All decked out

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Mrs. Jones here! Life is back to normal and that means a more upbeat blog! Yippee! I FINALLY got our Christmas photos up. Of course, the kids all dressed in their Sunday best had to happen the Sunday after Christmas, but it worked out. The sun was shining and the weather was sweet!
Mr. Jones let me go buy myself a little sumthin sumthin and so hence my new threads as well. Thanks luvah!
We also have some photos from Christmas Eve and Christmas day. The holiday played out as follows:
Christmas Eve consisted of Mrs. Jones dragging the family over to Grammy Laurie’s house WAAAYYYY too early due to the Christmas jitters (not to be confused with the caffeine or sugar jitters she is know to get time to time). Patiently waiting for dinner and then gifts.... A SHMORGISHBORG of holiday delights presented to us by none other than Grammy Laurie the cook of the CENTURY! I mean there was a lentil loaf to DIE for, yummy mashed potatoes (created by the sous chef Greg Haddad), sweet potatoes, home made Hawaiian rolls, salad (she is a salad connoisseur of sorts), a cheesy zucchini wonderland of a side, and sparkling cranberry delight. YUUUMMMMYYY! Now HERE is where Mrs. Jones (and the rest of the FAMILY) experienced her "sugar jitters" and she was crying laughing at every little thing, nose flairing as pointed out by her loving older sister Michelle. I was WIRED! In rare form and loving it! Not sure how much everyone ELSE was enjoying it but oh well, I can't help it, he he he...
We then proceeded to the next event of the evening, Mrs. Jones' FAVORITE thing in the whole wide world, the PRESENTS!! It was a wrapping paper rainstorm, the kids totally made out like bandits. And I, Mrs. Jones, was presented with an entire set of CHINA!! Can you believe it? Thanks Mommy ;) To follow it all up we had a white elephant gift exchange. Mr. Jones and I got some good stuff, nothing cheesy. And guess what time it was ?! We left at like 10:30pm!! Crazy!
Wake up call from Papa Mark at 7:00am on Christmas morning, on his way to Harbor house for breakfast and wanted to invite us. We passed this year and stayed in our PJs longer than normal to enjoy the Santa gift frenzy that occurred under our tree. Got dressed (Malia in a CUTE new outfit from GG Helen), then went over to Grandma Melinda's for some egg strata and coffee cake. The normal goings on over there: HOURS of gift opening, ONE AT A TIME, as to ENJOY every single gift. Making sure they each got their due attention. No sarcasm here, I REALLY love this, dragging out the fun stuff is always a plus in my book. Then watched ourselves a little Iron Man with Gabers and napped on the couch (with intermittent goody munching). Dinner continued our holiday fiesta into the night with KING CRAB legs and a stand up roast for the carnivores. Light dinner conversation for the most part, some talk of missions and missing Uncle Nick (currently in Peru). A little Missionary Christmas Serenade and then some more goody devouring to follow up the night. All in all a FANTASTIC time with family, all of whom I just LOVE so much. Malia's 1st Christmas was a success!

Yule Log greetings

Merry Christmas eve one and all! I had a few seconds this morning to post some photos from our hospital stay with Malia. I wish I had gotten a few of her in her hospital crib. It seriously looked like an animal cage. Oh well, I was too busy taking care of her to remember to snap some photos. We took these photos below on my iphone. She looked so sad, you don't even know how stoked I am that it is all over, and Santa is coming tonight, and Mr. Jones just texted me that he will be home from work soon! Life is good!

I hope you are all enjoying family and making memories today... and that you get everything you wanted from Santa! Merry Christmas!

Malia's blessing

Mr. Jones and I finally got some time this evening to sit down and type out Maila's baby blessing. Following are the words spoken by Mr. Jone's (AKA Daddy) during her blessing. We truly feel so grateful to have this sweet girl in our eternal family and in our hearts:

Heavenly Father, we a few of thy servants holding the Melchezidek Priesthood bring this child before thee to give her a name and a blessing. The name by which she shall be known here on earth and upon the records of the church is Malia Jones.

Malia, at this time we bless you to know how much you are loved by your parents, and that as you grow you will appreciate the circumstances that brought you into this family. Before you came to us, your mother and I fasted and prayed to learn that you are a special child who belongs with us and with your brother. You have been blessed with gifts that will bring joy to our family, a joy that could not come otherwise.

