This post is meant for those considering placing a baby for adoption. I don't know you or how you found yourself looking at this blog, faced with this decision to place or parent your baby. But I do know that you are a strong and amazing person for even considering adoption. God knows you and loves you. With His help and your faith I know you will be guided to make the choices that will be best for you and your baby. Know that we pray for you without yet knowing who you are.
Adoption is such a personal and unique experience for all involved and is different for each case. That's why this is NOT a typical expectant parent letter. I believe the specifics of adoption are between the people involved and not for the general public. We do have a letter for you that has more information about us, our ideas on parenting, our families, our open adoption plans, and where you fit in. We want to get to know you and in doing so we can discuss more openly what adoption looks like to each of us.
Thank you for taking the time to look at our blog. I hope you will be able to get to know us through our posts. If you want to read our REAL expectant parent letter please email us at stewartshopingtoadopt@gmail.com and we will send you a copy.
With love- Ray and Julie
Friday, April 18, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Ray
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Friday, February 21, 2014
February 2002 a.k.a How we met
On KSL News they have been doing a segment called "On this day in 2002" were they go back in time for a few minutes and relive the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Well the Olympics is not the only amazing thing that happened in February 2002! I might not have the exact days right but here we go. (Italics are Ray commentary and probably what REALLY happened!)
Friday 2/1/2002 10:00 pm: My friend Kandie and I were just finishing up our patrol of the neighborhood (we were volunteers on the neighborhood watch) and stopped in at the local 7-Eleven to get our last Big Gulp re-fill of the night. While we were on our way out I noticed the guy behind the counter was pretty good looking and he was always nice when we went in. We sat in Kandie's truck finishing up our paperwork when I told her that I thought the guy inside was cute. She was surprised because I had never really been interested in a guy before. I had friends that are guys but never a real boyfriend before. Anyway we finished up the night and she took me back to my house. (so when Julie said she thought I was cute Julie insists her friend said, "really?" because she hadn't ever been that interested in a guy before but I know because Kandie couldn't believe that Julie had said that about me - or anyone - in a 7-Eleven smock. Even my family was a little concerned about what kind of girl would look at a guy in a green 7-Eleven smock and say to themselves, "yeah I want to see more of that!")
Saturday 2/2/2002 9:00 am: I was working at the U.S. Post Office delivering mail and was just about to start my route when I checked my voice mail and had a message from Kandie. It said "You know that guy from 7-eleven last night? Well I went back after I took you home last night and gave him your phone number. So he is going to call you." What?! I didn't even know this guys name and now he is going to call me??? So as I was delivering the mail I just kept thinking of how this phone call was going to go. A few hours passed and my phone rang (I still remember that old gold Kyocera cell phone)and it was him, what's his name. Of course I followed all safety precautions and put the mail truck in park and answered the phone. "Hello?" "Hi Julie this is Ray from 7-Eleven, your friend gave me your number." "Oh, Hi. yeah I remember you" "There is a Superbowl party at Diamond Lil's Stake house tomorrow and I was wondering if you would like to go with me?" "Yeah that sounds great, see you tomorrow". I gave him my address and hung up. I have a date tomorrow!
Sunday 2/3/2002 3:00 pm: Superbowl Party at Diamond Lil's, St. Louis Rams vs. New England Patriots, all you can eat ribs and salad bar. I was routing for the Patriots to win although we didn't really see much of the game. We talked a lot and learned a lot about each other. We enjoyed each others company and laughed at the ads. The Patriots won and he took me home. He asked if we could go out again and I said yes.
Here Julie is being nice to me. I talked the whole time. Her first impression, or I guess the second impression (7-Eleven smock being the first), was that I never stopped talking. She was just too nice to include that here. Thanks, and I love you too Julie!
Wednesday 2/6/2002 7:00 pm: (Okay I will let the Olympics take some of the credit) The Olympic torch passed through Provo in front of the Provo Temple. We set some blankets along the route and waited for the torch to pass. We sat there talking and getting to know each other more. The torch came and went, we cheered and it was over. Now what? So we decided to go to a movie. We saw "A Beautiful Mind" with Russel Crowe and Jennifer Connelly. The movie was great and at some point during the movie he reached over to hold my hand for the first time.
