Introducing: Samantha Grace Viscalla

We are so blessed! Ed and I have been trying to grow our family essentially since we were married 7.5 years ago. When traditional methods did not work, we sought out medical help. As we journeyed down that path, we felt strongly that we should also look into adoption. Not knowing the Lord's plan for us, but know that indeed He does have a plan for us, we committed ourselves to doing all that we could do, and relied on our faith that the Lord would make up the difference.

Before we get into the story, first things first...I know you all want to see pictures of this beautiful little girl, so here you go, get your fix! :)

Birth Day

First bottle

Footprints on the hospital nursery wall

Ready to go!

Sleeping in the car

 

Hanging out with Mom

Proud and happy Mom!

Exhausted Dad

So cute...now 2 weeks old!

  

Many times we've gotten our hopes up and many times those hopes have been dashed and ended in heartbreak. Watching others around us who seem to have no problems having children and wondering when it would be our turn...

We had been approved and waiting with one agency but after over a year of being active with them and not seeing anything come of it, a friend directed us to another agency, through which her friend had adopted two children. This agency is located in Utah, well, Ed and I happened to be heading to Utah for General Conference in April so we decided to take our paperwork with us and try to meet with this agency in person while we were there. We drove to the office address listed on their site, but found that the office had moved. I called and left a message with the agency and received a return call within 10 minutes. The case worker that works with adoptive parents was in California at the time, but reassured us that she would contact the agency director and that we'd be able to meet with her and submit our paperwork.

We advised that case worker where we were at, we had stopped off for lunch in Farmington, Utah, we wrapped up the call and she phoned the agency director. Another 5 minutes passed, the case worker called us back and to our surprise, the agency director happened to be grocery shopping around the corner at the other end of the strip mall from where we were parked grabbing a bite to eat! The agency director came right over to us and we were able to talk with her and give her all of our paperwork. The Lord indeed works in mysterious ways!

We were so blessed to be matched with a Birth Mom, pregnant with a little girl. This Birth Mom is an amazing lady, read on and you'll see why...

We had the opportunity to get to know the Birth Mom (not naming her here, since I don't have her permission and as a measure to protect anonymity), as we chatted with her almost on a weekly basis. The funny thing is, many of our conversations were just about what was happening that day. Other times, the conversations were about nothing in particular at all. This was a great opportunity to truly get to know her, hear some things about her life, learn about her likes/dislikes and interests, and share a little bit about ourselves. She even sent us ultrasound/sonogram pictures of the baby with a cute card telling us it was a little girl!

Toward the end of August / early September, I think anxiety levels were high on both sides. On our side, we were so excited to be parents AND the baby was due September 18th (my sister's wedding was scheduled for the 17th); on her side, I can't imagine being pregnant through the heat and humidity of the summer, nor can I imagine the feelings and emotions she must have been going through in her decision to place this beautiful baby girl with me and Ed for adoption.

When all was said and done, the induction was scheduled for September 10th. Ed and I hopped a plane on the 9th to be sure to be there in time and arrived at our hotel at 3:30am the morning of the 10th. The Birth Mom was to be admitted to the hospital at 5:30am to start the induction. Ed and I arrived at 7am and had the very special and incredible opportunity to visit with the Birth Mom in person in the delivery room. We got to know one another better and following the birth, she advised us that the time chatting in person in the delivery room prior to Samantha being born really helped her with the decision to place Samantha with us. It was time to just sit and talk, face to face.

At 11:08am, we witnessed a miracle. Samantha was born, a healthy 9 pounds, 3.9 ounces, and 20 inches long. She was/is beautiful! Ed and I got to stay for the entire birth and were so amazed at the strength of the Birth Mom, and at the absolute miracle that brought this sweet angel into this world. After the umbilical cord was cut, the nurses were busy drying her off to keep her from getting cold. They wrapped her in blankets and I got to hold my little girl for the first time. It was a moment I will never forget!

There are a lot of emotions on all sides with adoption. Ed and I wanted to be sure to appropriately express our gratitude to this Birth Mom for this incredible gift, but also wanted to be sensitive to her feelings. I have no concept of what this Birth Mom must have felt or what thoughts/emotions were running through her during this time. All I know is that I am so grateful to her for the decision she made to allow us to adopt Samantha.

The hospital staff was great! They were aware of the situation and did their best to try to make everyone as comfortable as possible. Samantha was released on Sunday. We took that opportunity to go over to the Birth Mom's house so that her family would have a chance to meet Samantha and to meet us.

The next day, we were scheduled to appear in court. The judge applauded the Birth Mom, stating that in many adoption cases, the Birth Mom simply signs the paper and does not appear in person to relinquish parental rights. In this case, the judge acknowleded the very amiable relationship we have with the Birth Mom and again, expressed his kudos to the Birth Mom for her decision and for her strength.

The rest of the week was a waiting game. With adoption, both the birth state and the adoptive parents' home state have to sign off on the adoption. This process can take anywhere from 5 business days to a month or more, in extreme cases. Again, we were very blessed. My sister's wedding date was September 17th and we were able to fly home on the 16th to be able to attend the wedding/reception the following day.

Told you she's beautiful!

Before we left, we visited the birth family a couple more times. We wanted them to have the closure and comfort they needed that we will love, protect and care for this little girl with everything we are and wanted for them to have some peace in this.

