KIDFEST JULY 2008

We survived kidfest 2008...Yeah! Starting Thursday night we had at least one kid with us until Saturday night. Our nephew Nathan started off kidfest and stayed with us until Saturday. When he heard Rich was going to play Wii Mario Kart with Doug (Rich's brother) who lives in Oregon he wanted to play too. Thursday night Rich called Doug and arranged to play Mario Kart over the internet. Rich, Doug, Nathan, and our other nephew Ian played Mario Kart for about a hour together. They had fun and I enjoyed watching them race.

On Friday Nathan was still visiting and we were joined by a few more. Our two nieces, Bella and Lily, and our nephew Kobie hung out with us for a while, so their parents could go to the temple. I was alone with all four kids for a little over a hour before Rich showed up. I have to admit I was a little nervous being alone with all of them, but it was fine and everyone had a good time. Lily the youngest loved Luca and Mo. She wanted to play with both of them. Bella and Kobie had fun feeding Mo pumpkin flowers. When Dave and Jessica got back from the temple we all went out to eat at Superb Burger (one of our favorite local burger joints). We had a nice meal and the kids were able to have fun because nobody else was in the restaurant.

On Saturday Nathan was joined by his sister Rachel while their mom went to the temple. Nathan and Rachel played some Lego Star Wars and Metroid for a little while. We then went in the backyard to cool down in our swimming pool (kiddie pool). The kids had a lot of fun walking around and around to make a whirlpool with Rich. They also loved having Luca in the pool. After drying off we went back inside to play, what else, the Wii. We played Mario Party 8 until Sherrie came to pick up Rachel and Nathan.

Saturday night Rich and I relaxed!! We were pretty tired and enjoyed the peace and quiet. We treated ourselves to pizza and watched Monk season 6 on DVD. It was great to spend time with our nieces and nephews. We appreciate the great amount of energy their parents must have to keep up with them. They are all wonderful kids and we love them very much. And to the rest of our nieces and nephews that we haven't seen in a while...we love you too.

Crepes for Breakfast

I have been wanting to make crepes for a while now, so yesterday we bought a crepe pan. Last night we made the batter because it was suppose to chill over night. We also made the mascarpone-ricotta filling, so everything would be ready for this morning. I carefully read the directions for making crepes, because they seemed so difficult to make, and then we started. I found it was actually really easy. I just needed to make sure I used 2 spatulas for flipping and everything was fine. We made about 1 dozen crepes, then filled them with the mascarpone-ricotta filling and topped them with fruit. Rich put peaches and blackberries on his and I just had peaches. Rich really enjoyed his crepes...especially the Italian filling. I ate about one and had to stop. I'm not sure what it was, but with the filling, it was just too much for me. I decided I like crepes, but not stuffed. I enjoy them with just some powdered sugar sprinkled on top. I think we will make them again and Rich will eat his stuffed and I will eat mine plain.

Puzzle Crazy

This week we have been a little puzzle crazy. A few weeks ago an area leader in our church gave us a challenge to not watch TV or listen to worldly music for a week to help us to quiet ourselves and have the opportunity to feel the spirit more. We decided to accept the challenge and started last Sunday. It has been an interesting and great week. We have found that we spend more time talking and being able to mediate and think. We have also found time for other activities like puzzles. We usually do a couple puzzles a year, but this last week we have done two. We finished one we started a couple weeks ago then started a new one that we are pretty much done with. We really like the challenge of puzzles and it gives us more time to talk.

The challenge has not been easy, but it has been worth it. We have enjoyed more peace and quiet in our home and lives. We have also found that doing a puzzle after a long hard day of work is relaxing, but still requires us to use our brain. I think we will try to keep up with our new challenge and limit our TV and find more productive or stimulating things to do...it just feels good.

Luca Loves Pizza

Earlier this week we had Round Table Pizza...YUMMY!! We usually get Round Table once a month as a treat to ourselves. Lately, we have been getting the Chicken Garlic Gourmet pizza. At first I wasn't sure if I would like it, but now I love it. I have learned I just need to be a little more daring and try new foods because I sometimes I find things I love...chicken garlic pizza and avocados.

