A Prehistoric Saturday

I have to first admit I haven't been a fun mom lately. As most of you know, I'm the PTG president of my children's school this year. Well, I knew it was going to get crazy during the month of August, but I WAY underestimated the time commitment. For the last 2 weeks I've been attached to the computer and phone trying to get the parents ready for the upcoming school year. I've also been working on my "pet projects" which are setting up a PTG room at the school and organizing childcare for our PTG meetings. I am really hoping to pull these off. Now couple all this with the fact that the end of August is usually my most busiest time of year at work (we like to work extra hard to make up for the relaxing summer) and you can see where I'm going with this.

Anyway, my husband gently reminded me on Saturday that we were going to spend the day as a family - no phones, no computers. Ah, this man knows exactly what I need!

We decided to visit the local museum which was exhibiting a replica of a T-Rex discovered in South Dakota (it helped that Ally, Nicholas and Natalie earned free tickets from the local library for reading 15 books this summer!) Now tell me if any of you can relate to this conversation:

ME: Oh shout, I forgot my camera.

ALLY: It's okay mom, you can use your cell phone.

ME: But I don't know how

ALLY: Here, mom, I'll take care of it.

She then proceeded to take a couple pictures and then e-mail them to me so I could use them on my blog. So, who's more ancient, the dinosaur or me????

Look What Came Walking Down My Street!!! by Ally

Jack and Jill came up the South Hill

Looking for some water.

Jack looked around and said,

"This looks like a nice cul-de-sac"

And Jill came following after.

I've Been Tagged

I was just catching up on everyone's blogs and noticed Lucy tagged me with 5 GREAT questions. I had to put some thought into these answers. Here it goes:

1. If you could change one part of your body what would it be?
Well, if I have to pick only one, it would be . . . the chest - ugh! Where did they go???

2. How much do you think you need to make to be "really comfortable" (think annual salary)? This is an interesting question because the "really comfortable" amount has changed for me over the years. When Andrew and I were first married, we talked a lot about the "6-figure amount" and that this amount would be sufficient to comfortably raise a family. As we've grown older (wiser?) we've realized it's not just about supporting our family but it's also about having the means to help others and being able to put a decent amount away each month for college, missions, retirement, etc. So, now, I think the comfortable amount is closer to double the "6-figure amount."

3. What is your greatest God-given talent? This is a hard one for me to answer because I use to wonder, "Do I have any talents?" It honestly wasn't until I was called to Primary I realized how much I love children (well, I knew I loved my own but I didn't realize how much I loved everyone else's!) If this can be considered a talent, I guess that's my answer.

4. Winter Olympics or Summer Olympics? Gymnastics! Enough said.

5. If you could have any career, and you were GUARANTEED success (no tests to get in, no auditions, no worrying about daycare, or money or time) what would you do? Hands down, Kindergarten teacher. I love my current career, the law still challenges and excites me, but, in light of #3 above, I'd love to spend the day with 5 year olds.

Thanks Lucy for the tag.

The Crown Jewel of Idaho

We just returned from a week at Priest Lake, which the locals call the "Crown Jewel of Idaho." I honestly think any large amount of water surrounded by mountains is such an amazing gift of beauty from our Heavenly Father that I could never pick just one as the "Crown Jewel," but Priest Lake is a treasure to our family because of the memories we've made there over the last 6 years.

This year we got a little adventurous and decided to teach Ally and Nicholas to water ski. A big task for 2 inexperienced parents. Unfortunately, they take after their mother and didn't get up. Here's a picture of Nicholas getting ready to say "hit it!"

Aren't those skis suppose to be perpendicular to the water???

My grandparents also came up. My grandpa LOVES to read with the kids. I'm so thankful for his patience. Here's a pic. of Natalie and Grandpa reading on the hammock. Note Natalie's outfit: I let the kids pack their own suitcases this year. When I opened hers, I found 2 swimsuits, a swimsuit cover up (which she's wearing) and A LOT of Barbies. What more does a girl need???

