Thursday, January 21, 2010

Trials

The missionaries came over to dinner the other night (yummy fresh basil and mozzarella and tomato pasta) and they gave a little thought at the end of the evening. They talked about the Nephites in the Book of Mormon, when they were captives of the Lamanites and we're being very harshly treated. They prayed, and the Lord said he would lift their burdens, would make them lighter. We talked about how the Lord helps us through our trials, and how trials can make us stronger and better people. How true that is! Two of the "trials" of my life were my pregnancy with Noah, and then not being able to get pregnant again and going through the ups and downs of adoption. But I can't now even call them trials! I was so uplifted and sustained through all of my pregnancy with Noah, and he is one of the greatest blessings of my life. Sure, his Down syndrome has been challenging, but I wouldn't change things. He is such a joy, a wonderful, happy kid who gets the most out of life. Because of him I have met wonderful people, learned enormous amounts of information, and become a better, more patient person. And if I hadn't gone through infertility and a long adoption process, I wouldn't now have the most perfect precious baby in the world right now.

I look at what the people in Haiti are going through, and I know that I have no grounds for any kind of complaint. I have a wonderful family and a great life. I've been following the blogs of people who have experienced trials (one is a woman who was burned severely following a plane crash, and the other is a woman whose husband had a stroke at a young age). The attitudes these women have is amazing - - so much faith! They turned to the Lord in their time of need and as a result they are stronger and better people. Great examples for me! So a good resolution for me is "no whining" because things are awesome!

Monday, January 18, 2010

More Catching Up

It was sad to see Mom and Dad and Kyle and Linzi and Evy go, but great to welcome Scott and Ethan back home. I sure did miss them! Scott has recently moved his office to a place only a couple of miles away. It's so great to have him closer, and he loves not worrying about a long commute. Scott uses some of his extra time playing tennis at the gym. He has several friends he plays with regularly and he loves the friendly competition. It's also a great way for him to stay in shape.

Ethan got a wonderful report card for his first trimester. He's now taking Spanish, and liking it. He's been playing basketball with the scouts and soccer in P.E. and getting a lot of good exercise. He's also started wearing contact lenses, mostly for sports. He helps me a lot with Meredith, especially on Mondays when I work. He watches her by himself for about an hour until the babysitter arrives. Ethan is doing great with his priesthood responsibilites. Recently a new member told me how impressed she was with his helpfulness and maturity when he came to collect fast offerings. What a great kid!

Noah also had a very good report card. I'm so proud of how far he has come in school! We had his IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting last week. All of his many teachers said how much they enjoyed working with him and how well he is doing. He loves to help his classmates and especially encourages them to get involved in P.E. Noah is a very active kid, and physically is doing exceptionally well. He would be in the regular P.E. class if he were taller, but the teachers are afraid of him getting hurt because he is so much smaller than his typically developing peers. We just signed Noah up for swimming lessons and special olympics track. I think he's really going to do well!

The month of December was busy but fun. We had several parties to go to, including the annual Down syndrome group party. It was nice to not be in charge this year!! The kids had a great time. I'm back to writing the newsletter for our group and I love it. That's definitely more where my talents lie. I'm also once again the secretary for the young women. I love putting together handouts and invitations. Recently the church revamped the Personal Progress program and the new books are great. I'm actually going to do the program myself again, and I'm looking forward to it.

I also had a work party at a nearby German restaurant. The food was fantastic, and very filling! I sure love my job and the people I work with. All of the ladies had a special baby shower for Meredith and me and it was a blast. I am so lucky to have a job I love and only have to work at once a week. It's perfect. There were many times during dental hygiene school that I wondered if I'd made the right decision, but I know that I did. It's not glamorous, but it's perfect for me. Well, I'm not glamorous, right?!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

November Family Letter

Those of you who read this who aren't family members may not know that we do a semi-monthly family letter in my family. My mom has betting putting one together at least 10 times a year ever since Scott and I got married (over 16 years now!) Anyway, since I started this blog my mom has just taken my family letter from it, and guess what - - I am way behind! So here's the catch up.

The highlight of November (and of the whole year, really) was going to the temple so that Meredith could be sealed to us. We went to the Twin Falls temple (my first time there) because Scott's dad is a sealer there and could perform the ceremony. Mom got to be the person who dressed in white and held Meredith, and Dad and Scott's brother Blair were witnesses. So everyone in the family was involved, it was very special. Meredith looked so beautiful in her long white dress, and she was a perfect angel. In fact, during the ceremony itself she held perfectly still and seemed very intent on what was happening. Ethan and Noah got to attend as well, which is a pretty unusual occurrence and was very special for them. I was especially glad for Ethan because he's old enough to remember, and to plan for attending the temple himself and being sealed there someday. We spent a lot of time talking to Noah about proper temple behavior beforehand. We had family prayer before we left the house and Noah asked to say it. It was so funny - - in the prayer he said, "running, no no, talking no no" - - he knew how he should act. And he was very reverent. He loved the end best of all when everyone got to hug everyone else.

After the temple we went to a nearby restaurant for lunch. It was so fun to have so much family there, Heidi and Devan and their kids (and we finally got to meet Rowan!) and Beebs and Scott, and lots of Scott's family. Also cousin LeeAnn, who watched Heidi's kids while she was at the temple. We especially appreciated those who had traveled long distances just to come. We went back to Scott's folks' house and talked for several hours before people had to leave. And then we left the next morning. It was a short trip, but oh, how wonderful! We are so grateful for the sealing power of the priesthood! And for adoption, which made this possible for us. (Amazing, by the way, how much there is about adoption in the scriptures!)

Only a week after we got back to Chicago Scott and Ethan left on a "trip around the world" with Scott's friend Gary. I'll let them post about their adventures. Scott knew that he couldn't just leave me here with Noah and Meredith and no company, so Mom and Dad and Kyle and Linzi and Evy all came for Thanksgiving! Mom and Dad stayed a whole week, and it was so fun to see them! We went shopping and hung out and talked and of course read books. Noah and Meredith were thrilled to have their Omi and Opa all to themselves. (Noah sometimes calls Dad "Poopa".) Kyle and his family came later and it was awesome! We played games and made sketches of eachother and laughed and laughed. I enjoyed getting to know Linzi better (we went shopping with Mom on black Friday!) and it was fun for Noah to get to know Evy. Evy seemed very taken with Meredith and was very sweet to her. We had a very nice Thanksgiving Dinner with all the trimmings. I made way too many brussel sprouts (they're good cooked with bacon, but I over-steamed them a little). Also my jello just would not set, so we ended up with tasty strawberry soup :) Anyway it was lots of fun, and though we missed Ethan and Scott, they had a good time too.