Our Christmas Miracle

(picture we got before we left for Alabama)

(first family photo)

Justin and I had been trying to have kids of our own and had a miscarriage in May of this year. Soon after the miscarriage I had a couple dreams of holding a black baby boy. Justin and I always knew we would adopt, we just didn't know when. After my dreams we looked into it more but felt like we should wait longer and keep trying to get pregnant. We weren't financially ready to adopt a baby and felt like we hadn't tried long enough to even look into it. A few months went by and still no luck. We started to feel discouraged. I started feeling like maybe it wasn't time for us to have kids or we must not be ready to be parents.

On December 17th I received a call from my mom and sister Heidi about a birth mom that was in labor in Alabama. She was already dialated to a 7. The birth mom was my sister Heidi's youngest son's biological sister. They wanted the baby to stay within the same family. As soon as I heard about him I started crying. I called Justin and was crying so hard I couldn't get the words out. As soon as I did he was as surprised as I was and needed a few minutes to process what I had just told him. He called me back and said he felt really good about it.

We moved forward with the adoption and had 3 days to get everything done. We hurried and got our background check done, child abuse screenings, reference letters, physicals, home study, etc. done and got it all done in 3 days. I still don't know how we got everything done so fast. We definitely had the Lord on our side. Everything was falling into place and our family and friends stepped in and helped us make everything possible. We are so grateful for all who helped us so we can bring our little Zander home.

We know the Lord brought this sweet little spirit into our lives. He was born on the same day we received the call at 2:35 PM weighing 5 lbs. 15 oz. They had him in the NICU since his temperature was so low. He needed to stay a couple more days because his oxygen level went down the night before we arrived. We flew to Alabama on Friday and spent all night with him. They got us a room at the lodge connected to the hospital so we could be close. They switched his formula and he was doing much better. We stayed with him morning, noon and night. We stayed at the hospital for 2 nights until we got to take him home (to our hotel). We got to take him home the day before Christmas Eve.

We met his birth mom who is beautiful and sweet. She could only come and pick up her gift from us and leave. We also got her some food to-go. We hurried and got a picture and she left. It was all so fast. We wanted to sit and visit with her, ask her questions and get to know her so we could tell Zander all about her.

We are sitting in the hotel room enjoying our little Christmas miracle. We still can't believe we are parents and have this little guy in our life. He is perfect! We absolutely love him and fell in love with him before we even met him. We can't wait to get back home so all of our family and friends can meet him. He is the sweetest little guy and we have enjoyed getting to know his sweet spirit. We thank the Lord every day for this little guy and the plan he has for our life. He knows us better than we know ourselves and has a special plan for us. We couldn't be any happier with the plan he had for us. We are so grateful and feel so blessed. We love you Zander James Comstock!

DIY Picture Frame

We had this beautiful photo of Christ titled 'Parting the Veil (The Second Coming)' painted by Justin's favorite artist Jon McNaughton for 3 weeks. We tried finding the perfect frame that would fit the picture and also match our decorations. NO LUCK. Either it wasn't the right size, color or it would cost us a pretty penny. So I decided to make my own frame!

First we went to Home Depot and found the moulding we wanted for the frame. I wanted something that had more curves for when I glazed it. We got about 10 feet to make a 16x24 frame. It cost about $11 for the moulding. We didn't have a chop saw so we took it over to Justin's parents and his dad helped us cut the pieces. They were cut at a 45 degree angle.

When I got home I glued the pieces together with liquid nails. I got the heavy duty construction and remodeling one. I wiped off whatever glue that came out with a damp paper towel and taped it with some frogtape and let it dry over night.

I removed the tape, sanded the corners so they were smooth and screwed L brackets on the back in the corners so it would be secure. You want to make sure the screws aren't too long or it will go through the frame. I also screwed them in the thickest part of the frame. You can find L brackets at Home Depot down the same isle where the door hinges are. (I'm sure you can find them other places but we only went to Home Depot to get everything)

 

 

I painted the frame with Glidden semi gloss Robin's Egg.

 

After the paint dried I mixed up some glaze. I mixed 3 Tbls of Valspar Clear Mixing Glaze with 1 Tbls of Minwax Dark Walnut stain. I applied the glaze with a sponge brush and wiped it off with a damp old t-shirt. I kept applying the glaze in certain areas until I got the look that I wanted. I sprayed 1 coat of Krylon clear gloss spray paint to finish it off. That's it! The only thing we don't have is glass in front of the picture. I will have to figure that out.

Oh and did I mention this only probably cost us around $25 to make? We already had a lot of the stuff laying around so that saved us quite a bit too!

