Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Digital Profile is DONE!!!
I just wanted to drop a quick note and let everyone know that last night we buckled down and finished the online profile in the new system. It will be going "live" next week sometime. Once it is up we'll send out the link and instructions on how to find us.
Monday, January 19, 2009
The Parable of the Wii
As promised, here is the paraphrased version of my friend's lesson. It is a true story. The only qualification is that I can't quote him exactly.
Back in June of 2008, Kevin's son made a deal with his parents and his piano instructor. He would practice piano one hour per day for a total of 30 days. Each day he practiced he would have someone sign off that he had done so. After he had 30 days signed off, his parents would give him a new game for the Nintendo Game Cube. Now he could receive his reward after just 30 days, or it could take as long as needed to finish 30 total.
Now what his son didn't know, is that the parents had something else in mind. After he practiced 30 days, they would give him the game he requested, but not for the Game Cube. Instead, they would give him the version for the Nintendo Wii system, which is much newer. They would also buy the Wii and keep it hidden in Kevin's office. After he opened the game and realized it didn't work for the Game Cube, they would give him the Wii too. It's a much more interactive system that the whole family could play together.
July passed, so did August, September, October and November. Early in December Kevin's wife asked if maybe they should just give the family the the new system for Christmas, but Kevin thought he would hold out for his son to fulfill his committment. The day finally came (just before Christmas actually). As predicted, the son noticed the game was the Wii version right away. For a moment he was actually very dissappointed. Then Kevin brought out the Wii and the whole family cheered. He said they actually started chanting "Dad is Great!".
Now this experience is fun, and it made me smile...but there's a deeper lesson to be learned. Our Heavenly Father wants us to be happy. When we make committments to follow Him and keep His commandments, He promises to bless our lives. Some of the blessings are obvious, but some are greater than we know. If Kevin's son had known that there was a Wii waiting for him, I'm sure he would have finished the required practices months ago. In the same way, if we knew the blessings God had in store for us, I think we would all be more dilligent in following His will.
Back in June of 2008, Kevin's son made a deal with his parents and his piano instructor. He would practice piano one hour per day for a total of 30 days. Each day he practiced he would have someone sign off that he had done so. After he had 30 days signed off, his parents would give him a new game for the Nintendo Game Cube. Now he could receive his reward after just 30 days, or it could take as long as needed to finish 30 total.
Now what his son didn't know, is that the parents had something else in mind. After he practiced 30 days, they would give him the game he requested, but not for the Game Cube. Instead, they would give him the version for the Nintendo Wii system, which is much newer. They would also buy the Wii and keep it hidden in Kevin's office. After he opened the game and realized it didn't work for the Game Cube, they would give him the Wii too. It's a much more interactive system that the whole family could play together.
July passed, so did August, September, October and November. Early in December Kevin's wife asked if maybe they should just give the family the the new system for Christmas, but Kevin thought he would hold out for his son to fulfill his committment. The day finally came (just before Christmas actually). As predicted, the son noticed the game was the Wii version right away. For a moment he was actually very dissappointed. Then Kevin brought out the Wii and the whole family cheered. He said they actually started chanting "Dad is Great!".
Now this experience is fun, and it made me smile...but there's a deeper lesson to be learned. Our Heavenly Father wants us to be happy. When we make committments to follow Him and keep His commandments, He promises to bless our lives. Some of the blessings are obvious, but some are greater than we know. If Kevin's son had known that there was a Wii waiting for him, I'm sure he would have finished the required practices months ago. In the same way, if we knew the blessings God had in store for us, I think we would all be more dilligent in following His will.
Bye Bye Christmas
Ok, so we're a little behind the season but over the weekend Adrienne took down most of the Christmas decorations in our house. All that remained was the Christmas tree and we will finish that tonight.
Last Friday, I went with Kevin up to the District Klondike campout. We brought up cookies for the boys and leaders from the wards (congregations) in our stake (group of wards). While we were up there, we gathered them all around and Kevin gave a quick talk to everyone gathered that he called "The Parable of the Wii". I don't have time right now, but later tonight I'll log back on and share it with everyone.
Last Friday, I went with Kevin up to the District Klondike campout. We brought up cookies for the boys and leaders from the wards (congregations) in our stake (group of wards). While we were up there, we gathered them all around and Kevin gave a quick talk to everyone gathered that he called "The Parable of the Wii". I don't have time right now, but later tonight I'll log back on and share it with everyone.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Progress!
I can't believe how things seem to keep getting in the way of completing the online profile. We were all set to work on it, but I got sick. It was the strangest thing. My stomach hurt and I got a 101 degree fever...but I felt better by the time I went to bed. The fever lasted about 3-4 hours total.
We finally got some time to work on it Wednesday. We finished all the "preferences". Those are bizarre. The responses are Yes, No, and Maybe. You answer questions about different characteristics you look for in a child, a birth mother, and a birth father. It is a rather surreal experience. We are getting significantly closer to finishing the whole thing. I'll be uploading photos tonight while Adrienne cleans. Then we will work on the "Teaser" that potential birth mothers will read before clicking on our individual profile when searching.
We finally got some time to work on it Wednesday. We finished all the "preferences". Those are bizarre. The responses are Yes, No, and Maybe. You answer questions about different characteristics you look for in a child, a birth mother, and a birth father. It is a rather surreal experience. We are getting significantly closer to finishing the whole thing. I'll be uploading photos tonight while Adrienne cleans. Then we will work on the "Teaser" that potential birth mothers will read before clicking on our individual profile when searching.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Adoption Profile/"A Brand New Year" Program
So we didn't really make any progress on our adoption profile this last week. Our new goal is to finish it all tomorrow night. Talking with some other couples, we found that we are a lot farther along in the new system than they are. We just need to get it done.
