Going Back in Time: Part 3 (August 2010)

First Day of School 2010

In August 2010 Maylee began 5th grade with an awesome teacher named Ms. Chournos.  Landon began 2nd grade with Mrs. Anderson.  This was the first day of school.  Aren't they so cute and stylin'?!

Maylee had an interesting school year.  She started out  on fire!  She was doing amazing!!  She was so in control of herself and her behaviors.  She tried so hard with her math and had made some small gains there.  Her reading stayed steady and she tried very hard to do her class' spelling words, rather than adapted words.  She was blowing everyone away!  While things were not easy, they were good, and we were very proud of her progess.

As the year continued, as the holiday season rolled around, and as we began our move to our home in Huntsville, she kind of crumbled.  We aren't really sure what really happened, but from about January 2011 onward  (to this point) she took a downward spiral.  Things became very, very hard for all of us.  Maylee, try as hard as she might, was unable to control her emotions and behaviors.  We later found out why.  (More on that later.)  While there is so much I could say, I feel it would be wrong to  share such personal information on our blog, so I will leave the subject be and simply say, that we experienced the hardest thing in our lives.  We all suffered terribly as we sought to help our daughter with the extreme experience she found herself in.

Landon started 2nd grade very strong, as usual.  He was reading at a 4th grade level and his math was advanced.  He was such a smart guy and still is!  I spent the beginning of the year teaching an advanced math class to him and a few of the kids in his class.  I really enjoyed this and I think Landon liked having me apart of his classroom. 

As time progressed and as Maylee's needs became very great, I had to stop the class.  Landon was kind of on his own to do his work, as my focus was on much greater issues.  He did the best he could and I was really proud of him!! 

This was the year that Korbin began preschool!  His teacher was Ms. Burton and her helpers where Ms. Jamie and Ms. Courtney.  He learned so much in the Valley Developmental Preschool.  I wont say too much about it since I already posted about his preschool previously.  He did amazing, though!  I think his favorite part of the day was the bus ride!

When we lived in Liberty, the bus picked the kids up right in front of our house.  I will always remember them standing at the end of the driveway waiting for the bus.  Sometimes the snow was so deep they could hardly make it to the end, but they always waited very diligently for the bus.  The bus driver was named James McKay and they really liked  him, although, I think they drove him a little crazy!!

New Piano!

Maylee wanted to learn how to play the piano and I've always wanted me kids to play. We couldn't really afford something too fancy, so I picked up this beautiful old piano for $200.  It is a bit out of tune, but we love it!





It is a Windsar piano from the 1910 circa. It was made in Chicago and sold through the Montgomery Ward and Company chain. It is made out of either Mahogany or Walnut.  In it's hay day it was a level 3 piano and could be bought for $300, with monthly payments of $5 a month.  It sounds beautiful and is solid as a rock. It's sooooo pretty and so much fun to have in my house!!



Maylee is taking lessons from Joyce Montgomery, who lives in Middlefork, in Huntsville.  She is enjoying her lessons.

Going Back in Time Part 2 (Kayla's Update)

Adoption Finalization
In April 2010 our adoption finalized.  To tell Kayla I created a scavenger hunt for the kids.  I posted clues around the house.  The clues went in order through our life.  The first clue started out with Chris and I meeting in England, then getting engaged, getting married, having Landon, having Korbin, and then it ended with Kayla joining the family.  The "treasure" was Kayla's adoption decree.  Here are pictures of the scavenger hunt that took place first thing in the morning:

We then surprised the kids and told them in celebration of the adoption finalizing we were all headed to Bear World in Idaho!!  The kids were so excited and we had so much fun!  We even had a small cub climb up onto the tire of our Landcruiser!  That was the highlight of the trip!  Bear World is so fun because in addition to the bears, they have goats, deer, and other tame animals to pet.  The, also, have small children's rides.  I think the kids really enjoyed themselves!

