Joey and Nicole

Quinn's Baby Blessing Oct. 9, 2011

2011-10-24T12:19:00.000-06:00

Quinn got the special chance to be blessed with his cousin, Rylie, at their grandma Kathy's ward building.

The baby blessing was so neat to hear and wonderful to experience. This experience, just like the temple sealing experience, was one that we've been waiting a long time for. The blessing was very emotional. The one thing I loved in Quinn's blessing was that he was told that his parents made sacrifices for him and love him very much. I knew when those words were spoken, it was Heavenly Father talking about Quinn's birth parents. What makes these last two days so special are Quinn's birth parents. None of this would've happened with Joey and I if they didn't choose to place him for adoption with us. We love them very much and are very grateful for them.

Quinn in his beautiful blessing outfit.

Family photo

Us with Marianne and Kevin

Us with Joey's brother Jon, Pauline, and Rylie, and
Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Bobby.

Parents with their blessed baby's.

First friends, then sister's in-law, then bless their baby's together.
Such a neat experience.

Temple Sealing Oct. 8, 2011

2011-10-24T11:27:00.000-06:00

We were very fortunate to schedule the sealing of Quinn to Joey and I the Saturday following the court finalization. We had many members of Joey's family, some of my family, some friends from out of state, and friends from in town. It was so great to see this group of friends and family that were there at the temple to support me and Joey.

The sealing was so amazing and special. We cried the entire time, but that's alright, it's what we've been looking forward to for a long time. Quinn was so beautiful and peaceful in the temple room that day. We could feel the Holy Spirit so strongly. How special it was for us to experience this sealing!

Here are some pictures on temple grounds, after the sealing:

Beautiful picture of the temple and the clouds.

Family that was in the temple, back row left to right: Stephen, Jonathan, Bobby, Leonard, Jeremy
Front row, left to right: Janell, Pauline, Kathy, Nicole, Joey, Quinn, Glenna

Quinn and Joey playing in the water.

Behind the gate.

Joey playing with Quinn

Walking to the temple

"Turn around and look." Even Quinn looked.

Joey picked Quinn up and his bum crack was showing. I went to pull his pants
up and this is the shot our friends took.

Quinn sitting by himself on the ramp.

Family picture at the temple

Family photo

With our friends, Kevin and Marianne, who were taking pictures the
majority of the time.

Court Date-Adoption Finalization

2011-10-24T11:05:00.000-06:00

Oct. 3, 2011

      We got to go to court and finalize the adoption. All our paperwork is in and complete. Our lawyer asked us questions such as, "What is your birthday?" "Are you at least 10 yrs older than this child?" "When were you married?" "Do you plan on staying married?" "Do you love your husband/wife?" "Is anyone forcing you to make this choice?" "Do you understand that once this adoption is finalized, Quinn will be yours, as if he were born to you?"

      We were asked many questions, but yet, it was all so fast (only 15 min.). The court hearing was closed, meaning that only Joey and I, our lawyer, Justin Wayment, our case worker, Jared Reese, and the judge were in the room(minus the bailiff and recorder).

    When we were all done, we went out to breakfast to celebrate. The feeling was so great after it was all done. We definitely did not have much stress at all with this adoption(just the paperwork through LDS Social Services), but once we were done with court, it felt like our family is for sure and won't be broken up.

Our New Adventure

2011-09-29T19:01:00.001-06:00

After a lot of prayers Joey has decided to take another route with his employment. He will be able to go to school (college) full time while helping the government out. Quinn's picture will share what he did in August 2011. We are very excited and feel really good about this choice that has been made.

Yes, he joined the Army as Active Duty. He will leave for Basic Training on March 5, 2012 and will be gone for 16 weeks. He'll return home for only 2 weeks to 1 month, then we'll be stationed somewhere at a heavy artillery base, either in the United States or we could end up going overseas. Like I said, we feel like this was a good choice to make and Heavenly Father has helped us make this choice 100%.

Quinn at 5 months

2011-09-29T18:55:00.001-06:00

I've decided that since Quinn came along, the majority of the pictures taken are of him. I'm not able to find any others of all of us as a family, so here's some lovely pictures of our beautiful son.

Quinn, Kiza, and my sister hanging out. Aug. 2011

Quinn enjoying his jumper. Aug. 14, 2011

Quinn at the babysitters. Her camera makes him look so grown up. Doesn't he look like he between 9 months and 1 year? Aug. 24, 2011

Quinn about to roll over, but not quite. He was rolling only this far for the last 2 weeks of August. Aug. 30, 2011

Visit to see Kaylee and Daemeon

2011-08-03T10:24:00.000-06:00

On July 20, 2011 I was able to go see Kaylee and Daemeon. It had been a month since they left us, so I decided to see how they were doing and enjoy some time with them.

Kaylee with Quinn. She looks so big.

Daemeon with Quinn. He's growing and growing.

All three kids together.

Kaylee and Daemeon

Fun times with Quinn

2011-08-03T10:18:00.001-06:00

Here are some fun pictures that I took of Quinn the month of July and the very first of August.

Quinn holding his hands together while I was holding him. July 13, 2011

Quinn holding his hands again.

Quinn wearing size 4 Nike shoes-way too big, but fun to see on him. 7-21-11

Quinn wanting to help hold his bottle. 7-30-11 (4 months old)

It is time to introduce solids into Quinn's life. Here is his first tasting of rice cereal. He didn't give many funny looks, but he did try to spit it out with his tongue. 8-1-11

Quinn's messy face after he's done eating.

These are some addition odds and end pictures:

Quinn sitting long enough for me to snap a picture. This is on a nursery chair at church. 7-31-11

Quinn enjoying the outside. July 2011

Quinn grabbing his feet. He likes to do this all the time now. 7-29-11

Lowe Family Reunion - July 9, 2011

2011-08-03T10:11:00.000-06:00

We were able to go to a little bitty town in Utah to a family reunion, for my mom's family. The turn out was very, very small, which I'm sure it is because it was in a teeny-tiny town. Out of my mom's 11 siblings, only 4 of them showed up with very few of their own children. It wasn't the biggest reunion I've been too, but it was still fun and enjoyable seeing those family members I haven't seen for awhile, or even those I don't remember.

Joey throwing the frisbee

Ethan and Jeremy

Ethan and my brother, Jeremy on the other end playing frisbee.

Joey and my dad playing frisbee

My aunt Roscena to the far left, mom, my oldest bro., Dan, and his step-son, Jake

My younger brother, Matthew

This is the best picture I could get with the most amount of people in it.

Emerson displaying his balloon dog and Brittany in the back smiling.

Nephew Emerson with my sister Brittany behind him

Nephew, Ethan

Our dog, Kiza

Uncle Bill and Aunt Nannette

Cousin, Lacie with her two girls.

My dad

Joey and Quinn

The grandkids that were their.

Ethan, Abigail, Emerson, and Quinn.

Independence Day 2011

2011-07-05T15:43:00.000-06:00

I, Nicole, headed to my parents house on July 3 to see my two sisters visiting from Colorado-plus, I wanted them to see Quinn in person, since they've only seen pictures. I spent all day on the 3rd with my family, then 1/2 of the 4th with my family, then I spent the other 1/2 of the day with Joey and his family. Quinn was able to meet Joey's dad and step mom, who were driving through town and stopped by before they headed back home to New Mexico. I didn't do a very good job taking many pictures of the events that we did, so here are mainly pictures of Quinn being held by different people and my niece and nephews.

My sister, Celeste, snapped this picture of me and Quinn sleeping together.

Quinn being Quinn.

My beautiful mother holding Quinn.

My sister, Brittany got sick on the 4th-so she's not doing too well. :(

My niece, Abigail, playin with the kitty.

Nephew, Emerson, did not want to stop making his Lego "boat" to take a picture for me.

My brother, Matthew holding Quinn.

Niece, Maggie, holding Quinn.

Nephew, Jaron, holding Quinn. Maggie wanted to take a picture, so she actually took this picture.

Navajo Lake and Cascade Falls- June 30, 2011

2011-07-05T15:33:00.000-06:00

I needed to get away from my home and have some family time with Joey. We headed up to Navajo Lake and Joey did about 10 minutes of fishing, then decided he didn't want to do that anymore. We then headed over to Cascade Falls, which is behind Navajo Lake. Cascade Falls is an outlet of Navajo Lake, where the water comes out of a rocks/cave. A good friend of mine told me about this hike and I'm glad she did. I absolutely loved it-plus, it was only about 1 mile, or a little more long, round trip. Here are some pictures of us at Navajo Lake and then on our hike to and of the Cascade Falls.

Joey with his goofy face. This is what he does when he doesn't want to take a picture. He's getting his fishing pole ready at Navajo Lake.

Navajo Lake

Kiza stopped for a split second to get a picture. She was having a blast playing with all the sticks on the ground and the water.

Joey and Kiza out by the lake.

Nicole and Quinn at Navajo.

This is on the hiking trail to the Cascade Falls. Joey pointed out the hole in the rock on the top left. We thought it was really neat to see.

This is me looking up to the right from the hiking trail.

Joey, Quinn, and Kiza at the little rest area where they have a bench.

Cascade Falls. Isn't that beautful?

Down from the waterfall. I am up at the waterfall and Joey took Kiza down to the water.

Joey and Nicole at the top of Cascade Falls.

Nicole, Quinn, and Joey at the rest bench.

Quinn is 3 months old!

2011-07-05T15:04:00.000-06:00

Here is Quinn outside enjoying the weather. This seems to be his favorite place. One night when I was trying to get him to stop crying I took him outside to see if he'd stop. Sure enough, he stopped crying instantly. I stayed out for about 5 minutes and was then ready to go back inside, out of boredom. I got up and headed inside. As soon as I entered the doorway, Quinn started crying again. What? I didn't think he'd be able to notice the difference that quickly. Oh well-back outside we went.

Quinn and Kiza. June 29, 2011

2011-07-05T15:01:00.000-06:00

Quinn and Kiza were laying next to each other(more like Kiza layed next to Quinn) and I had to get these pictures.

Quinn and Alexis

2011-07-05T14:58:00.000-06:00

June 19, 2011
I took these pictures of Quinn with his cousin Alexis. Alexis is 2 1/2 months OLDER than Quinn. She is already crawling and Quinn and barely getting the stabilizing of his head. We think it's fun to put them together and notice the BIG difference between the two.
Alexis comes from a small mom and dad-both short and really thin. Quinn comes from genes of tallness. This definitely goes to show the you can't compare your baby to another person's baby.
These two look like they are having fun with each other.

