Gone Fishin'

Logan had his first fishing trip on the 21st. We sure had fun. Logan, Daddy and Grandpa. We went in the middle of the day (when fish usually don't bite) and caught a perfect 13-14" fish on the 3rd cast. I'm 110% sold on the idea that Jake's Lures are the best. Gold or Silver with red dots really get the fish biting. Quite frequently I'll cast once and get a solid hit.

(credit: jakeslures.com )

Additionally, I've always fished the local (and sometimes not so local lakes) but after enjoying a dinner of perfect fish with butter, garlic and lime, I think i'm sold on river fish. :)

Part of the special preparation gear. Grandpa and Logan's hat.

I really am amazed how much of a natural Logan is with casting. I got him a Scooby Doo fishing pole (one of the miniatures, abt. 3') that comes with a 2.5" orange plastic fish that acts as a good weight to practice casting with. He practices in the house all the time. He can seriously cast it about 30-40'. After I gave him a hook, I could tell that it took some getting-used-to, I was proud that he only got it in his clothes once or twice. Grandpa sure helped with the coaching. After the first keeper and a couple bites I caught a small one. I let Logan reel it in and release it, he sure loved it. I think he's now got the fishing bug. Everytime we're driving around and he sees a lake or river he says Daddy or Mommy, we could fish there. ;)

-- (( That's ma boy )) --

One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.

- Benjamin Disraeli

If you want to achieve things in life, you've just got to do them, and if you're talented and smart, you'll succeed.

- Juliana Hatfield

“Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. Christopher Robin to Pooh”

A. A. Milne (creator of Winnie-the-Pooh, 1882-1956)

Home Sweet Home, Jiggity Jig.

Well, we’ve had several people ask for a tour of the inside of our new home. So, here it is…

This is a picture of the outside of our home. The front came landscaped, but the side of the house and the backyard were left up to us. The shutters are a weird natural brown color that we think kind of clashes with the rest of the colors of the house, so we will be painting them a dark brown to match the front door. The vinyl for the front door was designed by Delicate Expressions. So feel free to check their website out for Custom Vinyl Designs and Ideas for your home! www.DelicateExpressions.com

Here is a picture of the inside of our home looking at the front door.

Next are two pictures of the front room by the entry way. As so you can see by the stuff on the floor, we’re still unpacking and deciding where things should go.





Here’s a closer look at our living room. The big white thing on the bottom left of the 1st picture is the stairway to get to the basement. The 2nd picture is Logan after a LONG day playing outside. He has fallen asleep on the couch watching a Disney movie. Wow, sometimes it's so rough to be a kid. ;)





Next is our kitchen. The following 4 pictures give you different views since I couldn’t capture it all in 1 photo. Miranda loves having a bigger kitchen than our last house so she actually has room to store things and both of us can work in the kitchen at the same time without bumping into each other.









Next is our formal dining room. However, we don’t have a formal dining room table yet and they carpeted the room so as of now, it is Miranda’s office until we finish another room downstairs. The house has 4 bedrooms, but we chose to use the 4th bedroom as a guest room instead of an office so we will have a comfy place for visitors to stay.


Next is the laundry room. It is so nice to have the laundry room on the main floor.



As you head to the other side of the house where the bedrooms are, you pass by the bathroom. Here it is in 2 different shots.





Next are the bedrooms. We didn’t take a photo of the guestroom, but here are the other 3. Here is Logan’s room.





Next is the baby’s room. Well, here is a picture of the crib anyway. Miranda made this entire bedding set. Pretty good huh!



Next we move onto the master bedroom. Miranda says that the colors kind of clash (the bedspread and the lounge) so she has been looking for a bedspread to match the lounge and has yet to find one. If anyone finds anything, please let her know. :)



Here is our master bathroom.




And finally, our backyard. We still have a LOT of work to do back there.






And with that…the tour has come to an end. We LOVE our new home and hope that if you are ever in the area, you will come and visit us for a while. We have plenty of room for visitors.

Eternally Yours

We went to the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti. It was a lot of fun. We showed up there early and got great seats. The worst part were the mosquitoes but I don't think that we were bitten too badly because they seemed to disappear after dusk. Some lady about 3 rows in front of us was so nice. She let us all use her Mosquito spray. I think that helped a lot. The temperature was cool but not cold. At least this year it wasn't raining like the last time we went. The actors were slipping all over the hill. We as a family had a lot of fun.



