What Can You Do?!

Dear Family and Friends (and family & friends of family & friends),

A miracle happened for us in 2007 when Landon joined our family through adoption. The love and support you gave us at that time was deeply felt and appreciated. We have been so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends who have kept us in your prayers. We started our paperwork for another adoption in January of 2009 and have since been approved to adopt again! YEAH!! We are again asking for your prayers and assistance. Since our chances of adopting increase with exposure, we want to remind you about designated adoption. Designated adoption is when the birthparents and adoptive parents find each other through a third party. That is where you come in!

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?

· Forward this email to everyone in your address book. If you have a blog (Blogger, Typepad, Facebook, Myspace, etc.) copy and paste this email to a post.

· Link to our Internet profiles on your blog accounts:

• https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/22837869/ourMessage.jsf or http://lookingtoadoptagain.blogspot.com/ or http://www.parentprofiles.com/profiles/db18994.html

· Bookmark our online profile(s) for future reference.

· Have our pass-along cards with you at all times. If you don’t have any contact us so we can send you more (lookingtoadopt@gmail.com).

· If you know of a woman who is thinking about placing her baby for adoption, or doesn't quite know what to do, please give her one of our pass-along cards or our web address. You could also post our cards on bulletin boards wherever you think a potential birth mother or someone she knows might see them (for example, dorms or college campus common areas).

· Create a signature line at the bottom of your emails that has our web address included (see example below). This serves as a constant reminder to others of our hope to adopt.

Our friends are hoping to adopt!

Check them out!

https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/22837869/ourMessage.jsf

http://www.parentprofiles.com/profiles/db18994.html

http://lookingtoadoptagain.blogspot.com/

We decided that we would like to have a theme this time around: "Once you choose hope, anything’s possible." Adoption in itself is an act of hope. We hope to add to our family. Parents who place their children hope to find families to love and care for their children. We each believe it is possible to give a child a life full of love through adoption, and we desire for you to share this desire.

We have grown to love adoption, and it has become a big part of our lives. We are always willing to talk about our adoption and give you more information. Feel free to ask anytime. You or the potential birth parents may contact us or our caseworker Doug Gardner at LDS Family Services anytime to request more information. His number is (248) 553-0902. Thank you in advance for all your help as well as your love and support.

Much Love,

Mike, Hallie, and Landon

(313) 377-7368

lookingtoadopt@gmail.com

Sometimes It Hurts

In order to get to know other adoptive parents better and to feel that I am apart of something I joined Adoption Voices . Since joining I have met a lot of people and that is great. Where I am torn is I joined a group on Adoption Voices called Prospective Opportunities. A man named Dave Williams who works for Adoption Center of Choice . He often is posting new opportunities for adoptive families. Most of the time the situations he presents does not work for us for one reason or another. Yet, in the last month two situations have been posted that would seem good for our family except for one MAJOR thing, MONEY! An average adoption cost $26,000 and that is a lot of money, but his agency is charging even more. I don't understand all of the whys, I just know we want a baby and this is where it hurts. Tonight Mike pleaded with the Lord in the Temple for us to be blessed with a child and now as we teach Landon to pray we have him ask for us to be placed with a child. As I was reading my emails Dave sent another opportunity out looking for adoptive parents for this opportunity:

Caucasian
Expecting Twins: boy/girl.
Due 3/10/10
No drugs/alcohol/tobacco
No mental or physical health concerns
Married
BF 31. (Caucasian/Hispanic) will sign
Lives in Nevada;
Prenatal care: yes
2 other children ages 2 1/2 and 8 months
Fees:
Placement Fee $32,475
Twin fee is $16,000
Estimated legal 5000,
Estimated post placement assist $2500

Please contact Dave Williams Outreach Specialist at The Adoption Center of Choice at 801-473-9350
Davewilliams@theadoptioncenter.com for more information.

If you know of anyone who would qualify please pass this information on to them.

