On top of the world

I was thinking a few week ago just how lucky I am. I get to go flying and see some really cool things like flying at just the tops of clouds, so during one of my flights I brought out my camera that has a video option and shot some video, that I wanted to share with all of you.

the first video is just 5 seconds, it was my first try of using the video portion of my camera. the second is 30 seconds and takes you through the upper area of a cloud bank.

I hope that you enjoy.

In Memory Of

Thursday November 4th, 2009
Army Base Fort Hood

A gunman opened fire on his fellow soldiers. Wounding 31 and killing 12 of our brave men and women of the United States Army.

Read the whole story.

This attack hit close to home for us. Fort Hood is in Killeen Texas, where we met and dated. We made our first home there. Killeen is where we spent the first year of our marriage. It was a very happy time for us as we worked and went to school. Matt even had classes on the base! We have many friends in and from the area. Luckily no one we know was injured. But even more than a week later it is still shocking...

To the families of the Ft. Hood fallen, we're so sorry. We hope and pray that peace will come to you in this dark time. Know that you have our love and support.

We Support Our Troops

Let Freedom Ring

This is Matt and I had the chance to go to Philly, I had a day off from Dover. I went to the Independence National Historical Park, it was a lot of fun, if you get the chance to go you need to go, the city has great sidewalks.

If you go and want to see Independence Hall you'll have to get tickets (they are free) at the Independence Visitors Center. Get there early as thy only give out the tickets for that day and when they are gone they are gone.

It was so cool to go on the tours and the that lead the tours really knew their history so it was a lot of fun to learn even more about the early history of the great country that we live in.

I saw the Liberty Bell and had a Philly cheese steak for dinner... what a great day, so here are some pictures from that day.

enjoy...



Old City Hall


George Washington

Independence Hall

I cant tell you how much I enjoyed this trip, every one should go and realize just how much of a blessing that this country got off the ground. The many sacrifices that the founding fathers gave. I think that we need to be reminded of this, it is fragile and must be protected.

Old City Hall

George Washington's copy of the Deceleration of Independence page 1

George Washington's copy of the Deceleration of Independence page 2 (the correction was done in Washington's hand)

Old Senate Chambers

Me and the Liberty Bell

Liberty Bell


Masonic Temple

I can't believe it's not butter

Matt and I fancy ourselves to have a great sense of humor. Well at least we love to laugh! Courtney likes her jokes on the dry side and corny side. Matt enjoys a little bit of everything, in moderation. But we both LOVE British comedy! Keeping Up Appearances, Are You Being Served, and The Vicar of Dibley, to name a few. This is one of our favorite skits from The Vicar!

We have tried to memorize it without success...But we are hopeful one day that we'll be able to run circles around friends and family with this bit. We wanted to share it with you, so you could know what makes us laugh and what keeps us laughing time and time again! Enjoy!

One man's trash is another man's treasure

Matt and I are hoping to adopt. But adoption costs an arm, a leg, and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears! Not to mention the financial aspect of it! lol So a few weekends ago we hosted a yard sale to raise money for our future little one.
It was HUGE! I had a month of planning and gathering donations and promoting it like crazy and it still didn't feel like enough time! We had everything: clothes, shoes, toys, baby stuff, furniture(large and small), china, small appliances, decorations, books, games, and tasty treats! It was amazing how many donations we received. Everyone was willing to part with their household goods to help us! And some friends let us borrow their garage and yard! (We live in an apartment, it's a little difficult to have a yard/garage sale with no yard/garage!) We were way in over our heads with this thing! WOW!
(Pst...I'm the one in the hat above. And Matt is in the blue shirt below.)
(This was only on the first day!!! We got soooo much more that night and the next morning!!!)

We had tons of friends come and help us out! Here are some of our "Helpers"(Stephanie- she was a huge help! She helped set up and take down...and she answered people's questions and even helped take money! Thanks Stephanie!!!)

(Ben- he was an organizing genius!!! Did you notice the puzzles? All his doing!!! Thanks Ben!)

(Brittany- she and her hubby*down below* came both days to drop off donations and give moral support! And they couldn't leave without a few of the items we had there! Thanks Brittany!)

(Robbie- don't let the toy car fool you, he did some very heavy lifting!! Thanks Robbie!)

