The Christian Crew

.. .my friends and i made hair clips for our girls ( mine have a ton already but, it is fun teaching others) and for upcoming holidays! I also got the chance to speak at the LDSFS Adoption Core training today. There are some awesome couples going through the process and I hope they all go where they are led in their search for a child to adopt! My advice to them was: Be HONEST with birth parent commitments Be Yourself - flaws and All- BP want to see who you are- not some plastic Ken and Barbie Have fun while you wait Advocate for the Cause- everywhere- not just their adoption but Adoption in general! Get involved with FSA- you will be so glad you did! It's for everyone and we NEED your energy! Don't get discouraged and do not fear- both of those are tools from the adversary! Know that God knows what you need when you need it- trust in him and DO all you can do to facilitate: faith without works is dead! Tomorrow we will go to the FSA activity at a historic farm with pumpkins ...

Today, during a broadcast conference from leaders of our church, a phrase was repeated or paraphrased a few times over. This same theme was said in the conference for the 18+ female crowd at our RS conference, a week previous. This quote is one of my favorites and i have heard it for years and years. I first read it in a book by Stephen R. Covey - Spiritual Roots of Human Relations and I'm reading a book of his called the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families- and he quoted this again. I finally found out where it originated from and here it is: David O' McKay, a prominent religious leader in our church,in 1954 stated that, " No success can compensate for failure in the home ." This is one of the wisest things i have ever heard- ever! Because- if you FAIL at being a GOOD and loving parent to your children- You will have God to deal with in the end. If you fail at work or making money but are a good parent- you just have creditors to deal with till you die. You may no...

So, i made up our flier for the Nov. Fireside( later evening meeting) and I'm inviting all people in the area to come to it! This will feature everyone involved in the adoption triad: Birth mother, adoptive couple, adoptee and special musical number and refreshments. Many ?'s will be answered for those of you who know little about what ADOPTION really is all about- in this era! I'm a rookie flier designer but, I was what they had to work with! Hopefully, it gets the message across!

Our profile is on itsaboutlove.org officially now. Just look our names up or click on the sidebar link to our profile:) We are getting a new family pic soon. This one is from last Nov. and Brandon HATES how he looks. He says he looks plump. whatever! My man looks great now!!!

so little time! I have been trying to finish up all the projects in the next 5 weeks (before holiday season starts and before the Nov. Fireside) and here's how I'm doing.... The Paci and bracelet set will be for auction on my FB page and i made 7 bracelets today (no more for a while) I finished the apron by adding a satin hand ruffled trim and handmade flower too! This blanket was made for a special baby who will be placed with her adoptive family in the upcoming months- made by me and her birth mother and friend. and I finally finished Aria's 3rd B-day Piggy Bank- now BOTH my girls have one!! I only have a few projects left: Making the girls 4 dresses- 2 costumes for Halloween (nothing was cute enough that i saw or worth the crappy material it was made of) and 2 throw blankets, and 4 more bracelets and 1 binky clip. I have to distress the kids furniture and clear out our office- move it downstairs and start getting that room ready for a baby or child (that may be a LONG ...

WOW! I feel like we are constantly on a roller coaster in our lives right now. I love to think that one of these weeks i will be less busy with things BUT, i find that to be totally a DREAM. IN FACT... I DON'T want to be less busy. I just want to be busy with different things like busy with a new child or baby, busy with MORE adoption work and helping others. Busy with doing FUN things with my girls or more dates with my husband! I feel like everything that's occupying our time is leading us up to something. You know like when you reach the top of a ladder or the top of a roller coaster and you here the clack, clack, clack right befo re the coaster throws you over the hump and you whiz down the chutes and through a tunnel then it throws you upside down and finally- you get to the part where it's starting to slow down to let you off the ride. Except we are still at the clack, clack part right before we are tossed in the air and down the side-winding turns of the life. Let...

As of late... I've been helping the Denver Metro Are get ready for a Fireside on Adoption in early Nov.. If you are saying "what the heck is a fireside? " here's your answer- It's a meeting normally later in the evening where testimony is shared (back in the old days- it was done around a fire) on basic gospel truths with detailed personal experiences and stories- It's a more intimate setting than that of Full fledged Church service! This one happens to be on Adoption! The speakers will be an adoptive couple,a birth mother, an adoptee and special music about adoption will be performed! So far most everything is falling into place for it too. If you are just checking out my blog and interested in adoption in any respect- shoot me an email and I'll shoot you over the details. These are open to those not of our faith and in our church too! I've also been contacting HS's to do presentations in their family and consumer sciences classes or child devel...