We also went on a 6-mile hike to Upper Priest Lake. This portion of the lake is only accessible by boat or on foot. It's so pristine. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the lake, but here's a picture of us on the trail. If I did a close up of our fingers you'd see the purple stains from huckleberry picking. Yum - homemade huckleberry ice cream - another family tradition at the lake.

Here's some more pictures from our week at the lake:

see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

Natalie Kayaking

All smiles

Adam - tube extraordinaire. I kept telling my kids they were "totally tubular" - it's so great to use those 80's sayings!

non-skiing siblings - maybe next year??

And, last but not least, here's a picture of the cabin where we stayed. We use to stay at another cabin nearby, but met the owners of this cabin last summer. They offered to rent their cabin to us this year, something they've NEVER done before. The owners are a cute retired couple who feel their days of maintaining a lake house may be numbered - enters our family who is dying to buy a lake house. To make a long story short, we're hoping when they decide to sell, they'll sell to us. It's a perfect fit for our family, there's lots of room for friends, and it's across the street from the lake rather than right on the water, which means it's less than a million dollars! :-) We're waiting patiently . . . .

Main cabin - sorry it's hard to make out through the trees.


Back yard of main cabin

Guest cabin next door

OUT WITH THE "OAK" - IN WITH THE NEW

Last week I got the "home project" bug. Those who know me well know I don't get bitten by this bug often. A matter of fact, I've found that I'm even more content with my house since my husband started throwing away my Pottery Barn catalogs before I can look at them.

Anyway, last week I was antsy to replace the oak dresser in the boys' room because the drawers were falling apart. I envisioned a nice, navy blue replacement. I even thought to myself, "This is it, my last piece of 90s oak furniture will officially be out of the house!"

But, a navy blue dresser was not to be found. To improvise, I found a white one and bought blue paint. I came home and started on my project. I quickly realized my navy blue dresser was actually the color of those exit signs off the freeway that let you know there's food or gas at the next exit. My dresser looked like a giant, bright blue warning sign!

I went back to the store and got a darker color. I applied it and LOVED it. I even applied polyurethane to protect the dresser against chips (again, those who know me will be impressed I even know about polyurethane!)

Here's the final product:

After feeling so proud of myself and my move into the 2000s, I walked into our formal dining room and there staring me in the face was my large OAK dining room table.

Oops, I forgot about that! To my credit though, it's in the one room in our house that's almost NEVER used. Seriously, when we have friends or family over, no one ever goes in the formal dining room. We mainly use it when the missionaries come over for dinner. So, it's not too far of a stretch that I'd forget about the furniture in that room. I began hatching a plan to replace the table and chairs - but felt too guilty since they've rarely been used. So alas, I still have a little 90s oak. Maybe if I hold out long enough it will come back in style. My black stretch pants did!

SUMMER FUN

I've really enjoyed reading everyone's summer recaps on their blogs. It's so easy to catch up that way and feel connected even though we're all busy going in different directions this summer. I've attached pictures with desciptions to fill you in on what our family's been up to.

Adam at our neighbor's birthday party. They had it at a Fire Station. What a great place for a bunch of 3-year-old boys!

Our friends, the Murphys, were in town from Nevada. They use to be in our ward, but moved about 3 years ago. Here's a picture of Jodi, Valynn, me, and Crysti having a BBQ at the park. We now have 16 kids between our 4 families!

Andrew had a business trip in Park City. I joined him for a couple days and left the kids with a young couple from our ward. This is the first time I've done that. It worked out great! I highly recommend it!

While going for a walk in Park City we looked up and saw shoes in the trees. Must be a Utah thing! ;-)

Here's where we stayed.

Alpine Slide - bring back any memories Utah girls???

Andrew taking a little rest on the 6-person chair lift. I've been skiing a long time and I've never seen such a large lift!



Here's a picture of "The Best Thing I Did This Summer" (i.e., joined a club with an outdoor swimming pool - worth every penny!)



