Changing Decades

At first it hurt to say, but now I'm over it- I'M 3-0! That's THIRTY, 30!

Luckily for me, my birthday fell during my spring break so I even got the day off!  I enjoyed a massage and just relaxing during the day. Much needed stress relief!

Jarad made it a fun and special day all day! Little notes, text, etc. throughout the day and then took me to a new resturaunt for dinner.

 May be old in number, but we're young at heart!

 I'm so lucky to have such a great husband to celebrate with!

He's so awesome- he even planned a little surprise party that was waiting for me upon our return from dinner. My family and friends were all so wonderful to come decorate and celebrate with me!

 Cara, Lori, Me, Mom & Reise

 Amber & Amelia, Lindsey & Penelope and I

 The Boys- Kevin, Joe & Jarad

 Even at 30, I'm a daddy's girl!

 Don't mind my crazy-eyes! ha- Me & gal pal Megan. :)

 Who also brought me some fun flowers to enjoy.

And Jarad gave me a hand-selected bouquet of some of my favorite flowers!!(picture taken numerous days later so some of the flowers don't look fresh but they were!)

Thanks to everyone for the texts, the phone calls, facebook posts and celebrating the changing of a decade! It was a great day of being 30!

My new mantra- 30 & flirty & thriving!!!

Luck of the Irish

For St. Patrick's Day, we went with Joe & Cara to an Irish Pub.

 Unfortunetly, Jarad forgot his wallet including his ID so he had to get X's showing they couldn't confirm his being 21 or over. Really?! Jk honey- so he and Joe drove home while Cara and I waited for a table.

And the wait was worth it-

 Jarad's shepards pie....SO delicious!!

 My dinner was a potato pancake filled with chicken, bacon (makes everything better) and cheese.  Pretty nasty! The best thing we ate was our appetizer- corned beef nachos- AMAZING!

 The tables were mostly enclosed and the atmosphere was totally legit! Great Irish tunes from a live band and all.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Comin' to Colorado

We decided on our next visit from our birthmom before we even left from our previous visit! She and her Mom came to see us in Colorado and see where we spend our lives right now and where baby girl would be living.

 I made them each a Colorado survival kit- warm socks and gloves, hot cocoa, water and chapstick.  And extra thanks to my parents for so graciously hosting our guests at their home.

We started the weekend out right....SHOPPIN'!

Lori & Reise, birthmom's mom, and birthmom and I hit up the outlet shops!

Lunch time with cute little Reise!

Nerd alert! Jarad, birthmom and b-mom's mom all playing on their iPhones.

Sadie is all ready to have a baby around- she took right to protecting Reise.
We introduced our birthmom to some of our good friends here in Colorado-

Birthmom, her Mom, Megs, Me, Lori & Cara

We also had the very special experience of having a 3D ultrasound.

Jar & I & birthmom- in the ultrasound room- it was so beautiful and had HUGE screen on one wall with chairs and couches so our families could be there but she could still be modest and comfortable.

We got to see baby girl move, yawn and wave hello. Such a precious experience! We even got to feel baby girl kick!

Slight bombardment is probably an understatement of what our birthmom experienced here in Colorado.

She also got to meet some of Jarad's family- who came down for the ultrasound and some delicious lunch at Rudy's.

We also were able to go see a Cirque du soleil show- the things those performers can do are amazing!

We tried to show her around and even took her for a short (she's pregnant and it was Feb in Colorado...brrr!) walk around the Garden of the Gods.

   

Family dinner and game time was a blast! We were able to skype/Facetime with my other siblings so she met the whole clan.

Such a blessed and fun-filled weekend! So glad we were able to spend time and continue to build our relationship and special bond with our amazing birthmom!

Love's Day

Jarad and I had a low-key Valentine's Day.  But that's us! Kept it simple and just enjoyed having some time to spend together!

I brought us home some delicious Chinese take-out.

 I tried to make it somewhat romantic with candles

 ...and making our napkins into hearts!

 

 I'm lucky to be married to Jarad- just love him!!

We also went to the movies and saw Red Tails.

The House of the Lord

Jarad and I have been so blessed to be temple workers for the past 9 months.  We've learned a great deal, felt the amazing peace of the temple and enjoyed serving!

 In December, we got to see the temple natavity- it's beautiful! And even more beautiful at night- all lit up.

 Such a beautiful and serene place that has blessed our lives for eternity!

 Us at the temple- see how happy it makes us?!

Not our best self-portrait but we still love being at the temple!

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!