Stacie & Steve got hitched!

Stacie and Steve

Our beautiful Birth mom Stacie got married several weeks ago. Lucas and I made the trip to Utah to surprise her. I LOVED her reaction when she saw us! About this time last year we were praying and hoping for a sweet little spirit to join our family. About this time last year I heard about a baby boy in Utah that was to be placed for adoption. About this time last year we met the most wonderful, selfless woman who chose US. We love you Stacie!!!

The Beach

We have been back for awhile, but I have been slacking major in the blog department. We had sooo much fun in Mexico. It was really special because it was our first family vacation with Lucas. We spent a lot of time at the beach, went into town, ate at some great and some not - so - great places... We went to the aquarium one day, rented a Rhino another, and the Dad's took Jaycie and Jaxson on quite the fishing adventure. It was a very memorable trip and I took a ton of pictures for the first few days - then dropped my camera in the ocean and the rest is history. No more photos! We managed to save the memory card, though. Anyway, Lucas was super adorable at the beach. He loved to eat the sand and crawl off into the sunset!

This & That

Lucas on game day. Elliot LOVED the fact that I picked this shirt out. Go Cardinals!

I have never been able to french braid and every time I have ever tried it is loose and definitely not attractive. It's always been a skill I envied in others. Good news - Jaycie's hair is long enough and she has been patient enough to let me practice. I was so proud of myself I just had to take a pic!

Wearing her homemade tie-died shirt while hanging upside down. I love how it turned out!

Met Zach, Bri and Shayne at In-N-Out for lunch. This sweet old man that worked there made sure that these cute babies didn't leave without the true In-N-Out experience. Love that place!

Lucas' turn!

Our backyard oasis...

Can you believe he's 8 months old? Love him to pieces!

Jaycie's goal in life lately seems to be to make her brother laugh - which is not hard to do. They are so crazy about each other. Every morning they greet each other with kisses and hugs. He looks around the house for her when she's at school. When we pick her up from school he just stares and laughs at her. As soon as we get home he crawls to her for playtime. It has been so fun to watch them together.

D-backs Game

While Stacie and Caitlin were visiting we decided to treat them to something that only Phoenix has to offer - the Diamondbacks! We sat in the all you can eat section and filled up on hot dogs, popcorn, chips, peanuts... Classic baseball game food. It was a great night!! Here's Elliot with Jacyie and her scary face.

Jaycie and Caitlin lovin' some cotton candy!

Stacie, Caitlin and Lucas

Lucas Blessing Pics

Road Trip

It's an interesting thing - blogging. I was talking to my sister Abby about my lack of blogging lately and I told her that I had a theory. My blogging patterns are indicative of how my life is going at the time. No blogging - no muy bueno. Lots of blogging - livin' like a rock star. Not to say that anything serious has been going on. It just means that laundry has piled up, the sink is clogged with rice (oops) and I am wearing nothing but a robe as we speak (it's 2:30 in the afternoon). Don't worry though, I am blogging! Hence the theory.  Anyway... Me and Ab took a crazy long road trip with our five kids to San Antone awhile back and I have yet to post pics. I don't know if you read my blog Ash, but I thought this picture was worth taking. So much that I made Abby find my camera, unbuckle, roll the window down and stick her head out while I slowed down so she could take it. Now that I see it on here, it's pretty small and unimpressive.

The weird huge dinosaur in the middle of nowhere.

We spent the night at a hotel in El Paso. The kids were like WILD animals that had been caged for days. While they were jumping back and forth between my bed and Ab's we bathed the babies and pinched their bottoms.

Abby made matching skirts for the girls. They were so surprised and loved sporting them at church.

We took a trip to Sea World (1st time for my kids). It was hot and humid but we had a great time.

Time to refuel!

Jaycie and Kennedi checkin' out the sharks

Lucas took his naps on the stroller's shade. Or in Kyle's arms. Worked out great!

They had the best Peter Piper I've ever seen. The big kids played on the bumper cars while the babies snacked on something green.

This was at the River Walk. I love how close they're sitting!

Thanks Kyle and Danielle for an amazing time! We love you!!!

Wicked

For Father's Day Jaycie and I got tickets for all of us to go to see Wicked (Lucas stayed with Bobba). We had seen it already, but Elliot was a first-timer. It was a great night and a wonderful performance!

This picture cracks me up because it looks like Elliot is wearing some kind of goofy hat - It's just the mirror behind him! Hey, I'm easily amused.

Yesterday

Yesterday was one of the best days of my life. Only a few can compare. There are some obvious ones. The day I married Elliot... That was a good one. Giving birth to our sweet little girl is definitely one of my favorites. One not so obvious one would be the day that Zach and I were released form the hospital. I can remember feeling so grateful and strong. Another great day was getting the news from Stacie that she wanted to entrust us with the greatest gift... Watching Lucas take his first breath - Amazing. Yesterday Elliot and I took Lucas to a court room in Utah to finalize his adoption. Words cannot express the love that I feel for him. He came into our lives in the most special way and I feel so lucky to be his mom.

Beyonce!

So my cousin Jaymie got tickets to Beyonce for Mother's Day and invited Me, Bri and Alyssa. We had the BEST time ever! We met downtown, had burgers at Coach and Willies, then caught a ride from Glen on one of those bike carriages. Poor Glen had to lug all four of us (that's why we look so squished in this pic) to US Airways.

Beyonce was a true Diva that night and made us wait FOREVER to make her debut. Here are me and Jaymie anticipating the great night ahead.

Alyssa and Bri with their excited faces on.

"Smash Into Me" my sista's favorite song. The affects were amazing throughout the whole concert.


Poppin her bootie! The real show was happening in the nosebleed section where the four of us were dancing maniacs!

Beyonce suspended in the air.

She sang ALL her greatest hits and ended the night with "Halo" and a really cool dedication to MJ.

We weren't ready to call it a night so we went to Denny's afterward for more fun and laughs. Love ya ladies!

Fourth of July

Lucas LOVES the water! Stephanie had her baby pool set up and Lucas was dying to take a dip.

The sweetest grin!

Getting ready for the parade.

Shayne and Lucas

He always has a finger in his mouth these days...

Parker and Lucas