Kayla's Baptism:

After the adoption finalized Kayla was legally ready to be baptised, although, spiritually she'd been waiting and ready for a long time!  She has a pretty special conversion story.  When Kayla was in Oregon living with her foster mom, Sheila, the LDS missionaries had been giving them the discussions.  We had no idea that was happening! 

One day I was on the phone with Sheila and she said that she had two missionaries that wanted to be at Kayla's candlelight ceremony.  I thought "two missionaries" sounded all too familiar and I asked them what church they were from.  When she said they were Mormon, I was like, "Wow!  Do you know that we are Mormon?!"  She did not know that and we knew it was more than a coincidence.

When we were at the Candlelight Ceremony one of the missionaries told us that he felt like his mission was "pointless" and that he didn't feel like he'd done any real good.  When he realized that the little girl he was teaching was being adopted by a Mormon family in Utah, he said he knew at that moment that she was the reason he was meant to be on his mission, at that time, in that place.  His name was Elder Lenz, from Southern Utah. 

When we got Kayla home she was so excited to go to Primary, as she'd only ever been allowed to go to Sacrament meeting before.  We, also, found out that the foster dad's mom was a member of the LDS Church, too, and she had been teaching Kayla about the church whenever she could.  This little "tender mercy" confirmed again to us that Kayla was meant to be with us.

Once she joined our home, we began missionary discussions again.  I feel terrible because I don't remember there names!  But these are the missionaries that gave her the discussions here in Utah.  They did a great job.  At first they were not sure how to teach a child, but each week that they came, they improved and the kids ended up loving them!

Kayla was baptised and confirmed by her dad, Chris McDowell, in May 2010.







Many family members and friends came out in support of Kayla's baptism.  She was so beautiful and so happy!

Kayla's Temple Sealing:

After Kayla was legally adopted and baptized (since she was older than 8), she was ready to go to the temple and be sealed to her new forever family, for all eternity.  Kayla chose to be sealed in the Bountiful Temple.  She said that she wanted to be sealed to us in the same Temple we were married in because then if she had been born to us, that would have automatically have been the Temple she was sealed in.  What a sweet, well thought-out young lady. 

This was one of the sweetes, most spiritual days of my life.  When we got to the Temple, we took the children to the nursery.  I was amazed at how many children were there that day to be sealed to their parents.  It filled me with the Spirit.  We left the children with the sweet, loving Temple workers, who helped all three of them change into their white clothes.

Chris and I were given the opportunity to go into the Celestial Room.  I remember sitting there looking around, just knowing that we were doing the right thing.  I just felt so peaceful and so sure that this was the right direction for my little family.  I had butterflies in my stomach while we waited!

Then we were taken into the Sealing Room, where our family awaited us. It was so wonderful to see my sisters sitting there and Chris' parents.  My sisters came and sat next to me on the bench, normally reserved for the grandparent.  Jacqui leaned over and whispered, "We'll be your mom today."  It was nice having them and everyone else there to support us.  My mom and dad waited outside to show their love and support.

When the kids walked in I felt so much peace! I couldn't get over how sweet they all seemed walking in dressed in white, especially Korbin, who just seemed so small.  They came in the room in such a reverent manner.  The entire sealing ceremony they sat quietly and reverently.  The Spirit was truly with all of us. 

I really don't remember much of what the Temple Sealer said to us that day.  I just remember him saying that the Temple Sealing was so powerful that it over-road blood lines.  He said that the Temple Sealing made it as if Kayla had been born to us.  The ceremony was sweet and simple. We felt so blessed to be in the Temple with our three children and to have our family there supporting us.

Last, but certainly not least.  I am so very thankful to my amazing mother-in-law for making Kayla this beautiful dress for her Temple Sealing.  It was gorgeous!  Kayla actually designed the dress and my mother-in-law put the pattern together and sewed it!  It will always be treasured!