My Cub Scout

Justin got called to be the Cub Master about 3 months ago and this last Pack Meeting he was in full gear! He wanted to get his patches, the pants and belt so badly. I said no at first because I had heard Scout things can get expensive and they sure do. We went to the scout store to just get a couple patches and left with EVERYTHING he needed for his scout gear. Not my original plan but seeing Justin so excited in the scout store made me excited! The guy that helped us told Justin that he should get the Boy Scout pack # colors rather than the Cub Scout one's just in case he gets called into Boy Scouts. Justin listened and I think he has pretty much jinxed himself and will be in scouts for a while.

Oh and did I mention how hard it was to sew on his patches? Especially on his sleeves. Good thing I got clear thread so you can't see my mistakes.

Here he is at his last Pack Meeting on Tuesday. He looks like a happy camper right? Oh and he threw on some hiking socks and his hiking shoes. Haha...I sure love my Cub Scout! The boys sure love him too! I think he's more excited for Day Camp then they are! Justin's going to be a GREAT dad someday!

HAPPY 85th B-day

Happy Birthday G'Ma Lee! Her b-day was on March 29th
We sure love this lady! :)

Found what I've been looking for

When I worked at 1-800 Contacts I saw these awesome Wiggle Cars. I've always wanted one ever since. While Justin and I were waiting for our friends to meet us for lunch and went to the store Blickenstaff's at the shops at Riverwoods and there it was! What I had always been looking for. I had to ride them around the store and Justin let us get a couple to have for ourselves. Justin asked the worker if she had one and she said "No, but they will be fun for your kids". We looked at her and said we didn't have kids. She probably thought we were weird but we didn't care. We were having fun! :)

Oh and if you're never been in this store you should go! They have the coolest toys and old fashion candies.

Poor Owen

Poor Owen got his man hood taken away and had to wear the cone of shame. We didn't want to have him be miserable for 10 days so we paid a bit extra to buy him this Comfy Cone. We could fold it down and let him eat his food and not make him feel too confined. At first he thought it was a toy and ran around and then when he realized it wasn't coming off, he wasn't too thrilled. We weren't thrilled either. We didn't leave it on 24/7 and we sure didn't leave it on for 10 days. Since I work at home and could keep an eye on him, I left it off as long as he didn't pick at his stiches and we only made him wear it at night to sleep. He's a stud! :) We sure love him!

SPRING has Come!

I know this winter wasn't that cold but I am SO--- excited for warm weather! We aren't winter sports people and don't go skiing or snowboarding. YES... we live in Utah and I have never been skiing or snowboarding. Justin has been once and he didn't care for it so during the winter we stay in and watch LOTS of movies. I don't like the snow. However, we absolutely LOVE the sun! We like to go hiking, camping, swimming, barbeques, firepits, snow shack, Seven Peaks, mini golf, and more. We're going river rafting in June. This will be my first time and we are pretty excited! There's just so much more to do when it's warm outside!

GUESS WHAT? We've lived in our home for 9 months. That is the longest we've lived anywhere since we've been married and I'm sure glad we'll be here for a few years!

Lady A!!!

I think I'm due for some updates! Here's a photo from the Lady Antebellum concert we went to on Valentine's Day! It was one of the BEST concerts I've been to! Can't wait to see them again! We had pretty nice seats too! I forgot to bring our camera along to things like this but luckily my phone takes pretty good pics!  Till next time Lady A! :)

 

Happy V-Day

For Christmas, Justin got us Lady Antebellum tickets and TODAY IS THE DAY! =D I'm SO--- excited to go see them in concert! I absolutely LOVE them and all their songs. Justin is taking a liking to my kind of country music which has been lovely! Today is also Valentines Day! I admit, I'm not a HUGE fan of Valentines Day. I don't like the color pink, not a fan of chocolate and don't really care to get flowers that end up dying. I know...depressing right? Not depressing at all. I do LOVE having an excuse to get dressed up and go our with my Just. I'm not into the whole lovy dovy romance thing but if it's a day to go on a date with my hubs, well then. I'll take it! =) Especially if it's going to a concert with him!
As of lately there's nothing new. Just been off and on sick with this up and down winter. I wish it would just make up it's mind. We're heading to St. George this weekend with Justin's parents to get some more of grandma Lee's things and Jacobe has a baseball tournament in Mesquite. We're taking Owen along. It will be his first trip with us. We're going to try to go on a hike. I'm sure he's going to love it! He loves going on walks. Even the word "walk" get's him so excited. We have a new primary class. We teach 9 kids and they are all darling! I absolutely love teaching primary but I admit there are a few tiring days.

Well, I best go get ready to go to dinner and see my Lady A! =) Until next time....c ya!

