Patience is a Virtue

I must apologize for not getting to our story as of late. We have had lots of sickness at our house the last few months, plus FOUR birthdays, ONE anniversary (15 years), Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. One of my resolutions for 2013 is to get this story down in it's entirety.  It's quite a story filled with many miracles along the way. 

Thanks for stopping by.

And so it begins...

Hello Friends,

Well, I'm finally doing it. I'm going to attempt to write down the amazing miraculous events that have occured over the last 9 months. I'm starting today and move forward and will be filling in the gaps as I go.

So check back often, this story is definetley one worth hearing.........

Akwaaba!!! Happy 2011!

The year of 2011 sure came in like a bang this year!  We went to our friends Thomas & Katrina Appiah's house.  The Ghanaian community that exists here in Utah has literally enveloped our little family into their group.

They are a fabulous people.  They are expressive, kind, laugh a lot.  They like to have loud music in the background, people playing the Wii, an intense board game going on, and a bunch of people talking and laughing all at the same time. AND while eating food.  This took a little bit of adjusting for me because its joyful chaos going on!  And me being the anti-clutter person I am, I had to adjust.  And I did and enjoyed every minute of it.  We all did!

Jake struck up friendships all over again with the kids that were there that he met originally in October.  He was off and playing before I even sat down.

Towards the end of the night some of the men got together and started playing a game called "Drift."  Similar to the game checkers but instead of the checkers you play with round thin pieces of wood.  It was very interesting  to watch. In Ghana although the most spoken language is Twi and in Accra most of them know a good amount of English, there are more than 50 different languages spoken in the country depending on the region.  Thomas and Ben we playing and several times they broke out into song and apparently Thomas was trying to speak Ben's language.

We LOVE these people! We are so glad they are going to be around for our Ghanaian children so they can know of their country and participate in some of the traditions from their home country.

 We had sooo much fun I took very little pictures!  I admit, it made me LONG for this adoption process to be over as I am very weary of not hearing anything for so long. Happy New Year!  Make it 2011 the best yet!

Christmas Vacation with Yogi in 3D!

The days are short, cold, and dreary this time of year in Utah so to liven things up during Christmas vacation, I took Jake and his good friend Dean to see  a matinee of Yogi Bear.  I got the show times mixed up and actually took them to the show in 3D (Which I did not know until today makes matinees several bukaroos more and 3D gives this Mama a headache).  But what was done was done and I was not about to back out after seeing how excited they were to see the flick.

Thumbs up from these two cute boys.

Yes Jake ate that entire tub almost all by himself.  Mama is allergic to corn.

 

 

 

These two were being good sports after the show as the snow started dumping on us!  Glad Jake has good friends like Dean to be with!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13 going on Forever. Happy Birthday to us!

The time has flown by and yet barely started.  I can't remember what life was like before Jeff was in it.  We've been together over 13 1/2 years and have now been married for 13. Oh how I adore this man!  He amazes me still just how much he loves me.  He knows I am quirky, spunky, high wired, dramatic, opinionated, sometimes neurotic, and have been told I have a "very strong" personality and yet he still loves me back!


We celebrated this year going to The Roof Restaurant.  It has a fantastic view down into Temple Square year round, especially during the Christmas Season. The Roof is overpriced for the buffet they serve in my humble opinion. The Little America Buffet beats them hands down.  But how to you compare with the ambiance of a Rooftop Restaurant overlooking a an iconic structure that took 40 years to build and is revered by millions of people around the world?  You can't. And that's how it stays in business.

It was great to spend time just the two of us.  He's still my favorite person in the world and my best friend. Happy Anniversary Babe!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2010

 In one of my previous posts this year I spoke about my Uncle Grant passing away earlier this year. This left my crazy, sweet Aunt Valeen all alone for the first time on Christmas.  I could not bear for this to happen. This great lady who has shown me so much love and support my entire life and is one of my favorite people in the world was not going to spend the day all alone!!!! So I called her and told her she was coming to stay with us for Christmas Day and Christmas Eve. She grumbled and tried to back out to spare us from her (whatever!) and I told her I would not take no for an answer.  She said yes and I quietly went to work to make these two days special for all of us. 

As a tradition in our little family we make a Christmas Eve trip to downtown Salt Lake and have lunch or dinner and take in the Christmas lights at the Gateway and Temple Square.

We decided on lunch this year and started our day at the Olive Garden downtown (one of my aunt's all time favorite places to eat).  Below is a picture of Jake and Valeen heading into the restaurant.

Valeen is so fun to take places!  Her classic "Oh Gad's" and ways she expresses herself and interacts with people is hilarious and uniquely Aunt Valeen. Jake adores her just like I did at his age (and still do).

Here we are in the Olive Garden. Nothing like yummy hot food on a cold day!

Our next stop was The Gateway.  We walked around this jewel of the city and took in all the decorations and shops. Coldwater Creek which is on of Valeen's favorite stores next to Nordstroms was having a huge sale and Valeen was able to pick up a few super cute things for dirt cheap. She himed and hawed about buying it but I told her she could make it her Christmas present to herself. While we were inside the store doing our lady shopping bonding thing, Jeff and Jake were outside playing in the water fountain.  Jake is definitely my child as he did not care that it was 25 degrees, he still ran through the water. Crazy kid!

Enjoying the fun at The Gateway

The great light rail system in downtown Salt Lake is great because you can ride it for free around downtown.  So we parked at the JSMB building and hoped on the train over to the Gateway. Super slick and great for Valeen too!

As I mentioned previously, Jake and Valeen are bosom friends and I caught a fun moment between them on the light rail. See below.  You can't beat memories like these!

 Our last stop was Temple Square.  It was about 5:00 pm and dusk.  Valeen was a little tired and the crowd started to accumulate. So I searched around the square for a wheel chair so she could fully enjoy everything and not get trampled or slip and fall.

