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My sweet sister, Heidi, has absolutely amazed me with her strength in this past year. She ended up pregnant, with no father in the picture, and what could have been a horrible situation, was made in to the most amazing experience that our whole family feels eternally grateful to have been a part of.
First off, when she found out she was pregnant there was never any question in her mind that this baby was meant to be with another family. It was just getting to them in a round-about way. She felt the heavy responsibility of finding the parents that this little one was meant to go to. She very unselfishly wanted this baby to be brought up with a mother and father who were strong in our faith. The search began.
It was very short.
Working through LDS Social Services she knew almost immediately when the right family popped up on her computer. Dave and Candace were it. That was his mommy and daddy. No question.
Heidi worked very hard through her pregnancy to stay healthy so that this baby could have the best start possible. She was excited for every little milestone. Once she found Candace and Dave, she enjoyed sharing everything she was going through. She didn't want them to miss out on anything.
A month before her due date our family had the opportunity to go to dinner with Candace and Dave's family. It was like being at a family reunion with family we hadn't had the chance to meet yet. It was very easy to love them. We met grandmas, grandpas, brothers and sisters. We came back to our house with everyone afterwords for brownies and ice cream. We talked and laughed for hours.
As the time grew closer Heidi asked lots of questions about the delivery. She figured letting this little one go to this wonderful family would be hard, but she never questioned her resolve that it was the right thing for this little guy. She became nervous about what would be physically involved with the delivery. We had fun talking about all the ins and outs involved with bringing a baby into this world. Her social worker warned her it was going to be difficult when she came to the point when she actually handed this little one to his new parents. Heidi assured her it would be fine...oh boy...I don't think any of us were ready when that time came.
Heidi ended up being induced, but the induction wasn't progressing, so very spur of the moment, the doctor decided to go forward with a c-section. I was quickly texted of the decision. I was in the middle of sacrament meeting at church. I quickly left for the hospital (only 10 minutes away), but by the time I got there they had already done the c-section. Everyone's emotions were sky high. It all came crashing down that we were going to have to say goodbye to this little guy we were just barely going to get to meet...little Griffin (I love the name they picked for him - fits him perfectly!).
My mom was the only one allowed to be in during the c-section. We all had to wait in Heidi's room until they brought her back 90 minutes later. Oh MAN did we all cry so hard. He was the sweetest little guy! We fell in love immediately! Heidi was so excited for him to meet his new parents. He was ALWAYS their baby - she was just the vehicle for getting him here. I know there will always be a special place in his heart for the mother who was willing to let him go to his ETERNAL family.
Candace and Dave with their little boy they waited so long for!
My sisters Kacie and Jamie, with me and Griffin.
Jamie with Griffin
My dad holding his newest grandson.
Kacie and Griffin
My mom and Griffin
Griffin holding his new daddy's finger...and that little guy has a grip!
Heidi was so cute with Griffin. She said she had no idea until she held him, how much love she would feel for him. But even then, she never regretted the decision she was making. She only wanted to get her life in order so she could have a little family of her own some day soon. She is working to be the best mommy and person she can be for THAT family...who is waiting for her.
Heidi had a hard recovery. She was in the hospital for five days with little Griffin. She relished every moment she had with him, for she knew all too well that time was short. We all cuddled with him every day, whispering sweet nothings in his ears, nuzzling his sweet head with our noses, trying to make a lifetime of memories in a few short days. Griffin got to meet my kids, his cousins, Bryan, Morgan, Colton, and Kyle. They were so excited to finally meet this guy that had been kicking around in their aunt's belly.
It really is the happiest sad (as I heard it described so well by another mother who placed her baby for adoption).
Signing the adoption papers....Griffin just watched Heidi so intently. He is the best behaved baby!
Giving Candace her new baby boy...
There really are no words to express what happened in this room. How do you tell someone how grateful you are for their sacrifice. A sacrifice that is giving you the family you have been waiting, hoping, and praying for anxiously for so long? I feel blessed to have witnessed this event. I feel blessed to have felt the strength of the love in that room at that moment. I know these are the moments in which our Heavenly Father sheds the same tears of love and joy as we did.
Both of our families actually had family members who wanted to witness the event being Skyped in. This picture shows my sister, Brittany on Skype. My brother Matt and his family also Skyped with us.
Kacie and Heidi
All the grandparents - my parents, Dave's parents, and Candace's parents.
Mark, my mom, and Heidi.
Thankfully, we still got to spend about another week with Candace and Griffin - Dave had to return to work while Candace remained in state until the judge signed the papers. Candace was so sweet! She allowed Heidi to spend time with Griffin every day. We all went out to dinner again with Candace, her mom, and Griffin. The day before Candace and Griffin were to fly back home, Heidi asked me to do a photoshoot of her and Griffin so she could have some beautiful pictures to remember the occasion. My sister was positively radiant! She loved Griffin with all her heart, but she was so excited that he was going to this amazing family! She looks forward to seeing him grow and develop into a wonderful young man. We all do.