A few other dates scattered throughout...including going to Salt lake to attend a medals ceremony and see all that was going on downtown during the Olympics. It was cool. Even when it wasn't snowing they had some kind of fake snow coming down from the tall buildings every night at the Olympic Plaza
Thursday 2/14/2002 Valentines Day 5:00am: As I was leaving for work before scraping the ice from the car windows I removed about 30 little valentine cards that were placed there by Ray sometime during the night. It was really sweet! Each card had one word on it and the envelopes were numbered. When put in order the cards formed a cheesy poem. It was a lot of fun and I felt pretty special that he would go through the trouble of doing that for me.
Later that day: We went to dinner at Ottavios Italian Restaurant. After dinner we hung out downtown and enjoyed some of the Olympic festivities in the area. Later we went to a park where we danced outside to the car radio and had our first kiss. (I know 2 weeks in and finally a first kiss). For the record, I tried to kiss Julie a few times before that but apparently she had been practicing the turn-the-head-right-before-my-lips-find-hers maneuver because she was a master at it. First kiss was wonderful and romantic though.
I'm sure there were more dates here...
Thursday 2/21/2002 dinner time: We thought we should take advantage of having such a historical event as the Olympics so close to home so we went to Park City to enjoy more of the festivities. While there we ate dinner at Texas Red's BBQ. The portion size was huge and I ate way too much. Later we were walking down the streets of Park City and I was sick to my stomach. I had to find a bathroom quickly. The closest bathroom was in a bar called The Fat Tire Saloon (I was 20)so we went in and I made it to the bathroom. While I was tossing my cookies Ray was watching the final moments of the U.S. vs Canada Women's Hockey game(by watching the Hockey game she means that I was pacing outside the bathroom worried that this awkward moment might make her want to just be done with the evening....and with me. Puking in a bar underaged isn't exactly a girls dream date.). It was a sad moment for me and our country.
That about sums up our iconic dates in February 2002. I must say that we lasted longer than all of the restaurants mentioned above. We dated for almost 2 years before we were married but every two years when the Olympics start I feel a little nostalgic of our first month together as a couple.
~Julie
Friday 2/1/2002 10:00 pm: My friend Kandie and I were just finishing up our patrol of the neighborhood (we were volunteers on the neighborhood watch) and stopped in at the local 7-Eleven to get our last Big Gulp re-fill of the night. While we were on our way out I noticed the guy behind the counter was pretty good looking and he was always nice when we went in. We sat in Kandie's truck finishing up our paperwork when I told her that I thought the guy inside was cute. She was surprised because I had never really been interested in a guy before. I had friends that are guys but never a real boyfriend before. Anyway we finished up the night and she took me back to my house. (so when Julie said she thought I was cute Julie insists her friend said, "really?" because she hadn't ever been that interested in a guy before but I know because Kandie couldn't believe that Julie had said that about me - or anyone - in a 7-Eleven smock. Even my family was a little concerned about what kind of girl would look at a guy in a green 7-Eleven smock and say to themselves, "yeah I want to see more of that!")
Saturday 2/2/2002 9:00 am: I was working at the U.S. Post Office delivering mail and was just about to start my route when I checked my voice mail and had a message from Kandie. It said "You know that guy from 7-eleven last night? Well I went back after I took you home last night and gave him your phone number. So he is going to call you." What?! I didn't even know this guys name and now he is going to call me??? So as I was delivering the mail I just kept thinking of how this phone call was going to go. A few hours passed and my phone rang (I still remember that old gold Kyocera cell phone)and it was him, what's his name. Of course I followed all safety precautions and put the mail truck in park and answered the phone. "Hello?" "Hi Julie this is Ray from 7-Eleven, your friend gave me your number." "Oh, Hi. yeah I remember you" "There is a Superbowl party at Diamond Lil's Stake house tomorrow and I was wondering if you would like to go with me?" "Yeah that sounds great, see you tomorrow". I gave him my address and hung up. I have a date tomorrow!
Sunday 2/3/2002 3:00 pm: Superbowl Party at Diamond Lil's, St. Louis Rams vs. New England Patriots, all you can eat ribs and salad bar. I was routing for the Patriots to win although we didn't really see much of the game. We talked a lot and learned a lot about each other. We enjoyed each others company and laughed at the ads. The Patriots won and he took me home. He asked if we could go out again and I said yes.
Here Julie is being nice to me. I talked the whole time. Her first impression, or I guess the second impression (7-Eleven smock being the first), was that I never stopped talking. She was just too nice to include that here. Thanks, and I love you too Julie!
