situation to the gate agent but he said "too bad" and that the flight only had one seat left. Scott could see on the monitor that there were 10 seats, and the flight was leaving a bit early. He could also see the pilot, since the nose of the plane was right near the window. So he made a praying sign with his hands, and pointed to the boys. It's amazing, but the pilot called the gate agent (who said, "they're only non-revs!") The pilot had them open the door and put back the jetway. Let me tell you, that never happens. It was one of those little miracles that made up for all the bad luck we'd had that day! So he and the boys made it to the hospital at about 11:30. Scott came in and met his daughter, while Mom went and stayed with the sound-asleep boys in the car. He was so sweet with her!

The people we were planning on renting the house from were very understanding about our situation and allowed us to change the dates (they only had it open for 4 days though). The house was in Oro Valley, which took us about 45 minutes to get to. We didn't get to sleep until after 2 a.m. But I was wide awake at 5 a.m., probably from the adrenaline that was still coursing through my system. We got everyone ready and met Amy and Vanessa and Amy's friend Leslie at a restaurant called The Good Egg. It was a nice opportunity for Amy to meet Ethan and Noah (who behaved themselves quite well!) and for us all to talk some more. I'd put together a gift basket for Amy with a bathrobe and slippers, along with some nice toiletries. I'd also written a long letter to her, trying to express how incredibly grateful we were for her sacrifice. We had a very pleasant time together. Not once did Amy express any doubts about her decision, only that she knew she was doing the right thing and that we were the right family.

Summer Camps

I'm always trying to find things to keep the boys busy during the summer - - we've done several fun camps over the years. This year is the first time we've had Noah in the NISRA (Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association) 6-week camp, although we've done several week-long camps in the past. The counselors are awesome, and many of them remember Noah from last year. Several of Noah's friends are in the camp as well, so it makes it so much fun for him. It's held at a middle school, which is within walking distance of a community pool, a library, and McDonald's. So twice a week the kids go swimming, and one day they go to the library and one day they go to McDonald's. Noah loves going. It's 4 days a week, from 9:15 to 3:15. Anything to keep him active and socializing.

Ethan had scout camp a couple of weeks ago. It was from Saturday to Saturday, so a long camp-out. It was the longest he'd ever been away from home (other than visits with family). He had a great time. The camp was in Wisconsin, about 5 hours away. Scott drove him down, spent the night, and then drove down again to pick him up and spent the night again. Kudos to Scott, because he really does not like camping. Ethan did the wilderness survival merit badge, and the conservation one. He started working on the swimming badge - - it's a pretty tough one. He had a lot of fun with his buddies and came home sunburned, filthy, and covered with mosquito bites. Oh the laundry I had to do! I had to take some of the clothes outside and shake them off before I could even put them in the washer. I ended up just throwing most of his socks away - - much too nasty.

This week Ethan has camp with the McHenry County Conservation Society. He did it last year and it was a great experience, as well as costing very little. The theme this year is "time travelers" and each day they learn about a different time period in the area. Monday was the ice age, and they did an archaeological dig. Yesterday the followed the French fur traders by spending the whole day boating on the river. The mosquitoes were so bad, but otherwise he had a lot of fun. The only problem with the camp is that it's in Ringwood, which is a good 45 minutes away. Add to that Noah's camp, which is 15 minutes in the opposite direction, and I'm spending about 4 hours in the car every day this week.

I'm also keeping Ethan busy doing a math review (we do a workbook every summer, and it really keeps him sharp for the coming year) and reading. He recently started Les Miserables, the unabridged version, which is about 1200 pages. That boy just loves a challenge. He also has guitar lessons, so we're keeping him active. He'd like to spend every day just playing his Wii, but I'm not going to let that happen.

Our little girl will be coming in less than 3 weeks. We got a call today saying that she's back in the breech position, which stinks. The poor birth mom really doesn't want to go through a c-section, and I don't blame her one bit. She is very anxious to get this over with, and of course we are anxious to bring our baby home! We've had a pile of last minute paperwork to do, and we have a final home visit coming up on Saturday (I should be cleaning house right now!) I also have to recertify for CPR, but thankfully Scott and I got permission to skip the baby care class. We also had to get fingerprinted again. So much stuff! But we're coming down to the wire now, and it will all be worth it. I've had a lot of fun decorating the nursery, and it's almost ready now. It's very cute and pink :)

The Hill Tribes of Northern Thailand

We got up very early this morning and went down to the swimming pool. No one else was anywhere around, and it was gorgeous. The birds just go crazy singing in the morning, although they're hard to see, because they stay in the dense trees. The hotel here is gorgeously landscaped, with huge, exotic flowers and plants all over. Because of the rains everything is extremely lush and green.

A word about the time of year: Thailand has 3 seasons, winter, summer, and the rainy season. Winter is the time most people come. We're here at the end of summer and beginning of the rainy season, so it's very hot and humid. On the plus side, there are hardly any other tourists. Our hotel is practically empty, and we were able to get an amazing rate. It's also a beautiful time of year, very green. And the fruits are all in season, so we can have delicious fresh mango for breakfast every day. It has rained every afternoon, but we haven't been caught out in it, and it's actually quite nice to see the storms. It cools things off slightly. We're in the "mountains" (hills, really) so it cools off somewhat in the evenings and the mornings are lovely.

Meena the elephant came to breakfast again, much to the delight of the boys. We met Jermsak at 9 for another adventurous day. Tomorrow will be our first "lazy day" of the whole trip (we don't have a lot of time, and there is so much to see!)

This time I brought a pen and paper to take notes on what we did. We planned to visit the hill tribes of Northern Thailand. First, though, we went to a hot spring. We bought a little basket of quail eggs and it only took 5 minutes to boil them in the water. It had the distinctive sulfur smell, just like in Yellowstone. There was a little packet of soy sauce to go along with the eggs, and Ethan ate most of them. They were tiny, about 3 or 4 would equal one chicken egg.

