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

Disneyland -- Day 3

My shirt says "I'm with Beast". (Ha! Ha!)

Our last day at Disneyland was completely opposite of the day before. It was sunny and hot. We can't believe how much the weather changed in a day. Rich was smart and wore shorts. Lisa remembering the chill from the day before wore pants and was really hot.

We got to Disneyland a few minutes early and went straight to the Buzz Lightyear ride. We went on the ride about 4 times before we moved on to something else. Rich scored well and was number 2 for a short while.

About mid morning we met with Rich's sister, Anne, and her two girls, Zoie and Parker. It was the girls first visit to Disneyland and we were excited to be with them. At first Zoie seemed overwhelmed, but after the Dumbo ride she was happy and having the time of her life. Parker seemed to be happy from the moment she got to the park. Zoie told us her favorite rides were Dumbo and Buzz Lightyear.

By about four o'clock we were all pretty tired and the McDowell's went home. Rich and I then walked around downtown Disney for a little while, went back to Disneyland, and then went back to the hotel by 6:30pm. We were both tired from the long week and we wanted to rest.

Disneyland -- Day 2

Today we headed back to Disneyland. When we look outside our window we noticed clouds and that it was lightly raining. We were surprised because I had been checking the weather forecast all week and it did not mention rain. We were kind of prepared because we packed jeans and jackets, but we did not have rain coats. While walking to Disneyland we got a little wet, but we did use an umbrella. At the park the first thing we did was buy rain ponchos. They help a lot and kept us dry. The misty rain stopped around lunchtime, but it was cloudy and cold all day. Rich was fine, but I was so cold we bought Disney clothing to keep me warm. I got a Disney sweatshirt and a Jack Skeleton beanie and gloves. With this extra clothing I was much warmer and happier.

Lisa bundled up and enjoying her hot churro. Later on she added another sweatshirt because she was that cold.

We of course went on Astro Blasters a few more times and then hit all of the big rides we missed on Saturday. We waited until later in the day to go on the new Finding Nemo Submarine ride because then the line was a lot shorter. The ride was okay, but definitely not worth waiting in a long line for. I think the really little kids enjoy it, but it is not as fun for us big kids and people who love the actual ocean.

We went on Pirates again and tried to shoot some video with our digital camera, but there wasn't enough light. We were really impressed with the Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) characters that were added to the ride. They look so much like him it is creepy.

We also went to California Adventure for a little while. We don't love this park, but we learned they have much better food. We enjoyed taking a short tour of the Boudin Sour Dough Bakery and then ate some of their yummy food. Rich of course got the Monterey clam chowder in a bread bowl and I got the vegetarian chili in a bread bowl. Rich said his was good, but not as good as the clam chowder he gets on the Monterey Pier. I enjoyed mine and it was a great meal for a cold day.

Before leaving California Adventure we went on King Triton's Carousel and bought more Disney Mr. Potato Head parts for our collection: Buzz Lightyear, Ariel, Peter Pan's Hat, Mickey Ears, and Dumbo Ears.

We ended our day at downtown Disney. We ate at Napoli Italian Pizzeria. We shared some Mozzerella Fritti (fried Mozzerella), salad, and Pizza. The food was great and fairly authentic. We also went to the Lego store and bought a few items there. I got a Lego Star Wars t-shirt and we got a few Legos to play with.

Sunday in LA

On Sunday we spent time with Rich's sister's family...Anne, Craig, Zoie, and Parker. We met them at church and then went to their house for a nice dinner...thanks guys! We had a great time playing with Zoie and Parker. Zoie is a funny girl and has the best pouty face. When it was time for us to go she began to whimper and said, "I don't won't you to go because I love you guys." It was so cute and almost made us stay, but we were really tired. We told her we will visit her again later in the week, so hopefully she will look forward to that.

Disneyland -- Day 1

Our vacation officially started on Saturday. We dropped off our dog, Luca, with my parents and then headed to Disneyland. We made it to Disneyland around 6pm which was in plenty of time to see the fireworks. During this time of year they only do the firework show on the weekend, so we wanted to make sure and see it. Disneyland has the best firework show and is always a must see.

That night the first ride we went on was Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster, which is our favorite ride. We also went on Pirates of the Caribbean (2nd favorite), Haunted Mansion, Matterhorn, and Jungle Cruise. It was a late night and we didn't get back to the hotel until a little after midnight.