Trip to New York

Warning: This is a travel log!
On Sunday, December 4th I dropped Oakley off in Chubbuck at Cameron's sister's house and then drove to South Jordan, UT to stay with my aunt and uncle. They were so great to take me in and drive me to the airport on Monday morning and they shared some exciting news with me. Their names are Paul and Brenda Lovell and Paul was just called a few weeks ago by Elder Holland and President Eyring to serve as a mission president in a spanish-speaking mission! They don't know yet where they are going and they leave for the MTC July 1st. Pretty exciting and I know they will be amazing. I just love family and it was so fun to get one-on-one time with my aunt and uncle that I don't get to see enough.

Okay, next step in the journey: Flight from SLC to Newark, NJ Monday morning. The flight was delayed due to fog in NJ and when we got there it was dark. It was weird cuz it wasn't even 5 p.m. and it was 3 p.m. Idaho time. I felt messed up. It was quite the ordeal figuring out where to get my rental car in that huge airport and I had to catch an "air-train" to a nearby station where the rental car offices were. Luckily some other passengers got me straightened out after riding in circles a few times. I got my rental car and drove to Middletown, New York, about an hour and a half drive. I felt like I was in a maze cuz the roads are so congested and constantly curve around. Thank goodness for GPS. I stayed the night in a hotel in Middletown.

Next step: Meeting C, the birth mother. I drove to her house on Tuesday morning and her mom was there waiting with her. The case worker got there a few minutes later and it was a wonderful visit. We talked about a lot of things, including who C wants at the hospital and what placement will be like. Christy, the case worker, seems really great, and it will be good to work with her in the hospital and at placement. After she left, I spent the afternoon with C and her family and then drove her, her mom and her two boys to Middletown for dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. It was so fun to spend that time with everyone and it felt very comfortable. C's 6 year old son asked me when I was going back to England (Idaho and England both probably seem on a different planet to him).

On Wednesday, I got to pick C up and drive her to a fetal medicine doctor in Albany, a two hour drive. It was a long day because of the commute and then we had to wait a long time in the office. The highlight of the trip was getting to be present for the ultrasound. Where C was almost 30 weeks, we could see a "baby" in there and it was so cool to see all his features and see him "punching" at the ultrasound wand.
Here's a really cool pic:

His eyes are open! Anyway, we still don't know if she has to be delivered early or not but they seem pretty competent and are going to be taking over her care.
The drive back to C's house was crazy because it was 5 p.m in downtown Albany, it was dark, and it was pouring rain. And I mean pouring. It made my drive from NJ seem easy. We finally made it back and C and I said good-bye at that point. It was great to have alone time with her during the drive and we talked about a lot of things. She is the most selfless, mature person I have ever met.

On Thursday morning, bright and early, I drove back to Newark, NJ to catch my flight to Minneapolsis and then a flight back to SLC. I am glad I gave myself two hours to get to the airport because it was quite the ordeal getting to a gas station near the airport so I could turn in my rental car "full." I am so glad I don't live in a big city like that. I made it to Chubbuck about 8 p.m. that night and I had been up since 4 a.m. Idaho time. I got Oakley and he was so excited to see me! Then we drove home to find the house still there, which is always a good sign. It was an amazing trip and the only thing that could've made it better is if Cameron could've been with me. We talked on the phone a lot and he was sad not to be there but was where he needed to be. Looking forward to going back in about 2 months!

Little Miracles

I have so much to be grateful for this holiday season and an grateful I got to be with my family for Thanksgiving. My grandparents came to my parents' house as well as my aunt and uncle and a few of their grown kids. I sure missed Cameron but he was working hard and we are so grateful he now has a job. He started working for a company on Monday Nov 21 and has been working a lot of hours since then. His spirits are good even though he is getting very little sleep some days and I am so lucky to be married to such a great guy.

Our other little miracle is that I get to fly out to New York next Monday to meet the birth mother of our little boy who I will call "C". I'll even get to go to the doctor with her while I am there so I am so excited. Cameron wishes he could come but it's just not possible at this point. Fortunately, C is very understanding and is looking forward to at least meeting one of us before baby is born. Stay tuned for details of my visit in my next post.

I love my family!

My mom, Brianna, and Brett making yummy food for Thanksgiving

My nephew Coleston and I

My silly niece Cambria and nephew Coleston

My "little" 17 year old brother is growing like a weed and has now caught my other brother, Vance

My best friend besides Cameron. Oakley and I are keeping each other company.