It sure looks like Alexis is eating Quinn's hand. I sure hope she thinks that tastes good. :)

Goodbye Kaylee and Daemeon

2011-06-29T16:15:00.001-06:00

On June 21, 2011, Kaylee and Daemeon went to live with their grandma Roberta until they could go to their birthmother, Melisa and be with her(about 1-2 weeks from then).
We were very lucky to have the special opportunity to foster Kaylee (6yrs) and Daemeon (3 yrs) from May 28, 2010 to June 21, 2011. These two younguns taught Joey and I how to be a mommy and daddy and care for someone so easily. They taught us the joy of parenting, along with the struggles of parenting. We loved every moment we had to share with them and are very grateful to have been able to be their "mom" and "dad" for the short period of time.
Kaylee and Daemeon will always be in our hearts and in our prayers. We love you so much and will miss you always.

Goodbye "daddy's little princess" and our "big boy."

Family Camp fire Cook out.

2011-06-29T16:06:00.000-06:00

June 17, 2011
   We went up to the mountains and had roasted hot dogs wrapped in biscuits (pigs in a blanket) and then fire roasted some biscuits by themselves, thanks to my sister, Celeste giving us the great idea, then we had delicious smores. I bought the giant marshmallows for Joey to try roasting and they just burned, which is just how he likes it, except the middle was hardly melted, so he kept burning the marshmallow in layers.
    Kaylee and Daemeon had fun running around in the mountains and playing. Joey brought his fishing gear and he and Daemeon did some fishing, but didn't have any luck. Quinn slept through it all!
   We had a very enjoyable time, especially because it was a change in environment from our "usual" dinner setting.

Joey being a goon, as always. That's why I love him.

Nicole, Kaylee, and Daemeon. Joey had to be behind the camera to take the picture, too bad he couldn't join us.

Daemeon with his messy face.

Kaylee and her messy hair. :)

Beautiful Blue Eyes. June 11, 2011

2011-06-12T13:35:00.000-06:00

I think his eyes are the most georgious thing ever-well, besides Joey's eyes that it. Can you tell how blue they are in the picture? We were outside and the sunshine shone perfectly that you can see the beautiful color. (I posted the pic of Joey to see his beautiful blue eyes too).

Quinn is 2 months old!

2011-06-12T13:19:00.000-06:00

Quinn is growing up so fast. He is developing appropriately for his age and it is so much fun for us. We are seeing more smiles from him and he's holding his head on his own for quite some time. I still have to monitor his head holding because he is such a wiggly worm all the time that he tends to fling himself around sometimes.

Fishing! June 5, 2011

2011-06-12T13:01:00.000-06:00

Okay, so we didn't really do much fishing because the kids wanted to run around and play. Joey was great at getting a fishing pole set up and out in the water for Kaylee and Daemeon to watch and be in charge of, but obviously, it didn't last for too long. We had fun hanging out in the mountains and enjoying the scenery, even if we were only up there for 1-1/2 hours.

Kaylee anticipated Joey getting the fishing pole ready.

Daemeon hanging out.

Kiza having a blast being able to run all over the place.

Kaylee and Daemeon waiting by their fishing pole for the fish to hook.

I thought this was cute seeing Daemeon playing on the ground, up on this little hill. I assumed wrong about his playing. After I took this picture, I looked back up at Daemeon, about 2 minutes after, and he was only about 1 foot down the slope from this picture. I told him to come down to us and he started sliding down the hill on his bum. I said he needed to stand up and walk and he said he can't. I told him to try and it looked like he was so off-balance. The slope of the hill was not very steep, but I don't think we have gone many places with hills where Daemeon isn't holding onto someone's hand, so of course he's going to be scared to go down by himself.

Me and Daemeon

The kids playing with Joey.

Quinn is sitting up on the couch. June 3, 2011

2011-06-12T12:51:00.000-06:00

Here he is, getting so big. He's able to sit up for minutes at a time against the corner of the couch. Quinn loves this because he can look around at so many different things.

Memorial Weekend 2011

2011-06-12T12:37:00.001-06:00

School is now out for summer break. We were able to start the weekend off by having family come into town. Joey's brother, Jonathan and wife Pauline came along with Jared, Kassie, and their 2 kids, Aurora and Parker.
On Saturday, May 28, we went to the Discovery Park to play and run around. The older boys took frisbees to play with and Daemeon wanted to play with them before going over to the playground.

Daemeon and Jared.

Daemeon and Jonathon.

Kaylee and Aurora playing on the tire swing.

Kaylee and Aurora. They call each other best friends. I wondered if they really were through out the weekend because they are both very strong headed and got in multiple arguments. They seemed to work things out each time, which was great for them. It's always good to get along with others.

Daemeon playing with Kai.

Kai and Daemeon playing in the sandbox that you can dig up dinosaur bones.

They gave up on digging and started jumping off the rock into the sand. They were having a blast!

Joey hanging out with his brothers. You can't see them in this picture and that's because Joey happened to stand up and start walking right as the picture was taken.

Kaylee and Daemeon. Don't you love Kaylee's silly look with her eyes?

Joey climbing up the rope and Jonathan waiting to climb.

Jonathan's turn to climb.

Time to go home. Kaylee and Daemeon love each other so much!

One more shot of them further away. I love these two last pictures.

Family Picture
May 29, 2011 Not everyone is in this picture, but my sister in-law, Gira wanted a picture of the family with those who had come to visit. I thought, I might as well get a picture also, even if people are missing. So here are the two shots that were taken. Pick and choose which one you like best. I think not everyone was oh-so-happy to take this picture. :)

Aurora and Daemeon
Aurora decided to give Daemeon a hug, out of the blue, and this is how much fun they were having. Isn't it delightful to see?

Kaylee's Kindergarten program May 10, 2011

2011-06-08T21:04:00.000-06:00

Kaylee "graduated" from kindergarten and had a wonderful singing and performance program. She practiced with her class for at least a month-every day-to do so a great job. I loved watching her perform and give us such a beautiful smile during her performance. She is such a smart girl and has grown so much in the year that she's been with us. We love Kaylee and are so proud of her!

Dancing the "Hokey Pokey"

Quinn is 1 month old!

2011-06-08T20:53:00.000-06:00

These pictures were taken May 5, 2011, so Quinn was just a couple days over a month, but I had to get some pictures of him.

This picture is Quinn looking like a young man, all ready to go to church. Isn't he adorable?

Girl Scouts Ceremony April 25, 2011

2011-06-08T20:50:00.000-06:00

Joey and I have been the scout leaders for the Cub Scout Webelos in our ward. Since we started having our weekly meetings with the boys, Kaylee started asking if she could go to scouts. I tried to explain to her the the Cub Scouts was only for boys, but she didn't understand that because I was a leader and she thought, "how could it be for only girls if your doing it?" I tried explaining multiple times but didn't have much success, so I left it at-"you need to join Girl Scouts, which is for girls, not Cub Scouts." Of course, she kept asking me when I was going to sign her up after that. I didn't have any idea how to make that happen, so I would tell her that I need to look into it.
One afternoon as I was looking through Kaylee's backpack for notes and homework, I found a sign up she for Discovering Girl Scouts. I signed her up and she started attending once a week, and loved it, especially the socialization with other young girls. The girls had a ceremony to show all that they had learned, along with girl scout promise and law. I did forget my camera, but had my phone camera, so I took what shots I could get.

Goof Balls! April 25, 2011

2011-06-08T20:32:00.000-06:00

You like the new glasses my sister, Celeste and I are sporting? We picked out the ugliest pair and had to get a picture with them on. We thought they were quite the classy looking glasses. Ha, ha!

Easter April 24, 2011

2011-06-08T20:29:00.000-06:00

We had a great 1st Easter with the kids. We went to the park to have an egg hunt with the city, but we arrived just a tad too late. So instead of poutting and being dissapointed, we took the plastic eggs that other people didn't want, once they took their prize, and took them home to have our own Easter Egg Hunt. The kids absolutely loved this idea and had a blast with it. We did get a picture with the Easter bunny before we left to remember the great holiday.

With the Easter bunny.

Kaylee found an egg.

She found another egg!

Ooh! Daemeon found one!

"Look at all the eggs we found!"

Back home with all the kids together. April 9, 2011

2011-06-08T20:14:00.000-06:00

We made it safely home and the kids were very excited to see us, as we were to see them.

A new baby in the family. 3/30/2011

2011-05-30T21:04:00.000-06:00

We got the special privilage to go to Montana to be in the hospital when our little Quinn was born and then to be at the hospital with him the entire time and take him home. This was such a great experience, seeing how it is our first newborn in the family. I, Nicole, was able to be in the room for delivery(C-Section) and be the first one to see our angel Quinn come out. He looked so cute and little. Quinn did decide to hold his breath a couple times, which helped him go into the NICU. The nurses were very nice and supportive. Joey and I were the first ones in to see him. Birth mom and dad were able to share this special time with us and let Joey and I stay with them in the hospital during the day and go see Quinn together, or take turns seeing him, during the time he was in the NICU. After 5 days of being in the NICU (due to Juandice and not eating well), Quinn was released from the hospital. We loved having that first week of Quinn's life to share with just us before we went back home to Kaylee and Daemeon and to see our other family members.
Quinn was 7 lbs. 10 oz and 19 inches long when he was born.

Quinn in the NICU hooked up to the oxygen. Luckily he only had to be hooked up for 13 hours and then was able to breathe on his own. This was about 2 hours after being born. 3/30/2011

Thinking really hard.

4 days old.

Daddy feeding Quinn.

Sunday, April 3, 2011- Quinn get released from the hospital. Here he is getting ready in a car seat for the first time.

Daddy taking Quinn out of the car.

Quinn sleeping at the home we were staying at. This was my favorite newborn outfit we had for him.

You know how the majority of babies love to be wrapped up tight and have their hands wrapped in the blanket by their face? Well, Quinn did not. He would always-and still does-pull his arms out and sleep with them above his head, just like this picture.

Kaylee Turns Six 3/18/2011

2011-05-30T20:40:00.000-06:00

We did our own little family celebration for Kaylee's birthday. One thing that I thought was quite funny is I had the cake ready for Kaylee, put the candle in and lit the candle so we could sing, "Happy Birthday." Instead of waiting for us to sing, Kaylee blew the candle out immediately. So much for singing, she wanted to get straight to the cake. Hey, at least she enjoyed everything about her birthday.

Birthday girl is ready to go to school.

Kaylee's cake.

Picture of Kaylee with her cake right before she blew out the candle.

Opening her well wrapped gift. :)

"Ooh, what is it?"

"And what is this?"

"It's a playdough kit and all about animals work/puzzle book."
Kaylee loved both these gifts and have played with either one of them at least once a day.