We don't have the money for this situation and this is why it hurts sometimes. Several years ago I wrote a talk about how adopting requires H.O.P.E. Right now the (P) perseverance is hard for me. So for the (H) hard work part of H.O.P.E. on Monday we are going to the Michigan's Department of Human Services to start paperwork for Foster Care. I plan on building our Forever Family in whatever fashion it takes.

We Are Home - Not A Ton New

It has been a bit cold here in Michigan. Not as much snow as we had anticipated. Because of the cold we have been in the house quite a bit more than we were in California. Landon has been a sport and has ventured outside with Papi to shovel and just to check out the Winterwonderland. Here are some of our most recent photos. Landon has finally figured out how to climb all of the way out of his crib. He doesn't do it often thank goodness. So in weeks to come we will be trying a twin bed for him. Oh how this cutie is growing up!

Landon pushing Brobee on his train. Landon's speech finally kicked in while we were in California. Today as we pulled up to the house, Landon said, "Landon's house". That was a first.

Landon is not potty trained yet, but he thinks part of his potty seat should be worn on his head.

Bailey Bear, Landon, and Papi off on a walk to the library to get Landon's wiggles out before dinner.

Landon saw a biscuit on the counter climbed the barstool and got it by himself. This is the simplest thing he has done in the last couple of days. Today he flipped head first off the couch. Did not cry, was annoyed I was holding him because I thought he was hurt.

This kid has attitude! And he knows it.

At Macy's 2nd Monday at the Henry Ford Museum this week they gave the kids all a Mickey Mouse. Landon loves it! He asks to watch Mickey Mouse now more than Cars. I never knew a day would come when something would win out over Cars.

Here is Landon and Papi listening to a story on a railroad car that the museum opens only once a year. Henry Ford had this car duplicated from another one and it is decked out! It was used to carry friends and dignitaries around Greenfield Village after it opened. We were lucky to be at the museum that day!

Here is Landon peeking his head out of a steam locomotive at the museum.

More Pics and The End is Near

Spent the morning at the Getty Villa in Malibu. Had beautiful antiquities from Italy. Even with the light rain and gray clouds it was beautiful.

On Christmas Day we took the boys "sledding" at a local park. We all had a lot of fun even though about half of us were sick.

Here is Landon waiting in the extremely long line at Philippe's. It wasn't too long for an adult but a 2 yr old, yes.

This is what it always looks like at this yummy French Dip eatery.

Right next door to Chinatown in L.A. We had yummy food!

The famous Los Angeles Colosseum where they had the Opening Ceremony during the Summer Olympics in 1984.

A day our with grandma, Haydn at the California Science Center.

We spent the day with our friend Jenny in Santa Monica. It was amazing weather and we even spotted a star, Norm McDonald from Saturday Night Live.

Landon loved chasing the pigeons all over the place.

Spotted a Wienermobile in Santa Barbara on the day we went to the Santa Barbara Zoo with Carly, Shad, and Cru.

Some New Photos

Here are some new photos of the family in California. We are really enjoying our time here. We can handle 60 degrees unlike the 20's and snow they are having in Michigan. Landon is still very active but his vocabulary has really taken off. The best thing that he has said since coming to California is he said his very first meal prayer (with help). Mama Bears heart almost leaped out of her chest. He said the bedtime prayer as well tonight and it was so cute as he helped pray for a baby brother or sister. Tomorrow we are going to the California Science Center and so hopefully there will be more pictures to post soon.

Papi playing a crazy horse. Landon's new game, let's ride Mami and Papi like a horse. He can say the word horse too.

Had a fun time at the park with Lily, Emerson and Landon.

Landon and Cru are so cute. At times they like to copy each other. Cru is 1 yr and 5 days younger than Landon. They even have matching pajamas, that was on accident but they are cute kids.

Grandma and Pap trying to help get Landon's wiggles out by taking him for a walk around the block. Yes, it is warm enough to not have on a jacket or shoes.

One evening we went to Americana at Brand. It snowed (fake) and played White Christmas. It was magical while we all danced in the street. They had a Christmas tree that was over 100 ft tall. We had lots of fun and Mami of course left our time at the shops with a trinket or two!

