Wedding Invite Rewrite

This is probably the single most unique wedding announcement I have ever seen. I got it in the mail this week and I honestly love it. Now keep in mind we have received a lot of wedding announcements over the years. After all, Hema did serve as a counselor and bishop in a BYU singles ward for 6 years! (And let's face it those wards exist to get people married!) This is the actual announcement I scanned in: 

Of course I deleted their last names! The funny thing is that they were both in our BYU ward when they met. I've often wondered what happened to some of the couples from back then. Don't you sometimes wish you got an announcement like this from every couple. I like to know a little detail! Just for your entertainment, I thought I'd type our own dating history in this same fun style:

 

HEMA AND BECKY MEET WHILE IN HIGH SCHOOL (1990)

TWO KIDS FROM DIFFERENT SCHOOLS AT A LUAU... IN A TRAILER PARK 

THEY NOTICE EACH OTHER - THEY GO TO HARDEES - NOTHING HAPPENS

____________________________________________

(1990-1992) THEIR PATHS CROSS AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AT DANCES

THEY HANG OUT AS FRIENDS ALL THE TIME - HEMA NEVER ASKS BECKY OUT

HEMA IS AWKWARD - BECKY IS AWKWARD - NOTHING HAPPENS

___________________________________________

      

         BECKY GOES TO BYU                        HEMA GOES TO THE U OF U

  AND THEN ON A MISSION                     AND THEN ON A MISSION

   TO BRAZIL                                               TO CALIFORNIA

BECKY WRITES HEMA MANY TIMES        HEMA WRITES BECKY TWICE 

(1995) BECKY SEES HEMA AT TEMPLE SQUARE 

A WEEK AFTER SHE RETURNS FROM BRAZIL - HE ASKS HER FOR A RIDE HOME

THEY HANG OUT A LOT MORE - NOTHING HAPPENS 

(THEY ARE BOTH OBVIOUSLY STILL AWKWARD!)

BECKY'S FRIEND COMES TO VISIT AND FLIRTS WITH HEMA

SOMETHING BETTER NOT HAPPEN! BECKY TAKES HER STRAIGHT TO THE AIRPORT

HEMA AND BECKY START TO DATE, SPARKS FLY

THEY DATE   -  THEY BREAK UP   -   THEY GET BACK TOGETHER

         (HEMA DRIVES TO OREM)    <------>    (BECKY DRIVES TO SALT LAKE)

THEY FALL IN LOVE AND DECIDE TO MARRY 

_______________________________________

Yeah, these type of announcements would be much more interesting! Don't you think?

Best wishes to Derek and Brooke! Glad they are finally getting married! 

Cora's 3 Month Pictures

We just got back Cora's 3 month pictures. They turned out so sweet! I can honestly say I have never regretted a penny I have spent having pictures taken of my kids! I love to see the various expressions and emotions. When I look back at old pictures of the kids, I and am instantly flooded with the emotions I felt during that time. Those memories are priceless. I can't believe how much she has already changed in 3 months! 

I still can't believe that Cora has blue eyes. Maybe they will still change, but for now they are true blue. 

This sweet little little girl most definitely was worth the wait!!

I love this picture with her amazing dark lashes! What an angel!

Her bracelet with her birth parents names. Such a sweet reminder of their love for her. 

There were too many pictures to post, but this last one is probably my favorite of all!

LOVE IT!!!! 

We had a new photographer take Cora's pictures this time. Her name is Tammy Hicks and we think she did an amazing job! You can check out her site here. 

Seriously!?!?!

Thank goodness for Caller ID! Otherwise, I would have answered this phone call on Monday:

How funny is that? That is a real picture taken of my home phone! I must have looked at it 15 times yesterday and laughed every single time. Sorry PHONE SCAM 

I'm not interested!!

Better check your Caller ID before answering the phone, just in case PHONE SCAM tries to catch you off guard! 

Mascot Bowl

Tonight we went over to Lehi High School to the Mascot Bowl. We had heard about it being fun, but this was the first time we actually went and we will for sure be making a tradition of it. The kids had a blast. It is a football game that is a fundraiser for some charity - not sure what. But it is lots of mascots from all over Utah and some from other states vs the 8th grade Lehi football team. They had Swoop from the U of U, Cosmo from BYU, the Jazz Bear, the UVU Wolverine, the Real soccer Lion, the Denver Bronco, the Phoenix Gorilla.... the list goes on. There really were a lot of them and they put on a really entertaining show. Before the game we took some pictures with a few of them. Hema of course wanted a picture with Swoop - he was totally uninterested in Cosmo - Just like his daddy! 

Hema and Swoop!

The kids with Boomer from the Indiana Pacers!

Some Harley Sasquatch I think?

A bunch of the mascots on the field. 

