Drew's Favorites

I had a fun conversation with Drew tonight while I was trying to distract him as I was clipping his nails.

Me: How old are you?

Drew: 2!

Me: What did you have for lunch?

Drew: A ham-a-burger (hamburger)

Me: Where's your favorite place to go?

Drew: Outside

Me: What's your favorite food?

Drew: Um, ham-a-burgers, cheese, cold noodles, and ham-a-burgers.

Me: What's your favorite show?

Drew: George! (Curious George)

I think there was more to this conversation, but I can't remember it all. Oh how I love this boy of mine!

2 Year Anniversary

On this day, two years ago, we were sealed with our sweet little boy. I can't believe how fast time has flown by!

I still remember every detail so vividly. It was such a happy, special day for our little family. I'm so grateful we were chosen to be so blessed to have Drew in our lives. He has been our greatest blessing and we love him more and more every day.

I can't wait until he's old enough to understand the special story of his special day! One that we will forever celebrate!

Missing Oregon

I haven't posted anything about Eugene or leaving Eugene because I haven't let myself think about it much because I miss it so much. I'm so grateful to be living by family again and that's ultimately what we wanted, but it doesn't make leaving Eugene easier.

I miss our house. I loved our house. Our old, quirky, ugly-on-the-outside-but-beautiful-on-the-inside house. I miss our wall of windows along the back of the house. I miss sitting on my couch, looking outside, and feeling like I was outside. I miss Drew running around the "circle" in the middle of the house.

I miss our yard. It was big, fully fenced (which was a dream with an active toddler), had a big, covered deck, and it was beautiful. Full, green grass. Gorgeous, tall trees that provided welcome shade on those hot summer days.

Of course I miss living close to these two amazing people. Drew's birthparents are so strong, so beautiful, so wonderful, and we love them so much. (And yes, I have a more current picture of them with Drew, but this one is my favorite. :) Luckily, Oregon isn't too far away so we'll still be able to have visits with them.

But quite possibly the thing I miss most are the friends we made. So many wonderful, amazing, FUN friends! Countless dinners, play dates, walks, parks, lunches, everything.

My girlfriends planned a girl's night the night before we packed up the truck to move. I wish I could've packed them all up and brought them with me. :)

My oh my, how Drew loved his friends! I'm so grateful we moved before he could figure out how to say any of their names because I know he'd still be asking to play with them.

Yes, I love it here in Utah. I love being close to family. And Drew loves his cousins - all 17 of them.

But that doesn't mean I won't have sad days where I miss Oregon so much my heart hurts. Hopefully we'll get to go back soon to visit!

Happy Birthday, Drew!

I can't believe my baby is 2! I know it's so cliche, but the time has gone by way too fast! Since we celebrated Drew's half birthday in June, yesterday we just did cake and ice cream. Drew's favorite things in the world are balls, specifically basketballs. I made him a basketball cupcake cake. It kind of looks like a flower, but he's 2 so he didn't mind. :)

We're so grateful for Drew's amazing birthparents! Without them, we wouldn't be so blessed to have our sweet Drew. We love them so much!

Happy Birthday, Drew! We love you!!

A Move and A Vacation

We've had a busy couple of months! After 4 1/2 wonderful years in Eugene, we decided to move our family back to Utah! Dan was able to transfer with work so he's now working in the Salt Lake valley. We're currently staying with my parents in Eagle Mountain until we buy a home. Although first we have to decide where we want to live. We're having so much fun being so close to family again!

We do miss Eugene like crazy though. Especially our friends. We've made the BEST friends there and hopefully we'll be able to stay friends with them forever. Luckily, with Drew's birthparents in Oregon, we'll be visiting so we'll get to see all of them!

Our good friends, the Checketts, moved from Eugene to Santa Barbara, California a few months ago and we've been so anxious to visit! We finally got the chance last week! We had SO much fun!! (Beware, there are a lot of pictures :)

We flew on JetBlue, which was awesome because they have tv's so that kept Drew occupied pretty much the whole time.

Michelle and I were so excited for Drew and Amelia to get back together and they didn't disappoint! Amelia screamed and screamed in delight and Drew just watched her (like always) with a big smile. They ran right into the house to play and picked up right where they left off! I really wish we had recorded that... :)

Our first night in Santa Barbara, we went downtown, had dinner, and walked around. Drew and Amelia still love ice cream!
Cute best friends!

We were able to be there for Michelle's birthday - Happy Birthday Michelle!! Drew loved the candles and ice cream. :)

Their park is literally on the beach. How cool is that??!! Yeah, I think I could hang out there a few times a week.

I miss you, Michelle!!

I love how much Drew and Amelia love each other!

Handsome Dan :)

Drew loves throwing things. And he throws everything. So he especially loved throwing rocks and sticks in the water. I love his little wind-up. :)

My cute boys!

Beautiful! I think I could live there....

By the way, William is the sweetest baby ever! He is so good and calm and happy! Love him!!

We went to the Santa Barbara zoo and loved it! The weather was beautiful and it wasn't crowded or too big.

Hanging out with the penguins.

Trying to swim with the penguins.

They had this really cool hill for the kids (and Dan) to slide down on cardboard. They had a blast!

So cute!

We were so sad to say good-bye to the Checketts! We hope we get to see them again soon. Thanks again, Checketts family, for letting us visit!!

We decided to take a day to go to Disneyland before we came home and I'm so glad we did! I wasn't sure how much Drew would like it, but he loved it!He loved the carousel! He wanted to go on it over and over. :)

He wanted to go on Dumbo and loved watching the water and playing with the lever that made them go up and down.

We went on the Winnie the Pooh ride and happened to see these characters at the exit. Drew said he wanted to go see them so we got in the short line. I wasn't sure what he'd do, but he totally surprised us and ran right up to Tigger and gave him a huge hug! It was so sweet. He gave him a high five and even jumped for him! It was such a great moment and the highlight of the day. :)

He also loved Pooh. I loved all the festive decor around Disneyland.

Meeting Mickey didn't go quite as well. It was during his nap time (which we skipped that day..) and we had to wait about 15 minutes so he actually got pretty mad but we were able to get this decent picture.

Drew loved the train that goes around Disneyland. He was especially excited about the bell. :)

Love all the lights!

We had so much fun on our trip! It's always nice to get home and back to normal. Except that Drew got a fever the day after we got home (I'm sure it has nothing to do with being out in the cold our last night there and not getting much sleep those last two days.....), and now that he's feeling better, he slipped and fell in the kitchen this morning. Now poor Drew has a fat lip and he must have hit his nose because he keeps pointing to it, whining, and saying "nose." Poor kid!