Announcing!!!!!

We would have loved to send an announcement to everyone we know to share our wonderful news, but unfortunately, that wasnt possible, so we are sharing it here!  Enjoy!

Modern Blocks Boy Birth Announcement

Birth announcements & graduation announcements by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Sneak Peak

So my good and talented friend Becca came and took some newborn photos of Xander when he was 2 weeks old.  These are the photos we got so far and used for our birth announcement.  They turned out so good!!!! I am dying to see the rest, so I figured I was tease you all as well! Enjoy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

 This St. Patrick's Day was the most fun Ive ever had because of this cute little leprechaun.  It seemed like his strawberry blond hair was a little extra red for the day :) I am so much more excited for each of the holidays now that we have a sweet little guys to share the magic with!!!  For this St. Patrick's Day, we were surprised with a little package from our Florida Family *Xander's birth family* They sent us this super cute little outfit for  Xander.  I love the feet.

And they also sent a little gift for Eldon and I as well.... Sweet family St. Patrick's Day shirts!!!  My shirt is hiding a bit behind the cutest part of this picture, but its the Lucky Charm's Leprechaun and the words "Feeling Lucky".  But Eldon's is the absolute best!!  It is hilarious and really shows Carolyn's amazing sense of humor.  She always has us cracking up and this shirt is one of the best ones.  Eldon literally jumped up and down laughing when we opened the box and found it.  We just adore her and are grateful for her thoughtfulness in making some holiday magic for our little family!!   We hope everyone has a Happy St. Patrick's Day and wore green to avoid being pinched!!!

Coming home!!!

On Monday, Feb 13, I got the best call ever.... we had been cleared to take our sweet little son home to Arizona.  It was very unexpected (we expected it to come some time around the end of the week).  We quickly made it to the doctor to get permission for the little man to fly, and changed our flights and prepared to come home.  Eldon was beyond thrilled that he didnt have to be away from his family any longer.  On Valentines day, we boarded a plane to come home.  I was pretty worried because I was doing this part of the journey all by myself!!!  Scary!  Amazingly, Xander was absolutely perfect!  He slept the entire flight minus feedings.  He didnt make a single peep!  I totally expected him to cry the entire time, but he truly was amazing.  And on top of it, I sat next to a member of the church who was also a nurse, who loves children and she held him for just a minute while I went to the bathroom (5 hour flight!).  Overall, this was the part that I was really worried about, and it ended up being just fine!

When we arrived home, we found a fun little sign from Eldon's big sister to welcome us as well as flowers from the Young Women's Presidency.  So sweet and such a happy Valentines day!  So glad I got to be with my sweetheart and the new little love of my life for Valentines Day!

Time flies when you are having fun

At least that is what we are hoping as we anxiously await the arrival of our sweet little boy.  We have been having a lot of fun lately out on the town with some sweet friends.   Thought we would share a bit of what we have been up to.  First my work had spare tickets to a Diamondbacks game.  We were able to get like 30 tickets, so we were able to bring a bunch of our family and friends to enjoy the nosebleeds with us!  We were having so much fun that I didnt even take any pictures :(  but our cousins took some cute pics of their kiddos having fun with us!  (Of course, because we are so much fun! hehe) Go Diamondbacks!  P.S. we won which made it even better!!!

About two weeks later my sweet friend Jenny and Hubby had amazing tickets to an ASU Game.  Since Eldon had never been during his student years at ASU, and the tickets were pretty awesome (with dinner included) we couldnt pass it up.  Sorry to my fellow classmates since we passed up my 10 year high school reunion to go to the game instead, but we had a great time!  P.S. ASU won that game too!!!! Guess we are good luck!  Go Devils!

 Arizona's weather has been a bit strange this year.  It has been unusually hot, but for about one week, it got chilli (as a teaser before it got warmer again).  For that one week, it actually felt like fall, so we decided to celebrate fall at the local farm.  It was alot of fun.  They had a corn maze, yummy chilli and cornbread, cute picture ops, go carts, and lots of opportunities to crack jokes with our good friends.

The best 5 years of my life

We have been married for 5 amazing years!  It is crazy to me how quickly time goes by!!  Not everything that has happened during the past 5 years has been happy and wonderful (although most truly was) but I cannot imagine going through both the most joyous and the most painful experiences in my life without the most amazing man by my side.  Being lucky enough to have Eldon as my Eternal Companion is truly the greatest blessing and treasure.  We have been through quite a bit over the past few years, and I am ever so grateful for him as an amazing husband, a caring man, and as my best friend.  

To celebrate our union, we decided to take a fun little trip to FLORIDA!!!!

Our First day in Florida started out at Disney's Magic Kingdom.  It was similar to Disneyland in California, but still quite different.  It was interesting to think you know where things are and to head in that direction and then find that it doesnt look the same at all.  For those of you who know me well, you know that I love Pirates.  The Pirates ride here was definitely different.  The entrance is totally different and the ride is similar but shorter.  The best part that was different, was they had a Captain Jack Sparrow show and he let me up on stage to become part of his pirate crew.  It was AWESOME!!!!!  he he. 

