The "SSMORGAN5" Ship

 Well another opportunity to serve has come up, and I'm ready to take on the challenge! I am excited to be back involved with Foster Care. I am now taking in donations of clothing, toys and baby equipment. I  will be sorting them all , and putting them in the Resource centers storage unit for foster parents who need anything for their foster, or adopted children. When I got the call yesterday, I was so excited. I have been having a hard time not being involved in helping the kids in foster care. The DI (Deseret Industries) is no longer taking baby equipment. It has been killing me to see DI taking donations from people, and throwing them straight into the dumpster. I tried to work something out with them last year, that would let those who are donating be more aware of this, and let them know of the alternatives, such as donating to the foster care foundation. Unfortunatly, I recieved an answer back that DI wouldn't be able to do this. Kid to Kid in bountiful donates...

We have decided to call Azzie by her middle name "Hope."  We have thought about this for a while, and made the decision because we are worried. Hope's bio dad lives only a couple of miles from us. Aspen is not a common name which means if he were to hear it in a store, it would be easy for him to try and come over to see Hope and Jude. This is also the primary reason we chose to by a new van. We just don't want to be easily recognized. I chose the name "Hope" a couple of years ago. It is very fitting that she has this name now. For 5 years  I have been "hoping" to adopt. My dream has finally come true, and "hope describes perfectly how I feel about her. Jude and Hope are the results of many prayer's, faith, and hope that our dream would come true. So blessed that it has.

April 1st 2011 will be one of the most blessed days of my life. On a beautiful Sunny day, April 1st 2011 we were blessed to have Aspen and Jude sealed to us in the Bountiful, Utah Temple.What an amazing experience for our entire family. We were greeted when we arrived with very excited temple worker's who knew of the event that was to come to pass. We were first directed to a children's room. This is where our 5 children would stay and get dressed, while Steve and I Got dressed in our temple clothing. Cameo and Bonnie were able to be Aspen's and Jude's escorts. It was so very special to have Cameo there. She flew in from Hawaii. What a sacrifice she made to be there to love and support us. We sure love her, and are so thankful for Bonnie too. I was treated as if I were a new bride. I was to get dressed in the brides room which was beautiful. It reminded me so much of the day that Steve and I were married in the Los Angeles Temple almost 15 years ago. What a neat exp...

Some of the things our family enjoys doing together are, camping, hiking, boating, riding horses, spending time down at our cabin, fishing, and spending time with family. We love to go Hawaii! The older 3 kids and Steve and I have swam out to the dolphins, swam in a shark cage surrounded by many sharks, snorkeled, and we all have surfed! Steve, Tyler and I really love it and we are actually standing and riding the waves. River and Randi are surfing on their tummies, but seem to enjoy it. Randilynn and I LOVE to collect shells! Steve loves to watch how excited we get when we find a real treasure of a shell. Our kids are our entertainment! We love to wrestle, and get into tickle fights, and when it's all over we cuddle up like a dog pile of people on our Love Sac. Life doesn't get any better than that!  We are a happy family, but not without our share of trials too. Our family is very close, and we all know that as long as we can trust in each other, and love each other, that we...

 February 17th will mark one of the greatest day of our lives! Aspen who we call Azzie, and Jude are now ours forever! What an amazing experience it was to walk into that court room with lots of our family supporting us to finally make our two babies ours on paper. Yes, they have already been a part of our family, but now  no one can take them away from us.  The bond was instant, and I couldn't be happier. It's been funny, but I have found myself doing the nesting thing, just like if I was having a baby myself. Rearranging rooms, going through clothing, and just getting so very organized is only the half of it. Steve must wonder what in the world I am doing!We have been so lucky to be able to have Deanna B. as our RFC, she is so great. We have also been blessed to have Abby B. as our caseworker.  A huge weight has been lifted up off of my shoulder's. My family is complete! I had the faith and the hope for almost 5 years that this would happen. I love Aspen ...

Aspen is thrilled to back! She and her little brother Jude sleep through the night. I wake up feeling so happy, and determined to find out what delays, disorders, or problems these two beautiful children have. I immediately make several Dr. appointments for the coming weeks for both of them. During the next few days, I continue to play constantly with Aspen to see if I can get her to communicate with me. She only seems to know the word "doggy." She is not remotely interested in potty training, and seems like it will be a very long time until she can understand the concept. She starts to want attention from me. She wants me to play stacking games with her. It is such a basic concept, but I laugh with her as she knocks the blocks down when we finish making a tower. She is starting to let me hold her, and she is smiling, touching, and hitting my face which seems like a bad thing, but for her is a sign of affection. She starts something new! She is trying to sing. I can'...

What a roller coaster of a year 2010 was. We had heartache, and tears. We had fun, we had saddness , but we also made some great memories as a family. Most of all and most important, we had a year of miracles. Five years ago, I talked Steve into taking classes to become foster parents. He was VERY relunctant to say the least, but gave in for me, and to make me happy. He always makes me happy :) Let's just say I almost always get my way. We took the weeks of classes, and I again, pushed him into becoming licensed foster parents. Steve really didn't want to do this. You all know that he loves his life simple. Well, I am a bit different. I have felt my whole life that in able for us to progress in life spiritually that we need to accomplish things that are not always easy for us. That we need to push ourselves to learn from mistakes, and from new experiences, to take on those challenges in life, and make our lives better. To become as much as our Savior as we can. I have always t...