Please help us with an Adoption

Dear Friends and Family,

If you would have asked us even just 2 months ago that we would be adopting, we would have said no. We have honestly never been opposed to adoption, but never imagined it would be the right thing for us. Just 1 month ago after a visit to the temple, we felt very strongly that we should stop our plans for IVF and pursue adoption. Those strong feelings have never left and have only been added upon.

We know that Heavenly Father places certain people in our lives to help us and to teach us. We have been fortunate enough to be surrounded by such good people. We are grateful for all our friends that have been supportive and helpful in getting us to this point. There are a lot of hoops to jump through and social worker reviews (it’s crazy!) so thanks to those who gave us good references and think we are capable parents.

Initially, the move towards adoption seemed very daunting and way out of our league. It is incredible to see divine intervention in your life. We initially told Heavenly Father that he needed to make this very easy for us and we think he has because it seems to have gotten easier and easier. He has slowly opened our hearts to be more accepting and willing to do things we didn’t think we could. We are truly humbled and we hope it continues to go smoothly.

Please help us find the baby that we are praying for to come to our family. You can view our profile and share it here. We hope you will keep your ears open for opportunities for us.

At this point, we are so excited for an adoption (as if we were pregnant)! We can’t wait for the right baby to hurry and come!

Love,

Brandon and Connie

Wasatch Back

Another Ragnar completed! This time much different than all the others. I was runner 10 in van #2 this time around. I ran up RAGNAR hill! It was a beast. I thought it was going to be a bit easier than it really was. I had so much fun though. The teammates are always the best part and this year did not disappoint...

First set of legs... 

 

Some people get injured and you have to be there to help them out...

Heading into the night. Notice I have no actual night pictures...


You know, there are times in the middle of the night when it's cold, tiring, and hard and you regret joining the race. You can't help but think about your home and nice warm bed. Then morning comes along and you forget all about it.
Bright and early after little sleep some still trying to sleep...

Around Heber/Midway...


Ragnar HILL! Lindsey and I split the work. It was gorgeous up there. She got the first half and I got the rest...

At the finish...

Graduation

Brandon graduated with a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering this past spring. He did such a great job on his thesis. He was able to find work in Utah, so we will be staying put here for a while.

Reno Thanksgiving 2011

We had a really fun Thanksgiving weekend! It was a much needed break to celebrate the holiday. All my family [minus 2 sisters] met at my aunt's house in Reno, NV. We stayed at a hotel casino in downtown and then went over to my aunt's house to lounge around, eat, and watch football! You know, typical Thanksgiving celebrations!! I did not take a single picture. I copied all these pictures from my lovely family members who actually pulled out their camera.
Yummy feast...
Lounging around with the family...
We went bowling one night...
We played a few Foosball games throughout the weekend...
Black Friday shopping (my brother Craig loaded up on gear for his mission to super cold Japan)...
We all loved gathering around and playing the Deal or No Deal game at the hotel arcade...
and Thanksgiving is not complete without the Wii (I had to include the action shot)...
We didn't want this weekend to end. It was so much fun! We are so grateful for our family and our countless blessings in life!

I love fall!

Fall is one of my favorite times of year. I love all seasons for different reasons, but there is something extra special about the fall. The leaves, cool crisp air, pumpkins, October, the fall smells, and on and on. I went on a run over the Bonneville Shoreline trail the other day with a good friend of mine. The scenery was superb. It felt so good to be outside and to enjoy the beauty of the Earth during this season. I cannot wait to do this run again and see even more of the changing leaves!

Baja California Cruise

We went on another cruise as our end of summer trip. This time we went for the cheap cruise to Baja, California. Honestly, I would never recommend this cruise. You definitely get what you pay for. Perhaps we were spoiled and had high expectations from our amazing cruise last summer to the Caribbean, but Baja, Mexico, and Carnival cruise lines do not make great combinations. All in all, we still had some fun. We went with 3 other couples so the company was great.

We really liked Catalina Island! We rented golf carts and drove all over the city enjoying the views and nice weather. We also went snorkeling and saw a lot of fish.
Ensenada, Mexico is home of the famous "blow hole". We spent a couple hours hanging around there on the coast and watching that blow hole. It can get pretty high so that was fun. We also ate some extremely delicious tacos. Yum!
Cruises are known for food and all you can eat 24/7! We ate our little hearts out. Here we are at one of our formal meals. You can see that Brandon ordered Lobster!
The cruise was a nice way to end our summer. Hopefully Brandon can get his thesis finished this semester. It will be nice to completely be done with school before the winter, but we will see!