The first village we visited was the Lisu tribe. The people are originally from the Himalayas. All of the tribes are made up of refugees from different regions. Although they live in fairly close proximity to each other, they maintain very different cultures, dress, and languages. Life is very hard for them, because they don't have Thai citizenship. They used to be very nomadic, practicing "slash and burn" farming, mostly of opium. The government has worked to help them grow other crops, like rice (Thailand is the largest exporter of rice in the world), tea, corn, and other vegetables. Many of the fields are terraced and the harvesting all has to be done by hand. In all of the villages we visited we saw mostly older women and children, the men and women were out working in the fields.

The government is also slowly trying to improve the lifestyle of these people, partly so they will stay in one place. Homes we saw were extremely primitive. Chickens, dogs and cats wandered freely around. Many people had small gardens for their own use, as well as farmland.

This was a much easier day than yesterday, because in between visits to the villages we got to cool off in the car. We next went to a Yao village. The people there are originally Chinese, and known for their gorgeous embroidery. We bought a couple of items from some beautiful and friendly women. Lovely smiles, and very friendly. They were able to speak a little Thai, and Jermsak knows some Chinese, so he helped us with translation. The women wore red boa-like scarves and interesting hats. The clothing looked terribly hot, but the women were as cool as cucumbers. Jermsak as well. We were the sweaty ones. The Yao are very industrious people and learn to do embroidery from a very early age. We saw a very old woman sitting and doing the finest embroidery I've ever seen. The stitches looked like they were done with a machine. She said it's getting harder for her to work because here eyesight is getting worse, and she was wearing very thick glasses. This is a tough time of year for the villagers because there are so few tourists (in every village we were the only visitors we saw).

We passed many little huts on stilts, used to store the corn and other crops and keep the mice from getting at them. The homes we saw were made of a combination of cement, wood and bamboo. Few, if any, had power or air-conditioning - - they were very open with lots of windows.

The next tribe we visited were the Akha. They are originally from Tibet, and according to Jermsak, have the biggest problem with opium addiction and most primitive beliefs. Twins and triplets are considered bad luck (as well, I'm sure, as any baby born with a genetic defect). The parents are encouraged to kill the "imperfect" babies. The government has carefully stepped in to provide foster care for them. The parents also have the option of leaving the tribes. The hill tribe people have the highest concentration of Christians in the country. Jermsak said that they want to leave the former beliefs completely behind. There is a lot of missionary work done here, as well as drug rehab programs, and work to educate the children so that they can have a better life. It's in the government's best interest to do this, because they can teach conservation along with reading and writing. But they have to tread carefully so as not to disparage the beliefs of the tribes. It's a very complicated situation - - how can you maintain cultural identity, but also give up practices that most people consider harmful. The rampant poverty certainly doesn't help. There's little medical and no dental care, instead the people go to a type of witch doctor. Scott bought a carved wooden frog from a women with completely black teeth.

The next three villages were in extremely close proximity to each other. The tribes are so distinct, but remain peaceful with each other. They are all from Tibet. They are the Lahu, the Long-ear Karen, and the Long-neck Karen. To get to their villages we had to pay $20 and hike down a very long, steep path through the jungle. The people there have such an interesting life. They all sell handicrafts and live behind their shops. And they sit there and wait for tourists to come through and take pictures of them. The women were all quite pretty and extremely poised, like models.

The Long-ear Karen wear progressively larger and heavier earrings, until the hole in their ears is as big around as a lemon and hangs down almost to their shoulders. They wear huge silver earrings and very distinctive clothing. One woman took off her earring so that we could see the hole. It was kind of disturbing looking to me, but at least it wasn't physically harmful. The Long-neck tribe is a different story. These are the people you see wearing coils around their necks on the National Geographic channel. There are very few of these people left in the world. They originated in Tibet and then migrated to Burma. Because of the terrible poverty there, many of the women were forced to sell their neck coils, which left them quite handicapped (they were handicapped with the neck coils. too). At about age 5 the coils are placed on the girls' necks. They are a symbol of beauty and prestige, and very important to the culture. They used to be made of gold, but are now bronze. Gold was much easier to work with - - the bronze coils must be heated to curve them, but they use lemon juice to cool the metal. They are extremely heavy, and don't actually lengthen the neck, but instead push the shoulders and ribs down. Additional coils are added with age. They are not taken off ever (unless the women are forced to sell them to survive.) They looked so hot and uncomfortable, but the women seemed very content. One beautiful little girl was obviously used to having her picture taken, and sat there, perfectly composed and dignified. The girls and women also wear makeup, along with the yellow powder used by the Burmese. This may be the last generation of neck coils, because it is falling out of favor with the younger people. But Jermsak said he saw one little girl crying because she wanted neck coils (she was only about 3) and later he came back and there she was with the coils on. It's a very difficult situation. Again, how do you maintain an important cultural identity but give up superstitious and potentially harmful practices?

The women were extremely friendly. They do exquisite weaving with silk (they make their own silk with silkworms on the mulberry trees). We bought one of the silk scarves. They also play an instrument similar to the guitar - - very beautiful. Noah got a lot of attention from the women. We only saw one or two men. Unlike their counterparts in the animal kingdom, they were dressed very drably. It's the women who wear the fancy clothes.

What a wonderful opportunity to see such different and amazing people and cultures. I'm so glad Ethan is old enough to understand that people all over the world have different lifestyles, and that we should respect them even if we don't agree with or even understand them. I also hope he's become a little more grateful for air conditioning and flush toilets.

