Adoption book, and other exciting/scary things going on...

So I was visiting our agency about a week ago and was spying, er, looking at all of the other waiting family albums and I was getting really down hearted because they are all so cool and I just couldn't get happy about ours.
I am missing that essential female gene for scrapbooking. This is odd because I am an elementary school teacher and construction paper, glue and stickers are my life! C'est la vie... nothing I can do about it.
Just when I was about to give up hope on ever attracting a birthmom to our family through my photo album wiles, I was introduced to an amazing, FREE, downloadable software from www.blurb.com . It is a way to make you own books with very easy templates that can be manipulated in just about any way you can imagine. I am now proud to say that we have one of the spiffiest waiting family albums out there. My zero-talent album making will no longer hinder our ability to find offspring. *sigh of relief*

As I was imagining what I might blog about this week, this seemed like it would be the highlight of the week, surely nothing more interesting than free album making software could appear in my suburban environment!
Well, as I have learned again and again, never underestimate the power of a Ravenstahl to "shake things up" Typically these shake ups are in the form of surprise head injuries, stitches and broken bones. Most often it is Matt, a danger magnet, but sometimes it is the boys. Still a general rule is that the more catastrophic injuries will be acquired by Matt...
Just goes to show where generalizations will get you.
Seth decided to take first prize as the most seriously injured Ravenstahl ever (a difficult mantle to get, especially if you consider my beloved and very accident prone mother in law)
He was running through the woods and an evil stick jumped out from behind a tree and shanked him... or he tripped and fell on a stick... whichever version you like best...
Anyway, our youngest boy was the new proud owner of a large and horrible abdominal stab wound. Braver than any 11 year old has the right to be, he gets his buddies to walk him home and collapses on his moma's stairs.
Whisked off to the emergency room by Matt and Laura (and met there by every other family member in the tri-state area), Seth spends the next five hours at Reston Hospital undergoing various tests and needle jabs to ensure that nothing life threatening has been punctured, before he is ambulanced to Farifax Hospital at 10:00 pm for a consult with the pediatric trauma surgeon.
After hours of tests and exams, it is determined that he managed to avoid all major organs and that this is just a really nasty, ugly, non-life threatening stab wound and he is stitched up and sent home by 2:00am. The most amazing thing about the entire night was that he consistently turned down the offer of pain medication... I cannot imagine!
So he began a marathon of sleep, donuts and video games that ensure a rapid recovery for a wounded little boy.
I am not sure I ever want to see the inside of a hospital again after this week, but if I had to go to one with a child, I would say that Fairfax Hospital is the most amazing place for an injured child. We are very lucky to live near such a good hospital!
For now I am just very grateful that everything turned out the way it did. Tough stuff, those Ravenstahls! All the same, Seth is only going to be running through open fields from now on... trees are scary.

Salt Lake City... at last!

The Sunday Morning Broadcast of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Mountains, mountains, everywhere!!

The Temple in Temple Square

Matt inside the Tabernacle

Me in front of a restored Pioneer cabin

Wow! A week and a bit can fly right by. I just have to post these pics of our time in Salt Lake City. It already feels like a dream... all that lovely scenery fading into the cobwebby corners of my overworked brain.

We only got to spend a few days there, and we chose to skip renting a car (I could devote a whole post to my crappy luck with rental cars including the time one was stolen from in front of the house I stayed in, lets just leave it at "Nia should not rent cars")

So, car-less, we could not have been to a better city! There is a rail system that runs all through downtown that costs NOTHING as long as you stay in the free-fare zone, and as a tourist on a quick trip, I never needed to leave the free fare zone. Everything I saw was lovely. Temple Square is very beautiful, right down to the last flower and every time you look up there are glorious mountains all around.

I was a bit worried that there would be a ton of stuff I wasn't allowed to do since I am not Mormon and I wasn't sure how much access we would be granted.

Other than the actual temple, there was nothing I could not go into. The Tabernacle (including the live broadcast I got to attend of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir), the genealogical research facilities, the historical buildings, and the history museum were not just welcoming but all came with volunteers who were just waiting to give you a personal tour with loads of interesting details.

I also have to recommend having a friend who grew up in SLC who is willing to go above an beyond to spoil you during your stay. The parent's of one of my fabulous students grew up in Utah. Angela knew I was going to SLC and sent me e-mails and phone messages with cool tips of how to best enjoy the city. She also got her sister to drop us a goody bag at out hotel including lots of yummy chocolate and a gift certificate to her favorite Mexican joint... she wanted this east coast girl to get a little west coast flavor in Mexican food, and I have to say, my dinners out for Mexican will never be the same again.

This was the greatest trip and Matt and I had a blast. We missed the kids, but were also pretty sure that since they are still more into "action vacations" that it would only have worked for them if we headed up towards Park City, and we were pretty committed to going car free.

All in all, I have to say that I love Utah! I would definitely go back again :)