13th Anniversary of our very first Face to Face.

Thirteen Years ago today Brad and I met a beautiful girl who changed our lives forever.
The entire day I continually had a thought enter my mind
"She will be in labor when you meet her".
I thought I was just hoping ...Brenley's due date was still a month away.
As we sat in the agency office we got word that Stacey was at the hospital and her water broke.
Her doctor felt it was important for her to meet us so he allowed her to come and have a quick meeting with us.
It was an amazing meeting!!!
I will never forget that day!
Brenley came into the world at 1:43AM on the 14th of July.
We got to pick her up when she was just 36 hours old.
So very thankful for Stacey, for adoption and for the blessings that come from a loving Heavenly Father!
Today we celebrate Brenley, her sweet Birth Mother and the opportunity to be parents!

Brenley goes Yellow!

In November of 2010 Brenley started Karate.
She has grown so much since she started.
I love to watch her practice.
She has the best kee-up (no idea how this is really spelled).   Spencer tries to copy her and he kicks his leg and makes a grunting sound.   I love it!
Brenley can count to 30 in Korean.
But the best thing  Brenley has learned is that SHE CAN DO HARD THINGS!
Brenley just received her Yellow Belt.
We are so excited!!!!

Way to go Brenley!

Ten Years? Feels like yesterday!

Ten years ago today one of the greatest things happened to Brad and Me.....a beautiful baby girl was placed in our arms.   I remember the moment as if it just took place only moments ago.  I recall the feelings of love and gratitude that took over and caused me to sob so hard I couldn't speak.  It was an incredible day full of bittersweet feelings of joy and sadness.  Joy for us but sadness for Brenley's Birth Mom.   There were immense feelings of love, happiness and the feeling that all we had been through was worth it!  

Today I have reminisced about the past 10 years and how much I love being Brenley's Mom!  I feel so blessed.  
Before Brenley came I felt so lost.  I didn't feel like my life had purpose and I was busy each day doing work that I hated and I felt so unfulfilled.   I remember the pain of longing to be a Mother but day after day it felt as if it would never happen.  There were days I thought I would die I hurt so much inside.  I tried to remember that everyday I didn't become a Mother meant I was closer to the day I would.  Some days it helped....and then there were those other days that nothing but the comfort only the Lord could send would help me get through another childless day. 

Now ten years later I still remember all of the feelings and I continue to count Brenley and my other 3 children as 4 of my greatest blessings!  I love being a Mother and sharing Motherhood with four other special women. 

How did I get so lucky?

What happens when your child gets a hold of the camera.

End of another school year.

Kindergarten baby no more! This picture was taken on the last day of school ...I wanted to remember this day. Watching children grow is bittersweet....we are happy they are growing...we are sad that they are growing. I love my little Haley and I am going to miss having her home during the day! Thank goodness I have a whole summer to enjoy her before sending her off to 1st grade.

Third grade brought out some new talents in Brenley. She has become a little author and an incredibly strong reader. She overcame peer pressure to use bad language and honored my wishes when it came to behavior at school. I am so excited to see the growth in my beautiful daughter! I love my soon to be 4th grader!

Friday's Family Fun

Brenley loves to write stories.
This is one of her latest.
I told her I would post it on the blog.
Now you are a published author Brenley!


"The Kids Who Wanted to be Visible"