November so far

Cameron left for North Dakota last Tuesday and is looking for a contract and taking mandatory safety classes. He is lonely living out of the truck but we get to talk and text a lot. He went to church today and said there were a ton of guys there in his same situation. I am lonely at home too and came to my parents' house this weekend. Braden played a football game in the mini dome in Pocatello on Saturday and they won their game against New Plymouth! Now they play for the state championship game next Friday in Moscow! It was a pretty excited game and they didn't even have a winning season until that game. Pretty cool. I also got to go to church with my parents which I never get to do because of my calling in the young women's. It was stake conference today for us so it worked out.

We are still hoping to adopt the baby boy in New York in February and we continue to keep in touch with the birth mother. She was 26 weeks yesterday. We are pretty excited and will hopefully get to fly out there soon to meet her and her family.

Hopefully the next three months go by fast!

A few more pics

This is my second post today but I wanted to post a few more pictures my mom forwarded to me from my weekend at home.

This was the view on my parent's back deck Saturday morning. So peaceful. I think it is one of the most beautiful places on Earth.


My cousin, Brittnee and her three girls came over to my parents' house on Saturday night and we have not gotten together in over a year. We are best friends but life just gets in the way. I love you gal!

Harvest

Cameron's dad and uncle farm together in a town about an hour from where we live and Cameron has spent a lot of time on the farm helping out this harvest season. Potato harvest just finished and beet harvest is still going on. Here are several pictures of what harvest is like for Foster Farms!

Inside the Potato cellar as it's being filled

Bruce and Kathy Foster, my in-laws with the two grandkids, Ashlyn and Daxton

Brooklyn, Bridget, Ashlyn and I picking clods and rocks.

Bridget, Cameron's youngest sister, me and Ashlyn filling up water bottles

Cameron's uncle working on the conveyer at the cellar

They own 12 potato trucks

The side-digger in the potato field

Bruce with his two grandkids in the grain combine

Update

Doors are opening for us and we feel very blessed. First of all, our big news is that we have been chosen by a birthmother who wants us to be the parents of her baby boy due February 19! After having our hearts broken a few times, we are still cautious but we are so excited that she has chosen us and I already picture that sweet boy and I love him already. She contacted us and 14 other couples on Parentprofiles on August 16 and sent out a mass e-mail. From there, she kept narrowing her list of potential families, asking lots of questions to each of us. We were very impressed with her and Cameron said "This is exactly how I would do this if I were in her shoes." She narrowed it down to three couples, which included us, and we were all using the same adoption agency, LDS Family Services. She lives in New York and she decided to contact the office there and use them. Again, we were very impressed. After a month, she finally made her decision and our caseworker, Jason called us on September 14 to give us the good news! Such a happy day. Of course things can still go wrong, but I have faith it will all work out. She is an amazing woman and it has been a privilege to get to know her.

That same week, I was offered a job working at a local health club. It is part-time and the physical therapist who owns it wants me to transition to doing nutrition consulting in January with the gym members and PT patients. I was shocked because I was just looking for a simple low-stress part time job to pass the time when I applied. Then I got a call from the hospital in my town and they asked if I would be interested in working one day a month at the hospital as a dietitian. It will eventually work in to one day a week. I did not even apply and I was again, shocked. Both employers are okay with me working both places and they both know about baby coming. Not sure how it is all going to play out but I feel so blessed. If anything, it will pass the time the next 20 weeks.

The other big news is that Cameron and I bought a semi-truck and trailer in September. Okay, we took out a huge loan, but still! Cameron will be driving truck in the oil fields in North Dakota hauling water. He passed the CDL exam on the same day we were chosen by our birth mother. Talk about an eventful week. It has all come together really fast and we are not sure when Cameron will be leaving but we feel really good about it. We can't deny how the Lord has led us in this direction. It will be a huge sacrifice and Cameron will be gone A LOT. It is also scary to be seriously in debt, but it will all work out.
On September 19, we flew out to Memphis, TN to pick up our truck and drive it home. Now that was an adventure! We slept in Wal-mart parking lots at night cuz it has a sleeper in the back. I will never look a Wal-mart the same again. It was home-sweet-home! Here are some pictures of our adventure.

Our Rental Car at the Little Rock airport

We drove to Memphis area that night and stayed with my uncle Craig and his family. It was so great to see them and they were so welcoming!

The truck! It was interesting driving around downtown Memphis in that thing!