What an amazing day!  How blessed we are to have family who loves us and supports us in our choices.  We may not always take the path most traveled, but we always follow the Spirit and we always end up being cared for and blessed!

May 2010:











Kayla is such a beautiful young lady.  She is blossoming in so many ways.

I took her to Antelope Island, one of my most favorite places for a fun photo shoot. I took the pictures.  She had so much fun twirling around in her ballet outfit.

We enjoyed the beach, splashed in the water, drove the island, saw buffalo, and even hiked up the mountain to the rocks.  She said it reminded her of Oregon.  Maybe that's why I love Antelope Island.  It makes me feel like I'm at the ocean.  I tell Kayla we are both "ocean girls", since she grew up near the ocean and I was born on an island.  :)

Kayla's Birthday and 1st Party Ever:

Kayla had never been given a birthday party before, so we wanted to make her first a very special one.  We choose to do an English Tea Party.  Our next door neighbors, Dave and Kathy Brown, have an incredible yard, so we held the party in their backyard.  Nana Holland dressed up as a Fairy, since English Gardens always have fairies.  The girls had so much fun!

Camila, Marina, & Kayla

A Fairy surprized us at the Tea Party!

The Fairy taught us how to gently catch butterflies!

She also showed us her magical bubbles!

The food was delicious and true to English taste!

The wind picked up enough that we had to move inside.

Make a wish!

Kayla loved the blue bird Nana got her.

Kayla's 2010:

Kayla, who chose to go by her new middle name, Maylee, had a pretty amazing 2010.  She had some very positives experiences in her life this year.  She made a lot of progress in 2010.  Her teachers always told me that she had "come leaps and bounds". They couldn't believe this was the same little girl we brought home from Oregon in 2009.  This was a year of tremendous growth for Maylee.  We were and still are so proud of her many accomplishments and positive changes.  This was a year of great hope for us!   We love you Maylee!

Going Back in Time Part 1 (2010 Jan- April)

Okay, let's go back in time for a while.  I may be doing this "going back in time" thing for quite a while, as I play some sort of a catch up game. 

January 2010:
We went ice fishing with Grandma and Grandpa McDowell.  Uncle Wayne came, too.  It was pretty cool, literally.

The kids made snowmen outside of our house in Liberty.  We used Cherrios for eyes.  Diamond went and ate the eyes off of Kayla's snowman!!  ha....ha....!!  She was SO MAD!!

April  2010:

In April 2010 Korbin turned 3 years old!  Shortly before his 3rd birthday I was concerned about his development.  While he seemed to be a very smart little guy, he didn't seem to be socializing the way other kids his age were.  He, also, had some very strange habits like lining up toys rather than playing with them and doing all kinds of "must do" rituals before certain activities.  He, also, seemed VERY bothered by sensory input.  So, I took him in to see an occupational therapist at McKay Dee Hospital.  There he was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder and they said it was possible he had high functioning autism.  We began working with the OT.

I, also, took Korbin to see an excellent doctor, Dr. Humphrey, who specializez in the DAN Method.  That stands for "Defeat Autism Now".  Dr. Humphrey ran a lot of tests and said he believed he could help Korbin.  We found out he was very, very low in Zync and that the flora in his digestive track was out of whack. 
We, also, began taking Korbin to see my high school friend, a chiropractor, named Dr. Kevin Lundell.  He began doing adjustmens on Korbin, which helped "balance" his sences.
In addition we took him in for Early Intervention Testing at Weber School District.  They said he had "Pervassive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified".  PDD-NOS is on the autism spectrum.  It is not classical autism, but it is on the spectrum.  Confussing, huh?  Basically, there is Autism, Aspergers, & PDD-NOS all in the "Autism Spectrum".  PDD-NOS just means that he meets some of the criteria for Autism, but not all.  PDD-NOS also means that these delays significantly impact his life.  Korbin was enrolled into Valley's Developmental Preschool for two years.  Ms. Linda Burton was his teacher.
After his first run with Dr. Humphrey his school was amazed!!  Korbin went from lining up toys to actually playing with them!!  He began to take an interest in his peers and, overall, he just made massive noticeable improvements.
Now in 2012, it is safe to say that while Korbin still has things to improve on, he is getting very close to being "on target".  Socially he still perfers adults over peers, but he has made some friends: Gabe, Will, Sean, and Mason.   He still struggles in new social situations and with groups of children, but he's working on learning social skills.  His speech is amazing and always has been!  The speech therapist, who tested him, reported that he was at a 2nd grade speech level with articulation and speech structure!!  (He was only in pre-school during this test!)  Academically he is on target.  He is working on self-help skills, independence, and socialization.  We know he can do it!  We are getting scheduled with Dr. Humprey again to discuss the next step.
Here's Korbin on his 3rd birthday:

