Trip of a Lifetime!

To say this was one of the best trip of our lives is an understatement! We had been emaling, texting and communicating with our birthmom since late November and had accepted the sweet invitation from her to come and meet in person. The nerves were all over the place but we were beyond excited to embark on our adventure. We knew alot about her and had started a great relationship.  We also knew that she was expecting a baby girl in April.

We had an early morning flight so we drove to Denver to stay the night and enjoyed dinner at IKEA.

Then on to VEGAS! We had a full day of exploring Vegas and enjoying time together.

We strolled through Ceasar's Palace...

 Went shopping at H&M...

 Jarad considered a modeling career...

 Lunch break! Of course we had to eat at In-N-Out! So yum!

 Then on to the Bodies exhibit at the Luxor...

 Then some chocolaty fun at the M&M Factory...

 And a romantical moment at the Bellagio water show!

Vegas was a B.L.A.S.T!! But we were excited to get on to the real reason for our trip.

 To calm our nerves (it was a good attempt at least!), we went to do some sealings at the temple. We love traveling and especially love seeing new temples!

Our nerves were so high that we forgot to take very many pictures the actual day we met our birthmom! But we drove toward the LDS Family Services office and I almost couldn't breathe! We were so early (Jarad hates to be late) that we needed to kill some time so we went into the furniture store across the street, where I'm sure we looked like freaks because of our excitement and nerves.

The time came and we went into the office, met our birthmom's caseworker and she tried to calm our nerves. Then the moment that changed our lives forever. We walked in and were greeted with hugs and tears and then immediately, this pink-filled basket of love and the words, "I pick you!"

 The sweetest tangible representation of the greatest gift a person could ever give us! Sweet moments were shared in our first meeting that will always be sacred and previous to us. We were officially paper-pregnant with a baby girl due April 20th!

We were able to go out to dinner with our birthmom and her parents and just get to know each other and share some laughs.

 Us- smiles for days after returning to our hotel room. 

We had the best weekend just sight-seeing and seeing where and what our birthmom did in her life.

 Birthmom's parents, Birthmom and us- family from the start! We felt and feel so comfortable with them right from the beginning.

 We went for a scenic drive ...

 Saw this fabulous sign that we couldn't pass up a snapshot...

 We were even able to meet her roommates- such fun girls!

We played games, ate lots of good food and just cherish the whole weekend! We were so sad to leave but knew we'd see each other soon- in Colorado!

Happy New Year-Birthday!

2011 has come to a close- such a good, trying, fun year together facing a bunch of crazy adventures!

We celebrated New Year's at our good friend's, Joe & Cara.



 Happy New Year everyone!

The two amigos- Joe & Jarad had a little too much sparking cider.....

 Joe & Cara- such a fun party- thank you guys for a fun evening and for being such great friends!!

 The whole party gang- a little blurry but that's what you get with a timer. :)

 Midnight is here! Happy New Year to my love and best friend!

We also stayed up just a bit longer to celebrate Joe's  30th birthday!

Happy Birthday and New Years! What a great way to start a new year!