Daemeon Turns Three! 3/1/2011

2011-05-30T20:31:00.000-06:00

We were able to celebrate Daemeon's birthday early with Grandma Roberta and and Grandpa Chris. We then did a little celebration at home with our own little family.

Messy face.

Yes, that is red frosting on my chin

"What is it Daddy?"

"Look at what I got!"

Carnival in town- Feb. 22, 2011

2011-05-14T15:53:00.000-06:00

Daemeon and I got to go to the traveling carnival that came for the weekend. We walked around first so he could see what he wanted to do, then he picked two rides and we went and bought tickets. The first ride was a car he sits in and it goes around in circles. I couldn't get on with him because I'm too big so I prepped Daemeon for the ride, letting him know that he has to be a big boy and ride by himself and I"ll watch him. He was totally okay with that until I walked away after getting him fastened into his car. Then he started crying and reaching out for me. They started the ride and Daemeon cried through 3/4 of it and then he got distracted by the steering wheels in the car and started playing with them(too bad he didn't discover that sooner). Here are the best pictures I could get.

Yes, he's crying in this picture (he looks so sad).

Blurry face.

He's happy and is relaxed. Notice how his hand is on the steering wheel, he enjoyed spinning it.

After this ride we went on a twirling apple ride together and then got some funnel cake and cotton candy. Of course, Daemeon ate the cotton candy and didn't care too much for the funnel cake.

Swimming at the new Aquatic Center- Feb. 9, 2011

2011-05-14T15:46:00.000-06:00

Kaylee enjoys being able to sit in the pool and not have it feel like she'll drown.

Daemeon having fun.

Daemeon

Kaylee swimming around.

Daemeon splashing and playing.

February Fun

2011-05-14T15:43:00.000-06:00

Blowing balloons up. Daemeon was having a little trouble.

"I'm trying"

"What do you think of this?"

Daemeon playing with some fake teeth that go with a toy Kaylee has called, Fuzzoodles.

The kids are running back and forth between the couches and running into the pillow soft couches. They were having so much fun together, I had to get a picture.

We're adopting a baby!

2011-05-14T15:38:00.000-06:00

We found out the beginning of Jan. that a birth couple wants us to adopt their little baby that should be born the end of March. We went ahead and told my parents on Jan. 29, 2011 and then were going to tell Joey's family the next day, but turned out that his mom and step-dad were out of town and when they did get into town it was too late to go over their. When we finally told them, they had already heard through someone that Joey's brother works with, who's husband works with my dad. We didn't end up taking any pictures of the in-laws reaction to finding out we are adopting this baby boy because we knew their reaction wouldn't be much of a "surprise" look.
Here are pictures of Nicole's parents unwrapping a picture frame that says "Baby Quinn to be born the end of March" or something similar to that. My dad had a little trouble at first understanding what we meant and he asked, "Are you pregnant?" I said, "I would have 2 months left, which means I'd be showing, so no, we are adopting." You can get an idea to their reaction in the multiple pictures I took.

Opening the gift

"Oh, how cute. What does it say?"

"Am I reading that right?"

"OH MY!"

"You're adopting?"

Silly Kaylee - Jan. 23, 2011

2011-05-14T15:26:00.000-06:00

Kaylee loves it when I make her hair stick up when I'm washing it. Well, I decided to be silly and give her some facial hair with the bubbles from the shampoo. She loved it and wanted a picture, so here she is.

We have too much fun!

New Year's Celebration 2011

2011-05-14T13:38:00.000-06:00

Joey's family went and bough a pinata for the kids to hit to celebrate the new year. Here is everyone taking a chance to knock out the pinata.

Daemeon observing the moving pinata.

Daemeon trading turns with his cousin.

Cousins Parker and Aurora admiring the pinata.

Watch Kaylee swing!

Joey had to have a shot at it!

"I think I've got it!"

"Wham!"

"Oh, come on."

"Come back here."

Christmas Morning. Dec. 25, 2010

2011-01-25T07:32:00.002-07:00

Christmas was a huge joy as this was mine and Joey's first time being mommy and daddy when Christmas came. We had a ton of fun buying the gifts(1 month before Christmas) and then wrapping the gifts(about 3 weeks before Christmas) and then having the anticipation to wait until Christmas came. We were both very excited that the month of December went by really slow for us.
Christmas morning Joey and I were up at 6:00 AM. We were planning on going to Joey's family's for the day and visiting with them, but knew that 6 am was too early to head on over-plus, the kids were still sleeping. We let the kids sleep until 7:00 am and then we excitedly went and woke them up to tell them that Santa came. I waiting downstairs with the video camera, while Joey woke them up and walked downstairs with them. Kaylee was really excited to see the gifts under the tree, and Daemeon just wanted to know what they were for, since he doesn't fully understand the concept of Santa.
We had Kaylee and Daemeon open up one gift and the same time, show each other and show us, then they could open another gift. Kaylee wanted to keep opening more and more and Daemeon wanted to play with his toy once he had opened it.

Kaylee trying to figure out what Fazoodles are. She loves playing with this crafty kit she got.

Daemeon excited to open a gift.

Each of them opening a gift. I think this was their first gifts that they each opened.

Daemeon got a soccer ball, basketball, and football.

Kaylee got a Princess and the Frog puzzle.

Daemeon got Chuck the Tonka truck. He talks and moves around trying to dump things out of his truck. Daemeon loved this truck.

Opening their gifts from great grandma.

Sorry for the crooked picture. They're looking at their bears from great grandma.

I opened the gift Kaylee made for me and Joey. It is an ornament with a picture of her on it. We love this and will cherish it always.

Joey got his Red Rider BB gun! He kept asking for it everytime we went into Walmart because it's the same gun from The Christmas Story(one of Joey's favorite Christmas movies) and he just had to have it. I surprised him and had it hidden until Christmas morning. I pulled it out and he said, "What? What do you have? I thought we were done opening presents?" or something to that effect. He was super excited, and of course, took it to his mom's house to play with when we went later that day.

Christmas Eve. Dec. 24, 2010

2011-01-25T07:20:00.003-07:00

Christmas Eve was filled with such joy and delight. All the grandkids that were at Grandma Kathy's made a gingerbread house with graham crackers and candy.

Kaylee having Grandma Kathy help her with her house.

Daemeon trying to figure out what to do next on his house.

Aunt Pauline helping Daemeon put candy on his house.

Working by themselves on there house.

Daemeon's final house.

Kaylee with her final house.

Kaylee opening her gift from Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Bobby.

Daemeon opening his gift from Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Bobby.

Daemeon opening his gift from mommy and daddy.

Kaylee opening her gift from mommy and daddy.

Wearing the pajamas they got from Grandma and Grandma and holding the pillow pets they got from mommy and daddy. I didn't get a picture, but they each got a quilt that I had made them. Kaylee and Daemeon got to sleep in their new pj's, with their new pillow and their new blanket Christmas Eve night. They were both very excited about this.

Visit with great aunt and uncle, Bill and Joyce Dec. 18, 2010

2011-01-25T07:14:00.002-07:00

We got to see/visit with Bill and Joyce before Christmas and they had gotten the kids each a little present. Here are Kaylee and Daemeon opening there gifts and playing with them. They loved the gifts and played with them all weekend long.

Sitting on Santa's lap. Dec. 17, 2010

2011-01-25T07:06:00.002-07:00

The last day of school before Christmas break, Santa comes to visit all the classes. Seeing how I work in the school, I talked to Kaylee's kindergarten teacher and asked if she cared if I brought Daemeon to her class so he could see Santa. She didn't mind at all, so here are the kids on Santa's lap.

Kaylee had all sorts of questions for Santa and said that she has been a good girl.

She told Santa she wanted a DS. All the kids in the class were saying they wanted a DS and Santa was calling that a Double Scoop (of icecream). Santa is telling his elves that Kaylee wants one DS.

When Daemeon's name was called to see Santa, he ran right up to him and reached up to sit on his lap-no shyness at all! He didn't say much to Santa but seemed quite happy to sit with him.

When Daemeon got his candy train(a train made of multiple pieces/types of candy), he pulled off the Hershey Kiss, unwrapped it, and handed the wrapper to Santa, all while sitting on his lap. Once he finished the one piece, he pulled off another and tried to give Santa the wrapper, and then, the rest of the train. He seemed to not care about the train, just as long as he got at least one piece of candy from it. I had to help him get down, otherwise he would've been on Santa's lap all day.

Cookie decorating for the tree! Dec. 3, 2010

2011-01-25T06:59:00.002-07:00

I got the great idea from a really good friend of mine and now sister in-law's mom to make sugar cookies, dry them out, decorate them, and hang them on the Christmas tree. Here are the kids decorating the cookies. That frosting they are using was a little tough to get out, so they really are squeezing hard.

Daemeon and Kaylee decorating.

"Yay, we finally go some icing out!"

The final cookies-yes, I did help. I couldn't resist the temptation of decorating cookies.

Hanging the cookies on the Christmas tree.

As you can tell, Daemeon had one favorite spot to hang his cookies. :)

Odds and Ends Dec. 2010

2011-01-25T06:45:00.002-07:00

I believe this picture was taken near then end of Dec. because I know for a fact that we didn't have snow for Christmas this year. Daemeon wanted to play outside in the snow so we went out and all he wanted to do was jump in the big piles and lay down in the snow. I had to get this darling picture of him playing in the snow and having a good 'ol time.

When Daemeon comes into the school to visit me with Daddy(Joey) he loves looking at the ABC chart that I have. He does a really good job pointing to each letter and saying, "A, A apple, /a/, /a/ apple (The / / means to say the short sound of the letter).

When the Walmart Toy Guide ad came out before Christmas, the kids had to look and see if there was anything they wanted to pick to ask Santa for. I love seeing this picture with Joey and the kids. He's such a good dad.

Okay, so this picture was taken at the end of Nov. but I have already posted all the other Nov. pics, so this one got to come to the Dec. pictures-oh well. This was taken at our friend and babysitter's baby shower(yes, it is the same person). The kids came and saw the fun gifts she got, but I think Kaylee and Daemeon enjoyed the food and treats the best-don't all kids?

Helping clean the house- Nov. 2010

2011-01-25T06:33:00.002-07:00

As I'm trying to update this blog with pictures from holidays and around the house, I don't recall exact dates when the pics were taken, so they will just have the month and year.

We were having clean the house day and usually Kaylee picks to clean the bathrooms and I'll get started on everything else, while Daemeon goes back and forth between helping us. (Joey is usually working when I have a cleaning day). This day Daemeon wanted to help me vacuum the living room. I let him take over and I got one area of the floor vacuumed really well, while the rest of the floor needed my assistance. I think vacuuming is Daemeon's favorite chore because EVERYTIME the vacuum is pulled out and he sees he, he comes running up to me and says, "I do it please?" It is so cute. Kaylee on the other hand, would enjoy vacuuming, but then when I tell her that she needs to vacuum her bedroom and the living room, she's out. She'd rather vacuum one little spot and be done. :) Kids are such and joy and a blessing.

