{I love 6 month old babies...

especially this one. I love newborn babies, but give me a 6 month old any day! Their little personalities start to come out and you get a glimpse of who they are. Our little tank keeps getting bigger and more and more fun! He is sitting, scooting (backwards), holding his own bottle and putting everything in sight into his mouth. I wish I could have posted a picture of his one little tooth on the bottom gum! It makes me laugh to see his almost toothless grin when he smiles. He is a total crack up!

{Happy Birthday J-Dawg...

My baby turned 5 today! I really can't believe how fast the time has gone... I still remember getting a call from LDS Family Services early in the morning on March 19, 2003. Katherine, Jackson's birth mom, walked the majority of the way to the hospital (while in labor!) because of an insane snow storm that we had the night before. The doctor barely made it to the hospital on cross country skiis to deliver him! I didn't make it to work that day because of the snow and I seriously thought I would go stir crazy because I just wanted to get in the car and go meet our new little boy! That night Todd and I watched as we dropped the first bomb in Baghdad and wondered how we would raise a child in this crazy world. {That pretty much summarizes our little Jackson. He came in with a bang and it's been that way ever since. Not a day goes by that there's not something unexpected and exciting going on with Jackson around.} The next day the social worked hiked out to the freeway so that I could pick her up and take her to the hospital to check on Katherine and Jackson. I remember sitting in the car in the hospital parking lot just dying to hold our new babe and wondering what he looked like. Finally on March 21, we went back up to Denver to meet our new addition and it was one of the happiest days of our lives! Jackson has changed Todd and me so much and we are grateful to have the opportunity to be his parents. The miracle of adoption is truly our greatest blessing. We are forever indebted to Katherine and her sweet family for their selfless sacrifice! We love those sweet women who have added so much life to our family! Thanks J for 5 fantastic years...

{Happy St. Pats...

{We're back!

WOW... What a trip! It was much needed and oh so rejuvenating! We had never been to the west side of Mexico and we loved it! The Puerto Vallarta area is beautiful. It is set on a bay and surrounded by mountains that meet up with the ocean. We went with Todd's brother Craig and his wife, Liz. We've been travel partners for the last few years and we've developed a system that seems to work! We love to get away with them to someplace tropical around February. It gives us something to look forward to in the last few awful winter months in Colorado and Utah.

We didn't really "go, see, do" a whole lot. We did manage to go sailing, horse back riding, and boogie boarding but the majority of our time was spent on the beach or by the pool having virgin pina colada's delivered to us. I have been forbidden to talk about the night that Todd was selected from the audience to perform in a "Mr. Palace competition." If you want the details on that you've got to ask him. All I can say is that I've never laughed so hard in my life! He's hoping that I'll just forget that it ever happened, but there is NO chance of that happening, ever! I think that the best part of the trip however, was the weather. It felt so good to be hot! It's amazing what a little sunshine can do for your psyche. I guess having someone wait on you hand and foot was pretty great too. I didn't lift a finger to make a bed, cook a meal, do a dish or vacuum a floor for over a week. Needless to say when we got home I had a rude awakening! It feels good to be home though. Todd and I really started missing the boys about day 4 and when we got home we found that little Sammy had grown up! He got his first tooth, he can (sort of) hold his own bottle and he is already on all fours rocking back and forth. I wouldn't be surprised if he started crawling within 2 weeks. They can change so fast when they're little!

Here's hoping spring comes with a vengeance!