Malia, you have been blessed thus far with health and strength, and we bless you that you will continue to be healthy and strong.

We bless you with an aptitude for obedience and encourage you to heed the words of your mother and father. We bless you that as you do so you will be blessed with the spirit. As you feel the spirit you will gain a desire to learn of your Savior and gain a testimony of Jesus Christ. We bless you to know of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ’s love for you. We bless you that you will take advantage of the atonement throughout your life.

We bless you that you will be a light to others with whom you come in contact with, and that as they get to know you they will want to have the same spirit that they see in you.

As Gabriel has been blessed with a special appreciation for the Book of Mormon, we bless you also that the Book of Mormon will be important to you and that you will cling to its teachings. We bless you also with a love for the Bible and all of the scriptures.

We bless you with all these things and any other blessing our Heavenly Father sees fit to bestow upon you and do so in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

On the road to good health

It is official, we are ALL home and doing well! Maila is 100% better, back to her old self, or as we call her, "the PINK monster". Mike is also feeling much better and Gabe and I are good to go. Looks like Christmas will be a good one this year! Thanks to EVERYONE who was praying and offering to help, boy do we feel LOVED! Merry Christmas to all of you, we hope you are all enjoying the spirit of the season. I am ready to get back to it!

Malia

Malia is doing really well this morning. Unfortunatley, Mr. Jones is not :( He started feeling sick and called me to come releive him at the hospital this morning around 3:30am. He is now home and miserable so please keep him in your prayers. We are crossing our fingers that they let us leave today but we will see. Right now I am down to a one man show so please pray that I stay healthy. My family needs me to take care of them right now. I have already taken it in to my own hand to obsessivley compulsivly clean the hospital room. We will most likley be staying away from our house until Mike is better since this is so contageous. Forgive the typos, I am writing this from my iPhone.

The latest

I am home right now to visit with Gabe for a little bit. Malia is doing as well as can be expected. They confirmed she does have rotavirus and she is still on fluids. Still major diarrhea and not too much to drink on her own. She is just not that interested. Her spirits were up when I left tonight. Daddy will be sleeping there with her and I will go back in the early morning. They are now saying we will be there until at least Monday afternoon. Thank you again for all of your prayers. We are praying she gets all better before Christmas and that no one else in our family catches this virus.

Latest on Malia...

I came home from the hospital to clean up and rest for a little bit, (Mike came and relieved me) and am now on my way back. I thought I would sit down really quick to update all of you on Malia's status.
We took her to the hospital last night, she suddenly became VERY sick looking and showed major signs of dehydration. When we got to the emergency room they tested her and her CO2 levels were very very low (Would be admitted if she was at a 15 and she was at a 9). So, they checked her in to the children's hospital, which is where she is now.
They had her on a IV drip all night last night and through out the day today. She has been sleeping a lot and just looking so miserable. She did get some gatorade down this morning without it coming back up so that is a good sign. Her tests today show she is at a 19, and 20 or above is what they are looking for so she is close to being out of "dehydration mode". She will be in the hospital until at lest tomorrow afternoon. We are still not sure what it is that she has, but will be keeping her there until she is all better and able to keep things down and coming out normally through the right end of her little body. Thanks to all of you who have shown your compassion and concern. It is so hard to see your little one like this and I have a new found appreciation for those in the medical field and for living in a place where help is so redily available. Also, an appreciation for any parent who has to see their child go through an illness, I can't imagine if it were more severe, how hard that would be for a parent to cary on their sholders ( I did not get the nurse genes that is for sure! This is way too emotionally draining for me). I am greatful that, for the most part, my children are normally healthy and happy. Thank you all for your prayers and offers for help. We have wonderful people bringing us dinner both tonight and tomorrow night. We will keep you updated as we find out more.

Malia's baby blessing

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This may come as a surprise to some of you as we had planned on doing Malia's baby blessing at church on a Sunday, but we had her blessing this past Tuesday. We were having a hard time coordinating with family to have a church blessing, so we decided to make it an intimate affair and do it at home. Luckily Grandma Melinda graciously let us use her home for the event. Mr. and Mrs. Jones (aka Mommy and Daddy) supplied a yummy dinner from Guicho's and it was just such a wonderful evening. Mike did a great job with the blessing (as he always does), and it was so nice to have so much family celebrate this event in our lives.
Surprisingly, most of the family that attended were from the Roberts crew (Mrs. Jones side of the family). The majority of them are not Mormon, in fact, only one of them is (Becky's Mom).