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-01-16T11:43:00.004-07:00

We were able to go to my parents house and enjoy time with family and some friends that had come for dinner with my brother, Trevor. Daemeon loved eating his olives off of his fingers, so of course, here he is enjoying the olives. I didn't get any other pictures of people eating because Joey and I were enjoying the food too much ourselves.

Of course, people fell asleep after eating all the turkey. I fell asleep and my sister Celeste(the one on the far right) took a picture of me, but it was too up close and personal to post. You can imagine the picture instead. :)

The grandkids and my youngest brother went out for ride on the sled that was being pulled by the 4 wheeler. I had to get a ride myself, so I only got some pictures-but it was SO much fun. This is one thing I look forward to when we visit my parents and there is snow on the ground.

This is Kaylee, Daemeon, and Matthew.

Here we have my brother Matthew, and then some of the grandkids, Deni, Daemeon, and Kaylee.

Kaylee loves making snow angels!

"We are freezing! Can we please get warm by the fireplace?"

Daemeon went to get dressed and he said he wanted to wear "mommies" pants. So here he is, wearing my pants.

The day after Christmas, we went to listen to my brother Matthew sing christmas songs he learned in school. His entire class sings outside the city building. Here is my sis Celeste with Daemeon waiting for the music to start.

11/5/2010 Family Bowling Date Night

2010-11-07T13:01:00.003-07:00

This past Friday night we went out together as a family to enjoy some time together. We went out the the bowling alley and played. I was taking all the picture, so we didn't get a picture of me-oh well.

Kaylee was so excited to bowl. She wanted a ball based on the color-not the weight. We first had her try to "granny" roll the ball, but it didn't go very fast, so we pulled out this gadget for her to put the ball on and push down. Kaylee's force to push the ball down was so strong each time that it would do a little jump off of this gadget. Can you tell in this picture that the ball is in the air, just a little bit?

Daemeon's turn to bowl. He loved grabbing the ball, which Joey would carry, and then pushing it off.

Daemeon was too excited for his second turn, he didn't want to wait all the way until the pins were knocked down. Here he is running to get the next ball so he could go again.

Joey's turn. I think you can hardly see the ball. Maybe he through the ball so far, it went to fast for it to get in the picture. :)

Joey throwing the ball under his leg. Can you tell where his hand is how he threw the ball? The kids loved watching him do this throw.

When we finished bowling, the kids rode on the little mari-go-round.

"Here we go around again!"

10/26/10 Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile

2010-11-07T12:51:00.003-07:00

We were driving around and saw the Oscar Meyer Mobile in a parking lot and had to get a closer look. I don't think I've ever saw this in real life. We got a picture of the kids in front of it because it needed to be remembered.

10/29/2010 Halloween and Trunk or Treat

2010-11-06T00:28:00.003-06:00

On Friday the 29th, the car dealerships in town were holding their annual trunk or treating. The kids got to dress up and then play games to get candy prizes. Both Kaylee and Daemeon were really excited to wear their costumes.

Daemeon is a zebra(I wish you could see the back of his costume w/his mane and tail). Kaylee is a butterfly.

I had to post this picture because of the look on Daemeon's face. He was giving me that fake smile, which I interpret as, "I'm smiling because you want me to, but I don't want to so this is what you're getting." Ha, ha, ha-I love it!

Sorry, I forgot to turn this picture, so you'll have to turn you head instead. Kaylee is golfing at the trunk or treat.

Daemeon is throwing the bean bag into the jack o lantern.

After he threw the bean bag. You can see part of his mane on the hat he is wearing.

I saw this cute decoration and had to put the kids on it to get a picture.

After trunk or treating we went home and carved pumpkins. Kaylee and Daemeon told us what they wanted and Joey and I cut it out.

This is Kaylee's pumpkin and I had found this picture/face online as an idea and she really liked it.

Joey asked Daemeon yes and no questions on the eyes, nose, and mouth to help figure out what he wanted. This is how Daemeon's pumpkin/jack-o-lantern turned out.

10/22/2010 Crawdad Fishing

2010-11-06T00:08:00.003-06:00

I don't know if you've ever heard of crawdads, but I know that I didn't hear about them or see them until our camping trip this past September with Joey's family. The boys(Joey's brother and friend) found some crawdads in the lake, caught them and boiled them up with dinner that night. I must say that was interesting to see, but it didn't taste much different than crab, except smaller pieces and it had a little "lake" taste to it.
Joey knew of an area that was overloaded with crawdads and wanted to go fishing for some so he could have some good eating. We all went out together to help him fish(you reach in and grab them with your hands) for the crawdads, more or less, we would follow him down the bank of the river, wait for him to catch the crawdads, he'd throw them to us and we'd put them in the bucket of water. :)
Kaylee mentioned that she was having a lot of fun multiple times and that we should do this more often. I didn't think it would be such a favorite activity, but maybe we'll have to come out to the river every now and then and enjoy it all.

Joey has his big wader boots on so his pants don't get wet.

Daemeon and Kaylee waiting around.

We got some!

Daisy wanted in on some of the fun. Can you tell how muddy her paw is?

Having a good time.

Look how many we have!

Kaylee holding the claw that fell off of one of the crawdads once Joey threw it to me.

Deeper into the water.

Joey holding Daemeon and letting him reach into the water to feel how cold it is.

Joey caught it and Daemeon got to hold it and put it in the bucket. Daemeon was so happy and proud of himself.

Kaylee playing in the water. Right around this area of the river, it was really muddy. Kaylee had stepped over about 2 feet from where she is in this picture and literally got stuck in the mud. I laughed because I had not seen that happen for a very long time. The laughter helped Kaylee ease up on being scared and she realized that she could work her way out of the mud without losing her shoe(she just had to take the shoe off, step to the side while holding onto me, and grab the shoe out of the mud).

10/9/10 Making Halloween Decorations

2010-11-06T00:00:00.002-06:00

I found some fun crafts for the kids to do online for Halloween. Here they are making ghosts with silly faces, hand spiders, and jack o lanterns. The love doing crafts, so having this planned out for them was a joy. Almost each day after this, Kaylee would ask for a Halloween craft to do.

* side note: Kaylee's hat is from pbs.org, where she earned it by playing either a spelling or reading game. She earned jewels to put on it and then was able to print it at the end. She wore this crown all day long and all day long the next couple days.

9/20/2010 Temple Visit

2010-11-05T23:49:00.002-06:00

For Family Home Evening(time you take once a week to spend with family) this week, we decided to head down to St. George and show Kaylee and Daemeon the St. George temple. We have been talking about what temples are and the importance of them the past couple weeks, so Joey and I figured this would be a good trip.
We went into the visitors center and were able to show some videos that talked even more about temples, the importance of them, prophets, and there were pictures of different rooms inside the temple that the kids could look at.

The sun is glaring, but can you tell how beautiful this temple is? Joey and I were sealed and married in this temple, so it is very near and dear to our hearts.

Inside the visitors center, we were able to look at this beautiful statue of Jesus Christ. I think this is called, "the christus." Seeing this picture and the statue looking down and over reminds me that Jesus Christ is here for us and died for us so that we may have the opportunity to one day return to him. He will help us through the rough and tough times.

Another beautiful picture of the temple. Joey, Kaylee, and Daemeon are in the corner of the picture on the bottom of the stairs.

Looking at the waterfall and flowers.

Standing in front of the waterfall and some flowers that are on the landscape.

9/18/10 Another Family Wedding!

2010-11-05T23:29:00.003-06:00

Joey's step brother, Robby, got married and we attended the ceremony and family gathering afterwards. Kaylee had a blast playing with the "3 brother sibling" combo (our nephews). Daemeon loved just running around being a kid.

I wanted to show off Kaylee's hair because I was so proud of it and thought it looked so darn cute! Here is a front picture of what it looks.

Drum roll please. This is the top of her hair, which I absolutely loved, but you can't tell that it looks like this from the front of her picture. I wanted her to look good for the wedding, so I tried out this cute hair-do.

Kaylee and Daemeon at the church posing by this neat looking tree.

Gira and Robby ready to cut the cake.

Kaylee running around with "one of the boys."

Daemeon dancing and entertaining himself.

Kaylee is running away from someone, thus the look on her face.

Daemeon still entertaining himself by laying down and spinning on the floor.

Joey has gotten involved with the boys running and they have chosen to
chase him.

Isn't he the cutest thing?

The two boys. (Joey had to wear glasses because he had just recently gotten Lasik eye surgery).

The two gals.

9/11/10 Camping Trip

2010-11-05T23:10:00.005-06:00

We got to go "camping" with Joey's family. The kids and I didn't actually camp overnight, but we went up early and the morning and left later on at night. Joey was sad to miss out on this adventure and have to work.

We were by a lake and here is one of the ducks.

Daemeon loved going out to ook at the ducks.

Kaylee with my neice Aurora- they are 8 months apart.

Daemeon and Kaylee looking at the ducks.

The 3 boys who are 6 months total apart between all 3.

Two men and a little boy.

Kaylee reading to Daemeon. Dinner time.

The boys sharing a "table."

Kaylee and her new best friend, Aurora.

Some of the kids playing in the dirt.

Playing and posing.

9/4/2010 Snuggling the kitten

2010-11-05T23:06:00.002-06:00

My parents live in a small town, and because of that, they own a cat(sometimes more than one) to catch the mice and keep them out of the house. The momma cat had kittens a couple weeks, maybe more, before these pictures were taken. Kaylee and Daemeon kept seeing the kittens running around the house, but didn't ever get a chance to play with them or hold them because our dog Daisy, would try to chase them everytime they came out. Well, Daisy was inside during this time and so we let the kids take their chance to hold the kitten and love it.

8/31/2010 Kaylee's First Day of Kindergarten

2010-11-05T22:59:00.002-06:00

Kaylee was counting down the days for when she got to go to school with "mommy." I'm a school teacher and had to start working 2 weeks before school started. I forgot that Kindergarten in our district doesn't start for 3 weeks until after I(the teachers) had to go back to work, so I had told her that she got to start Kindergarten when I went back to work. Man, was it a dissapointment on her side when I had to tell her that I messed up and told her wrong. She got over the dissapointment quickly when I was able to show Kaylee on the calendar how much time she got to wait until she started school. This is her first day of school shot.

