Jenna is turning 4!!!

Can you believe it - 4 years ago I was wondering if she was evr gonna come out! Now she's 4 and a complete princess. Today we had her birthday party and all she really wanted was a princess pinata - so that's what she got. We invited family and some close family friends to celebrate. Jason and I got her a Fisher Price camera, it's pretty cool - but not her favorite toy at the moment. Here's a few pics from the party.

I stole this

I stole this from Auntie Cathy's blog who this from Lesle’s blog, which she stole from Christy's blog where she stole from someone else’s blog . . .

My “accomplishments” are in bold: well - they would be, but I'm having technical difficulties, so my accomplishments have been ***
Some of these things I'll never do, but is was fun to go through the list


1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
***2. Swam with dolphins
***3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
***7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
***8. Said “I love you” and meant it
***9. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
***13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
***14. Seen the Northern Lights
***15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
***17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
***19. Slept under the stars
***20. Changed a baby’s diaper
***21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
***22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
***25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
***26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
***27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
***30. Had a snowball fight
***31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
***32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
***34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
***36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
***38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment.
39. Had two hard drives for your computer and a 300 gig external!
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
***42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
***44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
***47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
***58. Sung karaoke
***59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
***62. Kissed in the rain
***63. Played in the mud
***64. Played in the rain
***65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
***68. Fallen in love!
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
***72. Gotten married
***73. Been in a movie
***74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
***77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
***83. Got flowers for no reason
***84. Performed on stage
***85. Been to Las Vegas
***86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Eaten fugu (pufferfish)
89. Had a one-night stand
90. Gone to Thailand
***91. Bought a house
92. Been in a combat zone
93. Buried one/both of your parents
***94. Been on a cruise ship
95. Spoken more than one language fluently
96. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show
97. Raised children
98. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
***102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
***105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds (45.5 kilograms)
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Swam with a stingray
***110. Broken someone’s heart
***111. Ridden a bike
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
***116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
***118. Ridden a horse
***119. Had surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
***122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
***128. Had your picture in the newspaper
***129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
***130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
***134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
***135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
***137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
***145. Had a booth at a street fair
***146. Dyed your hair
***147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
***149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Ode To Scrapjazz

This is the challenge I gave to someone who couldn't think of what to say in their blog, so I thought I would do it too.

Ode To Scrapjazz

Oh Scrapjazz, how I love thee
When I get on the computer
you are the first thing I see
When I'm sad or lonely
You come and rescue me
And with all the time on spend on you...
I usually have to hold my pee!

(there ya go, my ode to SJ)

My blog challenge

I posted a comment on my favorite scrapbooking message board, Scrapjazz, to tell everyone to update their blogs...so I am taking after my own advice.

The weather has been so nice here the last couple of days. On Sunday, we spent the day outside (after church of course). We went to my cousins missionary farewell. He is going to be heading off to Russia on March 28th for 2 years! He did such a wonderful job on his talk - I can't believe he's so grown up. After the farewell we went to my aunt's house for brunch and I ate soooo much. My grandma makes the best cookies and since she couldn't be at the farewell, she sent some! Jenna had so much fun playing with all of her second cousins while I enjoyed talking to some of my cousins I don't see very often.

Then...get this - I cooked fajitas for my family lunch! Yup, I cooked! And they turned out delicious! Everyone was very impressed. We had a birthday party for me and Suzanne (my OLDER sister). We didn't sing happy b-day or anything, just got together. I had already gotten most of my presents - Suzanne paid for me to get a massage, my mom and dad bought me a moist heat heating pad, Crystal bought me a hoodie, MIL got me a gift card to Joann's, and I bought an outfit and had Jason give it to me. Russell (my younger brother) forgot about presents - of course. It was a great day and I fell asleep out on the lawn in the sun.

This is also my 4th week of working for Basic Grey. If you haven't seen the paper and scrapbooking supplies they have - check out their website www.basicgrey.com They have the most beautiful paper lines and I love their magnetic stuff. I am so lucky to be working there - and everyone is so nice. The boss has already bought us lunch twice!

