Flowers!

I LOVE flowers growing in gardens, yards, etc. It looks so nice! Tulips are probably my favorite, because after a cold winter, they start to poke through the ground and remind me that Spring is coming soon. They are LOVELY! I, however, have a hard time growing them in my yard! I need to work on that! I have dreams of having lovely flowers in front of my house, in my backyard, etc. I looked around at all the flowers and tried to notice which ones bloom all Summer, seem to last well, etc. Last year I bought this bag of lily bulbs and planted them in front of the aspen in the back yard...then I hoped for the best! They actually grew fairly well and I had maybe 1-2 flowers last year. I was so excited!

I was even more excited when this year I have had a lot more flowers!! Our first one bloomed the day that we went to the Rockies game. Caden and I ran out to take pics of it! Since then, we have had at least 5 other flowers bloom. Caden knows how much I love them and will get just as excited as I do! When he is playing outside, he will water our flowers with his squirt bottle. What a sweetheart! Maybe next year I will branch out and find another flower to add to our collection!

FSA Birth Parent Appreciation Day and Rockies Game!

We had a great Families Supporting Adoption (FSA) activity where we got to honor and celebrate birth parents! We all went to the Rockies game and wore our matching shirts from the 5K in May. We were able to meet and talk with so many great birth parents, and spend time with our friends from FSA. There was a huge rain storm that came through, so during the 1+ hour rain delay, we talked to everyone from the group.


Caden got to play kickball on the field with Dingger! So awesome!! (Clearly from the video, he didn't really know the rules of kickball, but he still had fun!)
Caden was so excited to catch a ball and he wore his mitt for most of the game. He never caught a fly ball, but he had a blast. He loved splashing in the puddles during the rain delay. He was such a good sport, even though it was a REALLY late night!
We loved this activity and look forward to repeating it every year here in Colorado! This will be easy to do since our adoption supervisor, Kelly (on the left with his rally cap on) is a HUGE Rockies fan! Here he is doing the macarena! We love Kelly!

ESL Testing

When I registered Caden for kindergarten, I had to fill out what languages Caden speaks, what languages we speak in the home, etc. Since he is bilingual, I wrote down English and Spanish. As a result, he had to get tested to see if he qualified for ESL assistance. I laughed so hard when I got the email! I told Caden that since he knew both languages, he got to have a special meeting.

A few weeks ago, I took him to get tested. I was hoping that I could see the test, but he took him to a different room. After wards, he came and talked to me about how Caden did. He said "it looks like he is at least familiar with the capital letters and he could write his name well...". I wanted to laugh and tell him that Caden is reading full books, but decided to just listen. He told me that Caden did great in all areas, but he missed a few questions in the "listening" portion. As a result, he told me that he did qualify for ESL assistance. I almost started laughing! He explained that Caden would have to go to another school, that they could work with him for 45 minutes a week, etc. He said I could decide to do it, decide to sign a waiver, or think about it for awhile. I immediately signed the waiver. However, he told me that since he qualified for the program, he has to be tested every year until he passes "proficient".

It was a very interesting experience. Russ and I just kept laughing about it. I don't think school systems can handle a child that is literally fluent in two languages. We are proud that our sweet son can talk in both English and Spanish, and is excelling at the things he does! Now I just need to get myself ready for him to start kindergarten....what am I going to do without my sweet sidekick by me all day!? He is SO excited, though so that makes it easier.

Media Monday: Bryan Kehl's Big Family and the Blessings of Adoption

Russ found this article on adoption the other day. I was so proud of him! Really it is because he LOVES BYU sports (Bryan Kehl used to play football for BYU) and found it on a BYU sports website. :) Either way, I loved reading it. Here is a link to the whole article that was in the Mormon Times on June 16, 2011. http://www.mormontimes.com/article/21206/Bryan-Kehls-big-family-and-the-blessings-of-adoption#

Our Thoughts: First off, it drives me nuts when people say they "gave up their baby for adoption". Birth parents are not giving their babies up! They are placing them for adoption, because they want them to have things that they can't offer at that specific time in life. We love that his mom helped him find his biological father! It is natural to be curious about where you came from, and we love that they embraced his curiosity and helped him to find his biological father! We love how the biological grandfather gave him a kiss and a blessing before she placed him for adoption. What a touching experience and a great article!

Media Monday: Family Connections Magazine

I graduated from BYU with a degree in Marriage, Family and Human Development. The department has changed since I went to school and is now called The School of Family Life. They are trying to reconnect all of their alumni and current students, so they put together a magazine called "Family Connections" that came in the mail a little while ago. I was excited to read it, and loved the story of adoption that I came across.

It was an alumni profile about the Lundell Family. They adopted three children of Asian, African American and Samoan descent and then they were able to have two biological children. The husband entered the military and ended up getting deployed for Iraq, leaving the wife with a 6 week old baby and 3 kids that were having separation issues from adoption. She writes that she has been able to use her training as a family therapist to help their family. I love this paragraph, "Catherine feels a sacred obligation as a parent to an adopted child. 'How would their birth mother feel about my interactions with this child if she were watching?' is a question she often asks herself. Catherine feels a deep responsibility for the trust that was placed in her as a mother to someone else's child."

Our Thoughts: We love that she used what she learned in school to help their family grow. I have definitely remembered different things I learned from my major to help our family, and love that I have that knowledge to draw upon. We especially loved how they feel such a sacred responsibility to care for her adopted children the best they can because of the trust that the birth parents had in them. We, likely, will feel the same way!

Wo-Mimi!

This past weekend, Russ' grandma came into town from Canada with his aunt and his cousin. We LOVE Russ' grandma. She is an incredible woman and so talented. Russ' mom goes by "Mimi" instead of Grandma, so Caden's oldest cousin decided to call great grandma "Wo-Mimi". The name completely stuck!

We had to run a lot of errands on Saturday before we could go see Wo-Mimi. While in the car, Caden kept saying "Wo-Mimi! Wo-Mimi!" and then smiling a huge smile! He was very happy when we finally got to see her and insisted on sitting by her at Costa Vida for dinner. We went over on Sunday after church for dinner to see her one last time.

All the boys ate outside. Russ and Caden are in the front. Russ' Dad is behind Russ, with his cousin to the side.
It was a little breezy outside for the girls, so we ate inside. I am sitting by Russ' mom and his Aunt Di and Wo-Mimi are on the other side.When we were leaving, Caden started crying. He didn't want to say goodbye. We tried to comfort him by saying that he will see Wo-Mimi in a few months when we go to Disney World! It didn't help much, but it got us excited!

Preschool Graduation

Caden graduated from preschool!! With a few friends, we bought a preschool curriculum and each took turns teaching. I have done this for the past two years and loved it. We had a little graduation party at the park for the boys. I put together a DVD with all the pics from the year, showing all the boys had done. They loved seeing their pictures come up. Each child was spotlighted by a teacher and then given a diploma. Then, my friend brought treats that went along with the letters A, B and C and she used the letter crafts that her son had done to display them. It was so creative and fun! The kids then played while all the parents talked. Caden is BEYOND excited for kindergarten, and I am trying to prepare myself to let him grow up.