The boys watching the game. 

Vela entertaining her dad! 

We were lucky to have Krychele and Uziel come and watch the game with us. They are always so fun to be with. 

Krychele and Cora

Uziel and Cora

I'm not sure who won the game, it was getting pretty cold and late so we left at half time. What a fun game and FHE activity! 

Grandparents Day

Little Hema had grandparents day at school last Wednesday and Hema was thrilled that Grandma Hawkins came. She was so sweet to even rearrange her quilting day to make it over. Thanks mom for being so fabulous. My kids adore you!! 

Afterwards we treated her to some yummy soup from Zupas. We sure are grateful to have our parents live so close!

Just In Case You Were Wondering...

I've had a lot of people ask me lately if we are "done." You know, done trying to adopt - if we feel like our family is complete. The quick answer is No - absolutely not! We both feel very strongly that there is at least one more little spirit meant to come to our home. The long answer is that we feel that Our Father in Heaven has something more planned for our family - but are not sure exactly what that is. I've been a a little hesitant to post much on here about what has been going on and how we are feeling about our little family but I am ready to write about it now. I know my words will not do justice to our feelings or the feelings of those I will mention and for that I apologize in advance. 

First off, those of you who know us well (mostly our family - not sure if anyone else even reads this - ha!) know that we thought we might be getting a little boy shortly after we adopted Cora. Long story short, we met two amazing young women with unplanned pregnancies at the same time and they both considered placing with us. One is Krychele, Cora's sweet birth mother. The other is another very amazing young woman who will remain unnamed on here for her privacy. In the end, we were given special permission through our agency (LDSFS) to adopt both babies if both mothers agreed to it. It was a really big deal to get that permission. After Cora was placed with us, we had to restart all of our paper work through LDSFS and get re-approved through them in order to have the baby boy placed with us. 

 And of course, as you can also guess if you read this blog, that sweet baby boy was not placed with us. It has been a very interesting process to go through. Many different emotions. Many spiritual experiences. So much peace!!

We have been fortunate to remain in contact with this other young woman and love her very much. It is an interesting situation. I've been asked if I resent or am angry with this young woman - no way! She is wonderful and has always been honest with us. Choosing whether or not to place your child for adoption is such a struggle. I would never fault a young woman for choosing to parent. That decision is hers alone to make. I've had people ask me if it is hard to be around her or her sweet son. No, it is not. She is a dear friend who we care about very much. She is fun and we love to spend time with her. I do not find myself sobbing and depressed - I feel great peace about things. Do I know and understand why we felt lead a certain way and then did not have them work out that way? No. But I do have faith that Heavenly Father knows what he is doing. He knows what is best for each of us and His hand is guiding the construction of our little family. We have met many amazing people throughout our adoption journey and I believe that there are many different reasons we are brought together. For now, we wait and pray that the next little spirit that is meant to come into our family will come. It could be soon it could be years. We do not know. But we do know that this will happen when the time is right. We know that our little spirits will make their way into our family.

I love this quote from President Joseph F Smith:

"Everywhere in nature we are taught the lessons of patience and waiting. We want things a long time before we get them, and the fact that we want them a long time makes them all the more precious when they come."

That is how I have felt about my little ones. They are so precious to me. I continue to learn patience and also love and gratitude over and over though this adoption process. I continue to see the hand of God in my life - see miracles happen. I know he hears and answers my prayers. 

So do we feel done or complete - no. Are we happy and content for now - yes! We have three sweet little ones who we are so very grateful for! Would we take another little one tomorrow if it felt right - absolutely YES!!   

I think that pretty much covers most of the questions I've been asked lately...just in case you were wondering.  

Feels like Christmas in September?

Need I say more??

I sold my Kitchenaid and a bunch of other junk on KSL.com and finally had enough to buy this sweet thing. So stinkin' happy to finally have a Bosch!!!

Stupid Cricket!

I am so frustrated right now!!! I've been thinking of switching our cell phone service to Cricket for over a year now and finally decided to make the switch. Somehow in the switch Cricket managed to port my phone number over to our modem number? and Hema's has literally disappeared into outer darkness! We haven't had any cell phone service since Friday morning early. I spent over 9 hours on the phone on Friday with super not helpful, customer service reps in south Asia. In the end, no solution! They assure us that it will all be worked out on Monday, but it leaves me wondering if I am making a huge mistake by switching to Cricket!   

Stupid Cricket! If it were a real cricket I would have squashed it with a big shoe on Friday. I was so  frustrated I actually yelled at the last guy who tried to help me! Sorry poor guy in south Asia who had nothing to do with the switch over mistake but was on the receiving end of a long days frustration!! Sometimes saving some money is just not worth the hassle!!! 