When I (Mrs. Jones) arrived home that evening, I realized how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family. I think it is rare to have family members that are so supportive. And to have as many as I have (all of them!) is truly amazing to me and such a huge cause of joy in my life. To think that most of the people that attended Malia's blessing did not share in our same faith, yet they attended and made the time to be there solely because they knew how important it was to us. How did I get so lucky to have a family like this? To have parents that have ALWAYS supported me in my decisions. I have come to realize as I have grown older, that most people are not so accepting when their children choose to follow a path in life that might be very different than what their parents envisioned for them. My parents are able to look beyond what THEY might choose, and accept my choices, whatever they may be, as long as they see they have brought me joy and happiness. And if that is not enough, they then continue to support me through their actions, ALL of my family does, in all that I hold dear. They are there by my side to share in my joy and new traditions, no matter if they believe the same as me or not. I really believe that it is so important that I show my family that I love them and support them by being there for them. My family makes the time to show that, if something is important to me, then it is important to them, and I hope they feel the same about how I treat them and the the things they hold dear. I appreciate that my family is so close and accepting of everyone, I feel so lucky to have been raised by and with such loving people. I love that I have so many of them still in my everyday life. Thanks to all of you that attended! I love you...

Malia Update

For those of you that did not read my previous blog, Malia has been sick. She has been throwing up and having really bad diarrhea for about 5 days now. We had her in the hospital the day before yesterday where they gave her fluids through an IV and confirmed that she was dehydrated. When she kept down a bottle of pedialite, they let us take her home.
She was doing better yesterday, with some anti-nausea medication. We took her back to the doctor today where he confirmed she has the rotovirus. This is a virus that causes really bad yellow water like diarrhea (sorry to be so detailed, I know this is not for the timid!), fever, and vomiting. Since she is so young, she is at risk for kidney faliure because she had not been urinating.
The current status is that we are marking down what she eats, and how often we are changing her diaper. Our doctor said she will most likley need to be emited to the hospital tomorrow and will be calling us in the morning to see if that will in fact be necisary. She is really lathargic and just so sad looking, it is a hard thing to see as a Mother. Please keep her in your prayers and we will keep you all updated.

I am a child of God

Gabe has a favorite song for me to sing him each night after we tuck him in his sheets and say our prayers. The song is called " I am a child of God". If you are Mormon, you know this song well. If not, the first part goes, " I am a child of God, and he has sent me here. Has given me an earthly home with parents kind and dear. Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way. Teach me all that I must do to live with Him someday. "
That is usually where I stop and give Gabe a kiss and say nigh night. A few times I have sung the second, even the 3 verse to him, but VERY rarely. Tonight as I finished up the "church song" (that is what he calls it), he said to me, " the too late part Mommy". I thought for a second and realized that this phrase was in another part of the song. I continued, " I am a child of God, and so my needs are great. Help me to (Gabe joined me in this last part, word for word) understand his words before it grows to late." And then went into the melody. He gave me a big smile as if satisfied that I had done what he had asked of me.
This experience made me think. How blessed I am to have these little children in my life. That God would entrust me to raise them and teach them and guide them down the right paths through their journey here. Even at the age of 2, Gabe remembers that very important part of the song, and of our responsibility as parents. To teach my children of Heavenly Father, to teach them of Jesus Christ and to do so through his holy scriptures. And then the most important part, "before it grows too late." Any parent knows how quickly, as if in a blink of an eye, your baby grows up to be a "big boy". Time is precious, I don't have all the time in the world to teach my children. Soon enough they will be all grown up and on their own. I guess I realized how extremely important it is to teach my children now. That soon, it will be too late, and that they are NEVER too young to learn. I mean really, my two year old was singing along word for word! I like to think he really is getting so much of the meaning behind this song, they really are smarter than we give them credit for. So, I am working on it, and see now that I want to work just a little bit harder. To read the scriptures to my babies and to teach them of the "bigger picture" and help them to know of another Father in their lives, one that entrusted Mommy and Daddy to raise such amazing children. I love learning from these sweet babies.

Sick Baby Girl...