Wednesday 2/6/2002 7:00 pm: (Okay I will let the Olympics take some of the credit) The Olympic torch passed through Provo in front of the Provo Temple. We set some blankets along the route and waited for the torch to pass. We sat there talking and getting to know each other more. The torch came and went, we cheered and it was over. Now what? So we decided to go to a movie. We saw "A Beautiful Mind" with Russel Crowe and Jennifer Connelly. The movie was great and at some point during the movie he reached over to hold my hand for the first time.
A few other dates scattered throughout...including going to Salt lake to attend a medals ceremony and see all that was going on downtown during the Olympics. It was cool. Even when it wasn't snowing they had some kind of fake snow coming down from the tall buildings every night at the Olympic Plaza
Thursday 2/14/2002 Valentines Day 5:00am: As I was leaving for work before scraping the ice from the car windows I removed about 30 little valentine cards that were placed there by Ray sometime during the night. It was really sweet! Each card had one word on it and the envelopes were numbered. When put in order the cards formed a cheesy poem. It was a lot of fun and I felt pretty special that he would go through the trouble of doing that for me.
Later that day: We went to dinner at Ottavios Italian Restaurant. After dinner we hung out downtown and enjoyed some of the Olympic festivities in the area. Later we went to a park where we danced outside to the car radio and had our first kiss. (I know 2 weeks in and finally a first kiss). For the record, I tried to kiss Julie a few times before that but apparently she had been practicing the turn-the-head-right-before-my-lips-find-hers maneuver because she was a master at it. First kiss was wonderful and romantic though.
I'm sure there were more dates here...
Thursday 2/21/2002 dinner time: We thought we should take advantage of having such a historical event as the Olympics so close to home so we went to Park City to enjoy more of the festivities. While there we ate dinner at Texas Red's BBQ. The portion size was huge and I ate way too much. Later we were walking down the streets of Park City and I was sick to my stomach. I had to find a bathroom quickly. The closest bathroom was in a bar called The Fat Tire Saloon (I was 20)so we went in and I made it to the bathroom. While I was tossing my cookies Ray was watching the final moments of the U.S. vs Canada Women's Hockey game(by watching the Hockey game she means that I was pacing outside the bathroom worried that this awkward moment might make her want to just be done with the evening....and with me. Puking in a bar underaged isn't exactly a girls dream date.). It was a sad moment for me and our country.
That about sums up our iconic dates in February 2002. I must say that we lasted longer than all of the restaurants mentioned above. We dated for almost 2 years before we were married but every two years when the Olympics start I feel a little nostalgic of our first month together as a couple.
~Julie
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Just when I think I'm normal I decide to grab a photo album.
Now that you're an adult do you look at teenagers and think, "they're so weird!" Well sorry to burst your bubble but you were weird in high school and so was I. I was looking through some pictures of my high school years and have come to realize I didn't make a single normal face as a teenager. Embrace your inner weirdo.
Ray
Ray
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Christmas & New Years & Birthdays! Oh My!
I spent Christmas Eve at my parents house because Ray worked the night shift both Christmas Eve and Christmas night. Nick and Katie and their girls were there Christmas Eve to open gifts with us and play games. Christmas morning Ray got off work and joined us for an hour or so to open gifts before he went to sleep while the rest of us went to Grandpa Doug's house. It is our family tradition to have breakfast at grandpa's house every Christmas morning. It is really fun to see all the cousins, aunts, and uncles celebrating Christmas together. On the 26th Ray and I went to Naomi's house where his mom and dad had spent Christmas so we could spend a little time with all of them and exchange our gifts.
Another tradition that we have is our New Years Eve party at our house. (If you can call 3 years a tradition). We invite our extended family over to eat and play games and eat some more. We always have Siagon Subs, my Great Grandma Zina's Cheese ball, chips and dip, and a veggie tray. This year we added sugar cookies to the party which the kids really enjoyed. Those who stayed until midnight rang in 2014 with fireworks!
January is a busy month for birthdays in our family. We have Kaitlynn (niece) on the 13th, Nick (Julie's brother) on the 17th, and Nick's daughter Sarah & Jennifer (Julie's sister) share the 18th. Kaitlynn turned 10 this year and we had a skating party with her friends and cousins, and aunts and uncles. We love getting together to play games so for Nick and Jennifer we had game night at my parents house. We played a few games of poker and a new game called "Bang".
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