My new favorite treat - Apple Pie Caramel Apple. They'll even cut it for you so it's not so messy to eat.

4th of July - watching fireworks from Grandma and Grandpa's backyard and wearing $5 Old Navy shirts!

The Missing Crab by Ally

On June 9, 2007, me and my friend Holland played with my hermit crabs. After we were done, we put them back in their cage. Later that night my sister took one of the crabs out, Anna (MY hermit crab) and left her on the carpet unsupervised. She crawled away.

Later, I asked my mom, "Where's Anna?" She said, "I don't know." My mom looked EVERYWHERE. She looked for a whole week!

On June 15, 2007, my dad came home late at night. He didn't know Anna was missing. The next day, he asked me, "Where is Anna?" I told him she had been lost for more than a week.

On June 17, 2007 which was Father's Day, my dad tore up the whole upstairs looking for Anna. I asked my dad, "What are you doing?" He said, "Looking for Anna."

After chruch that day, me, my dad, Nicholas, and Natalie walked home. Sometimes we like to walk home and talk. My dad asked us, "Have you said a family prayer for Anna?" I said, "No, but I said a personal prayer for her." We decided when we got home we would say a family prayer to find her.

My dad gathered everyone together for a prayer. 10 second later, my mom went to put her church shoes back in her closet and THERE WAS ANNA!!! I was so happy to see her alive.

We then said another prayer, thanking Heavenly Father for answering our prayer so quickly. I then went in my bedroom and said a personal thank you prayer. Do you know what my primary lesson was about that day? Gratidue and telling Heavenly Father thank you.

I had a lot of emotional feelings.

I felt like I witnessed a miracle.

New Title

I had one of those "ah ha" moments today and decided to open my blog to all my family members to post instead of just me. This mainly stemmed from Ally asking me today to have her own blog, "like yours mom" she pleaded. Then it dawned on me that she, or the others, could just post on mine when they wanted to share thoughts, feelings, or stories. Accordingly, I changed the name of my blog to "The Acanna Collective." Can any of you guess what Acanna stands for??? :-)


Ally is working on her first post (she's handwriting it out first - how cute is that?) Keep posted for more to come . . . .

ALL "THOUGHT" AND NO ACTION

Andrew is in New Jersey this week. I had BIG plans to accomplish soooo much while he was gone. In my mind, I pictured me posting on my blog each night, finishing the book of the month for my book group, rearranging my bedroom furniture (when Andrew's out of town I love to pick one project to do around the house and then wait to see how long it takes him to notice - it's a little game we play), and maybe, just maybe scrapbooking a page in each of my children's books. Now, let's compare this list with what I actually accomplished. Let's see . . . oh yeah I did NOTHING!

Well, I shouldn't say nothing, I did take care of all the day to day tasks that moms need to do (cooking, cleaning, chauffeuring, etc.) I also got to do some service, which I've been praying for lately. Nothing really grand and amazing but small things like babysitting, bringing a meal, substituting a church calling, etc. I also got to enjoy the last week of school with my older children. There has been such excitement in the air all week. It's been fun planning end-of-the-year gifts for their teachers and enjoying a week without homework. With Andrew gone, I even got to get out my dusty softball mitt to play catch with Nicholas. He's convinced he needs to practice EVERY DAY so "the Boston Red Sox will pick him." I love the way an 8-year-old thinks! I also got to go to the park today with some of my friends and their children and celebrate the last day of school. This was probably one of the highlights of my week. I really love my friends, new and old!

So, Andrew returns home in a few hours. I didn't accomplish all I hoped, but I'll keep my list in mind and hopefully accomplish SOMETHING the next time he has a business trip.

Nicholas' Special Day

On May 18th (Mt. St. Helen's Day), Nicholas turned 8. I know that I have some friends who read my blog who don't go to the same church as I do, so I'll first explain that in our church, 8 is the "age of accountability" and is the time when our children are baptized. The first Saturday of each month is when all the children who turned 8 the month before get baptized.

