adopted

adopted, family, Izze, On A Personal Note

Adoption Day

SO many emotions right now! Last Monday, the 15th of March, Sarah’s (Jonathon’s ex-wife) parental rights were terminated. Some of you have followed our tragic story involving felony charges against Sarah and know that this step was necessary for the girls to be able to heal from all their trauma over the past nearly 10 […]
adopted, family, On A Personal Note

SO Grateful – We Have Our Miracle!

I am sitting here with tears running down my face! I am SO grateful today! Jonathon has received full custody of his girls today! If you have ever been involved in the “system” you will understand that this is a complete miracle. I want to express my deepest gratitude to the many of you that have […]
adopted, family, On A Personal Note

COURAGE

Courage has taken many forms and worn many faces over the years. We have stared death in the face 3 times with 2 of our sons, struggled through a job loss, moved 7 times, sent all three boys on 2-year missions, struggled with my health (involving multiple surgeries and lots of diagnoses that were very […]
adopted, home improvements, Izze

Izze’s Room!

Before Before – rather blah! My first attempt at vinyl – gotta admit – pretty much loving it! Growth chart and Japanese lanterns with the striped wall in the background Twin bed, striped wall, alphabet cards and my favorite wreath! Different angle, same view Toddler bed, vinyl, alphabet cards LOVE the cute alphabet cards (purchased […]

adopted Adoption Day SO many emotions right now! Last Monday, the 15th of March, Sarah’s (Jonathon’s ex-wife) parental rights were terminated. Some of you have followed our tragic story involving felony charges against Sarah and know that this step was necessary for the girls to be able to heal from all their trauma over the past nearly 10 […]

adopted SO Grateful – We Have Our Miracle! I am sitting here with tears running down my face! I am SO grateful today! Jonathon has received full custody of his girls today! If you have ever been involved in the “system” you will understand that this is a complete miracle. I want to express my deepest gratitude to the many of you that have […]

adopted COURAGE Courage has taken many forms and worn many faces over the years. We have stared death in the face 3 times with 2 of our sons, struggled through a job loss, moved 7 times, sent all three boys on 2-year missions, struggled with my health (involving multiple surgeries and lots of diagnoses that were very […]

adopted Izze’s Room! Before Before – rather blah! My first attempt at vinyl – gotta admit – pretty much loving it! Growth chart and Japanese lanterns with the striped wall in the background Twin bed, striped wall, alphabet cards and my favorite wreath! Different angle, same view Toddler bed, vinyl, alphabet cards LOVE the cute alphabet cards (purchased […]

adopted Together Forever! So I am super bummed that things were so chaotic and we did not get any “family pics” while we were all at the temple. Also, if the expression of my religious beliefs is not of interest to you – just look at pics and avoid the text… It is NOT my intention to shove […]

adopted “Judge Not” In December, after being “paralyzed” for four months (and not working) I knew something had to give. Legal fees were mounting (we hit $45K in December) and I was feeling completely overwhelmed. David and I had been debt-free (except for our home) for many years and the amount of debt we had accumulated over the […]

adopted Doubt Not, Fear Not Loving on my girl one more time Don’t love this one, but it shows me on the saddest day of my life – still can’t look at this and not cry all over again! Sarah’s mom and I saying good-bye in the parking lot Sarah’s mom and brother Alex and I as the reality of […]

adopted Happy B-day Sweet Izze Our sweet grand daughter Izze turns 1 today!!!! Sure do love that cute girl! And she is loving the b-day present from grandma and papa. Soooo happy to have her as a permanent member of our family!

adopted Refinement – Physical – Post #1 This is the first installment in a series that will follow over the next many months about our experience of assisting our son Jonathon and his wife Sarah adopt Izze. Hardest experience of my life, but also life-changing. I hope reading about our experience will touch you in some way and that you might gain […]

adopted Our “Happily Ever After” Begins Today is our long awaited day! The finalization of the adoption of Izze that has been nearly a year in the making. It feels so surreal…. I am overwhelmed with a deep sense of gratitude and feel so indebted to the many family members and friends who have supported us over the last year. It […]

adopted Side Tracked For those of you who, along with us, have anxiously been awaiting my promised update/announcement promised for the 11th – we have been side-tracked (seriously derailed) and hope to be able to make said announcement on the 29th. I believe the Lord is trying to teach me patience and faith in His timing. I have […]

adopted Huge Update/Announcement Coming May 11th For those of you who have been waiting for an update – please check back on May 11th for an exciting update/announcement. Thank you all for your prayers on our behalf and for the love and support you have extended. We love you!

adopted Update Just FYI – due to pending litigation I am unable to give much in the way of details on baby Izze. We did go to court today – just a bunch of nothing once again. We do not have another hearing for a month. Not really seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, […]

adopted Izze-Our Miracle Many of you have been following our rather emotional roller coaster ride as my youngest son and his wife have been trying to adopt baby Izze – I want to share our very own little miracle that happened yesterday….In the middle of fighting to adopt baby Izze, Jonathon and Sarah have also been providing care […]

adopted Bandaids Writing feels therapeutic right now, so here are my thoughts today……I keep thinking back to when my children were young and they got an “owie”. I could scoop them up on my lap, wash their cut, put on just the right sized bandaid, and hug their hurt away. I would give anything to go back […]

adopted Baby Izze Update 5 I am not a writer and I don’t know if it is possible to put down on paper my feelings, but I must try…My heart has fractured into a million pieces. Baby Izze was placed in the birth mother’s custody today following a court hearing. Last Thursday, that same judge ruled that to place the […]

adopted Baby Izze Update 4 The kids went to court yesterday and were met with the birth mom and her attorney. Unfortunately we are going to have a fight on our hands. I cannot even begin to comprehend what is going through the birth mom’s mind and where her heart is right now. I feel an enormous amount of compassion […]

adopted Baby Izze Update 3 SAD day! Izze’s birth mom is contesting relinquishing her parental rights. We are still dealing with major GI issues due to her birth mom’s drug usage – including cocaine usage through 6-8 weeks prior to Izze’s delivery. It seems surreal to me that she would really do this – I feel like it is […]

adopted Our Little Izze! My son Jonathon and his wife Sarah have been married for two years and thus far, have been unable to conceive. This is a brief version of a very long story and how life can be wonderful and miraculous….Sunday morning, June 12, 2011, about 8:30 Izzebel entered the world in one heck of a hurry! […]

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