Our Family Lately

"This is my prayer for all of us- 'Lord, increase our faith.' Increase our faith to bridge the chasms of uncertainty and doubt.... Grant us faith to look beyond the problems of the moment to the miracles of the future... Give us faith to do what is right and let the consequences follow." These my friends are the inspiring beautiful words of our dear prophet Gordon B. Hinkley


Faith, we hear about it, we talk about it, often we see it exercised in our daily lives. Some of us are born automatically with it almost like a sixth sense, others have to find it much like a hidden puzzle piece that if found could help complete their life. I sometimes find myself, questioning do I really have the faith it takes to some days make it through?

Faith was a topic this past Sunday at church and my daughter Taylor had to give a thought about faith for Young Women. As we searched the internet to find something quick and impressionable we came upon Gordon B. Hinkley’s quote above. This was something that I needed at that exact moment in time, to hear those inspiring words at this uncertain time was a great encouragement. Throughout the years our family's faith has been tested over and over again. We have been through incredibly great times in our lives as well as devastatingly hard moments. There have been times we have faced trying times daily. I must however admit that never in our life have we as a family ever been faced with such a challenge as we are today.

Many of you already know the story. It's heartbreaking yet it could be a possible miracle for the two kids involved. I treat the matter delicately and will not reveal much about the children. Many of you have asked and no we are not Foster Parents nor are we a kinship arrangement, we are in a category sort of of our own at the moment. We have been selected by the parents to care for the boys as long as needs be. Due to privacy laws for Foster and kinship care little can be revealed, it is a bit more lenient for us. However, Isaac and I have both decided for our family and the boys sake not to say too much, but we both feel the need to journal the little bit that we can and express our feelings and record the progress.

January 11, 2011 two darling little boys came to live with the us. The first week was a major adjustment. Being a Mom of three is a breeze but adding 2 more all at once is totally not what I planned for. Work is on hold for a while, blogging only when needed and like right now for instance I’m typing and bouncing a baby on my lap, showers are a small luxury and mealtimes are planned out the week before. This first week was certainly to say the least stressful. In the beginning there were a couple days that I just felt like crying, worried I wasn’t able to help these little people enough. It’s incredible how in our time of need someone from above blesses us with the comfort, love and patients that we require right when we need it. It has been such a challenging several days but also very rewarding. Since our first days together we have gone from major tantrums, to learning to talk it out. We have gone from poopy 4 year old pull-ups to yay he's potty trained. We have gone from not knowing that Jesus even existed to folding our arms each night with a sweet 4 year old saying “I want to talk to him.” We have gone from eating constantly because we aren’t sure where our next meal is coming from to a regular breakfast, lunch and dinner schedule. We have gone from hitting to hugging to include the occasional "I love you too" when they put their arms around us. We have gone from no bedtime to both babies asleep and in their very own bed by 7:30, each sleeping throughout the night. My children have learned to be kinder and more gentle, to be patient and more forgiving. They have learned how to change blow out diapers and read baby books to a toddler before bedtime. To fill bottles and sippy cups and how to kiss an owie better. My kids are experts on making the baby laugh and teaching him to stick his tongue out. They have also learned how much they love each other and even take breaks just the three of them to have time together. Fighting between our three kids has vanished as if it never existed, they are a united team all on a mission. A mission to help these little people. The other night we were all eating dinner together and our toddler let out a huge burp at the dinner table and our oldest Taylor says "yep, he's turning into a Niu." Our other daughter was feeding the baby a cookie and he stuck the entire thing in his mouth, Tally responded saying "Mom, I think he's part python..??" The girls are enthralled with the baby catering to his every need. Scott has been incredibly gentle and patient with both kids, he reminds me so much of my brother Scott, so loving and kind, he shares his room and all his toys, he reads to the oldest when he is on the potty. He is everything a big brother should be. I feel humbled and so blessed to have such loving kids. I've touched on how each of the kids are adjusting but I must tell you that my husband is above all by far the most amazing person I have ever known. He worked so hard to make a good living for our small family before the boys came, but since the addition has arrived he works even harder to make sure we have what we need. He is extremely loving and undeniably helpful. Oh how I appreciate my sweet husband and the wonderful man he is.

As I read through what I have written above, I am happy to see in print the huge amount of progress that has happened in our home in such a short amount of time. When Isaac and I heard that we were getting these boys we had less then a week to prepare. We both walked out of the CPS each looking like a deer in headlights not sure how we were going to do this. It was a shock and a very scary moment for both of us. After we found out I immediately called my brother in California who has a background in psychology, he has been so helpful with his suggestions and support. After chatting for a while he then put my sister in law on the phone. The advice she gave was inspirational. Liz explained that it may be unbelievably crazy and hard, it will take months for everybody to adjust, she then said "but I believe with all my heart that the pure love of Christ can heal anything."

So here we are back to Faith. I’m really hoping we have enough, our family has been tried and our lives have changed drastically. We cannot control or predict the future of the kids, we can only love them keep them safe and show them a loving family while they are with us. I feel like this is such a huge blessing for our family, how privileged we are to experience this beautiful precious time. These children have already touched our lives numerous times as well as many of our extended family members that have whole heartedly welcomed them into our home. I’m so thankful for all the family support, the love and the phone calls from several family members and friends just checking in to see how we’re doing and if we need any help. I’m thankful for wonderful neighbors that come over to check on us regularly. I’m hoping that so much good will come from this experience for the boys. Hoping that we continue to be patient and strong. Some days are fantastic and some days are down right stinky, but we are holding on together united as a family and relying heavily on our faith. Faith in our Heavenly Father, Faith in his great plan, faith in our actions, faith in our family and faith in the fact that the pure love of Christ can heal anything.

Our daily morning ritual, blueberry and pear breakfast