Aiden, or a stunt double?

A head stronger than a carpeted floor, able to leap from tall ottomans in a single bound! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Aiden!

This boy is fearless, and for Aiden, it's all in a day's play! Good thing we have insurance!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

lovers of laundry need not apply!

I'm starting a club, the "Anti-Laundry Club". I cannot stand laundry! Let me qualify that, I love clean, nicely folded laundry that is put away in drawers or is hanging in the closet. I do not however, want to have any part in getting it there! Actually, I don't mind the sorting so much, or even putting the first load in, but for some reason I have yet to understand or explain, I don't like the drying, folding and putting away part. For that reason, it often takes me as long as a week to finish the family's laundry. And very often, even if it's all clean, it ends up staying in baskets in my bedroom getting all wrinkly and unclean looking. By the time I get around to getting it all cleaned and folded, another week's worth of laundry is waiting for me. In fact, I'm on the computer now in a vain attempt to ignore the fact that I have a pile of towels in the hallway and no clean towels in the bathroom. Ugh, the laundry is calling...

September 30, 2008

Mark your calendars! Aiden will become an official member of the Ramos family on September 30! I wasn't thrilled when we got the date, I wanted it to be sooner, but at least we have a date, right!? Hopefully this adoption will go more as planned and once we leave the courthouse, that will be it!

We are going to Aiden's biological maternal grandparent's ranch in Wyoming for labor day weekend. We are really excited. They are super great people and we always have a good time with them. The boys are excited to ride horses. Ella loves Grandpa Bryson and I love how much the grandparents have embraced all of our children. How fun to have so much new family!

(warning: Cheese Alert!) I went to a foster in-service last night entitled "Spirituality in Parenting". It was more like an open forum for discussion and it was really inspiring. We had a wonderful turnout and great participation. One of the thoughts that was brought up was trying to reconcile the joy we feel when we know a child can be adopted into our family with the sorrow you feel for the biological parents who are losing a child. Is is right to celebrate the misfortune of others? Is it right to hope that a parent won't succeed so that you will be able to keep that child? I know that we've gone through all of that, both as parents, and with our extended family. As I sat and listened to the comments of others, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for Aiden's mom. What a sacrifice she's made for her little boy. I know that she loves him, and because of that, she's willing to put aside what she wants (essentially) and do what's best for him. I'm also grateful for her parents. They've welcomed us with open arms and are a wonderful support. I'm glad that we can all do this together, that I don't have to feel like I'm taking this child from anyone. And I am so glad that Aiden will have his bio mom and grandparents in his life.

Hooray for foster care for giving parents an opportunity to change their lives, and hooray for adoption for giving children and families a way to come together and begin new lives!

Stay Tuned!

This site has temporarily been delayed, but please stay tuned!

Don't miss the amazing "Explorer Birthday". A heartwarming tale of a young boy turning 9 and the friends and family he invites to his birthday. Pictures and commentaries are sure to astound!

Also coming soon; the premiere of "Luca turns 6!". A coming of age story set in the backdrop of The Mayan restaurant. A sure family pleaser.

And of course let us not forget, "Pinto Family Reunion". Enjoy the sights and sounds of Pinto, Utah delivered through the photos and experiences of actual visitors to this little known town.

OK, I'll admit, I've been a bit lazy. But we've been busy too! My biggest problem is that Ricardo got a new camera for work, and I love it! I don't even want to pick up my old one, so I've used Ricardo's for the past month or so. Unfortunately, he takes his camera to work each day, and I keep forgetting to download all our pictures before he does. I will make a concerted effort to get them all downloaded this week and will be back blogging in force in no time. I know you're all on the edge of your seats!

Liberty Park

One of the best parts of living in downtown SLC is Liberty Park. When I was a kid this was one of the worst parks in the City. Over the past few years though, the City has put a lot of money into the park, thanks to the Olympics. Besides just cleaning up the park, they've added some awesome water features. The Canyons Fountains are one of our favorite summer play spots. It is a mini replica of the canyons surrounding SLC and the rivers that run from these canyons into the Great Salt Lake. It is a bunch of little "rivers" that run into a knee deep pool at the bottom. Unfortunately, because of the outbreak of stomach sickness associated with pools and things, the Canyons have been closed. Luckily, Liberty Park also has fountains in the playground area and this past Monday evening for Family Home Evening, we went over to play. There's nothing better than water on a hot summer evening!

RSL

We are soccer fans. In Spanish, it's "fanaticos", and I think fanatics is a great way to describe Ricardo and the boys. Ella and I like to watch the people! We've had season tickets with ReAl Salt Lake since their first season here in Salt Lake in 2005. It's been a great family activity and the soccer has been pretty good too! We started painting Luca's head that first season and it has become tradition. The boys are well known at the stadium and are often stopped for pictures. A photographer at the games took some pretty cool shots of Anthony, Luca, and Aiden. ( http://aylsoccer.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=762&Itemid=10176) Anthony really likes the attention, I'm not too sure about Luca. We love hanging out with our friends, especially those we don't get to see often (that means you Norman Family!). We can't wait for the new stadium! Go RSL!

Hair!

Summertime brings summer haircuts. In our house, those summer cuts come in stages. We start with the spring cut, also know as the soccer cut or mohawk. The boys have had mohawks for the start of the soccer season in April for the past 2 years (Luca has had one since he was 3 - his choice). This year Aiden ended up with one as well. Luca kept his for about a month and then asked for a buzz. Anthony lasted quite a bit longer, maybe 2 months. Aiden was the last hold-out. Every time we tried to cut it, he would put his hand over it and tell us no. We finally decided to start July with a buzzed head and the mohawk had to go. Aiden was OK with it at first, until he saw the hair fall, then he grabbed a handful of the cut hair and put it on his head. When that fell off, he continued to place his hand over his head and asked for his "pelo". He got over it pretty quickly and life is back to normal. We'll have to see how everyone's hair grows back in now!