While browsing the web for a settee that I would love for my living room, I came across this little beauty! Look at this guy! I love it! Problem is, I don't love the price tag. I found this at HORCHOW for $3,199.00 - OUCH! The bug bit! You know me, I can't pass up a good challenge. Luck would have it, KSL had the PERFECT solution! How do I get so lucky?

This Antique frame rang in at a whopping $50.00! It's perfect! I plan on cutting out the middle and attaching the sides together to make an almost exact replica of the picture above! Amazing! I have some beautiful upholstery fabric and some memory foam lying around that will work perfectly with this piece. Wish me luck! I'll keep you posted ;)

Here is Faith's tribute to "Great-Gran" and her new book!

Salt Lake Tribune

The Salt Lake Tribune put in an article on "Sacred Hymns of the Book of Mormon." Grandma and Marilyn were interviewed and Mom let me know the article was published. The link to the actual article and pictures is here: http://www.sltrib.com/faith/ci_11782800 (Grandma, Maurine Ozment, is the one with white hair)


St. George women partner to write hymnal
The Associated Press
Posted: 02/27/2009 06:00:00 PM MST

St. George » A trio of St. George women have paired their creative talents with their love of the LDS Church to write a book of hymns.
Writer Marilyn Arnold, musician Maurine Ozment and Lisa Farr teamed up to write 32 hymns based on stories from the Book of Mormon, the central text used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"We hope it will get people into the Book of Mormon in a new way," Arnold said, adding that the idea for the project came to her "out of the clear blue."
Writing the words and music for Sacred Hymns of the Book of Mormon took nearly a year and half. Arnold wrote the lyrics, Ozment composed the music and Farr compiled Ozment's handwritten notes into a computer program in preparation for publishing.
Arnold and Ozment are no strangers to creative work. Arnold is a retired English professor who has written novels and other books, some with Mormon religious themes. A professional musician, Ozment has written numerous songs, including some found in the church's Children's Song Book .
The women say the project was an inspirational and introspective experience.
"I felt very close to those people [in the Book of Mormon] as I was writing, especially Nephi," Ozment said. "It was a wonderful journey."
The book was not endorsed or published by the LDS Church, but the women said they've given copies to church leaders and to Mack Wilberg, director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They say they hope to someday hear their hymns sung during church services, but don't care if they make any money from the endeavor. The songbook can be purchased in most Latter-day Saint bookstores.
"We just want people to love the music," Arnold said.

Homestudy and Doctor visits

Today was our home study home visit. It went very well as did our doctor appointments yesterday. We both passed with flying colors! Our doctors are very supportive and excited for us. Now we just wait... Next week we will have a picture and a name for all of you! We can't wait! We're so greatful for this chance to find out who our new daughter will be and do what it takes to bring her home to us.

Sam and Esther

This video will change your life. It changed ours. Don't watch unless you're ready for a good cry! I hope it will touch you like it touched us.

You may have to turn off the playlist music to hear this video.

Melanie and Faith went to St. George for a couple of weeks to visit Grammie and Great-Gran. We had so much fun! Grammie and Melanie went repelling at Red Cliffs and Faith definitely enjoyed the swimming! Grandpa is almost finished with Melanie's guitar and Melanie even tried her hand at luthiering (is that a word?). She is making a Mongolian Horse Head fiddle - Igil. It looks horrible! Grandpa is MUCH better. We also picked up 3 little finches while there. They are so cute! We love their singing.

Our application was accepted and we are on to the next step on our adoption journey! Thank you to everyone who supplied us with good resources and references. It has been VERY helpful! Don't forget to learn this week's phrase in Amharic!

Princess

Grandma’s Hymnbook came out this January so be looking for it! It’s called “Sacred Hymns of the Book of Mormon” by Maurine Ozment and Marilyn Arnold. I think it’s only $11.00 at the store. Here’s a picture of the cover -

We are all so proud of Her, Mom and Marilyn! Let your choir directors know about these hymns and let me know how you like them!

P.S. We have selected an Orphanage!

I forgot to mention that we have selected an orphanage in Ethiopia. We should be picking up our little girl in the fall - cross your fingers! We are very excited - things have been falling into place so quickly and easily. We know that this is the right thing for our family. We all wake up every morning with smiles and sunshine. I can't describe the feeling in our home right now. We feel so blessed to have been chosen to bring another special little girl into our home!

We recieved our packet from AAI (Adoption Advocates International) today and are excited to get started on it. Suzanne from "Families for Children" will be doing our home study. Wish us luck! Our house is a rock home built in the 1860's and we've done a lot of work on it. We hope it will pass inspection.

Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you;seek me diligently and ye shall find me;ask,and ye shall receive;knock,and it shall be opened unto you

Doctrine and Covenants 88:63

The more we turn our hearts to the Lord, the more His hand is evident in our lives. This blog is for our family and friends who wish to share our adoption journey. The other day, Thomas and I both were struck with urgency to begin our adoption process. I didn't tell Thomas about the feelings I had until later that evening to which he responded with information he had looked up online about adoption the very same day. The Lord is speaking to us and we haven't felt so strongly about anything in a very long time. The spirit about our home is one of love, happiness and excitement for what lies ahead! Faith is especially excited for her new sister! She informs everyone she meets that her sister is coming tomorrow! She doesn't quite grasp the concept of time just yet.


Every day, Faith and I have our "karaoke time" when we plug our mikes into mommy's amp and sing primary songs. Her favorite is "I love to see the temple" and she requests that we sing it at least 5 times every day while she points out that we have a picture of the temple on our wall. She always asks when she can go to the temple and I always tell her she has to wait until she's 12. That's a LONG wait! Now that we have a new spirit joining our family, Faith gets to go to the temple and she about can't stand it she is so excited! I love having Faith in my life. She reminds me of what is important. How long has it been since I was so excited to go to the temple. I do take it for granted. The best thing about a new day is that we can start again. Thomas and I have begun a new life and are most excited to have the spirit with us always. "Tomorrow is fresh with no mistakes in it" (not an exact quote - sorry) - Anne of Green Gables



The Lord has been waiting for us to turn our hearts to him and give him our all. He hasn't forgotten us and I am grateful for his never ending patience and forgiveness.



I recently have come in contact with Christianne (Nelson) Green, a friend from Ferron. A friend who has been my role model since before I can remember. She is the reason I am who I am and the reason I have had the strength to make the decisions I have. Chrisi has some experience with adoption and has given me hope that this can and will really happen. She has recently adopted two beautiful girls from China and is in the process of adopting a little boy as well. I hope everythings goes well for them! Thank you Christi for always living your life so that others (I) can draw strength from your light and your testimony. You tend to always show up just when I need it the most. Thank you for listening to the spirit!

-Melanie