Written By: Brenley ~ Age 8

Once there was a little girl. Her name was Katy Olson. Katy had brown hair and eyes as blue as the sea. Katy had a robot boat named Doodles. Katy was sailing Doodles to Wondersland. While they were sailing a strange thing happened. Doodles hit a humongous green scaly ugly serpent. Katy was very frightened. "Please don't hurt us!" said Katy. The serpent replied in a deep crackly voice "Why Shouldn't I? You disturbed my home!" "Because I um...um well because I didn't mean to disturb your home." stammered Katy. "Oh!" replied the Serpent. "Don't disturb me again!" "We won't" Katy replied, "I promise."
Two months later: "Oh Doodles are we there yet?" asked Katy. Doodle replied, "No not yet. We will be there soon." A couple of moments later Doodles hit something {Boof}. Katy hollered, "We hit land! Yea!!!"
Katy stepped off of Doodles when suddenly she hears a mean laugh "E-heehehehe!" "Wwwhat wwwas thhhhat?" chattered Katy. "I don't know" replied Doodles. "Check the mmmap!" instructed Katy. "Oh no!" said Doodles. "What is it?" asked Katy. "We landed on the Haunted Island!" answered Doodles. "Are you sure?" asked Katy. "Yes, I am sure!" answered Doodles. "Lets go see what that sound was" Katy said bravely. "All right but your going to regret it!" said Doodles. Doodles, being a robot , transformed into a walking robot. "Come on Doodles...lets get going!"
Katy and Doodles started walking inland. Suddenly they heard a new sound "BOO!" Katy and Doodles screamed "AHHH!!!" The unknown voice started laughing that evil laugh again "E-heehehehe!" "You should have seen your faces!" said the unknown voice. "That was so funny!" Then came a new voice, "That wasn't very funny Bobby!" "I'm so sorry my little brother scared you." "Hi, my name is Ashanti and this is my little brother Bobby. He loves to scare people." Confused Katy asked, "Where are you two, we can hear you but we can't see you." "That is because we are invisible" said Bobby. "How did you become invisible?" asked Katy. "Well" Ashanti said, "It all started when a big dark purple Monster came and brought yucky stuff. This yucky stuff was blue, yellow, black and goopy. The Monster dunked us in it and we've been invisible ever since." Katy then asked "Can you become visible again?" Yes, but it won't be easy. We need to be dunked back into the goo. But the monster is now the King of Haunted Island. He has many guards, stairways and boobie traps that make it hard to get into the castle." Ashanti said. Katy replied "We will find a way...lets go!"
The Monster King spent his days lounging around his castle not paying much attention to anyone. Suddenly the King heard something. "Who is there?' said the King. "It is jussst usss" a whispering voice replied. "Show yourselves!" yelled the King. "We cannot!" You have been very cruel to ussss! You make it so we are gone, you dipped us in that goo. But if you want to see us you must bow out your candles." Said the whispering voice. The King did as he was told and blew out the candles. "Oh you!" said the King. "What do you want?" "We want to be visable again" said Bobby. "Ya, we came all this way to see you" said Katy bravely. "If you don't dunk them or whatever you have to do to fix them I will zap you with my robot laser" said Doodles. "All right!" the King said angrily. {Plunk, Plunk} The king dipped Ashanti and Bobby in the goo. "We can see you!!! We can see you!!!" cried Katy and Doodles. Katy ws excited to finally sew what the kids looked like. Ashanti was tall with long black hair and eyes as brown as bark. Bobby was smaller than his sister with curly brown hair and brown eyes. "It is great to be back to normal" said Ashanti. And they all lived happily ever after.....well almost everyone. The King is still stewing in his anger!
The End!

Sisters become friends.

Brenley said:
"Mom when is Haley coming home I want to play with her?"
My thoughts:
AHHHHH Finally....Friends!
This is happening more and more every day!
Hip Hip Hooray!!!!!!

Here Comes the Sun!

The past week has been a little stressful. Brad was sick first and then Brenley started getting sick Sunday morning. Today I took her to Dr. Bancroft and just as I suspected Brenley has Scarlet Fever. This would make the 3rd year in a row I believe. I am not sure what triggers it to happen every fall but here it is again without fail. Brenley has been out of sorts and actually down right grouchy (until she has some medicine in her system) but really who wouldn't be! She has been out of school since Monday and will not be heading back until this coming Monday. I have had some opportunities to have some good talks with Brenley while she has been down. Secretly I have to admit that I am enjoying having her home with me. She has made me laugh a bunch and I have enjoyed nurturing her during the day. So just as my Mom did for me when I was sick....I am babying Brenley a bit. She has been enjoying rented movies from Red Box and I stopped at the library for a few more movies. She doesn't get to do a whole lot but it is fun to just hang out with her.

Haley started bringing reading books home from school last week. I am really enjoying watching how well she is learning and how much she retains. She was very ready for school, that is clear. I find myself looking forward to sitting down with her on the couch and having her read to me. I think what I love the most is the one on one time it gives us! She also looks forward to reading and I can see that she is happy with her new abilities!

Camden is doing so well on the potty! We have occasional accidents but nothing major. And Camden has turned into a book worm. He has one with him many times during the day and wants to go to bed with one even though it is dark in his room. He sits through a book....even longer ones, as I read to him. I must admit...Camden turning 2 was a hard transition for me....he turned into a terrible two for a while but now I see him mellowing out a bit and he is able to sit and enjoy and not just go go go. He is still very busy but he can also be very still for a moment or two. It is a nice addition to our day!

Tonight I was feeding Baby A. pears. She loves baby food and she loves being held. Today as I picked her up from her bouncy chair she cuddled in my arms as if she was saying "this is just what I wanted you to do". I LOVE every moment of my time with A. And I know she loves spending time with me....I am her favorite person and I love that! Tonight I pondered on the joy I feel taking care of Baby A. and all of my children and I realized again just how much I love being a Mother!
(Thank You to my favorite "S"es....Stacey, Sara & Samantha! Where would I be without you?)

I needed this day....it has been a hard couple of weeks for me...but today the Sun came out!!

A Day full of Promise.

(August 2, 2008)
Today Brenley was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter Day Saints! It was an incredible day that couldn't have gone more perfectly! One of my favorite parts of this day was helping Brenley get ready to go to the Stake Center and then helping her change into and out of her baptism jumper. I could remember doing that with my own mother. I loved having those few moments alone with Brenley. I also LOVED seeing Brad in his White jumper and loved that he honor's the Priesthood and has lived in such a way that he was the one who performed the ordinances. I love my very handsome husband!!!

