32 & 17

I turned 32 on the 13th & I watch 17 Again. I just have to say, if there was a Zac Efron in my school, he wouldn't give me the time of day. Yummy!!! Oh & the boys at my school defiantly did NOT look like him. He is nice looking, I am just a sucker for blue eyes. Well the movie made me think, if I went back to high school would I do it all over again or actually make the same choices. I have to say yes. Because I loved what happened after high school. If I changed one thing of high school, it wouldn't have been able to experience my after high school. I do know I probably wouldn't put so much energy of liking one boy. Which who ever went to high school with me, knew who that was. Also, I think I would have not taken so many things personal. Now I could care less. Why I took it personal, I have no idea. In fact, I think, because I took it so personal I was afraid to experience new things or put myself out there. But then again, it was high school. Now after high school. FUN!!! That I wouldn't change. It seems so long ago. 1996-98 I was living in St. George going to Dixie College & enjoying all the many things. Now most of my friends from that time are married & have more then 3 kids. Oh & Dixie is a 4 yr school not a 2 yr. 1998-2000 Mission in Italy. Never thought that would happen. In fact, I was eating pasta when I was filling out my papers. Loved my mission. The people I served with & served where amazing. Wish I could go back every year. Can't wait to go when the Temple is dedicated. 2000-2002 was at University of Utah. Good 2 years. An era that changed me. I knew graduating college with a bachelors degree was in view & then it disappeared when I changed my major to nursing & home I came. 2002-2004 Nursing School. Gooooooo UAA!!! I never thought I would EVER return & go to UAA. But I had great nursing friends that helped me through. It was a challenge but the support from family & friends, I finished. To think, if I changed one thing, how much my life would be different. Now my life consist of loving my husband, 2 dogs & awaiting for a wonderful baby to enter our life. I love being a nurse & I am thankful for all the blessings that we have received. I know that with all the challenges I have meet in my life, He has had the upper hand. Thank you.

Philippians 4:13

Brad's parents are the best. Every year around our anniversary they give us a gift that represents the # of years you have been married. This year (5) was wood, duct tape or I forgot. Well they choose wood. They made us a framed saying. I think Laurie in fact embroider it. Anyway. It is a scripture that is the theme of our life, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." How true it it. ID Thomas Family you are the best. Thank you. If we had a computer that worked fantastically, we would down load a picture, but for now, it is awesome. Thank you. I have married into the BEST family.
Adoption update. I, in fact wanted to put the title Roller Coaster of Adoption. But we all know that is true. I will admit I can be inpatient. The birth mother told us that we have to go through her agency & so we looked into & wrote them with a list of questions. Yes, I was told it may take till the end of the week for a response. But I would like to know NOW the answers. If I were them, I would be all over it. Especially since she is due in less then 5 weeks. I am actually shocked that they haven't been more active in it. Or maybe there is something that I don't know & we are in the dark. Maybe the father has said no or something like that & the birth mother is afraid to say anything or maybe the agency is encouraging her to pick a couple that has already gone through them. Or maybe she has just changed her mind. As you can tell, all kind of stuff has gone through my mind. I just wish someone would at least write us & let us know something. If she is afraid to tell us that she has chosen another path, she can email or have someone else call us. To tell you the truth I want her to look at our agency & go through ours. It would make life so much easier. But who said this was going to be easy. I called our agency the beginning of the week & the person that represent us & the women that represents the birth mother called to see what they can do to help or to get our home study done. They were on top of it & see what they can do to help. I can tell you this it isn't about the money. We found out that the church ends up subsidising about $16,000-$17,000 per adoption. I was shocked & thankful that they do that. But our house study was done tonight & it went well. The couple that came over & did it, were so nice & very helpful. If this adoption doesn't happen, we at least will have everything done & probably go live at the end of the month. So anybody can look at our profile on line, nation WIDE.
Anyway, I should be going. I am tried & have clinic tomorrow with another doctor. Hope everyone is enjoying life & the little challenges that go along with it.

"It's going to be a good, good night!"