We had two great youth activities over the weekend. My "job" in church is the 1st Counselor in the Stake Young Men's Presidency. To help all my family members of other religions understand better...Each congregation in my church is called a ward (about 150-250 households = one ward), and a bunch of wards together equal a Stake (maybe a total of 3-5000 people make up a stake give or take). The first activity was for all the youth in my stake between the ages of 12 and about 18. We had around 300 youth participate (out of 500). Imagine 300+ youth and 200 adults all together on one basketball court inside (because it's winter here in Utah). We had dinner, talks, skits, and games all at one location. It was a blast! There's nothing quite like being in a huge gathering of youth that all want follow Christ.
The second youth activity was for a specific young man in my ward (the congregation my wife and I attend). He is sixteen and just earned the rank of Eagle Scout. I don't think I'd been to an Eagle Court of Honor since I had mine back in 1995. I've been to a couple on a District level but not an individual one in all that time. He's a great kid that is becoming a man of character. It made me think back to my time as a Boy Scout. I'm glad my dad made time to go on campouts and come to activities. I'm glad both my mom and dad made the effort to follow up and make sure I finished my requirements. I use the skills and lessons from my time in the program every day of my life. Be prepared. Do a good turn daily. I think there's a lot that we can learn from Scouting.
We had two great youth activities over the weekend. My "job" in church is the 1st Counselor in the Stake Young Men's Presidency. To help all my family members of other religions understand better...Each congregation in my church is called a ward (about 150-250 households = one ward), and a bunch of wards together equal a Stake (maybe a total of 3-5000 people make up a stake give or take). The first activity was for all the youth in my stake between the ages of 12 and about 18. We had around 300 youth participate (out of 500). Imagine 300+ youth and 200 adults all together on one basketball court inside (because it's winter here in Utah). We had dinner, talks, skits, and games all at one location. It was a blast! There's nothing quite like being in a huge gathering of youth that all want follow Christ.
The second youth activity was for a specific young man in my ward (the congregation my wife and I attend). He is sixteen and just earned the rank of Eagle Scout. I don't think I'd been to an Eagle Court of Honor since I had mine back in 1995. I've been to a couple on a District level but not an individual one in all that time. He's a great kid that is becoming a man of character. It made me think back to my time as a Boy Scout. I'm glad my dad made time to go on campouts and come to activities. I'm glad both my mom and dad made the effort to follow up and make sure I finished my requirements. I use the skills and lessons from my time in the program every day of my life. Be prepared. Do a good turn daily. I think there's a lot that we can learn from Scouting.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Birthday Fun and Other Things
Last night we went to Jazz basketball game for my birthday. We got a fantastic deal on lower bowl tickets and we just couldn't pass it up. The only problem was that the sky decided it was time to dump snow. By the time Heidi and Trevor made it to the meeting spot to drive up it was only 15 minutes until tip-off (with a 45 minute drive when the roads are clear). We didn't actually get to the game until the second half. We met Austin and Sarah there so there were 6 of us total.
The seats were fantastic. It was technically the handicapped section so there was extra leg room AND the seats were PADDED. Good times!!! It was a good close game until the end so I'm glad we managed to see at least half of it. Next time I'll take off work early and get up with plenty of time to spare (and I'll have everyone else riding in my car do the same). It really was fun though. It's just such a different experience being in the lower bowl versus the upper. You get a much better idea of just how big and athletic the players are.
Adrienne bought me the sound track to the Phantom of the Opera for my birthday. There was also a movie, a new basketball and some khaki pants. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it was perfect.
Our Adoption case worker called yesterday to find out if we were "registered" Native Americans or if we could become registered. We told her no, but that we'd look into it. It will basically come down to genealogy and proving our heritage. We are both only 1/16th, but there are some laws in place for adoption that require moms with babies that have Native heritage to at least consider adoptive parents that also have Native heritage.
The new adoption profiles go "live" next week so that they'll be available for viewing. Ours is almost done. It will actually be really good for us to finish this weekend. When the website goes live there will probably be only a couple hundred on there (instead of the 1500 which is the total number looking to adopt). Those others will slowly trickle online as they finish, but for a few months our odds would be much higher.
The seats were fantastic. It was technically the handicapped section so there was extra leg room AND the seats were PADDED. Good times!!! It was a good close game until the end so I'm glad we managed to see at least half of it. Next time I'll take off work early and get up with plenty of time to spare (and I'll have everyone else riding in my car do the same). It really was fun though. It's just such a different experience being in the lower bowl versus the upper. You get a much better idea of just how big and athletic the players are.
Adrienne bought me the sound track to the Phantom of the Opera for my birthday. There was also a movie, a new basketball and some khaki pants. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it was perfect.
Our Adoption case worker called yesterday to find out if we were "registered" Native Americans or if we could become registered. We told her no, but that we'd look into it. It will basically come down to genealogy and proving our heritage. We are both only 1/16th, but there are some laws in place for adoption that require moms with babies that have Native heritage to at least consider adoptive parents that also have Native heritage.
The new adoption profiles go "live" next week so that they'll be available for viewing. Ours is almost done. It will actually be really good for us to finish this weekend. When the website goes live there will probably be only a couple hundred on there (instead of the 1500 which is the total number looking to adopt). Those others will slowly trickle online as they finish, but for a few months our odds would be much higher.
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