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Day 10-Pikes Place

The highlight of our shopping in Seattle and some of the best food for the trip! I love going to the market place and looking at all the fresh fruit /veggie stands and beautiful flowers. Steve and I could so get used to that. We had Ivar's for lunch....some of the best fish and chips ever. Unfortunately there was not much action at the fish market and no fish tossing for us to see :(

This day being a Sunday, the missionaries did not come with us and fulfilled their church duties. However, we were all lucky lucky enough to have mom could a great family meal!

Day 9- Seattle Center

Today we ventured into Seattle to see some of the sites. Steve had to return our rental car so we did that and then took the monorail to the seattle center to meet up with everyone. The highlight of the afternoon were the science fiction and the behind the music museums. were both pretty interesting as we like sci fi and music. We ended the day with what Jodie calls the only worthy Mexican eateries in her area for dinner and then just chilled for the night.

Day 8

today we took it easy. we slept in!!! then the day began....we went to visit elder and sister warrs first camp on their mission (they are being transferred on monday) the park was nice and the work they had done was great. we walked around, chatted and then ended the visit with all of us playing on the zip line. back to snowhomish (where jodie and george live). we had terayaki beef for lunch...which is one of the specialties in the area. we headed back to their house where we did nothing and it was great! today was georges 43rd birthday. steve and i ended the day just shopping with mom and dad.

Day 7-driving

not too exciting...just beautiful scenery. we had a long twelve hour drive out of California thru Oregon and into Washington for the last part of vacation in Seattle and more family.

Day 6- Yosemite

we had a short drive through coarsegold to the entrance and then a nerve racking drive thru twists and turns down to yosemite park. nathan and i could have done without that part.the day was hot but we decided to take one of the shorter hikes up to the bridge of vernal falls. it was less than a mile (but all up hill). talk about something that makes you realize how out of shape you are. the reward was beautiful when we made it. the walk down was far easier to me. the best part was dangling our feet in the river at the bottom. the scenery was beautiful and the water crisp. i would have loved to take a swim. back to the car we went for another nauseated drive out of the park....a quick bite to eat at carls jr and a few hour drive to sacramento for a short nights sleep.

Day 5- reunion with mom

Steve and Sue

Today was a four hour day of drive up north to Fresno and Coarsegold, Ca for a visit with Steve's mom Sue and sister Karyn. Steve has not had much of a relationship with his family in quite a long time and Nathan hardly knew his grandma Sue. We were all a bit nervous about how the visit would go. The reunion was a succcess and very enjoyable. Sue treated the gang to a good Italian dinner. The evening was spent getting caught up on each others lives, while Nathan and his cousin Tyler entertained themselves with a few hours of guitar hero.We took some pictures for the album. Sue made us a well needed breakfast the next morning and sent us towards our next destination with lots of snacks for the road. We hope to remain in contact more regularly and visit again soon :)

Day 4

Today we went to Huntington Beach. the beaches are completely different than here in texas. they actually have waves! nathan honed in on his body surfing skills. we all had a great time in the water...however, nathan was bored when we decided to take a nap. he also let us know how uncool it was for him to have to hang with his parents....oh well...(its not from lack of trying for years to give him a sibling).

Day 3- visiting relatives

Steve with his grandma

today we got our rental car and were on our own. we figured we would give Steve's dad some time to recoup. we went to visit Steve's grandma. he has not seen her since moving to Texas seven years ago. it was a nice reunion and he was able to get some get info on family history. we also visited the grave sites of his other grandparents. we drove through riverside and Rubidoux...i must have been traumatized going to a ghetto school because i could no longer locate where it was. i wanted to show Nathan how good he has it here in Texas....oh well, maybe next trip. we ended the day at a great BBQ restaurant that Larry treated us to.

Day 2- Disneyland

A group of tired big people at the end of the day

It had been a long time since i had been to disneyland without a little kid. the experience is just not quite the same...but needless to say four big people can have a great time! steve's dad had not been to see good old mickey in over 20 years. unfortunately, none of the characters were floating about on the day we went and the infamous small world was closed and under construction. the weather was not too hot and the crowds were on the smaller end. we were able to hit all the big rides and a few of the kiddie ones too. we ate great and played until larry and nathan were about to drop!

Vacation- day one in california

July 11, 2008

This was day one of our jammed packed summer vacation. Today was HOLLYWOOD day. We went to most of the trendy places to go....Manns Chinese Theatre, walk of fame, Egyptian theatre, a long walk up and down Hollywood blvd, and the world famous PINKS Hot Dogs (my verdict is still out on whether or not our 1hr wait to order was worth it). We ended the day driving up sunset blvd through Beverly hills down to the beach and home again.

fear in the wee hours of the night

I don't know what it is about the mind and the late night thoughts that intrude on relaxation. Or if it is just my fear of rejection one more time? It must have been the last week in may when I decided to take one more chance with foster care and attempting to hopefully have a success in completing our family. I knew we could not go back to the state as steves job somehow is a conflict of interest. I turned to Lutheran Social Services and after grilling the workers on if this would be possible to go through their agency and everything that we had already gone through...I decided to go for it one last time.



Luck was on our side with all the paperwork as they accepted most of our transferred file. All needed courses on parenthood could be completed on line....I felt like I could finally breathe. But now is when my nerves, fear of rejection and mind take over. We had our home study, Steve hit it off well and was in and out of there. Nathan in his interview said he was "indifferent" to the whole thing (after all CPS showed no respect for his feelings). Then it was my turn....i was questioned quite a bit about what had happened with CPS. No big deal one would say as we lost our license r/t employment and a letter saying we were in good standing. But then me being the emotional girl that i am decides to have tears in her eyes as she recalls the time with the sweet baby girls. Yikes! what if i said too much. What if i am veiwed as too emotional. Afterall, the one rule with foster care i learned was to pretend you don't really care. The caseworker reassured me on the way out that she understood my feelings and said not too worry about it and gave a timeline to follow.



A week went by and i spoke with the worker and apologized for my tears once again...and again she said not too worry that she liked to see that i am compassionate. I am however anxious to get that final approval letter to put my fears to ease. Unless you have dealt with this kind of trial (infertility, waiting too long to adopt through LDS and then being told that we could not do fc any longer) on attempting to build your family...one may not be able to comprehend my fear of the rejection that we have encountered.



I hope that heavenly father sees our attempts at creating a bigger family. The efforts and emotions the three of us (and many good friends) have experienced and blesses us with a happy end to this journey.