The new Nativity on the lawn next to the tabernacle is spectacular.  Last year I posted a bunch of pictures of it because I loved it so much.  Being able to watch the account of Christ's birth with the large statue of the Christus all lit up in the North Visitors Center always makes my heart swell in gratitude for our Savior, Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he gave for us.  I am in awe!  Valeen loved it and got a front row seat because of the wheels. She told us afterward that she had not been down to see the lights in over 20 years.   It was a special treat for sure!

Not a bad little photographer if I do say so myself!! Course the subject matter was easy!

Here's another. I LOVE the red lights and the contrast. Magnificent!

All around the square and near the Church Office Building and adjacent gardens were life size nativities from countries all over the world.  We looked at all of them.  The luminaries were also fun to see the images and words about this glorious season.

I LOVE Luminaries!

We headed for home about 7:00 pm for our "Late Night" Christmas Eve Activity.  As the adults all got comfy in our jammies Jake was a busy bee downstairs getting the couch all set up for us to watch the movie "Elf."

Here is our cute boy waiting for us to get started.

My place was next to Jake and Jeff and Auntie Valeen was so sweet to hold Rudolph and Frosty while we watch.

After Elf, Jake scurried to bed and Jeff and I prepared things for Santa to come.  Valeen stayed up with us and chatted, told us stories and we had a fun time. 2:00 am rolled around and all was quiet until later that morning.

I promised Valeen I would not post any pictures without her face on, so there are no picture of her opening her presents on Christmas morning, because we did have some for her.  She was floored we thought of her and I loved EVERY minute of her surprises!  Below is Jeff and Jake opening up the presents!

A Christmas Morning Tradition in our house is a gigantic breakfast with every breakfast food you can think of.  This meal is so big, we don't eat until the early evening because we are so stuffed.  Jake is old enough now that he asked about this traditional meal way in advance.  "It's tradition Mom, and the best breakfast of the whole year!"  Love. That. Boy!

Grandma and Grandpa Isom are still serving their LDS mission to Vancover, Canada so we skyped them later in the evening. Grandma and Grandpa Clark came over in the afternoon to see Jake's loot and get their presents!

Jake showing off his new video camera.

 Of course the meaning of the season was not forgotten as we reflect on the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ whom we owe our salvation to.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

An Annual Isom Christmas Tradition "Hayrides in the Park".

We LOVE where we live! Love, love, love it!  When you are at my house you feel you are in a rural little town.  2 miles up the road you have pretty much all the shopping you ever want or need.  Our town has about 70 thousand people in it but where our neighborhood is situated, it still has that small town feel. I have the best of both worlds.  And we have great little hometown burger joints like the Burger Stop.

Every year the Burger Stop partners with Layton City and does a free hayride in Layton Commons Park. They encourage you to donate $2 dollars to charity as admission to the hayride.  This is perfect for little ones as it is not too long and takes about 15 minutes round trip.  I usually can get a good round of caroling going on the hayride, this year it feel completely FLAT!!!  I mean really, the lights, the hayride, all bundled up with red noses, snuggled in blankets, don't you just want to start humming Jingle Bells picturing it in your mind?? Que the music!

It was still fun and a tradition we will continue year after year. I love my little family and my life!  We are so blessed!

On the Hayride taking in the lights.

Don't you feel like singing???

The Burger Stop has the cutest Santa Claus, real beard and everything.

This fun little hometown favorite even has a jukebox.  They make fabulous shakes and their 4 cheese grilled cheese is one of my favorites.  Yay for the memories!  Hope your holiday season is going well too!

Welcome to the world Halle Girl!

After an exhausting week overdue, my sis Kathy had her long awaited first child. Halle Ann Taylor was born on December 15th, 2010 at 3:23 PM and was: 8lbs. 15 oz. 22 inches long.  We are thrilled for Kath and Derrick.

Halle looks a lot like her Daddy but also looks quite a bit like Jacob did when he was little. Kath and I  compared Halle and Jake's pictures and some of them are uncanny how much they look alike.

Jake has loved that Halle looks like him.  With no biological siblings, this is the first little cousin that has looked like him.  We love you Halle Girl and are thrilled you are apart of our family. 

This next pic is of Kath's doggy Malone who is getting his first look at Halle.  It reminds me of Lady and the Tramp.  Maloney is part human,  I tell ya!

Jake ADORES Halle!

She's a cutie pie!

Poor Stockton!  He is not sure of this new little person who cries a lot

and hogs all the attention.

Jake’s Choir Concert

While I would love to say that Jake has inherited a fantastic singing voice from the Clark and Jones sides of his family, I cannot. He has to work really hard to sing on key.

His voice has improved greatly and he sings much better on key. This was his concert for his singing group at school. Singing in front of an audience is very scary for Jake, but he seems to be doing much better. I love how hard he tries.


Here are some pictures of the concert.

Can you guess what they are singing?

 Below is a clip of the singing...

The Jowdza Fest with the Isom side of the Family.

Jeff's siblings got together for the annual Christmas Party.  They made a family favorite dinner called Jowdza which is a Chinese dish their Dad made for them that he learned how to make while he was in Taiwan serving an LDS mission there 40+ years ago.  It's basically a rendition of Asian pot stickers that are steamed instead of fried.  The entire family chows on these things. It's hilarious to watch. They eat until they are literally sick to their stomachs and can't move.  Adam worked his head off to make this day special for everyone. Kudos to Adam, we love you, you are awesome.

They also exchanged presents.  The funniest exchange is when Matt opened his present from his sister Linda and it was Bon Jovi tickets.  He was speechless and looked like he might cry.  Great night for all the cousins.

                                                      See what I mean?? Matt was floored!!!