Trip to Utah

During the first weekend of March we all headed to Utah to attend the blessing of our newest nephew, Lincoln. My little brother, Brent and his wife Nicole had him in January and we couldn't wait to meet him. He is adorable! We left in the afternoon of March 1st (Happy Birthday Tiff!) and drove through the night. The van is so wonderful to travel in. We hit a lot of snow as soon as we entered Utah and we thought it would get better as we got further north, thinking it would be plowed. Unfortunately it only got worse! We finally arrive at my brother's in Midvale at almost 4 a.m. We were exhausted and Lily of course was wide awake! She slept a little, but both kids were up before 7.

That next day (Friday) we met Abby's birth Mom Amanda and her husband, Richard, and son, Bradley at a mall food court. We enjoyed talking to them and watching the kids run around. It took Abby a little bit to feel comfortable, but then she was running around as usual. We are glad we could see them and will be
forever grateful to Amanda for giving us the greatest gift.
Ready to meet up with Amanda
Amanda, Richard and Bradley
Amanda and Abby
Abby and Bradley
Cute little Lily!

After we saw Amanda we went back to my brother's house and my parents arrived from Washington and were already enjoying little Lincoln.
Lincoln and Nicole
Cousins!
Saturday morning we ventured down to Provo to go to the BYU Bookstore. It felt good to be on campus again and we wish we could have spent more time there. But we had time to get the girls BYU shirts and even found Abby an adidas warm-up outfit which she wants to wear every single day.
On the way to the Bookstore we stopped at one of my best friends home, Jerilyn. We lived together for so many years and it was so wonderful to see her beautiful family of boys! I miss her so much....
Uncle Matt and Lincoln
Saturday evening an unfortunate turn of events occurred. My parents came down with the flu. This was particularly challenging because my Mom cannot move about without assistance and so my Dad was not only sick himself, but needed to take care of my Mom also. they confined themselves to a room, praying no one else would come down with the flu. The saddest part was that they missed the blessing. They were too sick and as I sat in the blessing I wished I could trade places with them. In answer to all of our prayers, no one else got sick and my parents were able to get well enough to drive back to Washington. I was expressing my amazement to my Dad for being able to drive straight back to Washington after having the flu and taking care of Mom and he said, "It wasn't me." He explained that Brent gave him a blessing before he left and that he did not feel tired once and it was because of the blessing. Miracles happen every day.
Aunt Cynthia and the girls
Everyone getting ready for the blessing
Nicole and Lincoln before the blessing

Jen and Lincoln at the blessing
I am so grateful that we could attend the blessing and be with friends and family. We are truly blessed.

Abby Taps

I haven't posted a video in a long time. So I thought people (especially my Mom) would enjoy one. I filmed part of Abby's dance class the other day, so I thought I would show that. She is doing pretty well in dance now and they are preparing for a recital in June. They have a cute little dance and adorable costumes. Hopefully they will be able to do it on stage!

Lily's Court and More

On February 16th I hosted a cooking party! It was for DeMarle at Home products and we had a great time. Many people stayed until pretty late deciding what products to buy and the man who did the cooking, Jim Gordon, didn't leave until after 11. I ended up being able to get quite a few items with the credit from the party and I love trying new things.

Abby and Lily really play well together. Here are a few examples!
Abby's birth father's family sent her a box for her birthday and she had so much fun opening it. We are so grateful that they want to be a part of her life and she absolutely loves getting presents. They always have a way of choosing the right things. Thanks Huff Family!
Our New Beginnings Young Women's program this year turned out to be a very nice evening. Each Young Women leader set up a table for one of the values and Integrity was my assignment. I thought a lot about what to show on the table and ended up with a lot more than I could fit!
On Saturday, the 25th Abby and I wanted to surprise Matt who was on a camp out and tear out the garden to prepare for this year's crops. It was a lot more work than I anticipated as the roots of some of the plants were quite deep and long. But we managed to clean it up. Matt was very happy!
February 29th was the date we've been anticipating for a long time. It was the day the judge could terminate reunification services for Lily's birth parents--the first step in us being able to adopt her. I arrive at the court house at 7:45 not realizing you could not go inside until 8 a.m. Lily's birth parents--Angel and Nick were also there as so we spent 15 minutes outside together. She held Lily and I took a picture, but it is on my phone, so I will post it later. Then we waited over 2 hours before we went in to see the judge and it was an extremely long 2 hours as I sat with her parents most of the time. We went in to see Lily's attorney and I really like him. I told him that the visits were tough on Lily and that she most often came out screaming and crying and had been doing that for at least half the visits. Plus, one of the last times they fed her donuts--a 7 month old eating donuts....the caseworker fortunately stopped them before she had too much. At one point Angel came up and took Lily out of my arms and I just stood there. Lily wasn't very happy with her and when she went to the bathroom she gave Lily to Nick with strict instructions not to give her back to me. Lily then really started to cry and reach for me, so he gave her to me. When I picked her up she gave a big sigh and buried her face in my shoulder. Then within minutes she was asleep. Angel was not happy when she came back....The court process made me feel sorry for Lily's birth parents. The judge reiterated many times that they had not fulfilled their case plan. Then the attorneys fought over how often they could visit her during the next 120 days before the next court date. Angel's attorney insisted that they should still be able to see her weekly even though the caseworkers recommended every other week for one hour. Lily's attorney went to bat and gave many reasons the caseworkers plan would be the best for Lily. Finally the judge agreed and I was relieved. The birth parents also have to set up the visits, so I am hoping that they do not set them up. Finally, the judge said that he was terminating their reunification services and it was over. Angel was emotional and Nick tried to comfort her. Then they went and signed up for their parenting and drug classes. They seemed very motivated to do what it takes to get her back and this made me very nervous. We will see what happens. This next 120 days seems full of unknown and I pray with all my heart that we can keep our Lily forever. I'm not sure what I would do if she left us. We love her more than I can possibly say.
Here is a picture of the court building.
Finally, Abby has been doing quite well in dance and gymnastics and I couldn't help taking this picture of her on the beam at gymnastics. We really appreciate all of Teacher Summer's patience!

