The other blog

For those of you who haven't heard we were approved to adopt back in March. Right now we are in the "finding" stage of the adoption process, meaning we are waiting to be matched while we do everything we can to find the next branch in our family tree.

We set up another blog for that purpose and that is the one that will be updated the most. Occasionally I'll come and update this one as well, but if you want to know about the craziness that is our little family then we invite you to head on over to our adoption blog, and add that blog to your blog list as well.


http://mattandcrystalsadoptionjournal.blogspot.com/

Dear mini cooper driver...

I understand that you believe that your rightful place in this life is 2 feet off of my bumper. However I should point out that one of the dangers of the place is the possibility that I may have to stop at a red light. If this happens, and you have to swerve to avoid becoming one with my Jeep, please do not flip me off! It is not my fault that I had to stop...blame those silly politicians that penned the law that requires me to do so.


Hugs and smooches!

~Me~


P.S.

And FYI dear mini van driver when the sign says " One car per green per lane" it applies to you as well.

Our forever family

Today is the 4th anniversary of the day we took wee one to the temple to be sealed. In our religion we believe that families are forever. When a couple is married in one of the LDS Temples they are married for time and all eternity, and any children born to them are sealed into the family for eternity as well.

This belief has been a comfort to many a family who has lost loved ones that were entirely to young. It is one of the many things that got me through the sudden passing of my little brother in 2001. My parents were married in the Los Angeles Temple and so all of my siblings and I are sealed as an eternal family. I know I'll see my brother again, and this knowledge makes the days when I miss him the most a bit easier to get through.

Matt and I were married in the temple, but because our children will join our family through adoption we get to have the privilege of taking them to be sealed to us. Wee one's adoption was finalized just before her 1st birthday, so we decided to wait the couple of weeks until her birthday to be sealed, and have a huge celebration.

When I called the temple to set up a time for us to come and be sealed I requested a certain room inside the temple. The kind lady who I was speaking to told me that was an odd request, and she wasn't sure that it could be met. I explained to her that it was the room that my husband and I had been married in 6 years before. A choked up voice came back over the phone and said she would make it happen.

Because wee one was only a year old, she got to have a helper during the ceremony. We found out about this a few days before and decided that we wanted her birth grandmother to be the one to help her. When we called our Moms to tell them about needing someone to help wee one, they both said " Well you're going to ask "M" aren't you?" before we could even begin to tell them that we wanted to ask "M" to do it. Our Moms are amazing!

Wee one cried the whole time, but so did most of the women in the room. I don't remember much about what was said, but the feeling of peace is something I'll never forget.

Wee one is 5!

This past weekend our little wee one turned 5. We're not sure where the time has gone, it seems like just yesterday we were driving in an ice storm behind a truck hauling radioactive barrels on our way to meet her.

This year we decided that she was old enough to have some friends over for a party. She wanted a Princess sleep over party, we compromised with a Princess stay late (where everyone comes in PJ's and they stay up past their bed times, but they sleep in their own beds back home). The little girls were so excited to get their "official" invitations (they were scrolled and sealed with wax, Thanks Matt!)

Both families came over for dinner and another celebration a couple of days later. One thing that we love about our house is that we can have both sides over (23 people all together) and it's not too crowded.

Every year wee one gets to have a different fun cake. This year was going to be a pink cake with crowns on it, but she changed her mind the week before to this:

Luckily the base design wasn't too different, just the decorating. And because every Princess needs to get away from the castle occasionally Crystal also made this(both with the help of a dear friend):





The Princess bungalow.

Wee one's story

As we are finishing up all of the paperwork to be approved to adopt another wee one I find it interesting that it is occurring over the dates that changed our lives 5 years ago. Here is wee one's story...

We always knew that adoption was the road that we would take to bring our wee ones into our family. We had prayed for years to know when we should start down that road, but the answer was always, not yet. One day in February 2005 the answer changed, it was time to get things started. We have learned over the years that sometimes when the answer is yes it time, he means, it's right now!

Before we could even get an appointment with our bishop to get paperwork started the phone rang. This part of the story is best told by a dear friend who was staying with us at the time.(Names have been omitted to protect their wee ones)

It is a quiet Monday night in February 2005. V and A are finally asleep, and Sean, Shawna and Crystal watch the ever comforting series, Friends while Matt shoots a few space marines at the computer. Matt's phone rings, and as he talks, he motions to Crystal to join him. Crystal kneels beside Matt's chair and he gently strokes her head. It is difficult to tell what the this conversation could possibly be about. With nowhere to go, Sean and Shawna sit on the couch trying hard to melt into the background. Crystal stares hard at Matt, and he in turn glances at her with true emotion in his eyes, again caressing her hair.

