If Only For A Little While

If you haven't seen Disney's "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" yet, I highly recommend it. Shane and I saw it opening week and I have since seen it again with BFF Jenny. I would go again right now if someone asked me to, and I would take a packet of Kleenex and go through the entire thing. Again. We will absolutely own this movie when it comes out on DVD. Not only was it filled with beautiful, pertinent messages for all of us (in my opinion), it hit really close to home in a tender way for someone entrenched in the world of adoption, foster care, infertility, etc. It was validating and sweet for me to have my Jenny friend cry with me.  

(I love you Jenny!!)

My birthday came and went earlier this month, a couple of weeks after seeing the movie with Shane. When he presented me with my belated birthday present a couple of days after my birthday, I had been having a crummy day. I was frustrated and irritated and not ready to come out of my cave about it. I was still trying to process things following our first foster care placement coming and going. My emotions were all over the place and I was trying to pinpoint how I even felt about it all. I reluctantly began to open a package to find this custom necklace created by my dear friends of The R House Couture:

At first I just saw the leaves and thought they were really unique and beautiful. I knew they reminded me of something. Shane connected the dots for me: Timothy Green. I pushed the leaves back to see the words stamped into the necklace. Shane was inspired by the following quote from the movie: 

(SPOILER ALERT: if you haven't seen the movie yet, this might be a bit of a spoiler!) 

If you came to me and said 'there are two people in the world who want you more than anything; they'll do their best, they'll make some mistakes, and you'll only get them for a short time, but they will love you more than you can ever imagine.' Well, when that's true, I'd say 'so much is possible.'

My husband explained how he wanted me to be able to have something that would help remind me, and help me to explain to others, why we were pursuing foster care. I seriously crumbled, weeping, into Shane's arms and my walls came crashing down. After a while I managed to get out a few very sincere words between sobs about how thoughtful and perfect a gift it was.

After we saw "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" together, but before our first foster placement, Shane and I had discussed how difficult it was to explain to anyone why we felt compelled to become foster parents. I think it's clear to everyone around us that we already have our hands plenty full. We get comments about it all the time. We feel it daily. And yet, somewhere deep in our hearts, we have known for several years that foster care was in our future. We have always known it wouldn't be easy but that we were meant to find our way onto that path when the time was right.

I recently read this post and found that it helped put into words some of my thoughts and feelings better than I think I can express.

Thank you Kim, Leisha, and Lindsey for helping Shane to create my new favorite piece of jewelry!  The R House Couture has added a new "if only for a short time" necklace to their shop. 

You can find it by clicking here.

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News

It's been a while. (Understatement of the year.) We thought the proper way to make a comeback would be to make a big, official announcement or two. Let's not beat around the bush about it either.

We are entering the world of foster care. We are committed to helping children who need love, and a place to live, no matter how short or long their stay may be.

And...

We've renewed our adoption certification. We are hoping to grow our family once again through adoption, whether through foster care or private adoption.

We are the tiniest bit nervous and a whole lot excited to be taking this next step in our lives and we are grateful for your unconditional support and love! The kids (at least the older two) have been pretty involved in our decision making throughout this preparation period and they have responded very positively. They understand that we are hoping for another brother or sister and that while we wait to see who will come to our family, we might get to help take care of some babies who need love and a place to live for a while but may not necessarily join our forever family. So there you go. We're officially back. How's that for news?

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Adoption Spotlight - Jill & Tyler

Jill & Tyler, and their boys are a happy and loving family in Arizona that is excited to add to their family through adoption.
You can find out more about them by visiting their online profile.

From Jill:

A year and a half ago I had some medical problems that resulted in my hysterectomy.

I struggled with this decision because I didn't feel our family was complete. After much prayer and fasting this was still a struggle because medically this decision was being made for me and I didn't want to accept it. Reality was I didn't have any other options. Physically I could not carry a baby even if for some reason I got pregnant. Finally I had to come to terms with this loss and move forward. I had been doing a pretty good job of convincing myself that we were done. I was grateful for the three boys we had, they are a huge blessing, how could I ask for more. No more diapers, potty training, sleepless nights - we are good, our family is complete!

