The Journey Home

We decided to spend 4 days driving home from Memphis.  We wanted to be prepared in case Ellis was not a good traveler.  But we soon realized that there was no need to worry.  Ellis would sleep while the car was moving and wake up about every 3 hours for to eat.  We would pull over, fill the car with gas and take care of Ellis.  He was a hit every place we stayed.  By the time our little man was 3 weeks old he had visited 7 states and 1 presidential library.  In addition to Arkansas and Tennesse, we traveled through Missouri (visiting the LDS Independence Visitor Center), Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and finally home to Utah.

Stretching in his car seat

While we did not take many pictures on our journey home I learned a valuable lesson at the Indenpendence Visitor Center.  Jason and I know quite a lot of church history but, as with everything, there is always something new to learn.  Joseph Smith only called a few people to settle in Independence, Missouri, but many families, hoping to reach their final destination joined those few and the numbers swelled.  And those who were not Mormons began to feel threatened and so began the persecution against the Saints.  How important it is to heed the words of the Prophets and not assume we are the exception.  Had those Saints waited until they were called to settle in Missouri they would probably not have faced such awful persecution.

Ellis Returns to Memphis, TN

We returned to Memphis, Tennesse, and stayed with my sister and her family for 5 days.  It was the least we could do since she was responsible to putting us in contact with Tabitha.  Hannah Grace, Isabella, and Alma Sue were so excited to meet their brand new cousin.  They loved to hold him, feed him, and tickle him.  Grandpa and Uncle Steve were also excited to meet Ellis for the first time.   Ellis was always being loved by someone.  

We took Tabitha and Lexie to the Memphis Temple grounds for a final good-bye.  Tabitha chose this location as a symbol of Ellis' new eternal family. The temple grounds are such a peaceful place to be.   

I reflected on the eternal nature of families in the Plan of Salvation and I felt so grateful for Ellis and Jason. And for the chance to say thank-you and good-bye to Tabitha.

8 Days to Finalization

We left West Memphis for Conway, Arkansas at 9:30pm.  Surprisingly, the ride was a quick 2 hours.  Ellis slept the entire way.  Conway is a small college town and is quite nice.  The first 5 days seemed to take forever.  That was the time we had to wait for the rights of the birth parents to be irrevocably terminated.  There was no concern that either one would change their minds it was just our first milestone as adoptive parents.  But the last 3 days seemed as long as the first 5.

We were hoping for a Friday court date but no such luck came our way.  Our attorney contacted us and told us that Monday, 18 June, at 9am was the earliest court date she could get.  One judge was out of town and the other judge had a full docket.

What do you do when your are far from family and friends at a hotel in an unfamiliar town with a newborn? Not much! We really did not want to take him anywhere but we could only handle a small hotel room for so long.  Ellis accompanied us to a few restaurants on the days we could not handle take out and he experienced Target every time we needed to replenish baby supplies.  He visited his first antique store and we purchased an old needle point train pillow for him to commemorate his time in Conway.

                                    We also took a trip to Little Rock to visit the Clinton Presidential Library.  

Jason spent his first Father's Day in Conway.  We decided to attend Sacrament Meeting even though Ellis was only a week old.  We were pleasantly surprised at the size of the ward.  The members were nice but disappointed when they learned we were only visitors. After Sacrament Meeting Jason received his first Father's Day from the Relief Society, chocolate chip cookies:)

Monday morning finally arrived.  We checked out of the hotel and headed to court.  We walked into the courthouse and the bailiff said, "You are in the right place.  I was waiting for you.  I was told to look for a couple with a baby." Judge Michael Maggio presided.  He talked with us about how most people who appear in his court are running away from responsibility and how refreshing it was to have a couple running toward responsibility. Adoption was very important to him as he had 4 adopted nieces and nephews. He was happy to make Ellis an official Italian in the Covili family.

Placement

Placement took place on Sunday, 10 June. We placed at a park in West Memphis, Arkansas. We walked wih Tabitha to a pier and she held Ellis and spoke to him of her love for him and why she was giving him to us.  It made me truly understand the magnitude of the sacrifice she was making by giving Ellis to us.

It is because of Tabitha that have become parents to the most perfect little boy. And we are eternally grateful to her.

Ellis Morgan

We have a new addition to our family.  Ellis Morgan was born on 9 June 2012, in Memphis, Tennessee.  He was 7lbs 9oz and 19.5 inches long and he came as an answer to our prayers.


Our journey to get Ellis was long but well worth it.  Last October I learned I had miscarried after doing Invitro.  At that point Jason and I decided that, perhaps, adoption was the best way to bring children into our family.  And, unbeknownst to me my sister posted to her mother's group asking if anyone knew anyone who was looking to place a baby for adoption. Within a minute she was contacted by an amazing young mother, Tabitha, looking to place her unborn child with an LDS family. The tender mercies of the Lord have been very evident these last 7 months.  And miracles abounded.

Hannah at Liberty Jail

As time came to prepare Jason felt that we should leave for Tennessee a week before Ellis' due date.  We were planning driving for 3 days to reach Memphis.  I insisted that the first day be a 12 hour drive (half the distance) and we would cover the remaining distance over 2 days.  We left 7 June with Grandma and Grandpa Myrup and Hannah Grace.  The journey was fairly uneventful.  We stopped at Liberty Jail and shortly after we were on the road I spoke with Tabitha.  Ellis was making no effort to come.  She felt she would make it to her due date.  We stayed in Columbia, Illinois, for our 2nd night on the road.    

