Year End Review
JANUARY
We had a wonderful beginning of the year! Jax was able to get sealed to Kurt and Shai in the Jordan River Temple. The boys helped made daddy and I dinner, and it was delicious. Daddy got a big cut on his hand trying to open a box, he got quite a few stitches from it. We Skyped with Mama Ashley and Derek. Elaina, daddy's sister, got married. Mommy also organized an adoption lunch with other adoptive mamas to come and meet up and get to know each other.
FEBRUARY
February was filled with lots of love and fun. We went bowling a couple of time. The boys found playing in the unfinished basement a blast. We took Valentines around to our family. Daddy put new pipes on mommy's motorcycle. We got to go to a new time share up in East Canyon over Valentines weekend. We visited Hollywood Connections to play games and have a good time together. We started going on walks everyday, and the boys would always bring a toy with them. Mama Breanna visited us at our house. Mommy came home from a girls' temple night to find daddy having a sleepover with the boys.
MARCH
We took a vacation down south and went to Goblin Valley and Arches in March. We found that the boys really loved hiking and were really good at it. We started our little lego fascination. The boys also go little legos from the leprechauns this year. We had a wellness check up and found everyone healthy. Mommy had an adoption girls night out doing nails. The boys had their very first ski lessons.
APRIL
We started off April down in Moab coming home from a trip. It started warming up and we were able to go have more outside time. We celebrated Easter, dyed eggs, and talked about Jesus being resurrected and got new bikes too. We watched conference and played with Legos. We get together with adoption friends (birth parents and adoptive families) and played at a park and had an Easter egg hunt. Practicing baseball also was on our agenda more evenings.
MAY
We had a great May! We went on an adoption walk up in Northern Utah and after we spent some time on Antelope Island doing some hiking and being attacked by gnats. We went to our aunt Elaina's graduation. We went on a lot of adventures - the zoo, hiking up Timpanogus Mountain, and parks. We celebrated DJ's adoption day, he got a scooter. DJ also started T-ball, we were sad that Alex was too young this year.
JUNE
June was packed full of fun, friends, and family. Alex's adoption day is in June and he got a scooter, which he was super excited about. We went to the aquarium, Discovery Gateway, Wheeler Farm, canoeing, bike riding, Snowbird, and so many other things. The boys kept practicing baseball. Someone quit DJ's team and the coach let Alex fill his spot. He was really excited to get out and play, they both got medals for Tball. DJ got tested for allergies and we found out that he is allergic to cashews, pistachios, and some outside allergens. His peanut test came back fine, but since he had reactions when he was younger they want to schedule a 'peanut challenge' to make sure he will be okay eating them. We got out our slip and slide and daddy and mommy really showed us how to use it. DJ loves to be just like daddy and daddy had to do some work on a car and DJ became a little mechanic too. Also the last day of preschool was here and mommy was especially excited to be staying home all summer taking the boys on lots of adventures!
JULY
We were looking forward to July! July is always a fun month because we get to celebrate Independence Day and also Pioneer day. We were excited because Papa Spencer came over for a visit. It was really good seeing him and watching DJ play legos with him. Mommy and daddy went on a motorcycle trip through Colorado so DJ and Alex got to spend a couple of fun-filled days with grandma and grandpa and then aunt Jessi. We played at a lot of parks, and found two of our favorite parks this month. We had a bad windstorm and our neighbor's tree broke and fell down. Daddy and the boys went out and helped chop up all of the fallen limbs. Alex took DJ on a scary 4-wheeler ride (it wasn't really going, don't worry). Our cousin Carson went to Cooperstown and played baseball. We thought it was a lot of fun watching him play live on the computer. At the end of July we were able to take the whole family out to Ohio to spend some time with mama Ashley. Alex got to celebrate his 4th birthday with his birth family, it was very special.
AUGUST
At the beginning of August we were still in Ohio and having a lot of fun! We cooked s'mores with mama Ashley and Derek. It was so great watching Alex and Ashley interact with each other, made my mama heart fill with such joy! We also had a great visit with mama Breanna when we got home. We are very thankful for our open adoptions! Grandma Sue took us to a fun place called, Airborne. They have a bunch of trampolines to jump around on and foam pits to jump in to. The boys had a blast! Mommy and Daddy did the Ride for the Fallen to support police officers killed in the line of duty. It is always such a special and touching event. We went up to the mountains again to go up the tram at Snowbird and travel down on a ski lift. We visited the zoo and played with lots of toys. We also had a fun family trip to Mesa Verde. It was so neat seeing all of the ancient Native American dwellings! The boys started preschool again this month. They really love their teacher!
SEPTEMBER
In September we went up to one of our condos in Wolf Creek and spent some time 4-wheeling. We had a great relaxing weekend with grandma and grandpa. We also went on a couple of camping trips to the mountains. We loved quickly packing up for the weekend and spending time outdoors! Daddy took DJ to a Utah football game while Mommy took Alex with some friends to Trafalga. The boys are such a big help! They helped daddy clean up the side yard to get ready for a trailer.
OCTOBER
October always has so many fun events. We had school pictures taken and they couldn't have been any cuter. Daddy and Mommy saw the Utes win. We went on another adoption walk and got to put our adoption heroes on our back. It was such a great feeling telling the world who our heroes are! We went to Gardener Village to check out the witches and pose for some pictures. The weather stayed really warm so we also ventured out to the Great Salt Lake. It was really fun taking them there for their first time. And you can probably still ask DJ what the sand tasted like and he could tell you without hesitation, salt. We made caramel apples at home, and went to get our faces painted along with painting our own pumpkins. One tradition we made a couple of years ago was going up to Black Island Farms. We got to see the animals, pick out our own pumpkins, and play on all of the fun slides. We got together with some friends to play and do some art. We also get together every October to clean up great grandma Alice's yard. She is now 90 and we love seeing her and helping her out.
NOVEMBER
November was an exciting month for us. We had DJ's 5th birthday and we were super lucky because mama Breanna, papa Spencer, and grandma Laura were all able to come celebrate with us. We were able to go to California and spend some fun time with our family. We went to Disneyland, Seaworld, Universal Studios, and the beach. The boys really fell in love with the beach while we were there and need to go back soon. We went to see The Boxtrolls with our cousins and the boys came home and became Boxtrolls. We started ice skating lessons last month and they kept skating!
DECEMBER
December was full! We had so much fun. We made gingerbread houses with grandma and our cousin. We started skiing this year and can't get enough. We made ornaments for our birth parents. Our family scheduled a Christmas cruise this year and it was so much fun. Mama Breanna and her family came over for a holiday visit. We went ice skating with Santa. We prepped our house for Santa's visit with reindeer food, cookies for the jolly man, and putting out a special key so he could get in. We went and saw some amazing Christmas lights too. DJ's Christmas wish was to see Santa in our house when he came so we set up a camera and caught him placing presents by our tree. Santa brought the boys a bunk bed that they were really excited about it. On Christmas day we Skyped with mama Ashley and Derek, which has become a great tradition that we look forward to. New Years Eve was great with family also and daddy gave mommy her New Year's kiss!
2014 has been a very great and amazing year for us! We are so blessed with wonderful family and friends. We know that 2015 is going to be just as great and are looking forward to what it has in store for us!
