Yes, we're late again... sorry

This week was very exciting for Devin and I. This week was more explosive than the big bang. Most of the explosions came from the lips of my super fine wife, but there were other exciting things as well. This Tuesday was our favorite Tuesday of the month. We had pack meeting and for the second month in a row I got to lead pack meeting. It really is fun to lead and put the boys front and center for the meeting. This month the subject was pockets. I started the meeting by asking what the boys had in their pocket. The boys had some interesting stuff in their pockets. One kid had a fireball, another had rubber bands, a couple had pocket lint. The most interesting thing in the kids pockets was gum the boy claimed that it was ABC gum for tomorrow. For those of you who do not know what ABC gum is- gum that has Already Been Chewed. The boys then showed off their collections. Everyone had a great time playing and getting to show off their stuff. Devin was very sad to have missed all the fun. Devin was forced to go to a work meeting and sign up for the holiday schedule. She did show up after everything ended and got some crushed Oreo held together by cream cheese and then dipped in chocolate. We really like working with the cub scouts it is lots of fun for us.

Wednesday was one of the busier days. Devin and I went and got family pictures taken down by Utah Lake. One of our friends has a photography studio and they did the pictures for us. I was tempted to throw Devin in the lake and get pictures of it but I chickened out. Not because Devin did not want to get wet but because we did not have a change of clothes and I did not want my car to smell like that pouted lake for the rest of time. When we got home Grandma and Granddad Hurst were there. They came and stayed with us for a few days while they went to doctor appointments, and we were happy to have them over to visit with us. I can not remember much of what we did with them but we did spend many hours just talking about life and the fun it is to be with Devin. We also voted on some stuff while they were here. For example I said, “Raise your hand of you think that Devin is spectacular.” It ends up that 3 of the 4 people in the room agreed that Devin is spectacular. That means that it must be true. They also stayed in town because of Saturday.

Saturday was the most important day of this week. The morning started out by Mom Zobrist coming over to our house with Ben and Emily. We played with them for a while and had a good time with them. The kids favorite game that morning was to call me Miss Payne. I would then talk in a high pitched voice with what I thought was an English accent and answered their questions. Then they had to go home and prepare for the good part of the day. Devin and I also had to get ready. Soon after that we were dressed in our Sunday cloths leaving for a local church building. There was a special event happening. Ben was getting baptized. There was another girl in their ward getting baptized as well. The Grandma's gave the talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost. It was a very good meeting. But the most important parts of the baptism were that the kids where making promises to the lord to try and follow the example of Christ. They were also blessed with the gift of the Holy Ghost.. There is not much that can top that kind of a day. We then went over to Nate and Autumn's house and had sandwiches and talked. It was fun to have family around. The kids soon found out that I was really fun to wrestle with. I had at least four kids on me trying to knock me to the ground.. When the game was called off Autumn noticed that there was blood on the floor. I felt bad I did not know any of the kids got hurt. None of them cried and I was trying real hard to make sure everyone was having a good time. I am at least a little happy to say that the kid bleeding was happy and did not know he was bleeding either. Devin and I had a really fun time with the family and look forward to more activities with them.

The last thing that happened this week and the reason the family letter is late is more of a rejoicing for Devin and I and does not mean much for any one else. We no longer have church from 2:30 – 5:30. Our stake just had a new building completed and we will be meeting there starting the week after conference. This is very exciting for us. We have really hated having church late. I have been preparing stuff for the move. We are excited about this last week and look forward to this next one.

This weekend our oldest nephew got baptized and confirmed into the LDS church! It was so neat to be able to attend. The spirit was definitely there! We're so excited for him! I was hoping to get more pictures, but here's a couple that I did get.

The happy little man (note: it is a new suit and he is so proud of it!)



Most of the happy family- their little girl is missing from the picture. she was busy having fun with her cousins I'm sure.

we're online!

LDS has officially put us on their website! You check out our portfolio at:

https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/22886980/ourMessage.jsf

Michelle's birthday!

This last Sat. we celebrated my sister-in-law's birthday! We had so much fun going swimming, talking and eating yummy cake! Michelle~ we hope you had a great one! Love ya!

The yummy cake ready to be eaten!



Candles being lighted. Notice the torch that Uncle Toby is using? It was awesome!



Half lighted cake



Michelle's ready to blow out those candles!



On your mark, get set... BLOW!



She's awesome! She did it in one breath!

Our week...