We went to a large Chinese refugee camp next. About 10,000 people live there, and mainly grow oolong tea. It all has to be harvested by hand and is very expensive. I think Jermsak was a little disappointed when we wouldn't try it, but he was understanding of our religious beliefs. We then drove very high up in the mountains to see a tea plantation, but as soon as we got there it started pouring rain. This was the first time the rain interfered at all with our plans, and since it was our last stop it was no big deal. We stayed in the car and looked at the fields, and on the way up we'd been able to stop and take pictures of the beautiful view.

We got back to the hotel in the late afternoon and said goodbye to Jermsak. We'll be sure to give him a good write-up on Tripadvisor.com. He was so wonderful, a fountain of knowledge, and very friendly and helpful. Noah gave him a big hug. I'm so glad such a great guide!

We rested in our room for a couple of hours, and the kids went swimming. We ate dinner in the Thai restaurant tonight, and partway through Noah fell asleep. We were all pretty beat. But what an amazing day!

The next morning it was raining when we got up, but soon cleared up. Another delicious breakfast (we ordered fried rice, and it was great!) and a visit from Meena. Then Scott and the boys went on an elephant trek. I would have gone as well, but it's expensive and you pay per elephant - - the three of them were able to use just one elephant. Besides, I've ridden an elephant 3 times before (although the one at the San Diego Zoo really doesn't count). When they got back I asked Ethan how it was and he said, "Fun but painful." He was wearing shorts, and the elephant's hair is very long and sharp, almost like spines.

Elephants for Breakfast?

This was an amazing day! I think we've pretty much conquered jet lag, we all woke up after 5:00. The breakfast here at the hotel is in a very open area, and toward the end of our meal we got a big surprise - - a mahout and his elephant joined us! The elephant was a 3 year old female named Meena. The kids got to touch it, feed it, and even ride on it! Noah was a little wary at first, but he had a great time. We spent a good 45 minutes interacting with Meena. It was so cool!

The hotel here runs an elephant camp, made up of rescued elephants. The mahouts (elephant trainers) work with the elephants, feed them, ride them, etc. There are about 30 elephants in the camp here. They are let out into the jungle in the late afternoon, and are brought back to camp in the morning. It's one of the most highly regarded elephant conservation camps in the country. The hotel guests can go and feed/see the elephants, which we did after breakfast. There were several full grown ones, and one mother with her 10-month old baby (the youngest in the camp.) It was so fun seeing, touching, and feeding her! She didn't yet have very good trunk control, so we had to put the food right in her mouth. One thing about elephants, they're not particularly clean - - our hands were pretty muddy and gross after our encounters!

Through the hotel you can actually do "mahout training" - - you basically work with the mahouts all day, helping to gather, bathe and feed the elephants, and learning to ride them by yourself. There are about 70 verbal commands and other physical commands that they understand. But the cost to be a mahout is quite expensive, so we decided to pass on that. The hotel also sets up tours into the countryside and into Laos and Burma, but again, it's extremely pricey. Fortunately Scott had found a great guide for us along with a driver. For a seven hour day of driving around in a nice large van along with a very knowledgeable guide, the cost was only about $100. And well worth it!

Jermsak, our guide, met us at 8:30 and we started off. He knows an incredible amount about the region - - I wish I'd had a tape recorder so I could remember all the things he told us. We first drove to the border of Burma (Myanmar is the official name now, but everyone calls it Burma). There's a bridge to cross into Burma. Here in Thailand they drive on the left side of the road, but in Burma they drive on the right, so halfway across the bridge everyone switches sides. Also there's a 30 minute time difference (which seems so confusing! Why not make it an hour?) We had to go through immigration and surrender our passports - - they do that so you won't go too far into the country. We were on foot, so we couldn't have gotten too far.

We walked through a typical touristy market at first, lots of Chinese imports, mostly junk. The vendors crowded around us (we were the only non-Asian people I saw there). They were selling lots of playing cards, lighters, cigarettes, and other stuff like that. But further into the market was the "real Burma." It was mostly a food market - - and you've never seen such food! All different kinds of fruit (and Thailand is one of the best places in the world for fruit!) There were live eels in a bucket and live lizards in a cage (plus a really gross dead and disemboweled one.) Also a disgusting beehive things with bee larvae (they looked like maggots) wriggling around in it. One woman had bags and bags of all different spices, another had piles of vegetables.

One woman was selling cakes of the yellow powder that women in Burma use to put on their faces - - they don't rub it in, but just smear it on their cheeks. Jermsak said it helps prevent sunburn and gives them smooth clear skin. And the people we saw did have beautiful skin. I'm sorry I can't say the same about their teeth. Many people in Burma chew betel nuts. It's a bit like chewing tobacco. The betel nut stains their teeth very dark, and combine that with a lack of dental care or good oral hygiene and you end up with some scary mouths. I was sad to see many children with rampant tooth decay.

By the end of our hike through the large market we were exhausted and hot. We headed back over the bridge into Thailand. Jermsak had bought us a bag of mangosteen fruits. They're weird red fruits with white sweet insides (considered by Thais to be the queen of fruit). They were delicious. I've had mangosteen juice in health drinks in the US, but never tasted the fruit itself.

Our next stop was a place where macau monkeys come down from the mountains to eat. I have not had great experiences with wild monkeys, but we went anyway. They're fascinating creatures - - I could have watched them play all day. There were a couple of moms with tiny babies clinging to their tummies. You could walk right among them, but we were careful not to get too close. We bought some tiny bananas to feed to them - - it was fun to see their nimble little fingers peel them. Noah and Ethan especially enjoyed our time there.