Hello! Life still exists here at the Francis house, I've just been pretty busy. I got a PT job at a wonderful scrapbook company, Basic Grey. If you're an avid scrapbooker, you know how wonderful their product is. The great part, the people who work there are even better! The owner, Greg, is very nice and pretty laid back. I was hired to collate their paper collection packs - so I walk around 2 tables gathering 1 sheet of each paper along the way, then stuff it into a bag and repeat over and over and over again! I had a dare from some of my ScrapJazz friends to take some pics of the inside of Basic Grey, so I did that one day - they all thought that was pretty funny. If you haven't ever seen their lines, check them out at www.basicgrey.com most people love at least one of their lines. Right now, I would have to say my favorites are LilyKate and Phoebe. The best part of this new job is the damaged boxes. When product doesn't meet their high standards for shipping to customers, they put it in a box for us to dig through and take home for free. This week, I got some chipboard letters & numbers, lots of papers, some sticker alphabets and some tags and a rub on sheet. All for FREE!!! How great is that?

Last Saturday I got to meet some of the Utah Scrapjazzers for the first time. We had so much fun and actually got quite a bit of scrapping done (unlike the other crop help in Michigan where it seems they don't :p) I got 13 pages done in my Hawaii 2005 vacation scrapbook. I got the airport and our first day done and am working on our trip to Sea Live Park.

Well, I had best be trying to get some sleep.
Have a wonderful day and keep us in your prayers for our child to find us soon - or for us to find them!

so...some people are bugging me about being a bad blogger. First, sorry - second, I have a great excuse. I went to the dr last week and found out I have a bunch of kidney stones in my right kidney and 2 more in my left - so needless to say, I haven't been up to much of anything. They aren't extremely painful right now, but very very uncomfortable all the time.

Here are some random pics I took of Jenna last week when she decided to be a princess - enjoy

Jenna - a sunbeam?

I can't believe that Jenna is already out of nursery! She started sunbeams last Sunday and she loved it...but now I have to be wary about what she says. Jason is also a teacher in the primary so he got to witness this next event. Our bishop was in the primary talking about faith and he asked the kids to raise their hands if they have faith that their mommy would make them dinner. Jenna spoke up loudly and said, "we're going to g-ma Mary's to eat" so the bishop said, that it was nice of her g-ma Mary to cook for her and then he asked in another way the same question. This time Jenna said, "my mommy doesn't cook" So, now I am officially labeled a non-cooking mom. I just had to laugh at it because it's true - I don't cook. So, this week I made chicken one day (crockpot style) and then I made pancakes tonight for dinner. Jenna loves pancakes so she was very happy about that.

Frosty - our snowman!

Yes, we have gotten a lot of snow lately - finally! The last storm that went through dumped a lot so Jenna wanted to build Frosty. She told us that she wanted a magic hat so Frosty could come alive. We didn't think she really thought he would come alive. When she put the hat on Frosty's head she stared at him and then knelt down next to him and started crying. It was so sad - she was crying, "please frosty, please come alive, please". It was so hard because I could tell how upset she was. She even asked Jason to take him home with her and he stayed on her back porch for quite a long time (until Jenna let Jason kick it over).
There's also a pic of us playing out in the snow.

My scrapbook gallery

So...I'm trying to be more diligent about putting my scrapbook pages online - here's a link to my gallery
http://scrapjazz.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=26453

Some of you were wondering....

so I thought I would let you know. Jenna is our biological child. I had a ton of difficulties with my first pregnancy and had 3 specialists that strongly advised me to not get pregnant again (the short of the story). I have also been asked, how did Jenna end up with blonde hair if you and Jason both have dark hair....hair dye! My little sister is a cosmetologist!

Just Jenna

Here are pics of just Jenna. I love her profile - it's just perfect.

And a few pics I took of Jenna and me

As earlier mentioned in my blog, one of my friends lost her daughter suddenly...she asked us to make sure to take tons of pics of our children with us, so I took pics of Jenna after her bath - I love the way she looks when she is all clean and her hair is all wet. She is so cute and loved to pose. I also took a bunch of me and her - I'm holding the camera out far so we can get both of us. I love the one of her kissing me on the cheek...I'm still going to use it in my scrapbooking - that was her other request, even you don't think you look good, still keep the pics.

more Christmas pics

We had a Dora Pinata for Christmas Eve - her head came off first so Jason thought it was a great mask.

