Adoption Blog

You may have noticed a new button over on the right sidebar. Our adoption blog is up and running, well mostly. It's not totally finished, but has enough info for prospective birthparents to find out about our family. Feel free to pass along the blog address if you run into someone who is thinking about adoption! www.threeadoptionwishes.blogspot.com Thanks so much!

Kansas City

Once again we headed to Kansas City, MO where the home office is for Bryan's company. Every Feb they have their annual awards ceremony. We had a huge group this year, so Bryan's uncle took the guys to Bob Jones shoes and the girls went shopping at the Plaza. (which is a larger version of the Gateway here in Salt Lake) I was on the hunt for some sort of belt to go on my dress for that night. I didn't find exactly what I was looking for, but I did find a belt at Anthropologie that I think worked well with my dress. For the second year in a row, Bryan earned the Diamond Distinguished Sales Award, and our agency, owned by Uncle Mike, won agency of the year! They also announced the trip Bryan can earn for 2012 is going to be to AUSTRALIA! I am so excited! I've never been out of the country! We had such a great time with everyone and the girls had fun dancing the night away, (with our drunk 'friend') while the boys sat around talking. An agent from one of the other agencies even went over and gave them a hard time about not being with their women! I didn't get very many pics this year and the ones I did get aren't great, but here a few!

This was the first time we met Bryan's cousin's baby Ty. Here he is with his Uncle Kyle and his daddy Layth in the background

Bryan with his award wearing his '250' jacket he earned from Uncle Mike for averaging $250 a week in premiums in 2009

The food was amazing as always!

Here are all the guys on stage getting ready to take their picture with their Agency of the Year award!

Me and Bryan on the stage, do you like my cute belt?

Chocolate fountain for dessert, YUM!

Look at all those hot mamas! All the girls together again, except for Tyler's wife Ashlee, who was home with their sick baby! We missed you Ash!

Catching Up!

Wow! What a beginning for 2010! We have been so busy! Here's what we've been up to! Last month we went out to lunch with Parker's birthmom and birth grandma. It was so fun to spend time with them, despite chasing Parker around the restaurant! We love them so much and are so grateful to have them so close so that we can see them and they can see Parker as he grows! The only thing that would have made it better was if Parker's birthfather could have been there! He is serving in Iraq right now and we miss him and pray for him every night in our family prayers.

Parker's birthmom, Kissy, Parker and Me
Parker is wearing his adoption shirtI bought for him from Mrs. R's etsy shop. She has tons of new stuff! Go check it out here!

No matter what we do,
this is the picture face we are getting these days!

Last month I went on a scrapbook retreat with my mom, my SIL Lindsey and her mom Gloria. Yes, my brother married a girl named Lindsey, who's mom's name is Gloria (Bryan's mom's name) she also has a sister named Heather, like me, and she has a brother named Byron, almost Bryan. It's really funny! Anyway, we went to Vegas baby! The retreat was at a very nice hotel, a little ways from the strip and we had a great time! We got there the day before and went to a couple local scrapbook stores. Then we headed down to the strip and got some souvenirs for our kiddies and husbands. We went to Claim Jumper for a late dinner and headed back to our hotel. The next morning we got up and went down to get checked in for the crop. They had tables set up in one of the ballrooms and we could stay all day and all night if we wanted! Lindsey and I stayed until 6:00 am the first day! We were the only ones there for several hours! It was awesome! The next day we made it till 4:00 am. We were so tired, but got a ton done and had so much fun! We made some great friends with the girls that were next to us. They were from Vegas and helped us get where we wanted to go for food and shopping etc. I can't wait to go on another retreat!

This is my spot at the table with all the essentials
including adhesives, pens, brads, punches, stamps
and of course, plenty of diet coke!

From left to right: Lindsey, Gloria, Me and my Mamma Ceri

We ate at the casino one night and the waitress asked if we wanted any dessert. Lindsey asked if they had ice cream and the waitress offered to bring her a hot fudge sundae. As you can see, Lindsey was a little surprised by how fancy and big it was!

Parker opening the presents I brought back for him

The other day some of Parker's friends came over to play. When these boys get together it's so funny to me! If they are watching a movie they have to all sit by each other. Here they are crammed into the chair!

Here they have their tv faces on!
And Zach is clinging tightly to the train of course! His favorite!

Whatever you do don't look away from the tv,
but still give mom that cheesy smile!

And finally Valentine's Day. Well, the day before anyway. Since Valentine's was on a Sunday this year, and my Sunday included going to two ward conferences, and two meetings after that, I made pink heart shaped pancakes Saturday morning. Parker wanted red pancakes, but I told him I couldn't make them red, so we settled for pink. Bryan and I went to lunch and a movie on Fri and a ward Valentine's dinner on Sat. I was gone pretty much all day Sunday, but the rest of the day and all day Monday Parker said, "Happy Valentine's Day Mom!" over and over. It was really cute. Well, that pretty much covers it! I am very busy with my new calling as 1st counselor in the Stake Young Women and I am very grateful to my sister Heather and to Bryan's mom who have been wonderful watching Parker so I can go to all my meetings etc. for my new calling. Thank you so much! And to my wonderful husband who puts up with a house that isn't always clean and dinners that don't always get made, I love you and thank you for supporting me and working so hard for our family! I love you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Don't Eat Yellow Snow!

These pictures were taken before Christmas after a couple of significant snow storms. I went out to shovel the driveway and bundled up Parker to play in the snow, which apparently to him means scooping it up with a shovel and eating it. Not much playing going on, just a lot of shoveling, but me and by Parker. I thought it was so cute, I of course had to go grab the camera! Don't worry, none of it was yellow, but there came a point when he was digging in snow that wasn't very deep and I'm pretty sure he ate some dirt too. Oh well, he's a boy and it isn't the first time and it probably won't be the last!

