Friday, December 26, 2008

Friday, December 19, 2008

Our Chewy Dog

Chewy

I thought I’d write about our wonderful dog Chewy, since we had to put him down last night. It’s been really hard for our family losing our companion of 8 years. Eric and I adopted Chewy 8 years ago from the pound. There was a liter of little puppies and he was the only one that came right up to us. Eric knew he was our dog. Chewy was supposed to help calm our little Chynna dog down( which was my dog I had to have), but as you know nothing calms Chynna down. They got into so much trouble as puppies. They ate MANY of my expensive shoes, ate our couch, they literally dug a hole to China in the back yard ( sorry Granny and Gramps). But we still loved them and they loved us. Chewy helped me get through the struggles of not having children. He was always there by my side when I was sad. I loved when he would shake my hand and dance with me. He even made the Chewbacca noise from star wars…aaahhahahah, especially when we’d say, “Chewy want to go walkie”. It was so funny! Eric and Chewy would wrestle, but Chewy was always gentle and never wanted to hurt Eric…Chewy loved Eric best….Eric would call him Big Boy. Chewy always wanted to protect us, anytime a stranger or dog would come up to us he’d go right up to them with his intimidating bark. He was the BEST most loyal running partner I’ve ever had. He never needed a leash, he’d run right beside me. He’d watch me like a hawk to make sure nothing harmed me. While Chynna always got into mischief, Chewy never did. He’d always stay home to watch our house. The most amazing thing he did was, one day Sariah was riding her bike when the huge neighbor male dog knocked her down. Chewy got right between the dog and Sariah and grabbed that dog by the neck. I was horrified as the neighbor dog had Chewy by the neck and wouldn’t let go. The dog finally let go because Chewy would never back down. Chewy was injured badly. Chewy was willing to lay down his life to protect us. WE love Chewy and will never forget him. I know one day we’ll see him again. All Dogs go To Heaven, right? Although I’m very sad, I know he’s happy not being in pain anymore. He gave me one last kiss last night, I’ll never forget the love of that wonderful dog. We love you Chewy!!!

Love,

Momma

Thursday, November 20, 2008

We Celebrate National Adoption Month!!!

It’s National Adoption month, and LDS Family is encouraging all of us to get the word out about adoption. I thought I’d share our family’s adoption experience. It's a sad story with a very happy ending!!! There are thousands of more abortions in this country yearly then there are adoptions. Grandparents are raising their children’s children. Every child needs the opportunity to have a mother and a father. As, you can see, the family unit is unraveling in this country. There are so many wonderful families that are praying for children to come into their lives, we were one of those families.

Eric almost died when we were 17. I knew then that I would never let this wonderful guy go, and I I’d marry him someday. Eric and I had the perfect life, so in love and felt so blessed. One year after our marriage I had the first miscarriage. It was an awful experience and I was so glad to have Eric in my life. After 2 years of marriage I was pregnant again. One night early in the pregnancy I thought this one was over too. The pain was terrible. Eric gave me a blessing that our baby would live. I had instant peace come over me. It was a long 7 months, but we made it. Sariah Rose was born healthy at 4 lbs, the day after Thanksgiving. We had so much to be thankful for. 2 years after Sariah we were blessed to be pregnant again. This time everything was going smoothly. It was almost Christmas, actually the day before Christmas Eve. I felt an overwhelming feeling to go to the OB to check on our baby boy. It was just 2 Dr.s, and me and we couldn’t believe it, the baby was not moving. I felt like I was in a dream and I would wake up any minute. I drove myself home in so much pain and sadness. Eric met me at home and we packed to go to the Hospital to deliver our deceased baby boy. He did not want to come out; he was finally delivered the day after Christmas. I was a new person, this had changed us forever. I struggled with posttraumatic stress syndrome, for years. I fought so hard to get out of that miserable place. Through prayer, counseling, exercise, great friends and family, I was able to pull myself out from under that misery. After the death of our son we had two more miscarriages and lots of fertility treatment. We decided to go to one more Dr. for a second opinion. He looked at my chart and asked us if we’d ever consider adoption. That’s all we needed to hear to move on from that chapter of our lives.

Marcus:

When the word got out that we wanted to adopt it seemed like everyone had a baby for us. 2 private adoptions fell through. We were so sad. We decided to get certified through LDS Family Services. Sariah wanted a baby soooo bad. She would pray EVERY day for a sister. We’d even catch her praying in her room alone. Her faith was unbelievable!! She soon started telling her friends that I was going to have a baby. I was so offended when a mom asked if I was pregnant. I had a dream one night, that this woman was handing me her baby. I woke up thinking how real it felt. A week later on Mother’s Day we got the call. A birth mom had chosen us to adopt her baby boy. We drove down and met our birth mom, Brandy and her little baby boy. I felt like I knew Brandy. We were so grateful and humbled that she wanted us. Brandy said that our profile was on the very bottom of the stack, and right when she saw us she knew we were the ones. And as she read about our family it confirmed to her that we were the one. We took our little Marcus home the next day and he’s been such a blessing to our family. We’re blessed to have him sealed to us for time and all eternity, in the Sacramento temple when he was 7 months old. It was a beautiful day for our family. That beautiful place is where eternal families are made. He is ours forever!!!

Dominic:

Eric and I wanted to adopt again once our new house was complete. We had feelings for months that Brandy was pregnant again. I wanted her to know that she didn’t have to be ashamed in telling us. So, I posted on this blog that we wanted another baby. She emailed me a week later with the news that she was pregnant. Eric and I rushed to get certified to adopt once again. We were so excited to add another member to our family. Again we were humbled that Brandy wanted us again. We have all formed a great bond over the years. We love Brandy so much!! I was so honored and humbled that she wanted me in the room with her through the whole labor and delivery. I held her hand and tried to distract her from the pain. I couldn’t stop crying as I witnessed the birth of our little Dominic. He is the sweetest baby boy, so happy and sleeps too. We can’t wait to take him to the temple this March.

Adoption has blessed our lives so much! We are so grateful to have these 2 wonderful little boys in our lives. We are grateful for our Sariah, and what a strong, wonderful sister and daughter she is. Eric and I are more in love today than ever before. Our trials have made us stronger and grateful. We will never forget our baby boy. We celebrate Christmas, the day he returned to our Heavenly Father. We hang special ornaments on our tree for him. Sariah keeps his box in her room, filled with pictures and little clothes her brother once wore. She loves having his things near her, so she’ll never forget him. I’m sure our baby was there, welcoming my brother home last April. It gives me so much comfort and peace. We love our family and wouldn’t have it any other way. Families are forever!

Love,

Devon

Sunday, November 16, 2008

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY GRANDMA TINA



We hope you like your Christmas quilt. Mom just needs to finish the binding then we'll ship it. We love you very much!! We miss you soooo much too. Have the very best Birthday! Love, Sariah, Marcus, Dominic, Eric and Devon

Sariah's 7th Bithday!!!





Daddy and Marcus playing ball!

Cute little Domi!!

Our sweet little baby has grown so much! He's our biggest baby, the best sleeper and such a sweet baby!!





He's even cute when he's sad.