OK...I need to explain the Barbie photo before you think Jason is a pervert. Jenna got a 12 dancing princesses barbie from Santa, in order for her skirt to twirl and light up you had to add batteries. The batteries had to be put in her upper thighs the screws at the very top. Hehehe...I got a ton of pictures of that one.

Jenna also got a lot of magnets for her magnet wall in her room. I promise I will take pics and post her room soon - we just need to pick it up a little. (and make her bed)

I got the new Making Memories Trimmer and I love it! We also got the nightstands for our room - I'll post pics of those soon too.

Christmas time....in the ER

Well....a quick rundown of my Christmas - I was high as a kite! I got a kidney stone 10 days before Christmas and had it taken out on the 21st. On the 24th my dr told me I could take out the stent (it kept the tube (ureter) between my kidney and bladder open and funtioning). Within hours I was in more pain than I was with the actual stone - went to the ER - had 2 doses of morphine and then something else that was a lot stronger than morphine - but still morphine. I still hurt a little, but wanted to get to the family Christmas party - so I told them I was doing ok. I do remember the Christmas party...it's just a little foggy. Christmas morning I felt pretty good (duh - I was still a little high) thankfully. But, Christmas evening it was hurting again, I thought I had another stone. So back to the ER where they gave me 2 doses of that stronger morphine. Now, I still get a little pain and I guess it was all from spasms in the ureter that can happen for weeks. So, now I'm on torodol, percacet & ibuprofen 800 for pain. Lucky me!

I must say, it is no fun waiting in the ER on either of these days. I am so thankful that people work these days. I am also very thankful for the family and friends who have helped out. Jenna's babysitter took her and didn't charge me any extra. Jason's mom took Jenna one night and also for Christmas Eve for awhile. My parents watched Jenna when they were preparing for a ward dinner. I am so lucky and blessed. I guess it really showed me what Christmas really is all about.

Here's a few pics from Christmas Eve.

a couple more

More pics

Christmas pics

These are of Jenna and some with her 2 cousins

Kidney stones...ouch

Just got out of the ER, I woke up this morning with a really bad, sharp pain. Yup, I got another kidney stone - first one in over 7 years. Hopefully it'll pass this time when I had them before they never passed on their own. Well, I'm off to watch my movies that I rented and enjoy the morphine while it lasts.

Very sad news, please pray for my friend

Heaven's newest angel!
Teegan O'Neal - December 11, 2006

This is a picture of Teegan O'Neal who is little 2 year old girl who died in her sleep a couple nights ago, officially the morning of Dec. 11th. She caught a very aggressive virus and her parents put her in bed with them to help her sleep because she was coughing so much, that was at 3am. When they woke up that morning she was dead. The autopsy said that the virus was so aggressive that in 12 hours she went from feeling fine to having her lungs filled and she eventually suffocated. They have some comfort in knowing that she died in their arms. Teegan was Sarah's first daughter, although she has 4 sons (one of whom past away a few years ago).
Please stop and say a prayer for sweet Teegan and to bless Sarah and her family with comfort. Thanks.

Jenna went roller skating

We took Jenna roller skating for the first time last week. She was pretty scared at first and Jason had to help a lot, but towards the end she did it all by herself (sorta). She was so proud of herself...and so were we!



















We also moved Jenna into her new room, but I haven't gotten pics yet because the room is still a mess. Hopefully soon though!

I can't believe that they are already playing Christmas Music

2 stations here in Utah are playing Christmas music 24-7 and I went to some stores and they are playing it too! The only thing it does for me is remind me not to buy myself stuff because I have so many other people to buy for, then I end up buying nothing! But, I did finally start my shopping - I now have the present for Jason's sibling swap and I ordered one for my mom...other than that - I have a whole lot to do.

We are redoing Jenna's bedroom for Christmas, so Santa is chipping in on her room because we are going all out! I bought a really cute bedding set from Pottery Barn kids called Island Surf - I did buy it off Ebay so it didn't cost as much as Pottery Barn was charging. We are painting her walls to look like the beach and she is pretty excited about that. We also painted one wall with magnetic paint and Santa is getting her tropical magnets to put on that wall. Jason is building a big palm tree out of the large PVC pipe from Lowes - he is heating it up to curve it. Then he is going to make the palm leaves out of fabric and put wire in it so that it canopies over her bed. I cannot wait until it is done! I will post pics when we get it done.

