Halloween 2010

So this year, I had Aang (from Avatar The Last Airbender),

two darling cheerleaders (with cougar-blue Y's on their cheeks!)

a bouncy little tigger

Ceasar

and I went as an angel.

There!---I posted! That wasn't too bad.

I am so far behind, but I really wanted to share these pics.

Here's a few updates from us...

Gabe, Hunter (9) and Cannon (2) have all recently had birthdays.

Hunter is now a wolf in cub scouts!!

Cannon bit a hole through his bottom lip--ouch!!

But all in all...we are doing well

and are happy.... :)

photos

I just thought I would share some photos from my last post.

Skiing with the kids for the first time!

Ember chose a cupcake at the face-painting booth--thanks Savs!

Emma was purchasing popcorn with some of her tickets


Hunter sanding his first pinewood derby car for scouts!

our latest happenings...

The latest happenings here...

Ember turned 4! We had a fun Carnival-themed birthday party for her. She is such a fun girl! She loves to draw and paint and will do it for hours and hours if she could! She is a great big sister to Cannon. I can't imagine our life without her! Love her to pieces!

We took our Hunter, Jenna and Ember skiing for the first time last week! They were all pretty nervous but they all did great! It was especially fun to see Hunters progression. He really started to get the hang of it towards the end. It was a perfect day for it--the kids had to keep pulling off layers because they were getting too warm.

Hunter had his first pine-wood derby race tonight. No trophies, but still lots of fun! We made some mental notes on what we would do differently for next years car.

Cannon is officially in Nursery! Wow, I feel like I can actually go to church and be spiritually fed! Thank you Nursery teachers! On a side note, Cannon's favorite things that he does now are: walking around in daddy's shoes (or mommy's or anyones!), bringing me his shoes so we can go outside, climbing--on EVERYTHING!!, reading books, eating, playing outside, and playing hide-and-seek! So fun and adorable. I truly love this stage of his life!

"Not my will, but Thine be done"

Good news is much more exciting to spread than bad, but nonetheless, I feel the need to share this news as well. On Monday morning I went in for my bloodwork to find out if the pregnancy took, and later that day recieved a call that it was negative. The sweet innocent embryo didn't make it this time. Yes, I was so dissappointed. Even though there was at best a 50% chance of it working, I still kept thinking that it would work and make my uterus its home for 9 months. I am, after all, so fertile. Christina is young with healthy eggs. But, I am learning that it wasn't time. I know that God, the Great Creator of all, is in charge and knows whats best. I may never find out why it didn't work this time, but I do have faith that it will happen when its supposed to. Christina and Scott are of course saddened deeply by this news, but they too, have great faith and trust in the Lord. They are strong. They want this to happen more than I do. They will have their sweet little baby one day--hopefully sooner than later. We will try again soon. They were able to freeze 4 of Christina's eggs and so she won't have to go through the retrieval process again. I am off meds now, but will begin again in a few weeks to get my body prepared for try #2!

Before we recieved this news, in every prayer said by Jenna she prayed for the baby in my tummy to be able to grow and be healthy. When I shared the news with my kids that the baby didn't make it this time, they too were sad, but quickly drew the conclusion that it wasn't that baby's turn to come to earth. They have such great faith. I love their sweet spirits so much! I learn so much from them! Thank you sweet children for continually teaching your mommy so much about life and love and faith. I love you all. Life is good. I will always trust in the Lord in all things.

A successful transfer!

So today was the day! I am in Chicago right now with Christina. This morning I had the embryo transfer. And it was a success! The Dr. said that the embryo looked strong and healthy. It was so amazing to be able to watch the whole process! They had a large TV on the wall and magnified the embryo 400x. Then, via ultra sound, we literally watched them suck the tiny embryo up and insert it right into my uterus. Christina said she got all teary-eyed watching her little baby go inside of me. It truly is a miraculous process! I am now on bed rest for a couple days. Christina is taking such great care of me. She really is so amazing! I am so happy to be doing this for them. We will know by next Friday if it actually takes (we are all praying, of course, that it does!) My sweet in-laws are in town tending the children all week. I really feel like they couldn't be in better hands. I do miss them all and Gabe so much! I come back home on Saturday morning. I am filled with all kinds of emotions right now-- happy, grateful, excited, hopeful to name a few. Thank you all for your prayers, love, and concern for us in this exciting journey we are embarking.

