Rookie Alaskan

Even though this isn't my rookie season here in the frigid arctic, I am still learning a few key things. Like last Saturday when I was helping to clean the church. As the group of us were walking out after finishing the rest of the building, we realized that we forgot to clean the windows on the doors at the back of the building. I told everyone to go ahead--and I would take care of this small task. The storm doors were easy--spray down all 4 doors, wipe down all 4 doors, then repeat on the other side. The inside panes of the outside doors were easy too--same as the first set. Then I got to the outside panes of the outside doors. I had enough sense to spray only one door at a time--but somewhere in my brain, I assumed that Windex has some antifreeze in it. So my plan was to wipe fast, applying Windex to one door at a time.

Seventeen degrees outside makes the Windex freeze. And quickly. I sprayed it on, and attempted to wipe. It was one big blue ice chunk. Maybe if I rubbed harder and faster, the friction would help? Not at all. Maybe if I applied more windex to the window in a small area? No good. Or maybe the trick was to put the windex on my cloth and then rub fast and furious? That just left remnants of the cloth in the blue mass on the window.

I knew I couldn't leave this mess for everyone to see when they came to church the next day. I wish I hadn't encouraged my fellow Alaskans to leave the premises so I could get their expert (and experienced!) opinion. I dug around the cleaning closet to find something to use as a scraper. The squeegie? Just slid right over the frozen blue mass. A cleaning brush? It would have taken forever. The dust pan? Didn't work. I finally went to my car to get the ice scraper, and that really does what it's supposed to when it comes to frozen liquid on glass. It would have been very enteratining if someone had put a hidden camera on my feeble efforts!

Next time, I think I'll leave the nose prints on the outside glass. At least until the spring.

Our Angel Birth Mother Found Us!

We are thrilled that we have been selected to become parents by a selfless birth mother. We have been able to talk to our birth mom a couple of times this week, and both Sam and I feel that she is very close to heaven in the decision she has made. She is a delightful girl, and we look forward to getting to know her better. As the birth mother of our child, she will be like another member of our extended family!

The birth mother invited us to be at the delivery of a baby boy that will join our family around February 1. Of course there is nothing that we would want more--to meet our little guy the very day he makes a grand entrance to this great world! We just hope that we have enough warning to get us down to Seattle in time for the delivery!

Sam received the first call from our caseworker, telling us that we had been selected. He then called me to share the good news. I reminded him that not very many husbands get to be the one to surprise their wife with the happy news that a baby will be joining the family! That was just another unique part of this journey called adoption.

In the miracle of it all, we are reminded that Heavenly Father creates families. His kindness has been evident. We feel truly grateful to know that God loves us! And he loves a young girl that is selfless enough and mature enough to make a difficult decision based on what is best for her baby. We love you too, Angel Birth Mother!

Halloween . . . Traditions

Since we have been examining every corner of our life over the last several months (as part of our adoption study) I have often thought about the traditions that cement our family. Even a family of two needs traditions! Of course many traditions are much more exciting once little ones grace the scene, but I am determined to not let any more time pass in our family without establishing some new traditions (and recognizing some that we already have!). They may change in the coming years as our family changes, but who knows . . . they also just might become tradition.

Of course holidays are the perfect time for traditions! And one of our most consistent traditions is our weekly date night as a couple. Friday nights usually find us together--we try to steer clear of other commitments as often as possible (although we are open to double dates with other couples). So Friday being Halloween and date night, it was the perfect time to enhance our family tradition.

We take turns planning date night, and this holiday landed on Sam's turn. He was very good about planning a fun evening--our very own Halloween Carnival. He even considered my current weight loss efforts, as you can see with the banana that replaced the donut on a string! And it helped that a last minute Star Trek costume came through so Sam could answer the door in costume for the kids that braved the 12 degree cold. We ended with Audrey Hepburn's classic "Wait Until Dark". It was a great start to establishing more traditions!

Sweet Sweet Alaskan Summer

We live in the Land of the Midnight Sun. That nickname comes from the fact that it doesn't get dark during the summer time. By the time the sun sets in the west, the dawn is already breaking in the east. A few things that make the summertime so wonderful are:

1--Twenty-two hours of daylight means that our garden did pretty well! (However the cloudy summer kept it from doing as well as it could have--we'll hope for more intense sun next summer.) We were able to harvest one zuchini (4 1/2" long), a handful of sweet peas (nothing beats fresh peas!), lots of cilantro, and 8 pounds of potatoes. The beets, tomatoes, and cabbage didn't fare well with our mild temperatures. We have already turned half of our garden into a strawberry patch, so next year we hope to enjoy plenty of sweet berries.

2--Sam got to go deep-sea fishing for the first time, and it made it more fun because he was with his Dad. We love to eat halibut and salmon! He also pulled up a stingray, but had to cut that loose. It was a great workout to pull up such a flat fish!

3--While Sam and his dad were fishing, Sam's mom and I took a ferry across Kachemak Bay to a place called Halibut Cove. We enjoyed hiking around the cove and seeing the lifestyle of people that live on the shore.

4--We went cabin camping. This means we hiked in to a cabin owned by the park service and stayed the night. The HUGE bear prints we saw on the way to the cabin let me know that maybe this is better as a winter sport than a summer sport. We're glad bears take long winter naps.

5--The Kenai River is world-renowned for its great salmon fishing. We visited the river, and were amazed at how crystal blue the water is that runs in it. And that's where Sam caught his 28-pound King Salmon. Ask him sometime about how the salmon tried to outsmart him . . . We're glad he was able to land the catch!

Termination Dust

Right now it is a beautiful crisp fall day outside with blue skies and the sun shining brightly. But the weather has not been so well behaved lately. In the last 24 hours, we have had snow, rain, wind (over 100 mph, to be exact--it closed down the airport and power failures closed down schools) and now it is blue skies with a slight breeze. The picture shows what we call "Termination Dust"--snow on the mountains that signal the end of the summer. It means it's time to pull out the winter gear, find the snow shovel and put snow tires on the car. Summer is the reason that people endure 9 months of winter--just to live in the Alaska summer. Goodbye sweet sweet Alaska Summer!

The Waiting Officially Begins!

This week marks 7 months since Sam and I began adoption paper work with LDS Family Services. We just learned this past week that finally we have been accepted as an adoptive couple. We had to submit my fingerprints to the FBI 3 times before they would accept the fine ridges on my right pinky. It has been a tremendous labor of love to get us this far. Here is what we have had to do:
1--Each of us answer (separately and independently) 40 questions about our background, our marriage, ourselves, and each other. We didn't know each other's responses until we were in an interview with the agency director. I think every couple should have the opportunity to do this questionnaire to strengthen their marriage!
2--Have a home study where someone came and made sure that our home would be suitable for children.
3--Engage in multiple interviews together as a couple and individually.
4--Prepare hard copy portfolios of pictures that depict our personality as a couple.
5--Get medical checks, background checks, employment checks, ecclesiastical referral, and friends' referral letters returned back to the agency.

We fully believe that God creates families, and adoption is the way that he will be blessing our family. We have been told that only the strong survive the adoption process. We are driven by our desire to become parents and the understanding that Heavenly Father wants to teach us about parenthood through the miracle called adoption. We look forward to telling our child about the unique way they came to join our family.

Family Fun

I love this slideshow! When we have the opportunity to be around nieces and nephews, Sam quickly becomes a favorite uncle. I know he will make an incredible Daddy because he jumps right in and plays with the kids.