Luca also loves when we get Round Table Pizza. As soon as Rich walks in the door with it he goes crazy. He jumps up and down and seems to know what we are having. We don't give him his own piece, but we do give him a little bit of ours. This last time we thought it would be interesting to see what he would do if we put the empty box on the floor. He went up to it immediately, got it open, and started to lick the crumbs. He is a funny dog and loves to eat. He will eat pretty much everything and always wants more.

Luca Goes for a Swim

This weekend we decided it was hot enough to get into the pool...our kiddie pool that is. Rich got it all ready and then we stuck our feet in to cool off. We thought Luca might like the water too. He is always trying to get into the river when we go for walks, but he wasn't as excited about getting into the pool. At first, we tried to coax him in on his own by putting his favorite outside toy in the pool, but that didn't work. We then resorted to picking him up and putting him in. The first few times he immediately swam to the edge and got out. He then avoided and ran away from us because he knew what we were up too...that was pretty funny. Eventually, he was getting in the pool by himself and he stayed in it for a while when Rich and I both had our feet in it. I think once Luca got used to it he kind of liked it.Luca looking at his ball in the pool...He looks so sad, but so cute.

RICH AWAKENED BY THE PAGER (re-enactment)

4th of July Weekend

We hope everyone had an exciting 4th of July! Ours was pretty boring and uneventful, but that is okay. I wasn't feeling very well and Rich had the pager from work, so we weren't up for much excitement. Unfortunately for me, I have had hives for about 3 weeks. I look like I was attacked by mosquitoes and itch like crazy. We are unsure if the hives are from an allergy or stress. I have a doctors appointment on Tuesday, so hopefully I will know more then. On top of the hives I got Rich's cold, so for most of the weekend I rested and soaked in oatmeal baths for the hives.

Rich spent his holiday answering pages for the office. He usually doesn't have the pager and doesn't mind taking it once in a while to help out Dr. Quinto. Most of the calls he answered were for nursing home patients, so it wasn't too bad. We were surprised by the number of calls he got on the 4th. It seemed liked the pager didn't stop.

Eventhough, it sounds like we had a crummy holiday weekend we didn't. We actually enjoyed hanging out at home together. Sometimes it is nice to just be together and relax. We had fun playing with Luca, watching some Food Network, and playing the Wii.

Mystery Solved!

This week our mystery daylily bloomed. We were hoping for something a little more exotic and exciting, but we are happy with the light red color. We don't know the name of it and probably never will. Rich thinks our daylily looks a lot like the daylilies around the Sacramento Temple and that makes us happy because we love the temple.

Mo Enjoying the Garden

Summer is Mo's favorite time of year. He loves to eat the fresh squash, pumpkin, and cucumber leaves. He also enjoys a variety of flowers from our yard. The other day we fed him one of our Hibiscus flowers. We are probably the only people you know that mow around our dandelions and encourage them grow (only in our backyard) because Mo loves them.

Hot Dog Taste Test

I really enjoy the Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines and the America's Test Kitchen t.v. show all done by the same people. The magazines and show give great step-by-step instructions to different recipes and they test everything you would need to cook (food brands, kitchen gadgets, pots, pans, etc.). Also, all the recipes in the magazines and on the show have been tried many times to get it just right, so it takes all the guess work and ruined dishes out of the equation.

A couple months ago I read in one of the magazines the findings from the hot dog test taste. Rich and I thought this was interesting and thought we would have a taste test of our own. We tried 2 of the recommended hot dogs from the list: Nathan's Famous Beef Franks and Hebrew National Beef Franks. We barbecued the dogs and then topped them with our favorites condiments. We made sure the hot dogs were topped the same, so there were no unfair advantages.

After trying both hot dogs the winner by a small margin were the Nathan's Famous Beef Franks. Our conclusion matched the findings in the magazine. We know this probably sounds pretty silly to most of you, but it was just good-old-fashioned fun!

Recipe of the Week

We have added a new item to our blog called Recipe of the Week. I, Lisa, use to make one new recipe a week, but then I stopped when I was distracted by other things. I decided I need to start this tradition again because I enjoyed it so much. Sometimes I made things we loved and other times I made things we didn't like (broccoli rabe...yuck...too bitter). If we liked it or not I just enjoying experimenting and learning new ways to cook. I have quite a few recipe books and many cooking magazines (thanks to my mom), but I haven't been using them recently and we have been eating the same boring food. Tonight I put a stop to that. I made Sauteed Chicken w/ Pesto-Mushroom Cream sauce and Escarole & Gruyere Salad w/ Walnut Oil. It was so good and fun to try something new. Rich thought I was funny because all through dinner I kept saying, "this is so good...this is so good", but it was!! I plan to keep trying new things and showcasing them on the right side of the page. I don't know if this will appeal to any of you reading the blog, but I hope it will inspire you to create new dishes in your kitchen.