As hard as I tried to convince myself that our family was complete I knew in my heart it was not. There was another little spirit that was meant to bless our home. I would look at pictures of our family and feel like someone was missing. I would see little boys holding their little baby sister and it would make my heart ache. I wanted a little girl to share things with, play dolls, do her hair, play dress up, have the amazing friendship I have with my mom. I wanted Tyler to experience the love of a daughter. There is a special bond between a daddy and his little girl. I have loved having three brothers to look after, protect, and love me. They are better men today because they learned at a young age how to treat girls and have respect for women. Not that my brothers wouldn't have learned this on their own from my parents, but there is an eternal bond that exists with siblings and I want my boys to have that blessing. Even though I still felt like someone was missing, I didn't have a way for that baby to get here. It has made me really reflect on how precious a gift it is to be able to bring spirits, babies into this world. It is something that I took for granted because I COULD, I brought three incredible boys into this world but now I CAN'T, I no longer have that precious gift.

Awe, but maybe we do...

Tyler and I started talking about the idea of adoption. We have fasted and prayed a great deal about this because to us this is a HUGE responsibility, and a HUGE blessing! Yes, this baby may not physically look like Tyler and I, but we feel that spiritually there is a baby meant to come to our home. It hit me the other night as I was reading a blessing I was given. I have read this blessing a hundred times and this phrase has never had any significance until that day. It said "You were saved until this time to be born to wonderful parents" It hit me and I started to cry...

My feelings were always such: If I was supposed to have another baby, it would have come in one of the six miscarriages I had. It wasn't until that moment that I realized, THAT spirit wasn't supposed to come to the earth at that time. But it is NOW. I can't bring it here, but someone else can...through the miracle of adoption.

We are excited about what the future holds. Our boys are so excited to be big brothers, to take care and love a little sister. Our youngest tells me every time we go to the store, "mommy, I want to buy this for our baby. She will like it." They look forward to helping her explore this life and protecting her along the way. We feel that the Lord has and will continue to guide us, and you, in this journey according to His will.

From Tyler:

The delivery of our second son, Kaden, was especially traumatic and left Jill with a broken back, dislocated hips, tons of pain, and she ended up developing adenomyosis - essentially tumors were growing and causing even more pain. Luckily, we were able to have one more child on our own and Ashton was born a few years later. After Ashton was born the pain and health problems increased until medically Jill finally had to have a hysterectomy.

When Jill came out of surgery she woke up sobbing and crying about her baby. She was crying "I want my baby". At the time I thought it was very strange since she wasn't pregnant at the time. But, it made me realize that our family was not complete. It was clear to me that there was still another spirit destined to come to our family, and maybe she had had an interaction with that spirit while she was in surgery.

Since we have three boys we've decided to try and adopt a girl. Jill has a very special relationship with her mom - in a way that I've never seen before. I can't wait to see her have that same relationship with a little girl in our family.

When Jill & I started looking into adoption, I realized we were completely naive (and probably still are) about the process, the potential pitfalls, and the emotional ups and downs. But, after talking with many people who have been adopted and others who have adopted, we are both more excited than ever. I can’t wait to hold our baby girl in my arms.

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Adoption Spotlight - Holly and Aaron

Holly & Aaron, are a wonderful family in Utah that is excited to add to their family through adoption.
You can find out more about them by visiting their online profile.

Help them spread the word that they are hoping to adopt. Add their adoption button to your own blog by copying the code below into an html gadget in your blog layout.

<center><a href="https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/24200015/ourMessage.jsf" target="_blank"><img alt="Hoping to Adopt" src="http://meganandshane.com/images/hollyaaronbutton.jpg" border="0" /></a></center>

We are Aaron and Holly. We were married in 2004 and since then we have played hard, worked harder, and learned to love deeply. We have lived in Utah for most of our married life and we were thrilled when we were able to move into our first home in 2005 where we currently live with our dog Goldie. We love to travel, and even though we don't have any children yet, one of our favorite vacation spots is Disneyland. We enjoy being outdoors, and we're so grateful that the mountain is basically in our back yard. During the summer, we regularly take Goldie up into the mountain to hike, nature watch and just enjoy this beautiful earth that has been created for us.