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! I decided that we would take Abby's 4 year old pictures on Valentine's Day. I like to have a picture of the girls at each birthday to witness the changes over a years time. Abby did such a great job even though we had to wait a little while for the pictures. I'll have to scan and put her pictures up later.

The girls sported their "Daddy's Little Valentine" shirts and Abby got to go and get "special juice" at Red Robin after. She and Lily enjoyed just watching all of the people go by.
That night after Matt got home from his evening class he presented me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. What a guy! Although a few days later, Abby's dance class celebrated Valentine's Day by having the girls get dressed up extra cute and take pictures. They are pretty cute!

Funny Abby Stories

There is much for me to catch up on in regards to the blog, but I want to quickly post 3 funny Abby stories. Abby does a lot of crazy things,
but these 3 stories really make me laugh! I hope they make you laugh too.

Story 1:
We saw Abby's birth mother, Amanda in Utah when we went to see my brother Brent's baby blessing of their new little boy, Lincoln. We met her at a mall food court. Abby desperately wanted one of those car strollers that cost a whopping $5. But she wanted it bad! She kept sitting in it, trying to get it to release. But Matt told her that it cost a lot of money and we weren't going to buy one right now. So she thought about it and remembered that she found a penny at the mall and ran back to our table to get it. She proudly started inserting the penny into the machine and was frustrated when Matt told her that was not enough money. So she did some more thinking. Matt could tell she came up with another great idea, so he followed her. She entered a hat store by the food court called, "Lids" and patiently waited in line behind 3 costumers (patiently waiting in line is not one of her strong points). When it was her turn she stepped forward, looked at the cashier who looked at her and then looked at Matt. Matt shrugged his shoulders as to what she was doing. Then Abby held up her penny and pronounced, "I need more money!" The cashier began looking around and in his pockets for a penny or two and Matt brought her back to us and told us the whole story. I nearly wet my pants laughing.

Story 2:
Our next adventure took us on a quick trip to Arizona. While in Arizona we hit the Arizona Mills Mall for some good deals (not so many good deals found in Bakersfield!) and we had to go to the Disney store. Abby looked at the Cars stuff and Toy Story and then made her way over to this wall of Disney basically Barbie dolls. I watched her curiously, as she has not ever expressed an interest in dolls, especially Barbie type dolls. I thought, "Wow, maybe she will like dolls now?" Then she ran back to me with one of the dolls rather excited. I braced myself for what she would show me and low and behold: it was the boy from Tangled! She handed it to me and said, "Look Mommy, it's the boy!" This time I busted out laughing and got some very strange looks from those in the Disney Store.

Story 3:
We've been working on Abby's prayers lately and trying to expand them from her thanking Heavenly Father for the day and asking to see Grandma and Grandpa. We have tried to get her to include things she is thankful for or might need. So the other morning after Matt left for school Abby prayed over her breakfast and in the prayer said, "Please help Heavenly Father to get the brass plates....!" I tried very hard to keep a straight face during the prayer! We read the scriptures at night at had recently read about Nephi obtaining the brass plates. I guess there is a little misunderstanding there. But at least she is getting the idea! I went and got her scriptures and we talked about the story again. But I also called Matt and told him because those moments are too precious to keep to yourself! I guess that's why I'm sharing them with you.

I love my Abby and my Lily and I thank Heavenly Father every single day for blessing me with the two best girls in the whole world. Here is a picture of them just because I believe every blog post should have an adorable picture of the girls! Have a wonderful day and remember that laughter is the best medicine!