Day 2 was the Epcot Adventure.  We went on a ride that took us on banked curves at 65 mph, soared over California, talked with a turtle and toured the world all in one day.  You cant beat that!  One of the funnest parts was in Japan where I got to pick an Oyster and found a pearl!  Oh and in France we had yummy treats including something similar to what Eldon had on his mission called Napolitanas.  He put it on facebook to tease his mission buddies and ended up finding out that one of his mission buddies lived in Florida, and the best part, he buddy and his family was able to join us for Day 4 of our adventure.

Day 3 was a break from Disney for the best Anniversary gift ever. (see post above)

Day 4 was Hollywood Studios.  This park was crazy busy!!! But had a lot of things we had never done before.  The Rockin Roller Coaster was pretty dang fun.  We also went on a backstage tour, saw a car stunt show, and Indiana Jones Stunt show, watched Beauty and the Beast as well as saw a Jedi Training sessions.  It was quite a day full of fun!

Day 5 was Animal Kingdom.  This was our final day, so it was only a half day because we were flying home.  We started out the day on an African Safari.  It was pretty entertaining.  Our guide was hilarious.  We saw some cool animals.  Next we ventured over to Asia and took a trip to Mount Everest to see the Yeti.  The ride was pretty good, but it was pretty funky to go backwards and loop in the dark when you cant tell which direction you are headed.  We saw a few more animals, including a bugs life show before the heavens opened up and it poured on us.  We were absolutely soaked by the time we got to our car to head to the airport.  I didnt get a pic cuz Eldon wasnt too thrilled at this point.  I thought it was pretty funny though.

All in all, we had a wonderful trip to Florida.  It was pretty hot, definitely humid, full of great memories to cherish and a wonderful way to celebrate the best decision we made... our marriage.

Meet the Parents....The Birth Parents that is

I asked our amazing birth parents if they minded if I shared a few facts and stats about them, so that others could learn a little about the people that our changing our lives.  So it is our pleasure to introduce you to our amazingly giving new friends....

Our Baby's Birth Dad                               Our Baby's Birth Mom
Name: Chris                                                Name: Carolyn
Age: 25                                                       Age: 32
Height: 5'10"                                               Height: 5'8"
Hair Color: Brownish Red                           Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Hazel                                         Eye Color: Brown
Religion: Catholic                                        Religion: Christian
# of Siblings: 2 half siblings                          # of Siblings: 6
Birth Order: Youngest                                 Birth Order: Youngest
Children: None                                            Children: 3- Stetson (17) Natalie (7) Austin (6)
Job: Food Service                                        Job: Customer Service Rep
Favorite Color: Blue                                    Favorite Color: Yellow
Favorite Food: Steak or Pizza                      Favorite Food: Chicken Gizzards
Hobbies: Weight Training, Running, ,             Hobbies: Going to the beach, fishing,  
              Boxing, Surfing, Cooking                             hanging out with her children
Feelings about Adoption: "Adoption gives   Feelings about Adoption: "My thoughts on
             people who havent had luck               adoption have always been positive. This 
             having a baby, the chance to               is both the hardest and easiest decision I
             experience the miracle of life"             have ever had to make.  Hard because                                                                                  I look at my kids and know that there                                                                          will be a face missing. and easy because                                                                          I know that Stefani and Eldon are going to
                                                                       make great parents and they will raise
                                                                       the baby in a safe and loving home.

We are so incredibly grateful for these two amazing individuals.  It hurts my heart to know the sacrifice they will make, but we are so grateful for their selflessness and positive attitude towards adoption.  We pray that everything continues to move along smoothly over the next several months.  We are so incredibly excited for this opportunity for a chance to finally bring children home. These two courageous and wonderful people will forever hold a special place in our heart.

Oh Baby Baby!

All I can say is that We are so very blessed!  I am so incredibly pleased to share with our family and friends that thanks to the most amazing couple, we have been picked to adopt a BABY!!!!!  Can you tell we are freakin excited! Because we are and that is the understatement of the century!  Our desire for children has been so great and unfortunately we have been left wanting for far too long.  Our journey has been a difficult one to say the least, but we are so grateful for the light at the end of the tunnel.  We began our journey on the adoption road about a year ago, but shortly after beginning, we paused in our tracks.  For many reasons and reasons unknown, we just werent able to move forward with our adoption process and so we paused and waited and attempted a few more fertility rounds.  We just didnt understand why nothing was working, both in adoption or fertility.  Well, we now know.  In 2011, we picked up where we left off and sprinted down the road to complete our paperwork.  We seriously spent every free hour working on our paperwork and our adoption blog, trying to make it just right.  The average wait with our adoption agency is 2 years (pretty standard).  That was just far too long for us, so we felt we needed to help the process along and find our own baby.  We sought the help of family and friends to spread the word.  We also decided to post our adoption profile on a website called www.parentprofiles.com.  This is a website that advertises on the top adoption websites that appear when you google adoption.  One day short of our first month posted on this website, we were matched with the most wonderful couple and given hopes of a miracle.  Before this match, it felt as though the way had been blocked and doors had been closing all around us.  Now, the way has been cleared and everything has been so smooth and easy.  This amazing couple shares many of our feelings and thoughts on adoption.  This adoption is completely based on love and joy and will be a beautiful gift from amazing individuals.  How fast these two strangers have become dear friends and more.  We will share more information as the pregnancy progresses, but for now, things are going well and we couldnt be happier.  This truly is a blessing and we are so excited and grateful. 