We used the 2 weeks between Nicholas' birthday and his baptism to turn his focus from his party and his presents to the more eternal principle of baptism. We had such "grown up" discussions during this time about Christ and what it means to follow in His footsteps. I should also mention how thankful I am for my husband's relationship with Christ and the time he took to spiritually prepare for the big day. While I make many mistakes as a mom, I feel one thing I did right was giving my children a righteous father.

The baptism went great. Although I've come to the conclusion there's a reason moms are not bishops - there's NO WAY we would be able to keep our kids off the stand every Sunday!!! I sat on the stand with the other members of the Stake Primary Presidency during the baptism, and by the end I had 2 of my 4 children up there with me.

Speaking of bishops, ours had a great message at the baptism. He placed his cell phone in Nicholas' shirt pocket and then called it once while it was on vibrate and once while it was set to ring. He explained this was like the Holy Ghost - sometimes we feel him and sometimes we hear him. I loved this object lesson.

After the baptism we headed straight to IHOP (Nicholas' choice - I would have picked brunch at Luna or even the Davenport!) But, funny face pancakes it was. We all had a great time and then headed home for some time in the pool (the 1-foot, blow-up that is!)

Below are some pics of Nicholas' party and his baptism:

Volcano cake from Nicholas' Mt. St. Helen's B-Day Party

My little man

Future missionary???

Father/Son Camp Out . . . Mother/Daughter Hang Out

We found out just a few days ago that our church scheduled its annual "Father/Son Camp Out" during Memorial Weekend this year - usually it's held mid-May. We had already made plans to go to the Tri-Cities for the weekend. But, we knew our 8-year old son would be crushed to miss the camp out, so we made a quick change of plans.

We decided Andrew would take the boys (including Adam) to the camp out and I would take the girls for just an overnight trip to the Tri-Cities.

The boys had a great time doing what boys do . . . and us girls had a great time doing what girls do. We started with a trip to the mall, of course. While there, we shamelessly copied what my friends in another ward did during their ward's Father/Son Camp Out - went to Build-a-Bear Workshop. Natalie and Ally had so much fun picking their bears and outfits (thank you Kari Ann for blogging about this so I could "borrow" the idea! :-) We have never done this before and I was surprised it wasn't that expensive.

While at the mall I got an e-mail to my cell phone from Andrew. It was pictures of the boys camping. I e-mailed back pictures of the girls at the mall. Isn't modern technology amazing?!?

After a trip to Bath and Body Works, where we all came out smelling "fruity," we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's house for some "hang out time." The next morning we made a trip to the cemetery (I love my grandparents who gently reminded me of the reason for Memorial Weekend). The cemetery was packed! I'm not sure if it was due to Memorial Weekend or the wedding taking place there (the nearby church must've been booked!)

On a more serious note, My children have lost 3 out of their 4 grandparents, so it was touching to put flowers on all the graves and talk about what it means to be a forever family.

Next pedicures and finally, the highlight of the trip, an afternoon by the pool. It was a great trip, but I'm glad to have our family back together again.

The girls filling out their bears' "birth certificates"

The girls and their bears

30 painted toes!

All smiles

What's down there, Natalie?

I can't believe I'm posting a picture of me in a swimsuit (yuck!) but wanted to show that I'm wearing my new Shade swimsuit.

The girls ready to jump in.

Money Question

There's a funny little joke about lawyers that the reason they go into law is because they can't stand the sight of blood or they're lousy in math. Let's just say, that's not a joke in my case. I'm very fortunate my kids don't get too many injuries and thank goodness for calculators! With this in mind, imagine my surprise (and terror!) when I was voted treasurer of the condo association we belong to (we own a condo that we use as a rental). I've been doing the books for about 2 years now and have managed to not mess things up too much. My only experience for this is that I pay the bills in our family. A matter of fact, I don't think my husband has a clue what we pay for electricity, water, etc. Hmmm, now that I think about it, I'm not sure he even knows how much he makes because his checks are automatically deposited. The one thing he does know for sure is if he puts his bank card in a machine it will kindly dispense cash. How nice of that machine . . . .