Today I realized just how grown up my little girl has become and I once again feel so incredibly blessed to be her mother!






Special Thanks to our Fathers (Joe & Don) for being witnesses, Craig for saying the prayer, Diane for giving the talk on Baptism & Trevor for singing "When I am Baptized". The talk was perfect and the song was really beautiful! Thank you for being willing to be part of Brenley's special day! We also wanted to say thank you to all the family and friends that came! Brenley had been afraid no one would come. It is funny the things kids worry about. :)

A Learning Experience.

(July 29, 2008)
Brenley (who has become extremely helpful around the house) decided to do the dishes for me the night before this picture was taken. There weren't enough dishes to start the washer so I added so the next day and saw that Brenley had already added soap so I went ahead and started the dishwasher. About 30 minutes later Brenley and her friend came running to me letting me know there was something leaking out of the dishwasher. This is a picture of what I saw....


It turns out that Brenley thought we used laundry soap in the dishwasher. She thought I was going to be really angry....but all I could do was laugh. It was one very funny sight!
Thank you Brenley for your willingness to serve our family and try something new!
You are a sweetheart! I love the girl you have become!!!

Eight is GREAT!

Wow...is she really 8?? Where or where did my baby go? We couldn't let this milestone birthday go without some celebrating.
(warning..picture overload!)
July 12, 2008
We started with a family party at Liberty Park where we enjoyed sitting under trees eating lunch. The kids enjoyed playing in the park..especially the water. We had cake and ice cream and Brenley opened her gifts. She wanted "anything High School Musical" and boy did she ever get it! Almost everything was HSM. She loved everything she recieved and I loved that many of the items were pieces of clothing (you know..school is right around the corner). Brenley enjoys getting clothes these days so that is a nice perk for the parents! We appreciate all those loved ones who joined us in our celebration! I loved the fact that I could give Brenley's Birth Mom a hug and say "Thank You" in person!
Here are a few pictures from this event.

I made Brenley's cake and it turned out pretty cute! It may not be professional but it was made with lots of Love!

July 14, 2008
Brenley has been looking forward to this day for a couple of years. She knew that when she turned 8 years old she got a special day with Mom which included lunch and ear piercing. We got up and left around 10:00 AM. We didn't get home until around 7:00PM. We had a fun, busy day. This is what we did.....

We drove to Salt Lake and went to Gateway where our first stop was "Build-A-Bear Workshop". She picked out a pink cheetah she named "Jewels". She got to pick her sound, which is a lion type of "roar", she made a wish on her cheetah's heart and put it in before her animal was sewn up. She then got to take her animal over and give her a bath. After the bath she picked out an outfit and then we made the birth certificate. She then decided to pick a different outfit and chose pink pj's with slippers that come with fur. She even got to try them on before choosing them. This was a really fun experience and I am so glad it was me that got to take her!!
Then we went to "Claire's" to have her ear's pierced.

Brenley was nervous but very brave.
This is before.This is during...

After we were done at "Claire's" Brenley enjoyed showing off her new ears to her Aunt and Cousin who work at the Gateway. We then headed to lunch at the Lion House Pantry. After lunch we enjoyed the pretty flowers and gardens around the church office buildings and on Temple Square. We talked about the Gospel and other special things. It was a really fun day! Here are a few pictures we took.




I LOVED having this day with Brenley. After leaving temple square we went to Toys-R-Us for Brenley to spend her gift card Uncle Craig gave her. We then stopped and grabbed dinner and things for her friend party then headed home. We were both very tired when we got home but Brenley kept saying in the Van....."This was the best day of my life!".
Those were my exact feelings 8 years ago!

July 16, 2008
Brenley's Friend Birthday Party.
Brenley invited a few friends to join us for a movie and then back home for pizza, ice cream and cake. They all had a good time being out and about together!

Cake #2 Made with Love by Mom!

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As you can see these few days were busy days for our family but after all of the gifts were unwrapped, candles blown out and party banners put away Brad and I will continue to celebrate Brenley every single day! I am one lucky Mom!

Way to Go Brenley!

Brenley came home all excited last week announcing she was student of the month. What a great way to end a school year! She was presented with the award by her Principal. Her teacher said a few words about Brenley. She said that Brenley is what 2nd grade is all about....learning and growing. Brenley has come very far this year with the help of her teacher. Brenley struggled with reading but is now reading chapter books everyday and loving it! We are amazed at her progress! Reading better has helped her do better in every subject and it has improved her self-esteem. It is amazing what can happen when a good teacher cares. It is also amazing what a 7 year old can accomplish when she puts her mind to it!

Brenley congratulations! You deserve it!!!