Ella's Temple Sealing

This temple has come to mean so much to us. We both got our endowments here (a time when you make a deeper committment as a follower of Christ), we were married here, we had Angie, Sunny, and Logan sealed to us here, and now we have had Ella sealed to use here. As we first walked into the temple I just felt such a wonderful Spirit there. We went over to the records office to make sure everything was scheduled correctly and we saw Bishop Crockett there. He is a man in our ward and he is a sealer at the temple, so we had asked him to perform the sealing for us. Right when I shook his hand I felt such an overwhelming testimony that this man was worthy to hold the priesthood and seal this baby to our family forever through Jesus Christ. It was very powerful, and it was real. I am so grateful for this beautiful blessing on the earth today!

Here we are right after the ceremony with our precious baby.
Grandma and Ella having some fun times
Grandma and Grandpa Neilson and Ella--don't you love the look on her face?
Our precious children--the older kids all were able to be there for the ceremony as well--the temple workers provided them all with white clothing and the girls even got to keep their beautiful white bows. Logan told us at first he was pretty scared, but when I saw him in the sealing room he just beamed up at me as if to say, "Mom, this isn't scary at all--it is awesome!!"

Beautiful Ella and Daddy outside the temple

Goofing around--Jacob and Trevor had a bunny ears face off that day.
Aunt Jennie can always get smiles from Ella!
Love it!
A few weeks ago at church I was gathering up all the kiddos and holding Ella and trying to get out to the car. As we are going past our home teacher he said to me, "And I can still remember when you didn't have any kids--Look at you now!" I jokingly said, "Yeah, be careful what you wish for huh?" but really, what more could we wish for? Don't get me wrong, out life is not a bed of roses, and motherhood is a daily learning experience for me, but wow are we blessed or what? When we first thought we couldn't have kids, it was such a heartache, and here we are with four beautiful children! We will always be so grateful to all those who have helped us in our adoption journey, and especially at this time Ella's beautiful birth family. It has truly been a miracle in our lives! Thanks everyone who came for supporting our family in this special day!

Whiting Reunion in Canero Springs

Here's the whole fam--even with our doggie Caspian--of course, I guess Hermione wasn't there , but that probably would have been horrible considering the number of dogs that came. Caspian had a great time running around with all the other dogs--and we were so happy that he stayed close by and always came when we called him--this was his first camping trip so I was bit worried to take him off the leash. These shirts were made by Kari--thanks so much!
Jacob and Bryant enjoying each other's company
The ones who started it all!
Look! Jack and I in a picture together! How exciting! Too bad we don't look a bit more excited about it ourselves.

Here's Ella getting all snug and ready for bed...

And here she is a little later--yeah--it worked!
Okay, this picture is hard to see, but Jack is up there in the tree--his crazy cousins made a zip line from one tree to another--you just had to basically jump out to do it--he did it, but he took his sweet time. Still, he's much braver than me!
Crazy kiddos in Grandpa's trailer!
Look--they must be related--they smile the same! They even both have cute cheeks. By the way, Ella looks all greasy because I had just applied sunblock.

Ella loved meeting her cousin Braden--they took turns lovingly attacking each other.

Angie and Tiffany decided that they could still be beautiful in the wilderness, so they did some facials.
See food Trevor??
Ready to camp Daddy!
Kari and I brought up some simple crafts for the kids to do.

Kari's parents let us use their quad--it was so nice of them--the kids had a great time and I did too! I had never ridden one before so that was fun. I felt like a motor cycle mamma riding off with my burly man or something.

Logan loved the helmets--a little too much though--we had to keep telling him to put them back or he wouldn't get another turn!
Aunt Tiff and Baby Ella enjoying some down time
Uh, didn't we take this same picture last year???? Yeah, getting all wet and muddy is soooo fun, until we have to wash off in the freezing stream! Yet, they still do it--I guess it must be worth it!
Love this pic--it shows how Ella is so on the move now--loving the exploration!

