Dennis and Jen are Adopting!

We wanted to go somewhere special for our 10 year anniversary! So, after Dennis handed the task back to me, I started searching for somewhere warm and tropical. I found another deal on travelzoo - it was 4 nights total, 2 at Belize Ocean Club and 2 on a 2 acre island named Ranguana Caye. Dennis thought this was a good option for our anniversary but wanted to know if we could extend the trip. I read that we could double the trip - or book 6 nights 2 at BOC and 4 on the island. Dennis wanted to extend even more - so we ended up booking 12 nights!  We flew in on a Saturday, and one of our friends named Pastor picked us up from the airport and took us to his home, with a stop at the Belize Zoo. We had a wonderful evening with Pastor, his parents, and lots of nieces and nephews. We were sad that we couldn't communicate with all of them, as they all speak Spanish and Pastor was the only one to speak English and Spanish. We got to bed around 11 that evening and were so tired. I saw a bu...

I had seen a deal on travelzoo to Iceland and Dennis and I bought this deal! It was 4 nights and 4 days (although the first night was in the airplane) - so a very quick trip! We flew Iceland Air and had a wonderful flight. I could not sleep, though, because I was too excited! :)  We went on a walking tour of Reykjavik, took a rest, went back out that evening on our own, went on the Golden Circle Tour where we saw a geysir, massive waterfall, and walked in between the North American and European continents. We also had a tour to try and see Northern Lights and never did see them and also went to a natural hot springs.  Our last day, we walked around town again and went to the Blue Lagoon.  It was a very very quick trip - but so wonderful to experience a little culture that is so different than ours. I would go back again someday - this time - hopefully in the summer! 

We were visiting Dennis's parents one weekend, when his mom mentioned that they were thinking of going to Kauai to celebrate their 40th anniversary and they would like us kids to come along with them. So, we all put our heads together and I got to planning this trip. We had a wonderful time with Lloyd, Jenny, Lenora, Saisha, Dennis and I. We stayed in Poipu in a condo that has amazing ocean views. We could see spinner dolphins and whales spouting from the lanai. We also saw tortoises and lots of colorful fish. We went on a tour of the island the first day and saw the Waimea canyon, some waterfalls, the tunnel of trees, visited Kauai coffee company, ate lunch at a wonderful place and snorkled. We had a grand old time! We also went to a luau and snorkled on our own, ate fresh fruit, played in the ocean, visited Princeville ... and probably lots of other things.  The whole time we were there, I was thinking how rewarding it would be to have a baby/child there and to experience trave...

Like I have mentioned earlier, I have always wanted to be a mommy. Because of that, my focus was not on obtaining a degree from a university in a certain career path. If I had chosen a career, I would have chosen an elementary school teacher. Actually, I was starting to go back to college when Dennis and I were first dating. He mentioned to me "If we get married and I put you through school, which takes 4 years, and we have kids in 4 years, then why did I spend the money to put you through school?" Another lesson learned - never delay schooling, a career, your dreams for "what if's."  During most of our dating and early married life, I worked as a Purchasing Assistant, Bid & Contract Assistant, Receptionist and HR Assistant. I had a job at a very good company and I enjoyed working there. The pay was good, the commute was short ... however there were budget cuts and I was laid off. I took 9 months off work and thought that in that time, since I didn't h...

While Dennis and I were at our church convention, in August of 2013, we both noticed this really cute little blond haired boy. He was attending convention with some of our acquaintances. I'm pretty sure I learned at that convention that this family took him in because he had been with their family before, however, they were looking for someone to foster/adopt him. BUT, I was also told that another family had stepped forward to start on the process. So, I didn't say anything - it just felt like another stab in my heart. Often, I've thought "when will someone look at Dennis and I and ask if we were interested in adopting a baby they knew about."  Fast forward to a couple months later and my really good friend called me and asked if we would be interested in fostering him. The family that had stepped forward, for some reason, could not become his foster parents. Dennis and I both were really excited and our answer was "of course." We were on our way to Bo...

Once a couple realizes biological children may not happen for them, there is a grieving process that needs to take place. It can look very different for everybody, including husbands and wives married to each other. I am going to speak for us and say that the process for me took longer and was harder than it was for Dennis. Being a female, having maternal instincts and having ALWAYS wanted to become a mother - walking through this journey was extremely difficult.  One of our biggest disagreements in our marriage was whether we felt okay doing in vitro fertilization. My thoughts at the time were that this was a perfectly acceptable way and hurrah to modern medicine to be able to help couples become pregnant this way. Dennis on the other hand felt so strongly that this was against God's plan. He feels that taking follicles from the females bodies and having the sperm and egg meet in a petri dish and then implant those back into the female was wrong. He was upset and probably d...