From Aaron: Holly is an animal lover to the core and wants to cuddle every puppy and chinchilla from here to the coast. In fact, when we were preparing to move into our home five years ago, we went to do the final walk through before we signed the papers. The previous owners had moved out, but their animals were still there. Rhonda, the previous owner, said that she was trying to find new homes for them but wasn't having any luck. She said that if she couldn't find a home for them by the end of the week, she'd take them to a shelter. Holly would have none of that. She looked at me with panic in her eyes and said “We have to take them! Can we keep them, please?” I couldn't turn her down. We often joke that Thomas, the old tomcat, and Goldie, our sweet little dog, were perks included in the closing costs. Holly is also an avid reader and cruises through books of varying genres whenever she can, and she's a great storyteller. One of her favorite pastimes involves working with the youth in the ward, specifically with the Young Women, and she has had countless precious moments with them through the years as she has planned and prepared Girl's Camp and weekly activities and lessons for them. Her other hobbies include primitive stitching, cooking elaborate meals, and bringing joy to all who come near her.

From Holly: I think Aaron is going to make a great father. He's patient and kind, adventurous and funny. Like me, Aaron also enjoys reading. However, unlike me, he loves it when it rains or snows and often tries to prod me out of the nice warm (and dry) house to play outside when it's decidedly NOT sunny and warm. Music is incredibly important to Aaron. He sings, he plays the piano, trombone and bass guitar. When he was a teenager, he dreamed that he would, someday, have his own grand piano. A few years ago, we were able to make that dream come true for him! It's been such a blessing as Aaron fills our home with beautiful music in any spare minute he can find. He plays anything from hymns to Beethoven, to some funky rock and roll! Aaron is also crazy about computers. I'm pretty sure he could make a computer sing and dance if he really wanted to. Fortunately for him, his career allows him to play on the computer all day! He loves it and because of that he has excelled quickly.

Families are essential to us, we value our families and their support a great deal and we look forward to a time when our family will grow to include a precious spirit sent from our Father in Heaven. Our struggle with infertility has been full of tears; however, as we have struggled, we have been strengthened by the Lord; our love for each other has grown deep and strong and we have learned that there are many ways that Heavenly Father puts families together.

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Spotlight Saturday - Kathryn & Jeff

Jeff & Kathryn, are a wonderful family in Georgia that is excited to add to their family through adoption.
You can find out more about them by visiting their website or online profile.

Help them spread the word that they are hoping to adopt. Add their adoption button to your own blog by copying the code below into an html gadget in your blog layout.

<center><a href="http://kathrynandjeffadoption.blogspot.com/" target=" target="><img alt="Hoping to Adopt" src="http://meganandshane.com/images/jeffkathryn.jpg" border="0" /></a></center>

We met a few summers ago on a humanitarian service trip to Guatemala, and we were inseparable from the start. At the end of summer, Kathryn moved to Washington, DC for a new job, and Jeff joined her there a few months later. After dating a bit longer, we were married on a beautiful, sunny day the following summer. We returned to Utah for Jeff to finish his undergraduate degree and then moved to Los Angeles so Jeff could attend graduate school. We recently settled in beautiful, friendly Atlanta, Georgia and we love it here!

Jeff spent most of his childhood in Utah except for 2 exciting years when his family moved to Hawaii. His mom passed away when he was 11-years-old and his dad did an amazing job raising Jeff and his 4 younger siblings as a single parent until getting remarried when Jeff was 18. Jeff’s new mom and her 3 daughters fit in perfectly and now all 10 of them are as close as any family could ever be. Jeff is outgoing and such a kid at heart. He can make Kathryn laugh till she cries and has a knack for making others feel special – he is genuinely interested in and cares about so many people. Kathryn adores him and feels so lucky to be his wife! His goal is to “save the world” and he’s currently working as a public health analyst for the federal government.