Gabe has NEVER had the flu, so this is my first experience. Gabe also was NEVER sick in his first year, so there is another first. And can I tell you, IT IS SOOO SAD! I hate seeing my baby feeling so bad. I have just been holding her and rubbing her forehead as she looks up at me like.. ugghhhh!!
She was not keeping anything down yesterday, but today has eaten so that is a good thing. She is still really tired and laying around, but Gabe is taking good care of her. I have never seen her so still, she is usually all over the place. I am hoping she is better by the evening. And get this.... She is the ONLY one in our house that GOT a flu shot! Those things don't work, I knew it!

SWEEEET threads and a Merry Christmas to you!!

We did not have many holiday parties to attend this year, but we did have ONE last night. Friends Dave and Steph and Jon and Jill threw a little "Ugly sweater/funny mug"
holiday shindig (I had a hard time finding an ugly sweater, but I was wearing some nice red and white striped tights!). Anyway, we look festive right?! Those mugs are some classic thrift store finds courdousy of Whitney Jones (Sorry about the dinosur Whit).
It was fun to see everyone dressed in their "creative" clothes and visit with friends while sipping yummy hot cocoa. We hope you have some fun times this holiday, we look forward to some other Holiday plans with the kids over the coming weekend. Stay tuned to the Jones blog to see what is up next! Ahhhh... Christmas is just over a week away, can't wait!!

2 year old thought of the day...

Here is the back ground story : Gabe is in LOVE with skateboards... pretty much since before he could walk. He has a little "tec deck" skate board ( a mini toy like skateboard that has all of the "real" parts). Well, a piece fell off of one of the trucks (translation: The metal part under the board that each set of wheels is attached to, one in the front and one in the back, underside of the board), and he lost the front truck and wheels on his skateboard. He is currently working on going potty with NO accidents to earn a new skateboard. Until then, he continues to play with this now tretourous board. The bottom front of the skate board has a little tiny screw that is exposed, sticking out where the little tiny truck used to be.
NOW THAT YOU ARE ALL CAUGHT UP: He was playing with his little skate board tec deck today, and left it, belly side up on the living room carpet, just waiting for the next unaware little foot to stomp on it while running through the house. Gabe, of course, (and thank goodness! Heaven knows what Mr. Jones would have screamed out if he had been the one to step on this thing) was the next passer by and stomped right on it. OUCH!! He was in pain! I kissed it all over to no avail. Good thing is it did not break the skin. He calmed down after a few minutes, and after being informed that bandaides don't work well on the bottom of your feet, he said the following:
"Mommy, I need that thing over there... I just can't walk with my owie foot. (pointing to something over by the Christmas tree) I looked over and there was Malia's little walker! I brought it over to him and he grabbed on to the handle and began limping across the living room floor while leaning his weight on this little baby walker. I giggled and he looked at me with a smirk like he had been caught in this dramatic over reaction of this little foot injury! WHAT A HAM!!! Where does he get this stuff?~

Gabe's prayer update...

Gabe has said his own prayer the last 2 nights in a row. Now, mind you, this is according to his Daddy, Mr. Jones. I am not allowed in the room during this special time because Gabe gets stage fright if I am around :( Here is the report that I was given as Mr. Jones closed the door to Gabe's room tonight:
Gabe's prayer: "Heavenly Father, thankful that Gracie came over to play today, thankful for my yummy dinner, bless uncle Nick on his mission, name of Jesus Christ, Amen." MAN I wish I were a fly on the wall during all this. I have YET to hear him say his prayers.

He also wont stop talking about how he got to see baby Jesus the other night. Don't know what I am talking about? Read a few blogs down.....

AND ON THE MALIA FRONT: 1. She is clapping and waving 2. She is saying DaDa (and MaMa when she is upset) 3. She CAN walk, but refuses to let go of whatever she is holding on it. We SAW her pushing the chair around, get stuck on a bump in the floor, and pull back and LIFT the chair over the bump. This is one strong headed girl! She will do it when she is ready I guess!

Mrs. Jones' new job

I have a FAVORITE little kid at church and her name is Gracie. She is only a few weeks apart in age from Gabe and I just loved this little tike since we met her. The cutiest little Japanese white girl you will ever see! Yeah, she looks more white than anything, but to me she looks Hawaiian just like her Mommy! ;) Anyway, it is that aloha spirit that connected me and her Mommy, Linda, right from the start.



