Girls Just Wanna Have Fun part 4

The next day we woke up to crappy weather in Ensanada, Mexico. It was so cold. When we first got off the ship, we were all a little scared, being four girls alone in a strange place. We found some really nice people who let us hang out with them until we felt comfortable enough to go on our own. At lunch time we were walking down the street to go eat and this guy that worked at a place called the Havana Banana was trying to get us to go into his restaurant. We were hesitant at first and were heading up to the place we had originally planned on eating at, until he started dancing with his mop. He was so cute we couldn't pass him up, so we decided to eat at the Havana Banana instead. It was clean and the food was okay. The atmosphere was fun, though. He even got us to dance on the bar.
This was the guy that was dancing with the mop. He was really fun.

Here's a little footage of what happened in the restaurant. It really was fun and our Mexican friend was dancing and siging to us.

Other than dacing on bars we really didn't do much else in Ensanada. We did a lot of shopping and found some pretty good deals on a lot of things. I think we got the majority of our souvineers from Ensanada. I would highly recommend the Havana Banana if you ever go to Ensanada. Although it was fun, I don't think I'll ever go back to that city. It was a little dirty for my liking.

Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun part 3

The next morning we arrived at Catalina Island. We decided to rent a golf cart and tour the island. It was really fun and we all took turns driving. The weather was just about perfect with the warm sun and a little breeze. We found a fun place by the ocean to eat lunch and did a little shopping.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun part 2

Easter Sunday we were able to board the ship at 11:30, so we got up and got ready and headed to the port. After getting our luggage all checked in, we went and found our room and ate lunch. Then we walked around the ship for a while. We decided to put on our suits and catch some sun for a while before it was time to get ready for dinner.
After dinner, we decided to go to the Kareoke lounge and see what was going on in there. You'll never believe it, but the 4 of us got up and sang. I have NEVER done Kareoke before. We did get video of the whole thing, but it was really really bad, so I won't torture you with having to listen to it. We sang "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" which we thought was a fitting song, but seriously, it was BAD. Carrie and Kellye got up afterwards and redeemed themselves by singing something else. And then Kellye and I got up and sang "Love Shack." I'm not sure if we redeemed ourselves or not, but it was a good song nonetheless. I'm pretty sure American Idol WON'T be calling us anytime soon.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun part 1

My friends and I just got back from a girls trip. We went on a cruise that left out of San Diego and went to Catalina Island and Ensanada. We booked the trip back in October or November so we were all very anxious and excited that it was finally here. The girls that went were Kellye, Janean, Carrie and me. Janean and I left a few days earlier since we decided to drive down. We left early Friday morning and drove to Las Vegas and did some shopping for a few hours. Then we drove into San Diego that same day. The drive down was so much fun and the shopping was fantastic. Saturday morning we woke up and went to breakfast with Janean's friend, Jorri. She lives in California and met us halfway. We ate at the funnest little place near the beach that had the most delicious breakfast. I'm not a huge fan of breakfast, but I'll give this place two thumbs up. We then went to the beach to snap some quick pictures. After leaving Jorri we picked up Kellye and Carrie from the airport. We did a little shopping and then went to dinner. A few miles away from San Diego is an island that you can drive to. Jorri had recommended a restaurant, so we went there and ate. It was Mexican food and it was so yummy. Afterwards we did even more shopping and then went back to the hotel and went to sleep.

Coloring Easter Eggs

Every year since as long as I can remember, we have decorated easter eggs. Usually this event happens the night before Easter Sunday, but since I was leaving on my cruise, we had to do it a few days earlier. I got daring this year and bought a tie die coloring kit. Probably won't be doing that again. You have to put the color in a plastic bag and then roll the egg around in it. Although the kids had tons of fun with it, it was VERY messy and Abbi and Hallie's hands ended up getting stained really badly. We did get the traditional coloring kit, too. I think I'll be sticking to that one in years to come.

My mom and dad came over to our house to join us this year. Usually we do it at their house, but since we had to do it on a school night, it worked better for them to come over.

I love this picture of my mom and Korver. Seriously, can you believe that's my MOM. She's cute, isn't she.

Don't Let Me Burst Your Bubble...

At the grocery store the other day, Hallie wanted a treat and she ALWAYS chooses gum. She is also veryt thoughtful and got some for her big sister, too. Abbi was happy to find a pack of gum waiting for her when she got home from school. Abbi had some friends come over and she decided to share her gum with her friends. They were sitting at the computer playing games, all 3 of them smacking their gum and blowing bubbles. I thought it was so cute. This is Avery, Bennet and Abbi.

And here's Hallie's attempt at blowing a bubble. She would say, "Look mom, I blew a huge bubble!" I thought it was pretty cute and didn't want to leave her out of all the picture taking.

Korver Loves His Big Sister

I love watching these two play. It's so funny. Korver loves Abbi and laughs at her all the time. She knows just how to make him smile. Make sure and pause my music at the bottom to get the full effect of that cute little laugh.

I Want To Be 3 Again

And fall asleep watching princess movies surrounded by stuffed animals.

These Guys Are Dorks... But They're My Dorks

This is Ariel a.k.a Mern a.k.a. Pune, and Adrian a.k.a Age a.k.a Atrium. They are Michelle's sisters. I gave them my camera the day we went to the temple and told the to get some pictures. I was scrolling through and came across these gems.

It's A Beautiful Day

Saturday, March 28, 2009 we took Korver to the Mt. Timpanogos temple to be sealed to us. It was an incredible feeling to have my kids and my husband in the temple with me. Our sealer was amazing and said some things that I will never forget. He was definitely inspired to say some of the things he said. Michelle was there, waiting outside for us. When we came out she took all of these great pictures. She got some really good shots of us.
Our cute family outside of the temple. This is my favorite shot of our special day. Michelle's Aunt Kris actually enlarged this picture and framed it for us and gave it to us the next day. It went right up on my wall that same day!