As Matt hangs up the phone and tells Crystal " That was mom", Crystal asks half jokingly, "Did she find us a kid?" Matt gazes deeply into her eyes and softly replies, "Yeah, a little girl"

Gasps arise, accompanied by a few tears from the more emotionally inclined, as Matt enlightens the group. His cousin is pregnant with a little girl, is due in the next few weeks and would love them to her Daddy and Mommy.

Never to be the ones who just jump into things (except when we moved across country without a place to stay until we were almost there) we asked for a week to decide. We spent the first of many sleepless nights fasting and praying that we would know if this little one was supposed to be ours. The next day we told our bosses that we had some family things to attend to and wouldn't be into work. The DC temple was undergoing it's cleaning so we went to the tidal basin near the Jefferson Memorial instead. We were surprised to find it devoid of people, except for a friend from college who happened to be in town visiting some other friends and was confused as to why we would be sitting there on a Tuesday afternoon. We never spoke about if this was right, but what needed to be done to make it happen, we had our answer.

We began calling our family and friends to let them know that there would soon be an addition to our family, and by soon we meant weeks, and allowed our selves to go shopping for baby things that we would not be giving as gifts.

We won!!! sort of....

So we went to the home show a couple of weeks ago to get idea for finishing the basement, but other then running into an old high school friend it wasn't that cool. I did however enter us in a drawing to win a play house for the backyard(backyard isn't finished but hey... it can be a prairie house with lots o' dirt and schtuff).

About a week after the home show we receive a call from the company that sponsored the give away. Now this wasn't to inform us that we had won the play house (although we were still entered in the drawing) but to let us know that our names had been pulled out for a vacation opportunity (different types of cruises to choose from), after being informed multiple times that it was not a time share, Matt tells them that he'll have to chat with me and could he please call back.

The next day he calls back and gets me, again assuring me that it is not a time share, but a discount travel agency. I set up a time for us to go to the 45 min one on one "presentation" so we can get our 7 night cruise, and 3 day 2 night getaway that was also thrown in there.

Here is an excerp of our conversation:

Guy on Phone ( here after referred to as G): We have a 3 night cruise that includes shore excursions or a 7 night cruise that does not, which would you prefer?

Me ( here after referred to as M): Well since my husband is in a wheelchair the 7 night cruise would work better and then we can pay for the excursions that are wheelchair accessible.

G: The 3 night cruise tends to be our most popular one are you sure I can't talk you into that one?

M: Well, we've looked into cruises before and finding shore excursions that are completely wheelchair accessible for my husband is a bit difficult, so we'll go with the 7 night cruise, because I know the ship is accessible.

G: Ok well let me throw in a 3 day 2 night getaway to Park City as well, in case you aren't able to get off the boat.

So, I assumed that it was clear that Matt is in a wheelchair. But as the saying goes you know what happens when you assume.....


Fast forward to the Saturday in which we are to go to the one on one presentation. That the guy is traveling about 30 miles to come in and meet with us( this was said many times to which I commented, so are we). We drop wee one off to play with her cousin, and head on our way. We have made the deal that if they ask for a credit card we are saying no thanks and getting some ice cream on the way back to get wee one.

As we approach the building Matt begins to notice something....where is the ramp?

We park the car and get out. I head up the stairs into the waiting area and ask the receptionist

" Where is your ramp?"

"I'm not sure, I don't usually work at this location, let me ask."

Big boss man comes out

"Can I help you?"

" Yes, my husband and I have and appointment at 1:30 ( it's 1:20 by the way, yea for being early!) and I need to know where your ramp is so that he can come in"

Now this is where I wish I had a camera to capture the look of fear mixed with oh @*%& that came across this mans face when he looked out the door and saw Matt.

Big boss man then explains that since they only have about 2 people who need wheelchair access to the building in a year that they aren't required to have one (I'm calling BS on this one) and asks if I informed G( his name has been removed out of shear kindness) that my husband is in a chair. Well yes I did, even though ADA doesn't require me to ( the last part was said in my head, again by shear kindness)

Big boss man then tells receptionist man to give us an over night getaway, then asks how far we've come from, after hearing how far, he ups it to a 3 day 2 night getaway. Then heads into his office to call G.

Receptionist man makes a last ditch effort to get us to sign up, but quickly backs down when I tell him that we aren't interested in joining a vacation club at this time, and continues frantically filling out the voucher to get me quickly out the door.

I leave the building (about 3 min after arriving), and tell Matt:" We are done and we have a little getaway to plan."

That's right folk, it appears that we do have a price for not suing you because of wheelchair in accessibility, and that price is a 3 day 2 night getaway ( although we do accept cash as well, small unmarked bills only)

Day 7- The elevator is out...click, and you don't know what an Oreo is?

Our last day in Paris....

My uncle was quite impressed with all that we had done and seen while in Paris, and agreed that we had done well, only one thing left to do. Go see the Arch d'Triumph and take a stroll down the Champs d'lysee.

