It has been sometime since I have been able to sit down and update family and friends on the adventures we have had since moving to Missouri. There is so much that happens in this family on a daily basis that condensing such activity is many times difficult. I have decided to highlight the big events and end with a few side smiles : ) I will post this first, using more words than pictures. Then there will be separate blog entries for our trip to Lamoni,Iowa to see our first Civil War renactment,our trip to Nauvoo, and some misc fun. So READ and HANG ON : )
I(Arianna) turned forty in August. I must say that it was quit different than what I had envisioned in my twenties : ) Instead of traveling with my Husband and having quiet afternoons to read, we were beginning life all over again, with one child out of the nest and three having moved into it : ) We were now living in my parent's basement and John had now been without a job for 10 months. I sat at the small dinner table, tired from the day's activities, a canary yellow curling ribbon draped on my head and holding up a "4" candle in one hand and a "0" in the other for picture takers. Could things have been different for us?Perhaps. But I would not have traded all that had happened in our lives..because it was ours. Our vision of what was important to us no matter what..our learning to hang on to each other through the very worst of times...our laughter and tears and joys and sorrows all together in one big family melting pot. Our choices made through prayer...our life.
At this point in my life, it has been made very apparent in some areas, how much the lord has prepped me to be able to handle where we are right now. We spent 12 wonderful years in Oregon near John's parents and many of his family members . We had worked in an adult Foster Care Home, we had cared for aging Grandparents, we had been Foster Parents and had adopted children that required new skills and energies from us. We have learned much and I have had to use all those skills to their maxium ,while we have been here thus far. It has been the most intense,heart stretching,faith building, time of our lives and has required ALL that we have within us....but he knew that and he gave us experiences to draw on.
AND NOW FOR THE EVENTS..
John and I have moved!......to our OWN room around the corner of the kids!!!! It was seven months of five of us...enjoying ONE room. Even though we love to have our children around us..it has been nice to have our own space...with kids who visit frequently: )
Emily is living and working two jobs near Nashville, TN. She has had quite a hard year, but continues to be strong and move forward. Emily has had some great experiences and met some very nice people that we are grateful for. She has an "Auntie" named Mica Roberts, who has been a back up singer for many artists and is currently with Toby Keith. Emily had the chance to go on the tour bus and see all that is involved in setting up the concerts and running them. Mica gave John and I backstage passes when the tour came to KC and we had a fun night seeing her perform on stage with T.Keith. Emily has made some life long friends along the way and had some fun experiences. Her newest love is a little white West Highland Terrier she named Hardy. We enjoy the phone pics she sends of him and get a chuckle out of such a big personality in such a little body. We recently had a visit with her and had a nice time together with ALL of our children.
In September, we went for a fun day in Lamoni, Iowa to view our first Civil War renactment
We enjoyed seeing handmade tools used by doctors and clothing worn by men women and children of that time period. It was a great experience. PBS was actually there filming it, to be a part of a documentary. Of course, Cody was in heaven and loved seeing and learning about all he could.
The day after my fortieth birthday, on August 4, our two newest family members, Mercedes and Bricen were blessed in church. It was such a wonderful day and I was filled with joy, as I listened to the prayer their father bestowed on each of them. Soon after, we received the paperwork we needed from the adoption, to make arrangements to be sealed together as a family!
We were excited because we decided to have them sealed to us in the Nauvoo Illinois Temple.I had not been there since I was Cody's age and was thrilled to have my family be able to see it.
October 16 we drove to Nauvoo with my parents. I had done some research to find a place we could stay, that would not break our budget. Because of so many dietary restrictions between the kids and my Mom, it needed to be a place where we could bring our own food. I found a wonderful place that had Log Cabins you could stay in. The people that owned it find old log cabins in Colorado,Utah etc . They take them apart and reassemble and repair them back in Nauvoo. They also have the history and photographs of the people who lived in each cabin. It is so neat. We LOVED ours. It had a bed and two sets of bunkbeds upstairs and a master bath and bedroom downstairs...fit us all perfectly. The children were excited about the bunks and the old fashioned tub. We will definitely return. The pictures of all of this will be in the next blog album entry.
On October 17,2009 in the Nauvoo, Illinois temple...our three youngest children, dressed in white, came and knelt with us,as Mercedes and Bricen became part of our Forever family. We missed having our Emily there with us, but were greatful we had that experience with her nine years ago, when Cody was sealed to us. The temple was beautiful and we had an extra special surprise. As we walked into the temple, we were greeted by an older couple who looked So familar to me...I told John,""I KNOW them", but I could not place it. They were to escort John and I to where we needed to go. As we spoke, I asked Sister Church About where they had lived...it was near areas we had,but nothing I could place. THEN I asked about Arizona..they had been there when we had..we asked what ward, then they asked the name of our Bishop...they were in our ward in Arizona 15 years ago! It was so wonderful to have them there and we asked Brother Church to be one of the witnesses to our family sealing.
The temple was beautiful and so peaceful...I did not want to leave. We went across the street after the sealing to view the grounds and the beautiful statue of Joseph and his brother Hyrum on their last trip together to Carthage. It was supposed to rain with chances of snow that day and it literally ended up postcard perfect blue! We were so greatful for that. We only had that afternoon to take in all we could of Nauvoo, but it was wonderful. All of these pics will be in next post also: )
We have our shoulders to the wheel and continue to push along,even though the journey has been long and hard,we know that all WILL be well.
Picture Posts COMING :)
