Outer Banks Family Vacation

 This past August Richard and I got to go on vacation with my mom and dad and my brother, Stephen.  We had a GREAT trip!  It was so much fun!  We went to our family favorite vacation spot:  Outer Banks, North Carolina!  My family has been going to the same house in the Outer Banks every year since Stephen was one!  So we were beyond excited for another week at the beach!  Unfortunately though, my other two siblings were not able to join us.  We missed them! 

So my parents left for the beach on Saturday but because of things we had going on, Stephen, Richard, and I didn't join them until Monday morning.  We were originally planning on being down there (it's about a 5 hour drive from my parent's house) around 9 a.m. on Monday morning.  But then we had the grand idea (Stephen, Richard, and I usually come up with some pretty crazy ideas...) to leave at 2 a.m.!  So after eating some awesome chocolate chip pancakes and going to be around 11 p.m. we got up at 2 a.m. and headed out on the road!  As usual, we had a very fun road trip together!  The best parts were stopping at our favorite local fruit market (Powells Roadside Market!), listening to awesome music, and avoiding our parent's phone calls (we wanted to surprise them!).  They were certainly surprised when we showed up a few hours earlier than planned (with donuts!).  It was so fun!  

We had a GREAT time at the beach.  Here are some of the other vacation highlights:  

* Lots of beach and water time!  Richard, Stephen, and I had a great time playing in the water and waves! 

*  Stephen rented a surfboard and we had fun trying it!  I wiped out every time.  One day the water was really rocky but it actually ended up being perfect for surfing and Stephen was getting pretty good! 

*  Going to Johns for lunch and ice cream - a family tradition! 

*  walking to 7/11 and getting slurpees.  

*  playing lots of games!  I especially loved playing Banana grams with my mom! 

*  GETTING APPROVED TO ADOPT!  

*  making s'mores on the grill!  

*  Stephen and I swam a MILE in the ocean and saw stingrays! 

Stephen is a great surfer!

Our favorite fruit stand stop!  Can't not stop at Powells Roadside Market even if it is 6 a.m. in the morning!  Please excuse my hair, I had been up since 2 in the morning!

Our favorite beach house

Richard/Stephen tradition:  make foil hats and have a battle on the beach.  It's so fun to watch them!  My Mom and Dad and I laughed SO hard!

Stephen and I got up to see the sunrise.  A family tradition!

The day we found out we were approved to adopt!  So happy!

We played a lot of Banana grams!  Love that game!  Stephen played this one by himself and used all the letters!

The Wait

The two weeks are past.
I sit and I wait.
Not this month of last.
"Oh well" I say with a smile,
We haven't been trying but for awhile.

Now more months are gone.
I sit and I wait.
And I wonder if something could be wrong.
I wait for the two lines but only see one.
Tears start to flow as I feel darkness shatter my sun.

Needles, pain, and one more test.
I sit and I wait.
Hoping for some sort of rest.
Rest from this sad story that can't be mine.
But we still only see one little pink line.

Days pass, nervous and grim.
I sit and I wait.
The phone rings; the outlook is dim.
We hear the news and sit in shock.
We're shaking our heads, we can't even talk.

We pray in faith to be led.
I sit and I wait.
While the Spirit whispers and a few tears are shed.
We know the Lord's plan for our family to be.
His plan we finally are able to see.

More obstacles and more trials.
I sit and I wait.
The road of infertility has many miles.
But our hearts begin to mend,
And we know it will be alright in the end.

And so,
I sit and I wait.
And although sometimes feeling so low,
I know good things come to those who wait.
Some blessings come soon and some come late.

Our paperwork is done.
I sit and I wait.
We dream of nurseries and baby fun.
And we wait to be told
The news that will help this story unfold.

As time moves on
I sit and I wait
And anticipate a brighter new dawn.
A day when we will finally be
A little bit bigger family.

Chalkboard Paint!

I have been wanting to paint something with chalkboard paint for a long time.  

And so this summer Richard and I took on a project.  

We bought a bucket of chalkboard paint at Lowes and got to work!  

