Byg Family

We had a couple of pretty funny moments in Belize, so I guess I better document them before I forget.

The first was when we were walking the beach one night.  Mike & I decided to try and use one of the hammocks, together.  Apparently we did not lean at the same pace, because we rapidly made a complete circle in the hammock and were dumped face down in the sand.  I thought that only happened on cartoons!
I was laughing, Marc & Carolyn & Allan were laughing,  I think Mike may have been in shock.  We were covered in sand from head to toe.
We didn't try to sit in the hammock together again.

Here is Allan using the hammock the correct way!



Now for the second funny thing that happened.  We'll call it:

A Swim Suit and a Key

There is basically no night life in Belize, or at least not in the small town of Hopkins where we were staying.  It gets dark around 6 pm, and the night kind of drags on while you wait for an acceptable time to go to bed - ya know, one that won't make you appear to be too old.

One night, we decided we ought to use the pool at the bed & breakfast since it was part of the deal.  We all went to our rooms to change and then meet by the pool.
As Mike and I were leaving our room, we had this conversation:

Me:  Do you have a key or should I bring one?
Mike:  I have a key in my pocket.

I lock the door, we exit the room.
5 steps later,

Me:  We didn't bring towels, toss me the key.

Mike then removes the key from his pocket only to find he had the car key and not the room key.  We are now stranded outside our room in our swimming suits with nothing except a car key.
Hmmmm... this is a predicament.

We go downstairs to the managers apartment and pound on the door.  And pound on the door.  And pound on the door.
Wouldn't you know it, they have gone out for the evening.

Luckily, our siblings were willing to loan us towels from their rooms.  We had a great time swimming while we waited for the owner to come home.  They arrived a couple of hours later and gave us the extra key (after she finished laughing when we told her we had locked ourselves out!)

I think that was the funniest thing that happened on our vacation.  I still laugh when I think about it.


Marc by the pool.... it is really fun to go down the slide and yell Woo Hoo!  

It happened.  I turned forty this year - on April 30th to be exact...
My Mom called at 7:13am, the time I was born forty years ago, to wish me Happy Birthday.
She also did this for Marc's birthday in February... we are curious what she will do for those children born in the middle of the night....

Earlier this year Mike and I spent time deciding what we would do to celebrate my birthday.  Mike was pretty set on a big vacation and I certainly wasn't opposing it!  We decided on Belize - and I am glad we did!  It was Amazing!  It was a trip full of firsts and crossed some things off my bucket list, like going to a warm ocean and seeing Mayan ruins.

We decided it would be a lot of fun to have other people go with us - we extended the invitation to our siblings and were excited when Marc, Allan, Carolyn, James & Christine decided to join us!
To the celebration we added Marc graduating as Valedictorian, and Christine's Birthday.

DAY 1

DAY 2:








 After hiking, we went ziplining, also in Bocawina National Park.  The zipline was a Blast!  We had a lot of fun. It total, you travel a distance of 2.5 miles in between 12 platforms.  Our guides were a lot of fun and certainly added to the fun.  

Yes!  This blog is up to date!  This post is happening now!!!

St. George, April 2014... a spontaneous, last minute get away with my favorite people!

Our morning hike:

Just taking a moment to brag, just a little...

For the last two years I have been the birth parent rep for the Utah Adoption Council.
This past year, I was also President Elect... soon to be President in July - Yikes!

I feel I have done a lot of work to educate the other council members about birth parents and the adoption journey from our point of view.  I even conducted a birth mom survey with about 100 participants to identify areas in which the adoption process could be improved for birth parents.

We (the adoption council) are supposed to represent all parts of adoption, but the conference we host every year only addresses professionals and adoptive parents.  I campaigned hard to have a birth parent track added, and this year for the first time, we offered 6 birth parent classes.

It was a lot of work, but I arranged for 5 of the 6 birth parent classes (the 6th one was an adoptee panel talking about adoption from their point of view).  I taught one of the birth parent classes - Facing Disappointment Post Placement, and I think I did okay teaching a 90 minute class. 

The first day I presented the community and professional awards during lunch.  I also ran a lunch time panel on the second day which addressed adoption myths and fears from all angles of adoption.  We had a DCFS rep, an adoptive couple, an adoptee who is also an adoptive parent and an adoption professional, a birth mom, an agency adoption rep, and a private adoption attorney who has an adopted sibling.  I was really stressed about running this panel because I was standing in front of 300 people, but I think it was good and I know I enjoyed the discussion and comments of the panel members. 

The final compliment came when I received and email from a woman named Lori.  Lori came from Japan to attend our conference and attended several of the birth parent classes.  She feels that birth parent support is important and would like to establish this in Japan, however, almost all adoptions in Japan are closed and no support is offered to the birth parents. 
I know their battle well.....
Lori heard me speak and wanted me to speak at a symposium in Japan in September on the need for birth parents to have support post placement. I was elated that my experience could finally help someone... sometimes I feel so out of place being so surrounded by open adoption.  While I love and admire all the birth moms I meet, I have met very few who experienced closed adoption and secrecy.  My journey is very different from theirs in that regard. 
Unfortunately, it looks like I would need a much higher educational degree for her to be able to get a grant to pay for my travel expenses - that was a bummer.  However, I am honored to have been asked and to know there are birth parents who my experience could help. 

Maybe next year we can get some adoptee classes added... I find it interesting that adoption is supposed to be about the child/adoptee, but our council currently includes no adoptees and has no adoptee classes.
However, the members of the adoptee panel really enjoyed the conference, so maybe adoptees will be represented next year too!

This is what Titan does when I am downstairs exercising.  Apparently he is under the impression the "no dogs on the couch rule" only applies when people are present.

For the past 2 -2 1/2 years I had the calling of Relief Society teacher and Wolf Den Leader.  At the end of 2013 I was released from teaching relief society.  They said they would leave me in scouts for a while. 
Then a couple of months ago as we were walking home from church I had a strong impression come to my mind that Deryn needed me to be in Young Women's.  She has really been struggling with wanting to be there, mainly because her best friends are not in our ward. 
I kind of laughed to myself and dismissed the thought knowing it was not in my power to change my calling.
Two weeks later, the Young Women's presidency was changed and I was called as  Mia Maid advisor. 

It is always nice to have received a confirmation for yourself about the calling... I always feel good when I am extended a calling for which I have already received confirmation or insight about. I never question if the calling is right, no matter how overwhelming it may seem.

Happy Birthday Deryn!

Can't believe it has been 13 years since you entered our lives.  It has been so fun to see you learn and grow!  I love your witty sense of humor, your creativity, and let's not forget your awesome grades despite your tendency to procrastinate!  Can't wait to see what the next 13 years with you bring!

 Deryn really wanted a penguin birthday cake.  This cake was made by my cousin Annette.  It was not only cute, but tasty!  Good choice on the chocolate cake and Oreo Mousse filling.