Youth Conference 2009

Hey everyone. It seems I'm always claiming that we are busy...but we really are. Last weekend was our stake's youth conference. It was a great experience. We were there 3 days and each one represented past, present, or future with various activities and learning opportunities. I've included some of the pictures below.


The first day we had the youth take a pioneer trek and do some old fashioned games. This first photo shows a bunch of the youth in their pioneer clothes playing partner tag. That night we had a dance so they would have an opportunity to socialize.

Day 2 we went down to Payson Lakes where the youth swam and went around the lake in canoes. Later in the afternoon we had 4 guest speakers come and take turns talking about different aspects of their future.

Our stake president came up the last day to talk about their lives in the present. Then we dd various service projects around the camp and cleaned up. Right before leaving, one of the ward groups decided to hike up to the overlook into a canyon and I decided to join them. This last photo is a view from there.

My company had our summer party this week. It's always fun, and, as usual, we had it up at a park up Provo Canyon. Great food, good fun, and we even had a little volleyball action.

This weekend we are headed to Lake Powell with our cousins. We won't be able to post or be online until we get back. We can't wait to take this break and enjoy a little vacation with our extended family. I'll have plenty of pictures to share when we get back.

Lots of fun

Hey everyone, my wife's company had their annual summer party today. We all went up to Sundance and had a great meal and some fun games. There were face painters, an air castle, and even volleyball. It's always fun at their company parties. Our cousin, Eric, was even there. He flew in from Florida to make an appearance.

Our case worker had an interesting question for us. I guess there is one birth mom that is looking for many of the qualities that we have, but with one addition. She wants the baby to be taught sign language and our case worker was wondering what our feelings were on that matter. We talked it over and decided that we did plan on using sign language to assist in early language development, but that we probably couldn't commit to reaching a fluent level. We don't know if that was what she was looking for, but I hope it helps her. We know everything is going to work out when the time and the situation is right. We hope it is sooner rather than later but we know we need to leave it in the Lord's hands.

Another week gone by

Our good friends Henry and Kay had us over for a picnic/party that they put together out at their new home. They are renting a house in Lake Shore that has 10 acres so they can keep their 2 horses with them instead of boarding the horses on another farm. There were probably 100 people with great food and even a live band. We couldn't stay for the whole party but we did get to stay long enough to see BYU beat Utah in the basketball game.

Sunday was spent at church, resting, and practicing with the choir.

My little sister's wedding invitations are printed now, but we have to wait on the envelopes to be delivered. I'm glad that my company was able to help them out.

We haven't heard anything new on the adoption front, but we have some additional paperwork to fill out now. There are just a few forms that have to be renewed once a year and our year is coming up soon.

Lake Powell/Adoption Approval

Sorry that we haven't been posting much the last week or two. We got back Tuesday from Lake Powell. It was such a fun trip and we love hanging out with our cousin's Eric and Machelle (and their kids Matt, Rae, and Sable). We only get to hang out once or twice a year with them and I can't believe how much they've grown. It was just Adrienne and I that went with their family. We parked the house boat in 3 different canyons. The second one (Reflection Canyon) had and amazing echo and beautiful scenery. The finished the trip up San Juan Canyon and our spot had a great view into one of the bays.

The weather was fantastic!!! It only rained one night the entire trip. Everyday we hiked, swam, rode the wave-runners, skied, wake boarded, and road the tube. We watched movies, played board games, and basically had a blast the whole trip. We even ate gourmet food most days. Grilled salmon, shrimp tacos, grilled pizza (trust me, it's awesome), and many more dishes kept us very satisfied the whole trip.

When we got back to civilization, Adrienne and I hurried back to work for a couple hours on Tuesday and even managed to get our materials turned in for approval at LDS Family Services. They had a meeting Wednesday and we are now officially approved for adoption!!! I can't believe we're finally to this stage. It's taken 6 months to get to this point and now, finally, prospective birth parents can view our profile and consider us for placement.

I have tons of pictures from the trip and will definitely add some in the near future.

Fun Times

Yesterday was a pretty good day. Right after work Adrienne and I both went running to train for the Triathlon. I'm glad we are starting with this shorter one to get into the whole swing of things. I was really excited because I was able to finish a 5K without walking or stopping for the first time...in fact it took less than 31 minutes.

After we ran it was time to go to my company's summer party. It's always fun to get together with everyone's families. We kicked around a soccer ball for a while and later played volleyball. Of course there was a potluck. The food was great.

Adrienne is coming to my office after lunch to start our picture collage. We have a bunch of photos picked out and one of the graphics designers at my office is going to help us put it together. Also, we get to do our home inspection with our Case Worker at 4:30 this afternoon. I'm excited to find out what we need to do to get our home ready. We've already bought door handle covers, outlet covers, a safety gate and a fire extinguisher.