Summer 2010

I love this time of year!  We've been trying to get outside as much a possible, and especially love spending time in the mountains.  One of my Father's Day presents to Sam was a hike on a trail he had never been to before.  It was unusually hot, and I wasn't feeling very well, but I think Sam enjoyed it.  Cohen loved it, despite getting really sweaty in his wrap, and eventually fell asleep.  Even though I was hot and sick, it was so good to get up into the beautiful mountains!

We recently went camping with one of my sisters and her family.  It was a short camping trip, but lots of fun.  We had yummy tin foil dinners for dinner along with delicious dutch oven baked beans.  This was our first time camping with Cohen.  He's a master crawler and wanted to expore everything. Thank goodness for port-a-cribs!  Really, Cohen seemed to enjoy it and loved being with his cousins.  My only worry was that he wouldn't sleep, but he slept like a champ.  It was actually nice having him all cuddled up next to me.  In the morning we hiked to Timpanogos Cave.  Cohen hitched a ride on my back and leaked thru his diaper--it's the only time I can remember where I was hoping people would think the wet spot all over me was sweat! 

Cohen wants to be outside all the time, just like his daddy.  Here he is helping Sam wash the car.  I didn't think he'd like the cold water, but it didn't phase him at all.

This week we went to Lagoon with Sam's brothers and sisters Shane, Emily and Marci, and Marci's family.  I was shocked at the ticket price for a soon-to-be-one-year-old!  It was totally worth it though.

I took Cohen on one of my favorite childhood rides, but I don't think he was quite ready for it!

We also took him on the Horror ride--he looks pretty freaked out, but he actually didn't get scared thanks to all of the camera flashing going on.

Cohen's cousins won him about twelve hammers that they ended up trading in for a stuffed wolf.  It's his new favorite stuffed animal.

He loved the train ride!

At the top of the giant ferris wheel at sunset.

We also went on a hike with my uncle and brother-in-law.  The goal was the find THE TREE HOUSE.  The Tree House was this amazing place "somewhere" in the mountains that Sam helped build many moons ago.  We went there a couple of times when we were dating and first married, but it had been years since we'd visited.  The place had windows, a wood burning stove, and was infested with chipmunks (one of the funniest things I've seen in my life).  We had heard it had been torn down, so we thought we'd go check it out.  This is what we found:    

 BUMMER!!

The hike was pretty tough, especially since we took a "shortcut" through some pretty heavy brush.  We all had some pretty scratched up legs to show off by the end, except for Cohen.  He had a nice relaxing ride!

Last summer kind of escaped me.  I was busy getting ready for a baby and then taking care of a newborn.  I wouldn't have traded that for anything, but it's been nice to get out a little more this year.

1 Year Old!

Cohen had quite the birthday experience.  Sam's family had a family reunion in Arizona the weekend of Cohen's big day, so we were able to celebrate with much of Sam's extended family and then we had an official birthday party for him after we got back.

Cohen and his cousin Tristan the first night of the family reunion.  Tristan is two months older than Cohen and he acts two months older, but Cohen definitely looks like the older one.  (At Cohen's 12-month doctor appt., he measured the size of an average 18-month old!)  They kept trying to play with this tractor all night, but their second-cousin did not want to share.

Luckily Sam's sister gave him the perfect birthday present the next day--his very own tractor.  He played with this thing for HOURS!  However, he had no problem sharing with all of his cousins--I was so proud!

       

We spend most of Cohen's birthday at the lake.  He LOVED it!

Cohen met his Great Grandma B for the first time.  I'm so grateful they could finally meet.  She lives on the Navajo reservation, about 4-5 hours away from Sam's parents, so we don't get to see her as often as we'd like.  Cohen went right up to her, tapped her on the leg to get her attention, and and then went right for her necklace!  They were so sweet with each other.  

***

For Cohen's party, I made him his very own cake.  The idea was to have several layers of chocolate cake stacked on top of each other, then covered in beautiful wisps of whipped cream and topped multi-colored sprinkles.  I wanted it to be cute, yummy and messy!  I froze the cake to make it easier to cut and frost, but it was about a zillion degrees, so the cake defrosted too fast and little cake crumbs got into the whipped cream as I was frosting it.  The whipped cream also didn't stand up to the heat very well.  It ended up being the ugliest cake I have ever seen!  However, Cohen loved it, and that was my ultimate goal.  Several of his cousins couldn't help themselves either and joined in the fun of devouring the chocolate & whipped cream mess!  I was grateful to the zillion degree weather afterward because we could just hose him off!

Katrina and her brother came to the party, too.  I'm so glad they could share this special day with us!  Katrina had just gotten back from Costa Rica and gave Cohen a really cool drum.  Here you can see where Cohen gets his good looks!

It used to bother me when adults would say something about kids growing up too fast.  As a kid, growing up seemed to crawl by.  But now I'm one of those annoying adults.  I can't believe how fast the past year has flown by!  I am so grateful that I get to have this little guy in my life.  I love getting to know him.  He teaches me something and makes me giggle every day.  I can't imagine my life without him!

Happy Birth Mother's Day

May 9, 2009

May 8, 2010

A year ago tomorrow was the Saturday before Mother's Day. It was Birth Mother's Day. And coincidentally, it was the first time we met Katrina and her family in person. It was also the day we learned that this year would be the first time our little family would celebrate Mother's Day. Tomorrow wouldn't be complete without today. We feel so blessed that we were able to celebrate this special day with Cohen's amazing Tummy Mummy. Thanks for being a part of our family, Katrina. We love you!

22 Days in England

Megan’s sister Allison has been living in England for the last couple of years.  She, her husband Shayne, and their oldest son Josh went to Zambia to work with Mothers Without Borders for a few weeks.  We stayed with their other kids, Hailie, Ethan and Olivia while they were away and toured the beautiful country of England.

We were traveling on Easter, so Cohen got his Easter Basket the next day.  Here he is enjoying his first chocolate bunny. 

Cohen checking out his shadow at Stonehenge

Sitting on a cannon at Dover Castle

The British Museum

Inside Rochester Castle
(check out Cohen's shoes--Sam made them!)

England was much cooler than we expected.  It was beautiful and there is so much to see and do.  We also got a taste of what it will be like when we have more children since we were taking care of four of them then entire time.  They kept us so busy that both Sam and I lost a few pounds!  It was great spending time with all of them and Cohen loved getting to know his cousins.  We're excited to see them again this summer when they come to Utah.

Happy Valentine's Day

It's Legit!

Cohen is finally legally our son.  What a relief!  In Utah (where we live) adoptions aren't made final until at least 6 months after placement.  Of course Cohen has felt like our son since we first brought him home, but it's nice to know that the law now sees it that way.

Our legit family outside the court room with
our adoption attorney and adoption worker. 

The very next day (which also happened to be Megan’s birthday—talk about THE BEST birthday present ever!) we went to the temple to be sealed for time and all eternity.  This experience was truly a sacred event that will stay with us forever. 

Then, the day after that, Cohen had his baby blessing at church.  Below is a picture of him with Katrina at our house after the blessing. 

What an amazing few days!  We are truly blessed!!!

Merry Christmas