Improve and Do Better

So this year, our New Years Resolution is to just improve who we are and do better. With that said, below is a list of what we will do better and improve at.

 - Attending the Temple: We don't take advantage of this blessing hardly at all and it makes me sad just thinking about it. We always say we need to go but that doesn't mean we do. This is when the whole, "It's easier said then done" shouldn't even be a problem. It's REALLY not that hard to go to the temple and this will be first and foremost on our list. 
- Time Efficiency: I admit we waste our time. There's a lot of time's after work when we will just sit and do nothing because we can, not because we should. We will try to spend this time visiting friends & family, getting something done on the 'List' of things to do, spend quality time together, going to the temple, etc. I'm not saying siting and doing nothing is bad. We just do it a lot it seems.

"Lost time is never found again."
- Benjamin Franklin

- Cooking: There are many nights when eating out sounds so much easier than cooking a meal. It may save time and sound more convenient but let's be honest, is it the cheapest? NO... Time for me to be a better wife and cook. Maybe setting a menu each week will help.
- Finance: This kind of goes along with eating out. We want to pay off the Nissan and put more money away in savings. We want to set a goal to pay off all our debt and put more money away in savings.

All in all we want to be able to feel like we are overcoming our weaknesses and doing the best we can and improving each day instead of feeling like we are falling behind. I'm sure there are other things we can do better and improve at and when things come up, we will do our best.

Here's to trying to do better and improve!

Meet Owen

Owen is the newest member of our family! He's a Miniature Australian Shepherd. He is 8 weeks old and has been so much fun! He's a very smart pup. He already knows his name, how to sit, and is potty trained. We absolutely love him! 

 His favorite spot while I'm working

 The first night he whined unless he was right next to me or Justin so our good friend gave us this teddy bear and said that it may help. It did help and he loves that bear! Thanks Carrie! He even play's hide and seek with the bear. 

Kunkel Fam!

I LOVE having a BIG family! It's hard getting everyone together to take pics but I managed to find some of everyone!

Parents and Kids

Alsop Family 

(Chris, Heidi, Alyssa, Kendra, Christopher, Zachary)

Kehl Family 

(Craig, Shannon, Bryston, Asia, McKayla, Austin, & McKenna)

Morgan Family 

(Eric, Mindy, Eli, Chase, Lucas)

Sisters

 (Mia, Kaylee, Mindy, Shannon, Heidi, & me)

Brothers

(Jared, Jacob, Jason, Jarom)

Comstock Fam!

We recently took pics with Justin's side of the family. Justin's dad took them himself and I must say he did an AWESOME job!

The Whole Fam!

Us

Jord & Christine

The Bodell's (Tanen, Kylie, Talen & Easton)

 Love these boys!

Jake (Isn't he a stud?) He will be in high school next year. 

Hello Again!

So I am going to start being a better blogger! I look at other friends and family blogs and they are so fun! It's nice reading them and looking at their pics so I have told myself that I am going to get better. Now to just play a little catch up on the past 4 months. Here goes...

We have lived in our townhome for over 4 months. We got a calling in our ward to teach the CTR 4A class. Yes, there's 2 CTR 4 classes and like 3 sunbeam classes and who knows how many others there are. Our ward is HUGE but it's mainly because of all the kids. LOTS and LOTS of kids. Babies born here and there and everywhere. It's a GREAT ward and we've loved it. I absolutely love teaching primary! We teach 7 of the cutest kids (5 girls and 2 boys). They love coloring, playing games and making things so our lesson's are usually 5 minutes and we do something fun that goes along with the lesson. They have colored us the cutest pictures that we have put on our fridge. They had the primary program in October and I enjoyed being a part of it! Hearing little kids sing is the cutest and I felt the spirit so strong during the last song, I am a Child of God. A couple of the kids in our class sang solo's/duet's and it was adorable. We're sad we won't be teaching them when the new year starts but excited to get a new class!

In September we went to Goblin Valley with our friends. I can't wait to go next year! We also hiked Little Wild Horse Canyon. We hiked the full 8 mile loop. The first 4 miles was so neat! But the last half wasn't as cool. I don't think we will hike the full loop again but at least we can say we did it once. The first night we were there, it was really uncomfortable. I told Justin we should bring an air mattress but he said that the ground would be soft enough to not need anything but our sleeping bags. WRONG... It was miserable. It was so bad we drove 45 minutes to the nearest town to buy a ridiculously priced air mattress. It was well worth it though! The next 3 nights were great!

