Hooray for Book Clubs!!

As many of you know I am in a Book Club that consists of women from my ward. We get together once a month to review and discuss books that we have selected to read. We have refreshments, we get away from kids and housework and everything else and get to just talk about good books and have good conversation. I really enjoy my book club. It's women whom I admire and respect. They love books like I do. They do not think that I am weird because I love to just sit and read and read and read. I usually do it at night, during the day of course is impossible. I love to just escape and let my imagination run wild. It is also so nice to have some really good book suggestions every month.
I also know that the books I am reading are good books, morally and everything else. I wanted to share some of our book suggestions with everyone just in case you were looking for a good book!!!

The Runaway Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

So, read away!!! Let me know what you think of these books. Book reviews are always welcome! If you have any good suggestions please let me know!!

All Warm and Fuzzy

So, these wonderful pictures are kind of a mix of what we have been doing Dec. until now. The first cute pictures are of Cecely with her grandpa. She loves her grandpa. She doesn't get to see him as much as her grandma, but she loves him just as much. Of course her grandpa is my dad. I often wondered as a teenager what my dad would be like when I had kids. I am sure we all do this at one point in our lives. We wonder if they will be as strict or more loving or let their grandkids get away with murder, because we certainly didn't get away with any thing when we were kids right? My dad and I were always at odds it seemed during my teenage years. I am sure a lot of teens will say the same thing. So sometimes I would daydream about having children of my own. I would wonder how my parents would love them. I wondered if they would love them like I loved them. Of course at that age it was nearly impossible for me to imagine the love a parent has for their child. Now that I am a parent I feel that love everyday. Sometimes your heart feels so full it may burst, but it doesn't it just expands a little more to let more love in. I believe Heavenly Father made us that way. There is no way humanly possible for one to explain the love between a parent and a child. Love... Love..umm

My dad has turned out to be a great grandpa. He does love my children. He loves to be around them, to play with them. He even let them ride with them on his quad. Now that is love for you. I have all girls, no boys but my dad doesn't mind the baby dolls are the princesses or anything like that. If you know my dad you know that that has to be hard. My dad is very much a man's man. But he trys so hard and is so good with my girls. Grandpas are the best!! I love grandmas too, they are wonderful but that is a post for another time.

I have had two wonderful grandpas in my life. One of course is my mom's dad who passed away almost two years ago. The other is my dad's dad. I really didn't have that much contact with my grandpa John. He lived in Louisiana and I moved from there when I was young. He was also divorced from my grandmother and had another wife. He was a good grandpa though and whenever we would visit he was always such a sweetheart. He came to visit when we adopted Aislynn. He held her and even fed her a bottle. It was hard to believe that such a big teddy bear of a man could be so gentle with her. I loved him and miss him very much. My other grandpa is my dad's dad. I am very close to him. He was always so kind to me. We lived with them for a year when we moved from Louisiana to Utah. We stayed in the basement. He would always have a good hug and stories to tell me. I loved to stay up and watch MASH with him. He was never cruel or mean and never raised his voice to me. After I graduated high school I decided to go to college. I went and then did what some dumb teens do and got mixed up with the wrong crowd and decided with the help of my parents to move to Utah with my grandparents. It was a hard decision, I was heartbroken and embarrassed and a whole slew of emotions were encompassing me. My grandparents welcomed me with open arms into their home. I stayed in the basement. It was quiet and nice. My grandpa drove me around town the next couple of days looking for a job for me. We would stop and get food, or drinks and then head out on the road again. He would never pry or ask questions about what happened to me and my college experience. Instead he told me stories of his life. Stories of his mission and the gospel.

He would come downstairs with popcorn and a movie and we would watch movies together. He always had candy stashed away somewhere and was more than willing to share it with me. He always had kind things to say to me. He was never over bearing or judgemental. He always made me feel loved. My life has changed in so many ways because of him. I decided to go on a mission. I loved his stories about his mission. I loved hearing about how they would have to find food and shelter each night. How they went out without purse or script. It was amazing. His spirit was and still is amazing. So here is to grandpas, we love you. You are incredible gifts that Heavenly Father has given us. Each of us are so blessed because of you. I hope that everyone has or had a kind and wonderful grandpa. They are the best!!

Thank Heavens for Good Friends!

