Winter Wonderland Christmas

This was the first Christmas with our sweet little girl. It was a great day. We flew north to be with my family and play in the snow. Christmas is always more fun when we are in the woods and snow. Baby girl was happy and everyone was healthy. We feel so blessed. This time last year we had no idea we would have a little baby to add to our family. We are grateful for the blessing of adoption and for this Christmas season. God has truly enriched our lives with so much. 

Baby's first Thanksgiving

Directly behind our house is a large portion of BLM land that offers some fun hiking trails through a canyon and some mountains. There are big horn sheep, coyotes and some creepy crawly things back there. 

For our pre-Thanksgiving celebration, we went on a family hike on one of those trails. This "little" tarantula is one of the critters we saw. 

Baby girl had lots of fun on our hike. She was chatty the whole time. I'm grateful she loves the outdoors like her Ma and Pa. 

Baby girl being silly on the trail.

After our hike we headed to my Father-in-Law's fire station. He is a fire captain at one of the bigger stations in town. The firemen cooked Thanksgiving dinner for all their families who came that day. It was fun.

Matt's parents, his youngest brother, and us.

Made a Forever Family

"We didn't give you the gift of life,

but in our hearts we know,

The love we feel is deep and real,

as if it had been so.

For us to have each other 

is like a dream come true.

No, we didn't give you the gift of life,

Life gave us the gift of you."

On October 26th, 2013 we were sealed for time and all eternity to our little girl in the Temple of the Lord. It was a warm fall day with a big bright sun. Family and friends had come from all over the country to celebrate this day! (One of my best friends came all the way from Calgary, Canada.)

We feel grateful to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. Because of this sweet gift, we have the ability to be a forever family. 

Below is a photo of Little Peanut in her Halloween costume just a few days after our sealing. She did not like the costume at all but I had her wear it for a night and snapped a photo for us to remember. She has a look of great disdain on her face. She will thank us one day.

ABOVE: A photo of our family dressed in white just before we were to be sealed together. There was such a great feeling of peace and joy that day. I don't know that I have had a greater feeling of peace in my heart. 

BELOW: A picture of some family and friends who attended our sealing. There were a lot more but they were unable to stay for the pictures.

BELOW: A sweet memory of our birth mom and us after the sealing. We are so glad she came with her parents to be a part of this amazing day! She truly is our angel. Because of her, we are a family.

Our birth mom and her wonderful parents with us just before the sealing (below). They were so excited for us and we love having three sets of grandparents for our daughter. 

The GORGEOUS dress Baby Girl is wearing was made by her birth grandmother. Isn't it stunning? She looked so beautiful in that dress. 

My parents and Grandfather, Matt's parents,  his grandmother and youngest brother in this photo below. Having family together on this day only made it better.

BELOW: Baby Girl and her beautiful birth mom.

Adoption Day!

Last week Matt and I had the opportunity to go to court to finalize our adoption with baby O. Our beautiful birth mom and her parents attended the big event at the courthouse with us. It was a happy event. That day increased the gratitude and love we have for our birth mom and her decision to help us become a family. 

Another Trip to San Fran

Matt and I made another quick trip to San Fran this month. Matt's sweet grandma lives there and we were excited to bring our little baby girl for the first time. Grandma D babysat our little one while we took the BART train to catch a Giants game.  So glad Grandma had tons of fun with our little bug while we were gone.

 I love AT&T Park. I don't know if there are any other ball parks as pretty. Matt calls it sacred ground. I just love to take in the views of the bay, the smells, and the sounds of the game. No matter who you cheer for, everyone should take a trip to see that marvelous field. 

 Here are some photos of our short trip.

A New Marine

My youngest brother just graduated from Marine boot camp in San Diego, CA. We met my parents there to attend the ceremonies. I can't believe my youngest sibling is a marine. He has grown up so fast. His demeanor had definitely changed from before he joined the Marine Corps. He seemed positive, self confident, and excited to do his best. I probably sound like one of those "Join the Marines" commercials, but I was surprised at how proud of him I was.

Dad and little brother below. TWINS! Same squinty eyes and same shaped nose. I love those guys.

Graduation day was a humid and hot day. Our little baby was sweating pretty bad. It's obvious how uncomfortable she felt in the picture below. Poor little bug. She was a good sport about it all. 

My parents, little brother, and us after the graduation. Grandpa and baby girl playing in the shade in the bottom photo. After our visit, my parents got teary eyed. They only do that because they have to part ways with that sweet little chubby cheeked infant. It's a recent occurrence now that she's in the picture.

Little Traveling Peanut

Our little bug is growing up. Not only does she sit up in a high chair and eat flavorless rice cereal, she also travels all over with us like a pro. 

Last month we had the chance to fly to my hometown and see my family. As a family, we all drove to southern Idaho to go on a backpacking trip together in the Sawtooth Mountain Range.

Below is a photo of one of my brothers and my baby girl hanging out by the lake the day before our trek. We hiked those mountains in the background of the photo.

The meadow below had several beaver dams in it. It was about a seven mile hike to see those dams. Baby girl hiked with me and was happy and chatty the entire time. An expert hiker, just like her Grandpa and Grandma (below).

Little bug got lots of outdoor time with my family. Grandpa loved loved loved to feed her in the woods next to the cabin where we stayed. It was so fun to watch. 

Dad rented a cabin on the lake for Mom and our little girl to stay at while the rest of us went on our trek through the Sawtooth range. Below is a photo of the drop off point where a shuttle boat took us to begin our trip. The trailhead is not accessible by car, so the only way to get started was to pay the boat driver. We had to tell him what day and time to pick us up after our hike too. Such a remote place made you feel pretty secluded but also excited to be away from everything.

We made a lot of stops on our way through the mountains. Dad liked to get his trail book out and look at how far we had travelled and see what landmarks were coming up. My poor brother lost his cell phone at a waterfall at one of our stops. He thought it would be a good idea to walk down a waterfall and take a picture at the same time.

We hiked to a lake called Alpine Lake. It took us about 4 or 5 hours to get there. It was so peaceful. There was nobody else around for miles and miles. We hiked around the entire lake and did not see another person in sight.

Below are my Dad, sister and brother.

Our base camp (below).

I love how excited Dad gets whenever we go camping/hiking. He loves to backpack and often goes alone to explore places through the northwest US. So grateful for his love of the outdoors and the love he instilled in us for exploring beautiful places. 

Below is a picture of him and I on part of our trail through the Sawtooth range.

Dad took us to a fishery on the Salmon river after our hike. It was fun to see all the salmon. The Kokanee salmon turn a brilliant red just before they spawn. Dad grew up visiting this river with his father. It's fun to see all the places he enjoyed seeing as a kid. Dad talks a lot about the salmon and how remarkable their 900 mile journey is back to the place they were born.

Below are just some pics of our trip to my parents home before we took off for our backpacking trip. We hung out on the lake near their home…a lot. Baby girl loved the water and got upset when he tried to take her out.