Welp, good job making it through all those--my sis-in-laws also posted from the same reunion on their sites if you are just dying to see more. It was a fun weekend and I am happy to say we had NO RAIN. Of course, the year I come totally prepared with rain boots and jackets and even waterproof pants for everyone, it doesn't rain! Still, I am okay with that. We made some good memories and got to know people better. Yeah for mountains, family, and nice weather!

Guess who's on the move??

Yep, she's a crawling--and she is one busy little gal! Since she finally transitioned from the "army crawl" to the real thing, she has been living it up!

One of her favorite places to crawl under--and this is her "frowny face," but she is actually playing with her new bottom teeth. :)
And just a few days ago, she started to do this--woah baby! She is a woman with a mission I tell ya--Is this exciting and fun? For sure. Is it a bit scary for Mom? For double sure! However, we really have enjoyed seeing this milestone happen, and Ella is so very pleased with herself you can't help but laugh when you watch her joy.
See what I mean?
Here's just a shot of the whole family at a recent ward luau potluck--sounds crazy, but the food was pretty good and we had a fire dancer to boot! Well, that's all for now.

Hike to Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park

The beginnings of this hike were not too promising because we took the WRONG TRAIL. We were with my cousin Rick and his family and all started going up this very NARROW trail that was VERY steep. ALso, we didn't hear any water. Finally it dawned on us that it was not right! I felt bad, but Rick and Fran were very positive about it they were like, well, at least we saw something pretty. So, we had to get one shot together...

So, unfortunately Rick and his family had to leave and catch their flight back to Calfornia, but we decided to still look for the right hike. We found it and started up the trail, baby and kiddos in tow.

Let's go Daddy!
Action shot
These were the lower falls, called Copeland Falls. Since it was a pretty short hike up to these, we decided to keep going and make it the higher ones. The weather was so nice and everywhere we looked there were more beautiful things to see. It was also fun to meet other hikers on the way, some from exotic places like New Jersey. Another couple came up to us and had very strong British accents. Jack was like, "So, where are you from?" I looked at him like, "Are you kidding me? Did you hear them talk??" Then, they said, in their lovely British voices, "Oh, we're from Texas."

SO pretty

Getting close with nature.
Dad's idea--what a mastermind photographer he is.
This bridge was great to play Poo Sticks on--of course Jack decided to use a LOG instead of a stick, which totally beat all of our sticks. But the theory didn't hold true the next time, when Angie tried the same thing. So, I have yet to learn the way to find a perfect Poo Stick.

Here we are when we finally made it to the bigger falls, or cascades. Most of the way we all cheerfully kept trecking along on this hike, but I must admit that toward the end there was one member of the fam (she will remain nameless, but her name starts with an S and ends with the center of the universe) who was having some trouble being, well, full of her namesake. Anyhow, we finally relented and told her that we would do a five minute break IF she promised not to complain anymore. That seemed to appease her and she kept her end of the deal. Now, before you start to think we are horrible slave driving parents, let me explain that this hike was barely 2 miles long. Yes, it was a bit uphill but it really wasn't too bad. AND, once we got to the top EVERYONE was happy we had done it. It was BEAUTIFUL, and the nice spray of water felt SO GOOD. The hike back was great, being all down hill.
Ella was amazed at it all......
And she obviously wore herself out with that little two mile trail.It was a great way to end our fun vacation, and we now officially want to live in the Rocky Mountain National Park, in the summer that is.

Protect Marriage

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints just issued this statement on its official website:

Preserving Traditional Marriage and Strengthening Families
In March 2000 California voters overwhelmingly approved a state law providing that “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” The California Supreme Court recently reversed this vote of the people. On November 4, 2008, Californians will vote on a proposed amendment to the California state constitution that will now restore the March 2000 definition of marriage approved by the voters.
The Church’s teachings and position on this moral issue are unequivocal. Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God, and the formation of families is central to the Creator’s plan for His children. Children are entitled to be born within this bond of marriage.
A broad-based coalition of churches and other organizations placed the proposed amendment on the ballot. The Church will participate with this coalition in seeking its passage. Local Church leaders will provide information about how you may become involved in this important cause.
We ask that you do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time to assure that marriage in California is legally defined as being between a man and a woman. Our best efforts are required to preserve the sacred institution of marriage.