We also stopped at a really old Buddhist temple (built about 700 years ago.) This was in the ancient city of Chiang Sen. Jermask (such a fountain of information) explained some of the Buddhist tenets to us. His tribe (Hmong) are animists, which he said is full of superstitious beliefs in spirits. While at the temple we saw a funeral procession (at first we thought it was a parade) for a monk that had died. We also used a very scary bathroom. I hate the "squatty potties." But it wasn't the worst I've used, by far, and I know by now to always carry my own toilet paper on these excursions. Ethan and I also went to an opium museum. Of course this area used to be well known for the opium trade. The Thai government has worked very hard to combat the drug problem here. There are many rehab centers, as well as numerous police drug checks along the road (they leave the tourists alone though, because they want them to return. Jermsak said they know that checks will be done at the airport, so that should prevent some of the drug trafficking.) The museum was very interesting, showed the different stages of the opium plant, lots of weights (opium was used as currency for years) and the distinctive opium pipes. For the previous generations opium was considered to be a medicine, and many people got hooked without meaning to. Opium is a depressant, and makes the people who take it want to do nothing but sleep, which obviously leads to major problems. And morphine and heroin are derived from opium. Jermsak said some people still try to grow it up on the hillsides, but when the plants bloom it's impossible to hide the bright colors from police helicopters.

Next we drove to the banks of the Mekong river, which forms the border between Thailand and Laos. We put on life jackets and took a speedboat across the river. It was blazingly sunny and hot, but at least the breeze on the boat cooled us off some. On the Thai side of the river is a huge casino. There is a 3 ton Buddha there, made for the birthday of the queen a few years ago. The whole thing is covered in gold leaf. Very imposing. We went to a small Laotian market. It wasn't what you'd consider the real Laos, but it was as close as we were able to come. We had to climb some very rickety stairs to get up the bank of the river. The people were friendly, but it was sad to see all the little children holding out their hands saying "5 baht, 10 baht" (34 baht equals about a dollar). There was an old lady sitting and smoking near a couple of kids who were playing. As we approached she said something to the kids and they immediately held out their hands to beg. It's a very hard life over there. We bought a couple of souvenirs, I got a pretty stone bowl and Noah got an elephant carving. He was very excited about it. We chose to pass on the whiskey bottles with snakes in them. Yikes!

We had a short ride back to the hotel and got there around 4:00. We'd been reduced to little puddles of sweat by the time we got there. We immediately took cool showers and got ready to go down to dinner. We've been eating big breakfasts, but it's so hot that we just have a little fruit for lunch. And we haven't been able to finish any of our dinners. The hotel has a very nice Thai restaurant, and an Italian one. They also have a kids menu, so everyone is happy. We ate as much as we could and went to sleep by about 8:00 p.m.

Two Nights in Bangkok

We're here in Thailand on our summer vacation. Scott only has about a year of United pass travel left, so we're taking advantage of that (also in a couple of months we'll have a new baby and that might slow us down some, although it hasn't slowed us down much in the past!) Flying standby can be hazardous, and we have our share of horror stories, but this time everything went perfectly. We had a 12 hour flight to Tokyo, a 3 hour layover, and then 6 more hours to Bangkok. Other than a seatmate with bad BO on the last flight, it was fine. The kids did so well. We've learned to come well prepared with snacks, DVDs and gameboys. We also packed light so we could carry on all our luggage and avoid lost bags. All in all it went extremely smoothly.

Our hotel is nice - - we got 2 rooms, and it's so smart - - they're at the end of the hall and a door in front of them closes, so we can leave our room doors open and it's just like a very spacious suite. The view is beautiful. We had a wonderful breakfast - - all the fresh mangoes you could eat. After Ethan finished his second one he leaned back and said, "This is the life." These are the yellow mangoes, the sweetest ones anywhere. There were other unusual fruits, and smoothies, and chicken satay (for breakfast?) - - we couldn't pass that up. After we had stuffed ourselves to bursting we went back to the room for a bit and then went out.

We're here at the rainy season (also the height of mango season), but we didn't get any rain until afternoon. It was hot and extremely humid. The sky train (a clean but crowded elevated metro) was near our hotel so we walked over and took it. Taxis here are incredibly cheap, but Scott always likes to try out the transportation in foreign places. It ended up taking us a lot less time than a taxi would have because of traffic. Twice people got up to give Noah their seat. I really love the Thai people, they are so friendly and beautiful. The service at our hotel is great.

Noah, by the way, has gotten a lot of positive attention here. He gets his share of stares wherever we go, and some aren't friendly, just rude. But here a lot of people stopped to say hi to him. I wondered at first if it was like in the Philippines - - people with Down syndrome are considered lucky. But then I realized that he also bears a striking resemblance to the Buddha. Anyway people were very sweet.

We took the train to the Chao Phraya river and took a flatboat from there. It was also very crowded. There was a special section for the monks. We saw them everywhere, men and boys of all ages with shaved heads and bright orange robes. We got off near the Grand Palace, one of the main tourist (and religious) sites in the city. Actually we had a pretty good walk to get there. The sidewalk was completely lined with vendors selling all sorts of stuff, most of it junk. It was like a giant flea market. There were a lot of food carts as well, but we decided to avoid the possibility of dysentery :)

The Grand Palace has, according to the guidebook, more decorations per square foot than any other place like it. We got some beautiful pictures. Most of it was outside, so we were very hot, but there was a breeze blowing. One of the rules there is that you have to be dressed modestly, no shorts or tank tops or anything, so we were all in long pants. There is a place where you can rent clothes to wear - - it was funny to see so many people wearing the same style shirt and baggy pants.

The Grand Palace houses the famous (though I hadn't heard of it :) Emerald Buddha. It is in an enclosed room, highly decorated, with murals all over. We passed several artists touching up the murals - - the place is in beautiful repair because they're constantly refurbishing it. Gold is the predominant color of the decorations and they use a lot of gold paint on the murals. The Buddha is only a couple of feet tall, on top of a large stand, and carved entirely of Jade. You can't get a very good view and there were no pictures (or shoes) allowed inside. We're trying to help the kids be respectful of other cultures and religions, so this was a good chance to teach them to be reverent, even though they didn't understand the religion.