Landon, Ethan (also celebrating a b-day), Korbin and Maylee

Korbin with an octopus at The Living Planet Aquarium

Korbin, Maylee, Landon, Grace, Aunt Diana, & Isaac

Easter 2010:



Pleasant View Easter Egg Hunt

I get the feeling this "going back in time" thing is going to take a long time!  Anyway, here's the first part.  :-)  I'll do the best I can and then blog better from this point forward!



Back in the Game!

Wow!  The year is now 2012 and so much has happened!  I haven't been blogging since 2010.  The other day I decided to go back and check my blog out.  It was out-dated and the background had disappeared!  I began reading through the blog and I died with laughter!  Reading the kids' cute comments just made my day!  It was so nice to go back and read all that we had experienced!  I decided to print 2008-2010 in a blog book.  And now I've decided that I'm "back in the game" and I'll be blogging a lot more from here on out, so that I may continue the blog books into the future!  Here's the first post of many more to come!

What a busy life I am now leading! Blogging, unfortunetly, gets pushed to the end of my list of things to do and scrapbooking, well, hasn't been done in a couple of years! I know I have family far away that enjoys looking at the blog, so I'm happy to take some time to rest today and update my blog!

Kayla is pleased that winter is almost over here in snowy Liberty. She says that Utah springs, feel like Oregon summers, which I can say is somewhat true. (I froze last August in Oregon!!) She has been as happy as can be to wear her flip flops to school, which is funny because we still have a foot of snow on the ground, at our house!! (The snow at school has melted and apparently *ALL* the kids are wearing flip flops, or so I am told.) She is dying for her horse, Libby, to show up for the summer! She enjoyed a horseback ride in Wyoming, recently, with her Dad and Korbin.

I found wall stickers at the dollar store. So, I created flowers on Kayla's bedroom wall. Aren't they cute?! There is a saying on her wall that says, "Life is good!" and her name is on the wall, above her bed. It was a lot of fun to put together!

Kayla is blossoming into a beautiful young lady, inside and out! She's so much fun and so caring and considerate, when people need help. Her teacher said that a boy at school was telling the class about his uncle that comitted suicide and Kayla stopped what she was doing and stood up and said, "We need to take a break." And walked over to the boy and said, "I know that made you sad and I want you to know that I'm always here to be your friend." And then she gave him a big hug. The teacher said she was so impressed. She couldn't believe Kayla would have so much compassion and maturity about such an intense subject, at her age.

She's struggled so much with relationships and socially appropriate behaviors, that when she recieved 3 phone calls and a party invite all in one day, just recently, I knew she was on the right track! I just couldn't be prouder of her accomplishments! We have more hills to climb, but she's incredible at how quickly she can adapt and relearn appropriate behaviors. She's just awesome!!

Adoption plans are still going well and we hope to finalize soon! Kayla is excited to get her blessing and can't wait to be sealed to our family in the Bountiful Temple, the same place Chris and I were married. While talking about her upcoming baptism, she said, "That is going to be the best day of my life!" And I asked her why and she said, "Because I've got a lot of sins!" lol....I explained to her that being baptised will mean that she'll be as clean as a newborn baby and she said, "That means I'll get to start over, like a fresh start to my life and I need a fresh start." She's so well thought out and understands so much!

