Update, throughout the holidays, up to Now!

Okay so it's been so long. Life has been out of control since October. So I guess I will give the long and short of it. At the end of October, Ian and I set out for California to visit my Aunt Gayle and Uncle Dennis. It is a 12 hour drive from Ogden, UT to San Clemente, CA. Why I chose to do this drive with a one year old I will never know. However, I did it, and it was great. Will I do it again? By myself, doubt it, but I can't say never, because then I know I will do it again. Anyway, Ian and I headed to beautiful sunny California where the weather was 80 degrees at the end of October. My Aunt took us to a pumpkin patch where we got to see lots of pumpkins. Ian got to sit on his first dirt bike, and also spent a day at the beach with my cousin Elizabeth. Ian and I got a great little tour of San Diego and Coranado with my cousin as well. I had such a great time!!!

There were tons of pictures from California and I would be here all night if I posted them. So I just posted a few. After five glorious days in Cali, Ian and I set off back to Utah. We stopped in St. George and spent 5 days there. We celebrated Ian's first birthday, Halloween, and my 30th birthday. Since Josh couldn't be there for our birthday's Josh sent me Beautiful Pink roses. 3 days after my birthday Josh flew into Vegas where I picked him up and we spent two days in Vegas celebrating my birthday. It was the best birthday as he took me to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and surprised me with two of my dearest friends who had been waiting for us. It was so awesome being able to catch up with them. (We left our camera in the hotel room, so sadly I have no pictures of the reunion with my friends) Josh also got me my Seahawks jacket I have been wanting for forever. I had no idea he had these surprises up his sleeve. I was so proud and lucky!!! The best part too was that I had Josh to finish the last part of the drive (St. George to Ogden) with me.


Well Thanksgiving came way to quickly. It was so fun, It was just Josh, me, Ian and my brother Darren. I got to cook my very first Thanksgiving dinner all by myself. I had always wanted to do it (just once, I really don't need to do it again). I must say I was pretty proud of my turkey. That night some of Josh's siblings and their families came over and we had a dessert party Thanksgiving style. It was great having everyone over to visit with.



The greatest blessing that came to our family came two weeks before Christmas, was that JOSH GRADUATED!!!! Yep, no more Weber State! He graduated with his degree in Criminal Justice. He will be starting his Masters program in Feb. working toward becoming a licensed counsler. I am so proud of him. He worked so hard and did amazing!


Before I knew it Christmas was here and we were headed to Spokane Washington. My brother and his girlfriend came with us. We were only able to spend 4 days there, but it was a blast being able to see my sister and her family and my adopted parents. We had a great time just relaxing and visiting. Unfortunately we left Ian's Christmas presents at home, so we had to stop at the store so he would have something to open Christmas day.

New Year's came and went. My mom had knee replacement surgery on Dec. 30th, so on Jan.6th, Ian and I were off again. We flew up to Spokane to help her out. We spent a week there. I had a great time being able to help her out. My sister came up (with my niece and nephew) for the weekend and it was so fantastic just spending time with her. We spent a whole day in the kitchen cooking meals, and I loved every minute of it. Ian loved spending time with Grandpa (especially when Grandpa played his electric guitar) and swimming in their ginormous bathtub. :-)

Ian and his cousin Levi, enjoying the other's sippy cup. They never wanted their own.


When I got home, Josh and I decided that we wanted to go spend some time down in St. George. So we packed up our stuff, (and not having been home for even a week) we headed down to St. George. It rained and stormed like no other, but I LOVED every minute of being there. Just spending time with the in-laws and especially my sister in law and her family was truly the best. It was just nice to just sit around and eat and play games. Sunday dinners in St. George are the best. They always have a theme for the dinner. This time it was foods from Finland. It was amazing. We got a great four generation picture with Josh's grandmother, Josh's father, Josh and Ian. I love St. George and just being able to get away.

We are hoping if it is in the cards for us we will be able to move there. Well I have now caught up on my blogging and our adventures. We have some more adventures coming up, next month and hopefully in March, so I will try to keep up this time. :-)