It was a ton of work...we were going non stop all week! We're so glad that our friends were so willing to come and support us... And in the end, we had a lot of fun and it was a big success! Even though I got SOOOO sunburned-with sunscreen! I'm still pink(and it's almost two weeks later!)

I think we may try to do another one in the spring....

The family is a haven in a heartless world

This last couple of weeks have been super crazy! We've been busy getting our yard sale together. I'll be blogging about that next. But before I can tell you all the fund stuff about our fundraiser I have to finish telling you about our vacation!!! LOL

So after the conference and spending a few days with friends, We went down to St. George UT to spend time with my parents!!! While we were driving we listened to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. We love books, and have enjoyed the Harry Potter series! But while we were listening I noticed something very funny! It was a Utah license plate that said MUGGLE!!! It was perfect timing too! The story was talking about muggles!! I grabbed the camera and Matt got close enough and I got a picture!!!! Sadly however, that was one of the great pictures that was lost. I still had to share though!

When we made it to St. George it was so hot! But it was so wonderful to be in my parents tiny apartment with the WHOLE family!!! *A little background- one of my brothers and my sister haven't really been on "speaking terms" for the last 6 years. But while we were there they decided to start working things out!* It was so comfortable to have everyone in the living room on the couch just hanging out and joking around! I had thought that it might feel monumental for everyone to be there but it felt natural, like the way it is supposed to be!

While we had everyone together I knew we HAD to do family portraits! The last family portrait was about 17 years ago!!!! Just after my sister Jericca was born!!! So being the family portrait photographer I forced the issue. Most of the family knows about my bossy and obsessive ways when I'm behind the camera(I'm not that bad!) but Josh, my youngest brother, was in for a shock!!! We decided it was be fun to go out to the Red Rock Canyon and hike and do pictures. It was a lot of fun! And it was so pretty out there! We stoped a lot to do a shot here and there. But we got some great shots!!!

Anyways, here is my family!

We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment

Sorry about leaving you on that cliff for such a long time! My boss lady at the studio had me working a whole bunch of hours while she was on vacation. I know you can find it in your heart to forgive me!

So where were we? Ah yes! The conference. So FSA(Families Supporting Adoption) held a conference in Layton UT with classes for everyone in the adoption triad. We of course attended the adoptive parent classes, but the kids classes and Birth Parent classes looked really good too. There was only one class that we wished we hadn't gone to. It was just a bit too negative, which was really sad.

The big event was the keynote speaker, Troy Dunn. Wow! He was amazing! He talked a little about his company and what they do...his TV show...and even about his own family. He has an amazing testimony of adoption. It was truly inspiring. I am so glad that he was able to take the time away from his family to speak with us.

"My mom introduced the beautiful concept of adoption in a very simple manner," Brother Dunn said. "She said, 'There is something that is called prayer trading, and we're going to trade prayers with somebody. Somewhere out there is a girl praying for a good family for her baby. We are going to pray for a good tummy with a baby in it, and we are going to answer each others' prayers.' "


After Brother Dunn spoke we had the wonderful opportunity to listen to the experiences of several birthparents. They were so brave to open up their lives and share their own history. Adoption touches so many people, it's amazing to think that we are all here on earth to love and support one another. Adoption is a wonderful process that Heavenly Father uses to teach us of His love for us. The birthparents at the panel bore their testimonies of His love and of adoption in general. It was a very heart felt hour. I wish I could find the broadcast to share but I don't think it's available yet. But if you're interested in reading some amazing stories from actual Birth Mothers check out www.ItsAboutLove.org

We really enjoyed our time at the conference. The classes were jammed packed with information and we walked away a little overloaded. =) Thank goodness for all the handouts they gave us, otherwise I'd forget everything we heard! We tried to attend a good varity of classes. We did a few parenting classes, finacial classes, marketing classes, transracial classes, and a few other panels. I wish that we had more time to do a lot more classes, or that I could split myself into two and been able to attend two classes at once! It was really great and I want to go again next year! Most of the people there were from Utah but there were a few of us from other states. I think we were the only ones from MI.

We were able to get together with a few friends after the conference, Chris and Theresa. They had some great advice for us. I'm so glad we have friends who have been touched by adoption. They told us about this amazing group out in UT, The Genesis Group! We just happened to be in town on the night of their fireside. So we went! It was absolutely amazing! The group is a Church organized support group to serve the needs of the African-American Latter Day Saints. Anyone is welcome to attend the firesides and I highly suggest it.