Kathryn and her 3 younger sisters – who are also her best friends – were raised in Utah by wonderful, loving parents. She has such fun memories of her childhood and thinks she has the best family in the world. Everyone Kathryn meets is instantly drawn to her cheerful personality. Jeff thinks she is incredibly thoughtful, intelligent, clever, loving, and fun to be around. Her job as an accountant is challenging and has allowed her to meet many interesting people, but Kathryn looks forward to being a stay-at-home mom and can’t think of anything more fun than trips to the park, bike rides around the neighborhood, and making cookies!

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Spotlight Saturday - Rob & Tamara

Rob & Tamara, and their boys, Spencer and Tyler, are a wonderful family in North Carolina that is excited to add to their family through adoption.
You can find out more about them by visiting their online profile.

Help them spread the word that they are hoping to adopt. Add their adoption button to your own blog by copying the code below into an html gadget in your blog layout.

<center><a href="https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/14238604/ourMessage.jsf" target=" target="><img alt="Hoping to Adopt" src="http://meganandshane.com/images/robtamara.jpg" border="0" /></a></center>

We met in Junior High School but our love story did not begin until our paths crossed at church fourteen years ago. Our first date was a three hour drive to a play with a group of our friends. After the play and trip home, we did not want to end the date so we headed to the local waffle house for a 3:00 a.m. breakfast. Our relationship strengthened when we went to another church function at a cabin in the mountains and found ourselves more interested in spending time together than spending time with our other friends who were with us. That night we went on a hike together and then stayed up all night talking. Ten months later we were married. We celebrated our twelfth anniversary this year and can’t believe how quickly the time has gone. We have enjoyed the blessing of three children and experienced the sorrow of our daughter returning home to heaven. Through our experiences we have been a rock for each other and our love has continually grown. We can't imagine ever being apart. No matter what we experience, we have learned to enjoy the little things in life. We have also learned to work together in all we do. Rob brings humor and calmness to our marriage and Tamara brings adventure and fun. This combination helps us recognize and enjoy all the wonderful things life has to offer.

We know our family isn’t complete and that another child will join our family through adoption. We are excited and anxiously waiting for this moment to arrive. We look forward to enjoying family vacations and time together at home, so we can create lasting family bonds and memories. Our extended family is very supportive and excited about this child coming to our home. They too feel love for you and your family. A child touches everyone no matter how long they are with you. We know this because of the impact Alyssa made on our lives.

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Spotlight Saturday - Eric & Julie

Eric & Julie, and their boys are a wonderful family in Utah that are excited to add to their family through adoption.
You can find out more about them by visiting their online profile.

Help them spread the word that they are hoping to adopt. Add their adoption button to your own blog by copying the code below into an html gadget in your blog layout.

<center><a href="https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/23746214/ourMessage.jsf" target=" target="><img alt="Hoping to Adopt" src="http://meganandshane.com/images/ericjuliebutton.jpg" border="0" /></a></center><br />
Julie's thoughts on Eric

Eric and I have been married for 14 1/2 years. We met while attending Ricks college and it was love at first sight. We dated for a few short months and then we were married for time and all eternity in the San Diego Temple. I never dreamed then, how much I could grow to love and admire and respect Eric. He is the man of my dreams. He is my rock, the steadying force in my life. Not only is my best friend, he is the one that I can count on always. He is a worthy priesthood holder and honors that priesthood to its fullest. He is the type of father that I always dreamed of for my children. The boys love it when daddy comes home. He is not afraid to get on the floor and play with them. He teaches them through his example how to work, how to serve, how to treat women and how to love. I could not have asked for a better husband or father.

Eric's thoughts on Julie

Julie is someone who gives anything for anyone. She gives her whole self to anyone in her family. She is the glue in the family; she keeps us all together. She is someone who loves easily and is loved easily. She will do something for her children before herself. She is someone who is a great example to me of how I need to be. She is patient, loving, caring and the best mom and wife I could ever ask for. She is someone we all enjoy being around and feeling of her love. I love her with all my heart, more now than when we married.

We are very active in our church. We are always finding ways to serve those in our ward and neighborhood and are trying to teach our boys through example to do the same. Andrew, our oldest, is 9 years old. He is musically talented, athletic, and loves to watch sports with his Dad. Josh is 5 years old. He loves Kindergarten, playing with his cousins and friends, and spending time outside. Alex is our 4 year old. He is independent and loves his brothers.