8/24/10 Daemeon's Nap

2010-11-05T22:57:00.001-06:00

Joey had to get this picture when he went upstairs to check on Daemeon to make sure he was sleeping. He had grabbed this teddy bear and was definitely loving it. Isn't he so precious looking? I love this picture.

8/1/10 CABELLA'S

2010-11-05T22:45:00.004-06:00

On our way home from the wedding, we stopped into Cabella's and showed the kids the neat animals they had and the aquarium with all the cool fish. They had a lot of fun and it was a good educational experience for all of us to learn of wild animals that are not common in Utah.

This was a fun huge, fake moose we thought the kids would enjoy. Here's Daemeon smiling away.

Kaylee hanging onto the moose.

Huge polar bear. Can you see how much bigger the bear is than Kaylee and Daemeon? I thought that was so crazy and neat.

Inside the aquarium section. The kids were surprised to see all the fish swimming around.

Daemeon REALLY liked looking at the fish. Can you tell by the look on his face?

So intrigued by our fish friends.

7/30/10 Water Flat Fun!

2010-11-05T22:22:00.002-06:00

We headed up to northern Utah for Joey's brother's marriage to Nicole's(my) best friend from high school-yes, we did set them up. While we were there, my friend & sister in-law, now, told me about this awesome park not very far from her home that has a little "water park" in it and cost is free. I knew Kaylee and Daemeon would be excited about this because they love playing in the water.

Daemeon trying to stop some of the water from shooting out.

Kaylee found this bucket and decided to fill it up with water and then dump it on her head, multiple times.

Filling the bucket again.

Standing under the water spritzer area. I considered this the "safe" area for me to stand because not much water came spraying out of these pipes unsurprisingly.

Daemeon playing in the water. You can see Kaylee in the back talking to another child.

Kaylee is sitting on a water sprayer, just like the one in front of her in this picture. She thought it was so much fun to stop the water.

Trying to stop the water.

Time to run from the water!

I think this is the only time I got Kaylee to pause quick enough for a picture. She was having too much fun.

Daemeon at his favorite area, playing with the water.

7/24/2010 Pioneer Day Celebration

2010-11-05T22:13:00.002-06:00

We went to celebrate the 24th of July, or Pioneer Day, in Utah, with my family. We had a ton of fun and especially loved having this kids with us.

Kaylee and Daemeon at the parade.

Their both playing at the park.

That night, the town has a dance and dinner. I love dancing, so I drag Joey along with me and we have a ball (mostly my sisters and I because we tend to get a little too crazy for the guys).
Kaylee and Daemeon were so excited to dance when the music started that they started dancing on the grass, not even in the pavilion yet.

Kaylee and Daemeon under the pavilion dancing to the wonderful music. Can you tell that it's just barely started with hardly anyone dancing?

They are having a blast!

Later on, Kaylee getting "jiggy" with it.

7/7/10 Hike to the cave!

2010-11-05T22:02:00.002-06:00

My sister Celeste, brother Matthew, and I (Nicole) talk a nice four wheeler drive and then hike over and up to a cave that I have never been to, about 10 miles from my parents house. When Celeste told me there was a cave 10 miles away that I could go to and explore, I got excited.

Celeste and Matthew at the opening of the cave.

Here I am!

Okay-so the cave isn't very deep, but still, it's pretty neat to walk under a big, huge, ginormous rock and be protected from the outside weather.

Even though the cave isn't very deep, it goes up high and is dark. I couldn't see what was up high, so I turned on the flash on my camera and took pictures to "see" what was up high. This picture is no zoom and almost straight up from me standing.

This is a very zoomed in picture of the middle part of the above picture. I wanted to get a closer look to see what this stuff was, and this is what it looks like. I think it might be stilagmite or stilagtite, not quite sure.

July 5, 2010 Fun Day At The Park

2010-11-05T21:40:00.004-06:00

To keep the kids busy(all the nieces and nephews), we, my sister, Celeste and I, walked to the park with the kids and let them play for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. It was fun watching them, but the heat was so draining. I don't know if you can tell that some of the kids are flushed in their faces from running around and the heat mixed together. They sure had a blast playing together and playing on the fun equipment.

Daemeon showing off at the top of the playground equipment.

Ethan, Kaylee, and Abigail hanging upside down.

Emerson and Braydon putting rocks on the slide so when someone slide down, they could slide into the rocks-I don't see the point of this, but yet, I remember doing it as a kid too.

I didn't take the time to actually edit this photo in photoshop, so of course, it is flipped. Use your head and turn it so you can see the picture right side up. :) Kaylee is sliding down the slide into the great pile of rocks.

Celeste pushing Daemeon and Emerson on the swings. They both LOVED swinging!

Another flipped photo- Daemeon getting ready to slide down a smaller slide. Once he started going down by himself, he decided he didn't like it too well. Oh well, maybe next time.

My dad took the kids who could fit, and wanted to, on a ride on the four wheeler(around the yard), all at the same time. Here are a couple pictures to show the kids off.

Abgail, I think Kaylee is on the other end in the back, my dad, and Ethan in the front.

Ethan in front, my dad, Kaylee, and Braydon in the back.

Water Fight!

2010-10-31T09:31:00.005-06:00

Over the 4th of July weekend, all the kids(nieces, nephews,etc) wanted to play in the water in the ditch in front of my parents house. Their wasn't much water in the ditch, so we didn't see this as a problem. Joey decided to pull out a bucket, fill it with water, and of course, dump it on the kids. This started a huge water fight. Some kids were crying because they didn't want to get wet from others, and other kids were laughing because they were having so much fun. All of the kids goal at the end was to soak Joey with a bucket of water. My niece, Abigail, was finally able to pull it off and soak Joey with a bucket of water.

Here are pictures of the kids playing with Joey, who is in the orange shirt.

Time with Nicole's Family

2010-10-30T16:03:00.007-06:00

July 5, 2010

My two sisters from Colorado came to visit all my family. We had gone up the canyon and roasted hot dogs, played in the big trees, the kids played in the sandbox (who knew a sandbox would be at a campsite?), and we roasted marshmallows to make smores. We all had a blast! Kaylee and Daemeon really enjoyed playing with all the young kids around.

All of my family that was there. We were missing four of my siblings(that makes 12 total kids if you were trying to figure it out-6 boys 6 girls).

Here's Daemeon eating his smore. I love seeing the "before and after" type pictures.

Kaylee devouring her smore. She sure did enjoy it!

Daemeon putting on one of the girls' hat. He was having fun playing with it.

My youngest brother Matthew with Daemeon and nephew Emerson.

All the little kids playing in the sandbox up the canyon.

This is the best picture we were able to get with us all "smiling."

Independence Day Fireworks

2010-10-30T15:57:00.002-06:00

July 3, 2010
We had some time to play around in the baseball field we were right next to while waiting for the sun to go down all the way.
I don't know if Daemeon has seen fireworks before, but he covered his eyes once the fireworks started. He'd go back and forth with covering his eyes and then his ears, so I plugged his ears and he covered his eyes. By the time the fireworks were over with, Daemeon had fallen asleep. Staying up past his bedtime is not fun for him.

Daemeon, Celeste, Matthew

Kaylee and Brittany

Daemeon playing with Brittany. Kaylee playing with Matthew.

Independence Day 2010

2010-10-30T15:42:00.003-06:00

July 3, 2010
We went and the Independence Day celebration parade in Fillmore. We had a very enjoyable time. This is the first time Joey and I had taken the kids to a parade, so it was a lot of fun to see their reactions to different floats and how they responded to candy flying at them.

Watching the parade.

Eating popsicles and gathering candy.

Bottle Rockets June 18-19

2010-10-30T15:32:00.003-06:00

While we were visiting my(Nicole) parents' my sister launched off some water bottle rockets. We had a lot of fun making them and then watching how far they'd go. Kaylee really enjoyed helping out.

Celeste getting the bottle rocket ready.

Kaylee checking out the bottle.

Kaylee watching Celeste to see how it's done.

Weekend to Nicole's parents' house

2010-10-30T15:24:00.003-06:00

June 18 & June 19, 2010

We decided to head up to my parents house for something to do over the weekend.

Daemeon wanted to get his feet wet in the water from the ditch.

Here's Daemeon moving his feet and legs.

All done getting his feet wet. We're laughing and getting each other wet with our hands.

Kaylee playing on the tree swing. Nicole's brother, Matthew is pushing Kaylee.

Daemeon running into things.

2010-10-30T15:17:00.003-06:00

June 27, 2010

Yesterday in church, Daemeon was so excited to sit down at his table during his nursery class. He ran a little too fast, and ran his eye right into the table. This is a picture of Daemeon the day after and you can see his eye is still swollen and cut on the side.

Crazy thing about this area he hit, just about 3 months later, we were walking across the street, he wanted to run, and BAM! Daemeon fell and hit his head/eye in the exact same spot on the curb of the sidewalk.

Life as we know it.

2010-10-30T15:01:00.003-06:00

The very last day of school(work) for me,(May 28) I received a phone call from a friend of ours that said her husband was going to pick up her nieces 2 kids that she's having a hard time providing for at this time. Our friend asked if we were still interested in fostering these children for a little while, and, depending on if/when the mom is able to get herself up on her feet and able to take care of the kids we may or may not have the chance to adopt. We prayed about this and decided that it was a good choice. Whether we were able to adopt or foster for the time, we figured that we both had the opportuntity to be parents, something we both really wanted.

These are some pictures of the kids, Kaylee-5 and Daemeon-2 the first weekend they were with us. I pulled out the bubbles and let them play.

The pictures of Joey and I are the kids each wanting to take a picture of us.

Joey's brother's graduation in Flagstaff, AZ. May 6-9, 2010

2010-05-20T18:58:00.005-06:00

We headed over to Arizona and was able to see Joey's brother graduate with his masters degree in Counseling.

We hung out as family, and here are two of the brothers trying to find the hackey sack that rolled under the patio.

Family all gathered around to play hackey sack.

The boys and Joey's dad jumped into this trough and were pretending that they were rowing a boat (see their hands and arms in motion).

Us up in the mountains.

I thought this was turned, oh well. This is Joey with our nephew. He was helping him climb up the tree.

Joey playing stick ball with his brother, using a stick they broke off a dead tree and dirt clods.

The Buttrey children and dad on a great big dead tree. The is the Butt-Tree picture. :)

Joey with our other nephew, helping him pick up a giant stick.

We went out the the park and played. The three brothers were swinging and jumped out too see who went the furthest.

The girls now swinging, and yes, we also jumped out, except for my mother in-law, who didn't want to hurt herself.

I'm getting close to jump as my soon to be, sister in-law, Pauline is having a joyful time just swinging.

I just jumped!