So you are probably wondering who these people are, well besides the pics of me and my kiddos right? Well this is my great friend Heather and her kiddos. She does have a husband, but I didn't get any pictures of Ethan. Sorry!! We all go way back..... When I say way back I mean pre-kids. Now for me I know that is not that long ago. My oldest girls are only four, but for some reason when I say pre-kids it seems like a long time ago. Heather and I both worked for State Farm Insurance in Utah. I had moved to Utah with my hubby so he could finish his schooling at BYU. I had already been working for State Farm in Arizona, but transferred and starting working in Lance's office with Heather. We both hit it off from the beginning!! She of course tells me that she was a little afraid of me because I had been working for State Farm for a while and she had just started so she didn't know if I was going to be this task master of a woman or not. Of course everyone that knows me knows that that is so not me!!!

Her and Ethan hadn't been married for too long yet and Adam and I had been married for a little over four years. She was younger than me, and I loved her stories about her small town of Paulsbo in Washington. We would often talk about kids and of course I told her about the fact that Adam and I had been trying for a while but just couldn't seem to get pregnant. She listened to all my stories, and my fears and desires for a family. We could talk about anything, and it was so nice to have such an incredible person to talk to , and to cry with on occasion.

Well to make a long story short, Heather ended up getting pregnant. I remember the day she came into the office and told me. She said she had like seven pregnancy tests lined up because they couldn't believe that they were going to have a baby. They had been trying, for like a month!!! Yes, Heather was one of those people!!! Heather I love you, but I had to put that in there. She didn't have any problems getting pregnant!! She went and had a blood test done just to confirm and I remember her calling the lab to get the results. I remember when she got off of the phone and we just sort of stared at each other!! I was so happy for her. I didn't get angry or jealous or experience some of those things that you might think I would. I was genuinely happy for them, and I couldn't wait until I would one day be able to have that same emotion of finding out that I was going to be a mother.

Heather was really sick!!! Really sick. I remember our office used to order Cafe Rio on Fridays and just the smell of it would send her running to the bathroom. I would often turn around to tell her something and realize she was in middle of full on sprint for the bathroom!.. I felt so bad. I remember she would come back from lunch and tell me how many times she had to pull the car over before she made it back to the office. It was not a fun experience for her, but she was a trooper and she came to the office everyday sick or no sick.

Adam and I had decided to adopt through LDS family services. We had prayed about a family and knew that this was something that we needed and wanted to do . We felt very strongly that Heavenly Father wanted us to start a family and that this was our answer. Heather and Ethan were of course very excited for us. I would talk to her about our workshops that we went to and I would tell her about stories from birth mothers that would come to these workshops. When it came time to turn our paperwork in, Heather came over to our house, sick and all and helped us do our little collage of pictures for our profile. She is so awesome with crafts and being creative. I of course told her that I would have her favorite candy on hand!! So we finished our paperwork and had an awesome looking collage thanks to Heather.

We turned our paperwork in and a week later I found out that I was pregnant. Heather was one of the first people to know. It seemed only fair, after all I was one of the first to know about her little peanut. I called her right from the Dr. office and said "Heather, don't say anything and don't act surprised but I just found out that I am pregnant". I didn't want Lance(my boss) to know yet and so she acted very casually and said, "Wow, that is great". I told her I needed to get some snacks and I would be right back in the office. So one month later Heather was also there when I got a call from my husband telling us that our case worker with LDS family services wanted to speak with us and he was sure we had been chosen. It was true, we had been chosen. We all screamed in the office. We had clients but they chimed right in with us.

Heather was there when we got Aislynn. She came to the hospital when I was in labor with Bailey, and then afterwards when I had a c-section. I came and saw her when she had Eliza. It was a very blessed time for the both of us and our families.

Our kids got to spend a little time together before we moved to Florida and they moved to Seattle. Not enough time though. That was a very special time in our lives. I guess that is why I consider her one of my great friends. We went through a lot together. We grew a lot during that short period of time that we worked together. Now we email, and we were just able to see them. They came and stayed in Phoenix with Ethan's sister. We got together kids and all and were finally able to see each other again. It was like old times. It was so much fun. They have two adorable kids. Eliza, who is so smart and funny. Liam who is all boy and so much fun. My girls loved them.