Tuesday was an interesting day for me. I went to work at 4:00 A.M. Tuesday is the only afternoon I have time to be with Devin and play. I mean who would not want to be with Devin. She is the most wonderful engaging person on the whole planet. I got into work expecting to be off after our team lunch. I got to work and the meeting with my boss's boss was changed. Something happened and the guy would not be in until the after noon. To my despair the meeting was moved to 4:00 P.M. I was not very happy with this change. I ended up going home around 7:30 for a couple of reasons. First there was not much point in being at work for 13 hours and the second is that we had our annual home inspection for foster care. I had originally planned on skipping this. After we passed the home inspection Devin and I went on a walk and did some grocery shopping. By far this was the best part of my day. I spent lots of time just holding Devin's hand and talking. That is what we had planned for the afternoon any way and I still wanted to do it with Devin. I went back to work and we had a team lunch. As we where walking into the restaurant Doug told me my pants had a hole in them. I reached back to my bum and found a hole in the right rear pocket. I thought, “Whatever. Nothing is showing.” I quickly quipped back that the company paid him well enough to get stuff like fancy cars while my paycheck allowed me to purchase cloths with holes. As we were walking into work after lunch I reached back to my right rear pocket and noticed three things. One my wallet was missing. Two my pocket still had a hole. Three there was a hole next to the pocket and my underwear was showing. I then had several things to do. I rushed around town to pick up my wallet and went home to change pants. My boss would not be happy with me mooning her boss. After such a long day I was ready to be at home and be embarrassed about the things that happened at work. I am not sure but I think the thing that triggered it was going to work at 4:00 A.M. From there noting good can happen. I will remember that this Tuesday.

Wednesday was a more normal work day, except I got off work early to go with Devin to the doctor's office. Last week she went into the doctor about a mole that had been bugging her for the past several months. It was not a big mole but every time I rubbed her back I would accidentally touch it and she would winced. The doctor thought it looked alright and just scrapped of the top and sent it in for analysis. The results came back as abnormal and we where heading back to get the rest of it out. Devin said she wished I was having the mole removed because she wanted to see how it was done. Devin then asked “If I am a good girl for the doctor can we go out and get Jamba Juice?” I replied “Only if the doctor says you are good”. Devin agreed and we went into the office. I got to be in the room and observe the process. Of the removal the doctor did what is called a punch removal. First they got a needle and injected some “don't hurt Devin” medicine around the mole. This caused the area around the mole to rise up and make a bump. The doctor then took a tool with a circular blade on it and punched down around the mole. You can think of the tool similar to a paper hole puncher. The doctor then lifted up on the mole and cut the bottom off with some scissors. This left a perfectly round hole in Devin's back. The doctor put in 3 stitches and we were on our way out the door. The doctor did not say anything about how Devin behaved so we went straight home. Jut kidding! We went to Jamba Juice and Devin got her peanut butter moo'd smoothie. Devin is happy that in about a week she will be able to get her back scratched without thinking “Please do not hit that mole.”

Saturday I had an interesting experience preparing for my sister in-law's birthday party. I was put in charge of making the cake and frosting. Michelle wanted white cake with white frosting. I thought this would be a simple process. Little did I know frosting was so hard to make. I started making the frosting and read the ingredients but I did not read the instructions, particularly the part about “do not add all the water”. So I doubled the recipe and the frosting just would not turn out. So I threw away that batch of frosting and started over. This time I followed all the instructions and the frosting turned out fluffy. I tasted it and thought “it needs cream cheese”. This caused the whole concoction to turn into a goopie runnie mess. I tried to fix this batch but after it became apparent that I was not going to be able to fix it I threw the second batch of frosting away. The third time I decided to just give up on the frosting recipe and made a cream cheese frosting, which happens to be white, and called it quits. Devin got home from work and we headed over to my uncle Toby's house for swimming , hot tubing, and cake. It really was fun to hang out and play for the evening. After we got home Devin and I got ready for bed and I fell asleep before Devin finished reading her scriptures. It was a fun day. We hope you have an exciting week with what ever you are doing.

Yay for twittling thumbs!

So~ as you read last night... this morning... whenever you read our last posting, we wrote another birth parent letter and submitted it to our amazing case worker for approval. She just got back to us and SHE APPROVED! So happy and relieved. That is one of the most challenging letters to write. Anyway~ so ... as the title states... now we do a lot of thumb twittling. First we twittle our thumbs to wait while LDS agency, as a whole, approves us for adoption. Rumor has it, next Wednes. (the 23rd) is when that will happen. After we are officially approved by them we will twittle our thumbs even more until a set of birth parents picks us to adopt their baby! Patients is definitely a main factor here. Anyway~ thought everyone would like an adoption update. YAY!

here's our week and...

The changes for Devin and her callings have started to fall into place. Devin was released from her calling as assistant primary chorister and got a new calling as the primary pianist. This may not seem like a big change for Devin but it really is. Devin is a very good pianist and the time needed to fulfill her new calling is much less. Devin is very excited about needing to stop studying school stuff and take a break an play the primary hymns.