The kids were getting pretty tired and hot, so we left and took a blessedly air-conditioned taxi back to the hotel. Ethan and Noah fell asleep almost immediately. It took a long time to get back because of traffic (taxi driver in Thailand is now on my list of jobs I'm glad I don't have!) The drivers were pretty crazy, although I've seen worse. Scott once got hit by a motorcycle in Bangkok, but luckily it wasn't going very fast. You have to be careful when walking along the streets because the drivers are on the opposite side of the road and you can forget to look both ways before you cross.

Catching Up

I was going to wait to do some of this posting because I don't have the pictures, but Mom threatened me so here goes.

While Heidi and Tallis and Milena were here we decided to go to Nauvoo, since Heidi had never been. Scott's niece Jaycee was getting married that weekend, so he went and took Noah. They had a great time. Scott's dad recently became a sealer at the Twin Falls Temple, so he performed the ceremony. I wish I could have been in 2 places at once!

It's about a 5 hour drive to Nauvoo, so we left Saturday around 10 and got to Nauvoo at 3 in the afternoon. We went to the main visitors center, and were just in time for a horse and buggy ride around the area. Then we spent some time in the women's sculpture garden. Heidi took some cute pictures (Scott had our camera). We stayed at a little hotel in Keokuk, Iowa, just across the Mississippi River. We stopped for pizza and then turned in.

The next day we first went to Carthage. Ethan had been there before, but he's old enough now to really "get it." It's so beautiful and spiritual there, and there's a good movie that highlights quotes from people about Joseph Smith. The landscaping is pretty as well. We were lucky to go over Memorial Day weekend because the weather was nice and not too hot (Nauvoo can get brutally hot and humid.)

We had lunch and spent the afternoon in Nauvoo, visiting the various homes, shops, etc. I think the kids enjoyed the family living center the best. You learn how to make rope, bread, how to card wool and make thread and yarn, and how to make pottery. The kids received several little souvenirs to treasure. Each time I go to Nauvoo I'm amazed at the perseverance of the early saints. Just providing food, clothing and shelter was a full time job. We're studying the D&C and church history in Sunday school this year, so it was good timing.

Our hotel had a little pool, so the kids got to spend some quality swimming time. Ethan has become a pretty good swimmer! I'm glad, because he's going to be working on some water sports at various scout activities this summer. Tallis and Milena had a good time splashing around, and Heidi and I just sat and talked. Heidi is dealing with her pregnancy very well - - she has amazing stamina. We had some pretty full days while she was visiting, and she outdid me on a few occasions.

Monday morning we were going to go spend some more time in Nauvoo, but it was pouring rain so we just drove home. We'd seen the main things, anyway. The kids played Nintendo and watched movies on the way. Ethan's favorite movies right now are Les Miserables and Henry V. Noah has been watching his "signing time" videos a lot lately. I'm so glad he signs, because it has made communicating with him so much easier. Sometimes if I can't figure out what he's saying he will sign the first letter of the word! He's really made some great strides with reading and writing this year.

I didn't write yet about Ethan turning 12. His birthday was May 16th, and we went out to dinner that night (Ethan brought his friend Adam along). We went to a fun Japanese place where they cook at your table and do tricks with knives, fire, etc. (kids, don't try this at home!) Scott and Ethan chose some stocks to buy, and he got some money that he's putting in his "Italy Fund." Ethan's big dream is to live in Ravello, Italy someday. He really wants to learn Italian, too.

Ethan was ordained to be a deacon 2 Sundays ago. He got to pass the sacrament that very day. At first he was nervous, but he told me later that because he felt the spirit the nervous feeling went away. He's expressed several times how much he enjoys passing the sacrament. Yesterday was his first time collecting fast offerings. On Tuesday he'll be attending the temple to do baptisms for the dead. It seems like all of a sudden he's just grown up so much! I've really seen a change in the past couple of weeks. We've got some really fun things planned for Ethan (and for Noah) this summer!

Yesterday I taught Scott's Sunday school class. Scott had to be in Arizona on business (he has been traveling a lot lately!!) After church Ethan had a piano recital. He did very well, he had the hardest songs of all the kids. I'm so proud of him for keeping up with piano (and I'm proud of me for not letting him quit, despite occasional pleas). I've never known anyone that was glad they quit piano lessons! I told Ethan when he can play 10 hymns perfectly then he can quit. But by now he's playing harder songs and enjoying it more. He's also doing well in guitar, learning one song that he has on his Christopher Parkening CD.

After the recital we collected fast offerings, and then went to our friends the Allreds' house for dinner. It was Dave's birthday, and there were several families from the ward there. We had so much fun talking together. One of Ethan's buddies came, so the 2 of them hung out. Tami recently got a new kitten, and Noah was obsessed with it. I had to keep a constant eye on him so he wouldn't be too rough. I wish I wasn't so allergic to cats, this one was really cute and Noah loved it so much. But after 10 minutes I was losing my voice and sneezing, so I don't think that's an option.

We've had a lot of rain here, but some beautiful days as well. I've enjoyed working in the yard - - my peonies are blooming and they're beautiful. I've done 3 yardwork service projects in the last month (for scouts, young women and relief society!), so it's a good thing I enjoy it. Late spring here in Illinois is gorgeous!

Adoption, part 1,000,000

Argh. I tell you, if people had to go through what we've gone through adopting, just to be able to have a kid, the entire human race would have become extinct years ago. We've already had to do 2 addendums to our home study since September (costing $325). Now we find out that we have to do basically a whole new study, with a home visit and everything. It will cost at least $1,000. I've already spent 2 hours filling out just one of the forms (questions: how has adoption affected your marriage? How have your thoughts on parenting changed? How do you feel about your adoption agency?) I'm just so grateful that we have a match, and so far everything with that looks really good. I just can't believe we have to go through the whole home study again. Last time I spent about 50 hours deep cleaning my house - - they look everywhere, including behind the shower curtains! It turns out you need a renewed home study within 6 months of the adoption, which means that unless you apply and are immediately matched with an at least 3 months pregnant birth mom you're going to have to do it twice. We also have to get new FBI and state criminal clearances and new medical okays.
I just keep telling myself that it will all be worth it when we bring our baby home, and I know that it will. But it's not going to be easy getting through the next 2 months!

