Michael's Sealing

Michael Rigel Rosenvall was sealed to our family on June 9th, 2010 in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

Children have a different spirit when they enter a temple.

Sarah was bouncing before we entered and the second we passed the front doors, she was quiet, spoke in whispers and was very gentle in her behavior.

The sealer spoke to our family about ordinances, and how although they are very short, they are also immensely important. Apparently Michael was the first live child to be sealed to parents in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

Michael doesn't like high places, so he almost cried while at the altar, but Rew and I smiled at him and that seemed to calm him down. Sarah was very quiet.

My Father and Andrew's Father were the witnesses, Dale (Michael biological grandfather) assisted Michael at the altar.

After everyone has left the room we took Sarah over to the mirror, I told her, "Sarah, we are inside the temple, do you remember 'I love to see the Temple." (We have been teaching her I love to see the Temple, but with different lyrics.) She smiled really big and very softly sang her version of "I love to see the Temple."

"I love to see the Temple, I'll go inside again. To be sealed to my brother and know that Heavenly Father is near. For the Temple is a Holy place where we are sealed together. As I child of God, I know this truth. My family is Forever."

Sealing of Michael Rigel Rosenvall

June 9th, 2010, 7 p.m.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Michael's Court Adoption

Today was our little boy's adoption hearing. Here we are getting ready to go...

Sarah Ruby

Michael Rigel

Judge signing the adoption decree papers! It's almost official. At the final adoption hearing the judge will present the newly adopted child with a stuffed animal. Our judge presented both Sarah and Michael with a stuffed animal! (You can see Sarah holding them, they are "Fox in Socks" and "Hop on Pop" stuffed animals from Dr. Seuss books.)

Judge M had Michael strike the gavel for his own adoption. Then Sarah wanted to try too. I love Sarah's face in this one... hee hee hee.

It's a BOY!

Welcome....Michael Rigel Rosenvall

Sealing soon to follow!

18 Things

1. I despise chain mail. I will not send it back to you, nor will I pass it on. Sorry, it's not appreciated unless it's something funny/odd or relates to Science.

2. I love my husband Andrew. I am constantly amazed at what life has already decided to throw at us in the first 5 years, which makes me apprehensive, because in my experience the Lord only give you harder and harder things so you'll continue to grow.

3. My biggest pet peeve is seeing people using cell phones at inappropriate times: i.e. in movie theatres, in the middle of a regular conversation, while at dinner in a restaurant, at school during class, while in the bathroom, during a play, at church(usually playing games), COME ON PEOPLE! Use some cell phone etiquette.

4. I've always wanted a large family, since having kids, a small family would be wonderful! I greatly respect those of you with large families.

5. Being the youngest of 8 is quite possibly the best family placement ever.

6. I love dancing! Lindy Hop, Swing and West Coast Swing are my favorites.

7. Staying up late and sleeping in until 10 a.m. every morning makes me happy. That way I get to see the stars at night, and wake up to lunch. I am not a breakfast person.

8. My favorite foods? Unagi sushi, Raspberry cream dark chocolate truffles, Boysenberry Pie, Avocados, Sirlioin tip steak, chicken hearts, green olives, snap peas...

9. I would love to learn how to do my hair and what I should wear. I have no fashion sense whatsoever and struggle shopping for clothes--unless it's for someone else, husband, daughter, son.

10. Winter is by far my favorite season but also my least favorite time to drive.

11. If I could travel anywhere on Earth I would pick New Zealand, Tibet(Himalayas), Antartica, Brazil(Amazon), Iceland. I've already been to the other place: Yellowstone.

12. I'm still in shock that the Lord decided I should adopt children. I love them both dearly but still miss that I wasn't able to be there when they were born-I have 2 kids and still have no clue what a woman goes through when she delivers.

13. I read comics. Sherman's Lagoon, PH.D Comics, The Order of the Stick, Buckles, B.C., Far Side, Calvin & Hobbes, Dilbert are my favorites.

14. Bubble baths, sitting outside on the grass on an autumn day, reading a beloved book, back rubs, eating dark chocolate raspberry creams, hiking, oil painting, cross-stitching, playing piano = best relaxation ever.

15. I've always thought that 'R' would be the prettiest letter for my last name, something about Amy R. -- Perfect! Needless to say I was ecstatic when I figured out Andrew's last name.

16. I'm competitive and stubborn. But not competitive nasty and not so stubborn that I won't listen to your side.

17. I have been addicted to TV, but never to computer games.

18. My own creativity has gotten me into trouble more times than I'd like to admit.

Sleeping toddlers?

Okay experienced mothers, I need your help.

My daughter Sarah has always gone to bed easily. Even as a bouncy 18 month old (when she first came to us). You could lay her down and she would go right to sleep, hardly even crying--except when she was sick.

Okay...here's our bedtime routine: She goes to sleep at 8 p.m.

Andrew and I go to sleep at 10 p.m.

I usually say, "Time for bed, Sarie, let's put on pjs." (she generally comes happily and puts them on- no problem).