Anyway, all this is leading up to my question . . . who does the "books" in your family? I'm curious if more women or more men handle the finances.

P. Problem

I have big plans someday to print and bind all my posts into a journal for my posterity to read. I guess it would work just as well to have an electronic journal, yet (you can call me old-fashion) there's just something about having actual books to pass down. I realize some family stories will be a little embarrassing for some individuals, but I just feel the need to share this little dilemma I'm having with Adam.

Adam has discovered the joy of peeing on various outside "targets." I often let him and Natalie play in the backyard alone. Numerous times this week she's come running into the house to report the latest unsuspecting target. Adam urinates on ants, in buckets, through the netting around our trampoline, off the top of our tree house, etc. I've had the whole "we don't show our private parts in public" talk, which completely goes over his head. I guess I could watch him every second he's outside, but what's the point of having a fenced back yard - if not to give mom a few precious moments alone??? I'm terrified what he'll do in public with his new "toy." Can you imagine taking him to McDonalds and having some little kid come out of the tunnels, crying and WET!

I can't wait for Andrew to get back in town, maybe he can have a little Father/Son talk with him about this. These are the times I wish I had brothers to know if such behavior is normal or a red flag for future problems. Oh, the joys of parenting!

p.s. Sorry Adam in advance for the embarrassment this post will cause you in the future. Remember Mom loves you! :-)

The Date

On Friday night Andrew and I went on one of our funny little dates. Our code for each other that one of us needs this date is to say to the other, "we need a sitter for exactly 3 hours this weekend." The other person always knows what the other is thinking.

Here's the details of our "3-hour date" . . . we have a little Mexican restaurant in Davenport we LOVE. It's called Camino Real. It takes exactly 1 hour to get to Davenport, 1 hour to eat, and 1 hour to drive home. We love this date so much because of the 2 hours of "car time" where we get to really talk. Sometimes when life gets so consumed with kids, jobs, callings, etc. the thing that's so easy to let slip is our attention to each other. This time alone always rejuvenates our marriage.

Here's a tidbit about my husband that most people don't know . . . he speaks pretty good Spanish. I didn't really know how well Andrew spoke Spanish until we went to Cabo San Lucas for my 30th birthday and he started speaking Spanish to all the locals. I saw my husband with new eyes . . . . Anyway, Andrew likes this little restaurant because he can speak Spanish with the staff.

I'm thankful for our "3-hour dates."

Large portions

This is the place

The Crazy Month of April

I mentioned in my last post that April was a crazy month for me (hence the lack of a post for over two weeks). I feel I'm finally getting things "checked off" my list so I can start to function in "normal" mode again instead of "super speed."


My first task was hosting Bunko. My Bunko group consists of several moms with children that go to the same school as my children. I really enjoy these ladies but most are not in my close circle of friends, so I was really nervous about making them feel welcome and comfortable in my home. It turned out to be a really fun night (for me anyway!) and no one made unusual excuses to leave early, so I think everyone had a good time.


My next task was the Family Dance at my kids' school. I took on this project 2 years ago because I wanted to change the image from a "school dance" to a "family dance." Why would children need a dance anyway???? However, an opportunity for a dad to escort his daughter on the dance floor for a dance and then treat her to a soda afterward is priceless. Slowly, I think the image is changing, we'll see if my successor keeps it up. The dance went great, mainly due to all of our fabulous volunteers (thanks Rebecca!)

The day after the dance was the America's Kids Run. This is a huge event in our house, especially for my son Nicholas. It's his "super bowl" of running. He's my little runner who has endurance and speed (I lack both!) He can run for 4 miles straight without stopping; yet, he ran the fastest 1/2 mile in all of 2nd grade (according to his health and fitness teacher). I realize I'm doing a lot of "offspring bragging" here, sorry . . . Anyway, he was true to form on Saturday and ran a 7- minute mile, IN THE RAIN. I would have whimped out as the first rain drops starting hitting my face. Way to go Nicky!


