A couple of weeks ago I had the fantastic opportunity to go with Xander's scout troop on an overnight hiking trip. This was Xander's first backpacking campout, so we kept his pack relatively light at 22 pounds. We went to Fifth Water Hot Springs in Diamond Fork Canyon. The hike itself was beautiful. We went in about 3 miles with an elevation gain of about 800 feet, so not too steep. Once we set up camp, we enjoyed soaking in the natural spring water. It was a bit slimy, but lots of fun! Xander did very well and is excited to try some more aggressive trips with Dad and his older brothers later this summer. I love the outdoors!
Learning from the scoutmaster.
That's my hammock:)
I wish it could capture the beauty of the falls.
I love the snow capped mountains peeking out in the background!
The city of Bluffdale recently opened a brand new and beautiful park. It has great slides, swings and other playground equipment. It also has a huge splash park area. They located it conveniently about half way between our house and the home of my younger brother Tyler. We visited the park on a day that followed several days of heavy rain, so in addition to the splash park, there was a natural pond that kids had a blast playing in. Our kids loved meeting their cousins there.
On June 8, 2004, we lost the first of our little angel babies. The loss of Jacob Michael Green, and then Emily Anne a little over a year later, started us down a road that continues to amaze and bless us. Christi detailed the beginning of our adoption journey in a blog post a few years ago. If you're interested, you can read that post here.
Our two little ones born into the arms of God are buried in the Herriman cemetery. Here are some pictures of our most recent visit. Christi does a great job keeping their headstone adorned. I love the white theme she chose this Memorial Day.
The back and forth between Elli and me, as she attempts to destroy her piano and I attempt to make it destruction proof, has been well documented in this blog. I thought I had done a pretty good job. So many brackets in place. Mounted to the wall. Combination locks to keep the key cover open or closed. Pretty much every possible place she could use her fingers to pry something open was screwed shut. (I admit I finally just gave up on the bottom portion of the piano. She never uses the pedals, so their destruction was irrelevant. And the strings are too strong for her to break (I think?!?)). We had gone along without incident for weeks, perhaps even months. Then Elli found a new trick. She couldn't completely pull out the keys, because I had screwed in the long piece of wood that keeps them in place. But she found that if she pried up on the very front of the keys, she could snap them off right where the wood crossed the key. Awesome! She did this with five keys before we stopped her.
This is a significant problem, because it is pretty much impossible to get replacement keys for a 50 year old piano. We will try to glue them, but it's not a very promising prospect. Not to mention that once we restore her access to the keyboard, it will only be a matter of days before she starts snapping them off again. We are pretty sure of this because that is what she did to our $1500 digital keyboard when she was left unattended for a matter of minutes. Oh, Elli!
Notice the myriad brackets and locks keeping it shut until we can get the keys fixed.
Why play the piano when you can play ON the piano?
Every first weekend of June, Herriman hosts a PRCA rodeo. (If you read the post from yesterday, you'll realize the first weekend of June is a pretty busy one around here!) On Saturday afternoon, a lot of the people involved in the big rodeo volunteer at the Special Needs Rodeo. They give our kids a chance to ride horses, pet small livestock, ride on a hand-powered mechanical bull and enjoy other rodeo activities. Our kids LOVE this Saturday and several of them look forward to it all year. We are so grateful to all those who work together to put this on! They also give us tickets to the big rodeo that night. We have not been rodeo people in the past, but last year we took a couple of the younger kids and we really enjoyed. This year, seven of our ten kids went to the big rodeo. I think it's a fun new family tradition:)
Elli loved the bouncy horse!
Conner mostly loved the attention from all of the cowgirls!
Every June, Utah's Hogle Zoo hosts Dream Night at the Zoo. For three hours in the evening, the zoo is open only to kids with special needs and their families. This year I took Cali, Graci, Sophi, Lexi, Jesi, Xander and Conner, along with my nephew Ben and Jesi's friend, Erin. Chick-fil-A provides food and they have school mascots and Star Wars characters and face painting and princesses. It is really a fun night for the kids.