Dinner and a Movie

Yesterday we decided to take a break from yard work and enjoy ourselves (it was also 100 degrees and we didn't really want to be outside). In the morning we went to see "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian". We have been wanting to see it, but with everything that had gone on we kept putting it off. We realized it probably wouldn't be in the theaters much longer, so we better go while we can. I read this book a year or more ago, but we recently listened to the book on C.D.'s when we drove down to Disneyland. We both enjoy the Chronicles of Narnia series and were excited to see the movie. Our opinions on the movie are a little different. Rich liked the movie more than me. I was pretty disappointed and was upset they changed the story somewhat. I have a hard time when the stories of good books are changed when making a movie. I also envisioned some of the characters different while reading the story, so it was hard to see all the actors as their character. I think if I watch it again on DVD I will probably end up liking it. I think I was so excited and had such high hopes that I was a little let down.

Lisa's Rating: B-
Rich's Rating: B+


Later in the day we were treated to dinner at Dos Coyotes by our friends, the Normans. They are a great couple and we enjoy spending time with them and their family. Rich has eaten there before, but this was my first time. We both enjoyed burritos and the conversation.

GOOD MORNING WORLD! (Part 2)

This morning I got up early with Rich again, but this time we went on a bike ride. It felt good to be on the trail with the cool morning air blowing against our faces. In the morning the air seems so clean and fresh. This morning we saw a lot more animals. We saw several deer and one with a good set of antlers. We also saw many rabbits and turkeys. We saw one turkey sitting on the side of the road and thought it was kind of weird, but as we got closer the turkey got up and a little baby turkey emerged. The baby was so cute and the mommy turkey was keeping it safe and warm under her wing. The only sad thing was when Rich noticed there was only one baby and usually we see at least 5 babies with the mom. Starting off our day like this was great and I plan to try to keep it up a couple times a week. Rich is in the habit, so it isn't too hard for him. But, anybody that knows me (especially my parents) knows I'm not a morning person, so getting up at 5:30am two times this week was a big accomplishment and will be hard to continue. I just have to remember how good it feels to be out in the morning air and how good I feel when I get home.

GOOD MORNING WORLD!

This morning I got up with Rich at 5:30am to go on a walk. He usually gets up at 5:30 during the week to exercise before heading off to work. Sometimes I get up a little before 7:00 to make Rich breakfast and see him off and sometimes I get up a little later. Last night I decided to get up early and go on a walk with Rich and Luca and I'm glad I did. The bike path was beautiful and quiet this morning. We saw a deer, some turkey, and a few jack-rabbits. I think a couple times a week I'm going to get up early, once to walk with Rich and Luca, and once to go on a bike ride with Rich.

Home Projects

Friday night Rich put in my shoe shelves...Yeah!! In our bedroom there is a little nook in between our closets. This space has been bare for the past three years and we have been thinking about the best way to utilize the area. I finally decided it would be a good place for me to put my shoes. I love shoes and have a few, but they were not organized or easy to get to in my closet, so this solves my problem.

Rich used his stethoscope to find the studs.

Here are some shoes from my collection. I love my green shoes because it is my favorite color. I also have a boot collection and turtle rainboots. The plaid converse shoes are one of my favorite pairs of shoes. I've had them since I was a sophmore in highschool and only wear them 1-2 times a year, so I don't destroy them. I also put a picture of some of Rich's shoes, so they didn't feel left out. He bought the black buckle shoes while he was on his mission in Italy.

On Saturday morning we got up early to get a jump on the day. First, we went to OSH to get some more bark. They were having a buy get one free sale and I love a good sale. We also bought some marigolds. We then went to the Farmer's Market and bought some apricots, nectarines, peaches, and bread. We love the Farmer's Market because everything is so fresh and delicious...so much better than the grocery store. We then went to the mall to buy a gift and home to work on the front yard.