I should also mention here that after the America's Kids Run we stopped at the grocery store before our 1st soccer game of the day and as I was shutting the door after buckling in Adam, I shut the door on my finger. So gross and scary for my children. Funny thing is when I told my grandma about my finger, the first thing out of her mouth was "Where were you rushing off to?" She knows me so well.


My final task is tomorrow night. We have a Stake Primary Leadership Meeting. I love these meetings because I love being edified, but now that I will be the "edifier," I'm terrified. I've been working on my presentation this evening and am feeling the weight of the responsibility to "feed His sheep." I'm not so nervous about delivering the words I've prepared; rather, I'm nervous about bringing the spirit. I'm thankful I'll be in the company of great primary leaders that night.

Ally and her friends at the dance (did I mention the theme was Hawaiian?)

Speedy Gonzalez

Props for my stake leadership presentation (I'm talking about Faith in God)

More props

Easter

Like most of you we have several Easter traditions that keep us "hopping" during this fun time of year (Easter egg hunts, coloring eggs, new outfits, candy-filled baskets, etc.) but I want to post about the other aspect of Easter. The aspect that is more personal to me.

Our favorite saying around the house the last few days has been: "There would be no Christmas without Easter." This is from one of the conference talks a couple weeks ago. Without the atoning sacrifice of our savior, He would be just another man and there would be no celebration of His birth. But of course, He's not just "another man" but the savior of the world and on a more personal level, my savior. Because of Him, I can repent of my sins. Because of Him, I could change the path my life was going in "back in the day" and come unto Christ. I have to wonder if there was no atonement if the above picture would even exist. My only gift I can return to Him is to TRY to emulate Him (I often fall short) and hope that on our reunion He will call me by name, followed by "thou good and faithful servant."

The Much-Needed Break

I love the term "spring break" because it perfectly describes this week. I have literally taken a "break" from everything that distracts me from spending time with my children and given them 100% of myself. After feeling so inspired from general conference, spending time with my children was like icing on the cake.

Traditionally, we go with Andrew to whatever city he needs to be in for work for spring break, but this year, he had to be in Spokane, so we broke tradition and I took Ally, Nicholas, Natalie, and Adam to the Tri-cities. The kids were a little sad to not be staying in a hotel, but grandpa and grandma's house was a good runner up (now if they'd only put in an indoor pool, we'd be set!)

My VERY nice friend Andrea let me borrow her camera (remember what Adam did to mine????) and can you believe I forgot it in Spokane. So I don't have any pictures to share. But here are some highlights:

• Chuck E. Cheese (always a treat!)
• Shopping and pedicures for the girls
• Our favorite Mexican restaurant, Inca (because of the large Hispanic population in the Tri-cities they've got some great Mexican restaurants there. This is one thing we really miss living in Spokane)
• Playdate at the Playground of Dreams in Columbia Park with our friends the Hollands. (I have a couple friends in my ward who are both from the Tri-cities AND our spouses are from the Tri-cities but none of us knew each other growing up - we try and hook up when we're down there at the same time)
• Trying out the new Children's Museum (Spokane's is much better!)
• "Meet the Robinsons" - LOVE this movie
• Lots of basketball and tennis (conveniently located in the back yard)
• "The Kite Runner" - what a page turner with lots of tears - can't wait for book group.

I feel so rejuvenated and ready to get back in action, which is good because April is a very busy month . . . more on that later.

The New Calling

Have you ever knew about a calling but couldn't say anything until you were sustained and it took a LONG time before you were sustained??? Well, that's what I've been going through. I feel like I've been living with this secret and now I want to shout it from the rooftops - I get to serve as 2nd Counselor in the Stake Primary Presidency. I'm so excited, I could burst. I love Primary and am so thrilled to be serving there again. I'm even more excited about who I get to serve with. My friend Andrea is the president, who I admire and respect so much. Like that U2 song, "It's a Beautiful Day."

