lds family services

daryl came out today with 3 other workers. david is going to be our go-to-guy. it was nice that we had already met him at the adoption academy. it's refreshing to get the religious side of adoption. the sad reality is that we will not be in thier "system" for a while. the other sad reality is how long a placement usually takes (about 2 years). when daryl informed us of this my heart was pounding and i wanted to say "but my heart tells me something different".... ha. reality check for me. even if i feel there is someone out there who needs to hear our story it may still take a while for us to find each other. that's okay... because heavenly father is in charge. we are just trying to do our part.

allison's birth

i consider myself to be a temple baby. my parents were struggling with infertility for over 6 years. they filled out all the paperwork to adopt. their bishop felt prompted to invite them to attend the temple and be sealed. they agreed. the next thing you know my mom was pregnant and i was born. miracles have not ceased! i was born in arizona but moved with my family to the capital of canada when i was 2 years old.

Jonathan's birth

After six children and some difficult birth complications, my mom decided, "that's enough." Then one day, in the temple, she had the distinct feeling that two more children wanted to join her family. She actually thought I was going to be a girl (she wanted her youngest to be a girl).

I was born at home. My dad caught me. He also took birth and delivery classes to act as a midwife for my mom. My mom says that it was a very sacred experience, giving birth with just my dad there, in her own home.

My older brother didn't want to give up his crib. So, my mom made a cradle out of a banana box until he could be persuaded to move up to a bed.

They named me Jonathan, which means "God's Gift."

allison's family

would you guess from this picture that my parents are divorced? yup! so, why are they posing in this family photo? i'm assuming it is for posterity. j and i had their first grandchild. my mom desperately wanted grandchildren. my dad seemed to have a rebirth when azure was born.

the photo is out dated since my brother and sister-in-law recently had a baby. but we have not seen her yet because they are in canada. we'll be seeing them in less than a month. azure is sooo excited to meet her newest cousin. cousins make azure's world go 'round.

oh, and my sister-in-law was adopted. she recently found her birth mom and dad. i'd say she's had an excellent experience reuniting with them. her birth mom looks more like a sister than a mother. (i guess that's what happens when you have a baby young and have great genes!) they are amazingly alike. they are even both serious artists.

jonathan's family reunion

this is the most recent photo of jonathan's family. we organized this new bi-annual tradition because his family with 8 siblings is spread over arizona, utah and nevada. we felt strongly that we needed family time without the distractions of tv, video games, toys, etc. we reserved a beautiful group camp site at a national park in the hopes that the low cost of camping would allow everyone to be there. it wasn't perfect... but we already look forward to the next one in 2009.

adoption:

it's about love!

i really had no idea how much love it took to place a child for adoption until we went to the adoption academy last weekend. hearing from a panel of mothers who recently placed their new borns into homes of their choice was so inspiring. i could feel how the spirit guided them in making their decision. they truly wanted the best for their babies: a loving home with a mother and a father.

i have a renewed testimony of the eternal importance of family. the most important things will often be the hardest. may god bless us as we strive to live what we believe and know to be true.