When Linda told me she had gotten accepted to nursing school I was sooo impressed! A mother of 3 going back to school, now that takes some ...... guts! ;) So, who was to watch Grace while Mommy was hard at work studying and going to school? I WANT TO DO IT! How fun !! And of course a job that pays me to play with more kids is always a perk! So, Linda and I both got what we wanted and we are all happy as clams!
SO this is my new job, playing with Gracie, Gabe and Malia. One day a week for now, and 3 days a week in a month or so. What a life! I just wanted to be sure you all knew who this new little smooshy face lover girl is that is going to be all over my blog for a few months.
What did we do today you ask? Well, if you must know... we learned about seeds and how they grow and learned how to plant and water them. We will be watching to see what sprouts up over the next few weeks.
Then, as we were getting ready to go down to the park to play, Auntie McKinley showed up with a basket full of Christmas treats and we invited her to tag along with the cousins. What a nice surprise it was to get to play at the park with Brandon, Jake, and Katie for a little while!
After they left we had a picnic, and the kids played soccer. They were good! Gracie was more like the coach and would pick up and throw the ball back to Gabe and he would kick it back to her. He has a pretty powerful kick for a 2 year old! I love that these two are such best buddies.
TMI for the day (stands for "too much information"): We now have 2 potty training kids going on when Grace is over, so it is neat to see them bonding over that special time in a 2 year old's career. They have little pow wows in the bathroom and are trying to "one up" each other with their potty training skills. So fun..... Stay tuned for more fun with Gracie and Gabe... and Malia too!




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Holiday Fun...

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We have posted some NEW photos from some recent family fun. We had a great time the other night having a sleep over with my niece, Hannah. LITERALLY, I even slept on the couch with her, it was so fun. We decorated the outside of our house for Christmas, went out to dinner at Sony's pizza, and then got some frozen yogurt and watched planet earth.
We also had a nice dinner at my Mom's house last weekend to spend time with family (my Aunt Susie is in town from MO ) and then went to go see Follow the Star, a live re-inaction of the nativity. It was wonderful and spiritual and just a great activity to remind us what this time of year is really about, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Also, they had this HUGE collection on display of nativities. You can see a few that were my personal favorite in the pictures from the night. And to finish it off, there are those all too familiar silly photos that us Roberts' girls like to take. That is right, we were up to our old tricks with the camera. We really had a fun night full of laughing and good ol' family bonding. Have I told you yet how much I LOVE this time of year?!

Here Comes Grandpa Claus..

Yippee! Malia's 1st Christmas! This is a VERY special moment for the Jones household. Malia officially has met Santa Claus (or one of his helpers!). Mr. Jones SENIOR (AKA Grandpa Mike) does it right when he decides to dress up. Therefor, he is the most amazing Santa Claus this side of San Clemente. He was nice enough to make an appearance at our ward Christmas party on Friday night. This makes meeting Santa even more special since it is also Grandpa, and I was so excited to snap some shots of the kids on his lap. BUT... I forgot my camera! Friends, Cara and Ben Boyer, came to the rescue and not only let me borrow their camera, but also emailed the photos to me that night! Now that is service ;)
SO, here is the run down on Gabe and this Santa guy- First year meeting- Hated it, Second year meeting- LOVED it, even kissed him on his big white beard, and third year- Once more... Hated it. Covered his eyes the whole time and then had a major cry fest for 10 minutes after it was over. Malia, was pretty much indifferent. She seemed to care less, I think it all hit her before she even knew what was going on. Bottom line is I got my photos and here they are, ready for the family album.
Final thought : As we were walking out to the car to leave, Gabe suddenly had a change of heart about Santa and said to me, " I WANT GRANDPA SANTA!" ( yeah, he even recognized him last Christmas, can't get anything by this kid!)

