A Childs Prayer

Prayers can be so simple if only we could all remember that. This is Montana's prayer the other night.

" Are dear Heavenly Father, we thank thee for this day.

Please bless are family that we can be safe.

Thanks that Mark and Hillari can now have kids and are happy.

Thanks that we could come and live with them.

Please bless that we can have a good new life and that we can be happy.

Please bless that are family in Saipan will miss us.

Thank you for the roof over our head.

Please bless the missionaries in the name of Jesus Christ oh and sorry for everything I have done wrong in Utah. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

By the way he has came a long ways and gives the best prayers he always makes us smile.

Being a Mom

See wasn't he just meant to be a Dad! I love you Mark!

Okay so I thought I would share some of my thoughts. For those of you that read what I write know that I am not a very good writer. I just wanted to get some of my feelings out there and I am not a very good journal writer so I thought I would do it here. This new adventure in our life has been very interesting. It was funny how it all started. I was talking to some of the girls that were in Colorado with me this summer and we were telling each other a little bit about one another. They had asked if I had kids and of course I had to go through the spill of how we didn't have any and all of that stuff. I told them how it would really be bad if I was to get a call while I was in Colorado saying that someone had a child for me. Well the next day I got the call that there was a family in Saipan that had 3 kids for me. It is really weird how life works. While I was in Colorado it was all just a blurr. I didn't know really what to think and wondered if it was really happening. I was not home to prepare anything so it didn't quit seem real. Was I really going to get three kids? and how was I going to be able to do it? I still ask myself these same questions. Do I really have 3 kids and can I really do this? Everyday is a new day and I just have to remember that. Some days are really hard, okay I can't lie everyday is really hard. I am just now after almost 2 months feeling okay about this. I knew that being a mom was not going to be easy and so many people say to me, " See you always wanted to be a mom and it is not like it is on TV" It kind of makes me a little mad. I never thought it would be like it is on TV and I did always want to be a mom and still do. I don't regret any of the decisions that we have made. I am now getting to the point that I could imagine our life with out these three kids. Okay some days I can imagine it with out one of them. :) Just kidding. They are very fun kids and for the most part are pretty good. I share experiences with friends and family and come to find out they are just like any other kid. Yeah they do have extra emotional issues that we are dealing with but just like any other kid, they don't want to do their homework or their chores. They fight amongst each other and argue with what I say. I do love being a mom and I think it was worth the wait for these three kids. I can honestly say they were meant to be in our family. They have brought Mark and I closer together as a couple. They have filled an empty place in our Home. We do love them and everyday gets a little bit better. For the first month I was feeling like I may have had a little bit of a depression I don't know what you would call it but it was similar to post pardom, but I am now starting to figure it out. Thanks to all those out there that have let me cry or vent to them and thanks for not saying anything but just listening. I love being a Mom and am glad I have these three beautiful kids.

Baptisms for Miyuki and Montana

This is Niyah taking a picture of herself I guess she may have felt a little left out.
Miyuki and Montana were baptized on the 19th. Mark baptized both of them. It ended up being a great day. The Missionaries forgot to get Montana's white cloths so we were scrambling the last minute to get him something to wear to be baptized in.

Montana thought that being baptized was a lot of fun. He thought it was a great day when he was baptized.

Miyuki wanted Elder Merrill to baptize her but I had to do some talking to her so that she would have Mark baptize her. Montana said that he wanted Uncle Brady to and that it would be better if Uncle Brady baptized him so that Mark didn't have to try and say their names. Montana Kini Funkagub Muna and Miyuki Denise Funkagub Muna. You can only imagine what Mark was afraid of saying.

Niyah's Birthday Cake

These are just some pictures of Niyahs Birthday.

Niyah had her Birthday on August 23rd. She turned 7.

Update!!

