Happy Anniversary!

Wow, SEVEN years. Today we celebrate 7 years of pure love and joy. Carl and I were married in the Logan Temple 7 years ago, 30 May 2001. One of my favorite days...ever! Sometimes I wish I could go back and relive that day. If any of you know me, you know that I love to dress up for special occasions and get "all dolled up". So putting on a gorgeous dress, doing my hair and wearing sparkling jewels...that's a fun day for me. Aside from my faulty vanity...that day was the best because I got to start the rest of my life with my best friend.

Carl is by far the best husband a gal could have. He works hard, he makes me laugh (even when I don't want to), he treats me like a queen (the only way any girl should ever be treated), he's smart....he's VERY good looking...ok, ok HE's HOT!, and the best daddy ever.

There are a few things about my sweetie that I share with birthparents in our adoption letter that I am going to share here, just because I love him so!

Seven things I love about my guy....

7. He's never raised his voice at me...not that I can say the same for myself.

6. He's (CENSORED) the best kisser ever....shhhhhh! (Not that any of you needed to know that, or that any of you will ever know how great of a kisser he is.)

5. He still opens my doors and holds my hand in public...Love that!

4. He's my best friend...listens to me when it really counts. (I talk a lot to him, and not always about important things...but he still listens to it all)

3. He is definitely 'eye candy'. A site for sore eyes! Easy on the eyes! (All that jazz) Carl...you're HOT!

2. He points to me (show me the love), whenever he makes a shot in basketball, especially when he makes a 3-pointer (usually 10 or so a game). The boy knows how to give credit where credit is deserved....hee hee! Carl has been doing this since we were dating....one of my favorite things he does.

1. We have a special sign for "I love you". A simple tug at the ear...can you just feel the love? This was especially fun while Carl was in the bishopbric in Logan, since I could sit in front of him and stare at him all through church.......

.....oops! I am out of numbers for my countdown and I still have 1,000,000,000's of reason why I love this man (more down to earth and meaningful reasons)....I will keep the rest to myself.

Thank you for 7 awesome years!

I love you, Carl!

Memorial Weekend Camping

We went camping for our Memorial Day Weekend. I have always loved a good camping trip with Carl, but this weekend was different. It was windy and cold and with Kya, I was just worried about her being cold. She was pretty much attached to my leg. Don't get me wrong, we had fun and some great R&R. Kya did love fishing with Daddy and throwing rocks in the water. She was a trooper and slept well in the tent.

To be honest, I was very grateful to come home and get a great hot shower and sleep in my "cloudy" soft bed. Thank you Carl for a great weekend, for all your hard work cutting up wood for us and keeping us warm. You rock!

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

"Tamu"
Kya and I went to the Zoo in C.S. yesterday. It was supposed to be playgroup for the day, but we drove seperately and only saw people at lunch, but Kya and I had a blast. She took a short nap on the way to the Zoo, so I was determined to spend the whole day there and enjoy my gals day with Kya. One of the reason I wanted to move to the Springs was because it had a Zoo. I was probably more excited to go than Kya, but she had fun. We saw lions and tigers and bears...oh my! Actually, we saw all that, plus elephants, kangaroos, hippos, orangatans, monkeys, gorillas, giraffes, zebras and all kinds of exotic birds and animals.

It was tons of fun. Here is a quick slide show and some fun videos of Kya. I am sure grandmas will enjoys these more than others, but have fun watching anyway.

This Kangaroo was right on the path and Kya started walking right up to it. Too fun!

The orangatans are "scratching" their bellies. We spent a good hour and a half in the "monkey house" seeing all different kinds of primates. They are so fascinating to me. I put my hand on the glass and one of the orangatans touched the glass in the same spot as my hand. I fell in love.

"Bye, Bye animals"

She was born to ride! Kya enjoyed most of the animals...from a distance. But when it came time to see the horses, and even ride one, I don't think she even knew I was there.

"I am going to love her and squeeze and call her George...I mean Tamu". Tamu was one of the giraffes we fed, she was always over by us wanting to eat. Riyad was the other one, she was pregnant. Tamu just sounds cooler, don't you think. So that is what we named our little souvenir from the Zoo.
Who thinks Kya could use a haircut? NOT ME! We love her long hair, it just gets a little messy while eating breakfast. Note to self: Put Kya's hair up first thing in the morning...

