It's a small world after all

We recently were in Utah for a family vacation. Every day was jammed packed with visiting family and friends. (more on the rest of the trip later) Tuesday was planned as a Jules day. Meaning I got to hang out with my best friend Jules and her family all day. It is pretty amazing that we ended up picking Tuesday and how everything played out that day as you will see at the end of this story. 

Jules and I planned on spending most of the day shopping at a couple of stores that we don't have here in Texas. However Jullian forgot that two of her kids had their Christmas program at school that day. So we made it to one store and then headed over to the school. On the way over, Jules got a call from her mother-in-law. She had got the time of the program wrong so she was there 30 minutes before it started. Which meant that she was the very first person in line to go into the auditorium. Great news for us since we were going to make it there barely on time. 

When we got there, we meet up with her mother-in-law and waited to go in. While standing in line I was looking around and I thought I saw someone who looked familiar. I wasn't sure it was who I was thinking of. After all I never actually met the lady I was looking at, I only saw her in pictures. Then I saw the little girl that was with her and I was pretty sure I was right. 

Before I could tell Jules anything we were moved into the auditorium to get our seats. I was able to spot the lady again after we took our seats but by the time I was sure it was who I was thinking it was, she was gone. Then the show started. I looked for her over the next 20 minutes but could not find her.

After both of Jules kids classes performed their numbers we decided to bail on the rest of the show. As we were awkwardly making our way out of the packed auditorium I spotted the lady again and see spotted me. Our eye's locked and at almost the same time we pointed to each other and mouthed, "are you?" Then we both nodded yes. I tried to stop to talk to her but it was impossible. Thankfully she followed us out.

Standing in the hallway of an elementary school, I meet Krista and Lila for the first time. Krista is Lila's adoptive mom. Lila is Katie's birth cousin and for a short time we thought she was to be our second daughter!

Here's the back story: Katie's birth mum's sister "D" became pregnant a few short months after Katie was born. Her original plan was to parent but towards the end she felt adoption was the right thing for her and her baby. D came to us and asked us if we would consider adopting her baby. For a month or two we talked with K, D and their mum trying to figure out if it would work out for everyone. We all really liked the idea however Ken and I hadn't had a confirmation that it was right for our family. Then one day we both received promptings that she was not to be our baby and D was not meant to be our birth mom. We felt very peaceful about our answer even though that meant saying no to a family that we already knew and loved. But we knew it was the right thing and we prayed that they would understand.

It turns out after asking us to consider adopting Lila, D started looking at other families. She found one that she felt strongly about but couldn't make the decision between the two of us. Here is part of a letter that K and D's mum sent us after we let D know our answer. 

"We had an impossible decision to make between two exceptional families and we just couldn't make that choice.  We didn't know what to do.  I feel the Lord stepped in and through your choice we were able to move on."

Lila ended up with the eternal family she was meant to have just like Katie ended up with us. Heavenly Father is always there to guide each and everyone of us if we will just ask Him and listen for the answer.

Meeting Krista and Lila the way we did was truly a miracle. So many things had to line up just right for that to happen. What a fun and tiny miracle that Heavenly Father blessed us with. 

Our two sweet girls have no idea at their young age why their mommies were so excited to have them meet each other but one day they will. (and hopefully they will appreciate the picture we forced them to take, lol)

They have the exact same hair color!

What I am thankful for - Day 22

Happy Thanksgiving! Today I am thankful for great friends, yummy food and good deals.

We spent most of the day at our friends house eating a ton of food. Between the three families there were 13 pies made, lol. Needless to say, there was a ton of left overs. ;)

I also shopped the black Friday deals. I was in and out of Target in 16 minutes! Awesome. I am thankful I was able to find the toy I wanted for Katie and be home before 11 pm.

Ken passed out after eating all the food. His sleeping pose cracked me up.

My candied yams...my favorite Thanksgiving dish.



What I am thankful for - Day 21

I am thankful for friends who are willing to teach me new things. Today my friend Alicia helped me make my first pies. 2 pumpkin and 2 pecan. I can't wait to eat them tomorrow. Thanks Alicia!



What I am thankful for - Day 20

Today I am thankful I have a cell phone that works again. Since Sunday, when I tried to call anyone I could hear them but they couldn't hear me. Thankfully the people at Apple just gave me a new phone without any fuss. It is nice to be able to call people again!

