Our Family: Belle, Mandy & Brandon

Winter...

Well it is winter...and we are no longer in the sunshine of Southern Utah, but we are loving the change, we are so excited for the future and we know we are where we are suppose to be!
Belle has started her new school and loves it, she has a great teacher that we adore and many new friends.
It has been nice to move back up north, we had gotten spoiled with sunshine in Southern Utah, but we do love being up here, and it is lovely to see great friends that we have missed for the past 5+ years, not to mention the family that we can see anytime we want just by taking a litle drive.
Don is working hard for a company that builds mostly Schools, and he is liking his job, and I am working as an Underwriter for an Insurance Company, I like it as well the change of pace is nice and I have also made new and wonderful friends.
The move to the cool north has been good for our little family.

OLD POST
Summer...
So Far so good, this has been a lovely summer! We are appreciating it especially since it is Belle's last before she enters the wild world of Elementary School!! We have had a good time with family and friends and are looking to much more fun for the remaining summer days!! Yay -

New Year

Well here we are in a new home, new city and with renewed hope for the coming year that our family may be blessed yet again with another lovely little one. Belle comes up with new names daily for her little brother or sister, she changes which one she wants from day to day, it is so fun to watch her excitement at the prospect of becomming a 'Big Sister'.

Don and I are also excited, we know that you can never fully be ready for another little one, that no matter what preperation you do there is always something left out, but our hearts are prepared, that is one preparation we are secure on.

Soon, on February 14th, 2011, we will be celebrating our 16th Wedding Anniversary, how exciting! It is amazing to us that it has been 15 years already. How odd it is that on one hand it seems like just yesterday that we were meeting, and then on the other hand we can not easily remember a time when we were not together. It is like the time before our meeting was a totally separate life.

Thinking back on how life was before Belle came to our home is the same, so long ago on one hand, when we look at how she has grown from a tiny baby to such a grown up 6 1/2 year old, and then on the other hand it seems like we were just cuddling that little five pound bundle days ago.

How blessed we are to find comfort and joy in these simple things.

Our hearts and prayers are with all of you. Be safe and talk to you soon! Love - Don, Rae & of Course, Button.

Adoption and our Family!

It is not possible to talk or think of our family without first thinking of the miracle of Adoption, and of all that are touched by this special miracle.

We have been waiting for a bit now, but patience and remembering that things happen for a reason, keeps us grounded.

Don and I have been married nearly fourteen years, and what a blessing that is. We are still in love and best friends, neither one of us can imagine life without the other in it, side by side, always. We were married nine and a half years before we were blessed to become parents. I will not lie and say that it was an easy wait, it was at times unbearable, but with time it passed and now it is like we have never been without her. Honestly we cherish the first years we had together, they gave us the time to camp, play and get to know one another.

The day Belle was born we were actually camping with family, we did not know she was even comming to our home until the day we met her and our wonderful Birth Mom, and some of the family of our Birth Mom. What an experience that was. We knew from the moment she was chosen to come to our home that she was going to bless our lives. We just had no idea of how much of a blessing she would be or of how richly she would impact our families. There is no doubt that Belle is where she is meant to be. How fortunate we are, how blessed and how amazing this has been for us.

I use to wonder if I would feel like I was missing out not having labor pains, being pregnant and giving birth, if I would think that I was slighted by the Lord or something like that. Or if adoption would mean that I would not be my childs mother completely - I am happy to report that all of those fears were FALSE! I can not imagine giving birth, not that I think it is not an amazing blessing, as I know it is, but that I would never replace our memories and feelings of the day she was placed in our arms, not even if it were possible would I wish for the change. I can not imagine anything being more special, sad, heart warming, tough, loving and full of grace than that experience.

It is amazing to watch Belle grow and take on traits of Don and I and also of her Birth Mom. Each night when Belle says her prayers at bed time, she asks ..'and please send a baby sister or brother'..she will even slip that in when it is her turn to bless the food. It is so precious. She knows that we are not able to have our own babies, she also knows that her Birth Mom Loves her and chose us to be her parents. She has faith, as we do, that when the time is right, we will be blessed again, with this great blessing of having a little one grace our lives and home.

Our life is not overly exciting, we live and love and do what we hope is best - that is who we are. We have our little traditions such as the pumpkin patch, corn maze, Christmas Light drives, Camping and more, but we find peace in the simplicity of it. We do not have any video games or things like that, we like the old fashioned way of using our imagination and talking...I know boring, it is amazing how well we get to know each other while doing fun things and chatting at the same time.

We love life, and we love being a family. Please when someone mentions adoption, think of the positives, think of the families that are made, and of the lives that are touched. We still keep in contact with our Birth Mom, and by doing that we can see how Belle has also touched her life, adoption is not a selfish or vain desire, it is a selfless loving act by all parties, and it is right when it feels right, no one need judge a person for choosing adoption or choosing to keep and raise a child or living life with out children. These are roads that need to be traveled by everyone at their own pace and speed. We are strong advocates of adoption, how could we see our blessing every day and not be. We are also in constant awe of the strength and love in Birth Families.

We are confident that such loving people are lifted up and carried by the Lord and his Angels. The Atonement, after all was not only for our sins to be taken by the Savior, but also for our sorrows to be taken, it works.

We love you all, and send our warmest thoughts and blessings to you.

Bye-

Last Week's

How blessed we are --- but that is not what I was thinking this morning when our street was blocked off for a city function....you would be amazed at the looks people give you for driving on a blocked street, when you are just leaving your house for work....but I was nice and just smiled, thank goodness the better side of me prevails from time to time.

Remember we have two choices, all of the time, to find the better part of the moment or situation or to sit and focus on the worse part - it is our personal job to decide which one will apply to us each and every day.

Have a good day - Bye!

Family Thought

Our faith is very important in our family. It is an important part of the way we live and of each decision we make. Our greatest joy is in knowing that we have an Eternal Family and that knowledge brings us closer to our Heavenly Father, Jesus and to each other.

The day we were blessed to be married was lovely, then we were able to go to the Temple together, another monumental day - and then came our little blessing, our angel. Thanks to a lovely Birth Mom our little girl, Belle, was placed in our home. No words can express our love for our Birth Mom, she is as important a part of our family as any blood relative is. Because of this lovely angel we have been able to grow our family, from the two of us to now there being three, a wonderful three. We were also later, six months after Button was born, able to be sealed in the Temple for Time and all Eternity, there are no words to express how this has enriched our lives.

We stand firm in our faith and in knowledge that the Gospel is true.

Have a great day!-
Rae

Life -

Life is moving along for us, we are all working hard, Don at work, Rae at work and Button at Pre-School. It never seems to fail to surprise me how fast time flies now. I remember when I was little and the summer never seemed to have an end...oooh for those days - now it seems like if we blink or close our eyes for too long then we will open them to find Button graduated from college! - We are still waiting for the next 'little one' to bless our home. We are excited and long for the day when Button can be a big sister, she wants to be one so bad! She knows about being adopted so it is no surprise to her that we are waiting and that the babies do not come out of Mommies Tummy, but all the same she hopes for a little one to 'call her own'. She asks every day "mama, do big sitsters do this, or do big sisters do that" it is so cute!

We love all of our friends and family, please visit the site when you can, we will work hard to keep it current for you. Since we have a good, reliable and working computer at home we will be better able to stay in touch...and who knows, maybe one day we will be able to "skype" with all of the rest of you...

Love -you all
Us -

2010 Family Photo

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Belle, Mandy & Brandon

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