Introducing Baby X as it is affectionately called until we learn the sex 

 Baby X is scheduled to join the world on February 9, 2012 in Florida.

Camping Trip

My family decided it was time to go camping before the woods got too crowded for the summer.  So my Dad, my big bro and his wife and their pup along with Eldon and I and Zeus, headed up to a favorite camping spot that has this beautiful river, clean toilets (an absolute must), tables and camp fire rings so you can actually still have a campfire despite all the fire warnings.  The only problem was, the weather in Arizona right now has not been the usual Arizona weather, so it was actually really chilly!!!!  During the day it did warm up and was quite nice, so we took a little hike.  It was a lot of family fun.  The pups both did an amazing job and didnt even need to be on a leash, which was wonderful!!!  Definitely something we will have to do again soon....as long as it warms up a bit ;)

My brother trying to be Dopey with his hat.

Catching Up

So I was chastised last week for not updating my blog for a while by my sweet grandma.  I honestly didn't realize that the last post was Christmas (I am really behind I guess).  So I have caught up, or tried to at least with some of the high lights.  Bear with me that there are several posts.  Hopefully you'll enjoy, and I will try to stay on top of things better.  In the mean time, here is a quick update on some things that have been happening.

1. Eldon changed his major.  He is now studying Air Transportation Management.  He was studying Aeronautical Engineering but while sitting in his like Calculus 5 class, he decided he did not want to do these equations all day long.  The reason he got into that field in the first place was his love of airplanes and with this education he would probably design some part to a seat belt and never see an airplane.  So with this new field of study it will allow his to work either at an airport or for an airline or something along those lines which hoping will allow his closer access to his passion....airplanes.  It actually put him ahead of schedule for graduation.  We are hoping either August or December 2012!!!!  Yeah not too much further!  He also loves the fact that for his degree he gets to take classes like meteorology, air traffic control, and ground school; which is the first portion of his pilots license which he would love to get.  He seems much happier with his classes and more excited for his future.  We will see what the future has in store, but it is looking bright and we are starting to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  :)

2.  We are hoping to adopt.  More updates will be coming very soon on this topic.  We have finished all our paperwork and completed our home study.  We are waiting on the official approval from the courts which hopefully will be coming in the next few weeks.  We have created an adoption blog which we will be blasting out once we have the official court ok, asking our family and friends to share with others and get the word out about our desire to adopt. 

3.  I am very proud about this one.   Our stake young women's needed a service project for their girls camp this summer and they chose to do bereavement boxes.  They are using the example of the bereavement boxes we donated in memory of the boys on their birthday.  They will be donating 50 BOXES!!!!  That will help so many women.  I am incredibly honored that they would select this project.  It means a great deal to me that our sons memory can help others during such a difficult trial.

Happy 28th Birthday Eldon

Eldon turned 28 this year!  To celebrate we went out to dinner with some dear friends at Joe's Crab Shack.  We had a wonderful time, Eldon got to eat some wonderful crab (he loves seafood, me not so much, so it was a big treat for him!)  

I even got brave and experimented with some Calimari (squid)  Can I just say YUCK!!!!  I wont be that brave again!  Our little friend Jackson got brave and wanted to try his first crab.  hehe. 

The best part was Eldon's birthday song.  At Joe's Crab Shack, they make the birthday boy participate too.  Eldon had to get dressed up in hula gear and sing along saying "Hula Hey, Its my birthday!"  I got it on video.  Its a little slow in the beginning because the waitress is giving Eldon instructions.  We were dying laughing though.  It was great!   He had a wonderful birthday, we had a wonderful time and we are grateful for those who helped him to have such a great birthday!

Planes, Planes & More Planes

 Eldon like airplanes (to put it mildly).  So he simply couldnt resist the opportunity to visit both the Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport "Aviation Day" and the Luke AFB "Luke Days Air Show".  He was in heaven to say the least.  It was pretty cool to see all the different airplanes and helicopters.  Eldon could name each one by sight practically.  We got some pretty cool pics as well.  The best part (other than Eldon's pleasure of course) was the Luke Thunderbirds and their jet show.  It was pretty neat, and amazing to think how fast they were flying.