Precious baby Korver in his blessing outfit.

Michelle took this picture of Korver and me just seconds after Jeff, the kids and I came out of the temple. It was such a wonderful feeling to know that this little guy is eternally part of our family.

Uncle Cody and Korver

As with all our birthmom's we are so happy to have Michelle in our lives and part of our family. Our lives have been blessed so much by adoption and we love each one of our birth families.

It's Official!

It's official! Korver Morris is officially part of our family now. We went to court on March 27, 2009 to seal the deal. I got pretty emotional when our lawer, Mike, asked how I would describe my feelings about Korver. I just couldn't get the words out. I was sobbing like a baby. When the judge said the words to announce that he was officially part of our family, I cried even harder and kissed that handsome little face a million times. We had lots of family and friends that came and supported us at the courthouse. It was a great day.

Michelle, Jeff, Hallie, Judge Mortensen , Me, Korver, Abbi, Sherie (No Greater Gift Adoptions,) Mike (our lawyer.)
Afterwards my parents took us to Chili's to eat to celebrate the happy day.

I can't believe Korver is already 6 months old.

Remember That?

I was going through pictures on my computer and realized there is a lot of stuff I haven't blogged about from the past. You know, pictures that I took before this little blog was started. So I'm going to start something called "Remember That?" I'm not going to have a scheduled day that I post, because that's a lot of pressure to put on myself. Sometimes I'll post "Remember That?" once a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. It will be a good way for me to journal what happened BTB (before the blog.)

A couple years ago Abbi's Birth Grandma, Jenny, called and asked if we would want to go for a ride in a plane. Teressa's (Abbi's Birth Mom's) step-dad, Stevie, has a plane and we had always wanted to go for a ride. Of course we were thrilled to go. The plane could only hold 4 people, so Jenny was kind enough to stay behind and watch Hallie so that Jeff, Abbi and I could go. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life. He flew us around our town and it was fun to see things from above. This is my parents house taken from above. I called my mom from the plane and told her to go outside and look up in the sky. She about died when she found out the people in the plane was us!

This is our neighborhood. It was very cool to see it from way up high. Abbi was excited that she could see our truck.
This is Abbi and Stevie.

Abbi getting all ready to go. Look how little she was. I think she was a little nervous at first, but after we got going, she thought it was fun.

Stevie had headphones that helped block out some of the sound from the plane and also had microphones on them so that we could communicate with each other without having to scream.

We all had so much fun and I will never forget that experience.

Cheese???

I don't have a ton of time to post, but I had to share this story about Hallie. I have a fetish with cutting my kids nails and cleaning out their ears after I get them out of the tub. This morning I got Hallie out of the tub and was doing the usual routine of clipping and cleaning and brushing hair. I took a Q-Tip to her ear (I know, don't judge me I only clean out the opening.) I pulled out some yellow wax and showed it to her. I teased her and said, "Ew Hallie, that's gross." She looked at me and as serious as can be said, "No, it's not wax, it's just cheese!"

All This Cuteness!

We did our own little photo shoot the other day and I just love these pictures. Korver wasn't the happiest of babies this day, but I still think we got some pretty cute ones. We have a busy week ahead of us with this little guy. We get to finalize everything with his adoption on Friday and then take him to the temple to be sealed to us and then his blessing is on Sunday. It's a fun and happy time for us. I can't believe he is already 6 months old. Time flies! I have my work cut out for me this week. I will be busy busy getting everything ready for our big celebration.

Rain's First Birthday

Abbi's little sister, Rain, turned 1 last Friday. Grandma Jenny had a party for her at her house and invited us to come. We had cake and ice cream and watched Rain open up some presents. It was really fun and I'm glad that we were able to spend this special day with Rain, Ashton and Teressa.
They got this adorable dress for Abbi. She looks so grown up and beautiful in it.
Korver even got into the action by wearing a party hat.

This is Rain opening up her presents. Sitting by her are Ashton and Teressa.

This is Stevie, Teressa's step dad. Abbi really likes him a lot. We had a great time and I love that we have this relationship with them. It's fun to be able to have Abbi be a part of Rain's life. It's going to be fun to watch little Rain grow up. We also got some exciting news... Teressa is pregnant, so Rain and Abbi will be getting a new brother or sister. We are very excited for Ashton and Teressa and can't wait for their new arrival to get here!

Sin City

Jeff had to go down to Las Vegas for a convention for his job at Tahitian Noni International so I decided to invite myself along. He left a few days before me and then I drove down and met him there. We stayed at the MGM Grand Hotel which was very nice. The first night we went to Olive Garden and to a movie. We saw Grand Torino which was very long and very boring. I wouldn't recommend seeing it. I know, you're thinking you're in Vegas and you went to dinner and a movie? I was tired from traveling and Jeff had to work at the convention until about 7. The next day Jeff had to work at the convention pretty much all day. So I drove to the outlets and shopped til I dropped (literally.) I was so tired when I got done, but it was fun walking around by myself. I bought a lot of fun stuff, too. Jeff was done with the convention by about 7:15, so we decided to go see a show. We saw Bill Engvale (he's the "Here's your sign" comedian.) It was really funny. Afterwards we walked the strip for a little bit and took our one and only picture of the entire trip, so here it is folks. I couldn't believe that we didn't take more pictures, but I guess that we really didn't do anything "picture worty." It was a quick trip, but really fun. I was glad to get away for a little bit. My parents watched my 3 kiddos for me while we were gone. They are wonderful like that. Honestly, they jump at the chance to watch them, especially when we go out of town. It is so nice and I appreciate them so much. I love when Jeff goes on these little trips that I can go on with him.