The following morning Tabitha called me at 5:20 and announced she was in labor and at the hospital.  It took us an hour or so to get ready and pack the car.  It took us 4 hours to reach Memphis.  Jason and I arrived at the hospital 10 minutes before Ellis was born.  Tabitha's doula commented that labor and delivery was 4 hours longer than they had anticipated.  Ellis was waiting for us.

Utah NOW Video Clip

Utah NOW Video Clip

Connecting to DSL

This past weekend we changed our Internet connection to DSL, one would think it would be simple task. They mail you the start-up kit with easy to follow instructions. We followed the instructions until we reached how to install the cables and power cord. After reaching this stage no matter what we did, it would not recognize the cable. After calling three different people for advice, we went out and bought splitters for the phone lines and new disks to download new drivers for the Ethernet, nothing worked. We found out that just wasted a lot of time and money because we did not need any of it. Tonight I called the help line and after taking me through some simple steps he asked me to unplug the cable from the modem to the Ethernet, turn the ends around and then replace them in their connections. Now we have successfully completed our connection to DSL.

Half-Marathoner

Finally, for all of you who have complained, this is my latest entry. I have been training over the past 4 months for the half-marathon (and yes, I know that 4 months training is sufficient for a full marathon). Michelle and I ran the Salt Lake City half marathon last Saturday. We averaged a 10:40 minute mile. Not too bad for us. We usually run an 11:30-12:00 minute mile. We were amazed at all the half marathoners passing us in the beginning as we ran up Foothill Drive. But by mile 5 many were walking. I ran the entire course and Michelle ran all but two blocks in the 11th mile. She felt as if her appendix had burst. I recovered quickly after the race and now I want to run the Huntsville half marathon in September and possibly the Ogden marathon. Ogden is one of the easiest marathons. It is all down hill or flat. Life is always changing. A year ago a 10K seemed daunting and almost unattainable. And n0w I am thinking of marathons.

Christmas!

Christmas has come and gone. It has been a time of great reflection as Jason and I have discussed traditions we want to begin when we have children. Growing up, I never had many gifts. My siblings and I would buy each other small gifts--Gregg always gave everyone lifesavor books. The Santa gift was always unwrapped so that we could distinguish his gift from the rest. And we took turns opening gifts so that we could see what everyone received. Although, my parent's ulterior motive was to make it appear as if we had a lot of presents to open because it took a couple of hours to open all the gifts.

Yet, my most vivid Christmas memories of childhood are spiritual in nature. My mother would hang our stockings on December 1st. She would have them filled with 24 pieces of paper. Each day we would draw a piece of paper out of our stockings. Some papers asked us to perform little acts of service for each other, like "make your sister's bed today" or "read a story to your little brother." Other pieces of paper asked us to write in our journal or read selections from the scriptures. And there was always one that said, "Go to mom and dad a get a treat." It was one way my mother taught us the real meaning of Christmas.

And then there was Christmas Eve. It has always been a very spiritual time in my family. We acted out the nativity to a recording of my father reading from the scriptures, with the Tabernacle Choir singing Silent Night in the background. We would sing Christmas hymns and talk about Jesus. Today we no longer act out the nativity. Instead we listen to that old recording of my father's. I figure it is almost 30 years old. It's funny how as a child the focus is on receiving gifts, yet as an adult my greatest memories of Christmas growing up were about giving and about the Savior. I credit the power of those memories to my parents and the effort they took amid all the materialistic chaos of the season.

Finally! A New Entry

For all those that have complained, and you know who you are, I am posting a new entry. Since I last wrote I have spent most of my spare time writing parent/teacher conferences or baking Christmas goodies for the neighbors. Since Monday I have baked 13 loaves of pumpkin bread, 4 loaves of apple spice bread, and 12 small loaves of challah. When I am done with this entry I will begin baking 2 to 4 loaves of banana bread. I haven't had much time for anything else.

It has been a busy month with the ward Christmas party, family Christmas parties, and family birthday parties. I was excited to celebrate Kennedy's first birthday. It is hard to believe that she has been in the family for year. She was a cute, but sick, ice princess in her pretty pink outfit. And like any 1 year old, she lost interest in her gifts, especially all the clothes she received. A great weakness of mine is buying baby clothes and it requires a lot of restraint to walk into Meier and Frank and not look at cute outfits I could buy for Kennedy.

After Kennedy's birthday party, Chloe had a sleep over at my house. We took Trax downtown and went up to the observation deck at the LDS Church Office Building. We met my mother at the top. She is a hostess there, taking people on tour. We were able to see the top of the Salt Lake Temple and look at all the ant size people and cars. Unfortunately the fog was so thick we could not see the mountains or take any decent pictures. Afterward we went into the Distribution Center. Chloe saw postcards of all the temples and wanted to find the temple where Kennedy was sealed to Jared and Tara. We found a picture of the Manti temple and she wanted to purchase it so she could give it to Kennedy. She thought Kennedy would enjoy having that picture in her room. What a thoughtful cousin!