We are very excited about a proposition to protect marriage that will be on the ballot in Arizona this November. Our friends, Mark and Marily, have some great information on their website about this issue. If you would like to learn more about how YOU can GET INVOLVED, simply link onto the Mark and Marily site under my family and friends link. (Sorry, I wish I was cool like the rest of you and could do that cool link thing--anyone want to give me lessons?) Back to the topic at hand--it is VERY RARE that the LDS Church will get involved and support a political issue, so we thought it was important enough to post about as well. We will keep praying and fighting to protect marriage in our state and country--we hope everyone else who reads this will as well.

P.S. More "non-political" and "less serious" posts to come. :)

Colorado Family Reunion

We had a wonderful time at a family reunion on my side this week. It was quite a drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, Colorado, but so worth it. We were able to see some relatives I hadn't seen in many years, and it was great fun to get catch up and meet some new kids as well. We stayed at the YMCA in Estes Park, and it was super--lots of fun stuff to do.

On the way up, we stopped and stayed with my old college roomie Angie (Strong) Johnson. It was great to bond again and share mom stories.
Her daughter Cassidy is a cutie pie!
Then we were off to the reunion! Here are a few highlights from the trip--there are WAY more pictures that this, and many more events, but blogs are not photo albums so I am just giving a sampling here.

My brother Danny and his family live in North Carolina, so they had yet to meet Ella. Krisztina and Alexandra both had a great time showering her with attention. We were pleasantly surprized to see how well she took to people--she just LOVED all the attention she got all week. Here's studly Logan rock climbing.
Truth be told, Angie was the real stud--she climbed all the walls to the top--she is so fearless! (P.S. Sunny the dreamer opted out of this and decided to enjoy the beauties of the area and bond with her little cousin Alyssa instead.)
My Mom was REALLY intent on winning this game. Unfortunately, I can't remember if her team did or not--good work though Mommy!
Did I mention that Ella enjoyed the attention she got all week?
I love this picture of Becky and Danny because they totally look like brother and sister! This was at our campfire and song night.

Aunt Mel with Ella--how sweet!
Oh my--can it be any more precious--this is my Great Aunt Evelyn--she is still very perky and lots of fun! Obviously her and Ella got along great!
Oh yeah--what's a campfire without "A Tooty Tah!"?
Here's another one of the games we played--the classic toothpick and lifesaver relay race.
Horsebackriding was really fun--they actually let us do some trotting, which they normally don't on these kinds of rides. Of course, bums were very sore the next day, but that's all part of the experience right?

The kids had never gone before, so I was happy to see they weren't scared of the horses or going up those sides of the mountain--their mom, however, was a bit wimpy. The wrangler had to ride in front of me when we went on steep parts to make sure I didn't faint!
Keep those doggies movin' cowboy!
Here's a few more pics of the campfire and song night. This is my sis-in-law Krisztina.
Here's Logan with Mel's boyfriend Matthew--he SO wants to learn guitar now!
Here's Ella enjoying nature. It was really cool because our back door went right out into a little hill with grass.

Here's a few excerpts from the family talent show. My cousin Kelly and her family did a cute dance number.
My cousins Molly and Cinnamon did a really fun talent--they played songs with Snapple bottles! This is my cousin JR and Melanie's boyfriend Matthew jamming out on the guitar. It was pretty good--and they just got it together while they were up at the reunion together!
My brother Danny surprised us--or at least me--by reciting a Shell Silverstein poem "Sara Silvia Cynthia Stout Wouldn't Take the Garbage Out." The kids loved it!
We also did some talent as well--the girls and I sang "Matchmaker" and Logan and Jack did "If I Were a Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof. Yeah, have the video but no pictures. It was fun though--overall just a great time with great people. We also went on a beautiful hike, but I want to do a separate post for that because I'm pooped and ready for bed. Thanks to everyone that helped and came to the reunion--it was AWESOME!