I am going to post a picture of my latest scrapbook layout - I've been going digital for some of my pages and I'm lovin' it....here ya go!

Update on going to Shriners

Everything seems to be ok with Jenna. She doesn't have as much motion one way from her hip socket - but a ton the other way. The dr wants to see her once a year just to make sure she gets that motion - but he said it's normal for some kids to have a ton motion one way and hardly any the other way.

In other news, I am going to my first crop tomorrow night with my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. It should be fun! I'm hoping to get a lot done. I packed Christmas 2005, my dad's police album that I've been working on, and some exploding boxes that I need to get done for a craft fair next weekend.

We're going to Shriners hospital...

We are taking Jenna there on the 1st for her initial appt. She was born with her legs over her head and they initially thought that her hips were ok, but now we are wondering if they really are. She can't sit "Indian style" becaues it hurts her upper legs. She also sits kinda weird with her legs in an M where her legs go straight out and then back at an angle.

In other news, we started painting her room today. We are decorating her room beach style. I got the Surfer Girl bedding set off Ebay that's from pottery barn. We painted one wall with magnetic paint so she can put magnets on her wall. We are painting over it (which is what you're supposed to do) and on the other walls with a light sand color on the bottom then a deep bluish green color to represent the sea and a light blue for the sky. Jason is going to make a palm tree out of fabric, wire, and a large PVC pipe that is going to canopy part of her bed and my parents are going to make her a bookshelf with surfboards on the side for Christmas. We are also going to try to air brush clouds in the sky. I'll post pictures as we progress. I can't wait!!!

Lost in cyberspace update

So, we got the website back up and running - for the most part. LDS Family Services was never able to find our old website, but we were able to thanks to me adding the long HTTP code I added to a signature on a message board. So, that meant that we could cut and copy a lot of the stuff that we needed to. Now, we only have 1 problem left - for some reason one of our pictures isn't showing up. When I look it up, it does. When Jason looks it up at work, it is right there - but no one else can see the pictures. I am living in the Twilight zone.

Jason and Jenna have the cutest thing they do now at night. Jenna is a creature of habit and we have to do the same conversation everynight after we give her a hug and a kiss. Well, Jenna added something to it for Jason. She loves the book Go Dog Go and in it there are two dogs that talk about a hat. The one dog has a hat and asks the other if he likes it. Here's the conversations.

"Hello"
"Hello"
"Do you like my hat?"
"No, I do not like it"
"good bye"
"good bye"

Well, Jenna is having Jason take her blanket and make different "hats" out of it - e.g. a turban, towel wrap, etc. They have to do the whole conversation 4 or 5 times before she will finally say "yes, I do like that hat". Jason had me laughing so hard - it was the hardest I laughed in the longest time. I love him!

no title, just jibberish

Well, things are going alright here at home. Right now Jenna and my mom are coloring while I am typing and watching Click for the 2nd time. Pretty funny show. I just sent out 50 adoption letters (some of you may be getting them) telling you more information about our adoption and how you can help us out. As a quick run down - please tell your family members, friends, church leaders, civic leaders, EVERYONE that you know someone who is trying to adopt and if they or you know of anyone who is looking at adoption to place their unborn or newborn child, give them our website info, which is:
www.itsaboutlove.org/profiles
our profile is: "JasonAndMichelle1"
Thanks in advance - other than that, can't complain, just hoping Santa brings a baby to us!

Our date at the theatre

Jason's mom gave us a wonderful early Christmas present, season tickets to the Pioneer Theatre Company. Last night we went to the first of the plays, Chicago. It was really good, Jason even said that he enjoyed it - which is amazing since he hates musicals. We met with Jason's bro's, their wives, and our Connie (Jason's mom) at the Dodo in the Gateway. After we ate there, we walked around the Gateway for awhile before heading up to the theatre.
At the threatre, we sat behind a woman who kept making cat-calls, yeah, we're in the balcony, I don't think they can hear you and it was quite annoying. Other than that, we really enjoyed the show and appreciate the wonderful gift. It was also nice to get out on a date and get dressed up. I even curled my hair and did my makeup. For those of you who know me, you know that's amazing!
Well, we are watching Curious George right now and this is the 3rd or 4th time for me and I still find it quite enjoyable, so I'm going to watch it.
One last thought from Jenna, "When I get big like Landon (her cousin), can I pee standing up?"