Thank you Griffin for bringing two amazing families together. We love you.
For anyone who has never been to Arizona, the sunsets here are amazing! Night after night of this colorful, beautiful show. I am in awe every single time. My children are also amazed. It is not uncommon as we are racing to the next soccer practice, gymnastics, or scouting whatever to hear, "Oh my gosh mom - look how cool the sky looks!" Every once in a while I have to run and grab my camera to just capture the moment. Heavenly Father sure loves us!
I'm not much of a morning person, so I usually don't catch the sunrises that often, but I happened to be driving Bryan to soccer tryouts at 6am one morning and caught this one...
I didn't have my camera when I first saw the sky that morning, but I thought it was worth grabbing my camera and going back out to get the shot - so pretty!
Morgan got a couple of new hats. She LOVES dressing up and creating her own personal style. This was her latest...
I love seeing what she comes up with. She has told me that she wants to be a fashion designer. Well Morgan, you are definitely a fashionista to be reckoned with!
Our stake did the cutest Stake Girl's Activity Day! It was all based on having a "purse-onal" day. The decorations were all purses and girly cute stuff. The invitations were amazing! A lot of time and effort went in to making these girls (about 300 from ages 8-11) feel special. They had a class on what goes in your purse. They pulled out an over-sized lipgloss and talked about the words that should come out of our mouths. They had a class where they sang a Primary song that was professionally recorded. Each group sang a different song and the girls will receive a CD containing all the songs that were sung. They decorated their own big purses (tote bags). Then they had a class on inner beauty. Then they sat down to the most beautifully decorated luncheon and had a class on manners while they were eating lunch and cupcakes.
Please excuse the blurry pictures - they were all taken with my cell phone.
My sweet Morgan felt SO pampered! I am so glad I got to share this special day with her!
Time to head back to reality! We actually missed our kids so much! We talked with them every day. It's really hard to be away and not sink my lips into their cheeks every night (and multiple times through the day). It let Mark and I enjoy just being the two of us for a few days, but man were we excited to get back to our four little rascals.
Before heading out of town we stopped for brunch at a hole-in-the-wall seafood place Mark's brother, Brad, had seen on Food Network. It was called Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill .
Absolutely amazing! Thanks for the heads up, Brad! We had a fabulous five days!
Today was Sunday. We found a great ward to attend for church. Afterward we went to lunch at a little place in the Gas Lamp Quarter called Osteria Panevino,
a great little Italian place. We don't usually like to spend money on the sabbath, but ya gotta eat, right?
After that we went out to Torrey Pines Beach to walk. What a beautiful day!
There were so many great surfers out doin' their thing!
We went up to where the para gliders take off at this cliff way above the ocean. There wasn't a lot of wind so we didn't get to see any take off, but the view was amazing!
That night we had reservations at a place called Prado Restaurant at Balboa Park.
We decided we were still so full from lunch that we would skip it and go straight for dessert! We headed to our favorite ice cream place out on Coronado Island, Mootime Creamery.
Ice cream for dinner - heaven for me! What a fabulous day!
On this day we were able to go out with one of Mark's coworkers and her husband on their yacht! They took us on a 4 hour tour of the San Diego Harbor. It was so much fun!
We got to see all the different military ships that were docked in the harbor. Our amazing hosts knew all about each one.
On the top deck of this ship, a little to the left side of it, you may notice a person standing there. He actually had some kind of artillery aimed at each boat that passed (including us). No wrong moves from us...
That's the bridge going over to Coronodo Island in the background.
Their labradoodle, Abby.
The Star of India
A seal we saw pretending to be a shark (a lot of these seals would lay sideways in the water like that).
The inside of this boat was so amazing! It had 2 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, and living area, with a nice little deck out back. We stayed up above for most of the trip so we could see everything. Our hosts were so sweet! They brought lunch along and we had so much fun chatting and getting to know them better. They knew so much about San Diego (they come stay on their boat every other weekend). They invited us to do it again the next time we come with the kids. I know our kids would flip!
The beautiful Hotel Del Coronado
The name of their boat was Comfortably Numb. Before we left they gave us visors with the name embroidered on them. So cute!
After leaving the boat, we went to walk around at the Seaport Village. After being out in the sun all day we were exhausted, so we went back and had a nice nap at the hotel before getting ready for dinner.
Dinner was at Bertrand at Mister A's. Yet another amazing meal with a spectacular view! The restaurant sits on the 12th floor up on a hill overlooking all of San Diego and the bay.
They brought this out to us at the end of our meal.
We took these pictures on the restaurant terrace as the sun was setting.
You could see the pilot as the planes flew by!
After that we drove out to Coronado Island to walk on the beach in the moonlight - very romantic! I love these pictures we got on the Coronado side of the harbor looking back at downtown San Diego.
I love the way the moon was reflecting off the ocean in this photo - with the sailboats and the Coronado bridge in the background.
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