This picture didn't turn for me either. Joey is playing hackey sack again with his brothers.

His brother Jonathon is hitting the sepa now.

There goes Joey again.

Hike up the hills. May 1, 2010

2010-05-20T18:51:00.004-06:00

Joey and Daisy looking around.

Joey turning around and looking so wonderful! :)

We were sitting around with nothing to do and Joey thought of going to an area that is in the hills-not mountains and look for anything. I had a very enjoyable time because we hiked around and go to talk. I love hiking!

Texas Roadhouse April 30, 2010

2010-05-20T18:44:00.005-06:00

We finally gave in and went to Texas Roadhouse. I absolutely love their rolls and their salmon and could only live without it for so long. You see, a while ago we went with a big group and were told we'd only wait 1 1/2 hours to be seated. I thought that was reasonable until after 2 1/2 hours of still waiting and the manager not knowing how long until the group sitting would be leaving, I was ready to leave and go somewhere else. That's just what happened. We had little kids with us and they were starving so we left and Joey said we'd never go again. That's what brings us to now, where we decide to go on back and enjoy their delicious food.

This is the one picture I took of a stuffed armadillo that was next to our table. Forget the beer the armadillo is trying to drink, Joey and I thought that it was quite entertaining to see a stuffed armadillo right next to us(especially becuase we had watched Simon Birch not to long ago).

Bowling!

2010-05-20T18:34:00.003-06:00

We went on a bowling date, since there isn't much else to do. We sure had fun.
Me getting ready to throw the ball.

Don't break my concentration! :)

Joey being Joey. I love this!

Joey just threw his ball.

I'm wearing Joey's new sunglasses he absolutely loves.

Easter Weekend April 2-4, 2010

2010-05-20T18:14:00.003-06:00

Joey, my dad, my brother, Jeremy. This is right after the Priesthood session.

Nicole & Joey. Here we are being two goof balls, just like we like to be.

My dad and sister, Celeste. Craziness!

Part of my family, who's still at home, sitting around playing Skipbo.

Here we are again playing our game.

We headed on up to my parents place to visit my family for Easter. We played a lot of card games, including Skipbo and Phase Ten. My family enjoys playing sit down games a lot, especially when it is bad weather out, otherwise, we'd be outside playing around on the four-wheelers or just enjoying the nice weather. Here are some pictures of this weekend.

Snow over Spring Break

2010-04-01T09:27:00.006-06:00

I woke up this morning and found snow on the ground, trees, buildings, and cars. I had to take pictures. I think it is so beautiful to see the snow on the trees. Here are some pictures of the snow and how much we've received so far. I measured the snow after shoveling the sidewalk and we had received 10 inches by 8:50 am. I think this may be the biggest snow storm so far this year. Call me crazy, but this snow storm is getting me all excited-I want to make a snowman or a snow slide, go sledding, and tromp through the snow. Hey, if snowboarding wasn't so darn expensive, I'd be heading up the mountains right now. It's supposed to be spring (it's spring break right now for the school district) and I'm getting excited about the snow-that's good, right?

I love this tree picture the best.

This picture is looking down our street-everything is so white!

Thankful List

2010-03-31T13:07:00.005-06:00

I decided that to remember all that I have and am blessed with, I will write a list of things I am grateful for.

1. Life. I am glad to be on Earth at this time and to have the family and friend relationships I've created.

2. Joey-he is the love of my life and has been such a support to me and helps cheer me up when I need it.

3. Joey sending me flowers just because. Yesterday at work he came in when I had stepped out of the room and put a boquet of flowers on my desk with a note saying how I have always been there for him. It made me blush, but I loved it.

4. My job. I am blessed everyday to work with children, especially those who have mild-moderate learning disabilities. My job as a special education teacher has been tough at times, but well worth it to see the smile on each kids face.

5. I am glad for the amount of time I have off from work, with summer break, holidays, spring break, and being able to enjoy that time off with Joey, his family, and my family members.

6. Joey's job. He has been dedicated and worked very hard to get to where he is at work. He been there for 8 years and it has been a blessing to us.

7. Extended family close by. Joey's family lives here in town and my family is only an hour away. I can go to them for help, advise, friendship, and support. They are all so wonderful!

8. Owning our own home. With the economy how it is, we were both afraid that we may lose our jobs and maybe even our home, but we are lucky enough to have a beautiful place to come home to and make memories in.

9. The spring weather. We have had little spurts here and their of nice weather and I've enjoyed going outside to be in it. Spring brings out the flowers, birds singing, green grass, and leaves on trees. I like to just sit outside and enjoy the sounds and scenery. This time of year is so beautiful outside.

10. Adoption. We have learned so much about this subject since being starting all the paperwork 2 1/2 years ago. We've made many friends that we wouldn't have made otherwise. This category includes being thankful for everyone involved: birthparents, birthgrandparents, children who are adopted, adopted couples, case workers, and LDS Family Services.

11. Cooking and baking. My mom taught me how to cook as I was growing up. I've been able to increase this talent by going outside the box and trying new recipes and techniques that I hadn't known about. I enjoy being able to cook dinners/desserts/treats for Joey and I and see his reaction (sometimes good and sometimes something I'd never try again). I have burned many dishes and many times have Joey and I laughed over it and then go out to get something to eat.

12. My education. This included my gusto to get a college degree (and finish it once I got married), learning so much more about the LDS Church, Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ, and enjoying reading books on health/nutrition, relationships, family, and of course fiction books that helps me relax and take a break.

Open Adoption

2010-03-23T09:19:00.002-06:00

My mind has been all over the place lately. One thing that I've thought a lot about is having an open adoption. Joey and I have talked about this and are comfortable with doing it, as long as we've set parameters and are able to readjust depending on the child/children's needs and sometimes even the birth mother/birth father's needs.
A friend of mine, who is also a co-worker, had her grandchildren placed for adoption with the same couple, multiple times(her daughter would get pregnant, try to care for the child, realize she couldn't, then decide to place the child for adoption with this couple). The adoptive mother of these children created a blog that my friend/co-worker told me about and said that it may help me and provide support while we are "searching" for a child/children to adopt. The adoptive mother goes into detail about her story and how she felt at different times. The main point she makes throughout the blog is how wonderful it is to have an open relationship with the children's mother. She has posted pictures of them with their biological/birth mother along with letters she got permission to post from the birth mother and birth-grandmother(my friend). It is so neat to read the thoughts going through each person's mind that is involved with the adoption.
Having an open relationship with the birth mother/father of the child/children we adopt will be very special for both us and the child. Adoption is an unselfish act that birth mothers make, which makes them so dear to mine and Joey's heart. We are very grateful for having the opportunity to learn more about open adoption and how precious and special the open relationship can be. You can learn more about this wonderful adoptive mother and the journey she had, along with my friends journey with her daughter at http://theadoptivemother.blogspot.com

The Past Month

2010-03-22T08:23:00.005-06:00

All sorts of things have happened in the past month. We took our camera with us a couple of times, but left it in our suitcase or in the car so no pictures were taken. That's okay-you can use your imagination. :)
Sister Visit: The end of February I was able to visit my sister in northern Salt Lake valley. I haven't been to her place since her wedding in November, so it was really good to visit. The funnest thing we did was go swimming/play in the pool at her husbands work. The pool we went to has a wave come on every 20 minutes. We had so much fun "riding" the waves with our body and then going underneath the water and watching the waves pass over us. We also go on inner tubes and relaxed to the waves. It was so much fun playing in the water, especially the waves. I missed Joey a bunch that weekend, but he wasn't able go on the trip with me. It was very nice to be welcomed home with loving arms when I returned.
Family Visit: The first weekend in March was my youngest sister's Junior Prom (Celeste). She was very excited, but nervous. I wanted to see her get all "dolled" up so off to my family's house we went. My sister, Ashley, did her hair and I helped her with her dress, which was a pail yellow that made her look like a princess. When Celeste's date arrived, the family members who still live at home (4 of them), Ashley and her husband, my parents, and Joey and I were all waiting in the living room for him to come in and put the boutonnière and corsage on. Neither of them knew what they were doing, so Joey jumped in and helped each of them out, which we were all laughing about, including Celeste and her date. Celeste's date said, "I'm going to admit, this is a little awkward." It was really funny. Later on that night, we were able to go to the "Prominade." The junior class does a couple dance to the Junior Prom song and parents and family are able to go watch it. I don't know what the song is called, but I do know that it was a hip/hop upbeat song that was fun to watch them dance to. Celeste and her date had a straight face the entire time! I think either they were wanting the dance to get done and over with, or, they were counting in their head the steps and what came next. We had an enjoyable time with my family and seeing this "special" moment of my sister's life.

Our Anniversary! On March 16 we celebrated our 8 year anniversary. With it falling on a Tuesday, we both had to work. Joey was able to take a lunch at the same time as me, which was great because we hardly ever get to each lunch together. We started watching Disney's Tarzan and snuggled until it was time to go back to work. About 45 minutes after I had gone back to work, I started getting an upset stomach. I thought it would pass, but no, it got worse and worse. I finished up teaching my last group (I'm a special ed. teacher and teach reading/writing/spelling groups throughout the day) and had to go home because I could barely move. I layed and slept in bed until 6:00 pm. It was disappointing that we weren't able to do much celebration on our anniversary. :( We decided to make a trip to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate once the weekend came. We had to wait 2 hours for our table, and by that time, the people who we were waiting for, were still chatting away at their table. We decided to leave and go get something to eat at home because by this time it was 8:00 pm and we were STARVING! Things didn't turn out the way we planned them to for our anniversary, but that's okay because it'll definitely be an anniversary we remember.
I took some time on the 16th to think about our anniversary and was so amazed that it had been 8 years ago that we had been sealed together in the St. George temple. I started thinking about the drive down too. You see, we were almost not able to be married that day because we were halfway to St. George and realized that we didn't have our marriage license. We stopped at the next available place that had a phone and called home to have them grab the license-no one was home! Somehow, we were able to get in contact with a member of the bishopric, who went to my mother in-law's house and got the license right before he went to St. George. The fun didn't stop their. Once the sealing was over and we were getting ready to head back for our luncheon, I lost my ring. The ring had been placed in the clothes Joey was wearing. He changed out of them to leave the temple and the ring was still in them, inside the temple. Joey and I were frantically trying to remember where it had been placed. It was quite crazy trying to find it. Sure enough, we had a temple worker help us out and they found the ring. I laugh about those events that happened on our special day because they make the day even better! I'm very grateful to have had 8 years so far to spend with Joey and how much we've learned about each other and grown closer to one another. Joey is my best friend and the love of my life!

