Rey and Dianna

Super Holidays!

2012-01-05T20:01:00.000-08:00

Well, seems that the Holidays have come and gone so quickly that who knows what this year is going to bring for us. The season that we just went through was a one that was full of joy but also sorrow. Let's recap what has happened recently.

Nov 22 @ around 1 or 2 am Rey received a call from Mexico. It was his sister and she broke the news that Rey's dad had gone into a coma. It was kind of expected to get a call like that but not that soon. Rey had just come back on the 19th from a one week trip to Mexico to visit his dad and although in bed, unable to move and feed himself, he was sharp and could remember everything. The news of him going into a coma were not too unexpected but still hard. Rey and I did everything we could to leave ASAP to Mexico. Rey got home at 7 am from work and we departed at 11 to the airport. Sadly we did not make it to Mexico before his dad had passed. He died at 3:05 pm and we got there to his city at 2 am of the next day.

It was a long day. We went to bed an hr after arrival and then got up early enough to be ready for Funeral Services for his dad at 11 am. It was a very good service. All the messages were inspiring and reminded us of the truthfulness of the gospel and the hope that we would see our loved ones again. It was a great testimony builder for all.

Since we had planned to be in Mexico on the 7 of Dec, our vacations got extended a couple of weeks. We attended the Mexico city Temple for a session and it was awesome.

We spent a lot of time with Rey's mom helping her get all his business with her husband squared away. That was a big job. We painted an apartment that was getting ready for renters to come in. We went also went with Rey's brother and his family to Leon in search of shoes for the family. It was quite the trip considering we had to deal with a 3 year old that was not very interested in shoe shopping all day.

We also went to Brownsville, TX., to help Rey's mom buy and select merchandise for her business so that it would last till the new year. That was hard work! We also took a trip to visit Rey's grandma, who lives an hr away from Acapulco. It was the first time for me to meet her. Then since we were so close to the beach, we went to Acapulco and stayed with one of Rey's cousins there.

Anyway, there was lot's to do and it was good, considering that at the beginning of our trip we did not have too much fun. It was a good time to get better acquainted with the in-laws and also a good time to spend on Vacation. Total we spent 35 days away from home, and when we got here it felt so good. It is nice to come back to our own life again.

Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-18T12:04:00.000-08:00

We just wanted to share an awesome video that is a good reminder of the reason for this Christmas season. Click on the link below to view:

A Gift to the World

“This project is not endorsed, approved, or sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints"

Here we go again...

2011-11-09T01:58:00.000-08:00

Well as you may have noticed we haven't been very faithful in posting on the blog very often. Seems that our lives have become full of a lot of things to do. Since the last post many good things have happened but very many other challenging ones have come our way.

We have been able to enjoy time with each other and also with our friends. We have had lots of fun and have been doing some stuff we haven't done in the past like we went to carve some pumpkins for Halloween and that was so fun. Rey was able to put together a haunted house with the young men he teaches in he says it was very good. Like last year, there was lots of people and of course leaders with them. That and many other things have kept us busy.

Recently we learned that Rey's dad in Mexico was diagnosed with terminal Liver cancer. It was a big shock and has been difficult for Rey being away from his family but we are trying to do our best to be with them as soon as we can. Seems that Rey's dad will pass onto the other side soon, and although it sounds mean, it is better sooner than hanging unto life forever with pain and suffering.

This upcoming season is a good one to cheer us up from all that has been going on. It is a season to be thankful and to see the good we've received during the year. We have the hope that it will help in the times of difficulty and hopefully it will give comfort.

Sad reminder

2011-09-02T15:24:00.000-07:00

This time of year two years ago we had our failed placement. We had a sad reminder of this event as we heard the news in the last couple days that some friends of ours have had a failed placement as well. This family has been waiting so long to have children come to their home. They were so very excited. As we think about it, so many memories are brought back from our experience. It was a time of a lot of different emotions some that even conflict with one another. We needed space yet on the other hand we needed support and to feel love from those around us. Our hearts ache for our friends as we remember what a difficult time it was. We pray for them-if you want to pray for them as well, I'm sure that it would be helpful.

Recent Happenings

2011-07-14T20:42:00.000-07:00

One of our big projects for the summer was planning a family reunion. This was for Dianna's siblings and parents. We've been doing this for several years with each child taking a turn in order of age. We thought it would be fun to do themes for some of it. Our reunion lasted Mon afternoon until Wed morning. The first evening our theme was Mexico. We ate Mexican food(YUM), learned a little about Mexico, and broke a piñata. Dianna tried to break her ankle as well to get out of her responsabilities with the reunion. Rey was left with much of the leg-work the remainder of the reunion(He handled it wonderfully). The next day our theme was Hawaii. We made necklaces with seashells and learned a Hula dance. We have family in Hawaii that could not make it this year to our reunion so this day was partly in remembrance of them. Some of the other activities we enjoyed with our family included bowling, rollerskating, and a big screen outdoor movie-until the weather turned, then it was an indoor big screen movie.

What a good looking hula dancer!

On another note,Rey recently joined the city's volunteer fire dept. For our city's 4th of July celebration he started out early helping with breakfast, then rode in the ambulance for the parade. The parade was followed by other activities including the chance for children to catch fish with their bare hands and pie eating contests.

You have to look close but you'll see Rey is in the passenger side of this ambulance.

Rey nearly won-some would say he did.

Also this week we had the great opportunity to see the Angel Moroni placed on top of the Brigham City temple that is under construction. It was supposed to happen at noon but there was too much wind. Lots of people who came to see it left after about an hour or so. There were rumors that they'd cancelled it for the day but we decided to stick around until they announced it officially. In the end waiting paid off. They started the process at 2pm and by about 2:30pm it was done.

If you wish to learn more about our church and why we build temples, please visit mormon.org

We hoped this time would be better.

2011-05-31T12:36:00.000-07:00

As we have written before, this year we celebrated our 5th anniversary. We wanted to do something more than just go out to dinner but as we really wanted to go to Yellowstone we felt it would be better to go sometime other than in March when we had our anniversary. Last year we went in April and we were very disappointed with our experience because of the weather. We decided to go in May this year hoping that going a month later the weather would be better without fighting the crowds of summer.

We found a cabin to stay in that is or was a cabin used by members of the Forest Service. The government has all kinds of these cabins they rent out. The one we stayed at was only about 10 miles from West Yellowstone. It did not have electricity or running water. It was almost like camping only inside. We did have a wood stove for heat and a wood cook-stove. There were three bed platforms-a full sized and a set of bunkbeds-without mattress or anything other than a piece of plywood.

We spent three night away. The day we left, we started out later than we planned so we arrived mid to late afternoon. We decided not to go into the park that day but did some window-shopping in West Yellowstone before returning to the cabin for the night.

I would have to say our experience this time was much better than the last time. We were able to see a majority of the park(or at least what you can see without going into the back-country). The first day in the park it did rain most of the day but it did not stop us from stopping at the places that looked interesting. We went to Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower Falls. We saw a fair amount of wildlife as we drove including bison, elk, a moose, and a bear. We passed some bison traveling on the road, so close we almost could have touched them. The second day we went to see "The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone", the upper and lower falls, then to "Old Faithful". The weather started out about the same as the first but by about mid day the skies were partly cloudy and we were seeing sunshine here and there. It was great! Again we passed bison walking along the road. We were very amazed because we were in an area that still had snow piled on both sides of the road. It was that way for miles so we wondered how that worked for the bison. It seemed there were very few places to stop. We also saw a black bear really close. Unfortunately we were driving on a one way road and the bear was going the opposite direction so we didn't get a clear picture. We backed up as much as possible until there was another car coming up behind us and it was too late.

The last night the wind started to blow bad in the middle of the night. When I woke up the wind was crazy and it was snowing. We thought we'd better get out of there as soon as possible or we'd be in for a bad time. We'd wanted to do some shopping in West Yellowstone but we were out of the cabin about 9am so not much was open when we reached town. We just decided to head home. Since we had packed very simple meals for our three day trip, we closed our little getaway with a long visit to a buffet. Yummm!

This was the only picture we took with both of us. We had a great view of the Lower falls on the Yellowstone River.

The above three are all at Mammoth Hot Springs. They truly live up to their name-they are HUGE!

"The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone"

Wildlife we saw during our trip.

Who would have thought?

2011-05-31T11:19:00.000-07:00

Have you ever thought about racism in the US? Well, I thought, being Mexican, that there was going to be nothing like that at all since this country is a one of liberty and all that. Well, that is true but I was amazed to find that in the animal kingdom (poultry to be more specific) racism is a lesson they need to get a hold of still. Let me tell you what happened. We encountered in our flock of chickens that there was two hens with desire to be mothers. They would not get off the eggs for anything. We decided that either we could let them hatch their own eggs (which in fact was what I wanted to do), or buy chicks and have them adopt them. We did the latter one since it was more beneficial for all and we are pro-ADOPTION. The hens would be happy and we would rotate our flock of hens as we wanted to and get meat out of some of the other ones.

We placed our order for chicks and waited for them for three weeks. The poor hens had to sit a week longer than normal, which showed us how much they wanted to be mommies. The chicks decided to arrive at a time in which we were not home, so we asked a very good friend to do the introducing of babies to mommies. She did, and did it well. We are so thankful for her and her availability to go through all that for us. During the process of introductions one of the mommies decided she didn't want to do it at the last minute, and since we had bought 16 chicks well one mom was left with all of them. Who knows what happened but this hen left with all of the chicks, got too disturbed that she killed one of the babies and it was decided we were not going to let her have chicks anymore because of what she had done. (That was a hard one to go through for our friend). When we got back into town we picked the chicks at our friends house and brought them home. I really wasn't about to give up so I thought I would try it again, so I did. Late at night I went out with our 15 baby chicks and put them under the hen that was still sitting even after we had already put babies under her. Well, to my astonishment she did not care. She took them under her wings and went through all night with it. In the morning I went to check how they were doing and it looked good. Well by noon, we went out and the only three red chicks we had were all in a corner. We observed for a little bit and noticed that if they would get close by, she would peck them hard. In fact one of the times, she stood up and tried to get the INTRUDERS away. It was so sad :( Why the brown ones and not the yellow ones? I waited two days and tried again to introduce the brown ones back. She took them for the night but in the morning she was very mean to them again!!!