In the sleeper part of the truck. That will be Cameron's home for a while. :(

starting early "retirement"

I quit my job July 26th and Cameron was done August 5th. Yay! Since then, we have been to Alpine, WY, where we hiked to Palisades Lake and went white water rafting. Cameron planned the whole thing and we had 24 people, enough to fill 3 rafts, travel up for the day. Way fun! We lost our water-proof camera in the bottom of the river that day, so no pictures of that trip. :(

The next week, we went camping with a family in our ward at Alturas Lake for five days, where we rafted on the Salmon River, went boating (I learned to surf behind the boat!), and went hiking. Oakley went with us, and they had a dog beach where he could swim to his heart's content. He was constantly wet, but he had a great time. From there, we went to Island Park for the weekend for a Boyer family reunion with my family. We were all there and had so much fun playing games and eating food. We used the raft once again to float down Big Springs with EVERYONE, including Brianna's youngest, Coleston, and Oakley. It was a lot of fun and we saw 6 moose, including three babies! On Monday, the 15th, Cameron and I went to Yellowstone for two days. The highlight of that trip was camping in Grizzily Bear country in Cooke City, Montana, where he had to sleep in the back of the pick-up with the top down because tents weren't allowed. Oakley did not enjoy that so much, and it was uncomfortable and clausterphobic. It makes a great memory though. It was easy to wake up early and put things away, so that morning we say tons of animals in Lamar Valley of Yellowstone. Early in the morning is the best time to see animals and we saw tons of Bison, a coyote, elk, deer, foxes, and a Grizzily bear walking up a hill (had to use our binnoculars for that one).

While on vacation, three birth mothers contacted us and we e-mailed them throughout our travelings. Thank goodness for internet on cell phones. No commitments at this point. Two have already fizziled out.

Since coming home, we have bottled beans and have been doing deep cleaning. Cameron is working on his business plans and has had lots of opportunities come up. We are still deciding what we are supposed to do at this point.
Sorry for the travel log, but I uses this as my journal. Enjoy the pictures.

Focus on Good Things

Okay it is a new month and a new morning and I am always in a better mood in the morning. I am going to focus on several positive things in my life:
1. My friends--thanks everybody for your love, prayers, and support. I have amazing friends and family and some of you I don't even get to see very often. You are great.
2. Oakley. He is still really playful but is now 17 months and is a wonderful, behaved adult dog. This morning on our run, he didn't even drag me for the first mile! He is learning! He has also saved me numerous times from sinking into a deep depression cuz he is so loyal and loving. AND hilarious!
3. Summer runs. I love running in the summer and this morning was beautiful!
4. My physical health. I am in the best shape of my life since high school cross-country and feel great. I love to exercise and sorry to brag, but my metabolism is amazing and I eat whatever I want! My irritable bowel syndrom doesn't bother me as bad as when I was in college, my cramps are less since the surgery for endometriosis, and the pain in my back is way better than it was a year ago. Yay!
5. My calling. At first I thought it was awful, but I love being YW president and working with the Young Women. They are such good examples to me of being Christ-like. There are no cliques in our ward and they are all so sweet.
6. Last but not least: Cameron. We have been through a lot together the last few years and we have come a long way. He is my best friend and I love him.
I really truly am blessed.

Some of our team after the "To Bone and Back" Race in I.F. last weekend. So fun and we got third place!

Oakley and I being buds

Broken

I am venting. We have had about as much bad news as we can stand. The birth mom in Montana, who is due the end of August with a little girl, just told us last night she changed her mind and is keeping the baby. That was my last thread of hope and I have nothing now. I bawled most of the night and just feel devastated. We have had a total of 8 people contact us about adoption and nothing has worked. Besides that, the people who were going to rent our house for a few years never called us back so that is not going to happen. The realtor we talked to today said a house like ours will probably sell for under a $100,000, which is WAY less than what we bought it for and we have put about $10,000 into it. That would crush us financially! So we may be stuck here but we are still quitting our jobs the end of July. Cameron no longer wants to go back to school but does not know what he wants to do. We both hate our current jobs and need a change. I feel so broken right now and I don't even know what to pray for. I know Heavenly Father answers prayers but maybe we are praying for the wrong things. What are we supposed to learn? I have thought of several cliche's that could apply to our situation right now and I don't want to hear any of them: "The night is always darker right before the dawn," "it could always be worse," "It will all work out," and the all time worst thing for me to hear: "Don't worry; as soon as you adopt, you will get pregnant. Everybody does." Grrrrr.
Okay I am done venting. Hopefully my next post will be a little more postivie!

