Sunday, July 24, 2011

Paradise for a week


For our first anniversary Rich and I were able to go to Aruba for the week and stay at a golf resort right off the beach. It was absolute paradise! We actually won, yes that's right I said WON, this trip while on our honeymoon. That's the way to do it! :)


These "little" guys were all over the place. We were told they are a delicacy in Aruba. I had NO desire to even entertain the possibility of trying it. NO THANK YOU.


On our last full day in Aruba Rich and I went to the butterfly farm. If you know me, you know I took a gazillion pictures. It was SO beautiful and I didn't want to leave.



Our last full day in Aruba. It was a beautiful day and an absolutely breathtaking sunset. It was such a nice week away. We didn't talk about work or adoption or anything that could possible bring on stress. It was nice to get away for the week and just enjoy each other and celebrate the first year of our marriage.



It was July 4th and Aruba "knows who their sugar daddy is" (according to Rich). The put on a great fireworks show. What a great way to end our week. We are truly blessed!

A week in Texas

In June I was able to go to Austin and visit my family for a few days before heading on to Corpus Christi for the Texas Society of Interpreters for the Deaf conference.

Mom playing baseball with the kids, Michael was playing catcher and David was pitching. Blythe and I were the cheerleaders.
I was showing Blythe and David the "draw" feature on our new camera, they thought this was cool (and so do I) :)
Blythe and Michael with Aunt Chelle. I had a great time at home, it was good to see the kids and have a little time with my mom and family. Though it was a short trip, I was glad I was able to make it!

When I was in DC in May, I was able to sweet talk Missie into going to Texas with me for the TSID conference. There is nothing like some good M&M time!! It was a great conference and it was awesome getting more time with Missie!!!

Adoption Update:

So its been a while since I have posted anything, its time to get caught up:

After traveling to DC this past May I came back home for a few weeks and worked worked worked. Rich and I were able to discuss and decide that we were going to jump back into the adoption process, this time using a domestic agency that specializes in new born babies. After calling and asking some questions of the agency, we decided to go with Heart to Heart Adoptions. They are based out of Utah but have mothers from all over the country.

We filled out the application, got our home study amended, had supporting documents (back ground checks, finger prints etc) sent and reference letters written and sent to the new agency. We also had to do a profile of who we are, basically our life story in a cute little presentation. Thanks to my mom and her smarts, we were able to do this fairly painlessly by creating a photo book. I worked on this book non-stop for 3 days. The first day alone I worked on it for 11 hours. With the help of Missie, Sheila, Mandy and a few others this was created, edited and printed all within one week. We received the books in short order, signed them and then put them back in the mail to the agency so that they had everything they needed for us to work with them. Then the waiting began...

(this is the link to our book if you are interested in taking a look):

Las Vegas Anyone? YES PLEASE!

Over Memorial Day weekend Rich and I went to Las Vegas with some friends to celebrate Tom's birthday. This was my first time in Vegas and it was a great weekend. We were able to get away fromt he reality of the adoption upset that was handed to us the week before and just enjoy ourselves with some good friends and good laughs!
While in Vegas, Rich and I went to the Cirque Du Soleil Mystere show at Treasure Island. This was an amazing show. If you find yourself in Vegas, you should go!!!
Jenn and Stephanie with the days public service announcement: "Spooning leads to forking"
Rich and I also went to Madame Tussauds while we were there. I think I had more fun than Rich did posing with the figures!
See, we could join the Blue Man Group!!

After we left Vegass Rich and I made a stop at Hoover Dam on our way home.


We even took a tour of the power plant. This was pretty cool!!
It was a great weekend and I am glad we made the trip! Can't wait for the next trip!