Introducing with Great Joy Clarissa

Introducing with GREAT JOY Clarissa

Born Sept 20, 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona

Weighed 5lbs 14 oz 18 inches long

Our adoption journey began on September 20, 2011 when we received word that

Clarissa's birth mother was having a c-section that night.

She was going to be born a little earlier than we had anticipated.

David and I were ecstatic wondering what we should do,

as we were in Utah and Clarissa was being born in Arizona.

Plans were arranged and we flew to Phoenix the next day and were able to

meet Clarissa for the first time a little before she was 24 hours old.

It seemed from the moment we met her, she had smile on her face.

The adoption process had a few glitches, but in the end we were able to bring Clarissa home with us. We will be forever grateful to her birth parents who selflessly gave us the gift of Clarissa.

Clarissa was born at St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona.

Here are some pictures of Clarissa in the hospital:

Clarissa seems to be cheering that she is coming to our home.

We also were cheering that she was going to be a part of our family.

The first time they put Clarissa's name on the board

Clarissa can't get enough of Daddy. She loves to hold his hand.

This is one of Clarissa's first rides in her car seat.

She was so little we thought the car seat was going to swallow her up.

Here we are signing the adoption papers at LDS Family Services. It was a very emotional experience. We are so grateful that Clarissa came into our family. We will ever be grateful for our incredible case worker, Hannah. She was amazing. There were many peoplet we feel the Lord put in our path during this whole adoption process and Hannah is one of these.

We were able to stay a few days with our dear friends Rachel and Corey. We are so grateful to them for opening up their home to us while the adoption papers were being processed so we could bring Clarissa over state lines. David had to go home before I was able to, so Rachel was my lifesaver! She helped me so much in knowing what to do as a new mom!

I will ever be grateful to her. She is a dear friend.

Clarissa loves to be with Daddy. She loves to have Daddy read to her.

The Happy Family!!

Clarissa likes to dress up fancy and be with Daddy.

She says she is ready to go to the prom with Daddy.

One of the great joys of the day was that David's sister Michelle, had her baby, Brockton, on the same day as Clarissa. They will share the same special day. Brockton weighed almost twice as much as Clarissa. Clarissa weighed 5 lb 14 oz, Brockton weighed 9 lbs 2 oz. It is interesting to see what a difference a few pounds will make. I just know they will be best friends. The happy moms

There are not words to adequately describe our feelings of being parents.

It is the most incredible experience filled with so many emotions.

We have come to know that Clarissa was meant to be in our family and we love her dearly.

We feel so very blessed to have so many family and friends who have supported us through this incredible journey of adoption. The outpouring of love and concern for us has been so remarkable that David and I are awe- struck! There have been many tears of joy and gratitude for all the thoughtful kind things everyone has done. We will be forever grateful. We love you all!

Summer Fun

In July, we went to San Diego where David received an award. David has worked really hard over the last few years going to dental courses. After several years of going to many classes (over 500 hours worth) and taking a big exam, he was able to get his FAGD (Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry) award. Only about 5 % of dentists get this award. They had a really nice graduation ceremony for all those getting the award.


I am so very proud of David's dedication and hard work in getting this award! Congratulations!!

On our trip we were able to see the New Port Beach Temple and the Mesa, Arizona Temple. Both were amazing temples to see.

We went on a family vacation with David's family. We stayed at the Lake of the Pines in California. It was like being in paradise. We stayed at a house on the lake. We had so much fun we did not want to come home. David and Juliann

David's family

We love them all so much!!
Such fun memories being with them.

Happy 10 Year Anniversary to us!!!!

It is hard to believe that we have been married for 10 wonderful years!

We decided we wanted to do something fun for our anniversary that neither one of us have done so we decided to go to The Grand Canyon.

It was an amazing trip.

We went on some amazing hikes. The South Kaibab trail is probably one of the most spectacular trails you can hike in the world! You are literally on a small ledge trail about 3-4 feet wide with the mountainside 1000 feet up and 1000 feet down--with no guard rails anywhere. Pictures just don't do justice to the views and the intense terrain. That day we hiked around 6 miles!! Now six miles may night seem like a lot but it was pretty intense as it is either straight up or straight down. In some places we dropped several thousand feet.

On the way home we stopped and took a tour of the Glen Canyon Dam. It was really fascinating to learn how it works. It was very educational.

It was a wonderful trip.

Catching Up

Sometimes life goes by and I think that nothing really significant has happened but then when I look back I realize there has been many significant moments. So here are a few “significant moments” of the last few months of our lives…

One of the most significant events that occurred was that I cut my hair...eight inches gone! This is a big event for me as I have never had short hair. I must admit I was nervous and I did shed a few tears, but I do like it and am getting use to it.

The weather here has been very cold and wet, so the first warm day David and I went on a date to Red Butte Gardens. It was so wonderful! The gardens were beautiful and it made for a wonderful date.

Every year my family does a 5K run. It has been a family tradition for over 15 years. We had so much fun doing it. They give prizes away after the race and I won a clock from Rod Works. There were over 2,500 people that ran the race. My Dad is amazing as he always takes a medal in his age group. Last year he took second place and this year he took fourth place. Fun memories!

Memorial Day was fun. We went with David's family to the Living Planet Aquarium. There were some amazing creatures. I especially liked the penguin exhibit. We got to see them feed the penguins. It made me laugh because of each bird's different personality.

After the Aquarium we went to a birthday party. It was our niece's Abby and Jane's first birthday. We went to the pizza pie cafe for the party.

David and Ellie riding the go carts at the birthday party.

David's sister Lindsey, graduated from BYU. We are so proud of Lindsey! Congratulations!

We love the Ogden Temple. We went to the temple a day before it closed for remodeling. We are excited to see the temple when it is remodeled. It won't look at all like it use to. It is suppose to be completely different after it is remodeled.

David spent a day giving dental care for "Give Kids A Smile". It was a rewarding experience to help those who were in need.

Hoping to Adopt

Several months ago, we learned of the possibilities of placing a video on YouTube to have birth mothers get to know us. We have a couple of links on the side of our blog now, including a link to our adoption profile. If you are aware of anyone who finds themselves in a situation where adoption may be considered, we'd love to have you refer them to our adoption profile and they can get to know us even better. Thanks!

Christmas Memories

David's Mom Janine, made all of the girls and two of the granddaughter matching aprons for Christmas. They are so adorable. We had such a wonderful Christmas. It was a wonderful day we spent with both families. We love the memories made at Christmas. The feeling at Christmas is something we treasure. We love our families so much and are so grateful for all they do for us. We especially are grateful for the reason for Christmas--that of the Savior's birth. We remember Him and Love Him. We want the Spirit of Christmas or the Spirit of Christ to last with us all through the year.

We are big BYU fans. Juliann's Dad gave Max, a grandson, a total BYU football uniform with the pads and all. He was so excited to wear it. He did not want to take off the helmet.

Every year The Uncle David Club does something for it's members. This year we made shirts for all the members that said "Proud Member of the Uncle David Club". We had a fun time getting our pictures taken with the members of The Uncle David Club. We adore each member and were sad we weren't able to see Scott, Tyler, and Kira who live in California.

David's Family

Juliann's Family