Welcome to our corner of the web! Here you will learn about our family and our journey of a family member adoption. In July of 2010, after 9 years of trying to add to our family and 5 years after we started our adoption journey, we welcomed baby Emily Rose. Emily's birth mom is Sharon's adopted sister. We look forward to someday adopting more children but for now, we are enjoying our time together as a family of 4!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Happy 1 Year!!!

Miss Emily turned 1 yr old on Tuesday! I can't believe she is 1! Crazy how time flies. We have her check up tomorrow so no stats for ya, but she is doing great. She is walking now, most of the time at least. She still crawls when she falls down while walking, but she getting better. She can now walk most of the way across the room without falling. And she only falls because she gets to excited that she is walking that she starts going faster then what her little legs will carry her. But it's funny because she will fall down on her bum and then start clapping. LOL She now says 17 words, her newest words are no, stop, help, and pretty. She is seriously one of the funniest kids I have ever met. She's hi-larious!



We had newborn photos done of her when she was 3 weeks old, with a stuffed elephant that we bought for her before she was born. Here is that picture.


(Photo taken by Paramount Photography)









I decided it would be cute to do her photo with the same elephant for her 1 yr photo. (I did this one) She sure has grown!

I'll have photos and an update from her birthday parties later (we did one and her birthmom did one so she had 2).

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes!

There are so many exciting changes going on in our family right now! We're so excited about what the future holds. Jacob has just a couple of semesters left after this one before he graduates from the University of Utah with his Bachelors Degree. Then he will be entering the Master's Program and if all goes as planned he will be getting his Masters degree in Religion or Theology. He will be entering the Army once again. This time as a United States Army Chaplain. He will be submitting his request for endorsement from the church to represent them as a Chaplain in January. If he is able to he will be in the Reserves until Tamara is done with school. We don't want her to have to switch schools so close to graduation so we are still here for a minimum of 2 years.

Speaking of Tamara, she passed her drivers ed class and her test. Now she is just waiting until she has had her permit for 6 months which will be at the end of this month. The other prerequisite is that she has a job to pay for the insurance for her having a license.



Emily has taken her first steps and is sure to be a lean mean walking machine in no time at all. She is also cutting more teeth so there have been some sleepless nights around here.


As for me, in addition to starting my own photography business, I am going back to school. I am so excited! I will be attending Salt Lake Community College and getting my Associates of Science Degree in Visual Arts and Design with an Emphasis on Photography. I can't wait! I have been wanting to go back to school for a long time. Seriously, so excited!!


Oh! And! Jacob has applied for a new position at his work, that is not only a pay raise, but it's also a day time, salaried, office job. He would have a set schedule and actually be home every once and a while. So hoping he gets it!


See, told you there were a lot of changes! :o)

Friday, July 1, 2011

Crazy!

These last couple of months have been crazy busy for my family. First my big brother Roy graduated from the U with his EMBA in Business. YAY! Proud of you big brother!!





Then my brother Matt got engaged to a wonderful woman named Marcela, and I took there engagement photos.


Then, Tamara, my baby! She turned 16!!! She is finishing up Driver's Ed, looking for a job, and will be getting her License at the end of this month!


I made not, 1 but 2 cakes for two seperate Sweet 16 parties. The first was for the party with friends. She wanted a small party, just having some friends over to hang out, but she wanted a fun cake. She designed it. It didn't turn out like I had hoped, but she liked it.

The day after her first party I went to Utah County to take my newest nephew Sam's newborn photos.

Then Tamara had her other party which was the party for family and friends. We did an open house with cake and presents at the end. I was happier with the cake for this one. She designed this one as well.


Then, we got a new washer, dryer, and fridge. Emily's newest favorite "movie" to watch is watching the clothes go around and around in the washer and dryer. Heck, Tamara likes watching it too! LOL
Then I took my soon to be sister in law's bridal photos.

Then it was time for the wedding. I was able to shadow Ashley with Paramount Photography at the temple and did the reception photos myself.


In addition to the wedding photos I also did their announcements, a video montage that played at the reception, and I also did their cake (my friend Kim helped with the cake, so could not have done it without her!)

And to top it off, in May, little miss Emily turned 10 months old.


And now, she is 11 months old! I am starting to plan her 1st birthday. That is just crazy to me! She's almost 1! How did my girls get so big so fast? Emily now has 2 teeth on bottom, one on top that just broke all the way through and another one that has just started to peek through. She crawls everywhere, is walking around furniture, just started acting like she might be willing to try walking on her own, she stands by herself for up to 20 seconds by herself without falling (when she's done she'll just sit down), she loves bouncing and has even started jumping, she gets in to everything and anything, still won't sleep at night unless I'm with her, she says: momma, dada, mommy, daddy, Nay (Tamara's nickname) Sissy, Kitty, Cat, Dog, Pup pup, hi, bye, ball, baba, no, what, kay (ok), and her latest, Mine! Silly girl!



On top of all this, I am getting ready to start my own photography business. I have been doing photo shoots like crazy to help build my portfolio, and am working on a business name, logo, cards, price list, etc. Stay tuned for more details on that, along with a giveaway!