Lesson learned. Although chickens are color blind they still can see who is lighter than the other. An sure enough they don't like brownie ones. Or she doesn't at least. Too bad we didn't know that from the start or we would have done things different. Probably that's why that hen pecks me more than it does Dianna when we put our hand in. Darn hen!

Here is the happy mom with all her 12 yellow babies!

Here are our orphan brown chicks. Too bad the mommie doesn't know that her yellow chick will last only 7 weeks and then they will meet the bottles and a freezer! These ones will be happy mommies and egg layers for at least two years with us. Go Brownies go...

Mother's day

2011-05-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

For some of us this special holiday is a hard one. Sometimes we get reminded more often than not the things that hurt the most, but as always, there is something that helps us deal with those things. This time it was a great poem found on the ensign that was a reminder that our bumpy road has an end, and though it might be longer than the normal road most couples go through, it is as rewarding if not more. How grateful we are for the counsel and the strength we receive from the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Just the same
by Dianna Lynn Lacey

Sometimes-
God sens rain
Straight from the sky
To nourish the young flower
and it grows.

Sometimes-
God sends rain from the sky
To the mountaintops,
Then over hills and through valleys
Until it reaches the flower
and it grows, just the same.

Sometimes-
God sends a child
Straight from his real
Into a mother's arms
and love grows.

Sometimes-
God sends a child
From heaven to another's arms,
Then over hills and through valleys
Until he reaches the arms of his mother
and love grows, just the same.

5th Anniversary!!

2011-03-13T15:29:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow we celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary.

Our favorite pictures and memories of the day:

Funny story

2011-03-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

I was reminded the other day of a funny thing that happened when we were engaged.

We were at a friend's house trying to find tickets for Rey's family to come for our wedding. Our friends were helping us look for the tickets and also letting Rey use their phone to call his family. We'd found a good deal on some tickets and Rey had tried multiple time to contact his family to ask them if the specifics of the tickets would work okay. He was feeling and showing some frustration because he could not reach them and didn't want to make the decision without their approval but he also did not want to lose the chance to buy the tickets at a good price. After one of his unsuccessful attempt to call, he said, “You are knowing me when I am stressed.” However, because Rey's English was still a bit rough and his accent more pronounced at that time, what I heard was, “You are annoying me and I am stressed.” I sat there a little dumbfounded. There were a few tense seconds while my mind was working a mile a second trying to decide what to make of it. I really could not believe what I thought I heard. Either I or the friend ask him about what he'd said and he must have repeated it. I realized I'd heard wrong and the tension dissipated. When I told him what I'd heard, we just laughed and laughed.

Rings a bell? ANY ONE?

2011-02-24T22:52:00.000-08:00

Dianna and I were reading some friends blogs and came across this awesom article that made us laugh outloud! Maybe it actually rang some bells on me mostly! Have fun.

Dear Tech Support,
Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0. In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as
NASCAR 6.0,
NFL 5.1 and
Golf Clubs 4.1.
Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do?
Signed,
Desperate
DEAR DESPERATE,
First, keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.
Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update.
If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5.

Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.) In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0-program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0. In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance.

We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7

Good Luck Babe!
Tech Support

Musings

2011-02-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

I was reading an article recently that told story of Christ feeding the 5000 then the author emphasized that it after Christ gave thanks for the little bread and fish they'd acquired that the miracle of feeding so many with so little occurred. As I read this I thought about what a neat concept this author had pointed out. When we can see the blessings we've been given without focusing on what we lack or always thinking things like, "I'll be happy when..." we can see miracles. We have been trying to put this into practice lately (Who can't use a miracle?). It is very easy for us to focus on our childlessness and be negative about that. As we have tried to see the blessings we do have, I think I have truly seen a miracle. No, we haven't miraculously had a child come to us but had a miracle of another sort happened. We have been able to see the blessings that come to us despite being without children and to be happier with the way things are now. I have tried this before and it has always helped but hopefully we can be more consistent now. I mention this idea so that the comments that follow will not sound funny. By no means do we wish to remain childless, so hopefully it does not sound that way.

I have come to be grateful for our lack of children because it has given us the opportunity to help others with their children. We do not have children who live in our home but we frequently are able to watch children and enjoy having them around.

There was another occasion recently I was grateful that there is just the two of us. I had come home from church alone about two weeks ago. I was waiting for Rey to come home when I received a text message from my brother-in-law asking one of us to call them. I called and learned my grandmother had passed away. My sisters family was planning to drive to California for the funeral and they had two available seats in their vehicle. They invited us to go with them and we were able to go which probably saved us a couple hundred dollars.

This trip for my grandma's funeral helped us see another blessing in disguise. We had been disappointed with Rey's work schedule because he wasn't scheduled for as many hours as we would have liked. The week of the funeral he was only working on Friday. When we heard about the funeral, we knew we'd be gone for about a week and realized his schedule was actually a great blessing. He could get paid leave for that Friday because of the funeral. Then he was able to rearrange his schedule the following week so he did not miss any other shifts. During the pay period he was scheduled so few hours, we were very grateful he would not be missing any other shifts.

On to another subject:

It was so nice to be able to attend Grandma's funeral. I am so glad she is no longer suffering. She has had various medical issues over the last several years including losing her mental abilities. She had not been the grandma I grew up with for quite a while. When we went down for my grandpa's funeral about 6 mo. ago she never even recognized me or many others around her. For me it was definitely a good thing she was able to move on!

I have been thinking about my grandma and memories of her since her funeral. We have several things in common. She loved cooking, gardening, and music as I do. She had one trait I hope to develop. She always helped my feel special and loved. She would often tell me how great she thought I was. I did not feel I measured up to her praise but I always wanted to be better because of what she said. This was a wonderful gift she had, others even mentioned this about her at the funeral. I hope someday to be like her in this way.

Vacation

2011-01-01T14:52:00.000-08:00

Well, I know it is past Christmas and New Years but we want to go back in time to Thanksgiving. We spent our Thanksgiving in Arizona this year. We drove there leaving just before the big blizzard that was forecasted here in Utah. To do this we actually had to move our plans up a bit and Rey had to get someone to work a shift he was scheduled but it was definitely worth changing our plans. Besides it gave us an extra day with Dianna's brother's family.

If I wrote about this trip in detail it would take forever so we'll just stick with the highlights. We had our actual Thanksgiving dinner with some friends of my brother and their family. We ate lots and were very grateful for the hospitality of this family.

The day after Thanksgiving we went to Mesa to the Temple to see the Temple grounds lit. It was beautiful and after the lighting they had a concert. It was rather interesting when we were getting ready to go because even though the temperatures in AZ are quite warm for winter time for us from Utah, it is really cold for those who are accustomed to AZ temps. Our nieces and nephew were bundled up like children would be for winter in Utah with layered clothing and heavy coats. I have to admit I was cold but I definitely did not dress up like I would if I were going out in the weather here in Utah, I actually only used a sweatshirt and a jacket. The temperatures were probably in the lower 50s or upper 40s, compared to temperatures in the teens at night when we left Utah.

Another great part of our visit was a trip to see Zoo lights at the Phoenix zoo. We had talked about going to the zoo in the day time but an opportunity came up to go to the Zoo lights and it was a cheaper activity. We even saw a few animals including a zebra, flamingos, and otters. They had an pool full of rays that you could touch if you paid. Rey decided he wanted to touch them. He said when they came up to you it seemed like they were sucking on your fingers and it felt really weird.

The lights in the zoo were arranged in various forms. There were many lights put together to form animals including lions, dragons(I know it is not technically an animal), elephants, gorillas, sharks, etc. Some of the animals were even animated. They also had a place where the lights were synchronized to Christmas music. I thought that was really cool.

Most of the rest of the time in Arizona we just hung out with our family. We helped them do some decorating for Christmas. We stayed up late some nights just chatting. We did put my sister-in-law through quite an ordeal one day when she took us to Build-a-Bear-Workshop to make a “bear” for Rey's niece as we spent over an hour trying to decide how to build the bunny we picked out. We still feel bad about that. Sorry! But we made lots of great memories and had fun getting to know our family better.

It was very sad when we left because my nephew cried because we were leaving-or at least because Rey was leaving. He just clung to Rey crying. We were leaving just after he came home from Kindergarten so we were walking back to their house from the bus stop. His younger sister was trying to console him. She told him something like this, “It's okay. They'll come back soon.” Then she added, “But it won't be for a long, long, long, long,....time.” She also told me when we got back to the house, “I'll miss you but I am not sad.” However we learned later her tough front melted away shortly after we drove away.

If this had been the end of our vacation, it would have been a wonderful trip but we still had much more to go. From AZ we drove to Las Vegas. We spent the night with some friends who recently moved there, then in the morning they drove us to the airport. We flew from Las Vegas to Guadalajara, Mexico. From there we spent several more hour on a bus to get to Rey's hometown where we would spend the next two weeks.

We arrived late but the first thing we did was to go eat tacos. The first time I went to Mexico I learned that what we, from the US, consider Mexican food is not, in most cases, very authentic, with tacos being one of these foods. Rey had been craving real Mexican food for a long time so even though it was late his family wanted to begin to satisfy his cravings.

Our first whole day there we had a Thanksgiving celebration with Rey's family. Unlike the US, Mexico does not have a specific day set apart to celebrate Thanksgiving. His Family has the tradition of giving thanks on Dec 1st. This was the day we arrived so they postponed it one day for us. They have another tradition for Thanksgiving which I participated in the first time I went to Mexico. All of the family would kneel down together and each member of the family would offer a prayer of thanksgiving aloud. This year they had modified it because it is too hard for his parents to kneel that long. (It's hard for everyone because most floors are tile.) This year we each wrote a list of blessings we received during the year then shared with the family what we wanted from that list, each in turn. I think this or the prayers are great ways to keep our Thanksgiving celebration in focus!