Do you ever just listen to a song & no matter what, it puts you in the best mood. Well I have to admit it is the one by Black Eyed Peas new song, Good Night something. But no matter how mad I am or how bummed I am, I just listen to that song & immediately get all excited & start dancing & singing. I must look very odd while driving:):) The funny part is, people at work know this & will leave messages on my phone with this song. After this week I needed it playing ALL the time. Work was rough, but do able. I almost killed my doctor & all my patients. I know that sounds horrible. But I couldn't please ANYBODY. No matter what I did, my patients weren't happy. My mom always says, you can't always please everybody. All well, the joys of being a nurse.
Another thing that happened this week. The birth mother wrote us & asked us to get in contact with her agency to get the ball rolling on the adoption. She didn't say it like that, but she did tell us to call someone in her agency to see what needs to happen. In fact, she didn't say that she chose us & so I was like, did she choose us or not. I am so confused. I called Brad & read him the letter & he said it sounds like it. Then I called some of my co-workers to help figure it out. They wanted me to write her & clarify, but I was afraid to sound like an idiot, which happens quit often. But when we called her agency they asked us to go to their website & see if that is what we wanted. We have written them with a list of questions & we will see how much they will work with us. I know they representing her & what is in her best interest. Other then that, we are so excited. But are aware that anything can happen between now & then. We just pray that it goes well & no matter what, we need to keep that faith that everything is in the Lord's hands. She is having a boy & is due in 5 weeks or so. Scary for her. Coming to the end. Everyone asks about names & we have a couple, but probably decide till the very end. We have so many emotions going through us it is nuts. Now we wait & see what will happen.

Thank you:)

I start out with a huge thank you. Mostly because so many things have happened in our life that we are VERY thankful for. The number one thing right now is our nephew Henry is growing an immune system. You may think that maybe a small thing, but for what he has had to go through, this is a HUGE, no what is bigger then huge, ENORMOUS. He is a year & a half & he has been through more then I have been through over my 32 yrs. He is an amazing little guy. I beg you to read my sister-in-law's blog, Miners to the right. Besides the little man, his parents are amazing to have gone through this. I know this has been a huge struggle for them & I know that the Lord will bless them & has blessed them more then anything. I hope that her husband will take her on a vacation just the two of them. Maybe on a cruise or to Hawaii & rent a little place on the beach & just be the two of them. I can't thank Heavenly Father enough for helping him. I know the fight isn't over, but I know he has gone through so much. I know the Lord has held him in the roughest of times & I know that he has comforted him more then I can comprehend. He is our Savior, our Comforter & our Father. I am thankful for Him & all that He does.
Even at times that I think, are you serious. He surprises us with greatness. I know that we all go through our trials & sometime you just want to give up, but you can't, you have to fight. Even if it small, you still need to fight. Life is too short to just let it pass you by. I am thankful for the trails I have gone through. I am thankful that I wasn't the smartest one in the class or the fastest. I am thankful for the challenges that have been in front of me. They make me who I am & at times they define me. Keep going, keep fighting. YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Adoption Update

I know, I know, I have posted a lot. Just one more thing. I debated on posting this or not, I think mostly because of getting our hopes up. But before we left for our cruise Brad received a phone call from some friends in our ward & a young lady that works in his office that is pregnant is wanting to put her child up for adoption. Well he told her about us & one thing lead to another & we had an interview or a get together with her. Can I tell you I have never in my life been so nervous. How do you start out a conversation with her. Oh, hi we want to adopt your kid. It actually turned out pretty well. I think. She is a very, very nice girl & full of so much positive energy. It was so much fun talking to her. Poor Brad, he just listened most the time & at times he wanted to say something but the conversation would change so quickly that he felt weird saying something that was like 20 conversations ago. For example. We asked her what she liked to read & she said historical novels & Sci-fi. Well Brad was like perfect I love sci-fi & was about to say so & boom we were off on another conversation. We laughed about it that night when we talked about it. We still don't know. But in the end, I felt it went well. Even if she doesn't choice us, it was nice meeting her & we know she will make the best decision for her & her baby. We were her first couple she interviewed. This happened about 2 weeks ago & now we just wait. She is due Oct. 12th & she is having a boy. We will let you know when we find out.