Random Pictures

2010-02-09T21:15:00.004-07:00

I was looking at pictures my sister in-law had taken and came across these pictures of Joey and I from the past year. Ya, ya, you may think that some of these pictures are kind of odd or crazy, but this is how we are at times when the camera is put in front of us by other family and friends-we like to be goofy. I had to laugh at some of the pictures. Enjoy!!! :)

Joey trying to put his fist in his mouth? Our nephew was definitely intrigued.

Me giving my quick "funny" look when I don't want a good picture taken.

I think Joey is wearing his sister's coat. I hadn't seen this picture before, but I think he looks so darn cute and handsome in this picture. The look of fall in the background makes it perfect!

"You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"

2010-01-31T15:17:00.003-07:00

We went to the musical, "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" last night. Josh, Joey's brother came along to enjoy the show. It was hard for me to get into the show and I think it is because I didn't watch much Charlie Brown growing up. I must say though that the show had some parts that were really funny. Joey really enjoyed a part that had Snoopy and Sally going rabbit hunting and they come out in clothes that look like they are rappers and they started rapping. It was so funny, but yet really awesome to see and hear them do this. The pictures are only of us in the audience because once the show started, we couldn't take anymore pictures.

This picture I found on the internet. This is what the dog house looked like for Snoopy, along with Sally. The college students did a really good job portraying each character.

Me and Joey in our seats waiting the the show to start.

Joey and Josh waiting for the show to start.

A Crib is Not for Dogs!

2010-01-31T15:10:00.003-07:00

We have had the parts to our crib that was passed on to us from family members, sitting against the wall in the room that will be the baby's room. We decided to put it together last weekend (Jan. 23, 2010). We had all the parts except for the side that slides up and down, so we left it off until we got the parts. Joey decided to show Daisy that the crib is now a bed. He let Daisy lay on a blanket he put on the mattress, which was in the crib. The next day I was on the computer and Daisy is whining at me and walking around. I looked to see if I could figure out what she wanted and she was whining and looking at the crib. Daisy wanted to lay on the mattress in the crib. I let her get up and this is what it looked like. We will soon have the parts to put the sliding side on and Daisy will not get to be in the crib again! I really thought this was funny and had to get at least one shot on camera to remember it.

Snow war!!

2010-01-24T14:46:00.003-07:00

01/23/10
Joey and I went outside to take Daisy out to do her business and then to play. What we didn't know was that we would end up having a snow war. Daisy loves chasing the snow and trying to catch it, so Joey was kicking snow up into the air for her to get. I decided to start a little war and kicked snow towards Joey. Sure enough, we were both kicking snow at each other trying to make the freezing cold snow touch the skin of each other. I am definitely not good at this game because I fell straight on my butt twice! We both laughed like crazy and continued on with our snow war. Joey kept getting snow on me more then I got him. I decided to forget the temperature of the snow and use my bare hands to pick up snow and get Joey. This made him run! I was able to get the snow on his back, right by his neck. This, of course, made the snow slide right onto his neck and some go down his shirt. I was so excited that I was finally able to get Joey good, but then I slipped and fell for the 2nd time. Joey took advantage of this and kicked the snow right after me when I was getting up. He had a good shot and I give him kudos for that! I was able to get Joey one more time before we called it truce.
I loved this time we had to play together because I feel like we get caught up in our jobs and also with Joey going to school that we are serious and forget to take the time to laugh. Oh man were we laughing during this! I think we both got a good ab workout just from the laughing we did during this war.
(Once the war started, I couldn't take any pictures).

Joey turning his head away.

Joey out with Daisy waiting for her.

Joey running to kick snow for Daisy to catch.

Our wonderful struggle!

2010-01-17T14:39:00.005-07:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about adoption and children. Both Joey and I have had a hard time being patient lately for that special woman to choose us to adopt her child/children. We have been approved through LDS Family Services for 1 year now and have been able to make contact through friends and family with girls who are pregnant and deciding what to do. The trouble is, we haven't heard from anyone. I haven't personally experienced the struggle of trying to decide what to do about a child you have growing in your belly that came unexpectedly, so I can't say that I know how difficult the decision is to place a child for adoption. I can only say that I have heard of stories and I have had family members who I've talked about adoption and they've mentioned how hard it would be to place that baby growing in their belly with another mommy and daddy to care for him or her.
Today in Relief Society, the lesson was on Our Heavenly Family. When I read the name of the lesson, I thought, "oh great, something to make me cry about, AGAIN!" Instead of becoming sad and having pity on myself, I became grateful and happy for the situation we are in and how much we have learned and grown together, along with how much we will continue to learn. The sister who taught the lesson shared this particular sentence, which made me think: "Our Heavenly Father has chosen the time and place for each of us to be born so we can learn the lessons we personally need and do the most good with our individual talents and personalities." I've heard before about us being brought to Earth at a specific time, but I haven't thought about being brought to a certain place much. The child/children Heavenly Father has in mind for us will come whenever the time is right for us. The place may be through someone else's belly, but that is what that child needs so he or she can learn the lessons he/she needs to learn and the way he/she will do the most good with his/her talents and personality.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-12T19:14:00.003-07:00

Christmas was very special this year. We were able to spend Christmas with Joey's family and see his sister and her kids get excited Christmas day to wake up and see that Santa had delivered presents under the tree.
The night before Christmas, I did a little presentation of the story of Jesus Christ's birth and I bore my testimony of Jesus Christ and how grateful I am that He came on this Earth to show us an example of what it is we are to do. I shared how much I love Jesus Christ and for his atoning sacrifice to have died for us so that we may be able to return to Him and Heavenly Father some day. Christmas is about the birth and the love Jesus Christ showed unto others.
This Christmas was focused on Jesus Christ and that made it a very good and very special Christmas.

Daisy fell asleep after opening gifts. Waking up early is not her thing.

Joey gave me an open heart necklace with a note written about why he chose that for me. He included so much thought with this gift. I love it very much because it has meaning to me.

Christmas Eve Joey wanted me to open this gift, so I'm showing my "serious" face, except it looks like I have food in my mouth(which is really my braces).

JayLynn's Wedding

2009-12-21T12:14:00.005-07:00

Joey's sister tied the knot on Dec. 12 and was married. She had a small marriage with mostly family and some friends. She had a luncheon afterward and then was off to her honeymoon.

The wedding ceremony.

Joey talking to his brother Jonathon.

Here we are!

Our nephew, Kai with his grandma.

Joey pretending to play the electric piano.

All the kids wanted to know how Joey was playing the piano(especially because he doesn't know how to play)
.
Cutting the cake that they did not want to cut.

Neither of them wanted to feed each other cake, so they were nice about it.

The kiddos getting something to eat.

Joey spending some time with his brother.

2009-12-14T11:10:00.001-07:00

Sorry about the Webdings font of symbols on the Snowflakes and Las Vegas trip blogs. I don't know what happened and it won't let me fix it.

HUGE SNOWFLAKES

2009-11-28T16:35:00.007-07:00

It is snowing huge snowflakes right now, so Joey and I went outside to look at them. We could see the flakes best when you stand out in them and look straight up. While we were looking at them, we decided to try and catch them with our mouths. Of course, this plan didn't work too well. We were each able to catch a couple snowflakes in our mouth, but then our eyes kept catching the flakes too and we couldn't see anything for a quick second.
We all have a little kid inside us, when we find the inner kid, things become fun and there are no worries. Things like catching snowflakes make me love Joey even more!

Thanksgiving Day

2009-11-28T16:28:00.008-07:00

We celebrated our Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday, Nov. 22 with Joey's family. Joey's brother came into town and we also had some of his other siblings who live in town, here on Sunday. We had a very good time being able to celebrate a family holiday together. On Thanksgiving Day, we went to Joey's mom's house again, but this time it was just Joey and I, my mother in-law and father in-law, and my brother in-law. We had more of a Sunday dinner meal and shared what we were thankful for. I am thankful to have Joey in my life and all the love and support he has provided to me. Joey said he is thankful for family. Even though we have trials that come our way, we always have family to be there for us. Joey and I have each other to lean on, we are able to turn towards his family who lives in the same town, and then my family is only about one hour away, and there is always a telephone to call. Heavenly Father sent us here on Earth with a family for a reason. We all need each other.

Vegas Trip Nov. 13-15

2009-11-26T09:42:00.007-07:00

SIDE NOTE: Sorry to all of you out there who have been waiting for an updated post and not seen one-life has caught up with me and been busy with the holidays, work, and who knows what else.
Joey and I both needed a trip away together because work and school have been crazy. We decided to take a trip to Las Vegas since it is not far away. We walked the Strip until our feet couldn't move anymore, but got many beautiful pictures. Friday night we went out to Macaroni Grill-Joey hasn't been there FOREVER, so I thought it was a great idea. Saturday night we were able to get tickets to see Cirque De Soleil's show, Ka. We thought it was so neat to see the different fights and acrobatic tricks they performed. We slept in only until 8:00 am Sunday, so we decided to get up and head home.

We relaxed at the hotel while we decided where to go eat.

Joey eating a seafood and pasta dinner at Macaroni Grill.

Nicole eating at Macaroni Grill.

Standing in front of one of the hotels nice landscaping.

Joey in front of a waterfall.

Both of us in front of the pretty waterfall.

Walking down the strip.

In front of the Venetian Hotel. They give rides on a boat in this water to make you feel like you are in Italy.

Joey having to walk away from one of his dream cars-a Ferrari.

Nicole at the M&M store.

Joey being a gentleman and carrying all the shopping bags, including Nicole's purse.

These three pictures are on our trip home. We decided to be silly on our drive home.

Oct. 9-11 Weekend

2009-10-12T12:09:00.004-06:00

This weekend was my sisters bridal shower, so I was able to ride the 4 hours up to the Salt Lake area with a friend Friday night. Joey on the other hand, was able to go to a get-together for his brother's birthday. I was able to hang out with my sister all day Saturday, along with attend the bridal shower, and we also hung out for a couple hours on Sunday before I left to head back down to southern Utah.
Joey was able to go to our niece's birthday party on Saturday, here in town, and have fun with family members. I am sad that I missed that, but then I'm not because I see those family members throughout the week, where as, I only see my sister every couple of months. Joey was able to keep himself occupied while I was gone though and I am glad for that. Thank goodness for family!

Friends from Tristan's family at the bridal shower.

Co-workers of Ashley's(except the one on the farthest left, Jackie, who is an old co-worker).

My two cousins, Melody and Laura, with my Aunt Vanette

Ashley with her old roommate, Kalyn

Nicole and Ashley at the bridal shower.

Nicole, Ashley, and her fiance Tristan at The Pizza Factory.

