First Craft Fair!

We went to Show Low to do a craft fair! We are so excited to move there, it was wonderful!!! But it turned out the fair was originally a farmers market that began allowing craft vendors. It was great because we learned what sells well at that kind of event, and we spoke to the woman who organizes community craft fairs and she said our tutus and headbands and earrings will be super popular there! Here's to raising money for the adoption fund!!

So I'm taking down the Etsy site because I've gotten a lot of window shoppers, so I'll be selling things off my blog! There is a new tab I'm posting a page called Tutu's and Accessories! You can place a custom order by emailing me or if you see something you want, let me know!!

Here are some pictures of us at the fair, I took them after we made sales, it was a great day!! We also met some wonderful people and are so excited to move into this amazing and welcoming community!! We also stopped by our house to see it again, it was lovely!! We are so blessed!

Best little café we can't wait to go to again!!!

Front Porch Kisses!

 

Our Infertility Story and Hope to grow our FAMILY

Ken and I have been married almost 3 years. 3 years ago we had been dating for 2 weeks, then the second week of October he Proposed! I knew he was an amazing man, and I was so so happy! All we could talk about was growing our family! We wanted children right away.

My amazing husband knew I had some health problems, specifically very odd and painful endometriosis. So we began talking about seeing fertility doctors while we were engaged! 2 months later we were married! And off to see the fertility doctor.

 

We tried a special medication the fertility doctor thought would work with little to no side effects. Unfortunately I gained 30 pounds in 3 days! We went to the ER and they didn't know what to do! We kept calling the fertility office and they wouldn't allow us to speak to the Doctor, and they denied their medication had done that. I wasn't going to sue them or anything, I just wanted to know what to do. I mean, gaining 30 pounds in 3 days is stinkin scary!

So we tried seeing our regular doctor, and within 7 months I had gained 70 pounds! We saw new doctor after new doctor, and finally after a year of tears and pain and negative test after negative test, we went off all the medication.

All the weight from the medications to have a baby

And what a miracle, a month later we discovered I was pregnant! We were thrilled! But something was wrong. It was so early, that the Doctor didn't think anything was seriously wrong and just thought I wasn't used to being pregnant. I was terrified. On top of the nausea that is normal with pregnancy I had severe GI problems, and bone pain. I could hardly walk, and as each day went by, the pain got worse.

Before we could go in for the 6 week ultrasound to see our little prize, I began to bleed. And sob. And just as the pregnancy hurt my bones, losing the baby hurt even more, something was wrong with my bones, something was wrong with almost every body system, and all I could do was rest in bed.

The Doctor told us the fastest way to have another baby and the easiest was to try again at the next opportunity. Again we had a positive test stick! It was a miracle, but something was wrong again. It was like before, but the bone pain wasn't as severe. Something else was off, and I didn't want to believe anything could be wrong so we booked our ultrasound with a midwife and someone who might be able to help with the weird bone pain and other symptoms I was having. A few days before our ultrasound, again, all the pain came back. Severe bone pain, bleeding, and too many tears. Something wasn't right with my body after that.

We ended up going to a pelvic pain specialist and had surgery in September. It was a miracle, he got us in just 5 days after we saw him when he was booking other people out for the following February. We learned that my endometriosis was more aggressive than we thought. We learned that I had Pelvic Venous Congestive Syndrome, and that my Uterus does not function correctly. We had to have my organs that has fused together from scar tissue separated, 2 large veins cut out and burned so I didn't bleed out, and so many other things.

They were hoping I would have a normal pregnancy again, but my fallopian tubes are scarred shut, my eggs turn into cysts, and my endometriosis continues to grow with a vengeance.

My husband and I grieved in different ways. I felt so alone, I didn't think I could foster children anymore because I cried every time I saw them. But then I was given a miraculous gift from the Lord, and began to view the children in our care as blessings, and all babies that were announced and born as blessings. I am usually the most excited person in my reaction when someone tells me their pregnant. I'm so grateful that more babies are coming, and I'm so grateful to those moms who choose to give their babies up for adoption instead of terminating.

We have been trying to adopt for 2 years, and I'm Native American. We want to adopt a Native American baby to keep the tradition going, and both my husband and I feel called to love and care for and adopt those amazing children with special needs. We have started a Go Fund Me account: gofundme.com/2n3qtnuc and are trying to adopt a Native American baby with special needs.

Please help us expand our family and help us have the funds to provide for the needs of whichever special children the Lord has planned for us to call our own. We will continue to foster, but our current focus is on trying to adopt.

My husband and I both run our own small businesses and are moving to Show Low to make our business more successful. We are also trying to work with the different Reservations up north to be able to adopt those children waiting for us.

 We feel it is our calling in life to adopt and to foster children with special needs. We belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We believe in the Bible. We believe that Jesus is the Christ and that through trusting in Him and His atonement we can overcome all trials in life.

We hope to have our businesses grow and our family grow faster! Thank you for supporting us in our journey to adopt and expand our business. Thank you for spreading the word, and for reading our difficult fertility story. And please, if you are pregnant, tell me, if you want the happiest and best reaction! All babies are blessings and all mommies who can have babies are blessings to the world! Help me be a mommy and our family grow to a large Forever Family!! Love to you all!
Rachel Annie!

Part 2: Women who have affected my life

In Maine I learned many skills from the leaders and women around me. I just want to highlight these amazing women and show how years later the things we learn in our youth really do matter.

My senior Pictures

Some of my most favorite experiences were with Sister Quinn. She taught me how to pipe a fantastic huge gingerbread house made from scratch, how to cook, and how to throw large parties. She taught me the importance of enjoying the food you make, and being selfless and fostering and adopting! She would come to my school and pick me up so I could have free cooking and baking lessons from her, and now I'm an excellent cook. I know how to make homemade spaghetti sauce, how to organize a kitchen, how to make candy and caramels, and how to make delicious and healthy meals. She taught me how to be a homemaker and how important the kitchen was as a place for not only learning such things as cooking, but also the truths of the Lord and why the Gospel is so important. I make the chocolates she taught me to make, I make the meals she carefully showed me how to prepare, and I always think so fondly of my time learning with her. She was and is an amazing woman and I loved learning from her.

My senior Pictures

 

Next: Sister Call. She was my young women's leader and helped me achieve the equivalent of the Eagle Scout award for young women in our ward. She taught me the importance of making a home a welcoming and sacred place where people would feel comfortable discussing problems and have a friend to help find the solutions. She also taught me piano lessons, and believed in me and my dreams. She was so supportive of my dreams, and taught me so many valuable lessons about forgiving others, serving where there is a need and helping others with their callings in church. She taught me to be selfless and to look out for the needs of others first. She taught me that the most important thing I could do and be in life is a good and loving mother and wife, and stay strong in my belief in the Savior. I'm so grateful to her for her spiritual nurturing and helping me grow my testimony of the Savior. She was there in times of family crises and was there in times of joy.

I absolutely love these women and what they have done for me and taught me. I try to continue to emulate their amazing and loving qualities, especially their selfless service. I'm so grateful for the things they taught me and the support they gave me. Who in your life has made a huge difference on the person you are today?