Adding to the Family

This was written on 3/5/2007:

Mike and I have been discussing lately that we both have had the feeling that it was time to bring another child into our family. The only problem was that we were having a hard time deciding on whether to go the adoption route again, or try to go through fertility. We both decided to fast and pray about it yesterday, on fast Sunday.
As I read my scriptures yesterday morning I got the impression that we have a special plan made for our family. That we have been blessed to be able to fulfill the scriptures that state the seed of the laminates will be brought back into the truthfulness of the gospel through the gentiles. Gabe is a decendent of those people, and we have been so very blessed to have brought him into our family, what a beautiful spirit he is. I had the feeling that this was going to be the case for our next child. That we would adopt and that the next baby would be able to also have that heritage with Gabe.
Later in the day Mike and I sat down and discussed how our fasts had gone. He said that he had a very strong feeling that we were to adopt another baby. And he said that he had a strong feeling that the main reason was for Gabe, that this new child is meant to be his brother or sister. We both were so excited that we had our answer and are looking forward to going through the adoption process again. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful understanding of how to receive answers from our Heavenly Father and to have a husband who also lives up to his covenants and who is worthy of his priesthood.

Gabe's Sealing

This was written on 1/31/2007:


Well, it has taken me a few days to sit down and write my feelings about Gabe's "official" adoption and his sealing and blessing. But, I finally have some time now to put into words what I have been feeling in my heart.
Looking back, I can see the path the Lord has led me down in regards to building my own family, and I feel so blessed. To have such an amazing husband who has turned out to be one of the best Fathers I have ever known. And I am not just saying that because he is my husband, other can see it too! :) Anyway, I love him so much, and although I struggles for the first part of our marriage with the idea that we could possibly never have our own children, I can see know that Heavenly Father had a different road for us to take. I would not change it for the world, Gabe has been more than we could have ever asked for in a baby. He is beautiful, his spirit shines so brightly through his big beautiful eyes, and he is always a joy to be around. He is our son, how wonderful that we can be sealed in the temple and know that he truly has been grafted into our family, become a part of our eternal tree. Just as Lehi saw in his dream with Gabe's ancestors that were here in America before us. That they should learn of the truthfulness of the gospel and be grafted into the tree of the house of Israel. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to teach Gabe of where he comes from, and how lucky we are to have him as a part of our family. As a decendent of the Lamanites, and now as a decedent also of the Roberts/Jones family.
The day we went to court to adopt him was so so wonderful. Everyone there was also adopting and the feeling in the court was just bursting at the seams with joy and happiness. That following Friday we brought Gabe to the Newport Beach temple, dressed in a white suit, and had him sealed to us amidst family and friends. The picture of his little hand on top of ours across the altar will forever be etched into my memories. He was so happy, and it was like he knew what was going on. And to think we might get to do this with all of our children, what a blessing. To get to experience the sealing of your children. Have that visual aspect of how families are eternal.
The following Sunday Mike gave Gabe his baby blessing. He of course did a wonderful job and spoke so eloquently. I have included his baby blessing below:

Our dear Heavenly Father, by the power of the Melchizedek priesthood which we hold, we take this child in our arms to give him a name and a blessing. The name by which he shall be known here on earth and upon the records of the church is Gabriel Robert Jones. Gabriel, at this time we wish to give thee a blessing. We wish you to know that you have been blessed so greatly already. You have been blessed with a healthy and strong body and have developed well to this point. We bless you that your physical development might continue, that you will grow healthy and strong. Gabriel, you have been blessed spiritually as well. We bless thee with an appreciation of the circumstances under which you came into this world. We bless you with an appreciation of the decision that was made by a young girl to make sure that you were in a home where you could be sealed to your parents and have the blessings of the temple and the gospel. We bless you that you will seek a testimony of your own as you have so many righteous family members around you. We bless you that you might pay attention to the example of your mother and listen to her as she teaches you and also to pay attention to the examples of your grandparents. We bless you with the desire to read the Book of Mormon and gain a testimony of that book as you share a heritage with those who are in that book; who wrote that book of those people. We bless you more importantly to seek out the Savior; that ye might gain a testimony of Him and the sacrifice that he made for your behalf. We bless you that when the time comes that you will have that testimony, that you will be willing to share that with others; that you will have a desire to go on a mission to teach those things that you have learned in your life to those who do not have the joy of living the gospel as you have. And that when you return that you might continue your mission here on the earth and finding a choice woman to take you to the temple to be sealed to you and that you might have a beautiful family. Gabriel, we bless you with all these things and anything else that your Heavenly Father believes that you need. And we say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

My whole family was there as was Mike's. The bishop asked that I get up and bear my testimony after, and I was so happy that he did because I was overflowing with the spirit and wanted to share with my family how happy I was to have Gabe and all of them in my life.

