We're Approved!!

For those of you who don't know Mike and I have been working with LDS Social Services to grow our family. We tried for over 3 years to have a family the old fashioned way and after lots of tears, money, and prayer we decided that there were people who were meant to come into our lives through adoption. Now the real waiting begins!
Ever since I was little I wanted to be a mommy. My favorite game to play with my friends was house...of course I always wanted to be the mom. When I was in high school I thought about the different careers that I could have and still be either a stay at home mom or a career where I could go back once my kids were a little older. It came down to interior design and teaching. I took an AP interior design class and volunteered at a local elementary school. I soon learned that interior design was not my thing and that I LOVED being around the cute, sponge-like children at the elementary school.
This has been one of the best and hardest experiences of my life. I am so grateful that I have Mike by my side through all of my challenges and even more so my Heavenly Father. I have come to know that our Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us. Thinking about my journey so far I wouldn't have changed a thing. I have been able to learn so much and meet so many wonderful and amazing people.
If you would like to know more about Mike and I click on our picture on the right side of our blog under "Hoping to Adopt" or click here to go to our website.

Birthday Cake Fame-dom

I love to bake and decorate cakes, cookies, and sweets. I don't so much like to eat them but I LOVE to make them. This year I made Mike's birthday cake and was so happy with how it turned out. Mike works in construction and I saw something similar to this on Pinterest so I had to give it a whirl.

Pretty cute don't you think? He also got a big toy to go with the mini ones.

This track hoe moves forward and backward and the hoe moves as well. Mike loves his toys and now they decorate his desk at work. I love having such a fun husband who still loves to play with toys:)

Golf Champion

One night in July we went with our friends to go mini-golfing. I usually am quite dreadful and mini-golf but I enjoy it anyways. I am famous for one of my magnificent shots that when I hit the ball it went over the curb down the walkway and onto the green of the hole right in front of us. I have an issue with hitting the ball gently in mini-golf. I went into the night thinking that I would follow suit and have a massive loss just like every other experience I have had in the past. This night was not ordinary though and I was quite proud of the result and so that is why I am documenting the outcome with this blog post so that everyone out there in internet land can see how amazing and skillful I am:)

Look at hole 13 and 14...see that HOLE IN ONE!!! Two of them right in a row....I know I am awesome.

Celebrate Good Time

Mike and my birthdays are very close together so we usually celebrate them together. This year we went on a vacation with our good friends to Vegas and St. George.

We did a lot of shopping, walking, and of course eating. This is us in front of one of the many fountains at Caesar's Palace. It had been rainy and in the 90's the beginning of the week before we got there. The first full day we were there the humidity was at 40% because of the rain they had had and it was 104 degrees. Needless to say we did a lot of sweating.
Mike and I plan our trips around where we want to eat. We had a lot of DELICIOUS and fun places on our mind for this trip. The night we arrived we went to KGB Burger. It was amazing! One of the best burgers I have ever had.

We started off with fried macaroni and cheese with extra cheese sauce on the side. Better than Ruth's Diner for sure.

Em and Ryan had the fried pickles which I didn't try but looked delicious. Em had the turkey burger complete with brie cheese and pickled apples. And Ryan had their southwest burger (I think).

Mike had the Cheddar Cheese Burger which is 4 slices of cheddar cheese touching in the center of the burger by their corners and grilled. When they take the burger/cheese off the grill the fold the crispy cheese around the burger so the meat is completely encased in cheese. You get a good combination of crispy and melty cheese. I think his was the best burger out of all of ours.

I had the BBQ Bacon Burger. Mine had gouda cheese, fried onion strips, bacon, and a homemade bbq sauce that I could bath in. I had a hard time fitting that baby in my mouth but I made it work...and I ate the entire thing...YIKES!

The next morning for breakfast we went to Serendipity 3. Their NY shop is featured in the movie Serendipity with their frozzen hot chocolates. It was another delectable spot and such a fun environment. Those are the small frozzen hot cholocates. Just looking at the picture makes me want another one. Em and Ry got an omelet for breakfast and we enjoyed the Saints and Sinners French Toast Log. The pictures will do all the explaining and I am sure all of you will be wanting to fly to Vegas or New York to enjoy your own.

That night we got to enjoy our birthday presents to ourselves. We got tickets to Cirque Du Soleil! I got to cross off two of my bucket list items in less than a month. We went to their performance of O at the Belagio. It was unbelievable! I can't even think of the words to describe it. The stage was made of rubber with holes in it so that it was able to sink below water. The entire stage was apart of a GIANT pool. There was synchronized swimming, diving,acrobatics, and clowns. It was well worth the money that we spent on tickets. It is amazing what talents people have. I was grateful that I was able to witness the performers talents. This is a very poor picture of us sitting on the second row of the theater before the performance.

  After we finished we walked around he atrium at the Belagio. It was so cool to see all of the animals and scenes completely made out of flowers. My favorite was the picture frame with real flowers made to resemble one of Monet's artworks.

The next day we went to the Coke and M&M shops. We did the Coke products from around the world which was really fun. My favorite was the non-carbonated Bipo Pine Nut from Brazil that tasted like a Pina Colada. My least favorite was a mint one. It tasted like a cup of water that someone had spit their toothpaste in...it was nast!

After we walked over 2 miles in 105 degree weather to go to these two places we were exhausted and headed to St. George to get some well needed rest time. It was a great birthday and it was fun to be with our friends and make such fun memories.