Well, We had a lot of fun in Guam with the kids. We really tried to keep them busy most of the time to take their minds off of the family which seemed to work for the most part. I really started to feel a lot better once we were in Guam. I didn't feel so guilty for taking them. They loved sleeping in the hotel they thought that was pretty neat. We tried to go to the beach but could only get them to swim one of the days in the ocean. They were scared because it was high tide. They said that it was to dangerous. That made us laugh because there were tons of people swimming but if you looked around you could tell that none of them were locals. They would have much rathered swim in the pool at the hotel. It has been fun to listen to them talk they have such a cute way of speaking I don't want it to change but I know that it will. They speak English very well but it is almost like a translated English. They also will through in words from chomoro every once in awhile and I don't know what they are talking about. The first time they did this we were in Guam and Niyah told me to umboe her. I had know idea what that meant and then we figured it out she wanted a piggy back ride. Another funny time was when we were swimming in the ocean and they kept telling us to watch out for the babaloty. We Mark was swimming around and touched one and it scared him because it started to move when we picked it up. We all laughed and so they started to tease Mark and I with this babaloty which was a sea cucumber. They also talk about their zorries which is their flip flops and slippers so they will call them slippers instead of flip flops. Well these are just a few of the funny things that they say. Guam was really pretty but rained the hole time we were there so that was no fun. But we just did things anyway. However, there when it rains it doesn't just rain, you are literally soaked from just running into a building, and you don't dry off because it is so humid there. Well we were glad to be headed home when it was time but I was dreading the plane ride home. We were lucky enough though to be put on business class for the two longer flights. Yeah for us. We have some really cute pictures of the kids on the plane that I will post.

Niyah sleeping on the plane. This is my favorite.

Little bit of an update

Well here is the story just a little at a time because I seem to not have much time. When I got home from Colorado I only had one day to prepare for a new family. This is when I thank my Heavenly Father for family. Mark and my families and friends did so much for us to help us get ready or at least the house ready. We flew out on a Thursday morning and arrived in Guam on Friday night. The total trip was about 23 hours. We did luck out though and on the long flight from LA to Japan we were put in business class. That was sweet!!! Mark and I spent a day in Guam before we went to Saipan to pick up the kids. We just hung out. We went to the beach and it started to poor and I mean poor. We later found out that we were there during their winter so naturally it rained a lot. It was still very warm though. We took a hike on a trail that said enter at your own risk and of course we had to enter. It was beautiful in Guam. We took a trolley around the area that we were in so that we could scope out things we wanted to do with the kids when we got them. We found out quick that it was very expensive to have a family. Sunday morning we flew to Saipan. On that flight we learned that we would be very lucky to make it off of the island with these three kids. I was talking to a lady who asked why we were coming to Saipan so being as excited that I was I told her that we were adopting three children. She then asked if they were Chommoro of course I told her yes. Wow was that a mistake. She was just about in tears and couldn't believe that I was taking 3 Chommoro's off of the island. When we landed Del Benson picked us up and took us to church he instructed us not to tell people why we were there. We noticed that he would tell some people why we were there, however the villagers or Chommoro people he did not tell. After church we drove around the island a little and then met Del at his house and he took us over to the children's home. It was amazing to see what they lived in. I can't even describe it. It was a very small home with just a few windows and some rooms just had dirt floors. This was probably the hardest experience that I ever had. When we got to the home there were seven children there and we were only taking 3. So not only did these children have to say goodbye to their parents they had to leave 4 of their brothers and sisters. There mother was an amazing lady you could just see how much she loved her children and how badly she wanted a better life for them. I can only hope and pray that I can make her proud of her children. After leaving the house we went back to Del's home for awhile and then back to the hotel. This was a hard night. These three beautiful children would just look out the balcony and tell me where their friends lived and what house was their aunties and that they weren't even able to say goodbye to them. Well to say the least I didn't sleep that night. I tossed and turned all night hoping that taking these children from their family was the right thing to do. I instantly loved them but I wasn't totally sure it was right. At about 3 in the morning I could hold my emotions in anymore, I had lost it. I called my mom just sobbing, I couldn't do it! I could take these kids from their family and if I did I wanted all 7 kids. I couldn't just take 3. What kind of a person was I to think this was even okay? All these thoughts were going through my head. Well morning came and it was time to go to the airport. The kids were hoping that their mom would be there to see them one last time but of course she wasn't and they were heart broken. They new so many people who worked in the airport and were asking them where they were going? Kyle the lawyer couldn't waite to get them off this island, he was very worried that we were going to run in to problems. Not anything legal but just with other Chommorow people. Well we made it to Guam and I started to feel better. To be continued.....