Gabriel's Name

After writing Malia's adoption story, I realized I would like to share with my friends and family some of the feelings I wrote down during Gabe's adoption.

This was written on 11/10/2006:

Gabe is so so wonderful. More than we could have ever asked for in a baby. When I read these first few chapters of 1Nephi, it really makes me think of family. How wonderful it is that we are entrusted with God's children. I feel so honored to have Gabriel and want to do all I can to raise him in the gospel, to help build his testimony. I know the best way to do that is by example.
I was telling a friend yesterday the story about how we came up with the name Gabriel. Well she asked me if I had written it down, and I realized I hadn't. So, I will do it now.
When we found out we had been chosen to adopt a part native American baby, we were over joyed that the time had come for us to have a child enter our lives. I wanted so badly to find a name that went with his heritage, and searched online for weeks. All of the names Mike and I had previously chosen just did not feel right for him. Well, the name Gabriel came to my mind one day, and I felt strongly that that was supposed to be his name. I like the name, but really had a wonderful feeling that it was the right one for this little baby.
Gabriel's birth father is young, and Mexican/Cuban and catholic. It is known in their culture that blood runs deep. We were blessed that he signed away his rights before finding out that the baby was a boy. He lives with his single mother and siblings, who also have children and no fathers, living there. His mother was so upset that he had signed away his rights to the baby and could not understand why he would be better off somewhere else as that is the only lifestyle she knows. When Alex (Gabriel's birth father) came to visit in the hospital, we told him he was to be named Gabriel. When he returned home and told his mother, she broke down in tears. She expressed to Alex that she had always wanted a grandchild named Gabriel because (being a Catholic) she prayed to the angel Gabriel often and felt especially close to him. She said that because of that, she knew that this was all in the Lord's hands.
It is so wonderful to see how much God loves his children. That he made sure to give me that prompting, if only to help this woman get through this time with the knowledge that it truly was in God's hands. We feel so grateful to have Gabriel in our family.

Our Sweet Malia

I was just reading some things I had written down while we were going through Gabriel's adoption process. I realized how important those stories were to me and how grateful I am that I had written them down. So, yes, it is WAY harder to find the time to do so with the second child. But, I want to be just has happy in a couple years when I sit down and read about my feeling right after Malia's adoption finilization. So, here it goes!
After we had decided to adopt once more, I, Mrs. Jones, LAGGED at gettin all of the paper work completed. I think I was just a little hesitant because I was bracing myself for a longer adoption "waiting period" this time around. (Gabe adoption happend quickly, and I knew this was abnormal). One day my Mother-in-law, Melinda, being the wonderful person she is, laid her foot down. She told me that I NEEDED to get the paperwork in by the end of the week... after all, she had been waiting patiently for her new grandbaby and she just could not wait any longer! So, I did. Within a few weeks we were approved, and within 2 days we were chosen by another angel Mother to adopt a baby girl.
Our social worker told us she had some final paper work for us to sign so she came over to the house, handed us a manilla envelope, and as I opened it, out fell a cute little pink sign that read, "it's a GIRL!" My eyes welled up as I looked at Mike. Our social worker went on to explain that the angel Mother that had chosen us had planned this because she wanted to make it special for us. I knew right away that this was one special girl, and could not wait to meet her.
The next weekend, one of Mike's clients was touched by our story (as he too was adopted), and flew us up to Nevada on his private plane to meet our angel Mother. We felt like royalty! It was so fun. We felt so comfortable with Kara right away, frankly with her whole family. We all knew this was meant to be.
Within 4 weeks, Malia was born. We drove up to meet our new special baby girl. The first time I picked her up and laid her little head on my sholder, she LIFTED her head, turned to toward me, and looked right into my eyes. The first thought that came to my mind was, "this one is meant to be Gabe's sister. I could feel, already, that she and Gabe would have so much in common." (Gabe also looked right into my eyes when we first met him, at only a few hours old).
When Malia was about 8 months, we were able to once again go to the temple to have yet another sweet baby sealed to our family. I just love that we get to do that. And this time Brother Meyers was able to seal us. We love the Meyers and feel so close to them, and they know us and our story. I think all of this made Malia's sealing extra special. Yet again, I was able to look down at a little hand and have that vision burned into my memory. That this little baby that we love so much has litterally, become as if she had been born into our family. That she would be mine for all eternity. What a blessing it is to know that.
And that leaves us in the present- this Sunday we will have Malia's baby blessing. I will try and record it as I did Gabriels and post it here next week.