Wet and Wild Fun!

What do we do when we are feeling blue? We play in the water! We went rafting Friday night with 3 other couples near Massacre Rock in between Pocatello and Burley and it was a blast! It was actually a disaster but that made it all the more fun. Cameron's dad bought a raft this year and it is being stored in our driveway for now and we have gone 3 times this year already. We decided to invite friends and go on Friday night, which was supposedly had the best forecast out of the week. Ha!

First of all, we were driving down the freeway in the rain with our huge raft strapped to the back of our pick-up when our friend happened to glance out the window just in time to see my jacket, which was in a duffel bag in the back of the pick-up, fly through the air and onto the road. We slammed on the brakes and pulled over and Tim jogged back to go get it. As he was running down the side of the free-way, he glanced up to notice a black "something" blow into the air clear behind us as a semi drove past. I guess my wet-suit had blown out of the duffel before we had noticed the bag open. So we had to get off the next exit and turn around to go get the wetsuit. It was my fault--I forgot to zip the duffel closed! Whoops.

Next, we unloaded and got ready to get in the raft when we noticed lightning and thunder. There were some drunk campers on the dock talking with us and they thought we were crazy. "We are," we answered and took off cheering wildly. 10 minutes onto the river a huge wind came up and it started raining like crazy. We were able to pull the raft over into a tree (literally) and climb onto a marshy bank where we hauled the raft onto the bank and made a shelter with the raft. We were in teeshirts and swimming suits and it was freezing cold huddled under the raft. It sounds awful but we were laughing so hard at our predicament and wondering what the drunk campers were thinking about us now. They could still see us if they used binocculors!

We waited about 20 minutes and then the rain slowed down. Shivering and covered with leaves from crashing into the tree, we took off down the river again. 10 minutes later, we see a police car on the opposite bank slowing following us along the bank! We are thinking one of the campers called the police because they thought we might be in trouble! We were laughing so hard and we just waved at him.

We finally got to the rapids and it was awesome and a huge wave came into the boat. We were all screaming and laughing and were glad our friends' kids did not come this time. To top it off, we had to all load into the pick-up at the take-out point and there were 8 adults jammed into our pick-up. Very uncomfortable. Aw, the memories we made! Enjoy the pictures.

Why So Hard?

I really don't want to write this post, but for some reason I feel like I should. May was such a hard month for us. We felt prompted to turn down our match with the birth mother in Louisiana due in August because we had not heard ANYTHING from her or her case worker and still did not even know her due date. It just didn't feel right. Right at the end of April, we were contacted by another birth mom in Montana and we have been writing back and forth with her every few days since then. A few days after we declined with the bmom, her caseworker e-mailed our caseworker who then called me. The birth mom finally showed up to her appt with him and was completely oblivious to the fact that we had been trying to get information about her for the last three months. She gave the caseworker all the information we needed and everything was fine. The caseworker said, "I think your couple will want to reconsider." She is having a c-section August 1st and the baby is doing great. Well, we said we would need some time to think about it and worried what should we do. Where was our peaceful assurance of which birth mother to choose? We did not know when the birth mother in Mt is due and we still don't. While pondering this, we got another e-mail from a birth mother through Parent Profiles. She was looking for placement for her 3-year-old daughter, Paightyn. The mother had no family support and has ovarian cancer and wants her daughter to have a good life. Her letter just ripped my heart out and I wrote her back, explaining we were kinda already matched but would like to learn more. She poured her heart out to us and sent us pictures of Paightyn. Cameron and I felt such peace after reading her e-mail and seeing P's picture and we knew this was "it." We had never considered toddler adoption but we just knew this was what we were supposed to do. Our caseworker was upset that we had 3 birth mothers "dangling" at this point so we declined our match with the one in Louisiana. K, this new bmom was okay with us still being matched with the other one, even excited about P being a big sister soon. So, in a whirlwind of emotions, two days later we drove to Dallas, Tx to meet her. 22 hours in the car one way! We spent four days down there and had a blast and continued to feel peace. P is so adorable and we fell in love. We got our paper work going with the attornies but the Bmom had not signed anything yet. She wanted a week and half with P so her friends and family who lived in Iowa could say good-bye. We drove home, agreeing to come back down the next friday, June 3. Our families and most of our ward knew about this trip and everyone was so happy for us and we had tons of support. During the next week, as we prepared her room and made plans with our jobs, things were not adding up with some of her texts and e-mails. Finally, Tuesday night (two days ago) she e-mailed us and said that she needed to "put the breaks on" because she was not comfortable with everything. So she backed out and we were left devastated. I think the hardest part is having such a powerful confirmation that she was supposed to be in our home and wondering why. I have never seen Cameron so excited or happy as with our time with Paightyn. We have decided that everyone has their free agency no matter how many prayers are offered and of course Satan would not want P to come to our home where we have the Gospel. It has been a really hard few days and we are just trying to come to terms. Fortunately the Bmom in Mt is still contacting us and knows the whole situation and is becoming a good friend. We don't know where it will lead but I just know we can't give up and have to keep putting our hearts on the line so that we can have a family. In the end, I know we will look back on this and see why we have had to go through this hard time. We even had two more bmoms contact us through parent profiles while we were down with Tx and we turned both of them down, referring them to my cousin and a few friends who want to adopt. We feel that is right but it is hard to know we still do not have a child. I am struggling with anger right now most of all because I hate my situation in life. I want to be a mother so bad. I hate having to commute to work each day, I hate my job, I hate how quiet my house is, etc, etc. This is something I have to work through and I am sorry I am so negative. Today I have felt better after pouring out my heart in prayer and I have a stronger testimony of the love my Savior has for me. I also know that none of this matters if I don't have Cameron beside me. So although I am tempted to be angry and bitter even at him, I know that when we are united in love, we can get through anything. So Cameron I love you and thank you for letting me cry my eyes out to you last night. We are in this together and we will get through this!