The next morning we woke up at 3 am to drive to the beach. Before we left, Rey's mom mentioned she had a bit of an upset stomach, but still wanted to to go. She thought it would be okay. Well unfortunately it was not too long before she was having us make frequent stops for her to use the restroom. Then she started to vomit. Someone gave her a pill for her upset stomach but soon it came back up. She tried Pepto-bismol but it too came back up. She could not hold anything down. With all our stops our trip that was supposed to last 5 hrs took 7 or 8. In the end she ended up at the hospital after unsuccessfully trying to find a doctor to help her. She was in pretty bad shape by the time we found a hospital. She was very dehydrated and was not very alert. Because of her desperate circumstances we took her to the first hospital we could find. I was very shocked! It was very primitive compared to a hospital here in the US. I went with Rey into the ER. It was just a big room with beds lined up and she stayed there the whole visit. They had Rey go buy the medication, IV line, and drip system for his mom's IV at a pharmacy nearby. In the end he was very frustrated with his experience at this hospital because he knows first hand what hospitals are like from his job. Thankfully not all hospitals are this way. They do have very up-to-date hospitals as here. We just did not have time to find them. This was a government run hospital in one of the poorest states in Mexico. The one highlight of the hospital visit was the price. It cost about $100 in total compared to about $700 minimum here.

Our mini vacation to the beach was very nice, once Rey's mom was out of the hospital. (Thankfully she only had to stay part of the day she was admitted.) We stayed at a very beautiful hotel right on the beach. His parents took Rey and I to this same hotel the first time we visited Mexico also. The second day we spent a lot of the day on an island that is about 1/2-1 mi. off the beach. We swam, I let Rey bury me in sand, etc. On the other side of the island there is an area that is good for snorkeling. We went from the hotel's beach to this part of the island in kayaks on our first visit. The gear I had for snorkeling then did not fit me well and I was fighting water in my mask. It was pretty painful for my eyes and I didn't enjoy it very much. This time, however, my mask fit and sealed well so I was able to see some beautiful fish. We spent two nights and part of three days there, enjoying the beach. We loved to take walks down the beach where the water would wash up. We just had a great time together and with Rey's family.

Another day trip we took was to a city where they manufacture and are known for their leather goods. It seems mostly their industry is shoes but they also sell purses, wallets, etc. We had been looking forward to going to Mexico partly so we could replace some of our shoes that were getting worn. The shoes are relatively inexpensive compared to the US for the quality you get. If you like shoes, you'd be in heaven there!

The last day we were there we had a birthday party for Rey's niece. She turned two shortly after we left. When we were around the house we spent time helping his mom make a dress for his niece's party-among other things. She wanted to be Snow White. When we arrived we understood that her party would be after we left so we gave her the gift, which was the bunny we built, on one of the first days. But plans changed and they moved the party up so we could be there. For the party, we ate, the children played games, and they broke a piñata. It was a great end to this part of our trip.

Going home was probably the part of our trip I feared most. Before going I worried a lot just about being in Mexico with all the crime and violence from the drug cartels. One comfort was that we were not close to the boarder where most of the problem is occurring. We left Rey's family late at night on a bus to Guadalajara. We arrived in Guadalajara around 3 am. From the bus station we had to take a taxi to the airport. I kept thinking how much better I would feel once we were in the airport. When we were on the plane I asked Rey what we would have done if the taxi driver had had ill intentions and had taken us somewhere other than the airport. Rey told me he had thought of the same thing and had watched the signs very closely. But despite our concerns all went well and we arrived back in the US safe and sound.

I have learned to appreciate some things more on our trips to Mexico. One of the main things is to feel safe. I did not have fear to go to Mexico the other times but the problems have gotten bad with the drug cartels since the last time. My comfort is I am with my family who are Mexicans, who will watch out for me. Another thing I appreciate more is that we have free restrooms. I tell you it is very inconvenient when you need to use the restroom but you do not have change to pay for one. Another thing, is how nice it is that we have means to accompany our singing in church in all our meetings. The first time we went to church there was no one to accompany the music in Sacrament Meeting.With Rey's encouragement I played for all but the opening song. Then the last thing is how nice it is to be able to understand 99.999% of what is said around me. The first Sunday we were back and went to church I commented to Rey how nice it was to understand the conversations around me.

Fun Project!

2010-11-16T17:23:00.000-08:00

We were asked to help with the publicity for our ward's Christmas party. Rey looked for some fun ways to get people interested in this activity. He found an idea online that we thought would be a great attention-getter. He found a picture of a Christmas tree ball that had a part cut away with a little Christmas scene inside. We thought if we did something like that then it would attract more people plus give us something fun to do together.

We started out by covering an exercise ball with paper mache, by the way, thanks Shawna for your contribution =). Anyway, we spent a Family Home Evening covering the ball while trying to watch a movie also.

After about 2 days the paper mache was dry enough to begin the transformation into a Christmas tree ball. Our super friend Pam, fixed us up with plentiful supplies to use. We originally wanted to make the ball green, a metallic looking like ones you'd put on your tree, but could not because we did not have the amount of paint we needed. We started to do it green but the paint we had just was not giving us the results we wanted. After thinking about it and trying unsuccessfully to find someone with some spare paint we could use, we decided to do some shopping to see what we could find without spending too much.

All the other parts of the project worked as planned. So paint was the only thing keeping us from finishing. Finally we found some paint, not the color we planned, but even better. The final product ended up costing about $3.50. Not bad for such a fun activity!

These pictures are when we were putting finishing touches to it.

Week off!

2010-10-23T19:39:00.000-07:00

Last week we had the chance to do some fun things because we were not baby-sitting like we normally do.

One day we went up to Park City. I(Dianna) had never been there before, only passed it during another trip. Some friends had told us about the Olympic Park so we went there first. We thought it was really neat especially the museum.

Later we went to Main Street and just walked along it, stopping in stores that looked interesting. We had lunch at a cool little Deli there on Main Street.

Another day that same week we went to visit a friend, Laura, in Utah County. I was in the same ward as her for most of my teenage years. Funny thing is we didn't became friends at that time.

We drove down in the late afternoon, then spent the evening with their family. They treated us to dinner and we had a great visit with them after the children were in bed. They were very kind to let us stay the night. In the morning, we hung out there then headed home in the afternoon. They are such a neat family and we enjoyed our visit with them!

That weekend we also took care of our nieces. Originally we were going to have them overnight and into the next day but one of the girls had a fever so her parents came back to get her. Her parents had to set aside their plans. Rey told them if they wanted the others could still stay then the one who was sick could come back the next day, if she was better. That way their parents could do what they planned the night before. In the morning, the sick one was better so she came back but one of the other girls wanted to go home. We kept the rest another night. I don't know if their parent ever were able to do as they planned.

The second afternoon with the girls, we took them to the American West Heritage Park. It was really cool! They had wagon rides, train rides, crafts, a corn maze, and more. We spent several hours there doing the various activities. I think the girls enjoyed it a lot.

Family pictures

2010-09-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

We recently had some family photos taken. Hope you like them. We'd like to thank Julie for here great job! If you want her info just write us a comment and we'll get you it. She is, for sure, quality for less.

Featured

2010-09-05T23:41:00.000-07:00

Like mentioned in previous months, we wanted to remember others and try to help others to make our wait for our baby a little easier. It seems that when you remeber others in the same situations you are on, makes it a little easier to bare those things, so here we go with the next couple.

Curtis and Crhistine are an awesome couple that joined us in the process of adoption and the Couples in Waiting group around a year ago. They have been married for 4 years and in fact just celebrated an anniversary not too long ago. They are both graduates from USU and Curt is persuing a Masters from USU also.

What we know about them: Curt is awesome. He is like a grown up with a very lively child inside of him. He's always smiling and will always be there to help you out if you need it. Crhistine is a little more conservative than Crut but still a happy, very pleasant lady. They both love each other to death and both of them would make great parents. If you would like to know more about them please clik on the picture above.

Five ways to help with our adoption

2010-08-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

Here are some ideas of ways others can help us with our adoption. Many adoptions could not happen with out the aid of relatives, friends, and others. It is impossible to know what it will be that actually helps makes our adoption happen. It might be someone visiting a friend's blog and seeing our button or a reference card put into the right hands. We do know we can use whatever help we can get.

Here are five ways to help us. All are free and most only take a few minutes of your time.

Pray for us.

Fast for us.

Put our button on your blog.

Give away our reference cards.
(If you wants some just let us know by leaving us a comment or such.)

Write a post on your blog about us and our adoption hopes.(Please do not include personal info such as our last name or anything that would indicate our place of residence.)

Unplanned trip to Manteca, CA

2010-08-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

About a week ago we took a spontaneous trip to California. Unfortunately this wasn't a pleasure trip. We went to attend the funeral of Dianna's grandfather. His death was somewhat unexpected for us. We knew he'd been having some health issues in the past month or two. He'd had been in the hospital a few times but we did not understand the seriousness of the situation. Thought it was a bit of a shock to hear the news, it was good to know he was in a better place and not suffering any longer. Grandpa lived a long productive life, dying at the age of 90.

We heard the news on Friday morning, then later learned the funeral would be Wednesday morning. We left Monday afternoon. Our trip was about a 12 hr drive. We left about 4 pm and stopped to rest just past Donner's Summit at about 12-1am for a few hours. (Rest isn't actually a very accurate word, it wasn't very “rest”ful trying to sleep in the car.) We arrived at our destination at about 5am.

Grandpa's funeral was divided between two days. The first day was a service at the church where they had been living for the last five years. Then on Thursday we drove a couple hours north to Santa Rosa to the burial site.

Dianna's grandparents had lived in Santa Rosa for several decades. Grandma's health has been deteriorating for many years. Grandpa took care of her for a while there, then it became too much for him to take care of her AND their approx. 2 acre property. They moved in with their daughter and her husband at that time.

Grandpa was a very interesting guy. He was very friendly and outgoing(he'd make a friend almost everywhere he went), though from what I understand he wasn't always that way. As we heard at the funeral, he was so shy in high school with the girls that he used to go to Grandma(before they were dating or married) for protection. It seems it was Grandma that helped him overcome his shyness as she brought out the “ham” in him in many of the plays she was in charge of.

Grandpa was a carpenter and began building houses as a teenager. He worked for a company that built many of the houses in San Francisco in the Sunset District, including his own. His work was beautiful and Grandpa could tell you how many nails he'd put into a certain project.

When Grandpa retired, they lived on the property I mentioned earlier, in Santa Rosa. It was a beautiful place. Grandpa and Grandma worked hard on their vegetable and flower gardens. This was the place Dianna's family went to visit them. It was the only place she knew as their home until recently, so it was full of many wonderful memories.

Another very memorable thing about Grandpa was that he'd break out into a song with almost no warning. He loved music and he'd participated in many musical theatrical productions.

It was a wonderful opportunity to spend time with family we do not see very often. Rey met some of Dianna's cousins for the first time. Some of the cousins Dianna hadn't even seen for about 10 yrs. All four of Dianna's cousins, from that side of the family were there. Unfortunately only three of the five children from Dianna's family were there.