Friday Night Football

Last night we went down to Provo High to watch their game against Westlake.

The boys from our ward did great and Westlake was up 36 to 9 near the end. The final score was 36 to 24 after the sophomore's took over for Westlake at the very end and gave up a few touchdowns. It was a fun game. 

We also got to see our friend's brother honored at the game. He played football at Provo High school and suffered a life changing injury in one of the games several years back. He and his family were called onto the field and he received a jersey and a big cheer! They are an incredible family and have been through a lot since his injury. I took several pictures and this is how they all turned out:

Okay so is there something wrong with my camera or was it just user error? Ughh!

Here is one after some serious editing. 

Of course this random picture turned out perfectly clear! 

Here is Hema with Cora after the game waiting to congratulate our boys! 

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again - I love High School football! 

Krychele's Birthday & Cora is 3 Months!!

Yesterday Cora's sweet birth mother, Krychele, turned 17!! We love Krychele so much and are so very grateful that she chose to place Cora with our family. We took her to dinner on Thursday night to celebrate. We went to Red Lobster - it was the first place we went together about 4 months ago, right after we had met her and it was fun to be back there together again. 

Krychele and Cora at Red Lobster. Isn't Krychele seriously gorgeous!?!?! 

Krychele and Cora hanging out afterwards. 

Cora's hand and foot prints. 

Sweet Cora is 3 months old today! The time has passed way too quickly. She is such a beautiful, sweet and happy baby. She sleeps great, eats like a champ and we just can't get enough of her. On Thursday while we were at Krychele's house, Cora rolled right over from her tummy to her back! Kim caught it on video too! I'm not 100% sure, but I think Cora rolled over just to perform for Krychele for her birthday - she's thoughtful like that ;). After she rolled over she smiled and gave a little yelp of delight! So cute! 

Labor Day Weekend

We have been so excited to go see Lion King since we got the tickets months ago for Hema, me and Little Hema. Last Saturday was finally the day! We all loved the music, the costumes, the whole show! One word to describe it - AMAZING!! We would have loved to have taken a few pictures of our outing - but somehow I left the camera plugged in at home charging! :( Oh well. 

Last Saturday was also Little Hema's first football game. It was so fun to watch. The kids all had so much fun and loved being cheered on.

This isn't the greatest filming job, but I had Cora and Vela on my lap!! It's hard work trying to keep Vela off the field - she wants to play too! 

Then on Monday for Labor Day, we went and did a little fishing.

The kids love to fish as much as their dad does! Probably just because it means spending time with him.

Vela with her first fish.

Hema with one he caught. 

The kids love going on picnics to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point. We decided to go that evening. When we got there we couldn't figure out why there were thousands of cars there - it was the Labor Day Luau. So we went in and watched a little Polynesian dancing while we ate and then walked around the gardens. 

I'm not completely sure that the coy are supposed to eat cheese flavored Pringles, but it was what we had left from the picnic. 

 

And they certainly ate them up! 

What a fun weekend! 

1st day of kindergarten!!!

Today was Hema's first day of kindergarten. I was a lot more emotional than I thought I'd be. Hema is growing up so fast and is such a sweet smart boy. He was so excited for school!

For breakfast he wanted pancakes, eggs, sausage, grapes and orange juice.

Not sure what is up with the boxing pose. He is getting so big! 

My neighbor Danielle always writes fun notes to her kids with chalk on the driveway the first day of school so I decided to do that for Hema. He loved it! 

Going down the front stairs...

He was so excited to know what each part said.

He must have told us 20 times that Mrs Ellsworth rocks. Glad he likes his teacher. 

Always good to remind him to listen and raise his hand! 

Vela loves trying to read the words too! 

Hema was nervous that he would only know a couple of people. He really wants to be friends with all the kids in his class. 

He is so excited to learn and try new things. 

I'm sure that this year will be great! 

Our next door neighbor, Kyah, is in his class. 

Here's Hema being welcomed by his teacher, Mrs. Ellsworth.

And then daddy Hema, Vela, Cora and I walked home...and I started to cry...which was surprising to me...I thought I'd be fine...and I will...but it just hit me that he is getting so big...and I am no longer his whole word... ahhh, motherhood, it really works your heart!  

Then just a couple of hours later we headed back over to the school to pick him up. 

Hema walked out smiling. 

Then gave us hugs and kisses. 

And then we went bowling!!!

Which was so fun. Hema does well now with just the bumpers up.

Vela needed the ramp to get the ball down the lane. 

Check out dad's sweet form!

Tonight is cub scout pack meeting. I was in charge of making an Arrow of Light cake. 

I bought a plain chocolate cake from Costco and used little candies to decorate it. I think it turned out pretty good! Now off to football practice and then pack meeting. What a fun day!