Honestly!

Actually the title should be "Honesty." The other day I got caught in a big rainstorm after grocery shopping - - I was soaked by the time I got my bags loaded into the car. The next morning I realized that I couldn't find my wallet. I turned my house and car inside out looking for it and decided I must have left it in the shopping cart. I held out very little hope of ever seeing it again, and I was dreading having to renew all the credit cards, get a new license, all that stuff. But I called Meijer, and guess what?! Some honest soul had turned it in. (I wonder why Meijer didn't just look at my driver's license and get my phone number to call me - - it would have saved me a lot of stress and searching!) Anyway the wallet was completely intact, and my faith in humanity is restored. I wish great blessings upon the head of whoever turned it in!

Noah at Mary Poppins

Friday night Scott took Noah to the Broadway show, "Mary Poppins." It's Noah's favorite movie - - he was so excited to be there! Scott said he didn't move a muscle the whole time, he was just entranced. I wish we all could have gone, but the tickets were fairly pricey. I'm just glad Noah could go. He hasn't stopped talking about it yet! He can't wait to tell all his friends, and he really wants to go again.

Candy's Party

We had a fun weekend. Friday morning we flew to DC (left the house at 6:30) - - of course our first flight was cancelled and our 2nd one was delayed an hour. We finally made it - - we were there for my brother's wedding, I'll post about it later, when I get the pictures.

Anyway, Sunday morning we flew from DC to La Guardia (NYC) to go to our friend Candy's annual Mother's Day party. Scott worked for Candy when she was a consultant for United many years ago. She is a fascinating person, used to be the CEO of Harlequin and is now the VP of marketing for the Washington Post. Her husband Joe is the wine editor for Conde Nast magazine. They know all kinds of interesting people and are very fun to talk to. Candy is a huge reader and bought me a huge stack of books when we first got to know eachother and introduced me to several of my now favorite authors. She is a real sweet person. We went to one of her parties several years ago and it was lots of fun, and since it was kind of on our way home (not really) we were excited to attend this one.

We got in several hours before the party started, so we stopped at the Bronx Zoo. We'd never been before - - they have several really great exhibits, especially the apes and gorillas. It was the most beautiful day, perfect for walking around outside. We had a great time.

Then we drove to Candy's beautiful home (she and Joe live in New Jersey). Just like last time, the party was full of great food and insteresting people. Lots of people in publishing, a CEO of a huge company, an ACLU lawyer, a woman who had been a lawyer and went back to school to become a teacher, a humor columnist, and his wife, who just wrote her first book, which I'm planning to read (I'll let you know how it is). The kids got bored after a couple of hours, so they sat in the car and watched movies on the DVD player. We flew out of Newark, but of course our flight was cancelled again so we didn't get home until midnight (that's 4 airports in one day, if you're counting). So now I have all this laundry to do, house to clean, etc. Also I took Noah to the orthodontist today and he needs a "dweedle" - - braces on 2 teeth in the back, because one is coming in way too far forward. The same thing happened to Ethan! He was really good with the x-rays today, but I don't know how well he'll deal with the impression on Thursday.

More on the wedding later . . .

Smile!

Just a little hint from a tooth professional. If a tooth (baby or permanent) gets knocked completely out (with the root still attached) the best thing to do is not rinse it off but to put it right back in the tooth socket (if it is muddy or something you can rinse it with contact lens solution). If the socket is too swollen or painful to put it back in then keep it in a little cup with contact lens solution (if that's not available I think milk is an ok second choice, but not water). Then head straight to the dentist. A lot of times the tooth will be ok, they can splint it to adjacent teeth and the bone will grow around it and hold it back in place. This happened today to my neighbor's little boy (a front baby tooth was completely knocked out). I was so glad I was home and could tell her what to do (and watch her other kids while she went to the dentist.)
If the tooth is broken off then there's really no point in taking special care of the broken off piece, you can't glue it back on. (This happened to Ethan last year, chipped a big piece of his front tooth off - - the school nurse saved it in milk, but there's no way to fix that!)

Holding Our Breath

Things on the adoption front are looking good! We had our second call with "A" yesterday and it went well. We told her that we'd like to use her middle name, "Leigh," for our baby's middle name (doesn't Meredith Leigh Garner sound wonderful?). She was very touched by that. She expressed again that she feels that she is doing the right thing, and she told her case worker that she feels very comfortable with us. At first her mother wasn't too excited about the adoption, but she was in the car when A spoke with us yesterday and afterwards told her that she thinks she is doing the right thing as well. So everything is on track for now. She is due August 4th, and we've already started looking into accommodations in AZ for that time. I've told a lot of people and of course everyone has been incredibly supportive and excited for us.

For the last couple of years I've avoided the baby section in stores for the most part. Now I can finally look and shop (well, I'm holding off on buying most things for now, but it is sure fun to plan!) I did order some bedding for the nursery and I've started going through all my old baby clothes (an enormous task!!) Some of them are gender neutral and I'll keep them. The boy stuff will go to my sister Heidi, who is due in September. And some of the stuff is too grungy to keep. There are also a couple of little outfits I have to hold onto because they were such a part of the boys (Ethan's "tough tanks" sweatshirt, for instance). It was really quite enjoyable looking at the little clothes and remembering when my big boys were that tiny.