Gabe's First Prayer

Gabriel had so much fun today. He played with Barraget, one of his little buddies, until nearly 10 pm as Mrs. Jones and Barraget's mommy, Lisa, were making cookies for a Christmas party tomorrow. I, Gabe's Daddy, was in charge of getting Gabe into bed at this late hour. So after brushing our teeth, I put Gabe into his bed and sat down by him to say a prayer as we customarily do. He was not very happy with me and told me to go away. He sometimes does that when he is overly tired, and not wanting to fight with him, I gave him a kiss and said "night night" and told him to say his own prayer. I stepped outside his door and stopped to listen as he proceeded to thank Heavenly Father for getting to stay home and play with his toys all day and then closed by saying, "Jesus Christ, Amen." I couldn't have been more proud.
His Mommy just came out of his room and said that she had asked him if he wanted to sing his own song and he say, "No, not yet. When I get bigger.." It is so neat watching them grow.

Trim the tree

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We had a special family home evening this past Monday night. Grandma Melinda and Grandpa Mike came over and had Chinese food with us. Then Mrs. Jones gave a short but sweet spiritual message about the spiritual meanings behind the colors Red and Green, and the Christmas tree. Only about 5 minutes in length, maybe, but still proved to be a little long for Gabe who was anxious to get to the tree decorating. We sang "oh Christmas tree', and then got to work. If you know me, you KNOW I ADORE this time of year. Most importantly, present opening and tree decorating. I guess both have the same effect on me. Opening the ornament box every year and being reminded of each special ornament and which came from where and which are my favorite, it is just like getting a gift with each tissue paper ball that I open up to unveil the hidden treasure inside hanging from a tiny tree hook. My FAVORITE item- our tree topper that was my Grandma Ruth's from a long long time ago. I cherish it, it is priceless to me. I think since I have gotten hers and my Grandma Helen's old ornaments, I love looking at my tree even more. It was so nice to have Grandma Melinda and Grandpa Mike over to participate in this symbol of Christmas with us. I just really can't explain enough how much I cherish all of my family. It really is great to have all of these people that love you so close by. Really the best gift of all that you get at Christmas are the memories you make through spending time with loved ones.

"Hardy" Spaghetti FEED

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Nothing like a "hardy" spaghetti feed at the Hardy residence. When I got the email from Jacqueline that she was bringing back our family tradition of the "day after T-day spaghetti feed" my mouth instantly began to water. You don't even KNOW! This is the Meaney family secret sauce... once you have tasted it you CRAVE it for life. And this year she made a vegetarian version for all us veggies. If you can believe it, it was even better than the traditional meat sauce! Homemade lemonaide, a brie round with crackers, and then, to top it ALL OFF, my sister Jen's homemade bread pudding. Man we are living like kings down here in so-Cal. Thanks for the party Hardy fam! Love you guys.

Gobble Gobble!!

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Can I just say how much I LOVE that I really never have to go out of town for the holidays (sorry Chels, we did miss you guys this Thanksgiving, but not the traffic and travel! ;) ). We had such a nice, relaxing holiday. My Mom just went OFF this year. The food was scrumptious! And she would not let a single one of help... she made everything from soup to dessert. Jen did get to make a wonderful cheese tray for starters, which was equally amazing. Gabe liked the pumpkin soup so much (which in itself is a feat, getting him to eat soup!) he was saying "MMMMmmmmMMMMM" after every bite and just slirping away. It was a table full of made from scratch, homemade goodness. Thanks Mom for the meal, and letting us just relax and enjoy your amazing cooking. I am so greatful to have such wonderful family that live so close and to have a Mother that is willing to "do it all".

D-land, Take 2

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We have been frequent visitors to D-land lately. I just LOVE it there at Christmas time. My friend Brittany Acey and her baby Owen (same age as Malia!) joined me for a fun filled day of Disneyland joy. Oh, and I did I mention Owen and Malia are in LOVE... Well, Malia likes to give any baby boys kisses all over the face, but Owen is the only one that kisses back! <3>

We actually went on a LOT of rides this day, although it was really busy. It was Thanksgiving week so I guess that explains it. We spent most of our time in bugs land in California adventure. Thanks for the fun day Brittany!!