We bought our daylilies last weekend and now it was time to put them in. When we first moved into our house 3 years ago the planter in front of our house had some ugly and overgrown shrubs that we immediately ripped out. Last year we put in a small Japanese Maple that we love, but wish we would of spent more for a bigger one. We also put in four daylilies and a red hibiscus. We liked the look of it, but knew we needed more daylilies to fill out the area. This year we bought 9 more daylilies and within the next couple of years they should fill out and fill in the planter. The hibiscus is not doing the best in that location, so we are going to move it to a pot in the backyard and put in a Coral Bark Japanese Maple (I love Japanese Maples). We also put in some marigolds to add some color and plan to keep putting in different annuals to add color throughout the year.

Rich working hard and Luca relaxing in the cool dirt of our newly planted daylilies...crazy dog.

DAYLILIES

This past Saturday Rich and I took a trip to Amador Flower Farm in Plymouth, Ca. It is about a hour from Sacramento in the Shenandoah Valley. It was a pretty drive and a great chance to get away for a little while. The main reason we went there was to get some daylilies. We have some daylilies in front of our house and wanted to get more to fill in the gaps. The flower farm was beautiful. There were so many daylilies to look at and small demonstration gardens to walk around. Rich loved the giant pond and dreams of the day we can afford our own pond in the backyard. We bought 2 kinds of daylilies for the front yard and 1 mystery daylily that we are waiting for a bloom to see what color it is. It's exciting to wait and see what we are going to get. Turtle in the pond.

Notice the signs and then our feet. We are wearing sandals and not prepared for snakes. Luckily we did not see any.
Mystery Daylilies only $3.00. We are now waiting to see what color we picked...exciting!!

Hope (Rich's perspective)

This is my first post on my own. You can probably tell that most of the entries are all Lisa (Maybe after reading this you will "hope" I don't write any more). I usually give her a few lines or proof read it for her. I am writing this I think more for my own good than anyone else. At this point if you have not read Lisa's last entry please stop and read it, or this won't make much sense.

We have had a lot of hope for the past 6-8 weeks. That hope was recently crushed. Over the past week we have said that our hearts were broken. This reminded me of a song by the Judybats. "Hearts cannot be broken, they're small squishy things. They don't break like glass but they bruise easily. This one you bruise." (Being Simple 1993) Our hearts have definitely been bruised.

In my line of work I have learned that an injured heart can lead to many serious consequences. You can develop ischemia, fibrillation, ventricular remodeling, 0r ventricular hypertrophy to name a few. These could lead to cardiac arrest or heart failure. Our hearts are bruised but they have not failed. You can use medications to treat, or hopefully prevent heart failure. In our lives we have tools to heal our hearts. The most important is PRAYER. With prayer, support from those who love us, scripture study, and regular temple attendance we hope to avoid heart failure and mend our "squishy" bruised hearts.

Our hope may be gone for the moment, but Alma's words are comforting "But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words." (Alma 32:27) I desire to believe that we will one day be parents.

Thank you to all our family and friends for your support and prayers. Thank you Mary, Dr. Quinto and everyone at the office for all your generosity and understanding. Thank you Lilly for the 8 weeks of hope. I haven't been that happy in a long time. Finally Ciao Bella. Tanti auguri. Mi manchi.

BEST DAY--WORST DAY EVER (Lisa's Perspective)

We have been contemplating blogging about our most recent adoption experience and have decided to share what has been going on in hopes it will help us heal. The following post is mine, Lisa's, thoughts and Rich will follow with his own post.

To let you know the whole story I need to start at the beginning which was the first week of April 2008. We received an email from a birth mother stated she was interested in us as adoptive parents. She wanted to talk to us on the phone to get to know us better and ask some questions. A couple of days later we talked with her on the phone and had a good conversation. We found out she was having a baby girl due June 6th and was considering us along with another couple to be the adoptive parents. At the end of our conversation she said she would think about it and give us an answer the next day. As you can imagine that night it was hard to sleep and we were so anxious. We received an email the following morning stating she picked us...YEAH!! That was the greatest day and we were both so excited. We talked with our worker and received confirmation that she picked us and already had a worker in Texas (that is where she lives). The next few weeks we communicated through emails and arranged for us to visit her in Texas.

