An Adoption Story

There are 9 kids in Rick's family. He is the youngest boy and he has one sibling who is younger than him. Of the 9 kids, 6 were home grown, and 3 were adopted. Rick's birthday is coming up soon and its been making me think a lot about his adoption. When Rick and I went out to Arizona for the Brimhall Family Reunion I had his mom tell me his adoption story. In honor of Rick's upcoming birthday I'd like to share this story with all of you. Yes, all three of you.

Marc, Rick, and Marci are the 3 adopted children in the family. Marc and Rick are both Native American. Marc is Hopi and Rick is Ute. Rick's parents had always wanted to adopt a Native American baby and they were so thrilled when they finally got Marc, especially because this was during a time that adopting Native American babies was a very difficult thing to do because of Tribal laws. Some families had adopted Native American babies and had had them for years and the tribes were taking them back. Well, a few years later Rick's parents were at church and people were coming up to them and saying "We heard you are adopting another Native American baby! That is so great!" To which his parents responded "...What?". Rick's older sisters Alicia and Christina had been telling everyone that their parents were going to adopt another Native American baby and that they were so excited about it. When they all got home from church that day Rick's mom said to his sisters "I would love to adopt another Native American baby, but there are laws against it right now. Why are you telling everyone we are getting another Indian baby?" To which they replied "Mom, we prayed about it, and we are going to adopt another Native American baby."

A few months later they get a phone call from a school counselor who works at a school for Native Americans in Brigham City. This school counselor had a young girl named Angie in her office. Angie was pregnant and she wanted to give her baby up for adoption. She refused to give the name of the Father to anyone, so the state could not help her and her tribe could not help her. If she could not find a way to give this baby up for adoption she was going to have the baby and then move back home on the reservation in Duchesne. The school counselor knew a family in Provo who had been able to adopt a Native American. She gave them a call. Later that night Rick's parents held a family meeting. They explained that there was a young girl who needed to give her baby up for adoption. Alicia and Christina screamed with joy and yelled "We told you so!" Rick's oldest brother Von Logan didn't know how he felt about it so the family decided that they would pray about it all week and the following Sunday they would call the school counselor with their answer. 3 days later Von Logan came up to his mom and said "Mom, I prayed about it. The answer is yes.".

Angie came and lived with the Brimhall's for 6 months. During these 6 months she became a part of the family. She attended church, family home evening, family dinner, family everything with them. On September 24, 1982 Alicia and Christina came home from school to find that Angie was gone and their mom was gone. That meant that Angie had the baby! They couldn't wait to see their new baby sister (they were certain Rick was going to be a girl). Moments later their mom called them from the hospital and told them Angie had the baby. Their first question was "is it a girl!?" They were disappointed to hear that they had another brother, but Rick's mom said "Once you see him and see how cute he is you will change your mind." And she was right, they fell in love with Ricky the moment they laid eyes on him and even though he was a boy that didn't stop them from dressing him up like a girl.

Angie went back to school and worked hard to get caught back up with her credits. A year later she called Rick's parents and said she was going to graduate from High School and she wanted them to be there. She also told them that she was graduating from Seminary and she would like them to be there for that as well. While they were at her Seminary Graduation she gave them a big surprise. Not only was she graduating from Seminary, she was the main speaker, and she had been head of the Seminary Counsel that year. During her speech she spoke of the Brimhall family. She then stopped and said "I would like to ask Brother Brimhall if he would baptize me on Saturday." Rick's Dad stood up then and there and said "Yes!"

Rick's Dad baptized Angie the following Saturday. After graduation Angie got a scholarship to BYU. She lived in Provo for a year and she would come over for family dinners and to take pictures of Ricky. For years to follow she would continue to keep in touch with Rick's parents, and Rick's mom would send her pictures of him. Rick met Angie when he was 19 right before he left on his mission. He has told me that right when he saw her he instantly loved her. She was the woman that gave him life and gave him to his wonderful family. Rick still keeps in touch with Angie and back in June we went to go visit her and we were able to meet Rick's 4 biological siblings, along with his grandma and many relatives.

Up until I asked Rick's mom to tell me the story of his adoption, Rick had not known the whole story himself. After I told him I asked him questions like "How come you never asked? Have you always known you were adopted? When did you understand what adoption really was? How come you haven't asked Angie who your Dad is?" His answer was simple.

"I've always known I was adopted. I don't look anything like my family, but that doesn't mean I'm different. My biological Dad is only a sperm donor to me. Richard Brimhall is my real Dad. He gave me my name and he taught me everything I know. I am a Brimhall."

The Brimhall Boys

Jaime, Timo, Marc, Rick 2, Rick 1, Burr, Von Logan

The Whole Team

Jaime, Von Logan, Burr, Timo, Marc, Rick, Rick, LaPriel, Alicia, Christina, Marci