Christmas Ideas

I have been looking for some good ideas to really bring in the true spirit of Christmas and help our family really enjoy the season. Does anyone have any ideas?
One thing that I found that I am really loving this Christmas is this cute little rhyme that helps my kids know what to expect as far as Christmas presents from me and dad. It also helps planning and shopping go a lot smoother form me.

Something to wear
Something to read
Something you want
Something you need
Something to play with
Something fun indeed

So, 6 presents that cover all the basics. And Santa brings a couple of presents too of course. My kids are loving this and can't wait to see what meets the rhyme on Christmas morning.

HELP!!!!!

Does anyone know how to get these darn tools off my blog? I hate them. I want them gone. Do you think that's why I'm such a bad blogger?

craft addiction

Every year at this time of season, I get the super crafty bug, I think, breathe and eat crafts. I pull out all my books and magazines and start looking at anything crafty, I get the urge to go to every craft store I have ever been to. It really puts a crimp in my schedule and i am hoping it will pass soon. But until it does, I will enjoy it. By the way did anyone ever guess there was so much craft info. in blogland? Who Knew? Can anyone say addiction?

I'm so stupid

What in the world am I doing up this late? Will someone call and wake me up for church tomorrow? Angie? Thanks to the fam for providing me with some crafty moments today. love ya!

A new thing

Ok, so I had a ubrilliant idea today, that I want to do a Fabulous Friend Friday on my blog. Doesn't that sound fun? I can talk about some of the totally awesome people that I know and am privledged to call friends. The only catch is that if I feature you as a friend and you actually don't want to be my friend, well now, that puts me in a pretty embarrasing situation, doesn't it? Well, it that is the case, please feel free to comment and let me know. Humiliation is my speacialty it seems. How should I do it? Should I put names in a jar and draw them out? Or maybe whoever comes to mind that week? HMMMmmmmm...

craziness

Ok. so, yes I have not been blogging. Life is crazy. I have started a new job working for the adoption agency that we got Emma through. It is really rewarding but there is deffinately a lot to learn. May is crazy with kids. It's as bad as December! Does anyone share this sentiment?
I keep hoping that the summer will slow down life for a little while so I can enjoy it a little better. Does that ever happen? This week at my house there will be dancing, puking, changing diapers, bottle feedings, baseball games, work days, lot's of driving, more dancing, cleaning- but never enough, a 6 year old boy birthday, oh, and we get to be on a live interview on the Primary Childrens KSL telethon on Saturday at like 8:00. It should be a full and fun week. Now to concentrate on the enjoying it part.

Life goes on

Sunday was Isaac's birthday and of course, the day he died. I was hard. I miss him. I miss what he would have been on his first birthday. It was hard to stop thinking about it, but having 3 other kids sure helps fill up your time and your mind so you can't dwell on it. Isn't it amazing how even when your life is filled with sorrow and pain and you feel like you aren't going to make it, and especially at those times, Father in Heaven blesses you beyond your comprehension. For me this year has been filled with miracles and belssings. Namely, Emma, continued good health for Dallin, Syd's sweet baptism last week. Is there no end to blessings?

Sleep

Emma slept 8 hours last night and 7 the night before. Am I the luckiest mommy right now?

Oh My Goodness!!!

Check out the magic that happens when you get Emma, Angie, and her camera together. I can hardly stop looking at these precious pictures!!!

Emma's Story part 2

So, for two months, I didn't say anything about it to anyone but I kept remembering the experience I had in church and with my grieving mother heart didn't know what to make of it. Then, in August, I felt like I was constantly thinking of it. You know how when you get a prompting from the spirit and you don't act on it, it kind of just goes away. Well this kept coming and coming and it really left me kind of confused. I got to the point where I started asking Heavenly Father to please bless me to know it I was supposed to act on these feelings. Well.....Just before school started, I had the kids in swimming lessons and on their first day, I was sitting poolside watching them when a woman with 5 little black kids came in. I could not stop myself from looking at them and finally approached her and in hopes that I didn't offend her, I asked her if these were her children.(She was white) She said they were and started tellimg me how each one of them came into her family. Long story short, I told her that I was starting to be very interested in adopting an African American baby, and she got all excited and told me that she actually teaches a class on adoption and all the ins and outs of the process. I couldn't believe it. It seemed like it was a direct answer to my prayers. I scheduled a time to attend her class and went home to tell Jeff. He was not thrilled with the idea. He didn't want to go to a class, it seemed like a giant waste of time to him since we weren't going to adopt. I did go. She tought a very informatinve class about all the different ways you could go about adopting domestic, international, special needs, infants, older children, etc... But more than that, the spirit was so strong as I watched videos of transracial adoptive families. When I left the class I felt sure that the answer to my questions about my experience in church was yes, yes, yes, I was supposed to act on it. Now....how to let Jeff know........

Emma's story part 1

Ok, so this is such a long and amazing story that due to my lack of time at the moment, I am going to write about it in parts.
I don't know how many of our experiences I should share due to the spiritual nature of them but I'll play it by ear...
Those of you who have read my blog know that on March 29, 2008, baby Isaac was born and died leaving a giant hole in our hearts and empty arms. The miracle of it is how the Spirit fills up that hole and helps me go on. In June, I was sitting in Sacrament meeting on fast sunday and there was a lull and I kind of tuned out for a bit. Then all of the sudden as clear as day, I saw two little black babies in my mind. I can't really explain how I SAW them without seeing them with my eyes. But, it made a shocking impression on me and I turned to Jeff and with a look up disbelief told him to remind me to tell him what had just happened to me after the meeting. So when we got to the car, I told him that I think we have two little black babies waiting to come to our family. His reaction was something like, Uh.....no. I didn't even know what MY reaction to this experience was so I just let it go and didn't really talk about it again. I mean, Isaac had just died like two months before. And I was aware that the grieving process takes all kinds of forms and wanting to adopt is one of them. I came to somewhat of a decision to wait and see if this was some out of the ordinary grief thing. To be continued.....

Introducing....

EMMA MAE WILLIAMS!!!! This is Rachels sister doing the posting... she is tied up at the moment but she wanted to get some pictures up of our sweet Emma! She is so beautiful and such a blessing! We Lover her to peices! More pictures will be coming....

I don't believe it!!!

You are not going to believe this! I can hardly believe this! Jeff and I are leaving for the hospital any minute now to be there for the birth of our baby girl Emma Mae Williams! Of course we still have 24 hours after the birth to see if the Birth Mother signs the papers. But we are very hopeful. Oh my goodness!!! This is surreal!

worst blogger ever

I am the worst blogger ever! It's just that everyone elses life seems to be more interesting than mine. But this is for my pour cousins who never get to see me and complained that they need to know about what's going on in my life, boring as it is. This is for you- you know who you are.
We had a wonderful Christmas. We managed to have some spiritual activities that really made us think about the true meaning of Christmas. At the ages my kids are now, it's fun to see them have so much fun. Of course, that's fun at any age right? One of the highlights for me was my little singing groups concert. They did so good and I was so proud of them! I have discovered that I really love teaching music. So, as long as I have kids who want to sing, I'll keep doing it! More later....