Time to share the news...

I feel that it is time to share our news....(sorry, its pretty lengthy)

It all started back in April, when I was in Arizona visiting with my sister-in-law and we started talking about our pregnancies and deliveries and how natural and easy they are for us. Then we jokingly said that we have it so good, we could have someone else's baby for them. I didn't give it any more thought then, but after I returned home, the idea of surrogacy kept coming back to my mind. So I hopped online and began some research. I continued for sometime reading all I could about the world of surrogacy. I found that 'gestational surrogacy' or surrogacy using one couple's egg and sperm to create their own biological baby was made legal in Utah just a few years ago. I realized that the more I looked into this, the more excited I became about being able to do this for someone.
My next big question was "what is the church's stand?" So I went and met with my bishop about me wanting to be a surrogate. He had never been asked this question, but did his "homework," visited with the stake president, and even church headquarters. He got back with me and gave me his 100% approval and support and thinks that its a great thing I will be doing. All along the way, I have been very prayerful about this and have felt strongly to keep moving forward with it. I felt like I could really be a blessing in some couple's lives.
The agency I chose to go with is called CSP (www.creatingfamilies.com). They are wonderful! They completely screen both couples involved and don't cut any corners (which in some ways, seems to take forever, but in the end its a very good thing!) It wasn't until November that Gabe and I were presented with a "potential match". We read and re-read their profile and prayed to know if this was the couple I was to help. We both recieved a very strong affirmative impression. Soon after, we were able to visit with them over the phone. It was so great talking to them! We continued to email and call each other on a regular basis and have really enjoyed getting to know them. Their names are Scott and Christina and they live out in Wisconsin. They are devoted to one another and devoted to the Lord and we are so blessed to call them our friends. Thats why when we were finally able to meet them (face-to-face), that we truly felt like we already knew them! Just last week, Gabe and I took a trip out there to meet them! It was so fun to put a face to the name (and voice!). They took us out to eat a few times, we played games and just visited! They are so awesome! While we were out there, I met with the Dr. who will be doing the embryo transfer. We are set to have the transfer take place the end of next month! I am so excited! Scott and Christina are so very grateful for this opportunity! They have 20 nieces and nephews and so badly want a child of their own! I am truly SO happy to be their surrogate mom! Gabe is so supportive ---I could not (and would not) do this without his 100% support! We have told Hunter and Jenna about it and they are absolutley great with it. I really wanted them to understand that we are not giving away one of their siblings. We explained that our friend Christina has a broken tummy and can't carry her own baby, so mommy's going to carry their baby in my tummy and then when it time for the baby to come, we give them their baby. I have had people ask me if it will be so hard to give away the baby and my answer is 'no'! I am going into this whole situation with the sole purpose of giving a couple something they cannot give themselves and am thrilled to be able to do this. I am not by any means an expert in this field but if you have questions for me about this I'd be happy to do my best to answer. Sorry for the long post, but that's what's new in my world and I thought it was time to share.

Spotlighting Hunter

A lot has happened in Hunters life since the end of October..... Here is the lastest... He gets baptized!!!! Doesn't he look sharp?
He was so happy all day---he knew it was a very special day.
Many loved ones came to share this special day with us! Oh, and he turned turned eight on the 30th (and was baptized the next day on Halloween!) Hunter and Gabe got in a big leave war! We all had soooo much fun! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Chariton who helped rake our mountains of leaves!! We love you guys!

Hunter's very first piano recital! He was fabulous. We were so proud of him!

Hunter is such a good kid! Truly we are soooo grateful he is in our family! He is such a good helper to me and is a fantastic big brother to all his siblings. He and Jenna are the bestest friends and are so fun (and funny) together! He loves reading, piano, basketball, scouts, wresting with his dad, anything related to life-science, playing games and watching movies as a family. He really wants a bearded dragon that he's been saving up for for a long time! I love you HUNTER!