I love that my friend, Danielle, swaps me cool binks for my boutique products. The last order had some new ones all about adoption that were inspired from the adoption community and I had been desirous to have cool pacifiers that expressed OUR LOVE for ADOPTION ! Today was a Super busy day with lots of cool and crazy things... I biked 3 miles+ uphill pulling 80lbs in the trailer (kids and stuff) to scripture class and back. The downhill was a breeze, Took Aria to preschool, cleaned my car, then myself, picked up Aria, made dinner for the missionaries, Brandon locked his keys in our car- in front of our house. Had dinner, went to YW Volleyball practice and had my new friend Rachel help coach the girls- She's AWESOME (and and adoptee who will be speaking at the upcoming fireside in November. Then came home, put girls down, made clips and finished a few other projects- I AM BEAT! Time to sleep now. I deserve the break BUT,... before i doze off I'm sure I'll read over some ad...

I'm closing down my baby boutique store for these reasons: I don't have TIME that i want to dedicate to this anymore b/c we are actively involved in spreading the word about the option of adoption with FSA and as a family. We don't need the money- our adoption account is almost full b/c my hubby is a great provider There is a time and a season for everything and the season of my ETSY store is coming into it's hibernation period. If in fact i do have some ample time in the next years to come- i may re-open it but... I'd rather be dedicating my time to adoption and raising my kiddos and future children! So, jump on the FB closeout sale and snag some sweet baby/kid swag for great prices! It was fun while it lasted and you can bet all my friends will get cute gifts from me in the future as well!

So, I must admit, I'm a bit of a domestic Diva , when i really want to be! Maybe I LOVE to craft and I'd rather do that then have a spotless house. B/C really- if you have a perfect house that normally means you either have a house cleaner and no kids or you are totally bored or boring! I'm not a slob- just a creative type person. Take today- i cleaned the girls room, one bathroom, the playroom and made Eggplant Parm for dinner from scratch and i also sewed up a storm:) Mind you- these are taken with my phone so- they are NOT perfect pics! i still need center buttons for the shirts. I will be making dresses here pretty shortly! I love baby sleep sacks. everyone needs something special to take baby home in. These ones will be available to purchase at my etsy store in a while! And I'm covering the white ric rac print with HOt PInK ruFleS!!! I LOVE to sew and i feel like I'm doing more of it now that my machines are out of my craft room and on the dining room table;) ...

As part of our family legacy, we want our children to be surrounded by people with integrity and moral values. hence the reason we go to church and participate in tons of the church functions! Our children NEED a moral compass and We are doing are best to see that they are raised to Love One Another and Christ Loves Them. No better place to teach them than in the home and then reinforced at church! Parents Set the Tone of a Child's LIFE forever! We are so grateful for our callings and for our membership in the LDS church. We love that we have great friends and live right by the Denver Temple (same City Block)! It's one of our favorite temples! We especially LOVE SUNDAYS because we get to relax, learn lessons at church and enjoy our family and friends. Today we had a bunch of friends dine with us over at our Other friends house and we had a blast! ( I avoid using my friends names until i have permission from them:) I made a strawberry creme pie and some brownies for desert and...

...will have to be reported tomorrow:( I'm totally burned out from going to the Water Park with the girls! Pictures will come soon and Many More Good things! I have decided to help other couples get some exposure on my blog as well. So 2 times a month i will feature another hopeful family or couple! It just love helping others in this regard. When NEW couples get into the adoption Arena- some have a sense that's it's a competition when it's totally NOT. Of course everyone desires to be chosen but, It's not anything that you can do to make yourself look better to a birthmom than another couple can. you have NO idea what she may be looking for in a family! And God has His hands in this - so, Leave it to the PRO! And other good news... I will be doing an Auction On FB in a bit to closeout all my CC Baby Inc. products. More on that later. Have wonderful Sunday friends and readers!

In a world where we meet people in everything we do, i must count my blessings b/c i KNOW so many WONDERFUL people and have had the pleasure of being a friend to many! Though not all of us keep in regular contact after moving or life changes, we still know we can pick up the phone and know that our friends are right with us in spirit! And we are enjoying the new friends we have made in CO! I Love all of the friends we have met in the adoption world as well! Friends are family you choose for yourself. -- Author Unknown I am so glad to have such fabulous friends!!! I love you all! our life: doing well with the girls t-minus 10 days till preschool starts and we are headed to the Water Park tomorrow:)

Man, i feel like a bit of a basketcase somedays! The whole adoption process and waiting is sometimes overwhelming! I decided today- to FOCUS more on Where God is leading us to and not necessarily where I WANT TO GO! I mean that we are trying to LISTEN to the Holy Spirit more and where it's leading Our Family. I am so grateful for inspiration and peace that comes from doing what is right in our hearts. Lately, I've just struggled with the whole "waiting for someone to pick us" thing! I've come to the conclusion that : It will happen when it's RIGHT and meant to BE and that even though we put our whole hearts out there to be openly criticized by prospective birth parents- I"M OKAY with being picked apart. Someone may not like my dark curly hair. Someone may not like that Brandon is a mortgage lender and Real Estate Agent! They may judge us as un-cool b/c we have 2 kids and we are not "NEEDY enough". They may think we are total nerds or hate that ...

