summer so far

This summer is going well so far. It started with an awesome relay from Portland to Eugene. There were 12 people on our team. The highlights for me were running 5.25 miles at 3am down a highway outside of Corvallis (without an ipod and while having to pee) and crossing the finish line for my team after 36 hours. Can't wait to do it again next year. I never thought I would be a runner, but here I am.
Leon participated in cub scout camp, which was so good for his confidence. Both kids attended YMCA day camp last week. I was expecting tears and anxiety from Anna, but she grew a pair (of ovaries) and handled it like a woman. They got to have lots of adventures, including riding in a canoe for the first time. My heart swells with joy when I see my children experiencing the world and rising to new challenges.
They are FULL of ideas and opinions. Leon's pet phrases right now are "seriously?" and "what the heck?" Anna's is "I have a theory or hypothesis about that."
Christian? Well, he's finally walking (when he deems it convenient) and saying many words. My favorites are "car!" and "outside!"
Coming up in August: camping, a visit to Austin for baby and I, and Sacramento for mama and the kids. That will take us right into the school year. Whew! I will have very mixed feelings.
The break from seminary has been great, but I miss the spiritual grounding and focus that it provides in my life. In fact, it's time to get that back...

The kids have recently discovered "The Cosby Show." You remember them - Cliff, Claire, and their five kids? Two successful black people living a typical family existence...this was my fantasy family when I was growing up. Two of the children had fair skin, the rest, deep brown. It was a periodic topic of discussion amidst my playground friends. How was that possible? It was particularly interesting to a little brown girl growing up in a house with white people.

Fast forward 25 years. We've got a checkerboard of people living under one roof. We've had some interesting discussions about race, with many more to come, I am sure. Here was today's, while watching the Cosbys:
Anna: "Mom, they have a white daughter, too (speaking of fair-skinned Denise)."
Me: "Oh no, honey, she's black. Her parents are black, so she is black. Her skin is just light."
Anna: "Oh. I'm black, too, right?"
Mom: "Yep. You sure are. You have one black parent and one white parent. That means you are a little of both. Just like me."

I was left to wonder: what does this mean to my little blue-eyed daughter? I hope that it will mean the same for her that it has come to mean for me, that people are the sum of their thoughts and actions, not their genetic inheritance. I hope it will mean that she moves through the world with comfort and confidence, happy to meet and experience those that cross her path. Thank you, Cosbys, for the laughs and the continuing education.

Meet Kosma - my Ukranian foster son

Do you know what it's like to have a child who bears no resemblance to you? I mean, not even a hint that you share biology? If you didn't know me, and I showed you this picture, I could tell you that I picked up this child up in a Ukranian orphanage and you would be none the wiser. I'm fairly certain I gave birth to him. He's absolutely adorable...but I get no credit. Carry on Kosma!

What a crummy blogger!

This is supposed to be a detailed, accurate account of the happenings at Chez Croskey! I am re-committing myself as of NOW. As I type, it's a Friday night and my poor husband is working until 9pm. The kids and I ate dinner at 5pm, which I found depressing. The kids are watching "Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo." If you haven't seen it recently, you are missing out.

Shawn and I have new church gigs. He was ordained a High Priest last week and we are waiting to see exactly what new challenges lay in store for him. I have been teaching early-morning Seminary for about a month. It's so rewarding to HAVE to study the scriptures every day. I love my students. I don't love going to bed at 10pm (10:30 at the latest) during the week, but I knew I would have to grow up sometime.

Here's some pics of our trip to Seaside last weekend. We had a great time with the Lee and Jackson families. They are just about enough to make a girl want to stay in Oregon for life.

Miracles

We've been talking in Primary this month about miracles performed by Jesus Christ. It's caused me to reflect on some of the miracles that have taken place in my adult life. Shawn and I met almost 15 years ago, while working at Village Inn in Tempe, Arizona. He was apparently struck by my beauty (and who can blame him?). He stalked my car and decided to ask me out, even though he saw a Gloria Estefan tape on my dashboard. We had about 2 weeks to meet, go out, and become inseperable, because Shawn was fired from Village Inn for giving a friend a free glass of orange juice. There are many more details to this story and I will bore you with them, if requested.

There's no way that Shawn would have considered marrying me, had I not joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He was in love with me (and who can blame him?), but his committment to the church was unshakeable. I had no intention of joining the church, but talked to the missionaries more out of curiousity than anything. When I prayed to know whether the Book of Mormon was true, the witness I received was undeniable. I have never turned back and my life has been immeasruably blessed by that decision.

Our efforts to start a family were futile for several years. It became a daily struggle to keep going, keep fighting, keep paying, and keep praying to have this dream become a reality. There were so many times that I wanted to give up. I remember the day, about 3.5 years after starting the journey, that we saw a little heartbeat on the ultrasound monitor. It was an amazing moment. It's just gotten better over the years, even though she is the most willful, emotional, argumentative child I have ever known.

We were considered moving to California and received a very strong answer to our prayer about it: NO! We were flummoxed as to why the Lord would care about where we lived. We had no idea why we needed to stay in AZ, but we went with it. About a week after this prayer, I started working with the woman who would eventually lead us to Leon. Though adopting our sweet boy has not been without trials, I believe strongly that he was always meant for our family.

Prayers and pleading for Christian started when Anna was a little over a year old. Now here he is! All approximately 18-20 pounds of him! I have no idea why my life has been so blessed, but I am grateful for it, and my ability to recognize it.

Tell me about your miracles.

718 days of summer

I'll be honest...the 1st two or three days of summer were depressing for me. I couldn't quite wrap my mind around the fact that my energetic, VERY chatty, contrary children were going to be in my care ALL the time. So, now that's down to the final month, I have actually felt the slight hints of sadness that come with the beginning of fall. Am I sad enough to let them stay up past their bedtime? No! Here are a few highlights of our adventures so far.

He wants to be one of them already.

Maybe by the time he is old enough to want to murder me for this, the blog will be lost in cyberspace. Please forgive me, son, I couldn't resist.

My favorite part to wash is underneath his chin. It's all squishy and plush!

Anna with one of her idols.

This is what happens when your mother is too cheap to pay your admission into the petting zoo.

My big kids at the California State Fair!

When you gonna feed me some ribs?