National Adoption month Post #1

November is National Adoption Month!! You might notice newspaper and magaizine articles this month about adoption. Yesterday my two sisters Naomi and Rachel, attended an annual adoption walk. My sister-in-law, Melissa, interviewed me yesterday for a school assignment she is doing about adoption. Next week we will be taking our kids to an adoption celebration. It's been a fun tradition each year to join in with others celebrating and promoting the miracle of adoption each November. We promote it all year long really--I never stop talking about it. (Come to think of it, I never stop talking period, which i am working on. But I will never stop talking about adoption!!!)

To celebrate National Adoption Month, I hope to write three different posts about three different aspects of our adoption story. Every adoption is so different--we all have our own miracles to tell. This one is ours.....

After eight years of marriage, many years of fertility treatments--tests, procedures, surgeries, etc., we came to a crossroads that led us to adoption. On the night we were engaged we talked about wanting to adopt kids one day. Of course we had no idea that is THE way we would create our family. There were a thousand little miracles along the way. There are absolutely no medical explanations for why we could not concieve. We are the picture of reproductive health, even above and beyond normal clockwork. But there is certainly a spiritual explanation for why we did not concieve a child biologically. The powers that be knew the spirits who were meant to be our family. And they were meant to come through someone else. That someone else is Logan and Ellie's birthmom, Keri. (See adoption post #2 in a week.)

We were given the incredible news that we had been "chosen", only three months after finishing our adoption paperwork and being "approved". This is exetremely fast in the adoption world. The timing of each little event made it more than apparent that a higher power was involved. We knew six weeks before they were born that we would be adopting boy/girl twins. From the time we decided to start the paperwork process to the time we had two babies in our home was much less than the nine months most couple have to prepare. And the six week notice that we would be recieving twins, was not the "nesting" period most moms have ahead of time. Whoa!!! It was a whirlwind of a wonderful adventure. My sister Rachel brought me a traveling baby shower from Utah to California, where we lived at the time. The school where I taught had a shower for me, as well as my ward. And EVERYONE was giving me their baby stuff. I guess when you announce that you are adopting twins--people listen!!! It was so fun telling our friends and families. We called them each and we'd tell them that we were chosen and that we know it's a boy. They would cheer and shout. Then we'd add that we also know it's a girl!! They would scream and cry and carry on--SO FUN!!

I could write pages and pages about the miracle of our adoption story. But I already have elsewhere--so I'll keep it short for the blog. I know, I know, for some of you this would already be a VERY long post. But let's not forget who is typing!! Enjoy the pics and pass along the message--Adoption is evidence of God answering the prayers of a couple longing for their children, and the prayers of a birthmother willing, and strong enough, to let them go.

March 25, 2003. Twelve hours old, we meet our little bundles of JOY!!!

Is this even for reals???? Who is blessed in such a perfect way, times two??!!!!

One of Darin's favorite songs, "One boy, one girl. Two hearts beating wildly. To put it mildly it was love at first sight!! We knew right away...this was the day we'd waited for all our lives. For a moment the whole world revolved around one boy...one girl." Darin was a smitten daddy from the first second, and still is today!!

Daddy Darin in his first moments with our "little man".