As a family we love to spend time together. We love our Friday night movie night together at home, going up to the canyon and roasting marshmallows, camping, boating, going on bike rides and, of course, bowling on the Wii! Anything that allows us to spend time together as a family is what we like to do. Eric and I also take the time to spend time as a couple. We know the importance of this and so we take the time to go out on dates. We strive to attend the Temple once a month together and to teach our boys the importance of this.

We love our family and strive to teach them and raise them to be stalwart sons. We have been privileged to be part of the adoption process 2 times before. All 3 of our boys have been placed in our home through the loving, selfless, sacrifice of birth parents who have only wanted what is best for their children. Our boys know that they came to our family through the miracle of adoption. We tell them the story of how much their birth parents loved them and so they placed them in our homes. We still communicate with Josh and Alex's parents through e-mail and send them pictures and updates. Andrew's adoption was closed but he does have a picture of his birth mom that we share with him as questions arise. Adoption to us is a miracle, an act of love, a gift that we could not give ourselves.

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Spotlight Saturday - Lindsay & Brian

Brian & Lindsay are a wonderful family in Oregon that are excited to add to their family through adoption.
You can find out more about them by visiting their online profile or blog

Help them spread the word that they are hoping to adopt. Add their adoption button to your own blog by copying the code below into an html gadget in your blog layout.

<center><a href="https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/25240818/ourMessage.jsf" target=" target="><img alt="Hoping to Adopt" src="http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee438/lindsaystorrs/AdoptionButton.jpg" border="0" /></a></center><br />

We are so excited that you are taking the time to get to know us a little better! We like to say our family is a miracle since we became a family of three through adoption. Our little boy, Van, was the miracle we’d spent years hoping and praying for and he has truly brought light and joy into our lives. We have been eternally blessed by his birth family. Our hearts are full with love for our son, but we also feel that someone is missing. We are now hoping and praying for another miracle.

ABOUT US

BRIAN (written by Lindsay)

Brian is truly my better half. He is patient, kind, generous, handsome and hilarious. The perfect combination! He is always doing little things to surprise me. We love spending time together and often stay up too late just talking. We love to travel and have had many great adventures together but the best by far is parenthood. Brian is an amazing father, the kind every kid should have. I often sit back and just watch as father and son laugh and play together. I have been impressed with how much he loves Van and how involved he is with every aspect of his life. I’m lucky to call him my husband.

LINDSAY (written by Brian)

Lindsay is a wonderful wife and mother. I love her completely and I consider myself lucky to have her. I am impressed with her daily – she can do anything. Lindsay is smart, beautiful, capable, and fun. She is great with our son and I can’t wait to see her as a mother of two. Being parents has brought us even closer together while bringing a new level of happiness to our lives. We have a lot of fun together and over the years we have had some incredible experiences.

VAN

Van is the sweetest, smartest little boy ever (at least we think so). We actually have many friends asking to babysit him! In typical toddler fashion he is curious about everything and is learning new things every day. He has loved books from the beginning and he often runs to snuggle on the couch and read with us. Our busy boy is always on the go and makes us laugh all day long. Every time we ask him if he wants a new baby for our family he says “Yah”! We think he is going to be a fantastic big brother!

OUR FAMILY

Having a teacher for a dad and a stay-at-home mom means Van gets a lot of family time. Summers and holiday breaks are filled with family activities. We love the outdoors and living in the Northwest provides plenty of opportunities for us to get out and have fun. We like to camp, hike, ride bikes, explore the tide pools at the coast, and go on road trips. One of our favorite places is the zoo (we have season passes), but wherever we are, we are laughing and having fun. It is so hard to describe our family in only a few paragraphs. Visit our blog at ourfamilyisamiracle.blogspot.com or if you would like to contact us we would love to tell you more and answer any questions.

ABOUT ADOPTION

We still have so much love to give and we long for another child. Our son is our entire world and we will love our next baby in the same way. We enjoy an open adoption with our son’s birthparents and we would like to have the same with our next child's birthparents. We pray every day that our family will get to experience another miracle and have a sweet new baby join our family.

With Love,

Brian, Lindsay, and Van

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