Here I sit, finishing this blog entry 3 days after I started it. Samantha is sleeping soundly on my chest as I type this and I'm still in tears with gratitude for this most precious gift.

People have asked us if Samantha will know that she is adopted. Our answer is a resounding yes! We want her to know that she is loved so much by so many people and that her coming to our home was a decision made out of love by me and Ed, and by her Birth Mother.

So, I'll end this post the way I started...by acknowledging how truly blessed we are!

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

Have you ever heard of Dr. Horrible? Yeah, me neither...well, not really. I recall a co-worker mentioning something about it at a team meeting, and even pulling up the blog...until my manager walked in, then we had to get back to work.

Anyway, so a college roommate and friend of Eddie's is also an actor and he called us and let us know he was performing in "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" at the Balagan Theatre in Seattle. We were excited to go and support him. I had also never met Butch before, just talked with him over the phone when he called Eddie, so it was a good opportunity to finally meet him.

The show was phenomenal! From the music to the comical lines to the level of energy that was present, there are some very talented people in that theatre company! And meeting Butch just topped off the whole evening!

So, if you're in the area this weekend, looking for some funny entertainment (ok, there are a few raunchy lines in Act II, Scene II...so let's call it PG-13), head to the Balagan Theatre!

Butch - Eddie and I will see you for dinner next week and again, fantastic performance! :)

Peaches, peaches, and more peaches...

Summer time = fresh fruits and vegetables = making jam and canning.

Last year, we bought 50 lbs. of peaches and canned half of them, made freezer jam with the other half. This year we again bought 50 lbs. of peaches but canned them all. That's right, in a matter of 4 hours or less, I cleaned, blanched, peeled, sliced, pitted, and 'jarred' all of the peaches. I followed up that act by adding simple syrup to all jars, sterilizing the lids, and finished preparing all jars for sealing. Sealing the jars is not my favorite part...I left that for Eddie! :)

Finally, with a 97% success rate (one jar didn't seal, so it just went in our fridge and we ate those peaches :) we ended up with

30 quarts of peaches!!

The best part of all of this? A co-worker had given Missi some canning jars and since she doesn't do any canning, she gave them to me! There were almost 50 quart jars and several pint/jelly jars. Yay - means all I needed to buy were lids and some rings! Thanks, Missi!! :)

Next project, making lots and lots of raspberry and strawberry jam!
Oh, if only I had the time...maybe in a few weeks, you know, after Missi's wedding! ;)

Dad

I love you and miss you, Dad!

February 1940 - August 2007

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I love you! :)

Girls Camp 2010

Main camp theme banner

For the past four years, I've spent the first week of August at Girls Camp. The last three years as a "Teepee Mom" (leader over a specific group of girls), and this year, I was a part of the Stake Staff specifically over Golden Hour, the evening activity/lesson.

Daily Theme Banners

There is so much more to do for Golden Hour than I had ever imagined; preparing every detail for each night, ensuring activities are approved, getting music in line, learning how to set up and use all of the microphones and A/V system, holding song practices, meeting with my two helpers, and then trying to make sure everything goes off without a hitch.

It's always a lot of fun, but was a lot of work. Add preparing for that to preparing for my vocal recital and helping Missi plan her wedding - I just don't know where the summer has gone. Feels like I haven't had a moment to myself and my house/yard are evidence of the neglect!

Just having fun...

At any rate, it was fun. Tuesday night, everyone participated in the "Value Olympics." There are eight values by which we try to help the Young Women of the Church to come closer to Christ: faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works, integrity and virtue. For each value, we had an "event" associated with it and a goal of helping these girls understand how they can live these values daily and draw closer to Christ. From what I saw, everyone enjoyed the activities Tuesday night!

Value Olympics - Virtue

Wednesday evening, we started off with skits - not my favorite thing in the world, but required for camp certification, so we added them in the schedule. Following the skits, we changed the modd a bit through music. A friend of mine along with one of my helpers met together and planned the flow of the evening. They decided to combine the overall Mutual theme for the year of, "be strong and of a good courage," with the camp theme of, "Come Unto Me." We started off with songs about being strong and establishing a strong foundation in Christ ending the evening learning through song of the many things our Savior has done for us, and what we will do in return. We had stories, testimonies, and dialogue between the numbers.

Thursday night, we had some very special guests: Mary, mother of Jesus, Joseph and Emma Smith, Captain Moroni, a Sister Missionary, Sariah, and the three virgins sacrificed in Abraham 1:11. We asked people/leadership in our Stake to come be a part of our activity Thursday evening by playing one of these roles and explaining how they stood as witnesses for Christ, why it was so important, what role the gospel has in their lives, and how we can do the same in our life. We ended the evening all together in the amphitheater and watched a powerful video with examples of being strong, being an example to others, and being a witness of Christ. Thursday was by far the most impactful evening in my opinion.

Sariah

Mary

Emma and Joseph Smith

Three Virgins from Abraham 1:11

Captain Moroni

Sister Missionary

It was great, although I don't think I slept the entire week, or the 6-8 weeks leading up to it! After camp, I talked with the person who was in charge of Golden Hour last year and I fully agree with her - we need to form a support group for former Golden Hour leaders!