Lets get real

Blogs are wonderful places to display all of the pictures of your perfect family.  Lets get real, we are far from perfect.  We have plenty of shortcomings, but we try to not take ourselves too seriously.  There are plenty of times when we try to post that perfect picture, but this post is for all the times we catch ourselves just being a normal everyday family with normal everyday kids.

This is my favorite family photo.  This is what it is really like to try and take pictures of our family.  Just when you think your going to get that perfect picture, the moment falls apart.  This is that exact moment.

Sayler picked out these glasses at the mall.  She rocked 'em so well mom had to finalize the purchase.

Sayler has an occasional melt down.  It can happen anywhere.  Fields are better places to have them than church.

Every parent stumbles across this now and then.  Occasionally there is a full roll of toilette paper stacked back and forth on the floor only to have the very last square still attached to the roll.

Dang it!  Did we leave the wipes out again?  Owen delights in his mess.

This picture captures a great moment of fun.  When the cousins come over it is all kinds of games and entertainment.  This one was as simple as doing laps around the kitchen island.  All smiles!

So, anytime it is quite for more than 90 seconds we know to go check on the kids.  This day Maggie found the kids with a mascara.  Sayler got the general idea of getting it near the eyes.  Owen must have been trying to darken his nose hair.  

What do you do?  Smile and get the camera.  On the bright side, somehow they did not get it on that white bed spread.

Owen was very proud of his ability to empty the cabinet.  I think he did help put it back together.

We really don't know what happened here.  We were snapping pictures outside and somehow this picture was captured on the camera.  It is a favorite just because it looks so ridiculous.

Our kids are really cutter than this.  Sometimes a good ol' raggamuffin shot just brings it home.  I'll admit, our kids get out of the house with bed-head way too often.

This was supposed to be a "time out", but as you can see...not so effective.  How do you get upset with a face like that?  A hug and a kiss and it was back to what we were doing.

This shirt makes me laugh.  We both have 2 eyes and a nose in the middle of our face.

Room For More

First off, thanks for visiting our blog.  Hopefully you will be able to help, or be considering placing a child in our home.  I am sure there will be many friends and family members stopping by this blog.  Our hope is that a potential birth mother looking for the right home will find us and decide to place her child in our home.  Adoption is a wonderful experience for everyone involved.  Here is our story......

We met in a class at BYU and quickly became friends. We didn’t begin dating until nearly four years later in California (where we both had moved after graduating). Our long friendship before dating was truly a head start in a great relationship. We love spending time together and share many interests in common like wakeboarding, shopping, road trips, and just hanging out. We were married in December of 2001 and still love spending time together.

Our Wedding in December 2001

Jon (according to Maggie)

Jon was born and raised in Alaska as the oldest of ten children (yes, ten). As the oldest he is the responsible sibling who looks after his siblings and will give anyone the shirt off his back. He has a heart of gold (which is why I married him), he can always make me laugh, and he is incredibly handy. He has always worked in the construction industry and is currently the regional operations manager for a large solar electric company. He is a hard worker, which allows me to stay at home with the kids. When he is not hard at work he is hard at play – his favorite past time is playing with the kids at the pool, the park, or the lake. He also likes to ride his dirt bike and play his drums (but he rarely gets the time). Jon has the ability to make any moment fun. He is creative and keeps us all laughing. I love him and I’m grateful to be married to my best friend.

Us at the beach just before Sayler arrived

Maggie (according to Jon)

Maggie started her life on a remote ranch on the Wyoming/Colorado border. She is the third of four children and has a sweet spot in her dad’s heart that has fostered a good relationship with her parents. They moved to Arizona when she was 9 where she spent most of her formative years. Maggie worked as an elementary school teacher after college in a low-income area of California. She was a great teacher, but left her occupation to focus on starting a family. Maggie is the anchor of our home. She always does what is right and keeps me grounded. She has a natural ability to be obedient and follow the Lord. I am her nemesis when it comes to keeping order in our home. She is a wonderful homemaker and a great mother. She loves being at home with the kids and experiencing them first hand. We get along extremely well, and I am glad Maggie settled on me when it came to choosing a husband. I definitely married above myself.

Just the two of us.

Sayler

Sayler joined our family in October of 2006. We were blessed to have a wonderful experience with her adoption and can’t imagine our lives without her. Through many experiences we have become aware of the Lord’s hand in guiding her to our home. We have had the opportunity of getting to know her birth mother through emails and visits. We are grateful for our relationship with her and look forward to building upon it in the years to come. Sayler has a light within that brightens any room. She wakes up happy (and usually singing at the top of her lungs). She is a busy and social girl with an enormous fan club. She is extremely motherly to Owen and loves playing with baby dolls.

Owen

We were blessed to bring Owen into our home and family in December of 2007. He was almost six months old at the time so Sayler and Owen are extremely close in age (slightly under nine months!). We feel almost like we have twins and they sure keep us busy! Owen has a tender heart and LOVES animals (our neighbor calls him the “dog whisperer”). He is all boy – loves cars, trucks, trains, and anything that makes a cool noise. He will often come up to us during the day to offer a hug or kiss. He can melt any heart. Like Sayler, we have seen the Lord’s hand in guiding him to our home.