It wouldn't be a vacation without . . .

. . . a trip to the emergency room! All is well, and he's happy and in good spirits. Photos to follow. Oh, and it's Mike, not Landon, who ended up on the narrow bed in the hallway of the Los Robles Medical Center ER. He woke up yesterday morning, and he couldn't get his eyes to stop tracking across the room. He got up to use the bathroom and barely made it before he started dry heaving (ew. . .). Hallie was a trooper (she hates puke) and helped get Mike settled and comfortable.

She asked Elise (our SIL) about what she thought we should do, as Bryce (her husband and Hallie's bro) had had a spell of vertigo, and it looked like this is what Mike was experiencing. All Mike wanted to do was lie down as still as possible with the lights out. With a bile bucket available in the bedroom, he left the bathroom, upchucked a few more times, and lay down for an hour or so while Hallie looked up information on his vertigo symptoms.

Hallie then came into the room and said, "Mike, we're going to the Urgent Care. This is something you can't just sleep off." So, up Mike got up and used that trusty bucket one more time before we headed out to the Urgent Care. We got there and found out they don't take out-of-state insurance, so we then trekked to the Los Robles ER. This was Mike's first trip as an adult and easily his first trip in over 30 years to the ER, so he took it all in with fascinated curiosity. Yes, for the med students we know this is all old hat, but for those of us for whom "ER" means "Doctor TV Show," it was neat to see one in action.

As Mike was being admitted, he recognized one of the staff as someone he had known since elementary school. "Hi, Wayne. (Hallie, he knows me. Keep looking.)" Wayne looks at Mike's wrist band, and his eyes widen. "Hi, Mike!" (Side note: Facebook is good for something, if only to recognize as adults those people we knew as children.) Mike was asked to lie down on a gurney in the hallway (Room 20, apparently), and we were asked a bunch of questions. Mike was given an IV (a first for him), and then we waited for the doctor and the blood work. And we waited.

The doctor came by, asked Mike to not move his head as he tracked the doctor's finger as he passed it from one side of Mike's field of vision to the other, asked a couple of more questions, and gave his diagnosis: seizure disorder. NO, bad joke. It was nothing: benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). After the doctor pronounced sentence, we continued to wait for the blood work.

And we waited, and we waited, and we waited some more (We had arrived at about 10, and it was now after 1). Our attending nurse went and came back from lunch. Our doctor went to lunch and was called back when a patient in Room 10 (a real room across the hall from our gurney) lapsed into a non-responsive state. He made some glib remark to the nurse about how the nurse had saved to patient's life by calling him back early from lunch (the patient woke back up. We don't know if she made it through the day, though), then came out, and seeing us there, said, "Oh, hi. The blood work came back fine. Let me write up your prescription, and you're good to go."

We waited some more, then the nurse came back, removed Mike's IV shunt (or whatever you medical people call it), and got us Mike's prescriptions before sending us on our way. Everyone on staff was so nice, and they all had great senses of humor. The doctor was very informative, and it was cute seeing his attending trailing along with tablet PC in hand. All in all, an enlightening visit.

By this time Mike was feeling much better, still dizzy, but no longer intent on heaving his insides out. He went to bed when we got home and didn't come back out until nearly 5 PM. What an unproductive day! Still, like we said above, it wouldn't be a complete vacation without an ER visit. Let's hope Landon does us the favor of avoiding one for himself!

A Way To Say Thanks

I received this in an email today. I would want my brother to get one and I am sure many soldiers would appreciate something like this.

XEROX IS DOING SOMETHING COOL

If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq.

You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services.

How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!!

It is FREE and it only takes a second.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these?

Whether you are for or against the war, our soldiers over there need to know we are behind them.

This takes just 10 seconds and it's a wonderful way to say thank you.

Please take the time to send a card, and please take the time to pass it on for others to do. We can never say enough thank you's.

Thanks for taking to time to support our military!

I already sent mine. When will you send yours?