zoo party

azure is turning 5! her request was for a zoo party. i think she just wanted an excuse to wear her tiger outfit from halloween!

we found out how to make these super cute animal cupcakes online. they turned out really well. we had lots of fun playing animal games. the kids took turns being transformed into zebras, we went on an animal hunt and played "lion tamer, lion tamer, where's your lion."

this year i was smarter than last year. i had the kids decorate their own loot bags. in the end, they just wanted to play outside in azure's "tree" house. kindergarten is just around the corner. wow! i hope we don't have an empty nest soon.

2009 family pictures by mollie

if i had to choose my favorite family pictures by mollie i'd pick the following four. having our family pictures take by a professional photographer has become an annual tradition. my family NeVer took family portraits. i think i've seen one of J's whole family which was taken when he was a baby. my wedding pictures didn't turn out that great... so, i've been trying to make up for it ever since!

a christmas tradition

my sister-in-law suggested the tradition of picking out a christmas ornament each year with our daughter. this way, when she moves out, she'll have a good number of decorations for her very own christmas tree. i thought this was a fun idea and we've been collecting them ever since.

azure chose this one because it reminded her of the star that the wise men followed to find baby jesus. i think she secretly chose it because of all the bling. :) either way, it is a lovely addition to her collection of ornaments. a very merry christmas is just around the corner!

my education

after reading our adoption blog, my mom said i should let you know about my education cuz i sound too much like a biker chick, which i am not. my mom is my greatest fan and feels that i'm not tooting my abilities enough.

i went to a "french immersion" school in canada until grade 9. this means that all of my subjects were taught in french. when i got to grade 9 i figured that i should learn to spell in english and switched streams. my spelling is still not great... but i'll blame that on my dad's genetic heritage. :) my mom is a great speller.

during my university years, i lived at home. my major was psychology because i thought of being a guidance counselor in the school system or a marriage counselor. in the end, i didn't feel inspired to get my masters... so, once i got this degree under my belt, i decided to get a diploma in travel and tourism.

i worked as a vacation travel consultant and then switched to corporate travel with american express. great company to work for and i got to use my french... but i had the feeling that the internet was going to squeeze me out of a job and i wanted to do something more people oriented.

from there, i worked as a bilingual animator at the canadian children's museum for a while and thought of becoming a teacher. this is when i moved to arizona with the premise of going back to school. i landed a good job in property management and ended up not returning to school. meeting jonathan changed my career plan. i never really dreamed of having children cuz i never thought i'd meet the "right" guy... but when he came along i couldn't help but dream!

for now, i dream of eventually becoming a photographer. there is something magical about capturing memories at just the right angle and with just the right light. if we don't have a baby placed with us by the time my daughter starts kindergarten this fall, i'll sign up for photography classes at the college. it's great to have something to look forward to, either way.

dreams really do come true...

our daughter was over the moon when she got to see ariel, belle, jasmine and mulan on her first visit to disneyland. all she cared about when planning this trip was seeing the princesses. fortunately, our little daredevil loved the roller coasters. 4 and a 1/2 is the perfect age to enjoy the park. we were blessed to have relatively short lines to stand in. yeah!

we rounded out the vacation with a children's museum, two different beaches, an afternoon at the getty villa, and a night at the l.a. temple apartments.

i think next year we'll do seaworld... we hear january 1st is the perfect day to visit cuz everyone was up late the night before and are home watching football.

infertility

our case worker thought you'd like to know something about our struggle with infertility. this seems like such a personal thing to share... but since you want to know... here is some of the story.

i got married later in life than the average person. i was 31. (jonathan is 7 years younger.) we both figured it was better to wait a little before trying to become pregnant because our courtship was fairly brief. (from august of 2002 until our marriage in may of 2003.) note: i always said a person needs to date for a year before getting married... but, then i found out, when you know something is right you just take a leap of faith. ha!

about a year into our marriage we tried to get pregnant. boom! done. wow. that was easy. i thought it would be hard because my mom had infertility issues. wrong. phew.