Goblin

Little Wild Horse Canyon

 

Halloween wasn't the same this year. Since it was on a Monday my parents did their yearly party the Saturday before. We had our ward trunk-or-treat the same day we went to. Justin and I dressed up as Mario and Luigi and Justin's brother Jordon let us borrow his big bowser poster and we put it in our trunk. The kids loved it! We had a lot of fun. After, we went to my parents for chilli and hot dogs. The following Monday was Halloween and we went to my sister Mindy's to go trick or treating with the kids and eat taco's. My nephew Lucas who's 1 tried sneaking some more candy. It was so cute!

Justin with Eli, Chase and Lucas

The week after Halloween we had our nephew Talen sleep over. He really wanted to see Justin in his Mario costume since he didn't get to on Halloween so Justin, being the coolest uncle there is, put on his costume for T. As you can see, Talen too has his costume. He put his spider man costume over his batman so he has the muscle's. We had fun having him sleep over! He had the cutest conversation's with Justin. One I loved was this....

Tal: "Just"

Justin: "Yeah T"
Tal: "I love you"

Isn't that the cutest? He also did the BEST impression of the You Tube video 'Charlie bit my finger'. He cracked us up and we sure love him.

We had Thanksgiving dinner early in the month with my family since 2 of my sisters and their families were going to Texas for vacation. We had Thanksgiving with Justin's family on Thanksgiving day. Justin's grandma was here as well! His grandma hasn't been feeling very well so she is staying at his parents house. It's nice having her here for the holidays!

We finally got a Christmas tree this year and it was fun decorating our own tree for the first time! We even have a couple decorations. We got most of our Christmas shopping done on Black Friday. Tonight for family night I think we will wrap the gifts. I love Christmas! Especially when we are able to serve others. I was reading a book and loved this quote, "Charity is the Pure Love of Christ". I want to make something with the quote on it and hang it up in our home.

Our very first Christmas Tree!

Loved this quote

Made these jars to go with every Holiday!
The candy doesn't last very long when you have a husband who LOVES sugar!

Wonderful Story

I saw this on another blog and had to share it on ours. What a cute family and story on adoption! Justin and I want to adopt too (not now) but when we're ready to have kids! =)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=C_wLYveIaaQ

All Moved :)

We've finally moved into our townhome! We've been here for a week and have most of our things un-packed. If you know me very well, you know I HAVE to be organized. I don't want any boxes. At least that's what I tell myself but we had a lot more things than I thought and I'm having to find room for everything and de-junk. It's been nice having a lot more space. We have loved our cute townhome! Besides not having our mailbox yet and our house number wrong, everything else has been great! I've absolutely loved decorating. We have 3 bedrooms so one of the extra bedrooms is Justin's music room/office and the other is the spare bedroom. Justin's parent let us take his bedroom set he had growing up so that is in the spare bedroom for when our little brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews sleepover.

I keep un-packing and organizing something every day. I think I am driving Justin crazy with how much i can organize and re-organize things. Right now Justin is playing some Jazz music in his music room. I LOVE hearing him play his instrumental songs. Such a talented husband I have! I don't know how he comes up with some of the things he does. Now if only I could get him to sing. This weekend is the 24th of July weekend and we'll be going to Seven Peaks with Justin's family. It is tradition. We didn't go the past 2 years because they wouldn't allow people to bring in their own food but this year we talked everyone in getting the Pass of All Passes so we are all going on Monday.

Who are We?

Justin and I started dating on July 11th, 2008 and got married on June 10th 2009 in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. We have moved 4 different times the last 2 years being married. Our first place was a 103 year old house in Sandy just off 90th S. It was the old tithing home for the church. It was a cute little white house with a white picket fence. We were there for 6 months until we moved into my parents. We were at my parents for only 4 months until we decided there were too many people living under one roof. We moved to an apt complex in South Jordan just right off 114th. It was only a 1 bedroom apt but perfect for the two of us. We really loved our ward! We were there for 8 months. We would have been there longer but they wanted to raise our rent another $200 more a month and we didn't feel it was worth paying that much for a 1 bedroom apt. We realized we could own our own place fore just a little more than what we would be paying so my sister and her husband let us move into their basement to save money and go to school. We've been here for about 6 months and will be moving into a townhome the end of this week! Well at least we're hoping it will be this weekend. We are excited and nervous. Excited because we got a really good deal on it and it's in a great location and we started going to our ward last week and loved it! Nervous because it's a big purchase and I am a little OCD (well maybe a lot) with paying bills on time, being organized and making sure we are doing good financially. I like finding good deals and use coupons all the time! Justin works for his dad and I work for my brother in-law. It's crazy how things work out sometimes. We have been through so much together in just the 2 years being married and I am looking forward to eternity!