We were very blessed while there to stay the nights at Church member's houses. The first night we stayed at an older couples home who were out of town for a few day's but graciously allowed us to use their home. The second and third night we stayed with another family. We were treated and fed so well here! These families were so awesome!!

Friday we started home after visiting one last time with the family. We were smarter this time and arranged to stay with Dianna's uncle at Lake Tahoe. We got up early the next morning to finish the trip arriving home about 5 pm. After so many hours in the car, it felt so good to be home!

This trip wasn't for fun but we did enjoy it very much. We had some very memorable times!

Great Summer pictures!

2010-07-27T14:35:00.000-07:00

Great summer!

2010-07-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

So far it has been an awesome time. We have been able to spend more time together and we have been having so much fun. Recently we got some new chicks for this year plus 10 meat chickens that unfortunately to them, they are in bottles or in the freezer. We have been enjoying our life togehter with friends and family and to be honest, that makes our adoption process a little easier. We are still in the waitng process and hope that some day in the near future, our family may increase in numbers. Hopefully we are prepared by then! Thanks to all of you that make this process easier for us, thanks for your friendship and for your encouragemtent.

New and improved button, please help!

2010-06-27T21:08:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone. We are asking again for you help in the process of adoption. We found some issues with our previous button and fixed them. Please, help us out by re-posting the code into your blog or if you haven't done it, just add and HTML gadget into your blog and paste the code under our new button. Thank you so much for your help.

Summer busy-ness

2010-06-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

It seems we haven't written a post for a while. We've kept pretty busy since Rey has finished school.

Speaking of finishing school, Rey took his final board exam this week and passed it. He is now officially an RRT or a Registered Respiratory Therapist. How wonderful to know all that school related stuff is done, for now, at least.

After Rey's graduation we had some time to adjust to his new schedule-more Rey than anyone. It was quite the change to go from having a full schedule nearly every day of the week to only working. As an Respiratory Therapist he only work about three 12 hr shifts a week. At first, having 3 or more days free was a big change. But we are accustomed to it now and it is so great!

Since the beginning of May we've been baby-sitting nearly every day. From the time we started til the time school got out we only watched one 10 mo old girl. Now that schools out we watch the baby's 8 yr old sister about 3-4 times a week also. This really keeps moving and is really good practice for when we have children of our own.

This week we had a family reunion with my(Dianna's)family. This reunion incorporates my parents, brothers, and sister. We started this yearly tradition in 2008. Each year one of the siblings is in charge, going in birth order. This was our third time with my sister just older than me, in charge. Rey and I are in charge next time. This year we went camping, starting Tue. night and coming home Thu. morning. With five children it works out well to schedule it so we have five meals and each family is responsible for one meal. During our reunion we enjoyed swimming, decorating t-shirts, and just hanging out. It was a great time!

Unfortunately Rey was not able to stay for much of the reunion. Actually in the three years we've done it he's never been able to stay the whole time. The first two years he had to work the one of the days. This year he needed to go with the Young Men from church on a camping trip. The Young Men's trip overlapped our whole reunion but Rey was able to arrange it so he could come to the family thing on Tue. then left on Wed. morning. They went camping in So. Utah with the chance to go to the Manti pageant one of the nights.

Featured

2010-06-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

Sometimes waiting for our adoption to happen becomes discouraging and when it does it often helps to remember others in the same boat. I thought it would be nice to try to help others in the process of adoption by featuring those we are acquainted with from time to time.

One of the first couples we met who were also hoping to adopt was our friends Mic and Nicole. They have been waiting for a placement about the same amount of time as we have. The difference is they have been married more than twice as long as us. During this time they've been through a lot trying to have a family including unsuccessful fertility treatments.

Here's just a little about them we've learned from our own interactions. Nicole is a lively, outgoing person. She seems to be one who gets things done. Mic is more reserved but can surprise you with his humor. I believe the children the go to their home will be very lucky! To learn fore about them you can visit their blog by clicking here or click on the picture above.

Yellowstone trip

2010-05-20T14:50:00.000-07:00

After Rey's graduation, we decided it would be really fun to take some vacations. It was a really busy degree and not very often did Rey and I go on a long tip due to full time school and his full time job. It was really crazy so we decided that we would give ourselves a pat in the back and spend our money to go on vacations. We decided to go to Yellowstone national park. By the way, we want to thank Janelle and Jesse for letting us use their World Mark membership and letting us stay at one of the resorts. It was a great trip over there. Rey's parents went with us and we had a good time. We'd never been there so it was kind of an adventure. We were hoping that the weather would cooperate and would let us see all the attractions at the park that lots of people talk about. Upon arrival though, we were told that the north roads had been closed due to snow and that only Old Faithful road would be open. We decided that would be good enough. Since we arrived late in the evening, we just went to bed and decided the fun should start in the morning. Sure enough, we woke up to a beautiful snowy day. Rey and I went to exercise at the Gym and Rey swam also at the pool. After that , we had a delicious breakfast and then headed down to old Faithful. The road was a little wet but it was great. We say lots of elk and buffalo and as close as we'd never seen them before. We stopped at different areas to sight see and it was gorgeous. We decided to stop at a place were they have boiling mud and some little geysers. It was great until we got right in the middle of the trail that it started to pound with snow and wind. It seemed that no matter what direction we walked the snow was blowing in our faces. IT WAS AWFULLY COLD and we felt bad for Rey's parents. It was freezing and the wind was blowing hard. Anyway, we made it back to the car and continued our trip to Old Faithful. When we got there, the geyser had just barely gone off so we had to wait around and hr. We shopped a little and watched a move at the waiting building there. We then went out there to wait for it to go off. Rey's mom got tired and too cold of waiting that she decided to go back into the waiting room and sadly as soon as she got in the geyser went off. It was not the greatest scene we've seen. The sky was foggy and when it went off you could only see more white. AWESOME HA! Well, Rey and I were a little disappointed. I guess we expected more. When we were ready to take off, the snow was packed, roads white out and we were told to go in caravan 'cause the roads were real bad, so we did. We felt bad for Rey's parents but we asked them and they said it was wonderful. They'd never seen such things like that or animal that close or even snow in those amounts. It was so worth it in that aspect. We got to spend time with them and have a little fun. When we got home, we decided to eat something at West Yellowstone. We found a shaggy little Chinese restaurant and decided it was good enough. Well, it was well worth it. The food was really good.
After eating we decided to rest a little and have some fun at the Hotel. Then we went to watch a movie about Yellowstone at the IMAX there. It was awesome. The next day we came home but stopped in Idaho to have Dianna show us her growing up places. We went to her childhood home, to her school and to the park were her and her brothers and sisters use to go play. Then we headed home. It was a great trip after all. All in all we had fun and enjoyed being with Rey's parents, and even though we were disappointed, Rey's parents weren't and they can't go back there whenever they want, but we can and we will!

Button: Please help

2010-05-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

When we began our adoption process we were taught the importance of being proactive. We have tried to be proactive and from time to time have thought of a different way to promote our adoption. One recent thing we have done is to put a button on our blog that others can, also, put on their blog to direct people to our blog. We would really appreciate anyone who is willing to help in this way. Perhaps someone who visits your blog will know someone who is thinking of adoption and your blog will be a way to help get our information into the right hands. Thank you!!

If you'd like to put our button on your blog one way you can do so, if you are using "Blogger", is to copy what is in the scroll box below our button, go to "layout", click on "add a gadget", select "Html/java script" and paste into "content" box, push "save", and you are done.

Graduation!!!!

2010-05-01T17:15:00.000-07:00

Last week Rey graduated with his Bachelor's degree. It is so nice to know that school is done for now and we can have more time for other things!

We went to the general commencement ceremonies in the morning where Pres. Thomas S. Monson was the speaker. Actually all the First Presidency was there. Then in the afternoon after lunch Rey's college had their individual graduation. I thought it was pretty long-there were 1000 graduates who walked from the College of Health Professions. Rey's discipline was the last with only about 20-30 graduates. Over all, though, we had a great day!!

Can you tell were Rey is, in the picture above?

Rey's parents(in picture below) came from Mexico to attend his graduation.

What's in the future?

2010-04-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

I would guess all of us wonder what's up ahead but I'm especially curious now.

I, Dianna, was just released from my church calling. I was a Beehive Adviser(I worked with young women age 12-13yr old). Looking back, I really wonder if I did all I could. I'm not a very out going person so I'm sad to say I wasn't as close to the girls as I'd like. But I did enjoy this calling. I loved each of the girls and I'm sad to go! Toward the end, I was trying to reach out more because I was learning how important it is to show love to those we serve.(Seems it should have been obvious from the start.) I was always surrounded by such good example of this in the other leaders. I learned so much from them and loved working with them, also. I'm just wondering what calling will come now?

There is also another possible change for us in the near future-a huge one at that. We have been contemplating moving, for several months. Since we were married we have talked about how we can manage things with our families. We recognized the fact that we would probably never be close to both families at the same time. So we came up with a plan of equal time. We'd spend some time living close to my family and then approx. the same amount of time living close to Rey's. This move is part of that idea but has other reasons too. With graduation coming Rey has been debating if he wants to continue his education. He been thinking about going to school to become a physician's assistant (PA). We are thinking of moving to Texas where there is a school with a PA program and where we would be closer to Rey's family. We have held back on this because we recently had a lead on adoption. We thought possibly something would come of that but, at this point, it doesn't seem anything will pan out. Now, I think, we are ready to list our house and see what come of that. So once again, I wonder, what the future holds?

Getting closer!

2010-04-04T17:26:00.000-07:00

Well, as it had been mentioned before, Rey is getting ready to graduate and it will be this month. I cannot believe it is getting here and we are so exited about it. It has been a rough road to go though school and work and childless! We hope and pray always that the time comes closer for us to become parents. At least we can say now that after Rey graduates, we will be able to better care for the child. Not that we couldn't before but now is better or it will be. Anyway, for graduation Rey's parents will be here and hopefully his sister too. It will be a good experience and a good time although Rey's dad is sick so we'll have to change our diet a little to fit his so he doesn't get sicker. Hopefully we'll be OK!

Fourth anniversary

2010-03-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

This last week was our fourth anniversary. Unfortunately, Rey worked the night before and that night. Because he need to sleep there wasn't much time to do anything. The only consolation was that it was Spring break so we had the whole week to celebrate/spend time together.