Olive Garden and Temple Date

2009-09-28T18:54:00.004-06:00

Friday night we were able to get out of Cedar City and head down to St. George with Joey's mom and step-dad. We went to the St. George temple and head a very nice time and then we headed to Olive Garden to eat some Italian grub. The food was very delicious. I always enjoy hanging out with the in-laws, so this night was wonderful for both Joey and I.

This is a beautiful picture of the St. George temple I found on the internet. I'm sure this is summer time.

Old time photo at Olive Garden. If this picture were black and white, people would think it was from the early 1900's or whenever they first had cameras.

Of course, we do a smiley picture and Joey wants to be really silly. Even though he may seem crazy in this picture, I still love his personality!

Yard Sale and Bake Sale

2009-09-13T12:34:00.003-06:00

People in this world are so amazing! We received many donations from friends, neighbors, and co-workers for this yard sale and bake sale to raise money for adoption. We had one person comment that the yard sale was the best they'd been to in a long time. We had many things for people to buy, from clothes & shoes, to furniture, to movies, to home decor, and the list goes on. My parents, 2 sisters, and 1 brother helped us out with some of the bake sale items and then with all of the putting together and putting away parts. Joey's mom stopped by a couple of times and helped out with different things. We were able to make more money then we expected and it is all because of the donations and wonderful yard sale shoppers. Thank you everyone for your help and support!

Labor Day Weekend and THE GRAVITRON!

2009-09-06T20:56:00.005-06:00

Joey is gone to Flagstaff, AZ. visiting his brother for the weekend. I could've gone with him, but chose to let him have some "boy" time, plus, I didn't really feel like getting in on all that "boy" time. I've been home by myself (except Daisy is with me-our dog), since Friday afternoon. It has been nice to relax, clean, and have some thinking time with the silence in our house.
Yesterday my sister in-law, JayLynn, invited me to go to the county fair with her, her 16 month old boy, Kai, and her fiance. Of course I said yes. JayLynn also invited her mom, and of course, she said yes too. We went to the petting zoo for Kai, walked around the booths, and looked at the exhibit. I didn't know what to expect in the exhibit, but it was all the different items entered into the county fair competition. Items ranged from garden vegetables and fruit to homemade crafts. It was really neat to see what children could do up to what seniors could do.
Once we left the exhibit, JayLynn & Heber were joking around about riding the Gravitron. Well, I hadn't ever heard of that, so I had them explain it to me. This is what they said(with me putting it in my words because I don't remember the specifics): It is a ride that forces all gravity on you, so your body is able to lean against the wall and be sideways or upside down and you won't fall. Well, I thought this ride sounded really cool and JayLynn said she'd ride it with me if I wanted to ride. I took her up on the offer. Right after buying the tickets I saw the ride. I was ready to back out. You see, this ride forces all gravity upon you by going around in circles REALLY fast. I don't do well with spinning like I did as a child and my equilibrium is not the same as it used to be, so I was uneasy. Of course, I couldn't back out because we had the tickets already. JayLynn, Heber, and I got on the ride (which is inside this cylinder machine with no way to see the outside world) and my stomach feels like it is in knots. I have to take deep breaths so I do not throw up. Everyone has to lean their body up against the mats that are all along the inside. Once everyone has done this, the ride slowly starts spinning in circles. As it speeds up, I feel my feet lift off the ground and I'm looking around and people are seriously 1-2 feet off the ground, sideways, and upside down while against the wall. I'm amazed at this ride. JayLynn and I start busting up in laughter. We tried to move our arms and body like others were, but it felt as if 100 pounds were forced upon us and we could barely move. This made us laugh even more. We were laughing the entire time the ride was going. The ride was definitely worth all the laughs I had with JayLynn, but it was not worth the dizziness and light-headedness it gave me for the rest of the night. If anyone out there ever gets a chance to ride a ride similar to the Gravitron, I highly recommend it, as long as you are with someone you can laugh with-be cautious about the side-effects it may cause though. (I posted some pictures off the internet of the Gravitron and what it looks like on the inside).

Couple Pictures

2009-08-29T22:17:00.005-06:00

We had Joey's sister, JayLynn take pictures of us as a couple in my mother in-law's yard.
We are hanging from this entrance way.

Holding hands and looking back

Our backsides

Joey loving Nicole

Nicole loving Joey. This picture is a little blurry-I wished
it turned out better.

Looking into the sky

Playing in the pool

Laughing because Nicole(I) couldn't hold Joey on my knee.

Staring into each others eyes-oh, how sweet!

Peek-A-Boo!

Joey turns 29!

2009-08-22T13:15:00.000-06:00

Joey's birthday landed on a Sunday this year(Aug. 16), so we didn't really do much. Joey did get to watch Tiger Woods play golf, so I think that made his day(even though Tiger lost).His mom made him his favorite meal(or used to be favorite) of roast, potatoes, and carrots all cooked together. She also made him his favorite cake, which is German Chocolate. I must admit that I had quite a lot of cake because the frosting for German Chocolate is my favorite frosting with all that coconut-YUM! My mother in-law didn't have a 2 and a 9 candle, so she put a 2, 0, and and number 1 candle in that cake and it looked like the number 201. I painted Joey a sign on wood that said Steelers on it and then had their team symbol. Joey loves football and his favorite team is the Pittsburgh Steelers. When I gave him his gift, he was quite excited.

Daisy Getting Spa Treatment

2009-08-22T13:12:00.000-06:00

I put these eye glasses that people wear at night on Daisy. She didn't care what I was doing for a split second, which was long enough to snap a photo. Doesn't she look so cute? I laugh when I see this picture. I think I should submit it into an animal calendar :)

Letting Love Lead-Families Supporting Adoption National Conference

2009-08-02T17:33:00.000-06:00

July 31 and Aug. 1, Joey and I had the special opportunity to attend an adoption conference held in Layton, Utah. We were able to listen to adoptive couples who have already adopted, birth mothers say what they wish their adoptive couple had known, learn of ways to advocate for adoption, being able to afford adoption, listen to children who have been adopted and their stories, and many other wonderful talks and sessions. This conference invited everyone who is involved in adoption, including, birth parents, birth parents families, adopted couples and their families, and case workers.
The best thing Joey and I have been to this entire year was this conference. Both of us REALLY enjoyed the birth parent panels and being able to hear straight from birth parents and what they have gone through. My heart has opened up so much to them. It may seem really crazy, but by going to Families Supporting Adoption meetings and this conference on adoption, I have gained so much love to those women who choose to make such an unselfish decision. We were able to see what it would be like to have an open relationship(open adoption) with a birth mother, and the wonderful blessings it may bring to everyone involved.
The Holy Ghost was at the conference and in our hearts each day. It bore witness to us about the gift of adoption and the true miracle that it is. Our hearts are full and open to the wonderful gift of adoption. What a blessing it is to EVERYONE!

Family BBQ and Swimming Party

2009-07-30T10:20:00.000-06:00

My(Nicole's) sister, brother in-law, and their kids came to visit from Colorado. We decided to do a BBQ and have a swimming party. My family doesn't seem to get together as often as Joey's, so this BBQ and swimming meant a lot to me. These pictures were taken by my younger brother(10 yrs), who had an ear ache. He was a good sport and took many pictures.

My brother Trevor

Me(Nicole) dancing with my sister, Brittany. Matthew accidentally cut her off.

Joey jumping in to splash me and our niece. I did not expect this splash!

This is what Joey's splash looked like every time. Can you imagine what it felt like?

My sister, Celeste, holding our nephew.

Joey playing in the water.

Brittany, Celeste, Emerson(nephew), and Ethan(nephew).

Joey jumping in to surprise my dad with a great big splash. It sure did work!

Celeste, Emerson, and my dad.

Niece, Abigail, and nephew, Ethan.

My dad, Celeste, Emerson-there sure are a lot of pictures with Celeste and Emerson-oh well.

Bike Riding

2009-07-26T20:05:00.000-06:00

We went to visit Nicole's parents for Pioneer Day-24th of July. While we were there, Nicole was able to drive her younger brothers dirt bike. This was the first time she had ever driven a motorcycle. She was nervous to get started, but once she was going, it was a cinch. She drove a little 80 cc and Joey drove a 125 cc (I think). Joey told Nicole that she needs to try out the bigger one because it would fit her better, but she was too scared; she thought the little one was perfect for her. Maybe on a different day she can try out the bigger one-maybe.

Girl's Camp

2009-07-26T19:38:00.000-06:00

I was the Girl's Camp Director for our ward this year. We left on the 4th year overnight/backpacking hike on July 20, camp for the other girls started July 21, we all went home July 23. I was designated to go on the 4th year hike with our two 4th year girls, which meant all the other leaders were in charge of packing everything and getting all the girls up to camp. Joey and I love camping, but we haven't had a chance to go this summer, so this was MY camping trip for the summer. I had a lot of fun with the young women and getting to know them even more.

Nicole and one of the 4th year girls from my ward on our backpacking hike.

For some relaxation after the hikes, we did a spa treatment for the girls and let them soak their feet in warm water that had bath salts in it. The girls painted each others toes and/or finger nails and I also helped paint toes and finger nails.

One the the young woman getting her toes painted while the other painted her toes.

I painted a young woman's toes. This was the first time EVER for her to get her toes painted.

I'm missing one girl in this picture. We had a total of 8 girls from our ward and this is them doing a craft activity. Notice the large sunglasses-I absolutely loved them on the girls!

Freeze Tag!

2009-07-26T19:06:00.000-06:00

Family and friends were visiting my mother in-law on July 10th. The kiddos wanted to play a game, so I mentioned Freeze Tag, and of course, they all jumped to the idea. I was "it" at first because I'm the one that came up with the game. It had seemed like forever since the last time I played tag, but I had a blast. The kiddos were very good sports about it and didn't mind being "it" when the opportunity came.

July 4th-Independence Day Celebration

2009-07-05T21:06:00.000-06:00

We had an eventful day for the 4th. Joey's sister and brother were visiting for the weekend, so we made the best of it. We started out with a parade, went to the park, ate lunch at McDonald's, went swimming, took a nap, played with bubbles, went bug searching, playing in a field, and then watched fireworks. We were all so tired when the day was over with. Good thing the next day was Sunday-a good day for resting.

We liked this awesome looking outfit this old man was wearing in the parade.

Our niece and nephews holding 2 Boxer puppies while we waited for the parade to start.

Everyone getting situated and not paying attention to the camera.

We tried to take a group picture before the parade started, but the sun was right in our faces.
Oh well, we tried!

Many of the floats had people either throwing water balloons or squirting water guns. A float was going passed us and we are all entering the "danger zone."

"Egging" on the squirters.

Getting wet from the water guns.

That was fun for us!