Idaho Dietetic Association

http://www.eatrightidaho.org/
I just got back from the annual Idaho Dietetic Conference in Merdian, ID. I am proud to be a Registered Dietitian and we were encouraged to promote our profession with social media to help people know that we are the "nutrition experts." I have a bachelors of science in dietetics and nutrition and have completed a 1 year internship. Our profession has a lot of opportunities to make differences in peoples' lives through clinical nutrition therapy including private consulting, foodservice management, school nutrition, teaching on a university level, public policy and so much more! It was so great to rub shoulders with dietitians all over the state of Idaho and learn how they are making differences and helping our profession be more visible to legislatures and lobbyists as the health care reform continues to take shape.

I had forgotten how much I love my profession in the craziness of my life and my bitterness in even having to work at all when all my friends are family members are having children. I realize I am grateful to have a good job working as a clinical dietitian in long term care where there is a big need for my skills and specialty. I have learned a ton and have gained experience that I will have for my resume and future opportunities that may come up down the road. I am so excited to be a mom and say good-bye to the full-time workforce, but there has definitely been a huge value in working the last three years. Three more months and bye-bye job! I will be quitting the end of July.

Easter with the Foster gang

On Easter Sunday, we had Stake Conference, a broadcast from Salt Lake for the 48 stakes on the western side of the state. It was wonderful and Elder Ballard and President Uchtdorf both gave really good talks. I am so grateful for the opportunity to really think about the resurrection and the Atonement on this day.
Then, we hurried home because all of Cameron's family minus Kenyon, who is serving a mission, came to our house a few hours later. We are in a central location for everyone coming from Aberdeen, Chubbuck, and Mountain Home. We had a great time and cooked a feast! Oakley got to play with his "cousin dogs" and we played the Wii and got to relax.

Conference Weekend

I love Conference! Cameron and I went to Firth to visit my family over the weekend and got to meet Coleston, Brianna's new baby. My mom, sister, and I also went to my childhood best friend's house on Saturday night during Priesthood session. Here are some pictures of our fun weekend!

Coleston was only 10 days old in this picture. So cute and fragile!

Hanging with the family. Oakley loved being there too.

My mom and niece, Cambria. She is a character and calls me "puppy" because every time she sees me, I have my big furry puppy that is bigger than her. She likes him from afar and says "hi, puppy" and then runs away.

Ashton is a great friend and I got to see her daughter, Brooklyn, too. It was a great time with all the women folk. There were 6 women and three babies and we just held them and talked.

I was making Brooklyn laugh. So cute!

Other recent Pictures:
I love this picture! Cameron and Oakley snuggling on the floor! They are both really cuddly guys, and I love it!

Cameron is getting ready to go on a big turkey hunt with our brother-in-law in a couple weeks. He bought some new decoys and gear and is pretty excited for this trip.


Oakley posing in the back yard with Cameron's turkey decoy in the background. Oakley went outside and layed right next to it right before that.