So I'm keeping plenty busy getting ready for this new arrival, along with all the other stuff that I keep busy with (yard work, house work, laundry, homework, getting the car's emissions checked, planning for summer camps, my church callings, blah blah blah I could go on all day, and I usually do :)

Jon Schmidt's Love Story Meets Viva la Vida

Reverence Cards

My darling sister Brittany has put together some beautiful reverence card at Heritage Makers. She has cards with the Articles of Faith, Proclamation on the Family, Latter-day Prophets, and scriptures about Christ. The finished products turn out beautifully. If you're interested go to her website, www.dawlings.blogspot.com and check them out.

I love you Beebs!

Diamonds in the Rough

Just a quick note - - if you want to smile today go to http://www.youtube.com/ and look at singers Paul Potts and Susan Boyle (just put their names into the search engine). They're singers from "Britain's Got Talent" and they're pretty amazing. Both are not terribly attractive on the outside, but what gorgeous voices. The reaction of the audience is priceless. Enjoy!

Happy Easter

A couple of years ago the young women at church made a cute activity for an Easter family night. You need 12 plastic eggs, write the numbers on them. Then print out the following:

1. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Matthew 26:39
(sacrament cup)

2. Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. Matthew 26:14-15, see also Zechariah 11:12-14
(three silver coins)

3. When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: And when they had found him, they led him and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Matthew 27:1-2
(knotted twine)

4. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: See ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be upon us, and on our children. The released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Matthew 27:24-26
(piece of hand soap)

5. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. Matthew 27:28-30
(square of red cloth)

6. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put on his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name; him they compelled to bear his cross. Matthew 27:31-32
(small nail)

7. And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. And sitting down they watched him there. Matthew 27:35-36
(small dice)

8. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; . . . Now when the Centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly, this was the Son of God. Matthew 27:50-51, 54
(crushed rock)

9. There came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' desciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock. Matthew 27:57-60
(strip of white cloth)

10. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. Pilate said unto them [the chief priest and pharisees], Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch. Matthew 27:60, 65-66
(small stone)

11. And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, had brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Mark 16:1
(whole cloves)

12. HE IS NOT HERE; FOR HE IS RISEN. Matthew 28:6


Roll up each numbered strip of paper and put it, along with the appropriate items, in the numbered eggs. I had all of the items just around the house, except for the sacrament cup, which I'll get at church tomorrow. When we did this with the boys a year or two ago it was really special. Even just now, typing up the scriptures, I'm reminded of how much our Savior did for us and how much I love Him.

Happy Easter!

At Last, a Match

I was hesitant about posting this, because with adoption there's so much uncertainty, but it looks like we might be "expecting." A birth mother, "A," has chosen us. We got the first call on Friday, from our caseworker. She said that A had seen our profile and had expressed interest in us. Over the weekend the whole family prayed. We didn't tell many people because it seemed like a long shot. But Monday our caseworker called back. She said that A had thought about it all weekend and didn't want to see any more profiles because we were the family she wanted to adopt her baby. It's a girl, by the way, and she's due the first week in August. When I got off the phone with Erica (caseworker) I just cried. This has been such a long process with so many disappointments and I couldn't believe it was really maybe happening at last. And the fact that we were praying so much (and listening to conference) over the weekend and that's when she decided - - well I knew we were being blessed.

We set up to have a telephone conference with A and her caseworker Tuesday afternoon. I was a zombie at work Monday night - - just subconsciously thinking non-stop about the "maybe baby" and wondering how everything was going to turn out. Scott and I did a lot of talking and felt good about things. Tuesday my friend Gretchen, who I hadn't seen for years, came to visit with her 3 darling boys (so cute! so well behaved!) and she had to sit and wait while Scott and I chatted on the phone for about 30 minutes. It was a great call overall, though the connection wasn't good and there was a lot of talking over eachother. A is an amazing person, I cannot imagine making the difficult sacrifice she is making. She said that one of the things that made her choose us was the fact that we had a son with special needs, because she has a daughter with special needs. She asked if I was going to be working when the baby was born, and it was great to be able to say, "well, I only work 4 hours a week, and I can take any time off that I need." I am so grateful that I can stay home and be a mom full time! She also asked if we would be there for the birth. I wasn't sure what to say, of course we wanted to be, but we didn't know if that would invade her privacy or if she'd feel comfortable with that, so we told her we'd go along with her wishes. Turns out she really wants us there so that we can immediately bond with the baby (she even said, "your baby" to us). All of this fills me with hope that everything will work out. I have known other people whose adoption plans had not worked out, so I'm trying not to be too excited, but I can't help it. A is being induced, so we should be able to be there in plenty of time for the baby to be born. Thank goodness we've still got flight benefits, that will make things a lot easier.

A lot of things still have to happen before we can relax, but we are so happy. I went up to the nursery today and looked at some of the baby girl clothes I've been hanging onto for about 6 years and thought about little Meredith (that's the name we've had picked out since before Ethan was born.) Now to get through the next 4 months of waiting!

Books

I just finished Anna Karenina and Ethan is (gasp!) 125 pages into it. I really enjoyed it, found it much easier going than War and Peace (though I fell confident about tackling that now). I started rereading Wuthering Heights but it's kind of depressing, so instead I picked up Don Quixote. I love it! I didn't realize that it was written close to the same time as Shakespeare's plays. It's very funny so far. I've also read my share of pulp, a couple of Grishams and the new Maeve Binchy. But I am trying to elevate my literary pursuits a little bit. :)

Conference

I just finished watching the last session of conference. What a blessing to be able to meet with members of the church all over the world every 6 months and listen to the prophet and apostles and other leaders of the church. And what a blessing to do it at home, using the internet. I finished crocheting my 4th leper bandage and started on number 5 (that's over 16 feet!). I also filed a bunch of papers. I do this every time I listen to conference, and it's great because I feel like I'm getting my life in order in more ways than one!