In May we went to Disneyland for our anniversary and at the end of the week we flew out to Texas to meet our birth mom and baby. We were so excited and very scared to meet her and wanted everything to go just right. We met at the Texas agency and then went miniature golfing. Later in the evening we went to dinner with her and her mother. We thought everything went well. It was a little awkward, but it is always awkward when meeting someone new, so we were happy. We went home feeling good and excited about being parents.

The next couple weeks we spent preparing to bring our new little one home. We got the nursery ready and bought all the things we would need. I was excited to have a rocking chair and looked forward to rocking my baby to sleep and reading bedtime stories. Rich's office gave us a small baby shower and gifts. Everything seemed great and our family was ready to welcome our baby home.

The week before the due date we did not receive any emails from our birth mom. We thought it was weird, but was assured she felt good about her decision. We continued to decorate the nursery and put together the bassinet. Then the worst happened...On Monday, June 2nd (4 days before the due date) we received a phone call from our worker that started, "I have some bad news...". My heart sunk because I knew what the rest of the sentence was going to be, "she changed her mind." I was initially stunned and didn't know what to say. When it sunk in I began to cry and cried like I've never cried before for the next hour or so. I couldn't and still can't believe this was happening. I was always nervous and knew she could change her mind, but at this point thought that would never happen.

The past week has probably been the hardest week of my life. I was an emotional wreck. One minute I was being strong and dealing with it, but then all of a sudden I would realize what had happened and I would cry. In the back of my mind I kept thinking she would change her mind again and call us back, but I think I have finally realized that is not going to happen.

I want to let you all know I am doing okay...I'm not completely myself and think it will be a while before I get there. I know I am not done grieving and will probably need to shed a few more tears before I feel completely better. Right now I am doing what I can to accept this turn of events and move on. I am finding strength and peace through my faith. I have been praying a lot (and I mean a lot) . I also have been reading the scriptures and listening to uplifting music. It is during difficult times like this I am grateful for the gospel. I am grateful to know I am a child of God and that He is mindful of me. I am grateful for the testimony I have of a loving Savior that knows my pain and knows how to comfort me. During this past week as I have prayed I have felt the love of our Heavenly Father and healing peace only the Savior knows how to give. This peace has helped me have hope and continue to have faith Rich and I will someday have children. We are not going to give up.

Before I end my post I want to list the things that helped me keep going this week and remind me of all the good things life has to offer.

*MY FAITH AND THE POWER OF PRAYER
*SCRIPTURES
-Mosiah 23:21-22 "Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith. Nevertheless—whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last
day."
-Mosiah 24:13:16 "And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.
And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.
And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.
And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage. "
-Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
*MY HUSBAND
-Rich is the most loving, kind, and gentle person I know. During this week he has taken care of me and helped me to be happy. He gives the best hugs and foot rubs. He always knows what I need and how to make me smile. RICH, I LOVE YOU!
*LUCA MY DOG
-Luca has been a true blessing and always makes me laugh and smile. He has cheered me up a lot during this week.
*FAMILY & FRIENDS
-Thanks to my parents for their continuous love and support. Thanks mom for giving me encouragement and telling me not to give up.
-Thanks to Rich's parents for letting us hide out at your house for a day. Thanks for letting me mope and buying me Cookie Tree cookies. The cookies aren't a miracle cure, but they are pretty close.
-Thanks for everyone's prayers and love.
*FUNNY MOVIES
-During this week there were many times I just needed to escape and be numb for a while and funny movies did the trick. The first movie I watched was "Kicking and Screaming" and I laughed so hard it felt good.

Working in the backyard

The past two weekends we have been doing work in the backyard. We love spending time outside this time of year and it is a good time to make improvements. We have been working on our backyard little by little for the past three years...I'm sure it will continue for the next 10+ years. This year we put in fruit trees and last weekend we put bark around the trees and all along the back fence. It is amazing what a dramatic difference some bark and some bender board can make. It is so much nicer to sit and look at the backyard now.

BEFORE

AFTER

We also finished planting our vegetable garden and put in an automatic watering drip system. The timer is not hooked up yet, but will be when we get the last couple of pieces needed to complete the line. This is the first year we've had an automatic watering system. We are excited to see it work and to know are vegetables will be water everyday.

BLACKBERRY BUSH

HUMMINGBIRD