This was the first time Miranda's parent's had been and they thought it was great. We had a lot of fun with them. They came in town for the weekend just to be with us and have fun.



Even though this was a miss-fire I thought that it's kinda cute. Miranda and I tried to do a picture, (you know snuggle in and hold the camera up in the air and get both together). I bet you can't figure out who was holding the camera. lol



Phew! We got some help. ;)



Logan had a blast.



What a gorgeous building. I just can't understand why some people are so quick to judge the LDS church. Talk to some missionaries, read the Book of Mormon and make your own decisions.

Well needless to say, we definitely had a good time. We got home a bit late but we made good time. Paid $3 for perfect parking too. Good times.

We're having a boy!

We have officially been chosen to adopt!!! YEAH!!! We met with the birthparents the end of May where they officially announced that they have chosen us to raise their little boy. The due date July 7th and so we are super busy trying to get the nursery up and ready, diapers & formula purchased, and all of the other fun things that happens when a baby joins your family. We are so excited and can’t wait for the arrival of our soon to be baby boy! Logan insists that he’s going to help feed the baby all by himself and change diapers as well. We’ll have to see how long the diaper changing thing lasts. I think I’ll give him till his first poopy diaper till he decides he’ll stick to the bottles only. He is so excited to be a big brother and tells us so every day. We’ve been trying to think of names and Logan insists on naming the baby “Frankin.”
I don't think I'd like others to associate our boy with this...lol
It’s so funny the things little kids say.

Anyway, we just wanted to let everyone know about our GREAT news and hope you will share in the excitement with us. We feel so blessed to have met the birthparents and for the great sacrifice they are making for their child. We can’t say enough good things about the both of them and are excited to have them in our lives as well.

So, let the countdown begin….20 days to go (unless the baby comes early)

Happy Father's Day

I think I rank pretty good. Today for father's day I got a brownie and a sweet(big) Mug filled to the brim with a Rootbeer float. Mmmmmm..... Delicious.



This is a picture of Miranda and Logan singing Happy Father's Day to me (using the tune from Happy Birthday). You could tell that they had been rehearsing. A nice thought that I'd like to remember forever. :-)

Pictures from our trip to Washington

Here are some pictures from our trip to Washington. We seriously had a lot of fun just being with the family and hanging out. Friday and Saturday we went to the beach and searched for sea shells. Then on Saturday we went to a local street jamboree that was like a swap meet on the street but there were people performing (like San Francisco).



This is Logan and I watching a quartet of men (singing out of a very old school truck). They were really good. He and I spent a couple minutes bouncing up and down to the beat. Classics like My girl, and Under The Boardwalk.



Logan made a cucumber race car (okay daddy helped). He did well, he'd grab a piece of pipe cleaner or something and we'd design it accordingly. He was so nice, he gave it to a little girl that didn't have one.

 




Logan's sipping on his milk after a long day.

I wanted to give a plug for a excellent Vinyl lettering business. It's called Delicate Expressions. You can go to Delicate Expressions.com please feel free to visit the site. They do great vinyl lettering that is very inexpensive and fun to use for your own personal decorative tendencies (Home/Car) or for your business.

Dinner out

Tonight we went out to eat Magleby's I has Salmon and Miranda had Tri-tip. We really enjoyed it and has a lot of fun. Our company was over an hour late so needless to say we go to chat a lot and have some fun. A motorcycle caught Logan's eye as he was leaving the restaurant. It was some sort of a promotional item but this 3 year-old really loved it. Dad had fun too.

What are dreams made of?

Well I had a rough night last night. As a parent there are a couple specific things that really scare you in life and one is if anything were to happen to your child(ren). Let's just say last night's dream left me with many thoughts. I frequently have dreams of shallow impression, but every once in a while one will come through quite clear. It's usually that next day I realize the purpose of those dreams. This one definitely helped me to put things into perspective and to realize the power and love our Father in Heaven has and the love I have for my family. Families are great aren't they?

(( Amor Eterno - Christian Castro ))

The first day of the rest of my life

Well here goes, hopefully this isn't one of those things that I get to start but never finish. ;) I think we all know how that goes. I've seen so many people do these and for the life of me I couldn't see the value, but in a weird way I guess it is pretty therapeutic.

I thought as a way to start it off I would display one of my favorite pictures. My Best Buddy and Me.