 

(This is my first thankful post that doesn't include a picture. I figured I didn't really need to included a picture of an iPhone.)

What I am thankful for - Day 19

Today and everyday I am thankful for my parents. They are both wonderful people. I am truly blessed to have amazing parents who are my best friends!

 

These pictures were taken in 2008.

 

 

yup, we are a very corny family

 

hehe, they are so much fun

 

I love this picture. I accidentally stepped on my Dad's foot right before the camera's timer went off, priceless!

 

What I am thankful for - Day 18

Today I am thankful for dance. I took jazz and tap lessons for several years. I also was a member of a college dance company for one semester. I absolutely love dancing and spent most weekends when I was single dancing the nights away. It is about the only thing I miss about being single. ;) Last Monday I started Zumba on my Wii and I am loving moving my hips again. Yea!

 

CSUSB-Dance Company



What I am thankful for - Day 17

Today I am thankful for date night. We have a babysitting co-op with four other families. We all take turns hosting the kids while the other couples have 3 hours to themselves. The night you host is crazy, there are 16 kids! But you get four free dates after that which makes the crazy night totally worth it! I love my hubby so much and am glad we still make time to date each other!

 



What I am thankful for - Day 16

Today I am thankful for Pinterest. I have found so many great ideas on there. In fact, a lot of my Christmas gifts are coming from there this year. Thank goodness they just added the secret boards! Here are some of my favorite finds so far.

spray painted beans different colors so Katie can sort them

  

Cheese cream stuffed strawberries with graham cracker crumbs

Strawberry balsamic chicken pizza

Apostle flash cards

pillow for Katie's big girl room

crayon art for the playroom 

my Thanksgiving wreath

alphabet wall in the playroom



What I am thankful for - Day 15

Today I am thankful for my wonderful husband. More specifically, I am thankful for what a great father he is.   He is a very hands on Daddy and he love Katie so much. Tonight he took Katie on a Daddy - Daughter Date. He let Katie pick where she wanted to go so they went to Cracker Barrel for dinner and McDonald's for dessert. They had so much fun together. (like they always do)

What I am thankful for - Day 14

Today I am grateful that Katie is old enough to play board games. I grew up playing board and card games and I loved it. Unfortunately, Ken is not a big fan but thankfully Katie is! We have been playing a lot of Candy Land lately. 

What I am thankful for - Day 13

Today I am thankful for my amazing nieces and nephews. Seriously, they are awesome! Every single one of them are so smart, funny, beautiful/handsome, talented and have the best personalities! We are very blessed in our family!

Here is a picture with me and Tyler. He is the oldest and therefore the one that made me an Aunt! (I was 14)

Now look at him all grown up. He will be 18 this year. Where has the time gone????

Travis is 15

Kelsie is 14

Daylyn is 13

Allison is 10

Chase is 4

Blake is 2

What I am thankful for - Day 12

Today I am thankful to have Katie's big girl room finished. (Well, almost finished.) I still have one more pillow to make for her bed. 

Katie moved into her big girl room many months ago but because it wasn't complete I didn't want to post pictures of it then. Last Saturday we added the white bookcase and it really completed the room. I also spent an hour and a half ironing out all the wrinkles in the curtains. What a difference it made! With everything in it's place (except the pink pillow) I decided it was time to take pictures. 

I absolutely love her room. It turned out great. My Mom really helped me figure out the accent pieces which brought everything together. One day we might paint the walls a light grey and put a white chair rail in but for now we are done.

I custom designed the vinyl lettering for this product. I love this saying and love how it turned out.

Katie and I made this piece of artwork together by melting crayons.

The Dallas Temple where Katie was sealed to us, our family and a picture of Katie with her Birth Mum

This was a light colored wood that I spray painted black, added  scrapbook paper to the background, painted the K hot pink, glued it on and added a ribbon to the back to hang it.

I love the glass bottles.

The colors that Katie was wearing in this picture matched perfectly for her room.

These cute flower hooks are in her closet.

How the curtains look closed.

Katie is going to store the animals she sleeps with in here.

Here is how I made the covering for her pillow. I was really excited how it turned out. It was my first time making a pillow.