One day we went to a Mexican restaurant to eat. Another day we were going to go to a Chinese buffet(Rey's favorite food) when we ran into a neighbor and her friend, who also were going to the Chinese buffet. She ended up treating us to dinner. What great friends we have! Then we rented some movies before coming home. The rest of our week, we spent working on projects, visited with friends, and such. The week went so fast, but it was great to have that time together after such a busy month!

Sometimes during the busy times I forget how much fun we have together. I'm so grateful for a wonderful husband and best friend!!!

Momentous Day!!!!!

2010-03-09T14:30:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe but today is the last day of Rey's Clinical Rotations for school. Finally!! Next week is Spring break and that also means it's our anniversary. Now we only have about 6 wks left before graduation!!!!!!

new booties picture

2010-02-19T07:09:00.000-08:00

To see others booties click here.

Light at the end of the tunnel

2010-01-30T16:43:00.000-08:00

We haven't posted about anything recent for a while. It doesn't seem there is very much worth writing about right now. We are just trying to get through Rey's last semester of his Respiratory Therapy program. He has classes Mon. and Fri. plus Clinical Rotations many Tue. and Thu. Besides school he is working nearly full time hours. The days are long for both of us but our weeks fly by with one nearly blurring into another.

This week and the following Tue. he has a break from Clinicals then for that Thu. he has eight consecutive rotations. But after that we are home free-no more Clinical Rotations after Spring Break!!!!!! It's a dim light down a long tunnel but it is there.

four years ago: The question

2010-01-14T19:19:00.000-08:00

One day in January Rey came unexpectedly to my house. In somewhat of an urgent manner he asked if I could go with him because he wanted talk to me. I quickly finished what I was doing and got my coat. Once in Rey's car, we just started driving with no place in particular to go. For a time we drove and Rey talked. At some point, I believe, Rey pulled to the side of the road and continued expressing feelings to me. Then he said something about not intending to do it this way, but felt it was best just to do it now. He pulled out a black velvet box and handed it to me. I don't even remember if he actually asked "Will you marry me?". I opened the box and looked at the ring for a few minutes then closed the box. I wasn't ready just to tell him "yes". We drove back to my house and I asked him to give me some time. I felt bad to leave him in suspense but I had so much turmoil inside of myself.

I had known that this question of marriage would soon be coming. I had been trying to prepare myself. I had been engaged one other time and that engagement had, obviously, been broken off. I had a fear of the same thing happening again so it truly terrified me to think Rey was going to ask me to marry him. I really wanted to be sure this time.

On the same day, later in the afternoon, we had an Institute class we would be attending together. In the time between the time Rey proposed and this class I spent my time talking to my mom, praying, and thinking. By the time I needed to leave for class, I knew what I was going to do. I went to class and afterward Rey came back to my house. It was then that I accepted his proposal. He told me-maybe not at that time but on some other occasion-that he knew what my answer was when I came into the classroom.

four years ago: Christmas time

2009-12-31T19:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas time that year was very memorable. Rey and I spent a lot of time together-a portion of every day to be exact. He helped me finish up some homemade gifts I was working on. We performed at our ward Christmas party together. We went Christmas shopping. We had a date where we built a gingerbread house together. Rey even spent Christmas Eve with my family during which we had a re-enactment of the first Christmas.

I cannot recall what was so funny. Rey was probably teasing me because I didn't want a picture taken.

Our finished product!

We had a real baby for our first Christmas re-enactment-even if it was a girl. Isn't she precious!!

I think Rey makes a very handsome Wise man!

I had the privilege of sharing the good news of the Christ-child's birth.

Rey and I each spent time working on gifts for each other. I made a sketch of Rey for my gift. Rey's gift to me is pictured below:

There is a rose made of foil suspended in the center of this metal frame and a quote on the base. Translation of quote: Those that give money give much, those that give time give more, but those who give of themselves give all. (I believe this was a quote from Pres. Monson at the 2005 Christmas Devotional of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints. I cannot find it, however.)

four years ago: getting to know you

2009-12-31T19:57:00.000-08:00

Around Thanksgiving and after, I was starting to wonder what Rey's intentions were or if he really had any. One Sunday after Thanksgiving, I was at church waiting for my family in the hall. I happened to see something that day that really made me wonder. Rey stop to talk to another young lady in the ward. I think he mentioned her recent birthday and said something to her about wanting to do something with her for her birthday. I guess, at this point, I had about decided that the relationship with Rey was just like many others I'd had before where my interest was greater than his.

I was rather surprised that evening when I received a phone call from Rey. Actually the call didn't surprise me as much as what it was about. He invited me to go with him to Temple Square on a date the coming Saturday. I believe he said something about wanting to get to know me better. It startled me because I thought he'd asked this other girl about doing something that same day. I decided if he'd tried to make a date with her, she must have declined for some reason, so I must have been his next option. Even so, I appreciated his invitation and accepted it.

As I recall Saturday turned out to be snowy. Neither of us had ever been to Salt Lake City without someone else who knew where they were going. I had a fair idea how to get where we wanted to go but once in the city it was easy for me to get turned around and lose sense of direction. We spent quite a bit of time looking our destinations that night but eventually found them.

At Temple Square, we walked around to see the lights and perhaps even we watched one of the films that is shown in the Visitor's Center. One thing I was reminded of recently was that while there we ran into some of our ward member who also happened to be down there, which, I believe that gave them something to speculate about.

The pictures below are from that night.

The next Sunday or the following Sunday we had an activity for the single adult members of our ward. Rey came to pick me up and we had to drive a few miles to where the activity was going to be held. On the way there Rey initiated a "relationship talk". I believe he said something to about me how he had been enjoying the time we'd been spending together and that he wanted to continue to get to know me better. Basically the jest of the conversation was that he asked me if my feelings were similar and we decided we would date each other exclusively. This conversation really caught me of guard. Rey was moving thing faster than I anticipated and was really keeping me on my toes. It didn't bother me, but I just didn't expect it. That Sunday was, also, memorable for one other reason. It was the first time we held hands.

new booties

2009-12-10T09:51:00.001-08:00

This the most recent pair I have finished.

To see others booties click here.

four years ago: Thanksgiving 2005

2009-12-07T09:32:00.000-08:00

Our Thanksgiving dinner in 2005 was held at my sister's house. Rey came along, by invitation of my mother. Mostly it was just a typical Thanksgiving dinner for my family.

My sister had a baby that was only a couple months old, at that time. I had the chance to hold her for a time then I offered her to Rey. He held her all through dinner.

These are some pictures from that day.

If you can't tell, at times I don't like pictures being taken of me.

Later that day, after Rey had gone back to spend time with the family he was living with, my dad and I pick him up for a game of Frisbee golf. We had a great time playing together and it brought a nice end to the day!

four years ago: just talk and enchiladas

2009-12-04T16:22:00.000-08:00

Contrary to our original plans for the next date, we did not play chess. (In fact, if I remember correctly we didn't play chess again until after we were married.) Instead we went to an activity of a single adult ward in our area. At that activity we played games with other singles. Afterward, when we reached my house, once again, I invited Rey in and he, once again, accepted. Maybe our plan was to play that chess game but we never did that. We stayed up til past 11PM just talking. We talked about Rey's love of classical music and I played him some that I knew on the piano. We talked about each of our struggles with a broken engagement. Rey told me about what it was like to be so far from home and who knows what else. We just talked and it was so neat!

After that date I don't think we had any formal dates for several weeks. We did, however, have various occasions to spend time with each other. My mother was in charge of music in our ward and asked Rey to put together a musical number. Guess who was to help? We also made trips to Ogden to the temple each week. Besides these there was church and Institute, too.

One Sunday close to Thanksgiving Rey came my house. He probably was there to figure out the musical number, then stayed to "hang out" afterward. While he was there, I was talking to my mom about the week's plans. We were discussing my brother's birthday and what we were planning to have for dinner when we celebrated his birthday. At some point it was mentioned that we would be having chicken enchiladas. That brought quite a reaction of excitement from Rey. We invited him to come but he wasn't available at that time.

The day I was preparing the enchiladas we unexpectedly needed to go to the area where Rey was working. When Rey reacted as he did about the enchiladas I had thought I'd make some extra and save them for him. But that day when we needed to go almost to the same place he would be, I had a better idea.

Rey frequently would go in the morning to school or work, spending the whole day there until evening. During that time he would usually go without eating because he didn't take the time to fix a lunch nor would he spend money on lunch. Knowing this, when we needed to go that day and because it was fairly close to lunch time, I thought it would be good to take him some enchiladas. I called him just to find out if he'd eaten then told him I was coming and had something for him. I think when I arrived he was quite surprised to know I'd brought him lunch and chicken enchiladas, no less.

four years ago: Oct 12, our first date

2009-11-12T21:01:00.001-08:00

After our conversation in the parking lot that day after Institute my suspicion of Rey was growing. I wasn't completely surprised when I received a phone call from him one day. I seem to recall he began our conversation by telling me he had two questions. He first asked when was the ward choir(which he'd recently began attending practices for) singing a particular song in sacrament meeting. His second question was to ask if I'd go with him to a ward activity that Saturday. I said I would.

Recently we were talking to someone about our first few dates and Rey was saying we didn't go on a date by ourselves until Dec. He said he dated my family(or my mom) until then. But technically, we did go to and from this activity just the two of us-all 2 or 3 minutes of the trip to the church. My parents were there also, so that's why I think he feels that way.

Anyway, Our ward activity was a Mystery Dinner. We sat at a table with my parents and some neighbors who were really good friends of mine. We were given clues with each course of the meal and everyone at the table was supposed to solve the mystery by working together. It was a really fun activity, I thought.

When Rey asked me on this date, I was dying to ask him two questions: How old was he and how old did he think I was? I had thought he was 20 but it didn't make sense because I'd heard him say he'd been on a mission. I finally got my chance when we got in the car. I was glad to know he was actually 22 and not 20. I can't remember his response to the question of how old he thought I was but I know it wasn't accurate(most people think I'm younger than I really am). My curiosity was finally satisfied. He was still younger than me but not as bad as I originally thought. I decided I wouldn't turn down another date with him for that reason, if he asked.