Scott has been in Idaho, meeting with a friend about work. The kids and I missed him, but he'll be home tonight (and I have a surprise for him - - I cleaned his closet!) I enjoyed the time with Ethan and Noah - - Ethan is learning to crochet and made some good progress. And Noah amazingly cleaned up his toyroom all by himself! (Well, he put most of the stuff on the couches, but still!) We had artichokes for lunch as a special treat, and we have fresh strawberries for dessert tonight.

Thursday I had a big meeting here for our DS group. I'm going to start doing the newsletter again, thank goodness, because I enjoy that much more than being president (and I'm better at it). We divided up the responsibilities in a way that will help people not feel so overwhelmed, and we have a great guy in charge of community outreach, an area that needs work.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Spring Break!

We're winding up a fun family spring break. Last Saturday we flew into Jackson Hole, WY (I love flying in there, especially the steep descent!) We drove to Sugar City and spent the night with my parents and sister. They have quite a menagerie - - dog, cat, goats, guinea pigs and a tarantula. The goats are my favorite. I went out with my mom to help milk - - little did I know how hard it is! Well, not hard exactly, but you do have to get the technique right. I finally figured it out, but I was too slow, so my mom (who is a pro) took over. I also dared to drink the goat milk, and guess what, I couldn't even tell the difference between it and regular milk. Heidi made french toast with goat milk and fresh eggs from the chickens and it was fantastic!

Saturday night we had pizza and then the kids all had a music concert. Ethan played two piano pieces and also one on the guitar. He's learning the theme from "The Godfather," his first finger-picking song. He's very excited about it and has done a lot of practicing. Heidi announced that she would accompany Tallis and Beanie on the recorder on a song called, "To be a Master." I was expecting a churchy song. Imagine my surprise when I heard, "To be a master . . . Pokemon Master!"

Sunday we went to church - - Noah didn't make it through, but Ethan enjoyed meeting up with old friends in primary. The relief society lesson about eternal marriage was very well done. We came home and had a wonderful turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Uncle Dan and cousin Zazzy came too, and we had a fun dinner table conversation and another concert. Zazzy joined in - - she's a great singer!

Scott and I left Monday morning. I'm so grateful to Mom and Dad and Heidi and Devan for taking good care of the kids while we were gone. We very rarely get to go away on our own, partly because Noah is hard to leave with people. But apparently he did just fine, and Ethan was a good helper. Both the kids were so excited to see their cousins and play "sesames" with them. They also got the game Uno Attack and had a 3 hour long marathon game. I wish we'd had more time to spend with Heidi and Mom and Dad - - we always have so much fun talking and laughing together. I'm so impressed with the service that Mom and Dad do - - one day a week at the temple and one or two days doing humanitarian work. That plus all their household responsibilities equals a whole lot of busy-ness! They also help with OneHeart and are always on hand to help neighbors in need. What a great example they are - - they don't just talke about making a difference, they actually do it.

Heidi and the kids are coming to stay for a couple of weeks after Kyle's wedding in May and I'm really looking forward to it. Heidi always has fun ideas of things to do, especially with regards to teaching our children. She bought a spanish teaching program for her kids and I'm looking forward to using it with Ethan as well.

Well Scott and I had a great deal - - a friend he knew from Carnival Cruise lines arranged for us to go on a "Cruise to Nowhere" - - when they launch a new ship they take it on a couple of inaugural sailings to both work the bugs out and to spread positive buzz, so they invite travel agents to go for free. The ship just goes out into the ocean and back without stopping anywhere (it's 2 nights). So we flew to Orange County, CA, spent the night, and then boarded the ship the next morning. Our hotel had a deal that if you were driving a hybrid you got free parking, so we rented a Prius. We put quite a few miles on it, and it only cost about 46 cents to fill the tank back up.

The ship, the Splendor, was very nice. Our room was small, but fine (except for the fact that we were right above the bar and had to listen to very loud music until the wee hours.) The first night we ate in the specialty restaurant with 2 other travel agents from Chicago. I wasn't sure how fun that would be, but we had a great time, chatted away like old friends. The food was superlative - - I had lobster and filet mignon with bearnaise sauce. I think I put on a couple of pounds while we were away.

The second night our dinner table companions were quieter, but we still enjoyed the food. Mostly it was just so nice to have some alone time with Scott. I really got lucky when I married such a great guy. He's a wonderful dad to Ethan and Noah, and he's just so much fun to be with. And it would be hard to find anyone that gets better deals!

We left the ship Thursday morning, flew through San Francisco into SLC, and drove to Sugar City. We quickly gathered up all (most) of the kids' scattered belongings, said thank you and goodbye (and see you in 6 weeks) and drove to Pocatello to spend the night with Scott's sister Cindy and her husband Tony. They have a lovely new home which I hadn't yet seen. Their daughter Amy, her husband and little girl, and Scott's parents all came for a wonderful breakfast in the morning. Cindy is an amazing cook and we had the best pancakes with currant syrup. Yum!

We drove to SLC and spent the night at the Grand America, where we still are. The Phoenix Suns are staying here as well (they're playing the Jazz tonight) and Scott and Brittany both saw Shaq. I'm bummed I missed that, he's one of the few pro b-ball players I could identify! Beebs and her Scott and kids met us this morning and we went to Hogle Zoo. I'd forgotten what a nice zoo it is! The kids had a great time, it wasn't too crowded, and it was beautiful weather, chilly but sunny. We had lunch at a fun Polynesian place and then came back to the hotel and the older kids went swimming. Beebs and I stayed in the room and chatted and watched Noah and Brennan play. I love Beebs, she's always so fun to be with and is so patient (her kids spilled 3 drinks at lunch and she barely flinched).

We're going home tomorrow, but it has been a very nice trip, so good to see family and spend good quality time together.