azure's birth was at the women's birth center in tucson, az. it was one of the most amazing things i've ever experienced. i wanted to do it again as soon as possible. we didn't wait long before trying to get pregnant again. i had no idea that it wouldn't happen so easily the second time. ugh.

i'm on my third doctor. he, like the others, doesn't see any reason why i'm not getting pregnant. i guess that God has another plan for how we are going to "grow" our family. i hope and have faith in my desire to have another child.

for now, i'm a foster mom to a little baby girl and pray that a birth mom will choose us to be her child's forever-family.

p.s. it's hard not to get down every time i get my period. sigh. today was one of those down days. sigh. for 15 or so days i month i hope and secretly pray God will make this month different than the previous one. i try not to focused on it... i try to fill my days with good things... i try to appreciate what i've been blessed with already... but it's hard when i feel like i have a good desire that i cannot satisfy... it hurts. it's hard not think that God is mad at me... but at the same time i know that if i get everything i want or think i need i'll never grow. patience truly is a virtue!

about the motorcycle

today our new case worker came over to meet us. she was a little surprised that i looked "normal". some people think that because i rode a motorcycle i belong to a gang or something. i rode a motorcycle for practical reasons. i had just moved from canada with two suitcases. i didn't want the troubles that would come with an old beaten-up car. i did want to pay cash for whatever vehicle i chose, hence, the motorcycle. i called my motorcycle goliath. why? because it felt to me like i was conquering something monumental.

my mom was terrified for me. i took a weekend class to learn to ride and fell in love with the rush. i promised her i'd wear a helmet, boots, gloves and a jacket.

i used to take jonathan around on the back when his car wasn't working. he's not the best passenger... a little on the jittery side... but he tried to act tough about it. :)

when we moved to tucson, we our car died and we decided to buy a house instead of replacing it. we thought j could bike to school and i would use my motorcycle. by the time we closed on our home, i was pregnant. we ended up trading in my motorcycle for a family vehicle. i didn't want to increase my odds of dying prematurely.

all this to say, i'm not your typical motorcyclist!

leather

when our new lds family social worker came over today she was surprised that i didn't look more like a leather wearing lady. the truth is: a mother in leather isn't appealing or practical. the truth is: i loved wearing leather long before i ever dreamed of riding a motorcycle.

when i was in high school i got a job at a leather clothing store. soon after i started working there they changed the name and image. all of a sudden i was employed by an more upper scale leather clothing store. the clothes were more fashionable than biker. i was fine with that.

i worked there and spent most of my money on leather clothing until i went on my mission to southern france. leather and the Lord don't have to be like oil and water. women can be classy in leather and suede... but it's not the most practical material.

my only piece of leather right now is a jacket and a couch (which i love!).

jonathan - at present

allison says the following about Jonathan’s hobbies and interests: His number one free time activity is playing with, and reading to his daughter no matter how tired he is. He can be caught reading whenever he has free time—namely on the throne! (shhh… don’t tell him I wrote that! J) Jonathan might look gringo but his heart soars when he’s speaking Spanish. He thrives on last minute lessons or speaking engagements. The news, namely politics, really floats his boat. Thank heaven he only reads about the Phoenix Suns and Sun Devil (ASU) football online. The Geek side of him loves typography. (Note: This font is minion pro. It meets his stamp of approval!)

allison - at present

jonathan says the following about Allison's interests and hobbies: She obsesses about blogging our daily family life and loves to organize family photos. She keeps the camera ready to take funny or cute shots. She loves watching her daughter socialize, learn new skills, bounce around at gymnastics and be sucked into a playful book. Right now, she is a foster mom and spends her daytime playing with a baby girl. Allison loves to dream of the next family vacation (she still has the wander lust from the time she spent working as a travel agent). She speaks French fluently and falls in love every time she hears a rich French accent. She also speaks a little Spanish and is always saying that she should learn more of it. She will… one day. In her spare time, she drills holes in walls trying to find the right place to hang something on the wall. Her current dream is to save up for a quality digital camera and then take college classes to become a photographer.