When we came to my house I invited him in to play a game of chess. I beat him the first game, then challenged him to the best 2 out of 3. I wasn't ready for the evening to end so I didn't play my best the next game and Rey won. However, it was the last of the evening because I was called by my family. When we went to the other room where they were Rey saw it was later than he thought and decided he needed to go. He said that we could play the other game the next week. (My plan didn't work to keep our date going but it got me another date with him!)

Four years ago: Rey's pick up line

2009-11-09T13:48:00.000-08:00

In the last post I mentioned I had decided to take an Institute class that fall, four years ago. It so happened that I was not the only one. Rey was also in this same class. This class was actually held where he worked and went to school. So not only did we see one another at church but at this class.

Despite the fact I didn't want to have any interest in Rey, I began to make some observations about him. I also had the feeling, after a month or so, that he was making his own observations and perhaps even trying to get my attention. I wasn't exactly sure how I felt about that however.

I remember going to a CES fireside, probably in Oct. I noticed Rey come in and sit by himself. That night I sensed he was lonely and needed friends. I didn't know what to do about it, however. If you know me and my personality you'll understand why. I'm not the most outgoing or social person, and I am very easily intimidated.

I cannot recall whether the following incident happened before or after the night of the fireside.

One day after our Institute class, I was headed to my car when Rey stopped me. I don't remember much of the conversation other than the way he started it. In our town that week or the week before there had been a sad situation where a house fire had killed an elderly lady. Rey started our first conversation by asking me about this incident. I believe he asked me what the lady's name was. He also ask some things about me, I believe he asked if I was going to school and whether I'd served a mission.

To think about it now is quite funny. We both laugh about it, not about the death of the lady, but the pick-up line Rey used to start our first conversation. It is the most unique one I've heard of.

Four years ago: Love at first sight? No, not even close!!

2009-11-07T10:07:00.000-08:00

I have been doing some thinking about our courtship lately because this is the time of year we started dating. I thought it might be fun to tell a little about that time in our lives, over the next little while.

Four years ago I(Dianna) was living with my parents helping to care for my mother who is disabled. I was 24 at the time and wondered if I'd ever get married. I attended the family ward here where we live. I was a leader for activities for girls age 8-11 and I also played piano for the ward choir. I decided, that fall, I wanted to attend an Institute class and the one that fit my schedule best was one at the University extension campus in a nearby town. In August one of the girls in the group I helped with activities for had a guy(Rey)come to live with them from the place her brother was serving a mission, in Mexico.

I saw Rey the first Sunday he was there. Another guy had come home from his mission that week. The two were talking before the Young Adult Sunday school class we had in our ward and I over heard their conversation, as I was sitting there waiting for the lesson to start. The one exchange I recall was that Rey asked the other guy how old he was and the reply was 20. Rey said something about being the same age. At that point I determined I couldn't have any interest in him. After all, I thought, he was 20 and I was 24. That was just too weird!

Thanksgiving challenge

2009-11-07T09:48:00.000-08:00

I(Dianna) am a Young Women's adviser in my ward. I've been working on the Personal Progress program because it is different than when I was a Young Woman. One of the goals is about noticing the things others do for you then acknowledging those things in a meaningful way.I had been thinking about how exactly to acknowledge them. I thought of making a treat and/or writing a thank you note but I really wanted to do something a little different. I came up with a rather quirky idea. I made up a flier that informs the recipient they have been identified by the "Good Deed Detectives" for their acts of kindness. Then we write a note of thanks on the back to the person for what they did specifically. Then we leave it "anonymously" for them to find. I say "anonymously" because we try to leave it without being seen but we sign our names on the note. It's probably strange but it's been pretty fun!

Also on the flier we extend a challenge to the recipients for this Thanksgiving season to identify one person a day until Thanksgiving, who has performed acts of service/kindness to them and acknowledge them is some meaningful way. I would also challenge anyone who reads this to do the same. I think it is a great way to remember the purpose of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and to put us in the attitude of gratitude!!

Adoption!

2009-11-07T09:33:00.000-08:00

Monday we added two members to our family.

Some neighbors gave us these two parakeets. It seems Rey was very excited to have indoor pets. I really don't like indoor cats or dogs but I'm okay with the birds.

The parakeets are a pair-male and female. The green and yellow one is the male named Lucky. The blue and yellow is the female named Sky.

They are not tame and move to the back of the cage when we get close. We are hoping to work with them so we can handle them.

Crafts for Adoption cash

2009-10-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

We are still working toward saving money to cover our adoption fees. When we went to the FSA conference we attended a class about paying for your adoption. One idea I came away with was to use a talent to help raise money. I thought of two things I've made I'd like to try to sell. There are pictures and explanations below.

One of the things I thought of was baby booties. I have patterns for various style for both boys and girls or can use another pattern if preferred. For now I only have one completed pair to show but I will add some other styles as I get them made. The ones pictured are crocheted and I am asking $10.(Sorry some pics are not the best-can't seem to get the right lighting). These booties are for babies age 0-3 mo.(approx.)

My other idea was cutting letters or numbers of wood with my scroll saw. These can be used for decorations for a child's room, home decor, house numbers, etc. For example, you could get letters of a child's name then apply scrap-booking paper or paint for a very cute decoration. I will price these according to the project.

If you are interested you can email me at craftsforadoptioncash@live.com.

"Egg"-ceptional day

2009-10-15T14:18:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't resist the play on words. After 4+ months of waiting, paying for feed that gave no return, we finally got the first egg from our chickens, yesterday, then one again today!!

Telemundo

2009-10-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago the supervisor of our agency called and asked if we'd been contacted by someone about being interviewed for a story about adoption on a Spanish channel. That was the first we'd heard anything about that but not long afterward we were contacted to see when we could do an interview. We eventually arranged an interview that took place this last Tuesday morning.

We really didn't know what to expect. It was pretty intimidating to think about! We've never been involved with such a thing. We wondered if there would be a whole film crew with all that goes with that. We didn't even know what the interview was to be for-a show, a commercial, a news story, etc. In reality it wasn't really that intimidating at all. The lady that interviewed us was the only one who came and she was very nice!

As it turns out, the interview is for a news program on Telemundo. November is National Adoption Month and we were told this interview will be used during that month sometime, along with an interview with another couple that has been place already and a birth mother.

General Conference

2009-10-11T16:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had the chance to enjoy General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of the great things about the weekend was that we had the opportunity to watch conference together-Rey didn't work Sat. or Sun.!! It was so nice to have that time together because with Rey's school and work we don't have many occasions like that.

We are so excited for the new Utah temple announced Saturday morning by Pres. Monson. It is so amazing to see how many temples have been constructed in the past 10 yrs or so since Pres. Hinckley said he hoped there would be 100 operating temples by the year 2000.

Below is a link to all the proceedings of the conference:
179th semi-annual General Conference

Back in Business

2009-10-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

In the last couple weeks we've had some inconvenient things happen that help us remember how blessed we are.

First, our kitchen drain became plugged. Even though we made several attempts to unplug it it remained plugged for several weeks, partly because Rey didn't much have time to work on it nor did we have the resources to fix it. This meant, during that time, I had to wash dishes by hand because our dishwasher also connected to the pipe from the kitchen sink. It's not bad to wash by hand but I couldn't use the sink to wash them.

Sunday brought another problem. After a power surge our computer would not turn on. Without a computer we were also without a phone because our service is Voice over Internet Provider(VoIP).

Such times are when we really appreciate our neighbors and friends who are willing to help us! We had one neighbor help us clean our clog out and another get our computer running again. We are so grateful for their help. These experiences also helps us appreciate the conveniences we sometimes take for granted, like a sink that drains, a telephone, and internet in our home!!

A good laugh!

2009-09-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

This is something I wish I had gotten on video! You'll just have to use your imagination.

We were in our backyard with my sister and some of her girls. We were watching our chickens and talking about them. We told them of the fascination our chickens have with our rings, I guess, because they are shiny. This would lead the chickens to peck at our rings when given the opportunity. For example, when hanging their water bottle for them.

To demonstrate this fascination Rey removed his ring and held it into a hole in the fence. A chicken promptly moved toward the ring but rather than pecking at it, took the ring from Rey's fingers and began running away with it's prize. Rey quickly entered the chicken's run and chased the chicken with his ring. Eventually the chicken dropped it and Rey picked it up from the ground.

This gave us a good laugh!

The moral of this story is not to offer a chicken something you can't afford it to take!!!!

Moving Froward and Keeping Busy

2009-09-04T20:09:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a week since our news about the adoption. Time just keeps moving on. We are trying very hard to move forward and put our trust in Heavenly Father's plan for us. We've been keeping busy so that helps us keep going.

Last week Rey started school. He is also continuing to work. He has something related to school almost every week day so that leaves only the weekends to work. Hopefully he survives his schedule!!

With Rey at school or work nearly every day that leave me at home a lot! Thankfully, I've had lots to do this last week.

Mostly it's been our garden that has kept me busy this week. It has produced well this year. Monday I picked two large bowls full of tomatoes. I made tomato soup and spaghetti from them and still had a whole bowl left. I decided it was time to start canning tomatoes. From that one bowl I canned 6 pints. Then today I made salsa. It's not Mexican salsa, but I like it. Rey will eat it if he has to but he's not used to canned salsa. I got 8 pints out of that and still have another large bowl of tomatoes I picked today.........Then there is the corn. So far from our garden we have gotten about 15 1/2 doz ears. This is one of Rey's favorite vegetables so we planted a lot! When we've had corn to pick we've eaten it for dinner nearly every day. Even so I have been able to freeze 11 qt bags. Besides the corn and tomatoes, we have or had lots of zucchini(This week I believe, as a friend said, it is the answer to the world's hunger problem), cucumbers, peppers, and spaghetti squash.

Speaking of which, does anybody have another winter squash to trade us? We have, at least, 10-12 spaghetti squash. I really love to trade for some buttercup but others are okay. We'd just like some variety. We tried to grow others but bugs must have gotten them. The plants just died.

These pictures are from one day's pickings from the garden. Notice the size of those tomatoes!!!!

Is this the way it works?

2009-08-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a very tough weekend for the two of us. Probably by the time people read this, you might know that our adoption fell through. I t was a very hard blow for us and more disappointed and heart broken than anything else. Don't get us wrong, we love our birth mother. She was an amazing woman that in some ways, she changed the perspective we had of birth mothers, to a perspective of admiring them for all the hardships they go through. Our hearts go to her and the precious baby she brought to this world! We love you!!