After. That's much better.

Stephenie Meyer!

Ok, for those of you who are big Stephenie fans (who isn't), here are a few pics of her. I went to her book signing in Denver last night. It was so much fun. I went with a few cousins and my Aunt. We got there early and got to go backstage to see Stephenie before her presentation and signing. Look at her go...I bet her hand feels like its going to fall off by the end of the night.

Cousins! Got a few of my books signed, of course.
She is very witty and poised. I really enjoyed her presentation. I just have to put this out there, because it is so cool. Someone asked her if she named her main character in "The Host" after her initials. S.M. and the main character being, Melanie Snyder. Her answer was..."No, actually Melanie is named after my cousin Melanie (MY OLDER SISTER)...." Too fun, I will have to get my sister to sign my book too, seeing as she is the main character in the book.
HAPPY READING!

Homestudy!

I am so much more layed back this time around with adoption. Whenever it happens is great and I am more patient about the wait...so far. Because of my lax attitude I have been thinking a lot about our "paper pregnancy" versus a "belly pregnancy". Let me just share with you a few of my thoughts...you have been warned. These thoughts are how I compare the two pregnancies, from my experience, which is only one-sided.

* When we fill out our paperwork and finally turn it into our caseworker...seeing that little blue line saying "pregnant" (you know, the little pee stick)

* Our first interview with the caseworker and agency...The first visit to the doctor's confirming the pregnancy.

* Preparing our profile; scrapbook pages, letter to the birthparents, and web profile...putting up the first ultrasound picture.

* Homestudy...decorating the nursery. (The homestudy is where our caseworker comes into our home to make sure our home is safe for a child; outlet covers, cupboard locks, fire extinquishers, smoke and CO2 alarms, safe neighborhood, age of roof, and where the new baby will be sleeping.

* Waiting for the background checks to come back from the state and FBI...getting bigger and not necessarily enjoying the body changes. (Don't know what that is like, but from what I hear)

* Food cravings...Food cravings

* Getting the letter that we are approved...Hearing the heartbeat, it's actually for real now.

* The wait...nausea, throwing up, peeing all day, uncomfortable sitting down, getting up, can't see my feet, wish I could still do situps, backaches; you get the idea.

* Hearing from our birthparents, waiting for baby to come...going into labor; some pain, short times of rest, then more pain, the blessed epidural.

* The birth of our baby...the birth of the baby.

Please remember, I have not ever been pregnant, and so my comparisons are from what I hear its like.
We had our homestudy today. Yeah! With our homestudy done, I am now about in my 5th or 6th month of pregnancy when my belly is growing, and I am not really liking the changes (although if I was blessed to carry my own child, I think I would love my belly). Waiting for the background checks is not one of my favorite parts of the "paper pregnancy"...but always worth it in the end.

Just for fun!

If you wish to keep updated on our Friday Night Family Nights, you can visit the posts on our adoption blog. We are trying to share our family and our traditions with our hopeful birthparents, so they will be posted there now. Of course you do not have to visit, but please share with your friends, so we can continue to get the word out.

threepluslove.blogspot.com

Thank you for your support and prayers.

"Now I know my ABC's..."

Ok, so this is just too cute. Kya and I sing the ABC's at least once a day and yesterday she just started to sing them by herself. She goes to H...then M and she will sing W to the end with even the last part, "now I know my ABC's, next time won't you sing with me. Here is some video of her singing, she didn't want to perform in the end....needed a little coaxing. Not only is she so stinkin' smart, she was singing the tune. Yeah, there is hope for a singer in our little family. Heaven knows, Carl and I can't sing.

Graduation Weekend

We had a great weekend in Utah and Idaho. Kya enjoyed seeing her cousins. But mostly she enjoyed seeing Grandmas and Grandpas. A few pics of our weekend.

Daddy kissing Kya at breakfast Friday morning. It was great to see the friends we were able to hook up with. Thanks guys for coming to see us at breakfast.

Daddy tried to "hood" himself before the actual ceremony. We weren't sure how to put it on, and Carl thought maybe after six years of school he became a Master Jedi. We had fun with this. Below the picture you can see how he was really "hooded" during the hooding ceremony.

Receiving his diploma.
WAY TO GO DADDY!

"Sunglasses Family"