By this time we had mastered how to get to the accessible metro stop, and even how to read which stops are "accessible" with great joy we discovered that the stop just below the Arch is accessible, so we purchased our tickets and went on our way.

Once we arrived at the station we began looking for the elevator, knowing what the French word for elevator looks like it was a lot easier then the beginning of our week. We find the series of elevators that slowly get us up to street level. The button on the last one doesn't seem to work. We press the button to get customer service to see if there is another elevator.

Bonjour, parlez-vous englaise? ( Hello do you speak English?)

Oui (yes)

The elevator doesn't seem to be working

The elevator is broken ...click(the customer service agent hangs up before we can ask more questions)

We push the button again

Bonjour, is there...

The elevator is broken... click

Ahh French customer service

So we head back down the series of elevators and go back a stop. This is when we realize that the previous stop is a lot further away and downhill then we thought it was.

After a long walk, during which I was positive my legs were going to fall off we finally made it!!!

I hadn't expected the stone work to be as intricate as it is. The artistry of the past never ceases to amaze me.

We then take a stroll down the Champs d'lysee (which thankfully is down hill to our apartment) and enjoy some last minute people watching. Seeing a McDonald's we have to stop so Matt can get a Royale with cheese(10 points will be awarded to anyone who can name the movie).

Upon entering the McDonalds I see an advertisement for an oreo mcflurry, as there is only one type of mcflurry that exists in my world ( that being an oreo one) I am thrilled and try to order one. However the cashier looks dumbfounded when I ask for an oreo mcflurry. Apparently they have never heard of oreos before ( that is explains some of the crankiness) and I settle for a kit kat one. I'm not sure what on earth they did to the kit kats!!!!

After finishing our stroll we packed up a bit before meeting my uncle for dinner. He was very excited to learn that we loved seafood and took us to enjoy some mussels. They came in this bucket, and they were steamed with cream and garlic, excuse me while I wipe my mouth as it waters from this yummalicous memory. If you are ever in Paris you must, must, must try a bucket of these tasty morsels.

Day 6 The travel Gods decided to thrwart our plans...

After researching and researching we found out that the only ways (short of renting a car) to get us to Versailles and the D-Day beaches were closed for renovations, so we added another thing to the list should we ever make a trip back.

Utterly exhausted, apparently international travel will do that to you, we blocked out the sun and slept in.

Excited to find out that one of Matt's favorite painting was at the Musee D'Orssay we decided to go and see it in person and ended up spending the day there. It was by far our favorite museum, mostly because we had studied a great deal of the artists and paintings in our art history class. Now someone should have mentioned in art history class that Van Gogh painted 2 Starry Nights

This one, which is in New York, and the one we thought we were going to see

and this one, which is in Paris

Both are quite nice, we have a print of the one in New York, and I think we should get a print of the one in Paris to complete the set.

The size of some of the canvases just amazed us, they wouldn't fit on any walls in our home because they are just too big. One painting that really surprised me was this one:

I thought it would be closer to an 11x14 size, but it was huge!

We stopped by a souvenir shop on the way home to pick up the last few items we had promised people, and after dropping off our bags we decided to head out for dinner.

We couldn't decide what to eat, so we kept walking and we walked right into a christian rally. We had a hilarious ( at least to us) conversation with a young women from Minnesota who was thrilled that we spoke English. She was also thrilled when we told her we were Christians, but then she got really confused and started stammering when we told her we were LDS.

We ended up eating at a restaurant called " Le deux Maggots" doesn't look good in English but the food was very yummy.

Day 5- Rodin, Petite Palace and the Eiffel Tower

We started the day at Rodin's house (that is now a museum) and got to see one of my favorite sculptures, I think it would go loverly in our backyard...once we finish it that is.

On the advice of my uncle we headed over to the Petite Palace. Now as per usual on our vacations we have to have at least one instance where someone isn't quite sure what to do/say to Matt. I had to go find someone to let us in the wheelchair accessible entrance, and was impressed that my French was good enough for them to understand what I needed. Once inside the usher proceeded to show me how to use the lifts, and kept trying to get me to push the buttons instead of Matt. We got to see a few Monet's and there was a painter there who had his stuff all set up and was painting a copy of one of the paintings.

After a quick bite to eat we went to see the Eiffel Tower. Now there are 3 levels that you can visit on the tower. The first one you can walk up to, the second one you have to take an inclinator ( a diagonal elevator) and then the 3rd one you take an elevator from the 2nd level.

It took some franglish and hand gestures but we were finally able to purchase our tickets and get to the elevators. Being terrified of heights I opted to go to the 2nd level. We got on the inclinator and I was not aware that it stopped at the 1st level to pick people up. When it stopped I tried to convince the operator that I was supposed to get off at that level, fearing that he would take us all the way up to the top.

This is a view of the bottom of the top level from the middle level

The apartment we rented is over there somewhere

And if we kept going in this direction we'd eventually get home