So far the pain hasn't gone away and we are still dealing with it to certain degree. We know Heavenly Father loves us and that He knows us and knows our needs. We are trying very hard to trust in Him and deep in our hearts we know that our baby will come to us at the right time. We feel the love of those around us, especially family community and friends. We cannot thank you more for the prayers you have offered for us and for the birth-mother. It touches our hearts to know that there is people that love us and care very deeply about us. Thank you so much!

So far our adoption plans are still in our minds. We are doing our best to be prepared and to do our part so when the right baby comes our way, we'll be ready. We know adoption is a hard road, but what a great way Heavenly Father has brought to us so we can feel of His love and hand upon our lives!!!

What a week!!!!

2009-08-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

Our adventure actually started a little over a week ago when we were at the FSA Conference.We were eating lunch outside the conference center. Various people passed us some we knew and some we didn't. One group came up to us and a lady introduced herself to us as "Charity" our adoptive caseworker. We had never actually met our caseworker in the nearly 18 mo we've been at LDS Family Services due to various circumstances. After the introduction she told us she would like to talk to us at some point after they came back from lunch. After they walked away Rey wondered out loud what she wanted to talk about and if it had something to do with a baby. I thought it better not to get our hopes up and we decide to assume it was just more paperwork or something we need to do so we were ready if we were selected. We misses Charity before the next class but we were planning on attending a class she and her husband were teaching the next hour. Before this class she pulled us aside. What we heard her say astonished us. She told us there was a birth mother considering us as parents for her baby. The birth mother was at that time in the hospital with labor pains but wasn't due for 5 more weeks. Charity said the birth mother wanted to meet us and another couple to help her make a choice. Then we talked about when we might schedule the face-to-face with the birth mother but didn't come to any conclusion. Later in the day we heard the birth mother had been sent home from the hospital so she probably wouldn't be having the baby that day.

We were able to schedule the face to face Monday. And it was not as easy as we thought it would be. Monday morning we didn't know at what time we were going to meet with her. Her caseworker called us to ask what time would be best for us and told us she would call us back. Well, a little while later she did call us back but she told us that the birth mom had chosen the other couple! We were very sad! We did not know how to take it and it was just hard! An hour later our caseworker called us and said the birth mom wanted to meet us still and asked if it was possible to meet her at one. It was 11 am and there were things we had to do before the meeting. We rushed everything and went our way. I think it has been one of those days when you really don't know what to do, say, think, talk about or anything because the only thing you feel is butterflies everywhere!!! Anyways, we met with her and only had 30 min to talk. Those meetings usually last 1 hr to 1 1/2 hrs, but since she had to go to the Dr., we had to do it fast. I came to be a great time, the nervousness was gone immediately and we chatted about different things so she could get to know us a little more. The caseworker there suggested we meet again so we could have more time to talk. We decided to go for dinner on Thursday. The day came and we were all set to go. After trying to decide where to go, we ended at Chili's. It turned out to be great. The food was good, the conversation was very comfortable and friendly and after we were done, we felt positive and at peace about the evening.

The weekend was kind of just hoping we would hear something. We knew and trusted Heavenly Father would make the best for the baby and were ready for whatever came. On Monday of these week, we received a text from our case worker asking us to call her, so we did. She asked if we could come into the office to get some papers and read them, just in case the birth mom happen to choose us. We were kind of not understanding very well since all our paper work was done, but we agreed to meet,

When we got there, a case worker received us and took us to her office. She asked if our case worker had talked to us and we said no. She then gave us a large manila envelope and said: "Oh, and this is for you". She handed us a cute blue little card with our names on it. We opened it and said: CONGRATULATIONS! I've chosen you to be the parent's of my baby".

We are so amazed at our birth mother. She is a wonderful courageous woman. We really admire her for her strength and her trust in us and her Heavenly Father. We love and care so much for her. She has a great spirit and a great mother. Her mother has been by her daughter's side at all times. We admire her too.

The baby is due September 1st, but she can go into labor any time. It will be a boy and we cannot tell you how happy we are. We love our birth mommy!!

Finally finished!

2009-08-07T19:26:00.000-07:00

For the Christmas before last we were given a puzzle by my sister and brother-in-law. Rey and I had sometime before put a 3D puzzle together and Rey had enthusiastically shared with my sister the news. We also told her that we'd seen some other really cool puzzles on the internet, including a Grandfather clock. Well guess what kind of puzzle we got?A Grandfather clock.

Sometime the January following that Christmas we began to put the puzzle together. The puzzle contained 1200 pieces and it took us several sessions to finish most of the outline. Over the past year we've worked on it here and there but it seemed progress was painfully slow. This last month or so we've put a little more focus on it and today we finally finished putting it together. Now we've glues it and are waiting for it to dry. It came with the mechanism of the clock. Once it is dry we can put it together and have it to remember all the hours spent working on it.

Here is the finished product from two different angles.

FSA (Families Supporting Adoption)conference

2009-08-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we had the opportunity to go to the National Families Supporting Adoption Conference in Layton. Friday there was a set of five classes with lunch in between the second and third class. Then after all the classes there was a banquet and awards given to those who have done outstanding things pertaining to adoption. Saturday began with the keynote speaker then a panel of birth parents. We were then served lunch after which there were three more sets of classes. Then they ended the conference with a raffle.

We really enjoyed the classes we went to which ranged from classes about openness in your adoption to how to finance your adoption. We heard stories from many birth parents which helped us understand and admire them more for the sacrifices all birth parents make in placing their children for adoptio! One class we attended was about what birth parents wished there adoptive couple knew. We went to another class in which they talked about openness in adoption and ways to make it successful. There was a class about the other adoption options besides LDS family services. All these classes were very informative and educational. We feel that when the right time comes for a child to come to our family we will be bless by the information from this conference and it will help our adoption be more successful for us and for the birth parent(s).

We love KSL classifieds!

2009-08-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

We have recently learned to greatly appreciate the listing of free items on KSL.com. For about a month or two we have been checking frequently the new listings. We have been hoping to find stuff for improvements of our yard and home. Many times there are listings of good stuff from places like to SLC or Provo areas. One day about two weeks ago we saw a listing for 1000 sq. ft. of sod close to where we live. We were very excited because this was something we really thought would be helpful. We were able to make arrangements and rent a sod cutter, as the homeowner requested. The sod itself was free but with the rental of the cutter it was around $50. Even so, I think it was a really great deal!

New additions

2009-07-28T09:37:00.000-07:00

Rey and I decided one day to visit a neighbor. We thought it would be a good opportunity to walk our dog also. The quickest way to go to our neighbor's is to go down the highway behind our house. As we walked out on the highway we noticed a cat lying in the road and realized it was our cat. It had been hit and killed. We were very sad! This cat had been born a year before to one of the ferrel cats that hung around our property. We'd been able to tame the kitten and it had become a very sweet friend.

With the death of this cat we only had one other cat. During the winter we had three but the mother of the one that died recently disappeared. We assume she died somewhere.

In the past there has been problems with mice in our house, so that is one main reason we keep cats. The problem doesn't seem so bad when we have cats around. We didn't think one cat would be sufficient to keep the mice population down around our house and property so we decide we wanted to get an additional cat or two. We knew one of our neighbors had six kittens so we went to them to see if we could have some. We wanted to get two males if possible, because then we don't have to worry about kittens if we aren't able to get the cats fixed soon. Of the six kittens there were 3 or 4 males so we choose two. The family we got them from had named them Puff and Blaze-we decide to keep their names the same. Puff is orange tiger-striped and seems to be long haired. Blaze is gray and black tiger-striped.

We've had a lot of fun with them. We enjoy watching them play. They have been very well socialized to humans so they are very good company-sometimes too good because they want lots of attention.

I took these pictures on day they were playing in a tree.

I thought this picture, below, was so funny. The kittens were stack on top of each other inside the crouch of this branch, one facing one direction and the other the opposite way.

Fundraiser Success

2009-07-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

(Sorry, we meant to take pictures but accidentally left the camera at home)

All the busy, run here, run there time preparing everything for the fundraiser, finally paid off! First of all we want to THANK every one of our bidders and donors. Without you we would have not been able to be as happy and satisfied with the outcome of it as we are now.

The way our day started was very rare. Rey picked up a shift at the Hospital the night before so imagine how tired he was that day. He was so worried about everything that he only was able to sleep three to four hours after working. I spent almost six hours wrapping donations the day before and didn't want to wrap anymore!!! Just so you know, that was not the only wrapping day. We spent some good hours wrapping for two days! It was kind of exhausting trying to figure out how to wrap things and how to make them be more of a surprise, to keep their identity a secret.

We went early to set things up and it took us two car loads to get everything over to the park. We had a little over 50 packages! It was amazing how generous people were to us. Anyway, we knew we had enough packages to make a fair amount of money but we didn't know what the turnout would be. We advertised in our area with flyers and in the surrounding area there was a story written in the newspaper about what we were doing.

When we got to the park and set everything up, we were ready for people to come. At six, which was when it was supposed to start, no bidders were there except for a very nice neighbor that helped us with the prep on the whole deal. By quarter after there was only like two bidders. We were concerned since we thought that we would not sell it all and would end up putting a yard sale together so we could sell what would be left over. We were also waiting for our substitute auctioneer. The original one left town and didn't make it back to town in time. Well, the auctioneer arrived a little after the half past the hour and there was only a few bidders. Maybe like six to ten. We started the auction anyway and it went great. We had a total of 11 bidders and around 30 people over the evening. It was such a great time and we enjoyed spending time with all those that showed up. We did auction off all the items, which was amazing, and raised a total of....... (drum roll)......$1100. It was incredible and we felt the support of all the people that helped. Thanks again!!!

Fun with family

2009-07-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

In the past week or so we had the chance to have my brother's(Paul)children come here on two different occasions. Between the two occasions we spent time with all four of his children.

The first time we had Braden(11), Mackaylie(6), and Kambrie(5). We spent time playing in water that day. We have a water slide and a pool (abt 5x10) that we set up for them.

These were taken after the children's parents returned, so they include all four children. Top to bottom: Tristan, Kambrie, Braden, Mackaylie

The other time that they came was only Braden and Tristan. We really enjoyed having them and it was good to have someone to pull us out of our routine. Rey decided that it would be fun to borrow a go-cart (one he had previously driven) and let the nieces and nephews drive it to have fun with it. Rey spend a lot of time trying to get it running since it had sat for two years at a friend's shop. Finally after millions of tries, it started and the kids where able to drive it. It was very funny because it would take almost 20 minutes to make it work and it would run for like 2 minutes. Those running minutes where so valuable to the kids that they tried to go as far as they could before it would stop.