Then I help put her in pjs,

she uses the potty,

I help her brush her teeth.

Then we go to her room with the lamp on low,

read stories

sing a few gentle songs,

say prayers,

give her a drink of water, we lay her down, say "Goodnight Sarah, I love you." give her a kiss. She says, "Goodnight mommy, love you too.)

I turn out the lamp, close her door partially. Sarah goes to sleep.

It has always been this order...

Recently:

Same routine. EXCEPT: lay her down....

"Leave the door OPEN!" she screams. or says, "I need to go potty." etc...

If you try any of these requests, Ex: "I want a drink of water." You give her water, she will throw it at you. Ex: let her use the potty. She won't go, and will request to use it again minutes later with the same result.

We've tried:

Sitting outside her door--worked for a few weeks.

Sitting in her room--worked for a little bit, but now she just throws everything in sight at you.

Closing her door--throws a fit, bangs on the door, wakes up her brother.

Nightlight-- she plays with it.

Putting her to bed earlier or later depending on if she took a nap.

Time out--calms her down, but doesn't change much.

Not giving in to any requests--tantrum, screams/pouts/works herself into a frenzy and doesn't go to sleep.

Ignore her--gets out of bed, run upstairs, plays with toys--even though she's tired.

Possibilities(what I've heard from others):

Nightmares

Separation Anxiety

Growth Pains

She's three

I know my daughter, yes, she is only three, has terrible threes, probably has growth pains, nightmares and definitely separation anxiety.

BUT HOW DO I HELP HER PEOPLE?!?!?!?

I don't want my child to be screaming until 11pm at night! I don't want to find her in the middle of stairs asleep with all the lights on in the house! I don't want to hear her trying to open the back door in the middle of the night! I don't want her to go knocking down Little Mikey's door at 3 a.m. and waking him up! What I've tried is not helping...

Top Spots

My friend Kaitlin found a website that calculates your "top spots" to live. It looked interesting, so here are my top spots.

http://www.findyourspot.com

Sheridan, WY

Helena, MT

Coeur d'Alene, ID

Dillon, MT

Springville, UT

Ogden, UT

Great Falls, MT

Salt Lake City, UT

Livingston, MT

Provo-Orem, UT

Moscow, ID

Fort Collins, CO

Kalispell, MT

Bozeman, MT

Grand Junction, CO

Leadville, CO

Cheyenne, WY

Tooele-Grandsville, UT

Durango, CO

Missoula, MT

Billings, MT

Divide, CO

Roanoke, VA

Cedar City, UT

Interesting how it kept me more towards the rockies.

Here's Rew's top 20:

Roanoke, VA

Lynchburg, VA

Spokane, WA

Billings, MT

Great Falls, MT

Olympia, WA

Norfolk, VA

Tacoma, WA

Salt Lake City, UT

Kent, WA

Ogden, UT

Hampton, VA

Seattle, WA

Provo-Orem, UT

Denver, CO

Loveland, CO

St. George, UT

Charlotte, NC

Chattanooga, TN

Asheville, NC

Ancorage, AL

Cheyenne, WY

Bellingham, WA

Boise, ID

Here are the areas we overlapped!

Provo-Orem, UT

Salt Lake City, UT

Ogden, UT

Roanoke, VA

Billings, MT

Great Falls, MT

Cheyenne, WY

Adoption Date

The adoption date has changed to May 26th! :D

3 Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday Sarah!

My little girl turned three!

What did I do? Let's see.

On Sunday I shared a birthday party with Talia!

My cousin who's only a week older than I.

Mommy made me a Boston creme cake with strawberries,

It had brightly colored sprinkles and purple frosting!

We celebrated with cake at uncle Mark's house.

I played lots of games downstairs and refused to eat venison- but I did ask for more ice cream and cake! Grandma R. gave me new pj's and Talia gave me a book. I brought sidewalk chalk for Talia!

(When we got home Mom and Dad discovered that they finally caught that elusive mouse that had been living in the ceiling.)

Monday when Mommy came home from work, I had a huge surprise for her!

"Look, Mommy! I cut my hair!"

The picture doesn't do any justice... she cut off all of her bangs (see above photo) gave herself a nice bald spot right in front and trimmed the edges too...

This is just a little portion of the hair that covered her bedroom.

So... I got a haircut from a lady mommy called a "hair stylist"

On my birthday I requested Tacos for dinner, Mommy and daddy and Michael took us to Los Hermanos and I ordered a special drink called Brisa de Mora Negra, it was so yummy! and then I ate my tacos, I stole mommy and daddy's olives from both of their plates. Olives are so good!

When the waiter came out with my ice cream he asked "How old are you, Sarah." I said, "Grandma and Grandpa say I'm three." Ice cream was good, but I liked the whipped cream better, not so sure about the cherry on top.

Mommy and Daddy got me a swingset for my birthday!

Yeah! I have a park n my backyard now!

It took Mommy and Daddy 2 days to build it.-thank goodness for swingset kits...

This is the birthday present from Grandma T. I asked mommy to read it to me three times before bed.