...of things i have to do before preschool starts is getting longer and longer!!! If i didn't have the desire to make some things instead of buying them- it would probably be much shorter! BUT, i love sewing and making dresses and skirts and hair flowers and bows and jewelry and so on. It's fun when you know that my kids have some special one-of-a-kind items and i enjoy making these things. I also LOVE to shop online for adorable items i can't make! Shopping in the mall or stores is fun too but, i can normally find a lot more in a smaller amount of time! And time is something of a precious thing right now. Luckily, i don't get overwhelmed very easily! I just roll with it, make LISTS, and start getting things done! I am glad my mother instilled in me the ability to have GOALS and make lists to organize my time and thoughts and energy! I think everyone should have so sort of a goal- both long term goals and short term goals! I also know that when things don't work o...

So today's title might be an odd one for some but, I say willing to submit- not anyone's will but, God's! I have realized that most of this process is completely out of our hands. We just have to have faith and be willing to submit to God's timeline and His plan for growing our family! I know this is not news to some of you but, i have to say the WAIT is harder than you'd think- even with my 2 girls! Even though they are my kids- my heart goes out daily in hopes that today will be the day our Birth parents find us! Or today will be the day we get a call from Her or our Agency! We feel so strongly that we are NOT supposed to sit around and just WAIT-we are to be actively searching, spreading the word about our decision to adopt again, and spreading the word about OPEN adoption as an option- where otherwise someone might terminate a pregnancy! I hope you all get a good look at all the couples who are hoping to adopt on our blog and consider each one of them- even if ...

Today was a great and HOT day for a parade but, it was great nonetheless! Our Co chapter participated in the Wheat Ridge parade! All went pretty well too! I have to say, since it was our FIRST time- it couldn't have been better but, Next time... I'm thinking a bit Bigger deal should be made- maybe a ride on float for about 15 people, some poles with long streamers on them that people walking can wave around, more pamphlets, more candy, more pass along cards etc... We did get our message out which was : Support Adoption- It's a Miracle! And not everyone in the crowd was really cool with it- but most were nice! I just find it baffling that some find adoption so- TABOO or terrible- when it is the exact opposite- It's Amazing and full of Love. Birth mothers don't place because they don't want- they place because they want more for their babies! There are so many MYTHS that are unfounded in the general media about adoption and I'm working hard to stop anti- a...

today Scott Simon was interviewed on NPR- he and his wife adopted 2 girls from China! It was a great article here's a bit from the column: "Adoption is a miracle. I don't mean just that it's amazing, terrific, and a wonderful thing to do. I mean that it is, as the dictionary says, "a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of divine agency." It is so divine! I am amazed everyday at all the miracles that take place in the adoption world!

So, the first fondant and gum paste WILTON method class was pretty easy. We made balls and bases for flowers out of gum paste! At this point, i felt like a kid playing with edible play dough. It really was so much fun squishing and pulling fondant like taffy! these are some mum and rose centers- OH and we also learned how to make a bow! class 2- we made these flowers (mind you these are kind of broken from my girls playing with them a bit) class 3- we covered a cake board and made the daisy and the mum. my mum stinks- btw. But, it was my first try:) class 4- we covered our cakes and put our skills to the test. I decided on a Zebra cake - just for kicks. I also learned NOT to use pure gum paste for the stripes and ruffles- it hardens way too fast and tastes icky! THE best thing about FONDANT these days is that it comes in some awesome, tasty flavors! Like Buttercream Fondant, Marshamallow fondant, chocolate, orange cream etc... Fondarific is a HUGE company that makes some killer stuff! ...

So, Click on this pic to get a closer look. And NO, i didn't get all digi-scrappy with this one- just straight up plain old PS. I know- boring but, camping isn't about all the bells and whistles- It's about getting back to nature- pure and simple! So... the real deal... The girls in our tent slept well. Our friends kids- not so good but, we all went to sleep nonetheless! My tin foil dinners were a little over cooked but still tasty with some Steak sauce! The s'mores were delicious with cinnamon sugar grahams this time and got everywhere too! We played Spot Daddy on the Mtn. with our high beam flash light. B would run up the mtn with his tiny flash light - move around after it was turned off and yell out to spot light him- the girls went nuts!!! In the morning- the girls had a blast playing fake fishing and we all were extremely tired!!! I hated the port-a-potties but, was grateful they were there anyways! Our girls got scraped up a bit from sticks and rocks and such, so...