This is one of the times it ran and Braden and Tristan where able to drive it. Rey ran behind the every time just to make sure they were OK if they crashed. They did crash three times but nobody was hurt!

One of the times that Rey was trying to start the go-cart, he asked me if I could start it. This meant I had to pull a string as fast as I (Dianna) could to get it going. Well, I tried but something weird happened that made me get hurt. I kind of pulled a muscle or something so that it made me unable to do much on my own. All of us had decided to make pizza and a cherry pie previously, but because I got hurt, I had to have help. Everybody was great at helping me getting everything done, and the pie ended up being so pretty and delicious!! By the way, Rey didn't want to have just a normal top crust and decided to do lattice instead.

4th of July

2009-07-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

The night before the fourth, we received a surprise. Rey was scheduled to work but Friday night he was docked for the Fourth. That just means there isn't enough work for the people scheduled so someone's shift is canceled. Even though it meant no paycheck for that day, it was nice to have Rey home!

Our Fourth started out with a red, white, and blue breakfast. We had a puffed pastry shell filled with blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and whipped cream. Not the most healthy breakfast considering it was actually a dessert but it was very patriotic and delicious! The night before Rey and I found a video about making puff pastry from scratch on the internet. It wasn't hard to make but takes some patience. It was cool to see how it turned out. I thought it was beautiful!

Later in the morning we went with some friends to watch our community's parade. We live in a small community so the parade isn't a very fancy one but it is interesting to go each year to see what people have come up with to enter into the parade. (Sorry I didn't get any pictures.)

After the parade we have activities at the park. There is usually a fish pond, pie eating contests, children's games, etc. This year there were also helicopter rides and a candy cannon.

We met up with my sister's (Janelle) family at the park. She has four girls ranging from 10-3 yrs. The three oldest tried to catch fish in the fish pond. The "pond" is made from bales of straw formed into a square, lined with plastic, then filled with water and fish. Certain age groups children are allowed into the pond at one time to catch fish with their hands. I don't know how many my nieces caught total but they kept four.

The pie eating contests began after the fish pond activity was finished. My nieces, Jasmin and Karima, participated in this-even before they could change out of their wet clothes. Neither won anything but a messy face, as you can see in the pictures below.

Jasmin and Karima are the two dark-headed girls in red sitting together.

Jasmin(top) and Karima(bottom) after the contest. I thought they looked like they had beards.

After the activities at the park, Janelle and the girls came over for lunch which included the fish they'd caught at the park. Rey helped with gutting the fish and I fried them.

In the afternoon, Janelle wanted to go home but the girls asked to stay longer so we agreed to take them home. Before we took them home we filled some water balloons and played water volleyball. Our record for volleys was probably three. We broke a lot of balloons on the first try. That didn't matter, though, we had fun!

Later after coming home we ended our day by going swimming. However, it couldn't actually be considered swimming because we just stayed in a warm pool, soaking.

Update: Fundraiser

2009-06-26T18:38:00.000-07:00

Earlier we blogged about possibly having a fundraiser. We just wanted to give an update on that.

We are holding a "What's in the Box" Auction on 10 Jul. Here is information from the flyer we have made:
We are asking for donations of items for our auction. Those who wish to donate can bring the donated item wrapped in a Box. The items could range from tickets to a performance to Old Aunt Ester’s Lamp or any other item you have around the house that might be useful to someone else. You can also drop off items at Pizza Plus in Tremonton or Hallmark in Brigham city. Even if you do not wish to donate anything, please come!!!!

We are hopeful it will turn out good. We've had some success in getting some really nice items for the auction from some business in the area including:
Domino’s Pizza
Studio 360
Mack’s Family drive in
Village Dry goods
Drewes' Floral
Holmes Clothing

Summer haircut

2009-06-26T18:32:00.001-07:00

Guess who had their hair cut? Not it wasn't Rey OR Dianna. It was Rusty!

For those who don't know, Rusty is our Collie. Summer is pretty hard on Rusty. I think it would be for me if I had as much hair as he did. Rey's been thinking for a while that it might be an good idea. This week we finally had it done-just in time, I might add, for 90 degree weather. He looks very different. His tail didn't get cut so he looks rather odd, like a skunk or raccoon or something. Our cats were very concerned when we came home after the haircut. They usually don't mind Rusty, if anything Rusty is more scared of them than they are of him. However, after the haircut if he came close they would arch their back and their tail would get all puffy. I think they have figure out he's the same dog now but that first night they were very cautious.

After Rusty's haircut.

This is what Rusty normally looks like.

Trip to Mexico

2009-06-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

How would you like to hear that in the place you are planning to visit, within the week, there is a possible epidemic? Sounds like a fun trip, Huh? This is what we were hearing three to four days before we left for our trip to Mexico. I (Dianna) suggested that we postpone our trip a little because the airline would have allowed it without charge. But Rey wasn't very concerned. Mexico City seemed to be the epicenter and that was our arrival airport; however, we were only supposed to be there for 1-2 hrs max because we would take a bus from the airport to Rey's hometown. We decided our best defense was preventions. We bought hand sanitizer and tried to find face masks the night before we left but the only ones we found were too expensive. Rey had some medical supplies he was taking to work on a school project including a face mask and some alcohol wipes. Rey graciously allowed me to use the face mask. We tried to clean every surface before we touched it and used hand sanitizer often.

The main purpose of our trip was to be present for the blessing and sealing of Rey's niece(Dasha) to her parents(Esteban and Carolina). Due to the influenza scare the President of Mexico asked people to stay in their homes May 1-5. He asked that all non-essential businesses close and that churches cancel services during this time. Dasha was scheduled to be blessed the first Sunday(May 3rd) we were there. She was blessed but our church services were held in Rey's parents home.It was a very special meeting!

Esteban, Carolina, and Dasha on the day of the blessing.

Dasha dressed up pretty for her blessing.

In the three weeks we were there we mostly stayed close around Rey's hometown but we did take a couple short trips away. One of these was an overnight trip to a place where one of Rey's uncles lives. His Uncle Damaso and Aunt Nena live in a place called "Tierra Blanca" or "White land/White soil". It reminded me a little of where we live. Tierra Blanca is a small valley surrounded by mountains. The community is rural and the houses are quite spread out. We enjoy our stay there and Rey's uncle and aunt were very hospitable!

Rey and Dianna with view overlooking Tierra Blanca

Rey, Dianna, Uncle Damaso, Aunt Nena, Rey's mom
(Damaso is Rey's mom's brother)

Another trip we took was to the temple in Mexico City. This was an experience that I hope to always remember. It was such a wonderful opportunity to witness Dasha be sealed to her parents. How precious is a child! I'm so grateful for the wonderful blessing of eternal families. This experience taught me more about the miracle of adoption and also renewed my hope to have children in our family that will be sealed to us, giving us the chance to have them forever.

Dasha, Esteban, and Carolina after the ceremony.

Dasha and Carolina.

There is a little story behind Dasha's dress and also the flower on her headband. We (Rey's mom, Carolina, Rey, and I) all went shopping one evening for a dress. We had a hard time finding one that was all white. Caro did chose one she liked but it still wasn't completely white. The dress itself was white it just had embellishments-flowers and ribbons-that were not. The nice thing was they were removed without too much trouble. Rey and I went looking for replacements and also for a flower for the headband. We think the baby headbands with the big flowers are adorable and Caro went along with us when we suggested it. Here's where we ran into trouble again. We look all over for pure white flowers for the dress and the headband. We finally did find some small white ones for the dress but had no luck with the big flower for the headband. After searching high and low, somehow the idea came to make one. We bought some white foam sheets to use for petals. Then I looked on the internet for pictures of flowers and Caro showed me one she liked. We cut out three pieces in the foam, Rey used an iron to curl the "petals" a little, and we stacked them together. For the center of the flower we used a sequin and some clear beads. I thought it turned out good and Dasha looked so cute!

The group that traveled to the temple for the sealing. Left to right:
Priscilla(Rey's sister), Sister Sanchez (family friend), Rey's mom and dad, Dianna, Rey, Caro, Esteban, Esteban's friend

Rey and Dianna at the Mexico City Temple.

Fundraiser

2009-06-26T18:05:00.001-07:00

We have been contemplating for a few weeks about having a fund raiser of some kind to help us acquire the money necessary for an adoption. I searched for some ideas on the internet and found one that I liked most.
What's in the Box Auction
Curiosity killed the cat and it will be curiosity that will work in your group’s favor with this fundraiser. Have all the attendees bring a wrapped package, big or small, to the auction. They can place anything they want in the box from tickets to the opera (perhaps weighted down with some rocks) or the lamp Aunt Esther bought them as a wedding gift (a hideous thing really). As each box is brought in, label it with a number and place on tables that have been set up. People should be allowed to examine the boxes, picking them up and shaking them. Absolutely no unwrapping or peaking! You can either run the auction live with an auctioneer, or as a silent auction. In a silent auction, people write down their bids on a piece of paper kept near the box and try to outbid each other that way. Seed the auction with a few really great items that have been donated by local stores to keep bidding high. Let each winner unwrap their box in front of everyone after they win to show off if they got a great prize or a dud. This will be fun for everyone. http://www.fundraiserinsight.org/ideas/whats-in-the-box-auction.html
We would appreciate any ideas/suggestions how to go about this(time, place, etc.) or help we can get.

Meet the CRT

2009-06-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

The past nine months of school finally paid off! On the 1st of June Rey took the board exam to become a Certified Respiratory Therapist. Thankfully he passed because, even though he can take this test as many times as he wanted, it comes with a price tag of nearly $200 for each attempt. Needless to say we are very thankful he passed on the first time.

Before Rey finished school he was accepted for a position at a hospital. It is only a PRN position, meaning he works when someone need a day off or such, but is much better than nothing. We feel blessed to have this job! Passing the test means that Rey will be making about $2/hr more than the first two weeks he worked.

Big Start!

2009-06-07T18:35:00.000-07:00

Hopefully we do a good job of letting people get to know us and our daily lives though this family blog. We'll try hard to keep it up and posting as often as occasion permits. We don't promise any page turners but here we go!