Bailey and Aislynn now talk about wanting a little brother. They have enough sisters they tell me. I think they think I can just order one or something. I will put in an order, not now but soon for a brother. We will see what Heavenly Father wants us to have. All girls, a boy, whatever the outcome is I will always feel very blessed. Thank you Heather and Ethan for being great friends. Thank you for not letting the miles of separation separate our friendship!! Congratulations on number three!! Heather is of course sick sick sick. But like always she is a trooper and handling it. I am grateful for such great friends. They truly make life more enjoyable and way more blessed!!

Our Christmas Story

Well, as most of you can see my children hit the mother load this year when it came to presents. Adam and I of course bought them some, Santa brought them some, grandparents got them some. Grandma and Grandpa Bingham got them some very cool pink huffy bikes!! That was the first thing they noticed as they came downstairs. They were a big hit. Christmas was wonderful, incredible, magical, whimsical, and will be a Christmas that we never forget. This is our Christmas story.....

As many of you know we had a very special "Christmas Angel" who came to our door every night or sometimes day, for 12 days. My girls thought this was the best thing ever. They would go to bed every night waiting to see what our Christmas Angel would bring. They would often ask me if I could see "her". It has to be a her, my children quickly pointed out to me, because she is like a beautiful fairy with wings, and she can fly so fast we cannot see her when she drops off our presents at the door. My family was so blessed to have this wonderful angel come to our door, we received so many wonderful things and truly felt the spirit of Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we got back from a very long day of last minute shopping. The girls were tired, we were tired everyone was exhausted. It's probably our fault for doing last minute shopping on Christmas Eve, but we did it anyway. We had not been home all day so I thought that maybe our Christmas Angel had dropped off our last bag of goodies. I have to admit I was a little sad we would not be receiving anymore visits from our friend. I had grown so attached to her. She made me even as an adult await with anticipation and excitement to see what clever things they had left at our door.

When I opened the door I stood in absolute shock and amazement. At my door was a huge black trash bag filled to the brim with wrapped presents. Wrapped presents my dear readers!!! There was also a bag filled with other goodies left as well. The presents were all neatly wrapped, and named!! They were big presents and the girls eyes were wide and their little hands grabbed each one and shook them and smelled them and just devoured them. Of course we knew we had to wait until the next day to open them, but I will tell you I haven't been so excited since I was a child at Christmas. I didn't know what these packages held. As a parent you are so used to knowing what everything is under the tree. That is what we do. We stay up way to late wrapping and wrapping and organizing and knowing what every gift is. I did not know, I was at a loss for words. The little bag that came with the gifts had gift certificates inside. We had some for Fry's grocery and some for Borders. There was also a 40.00 bill in a card that was left for us.

Adam and I stared at each other in absolute awe. We could not believe that we were the recipients of such kindness, such goodness. Our children were apart of what the true meaning of Christmas is, and was so many years ago when Heavenly Father sent his son in the form of a new born baby to us to live and eventually die. Giving us the greatest gift that this world will ever know.. The gift of forever, the gift of repentance, the gift of the atonement.

Christmas morning came. Presents were unwrapped. Bailey had the stomach flu and spent most of her time on the potty. I had to run to the only 24 hour Walgreens to get some Children's Imodium. The girls got some incredible gifts. The gifts that were most special, had the most value to our girls where those precious gifts from our Christmas Angel. They received dolls, beautiful dolls with corn silk hair. They also received my little pony everything you could possibly imagine, and even a Dr. kit so they could operate on Max(our dog). We had my parents over. The girls got to ride their bikes. They had so much fun, and so did we. Snapping pictures and taking videos, you know all the stuff a parent normally does on Christmas. However this was not a normal Christmas. This is a Christmas that we will remember forever.

Christmas Angel I do not know who you are. I do not know how your Christmas turned out, or what things were under your tree. I do know one thing.. We love you. You have made our Christmas one of the most memorable. One of the most spiritual. We will miss you. We will miss the kindness that only Christmas brings. We will try to incorporate the unselfishness, the kindness and the love that you showed our family to others all year round. You have embodied what our Savior came on this earth to teach. You have made his life, his teachings a part of your life and we in turn will do our part to be examples and emulate his life in our own. Thank you our magical friend and until next year may everyday be like Christmas.


"The dreams of childhood-its airy fables, its graceful, beautiful, humane, impossible adornments of the world beyond, so good to be believed in once, so good to be remembered when outgrown".

Charles Dickens