Cruise

I should really be quilting right now, but I just can get the energy to get my sewing machine out. I have 16 blocks due tomorrow & I am not done. Instead I will tell everyone about our cruise. OMG!!! The cruise was so much fun. I actually miss it. I wish I was back on vacation relaxing & just being in beautiful weather. Before we left Brad & I wanted to upgrade our cabin to a cabin with a deck. We were originally on the 2nd floor inside cabin. Basically if we were on the titanic we would be dead. Well the Friday before we left Brad got a phone call from carnival asking if we want to upgrade to a penthouse & VIP status. Ummmmmmmmmmm!!! YES. We were then even more excited. We first went to CA to visit with Brad's brother Eric's family & had so much fun hanging out. I love Brad's family. I have been blessed with the BEST in-laws. They are amazing. We just hung out & talked & played with the kids. We went out to dinner to Macaroni Grill, yummy!!! We were able to go to church with them the next day as well. I just wish that all the Thomas' could live near each other. Oh, the fun we could have. Brad & I had to go back to LAX to take our shuttle to our cruise. When we got there we went straight to the VIP line, well what we thought was the VIP line & when we got in we found out that we were wrong & we had to go back out & find the VIP room to check in & then we got to get back in line to the VIP line. Basically VIP means, legal cuts in line to be first. Funny!!! We get on board & we are so excited. We have been counting down forever. We made it to our cabin & can we say HUGE!!! The bathroom had double sinks, jetted tub, a baday (can't spell) & a walk in closet. Nice & room. We then just walked around the ship to get acquainted. They had lunch & we ate. Then we took a nap. We were so tired. We choice to do the later dinner at 8:15 pm, instead of the 6 pm. Eating again. We sat with 3 other couples, a couple was newlyweds, & then the other 4 people were family. The newlyweds were so much fun. Come to find out the last day that the girl & I had the same birthday just 2 days apart. But anything. The first 2 days were at sea & it was just relaxing. Laying by the pool, trying to get sun without burning. When we got closer to Mexico it got so hot. Oh, so hot. We finally got to Puerto Vallerta & OMG it was so hot. I think I melted. But we went horse back riding & had a lot of fun. We had the opportunity to ride bare back & swim down a deep part of a river. We will post a video of it. We were in PV the longest. We left about 10 pm. We play miniature gold during sun down. So pretty. The next day we went to Mazatlan & that was interesting. We went to a Mexican show & then shopping & then we went to a hotel & had lunch & then layed out at the beach. Brad went in the ocean & played in the waves & I stayed on the beach watching our stuff. Oh & being bombarded by the locals trying to sell us stuff left & right. It was nuts. In fact it was VERY annoying. In fact that was our anniversary day. Still can't believe it has been 5 yrs. The next day was Cabo. Oh, so VERY hot. The hottest of all. We weren't going to get off, but we said why not. We just went off & walked around. That was only place we tendered. Then the next day was back at sea. In fact when we got up the next day it was freezing. We went from 90+ degrees to 65 degrees. NUTS... We packed & we ended up getting a couples message. Oh, so nice. Would love another one in fact. It was just a week of relaxing & being with each other. The greatest things was we didn't gain any weight. In fact I lost about 2 pounds. We took the elevates maybe twice. We used the stair the whole time & walked everywhere. Oh, the coolest thing when we were leaving PV there was the biggest storm with lightning & a lot of rain. We sat on our deck & just relaxed & enjoy the wonderful sun sets. We played card games & took naps outside. We did learn a lot while on the cruise & hope the next time we go we will know more what to do. I could go on & on about our trip. I am very thankful for the fun we had & that we were fortunate to do the cruise. We are thankful to be home & so are our dogs. Hopefully I will be able to post pictures. My computer can be a pain at times. Enjoy if we can post.

Hospital Stays

I feel my family is in & out of the hospital. My dad was in for about 4 days & now he is out. He ended up breaking his hip after a nasty fall on Sunday. He is sore to say the least. But he is home. It will be a long recovery, but I know he will get through it & will do fabulous. Next is my uncle. He isn't going to stay in the hospital, but he is having foot surgery & he will be laid up for awhile. My poor mother has 2 sick boys at home.
On Brad's side, he has a nephew (the cutest) who has been in & out of the hospital dealing with LCH (google it). He ended up having a bone marrow transplant on Monday & will now be in the hospital for a 100 days. This is of course the short part of the story. He has an amazing story that will have a happy ending. If you want to see his wonderful story just click on Miner Family to your right. He has been through so much & will continue to accomplish amazing things. He is in our prayers & can't wait till his WHOLE family comes back to Alaska. He is a champ. We love you & pray for you on a constant bases.
Happy to say that Brad & I aren't in the hospital. Well OK, I go there everyday, but am happy that they are paying me & me not paying them. One set of great news. We finally wrote the birth parent letter for adoption. It was time to get our butts in gear & write. We hope when we get back from our cruise (11 days away) we will have our home study & interviews & then the waiting game (hopefully not that long). We put our blog address on the application & I hope they enjoy our blog. Hope they're not scared. But that is what is new or old with us.