Much of Sunday night Devin and I worked on our birth parent letter for LDS social services. We are going to attach the letter for the majority of this family letter. Enjoy the letter and we hope you have an exciting week.

Dear friend,

Welcome! We hope you will quite enjoy learning a little bit about us. We'd like to begin by thanking you for taking the time to read our letter. We may not know you yet, but we feel blessed that you would consider getting to know us. We can only imagine the difficult decisions you are facing and rough time you are going through. All we can really say is, may the Lord help guide and bless you as you go through this journey.

We'd like to start out by introducing ourselves, individually, then tell you about us as a couple. To make things more fun, Devin will write about Jared and vice versa.

When I first meet Jared, I didn't know what to think. One of the first things Jared told me about himself is that he likes to sort numbers for fun! Nerd all the way! Now, if you had asked me if he was a nerd when we first met, I would have said no. What changed is that I came to realize that Jared really is a nerd, and that he's proud of it! Jared is very proud of who he is. He has no question about who he is either. I think that's one of the things that attracted me to him. Another thing I first noticed is that Jared is also very loving, caring, and compassionate. He shows this by opening car doors for women, every time he talks to his mom Jared tells her she's a great mom, and he also is always willing to serve. These are just a few examples too. Those are just a couple of Jared's traits. As far as what he likes to do, I mentioned sorting numbers. He is a huge science fiction fan. In Jared's opinion, they can never make enough “Stargate”. He is into documentaries as well. The history channel is his friend. He likes to run, garden, and cook. Yes, he is a great cook! Anyway~ these are just a few of the awesome things about my incredible husband.

Certain forms of communication are more effective than others. I believe poetry is one of the most effective. I would like to describe Devin with the following poem.

Power from within is not kept hidden

Caring eyes exude with fervent delight

Sharing many kind words lifts others in turn

Patient to the core need I say any more

Passing time never diminishes these

Cuddling preferred at every moment

Affectionate animals feels sublime

Giving love brings happiness everyone

Hats worn are many and quite fun to wear

Student is tough her diligence plays rough

Nurse at heart bringing patients needed life

Cub Scouts play with paint and cheer “DEVIN HERE!”

Her music quickly calms the fiercest beast

Hands at the Piano to play the piece

Ears hear country background of inner thought

Heart feels the hymns guiding spiritual strength

Wrapped in a bundle in my silent arms

Letting go feels like it would cause great harm

Heart a garden tended with immense joy

Unending love fills eternities bliss

I can not express how wonderful my wife really is. Devin is one of God's greatest gifts to me.

The story of how we met is best told with an over dramatic voice. The first time Jared spotted Devin was at the church early in the morning on a totally average Saturday. At the time the darling woman was dating some other guy and Jared thought to himself, “That girl looks like she would be much happier with me”. The next day the two of them attended the ward choir. Our practiced pianist hid behind the piano and tried not to be noticed, while the tone deaf tenor stuck out like a sore thumb because his singing sounded like a very loud dying frog. For some unexplained reason the flustered female left choir quickly to go inform her roommates that the bodacious boy was a hottie and she wanted a piece of him. That was the end of the other guy. At an activity a short time later the heroin of the story approached her desired target and bravely said, “Hello”. For such a shy creature this was a major accomplishment. From there Jared was transfixed by the maiden's immense beauty. The affore mentioned gathering was a great distance away and grouped transportation was to be used. The decision was quickly made to travel in the same vehicle. In the same car were a few acquaintances of our buxom beauty. It was soon learned that their presence presented a quandary. Our kind gentleman and lovely lady wanted to converse with each other but the dead weight in the back seat wanted to steal the attention of the masculine male. Lucky for the fortunate female the distractions were not noticed and the very next day a phone call was initiated and dinner followed. The rest goes like this, “They lived happily ever after”

You may look at people sometimes and think “They live a charmed life”. I want to point out that if there is such a thing, we are living it everyday. Our family is exciting! There is never a dull moment at our house. For example a little while back Jared lost this nice pen that he uses to write in his journal. This caused much distress for Jared's hand. After just two days Devin found it in a place where Jared would never have looked, the pen can. We may not have children of our own but that does not stop our messy toy closet from distressing Devin. The neighbor kids, nieces, and nephews love to come over and play at our home. Many times the kids leave in tears because they feel that their parents are being cruel by making them leave. Relaxation is low key at our home. A run around the block is more entertainment than watching the monkeys at the zoo. There are lots of children out playing with each other and just being happy to be in the world, enjoying life. We love to watch movies and a few TV shows like “Monk” and “Psych”. The summertime is our favorite. Long days with lots of light helps to raise our spirits. Living where we do we find many opportunities to have picnics in the park and enjoy being outdoors in the beauty that is all around us.

