Ramona Park Beach (and some thoughts)

We met out friends at the Beach close to our house one afternoon shortly after we returned home. That always reminds me of 3 years ago, when we returned home from Idaho we had gone to the beach, when I came home and threw Luke in the shower I was just getting ready to turn on the water and our Adoption Case Worker called. She was asking about our trip and asked if I had received enough sleep while were were gone. I told her that I had rested up while there, and she said, "So then are you ready for some midnight feedings and diaper changes?"

I shut off the water and with Luke yelling at me to turn it back on, tried to process what I had just heard. The next day, we had the most precious, tiny, beautiful baby in our arms. So amazing. What a blessing adoption has been to us.

(Today Oct. 30) I have been feeling so blessed lately that my children are my children. Out of all the hundreds of millions of babies in the world, my Heavenly Father loves and knows me. He knows my children, and He went to great lengths to get them to our family. Sometimes, the knowledge of His love for us overwhelms me. I am so grateful always and forever to Him for the blessings He brings to us.

Going Home

Goodbye Grandma and Grandpa P, and Ty. We're going to miss you. It sure was fun getting to see you and the cousins and the Aunts and Uncles. Maybe someday we'll live closer together.

Birthday Celebration #2 2009

We made it to Utah (in preparation to fly out the next day) on the night of Olivia's birthday. Aunt Becca made it home first and she was so nice to bake Olivia a birthday cake. Neil had a softball tournament that night, so we went to watch him play in his first game, they won, then they had the championship game. I stayed home with the kids, so they could enjoy the game. My parents stayed too, so they were able to watch it. Livvy and Ty had fun playing with her new birthday presents. The game had gone into extra innings, Neil's team lost 32-31.

We enjoyed sleeping in, then getting ready to fly out the next day.

It was a good birthday for Olivia.

We were sad we didn't get to see Ryan's family, (like the plan was) but we asked if they could meet us in Utah for a reunion. They decided on Idaho and it was just too much for us to get there. We found out that we went ahead without us to get together. A little painful, but what do you do?

Happy Birthday Celebration #1

The Cute Happy Birthday Girl!

As you can see, someone is terrified of fire.

What did she get from Grandma and Grandpa?

A whole box of dress up clothes!

Yeah, I really didn't want to post this, but Luke wanted me to.

I give you Princess Olivia.

We were up at the cabin on the morning of Olivia's birthday. We had a little celebration with the family before we left for Utah. It was nice to be able to have Grandma and Grandpa P, and the Aunts, Uncles, and cousins be part of the birthday. Living so far away, we don't get that blessing very often.

On the morning of the Moose Hunt, I was in the bathroom doing my hair. Becca, my sister-in-law comes as tells me that Luke is hurt. He had been so adventurous and fearless that truthfully I had been thinking that we would have a trip to the ER at some point. I asked her how bad, and she said, "well, he's bleeding." I made it to him, and sure enough he was bleeding all over his face and one knee.
Let's just say that Ryan and Luke were goofing off, and Luke took the brunt of it. Ryan was throwing Luke in the air, that would be bad enough...but who throws their kid out like a football pass, catches their ankle and pulls them back in? Who? Who? Well, he missed Luke's ankle, and Luke ate the driveway face first. Luckily his teeth are all still intact, and he healed up for the most part. He had a gash over his eyebrow that could have used 1 stitch, I super glued it and it looked amazing (at the time of the pictures the super glue was holding the cut together). The only thing is 2 days later the superglue failed and the cut came apart again. Man I miss not having steri strips anymore. That could have held it together. So now Luke has a little scar over his eyebrow, but hey doesn't every one need battle scars to talk about?
What was Ryan thinking? I was trying so hard not to get mad at him, but what was he thinking?


Okay Luke, remember, this is a game you don't ever play again.

Moose Hunt

This moose and skinny sickly looking deer were right in my parents yard at the cabin. It was funny because we all jumped in the pickup and tracked the moose. It left before the whole crowd could get there, but Eric grabbed my camera as he ran out the door, so I got some good shots of the moose taking a shower in the sprinkler.

Story time with grandma

The kids were all tuckered out from their big road trip. Grandma read them stories. Luke is on the couch, then from the top, Brooklyn, Ty, Olivia, and Kaiya.

Family Reunion Day 4

Doesn't Grandpa look fabulous in Kaiya's glasses?

What's this? A sighting of Sasquatch in Jackson Hole? Luke is so into Monsters lately. He watches Monster Quest all the time and is sure these mythical legends are real.

Hmmm...looks like this bigfoot has a thyroid problem.

So does this buffalo.

We were able to spend some time shopping in Jackson before we headed back to the Cabin in Star Valley. We had a fun time. Eric and Angella and Ryan and I gave my dad the book on CD the Skyliners by Louis L'amoure. We had fun passing the CD's back and forth from the pickup to the van listening to the book. (there was even some passing of the disks while driving was going on- a little frightening to me).

It was a whirlwind of traveling, sightseeing, and exploring, but it was a great experience. Thanks mom and dad for the wonderful trip and adventure. Our family will remember it always.

Day 3 continued

We left Red Lodge and drove like crazy to Cody Wyoming where we went on a tour of and LDS chapel. I know there are quite a few of those throughout the world, but this one is a Church Historical Pioneer site. There are full time missionaries who serve there and give tours. It was very special to hear of the strength of our pioneer ancestors whose faith and prayers helped to establish the church and the west.
After the short stop in Cody, we left for Jackson Hole Wyoming where we had an Old Time Western Photo done of the entire family. Ryan and the kids and I were able to get on of our family as well. I haven't tried to scan it yet, we have the copyright, so I'll have to try to post it on here.
After that we went to Bar J Wranglers. They serve you a meal like you would get on the cattle drive, steak, chicken or BBQ beef (which was by far the best option), baked potatoes, beans, applesauce, rolls, and dessert. It was a good meal, a TON of food, plus it was all you can eat. No one went away hungry that night.
After the dinner, the Bar J Wranglers put on a very fun show. It's one of my parents favorite things to do. It's a combination of comedy, cowboy poetry, and country music. It was a fun time, Luke loved every minute of it. Olivia loved the first 10 minutes of it. All in all, the kids did very well, even after a long day in the car, and having to behave for 2 hours + at the show.
That night we slept in a hotel in Jackson Hole.

Family Reunion Day 3

In the morning before we left Red Lodge, we stopped to eat breakfast at the Red Caboose. Other than the fact that our party of 21 was a little overwhelming to the establishment, and we ate them out of pancakes, it was a very fun experience.
Olivia and Kaiya had so much fun playing in the rocks. We even brought some rocks home, Olivia had been stuffing her pockets with them without my knowledge.

Red Lodge Montana

Where's Waldo? (Luke)

We finally made it over the pass and into Red Lodge Montana where we stayed in some condos for the night. We had a delicious dinner, and then took a horse drawn wagon ride down the main street in Red Lodge.
It was a long day, when I look back at the pictures I can't believe we accomplished so much in one day, plus we headed back to the condos and enjoyed swimming until the pool closed.

Bear Tooth Pass Summit

Have you noticed the theme that Luke is always on the rocks?

My brother Eric and his daughter Kaiya.

My brother Neil and his son Ty.

When we stopped at the rest area for a much needed bathroom break the kids were so excited to feed the chipmunks and especially the Golden Mantle Ground Squirrel. (Grandpa was teaching the grandkids all he could. Luke was eating it all up).