Off we go!
With Cosmo, BYU's mascot
This is the mascot for Rocky Mountain Raceway. He was clearly touched by Conner and Lexi.
Storm Troopers and bounty hunters!
About every 30 seconds Sophi found a new spot in which she absolutely HAD to be photographed. I've only included a small portion of these pics:)
Looks like she could reach out and pet him...
Aragog or Shelob? I guess it depends on which epic fantasy you prefer.
They thought it was pretty cool to be so close to a bald eagle!
These cuties spent most of the night on their own.
Xander wanted to capture this beautiful sunset.
Conner braves the lion's mouth for a drink of water
These two could be twins!
Conner surrounded by beautiful girls. He is very happy!
I'm a lucky dad to have all these fantastic kids to hang out with!!!
When we fell in love 24 years ago, we started down a path that has been challenging, exhausting, and breathtakingly beautiful. Here we chronicle the blessings and stressings of parenting some pretty amazing children. We think they're the perfect travel companions as we look forward to the next fork in the road. Welcome to our journey.
Our oldest by birth, he's the voracious reader, BYU fan, spiritual giant, sports nut, 4.0 student, huge-hearted ray of sunshine!
Parker Matthew--22
The red-headed social butterfly, he's our all-star athlete, top student, outdoor-loving, spunky second-born, with a heart of pure gold!
Jessica Anne "Jesi"--19
Our little princess with the big smile, Jesi loves fashion, friends, hanging with her siblings, and vacations. She sparkles!
Jacob Michael-- 6/8/2004
Little one of heavenly birth, born too soon to bloom on earth. You have taught us so much--we love you, Jacob!
Emily Anne "Emmy"--9/28/2005
Emily's exquisite little hands and feet have left their mark in this world. Her body was tiny, but her spirit enormous. We miss her!
Elizabeth Mei "Elli"--18
Elli's world may be dark, but she's the light of our lives! Lover of music, chocolate, and new toys, she fights a courageous battle with autism while bringing joy to all who know her!!
Gracelin Kate "Graci"--24
Showing true grace throughout her battles with heart disease and pulmonary hypertension, our Gracester is loved by everyone! She's smart, gorgeous, friendly, and has faith to move mountains!
Alexander Philip "Xander"--18
With a spunk and smile that could outmatch anyone's, our Xander has not let Cloves Syndrome get the best of him. He's a talented chef, a caring friend to MANY, our best helper, and is full of teenage humor.
Alexis Li "Lexi"--18
Meet the friendliest girl on the planet! Blind from birth, Lexi amazes all of us with her braille skills, determination, talents, but mosly by the way she spends her days SMILING. She is an angel in every way. We are thrilled to have our darling daughter home six years from China!!
Sophia Breanne "Sophi"--14
Her eyes called out to us from half-way around the world. Little Sophi is growing up and we would do anything to freeze her in time! She's beautiful, smart, and coy and can do amazing things with her toes! She has inspired people all around the world and we can't believe she is ours. Sophi = perfection.
Calais Rose "Cali"--22
Charming Cali joined our family in December of 2012. This girl is beautiful both inside and out. Born with spina bifida, Cali is confined to a wheelchair, but that does not keep her from enjoying life to the fullest. She is smart, opinionated, strong, and lovely in every way. She is a light in our family and a magnet for handsome young men!
Conner Allen-- 22
Meet our newest addition! Home nine years from China, Conner makes us wonder what we ever did without him. Blind from birth, he will blow you away with his incredible talent on the piano. He is sweet, witty, girl-crazy, kind and finally, OURS! We love you, Conner!
The Dog
Baxter-- 3 years
She begged and pleaded and wrote letter after letter telling us why she NEEDED a dog, and Sophi finally got her wish! Meet Baxter, the cutest mini-audssiedoodle on the planet.