We'd like to thank you again for taking the time to read a bit about us. We won't pretend to know what you're going through, but we would like to be there to help you if you'd like. We'd love for you to join our family!

Our wall!!

With ... about 4 or so little kids running around with sidewalk chalk, you can best bet that the sidewalk isn't the only thing to get drawn on. Here's a picture of their artwork.



As you can tell, there's actually writing, and some that is extremely high... so it wasn't just little kids having fun. It was a blast!

Our weekly update

What at fun weekend we just had. The week was not very much fun it consisted of going to the doctor because of excruciating pain, not to be confused with Payne, because I have a kidney stone. Friday night Jason and Michelle came over. Jason and I did lots of boring things like cut 2X4's into blocks and drilling holes in the blocks. I got to purchase a new saw and drill bit, Jason got to raise his bed 2 inches higher, and the girls seemed to have a good time talking at the kitchen table while Jason and I ran in and out of the house up and down the stairs testing the blocks on my bed. It really was fun for me.

Saturday Devin had to work so I waited for Jason and Michelle to show up. We had lots of fun without my SPECTACULAR WIFE!!!! We went up to Brigham City and played with my sister Jeni and her family for the day. We went to the park, watched Weird Al music videos, and whatever you do to have a good time. When we left we took Jessi and Brian with us. When we got home there was much playing and we had a pizza party for dinner. After a long day we put the kids to bed and quickly followed them in that endeavorer. As Devin and I were having couple prayer, Brian came into the room and said “I want to go home”. I felt bad for him and lifted him on the bed and told him to wait until we were done praying. He happily complied. After prayers her repeated in a sad voice “I want to go home”. I looked him in the eye and said in a happy voice “Your Mom is going to be here Monday. You will be alright. Will you go to bed?” He smiled and then jumped off the my bed and headed to his bed. I was actually surprised that, that explanation worked. After a while Brian was still up. I think it had to do with waking him up at 6:30 after a 3 hour nap. We put on the movie “Cars” Devin and I fell asleep and after the movie Brian promptly told us it was over. I turned the movie off, told him to get 3 books, and go to bed. I do not know when he fell asleep but it was after me.

Sunday was an eventful day. I started off the day with my usual meetings. The first councilor asked for me to stay a little after the meeting and we talked. It looks like Devin will get released from her current 2 callings and get 2 more callings in the next few weeks. After telling me this he asked if he could come over and talk to Devin. I told him yes and promptly went home and told Devin he was coming over and that I knew what he was going to say. I then made her wait for about 1 thousand 8 hundred seconds before Bro. Anderson came over and explained what would be happening in the next month. Devin is very excited about the plan and is happy to have many of the stresses from church service lightened. You will get to learn about the changes as they happen over the next few weeks. On most Sundays I notice that many of the people in this area tend to carry around BYU notebooks, brief cases, pens, and other similar items. The day before I noticed that little Brian was wearing a Utah jersey. I quickly acquired permission from Brian's parent, notice parent not parents, to send him to church with the jersey. Brian went to church with his bright red shirt. I was hoping to get more comments but I did not get many. And none from BYU fans. That night we had the foster girl we watch stay the night and most of Monday with us. The kids had fun outside. They took chalk and wrote on our wall. The adults had fun as well. We went outside and very high up on the wall in big letters was the name “JASON” in little letters next to it was written Jesi wrote this. I think Jesi was very creative in her ability to scale a wall at that height and write someone else's name. The kids had a good time and we all were happy to have had so much fun.

Monday was more of the same. Devin and I woke up, made breakfast, and played until Michelle showed up. Jason claimed he needed to do homework. Soon after Jeni showed up. Along with our neighbor Maddi. Our house was a real party place. The kids colored, painted with water colors, played tag, hide and go seek, played outside, blew bubbles, kicked balls. You name it the kids were having fun doing it. We eventually went to the park, where Jason met up with us, and played pirates and mermaids. Jason, Brian and I were mean mermaid hunting pirates. We would catch the mermaids and force them to grant us wished. Jason and I wished for our fair maiden to come over and give us a kiss. Michelle once came on to the pirate ship and instead of giving Jason a kiss, she gave little Brian a kiss. This irritated Jason who then went after what he thought was his booty. After the park Jeni and her kids went home and so did our foster girl. Everyone just had so much fun we all wanted to crash. Devin was so tired, she even watched 2 episodes of Stargate with Jason, Michelle and me. Devin and I are Sunburned and happy to have had such a fun labor day. We wish you all the best and hope you have an eventful week.