We had a blast painting this one little wall in our kitchen.  

And we love being able to fill it with colorful, happy messages!  

I love our new chalkboard wall! 

Hershy Park

Earlier this summer we went to Hershey Park!  It was SO fun!  I've been wanting to go here practically my whole life so I was very excited that we finally went!  We got some discount tickets from our local grocery store, asked our neighbors to let Carly out for the day, and set off with some road trip snacks!  It was a 4 hour round trip but being at the park was so fun.  We went on all the huge roller coasters and went to the water park.  We had a great time together!  And of course we also got some yummy chocolate too! 

Texas/Florida Vacation

Us at Harry Potter world!  We had a great time here with Richard's parents! 

Harry Potter World

swimming with Carly this summer! 

In Key Largo, FL. 

Emily got to kiss a dolphin! 

snorkeling

We have been having a very fun summer!  We were able to go on vacation with Richard's parents.  We first drove to Texas to visit with them at their house and then we had fun driving to Florida.  We loved Harry Potter World and we had a great time in Key Largo too!  Richard and his parents had fun scuba diving and we all had fun snorkeling with playing with the cute puppy! 

BIG news!

 We are finally officially approved to adopt a sweet baby!  We couldn't be more excited about it!  

Here is a recap of our journey to adoption:  

 Our journey to adopt began about 7 months after we got married.  

I really felt it was time to start our family (or maybe it was just that I really wanted a baby).  

So we started trying to have a family.  We were in sort of the "let's just see what happens" phase.  We both had school to finish and we weren't in any hurry.  

A few months later we started looking into basal temperatures and all that good stuff.  

By the time I graduated (about 10 months later) we were still waiting.  

We knew that we might have some trouble due to a variety of reasons so we were definitely disappointed but not too worried at this point.  

I started my first year of teaching.  Richard was still in school.  We waited and waited, month after month.  

About another year later I went to see a ob/gyn and I asked him about infertility.  He told me a bunch of things we could do - the first of which being put on Clomid.  He didn't even try to test us first to figure out what was wrong.  He left me with a lot of unanswered questions and stress.  

Around that same time someone left a comment on our blog telling us about a infertility clinic BYU was holding.  We decided to go.  A fabulous doctor there spoke on infertility.  We decided to make an appointment with him at the BYU Health Center.  

We met with this wonderful doctor and he went over all the ins and outs of infertility with us.  Much of this we already knew.  He then ordered some tests for us.  Both Richard and I were tested.  

At the infertility clinic a couple spoke about how they found out they couldn't have kids at all.  I remember Richard and I talking about that afterwards and how horrible it would be for us to have to go through that.  

But then a few months later we found out that we would.  And we have.  

A year after finding this out we moved to Virginia and could finally start the adoption process with the LDS Family Services here.  

We knew we were supposed to adopt.  We still do.  We have very strong testimonies that this is how our babies are going to come to our family, one way or another.  However this past year has been a really rough year for us.  We struggled with getting our paperwork turned in.  I struggled with a lot of "what if" questions.  Richard had his hardest year of school yet.  I had my hardest year of teaching yet.  Satan certainly tried to bring us down and to bring us away from adoption.  He still tries to tell us that this isn't what we wanted and that this wasn't our life plan.  

Well, maybe it wasn't our life plan.  But it was Heavenly Father's life plan for us. 

And His plan is a perfect plan. 

So 4 years since we started trying to have a family, 

2 years since we found out we couldn't have babies on our own, 

and 1 year since we started the whole adoption process - 

WE ARE FINALLY OFFICIALLY APPROVED FOR ADOPTION!  

And we are beyond thrilled.  

We had so much fun telling family and friends this past Tuesday when we found out.  

We can't wait for a birth mother to pick us and to find our sweet baby.  

Check out our LDS Family Services profile here:  

https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/25148960/ourMessage.jsf

Welcome to our adoption blog!  We are so excited that you're here!  Please click on the tabs above to get to know a little bit more about us, our family, and our hope to adopt a sweet, little baby!