Here is a picture of the beautiful Bountiful Temple in Bountiful, UT:

Landon LOVES to ride his skateboard down our front steps! And amazingly enough, he makes it! He goes off of the big ramps at the skatepark. He has such natural ability with it and so we've set up a little reward program with him to earn monthly skateboard lessons. (They are expensive, so we can only do 1 a month!) He's totally stoked about it!

Landon is doing very well at school and is reading at a 3rd grade level. He LOVES to read and his favorite subjects are math and science. He can't wait until 3rd grade when they start to do science, at school. He, often, comes home from school and says, "Mom, I don't have homework, so can you get me a math paper to do?!" He LOVES it! If only he could get his handwriting legiable! Everything is upside down or backwards!...like backwards 's' and an upside down 'r'...strange, huh?

Landon is such a lovable kid and is such a popular guy at school. He has all the girls chasing him! He is freinds with EVERYONE, I mean everyone! Landon is one of those kids that gets along with the 'nerds', the 'sports kids', the 'cowboys', the 'skaters', the 6th graders, the kindergarteners, the 3rd graders....I mean everyone! It's funny for me to walk down the hall at school because even the 5th grade boys are yelling out, "Hey, it's Landon's mom!" And they'll say things to me like, "You got a cool little kid!" lol...

The other day he said, "I know what girls really like and that's why the girls all like me." So, I tried to keep a straight face and asked, "So, what do girls like?" Landon replied, "Well, they like purses and lip gloss and nail polish. And if you buy them those things they will really like you. And I think they like flowers, too. Don't they mom, do they like it when you buy flowers?" So, I replied that they did and he said, "See, I'm just really good with the girls." Oh my!!

Then, the next day we were looking at jewlery in the store and there was a 'key' on a necklace and Landon said, "I wish I could buy you that because you unlock my heart." So cute, but I think we may be in trouble as he gets older!! lol...

Korbin is almost 3, can you believe that?! Only about a week and a half away from his birthday! I decided to get his hair cut short for his 3rd birthday. I figured it'd make him 'more grown up'. It did, but Chris and I want to grow it back out! (And Korbin is having a hard time with it!) But, it is cute, isn't it?

Korbin and I have enjoyed swimming at Crystal Hot Springs. He isn't so sure about the water, but he loves being outside. By the end of our swim session, he was letting me walk around the pool with him! I think he will really enjoy the water, as he gets used to it.

Korbin is SOOOOO happy that the snow is almost gone and enjoys his days outside. He LOVES to go on walks and scooter along on his bike. He doesn't quite understand how to peddle, but he sits on the bike, while I push him, and he thinks that's great!!

Korbin LOVES puzzles and thinks that library time is the best! He really enjoys reading and it is very relaxing to him. He could read all day if I had time! He thinks it's pretty great that we can bring puzzles home from the library, especially all of the train puzzles!

Korbin is a train guy! Not only does he say he wants to be a train conductor when he grows up, but he wants to be an actual train, too. lol....He's so cute!! He wears trains, he plays trains, he sleeps trains (they sleep in the covers with him),and he eats trains (the trains sit on the table next to him and we have to pretend the food is a train) ! lol...Trains are his LIFE!! I'm sure he wishes he were born a train!

We have had some new additions to the family: Angel, A-mum, Spot, Clarabella, Blaze, and Woody. Angel is Kayla's new fish. A-mum is Korbin's fish. Spot was Landon's fish that died. Clarabelle was my frog that died. (Apparently we over fed them!) Blaze is Landons new fish. And Woody is a woodpecker that likes to knock on our chimney and scare the living daylights out of Korbin!! (He's very beautiful though!)

Anyway, that's all I have time for today and it may be a very long time before I post again!