6 Unusual Things

Well, since I don't have any pictures to share (Adam threw my camera off the top of our stairs and shattered it) I thought this would be a perfect time to take Kristin's challenge and share 6 unusual things about me. Some of these things I can't believe I'm sharing, so promise you won't all want to commit me after reading them.

1. I secretly love to play the piano, but can't play that well. Usually on Sundays I play to my heart's content. Yesterday my friend Jodi called (a fabulous pianist), Andrew answered the phone and had her listen to me without me knowing. I was so embarrassed.

2. Sometimes when I clean my house, I pretend someone really important is coming over (i.e., my boss, the prophet, etc.) to motivate me to do a good job. So weird, I know.

3. I like the PBS cartoon Arthur - even more than my kids!

4. Once during an interview I was asked, "If you could be a kitchen appliance, what would it be?" Stupidly, I responded, "A refrigerator so I could be different temperatures." That doesn't even make any sense!

5. I have a tiny tattoo on my left ankle, which I hate more than anything (occurred my freshmen year at WSU). Funny, it cost $20 to put on and would cost $2,000 to have removed, which would almost be worth it except they can't "completely" remove it - whatever that means.

6. Once during my junior year in high school I was having a fight with my boyfriend outside one of the classrooms. I embarrassingly asked, "don't you think I'm pretty anymore?" Ugh! How pathetic! Why couldn't I have asked, "don't you think I'm smart anymore"??? Even worse, right at that moment my biology teacher came out of the classroom and started lecturing me about self worth. To this day, I cringe when I think of this.

Well, there it is. I hope I still have friends after sharing all this unusualness (my family members are stuck with me!)

My Gift

From February 14th to March 5th it is "Party Time" at our House as we celebrate Valentine's Day and 3 birthdays. Our 19-day celebration ends today with Adam's birthday.

On his special day, I'd like to share Adam's Story. It starts back while I was pregnant with our 3rd child, Natalie. During my 3rd trimester, I developed Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy (ICP), a liver disorder that basically causes bile to build up in the mother's blood, which causes severe itching all over the body and jaundice. Let's just say I was miserable! The discomfort was so bad, I called Andrew, who drove home from Boise in the middle of the night - this is 1 of only 2 times I've called him while he's been out of town and asked him to come home. My doctor wanted to induce (I was at 36 weeks), but since ICP doesn't affect the baby (so they say), I wanted to hold out a couple more weeks.

I was induced at 38 weeks and almost immediately the itching stopped. After this experience, Andrew and I thought maybe we should stop at 3 children. However, when Natalie was about a year old, we both started to feel like our family wasn't complete. We thought a lot about the end of my previous pregnancy and began looking into adoption. We talked to Brother Cabbage at LDS Family Services (he's a family friend from the Tri-cities) who discussed with us our options, which were private adoption or international adoption because we already had 3 kids.

We prayed and prayed and prayed for an answer, but the solution eluded us.

About this time, I had planned a trip to Nauvoo with my grandparents (they love to travel and occasionally invite me to join them as a little "break.") I won't go into all the spiritual details, but will share that the Nauvoo Temple is where I first met Adam.

After sharing my experience with Andrew, we immediately started trying to get pregnant. It worked on the first try - so to speak :-) and from that moment until March 5, 2004 I had the most spiritual experiences I've ever had in my life. A few months ago I read a book, "Expecting Adam" (thank you Kristin) and while I didn't share this with my book group, my pregnancy with Adam was similar to the author's pregnancy with her Adam. Even the naming of our babies was something beyond us.

While Adam is an active little boy, who keeps me on my toes, I nevertheless marvel at the spirit inside, feeling inadequate and unworthy to be raising him in these latter days. I don't know if he has an important purpose on this earth or if I needed the "spiritual boost" while I was pregnant with him, but I'm thankful for this gift from my Heavenly Father.

Happy 3rd Birthday Adam!

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