Christmas x 2!

Our little boy is one lucky guy! Not only does he have a Mommy and Daddy that love him and sometimes spoil him (ok I think Mommy does most of the spoiling) but he has an amazing birth family that loves him as well. He was able to open presents from them today and it was like having Christmas all over again! We went to my brother's the week of Christmas and had a wonderful time. We had all of my siblings and my mom spend Christmas Eve at my brother's house and then all had Christmas morning together. It was a lot of fun! The kids slept downstairs in their sleeping bags and surprisingly Parker stayed there the entire night! We had fun Christmas day playing with all the new toys and games that the kids got, and Bryan even got a new toy of his own! An iPod! I totally surprised him with it. I felt like he had worked so hard this year, especially after I lost my job, and he didn't ask for anything fun for Christmas. Just clothes for work! I wanted him to have something fun to open Christmas morning, so totally last minute I went and got him one! I of course saved it until last and was so exited to see him open it! Today Parker's Aunt Roberta brought him presents from his birth parents and birth grandma and great grandma! He got a Buzz Lightyear, which he LOVES and a Lightning McQueen tent and pillow! He is loving all of the puzzles, books and art supplies he got too! In between Christmas and New Years we finished moving my craft room downstairs and switched the office and Parker's room. His room is a little bigger now and more organized. I love it! I still need to hang some stuff on his walls, so when I get that done I'll post pictures! We had a wonderful Christmas and we were able to get a lot done around the house while Bryan was home for a week! Now this week it's back to work, church callings and reality, but our house is a little less cluttered and we enjoyed having a little time to spend with extended family and just our little family too!

All the cousins on the Allen side at Grandpa and Grandma's
before we left for Idaho
New pajamas and cars from Grandma and Grandpa
Helping unwrap kisses for peanut butter cookies
Helping Grammie decorate her little tree
Aubrey 'helping' us wrap presents
Christmas morning Parker was so excited to get
Sheriff from the movie cars.
Mommy was so excited he got a case to hold some of his cars!
He also got Cars Uno cards. He LOVES playing games!
Bryan with his iPod!
Parker with some of his presents from his birth family!

Merry Christmas!

Well, it's that time of year again! Time to recap our year and update everyone on what we've been up to! So, here we go. We'll start with Bryan. He is really doing well this year with work. As a result we are headed to a very nice resort in San Diego at the end of April. For the second year in a row he is in the group that earned the company's highest sales award. We will be heading back to Kansas City for the awards ceremony in February. We are so proud of him and are so grateful for all of his hard work! Besides working, Bryan enjoys playing Mario Kart on the Wii with Parker as well as Tiger Woods golf. He is currently serving as an instructor in the Elders Quorum. We joined the gym this year and Bryan is making good use of his membership. He and his brother and brothers-in-law decided to have a Biggest Loser contest. So far Bryan is winning. He has lost about 15 lbs. We'll see how everyone fares through the holidays and come January 17th we'll know who is the Biggest Loser!
I have been busy trying to keep up with Parker, serving as the 2nd Counselor in the Relief Society as well as laundry, cleaning etc. I was released as a Stake Assistant Camp Director after 2 years of attending Girls' Camp. I really enjoyed that calling and will be sad come next summer when I'm not getting ready for camp! Another big change this year came in August when, after 7 years of being Reuben's nanny, it was decided that he didn't really need a nanny anymore. We were a little worried about how we would make it financially, but Bryan really stepped up and we've been very blessed since deciding that I shouldn't try to get another job. I am looking forward to the new year and hopefully adding a baby to our family. We are very close to getting our adoption application finished. We are going to create a separate blog where potential birth parents can go to learn about us. We'll let you know when it is up and running! So everyone keep your ears open and keep us in mind if you hear of a possible adoption situation. Parker's birth parents found us through a family friend. You never know! You might be the one to help us find our next child!
Parker has grown so much in the last year. He is saying funny things on an almost daily basis. Some of his newest sayings are, "Whatev!" "Are you kidding me?" and "I am done with sleep!" He loves anything to do with the movie Cars, trains, going to the aquarium and zoo, playing with his cousins and friends and has recently gotten into playing games and putting puzzles together. He recognizes several letters, especially the ones in his name. Whenever Bryan is watching Fox News, he watches the ticker at the bottom of the screen and gets so excited when he sees the letter 'P'.
We enjoyed a few camping trips this year as well as a grown ups only vacation to San Diego with my brother Dustin and his wife Lindsey. Bryan and I enjoyed our annual trip to Kansas City as well as a trip to Las Vegas that Bryan earned. We were able to see 'O' at the Bellagio and 'Phantom' at the Venetian. We also enjoyed some shopping on the strip and relaxing at the Loews Lake Las Vegas resort.
We are sad to say that we lost Bryan's Grandpa Smart in May this year. We miss going to visit him and Grandma at their home. Grandma is currently recovering from hip surgery and living in a care facility. We also welcomed three additions to our extended family this year! In Feb, Bryan's sister Vicki and her husband Matt welcomed their little boy Matson. In April, my brother Jack and his wife Alison had their fourth baby, Aubrey and in July Bryan's brother Gary and his wife Bliss welcomed their baby boy Riley.
I think that about covers what we've been up to this year. We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and enjoys celebrating the miracle of our Savior's birth.

Christmas Spirit

I am hoping by changing my blog background it will get me in the mood to put up the Christmas decorations! I love Christmas! I love decorating for Christmas, I love the music, the smells and giving gifts. I love looking at all the lights and spending time with family. I don't know why this year I'm having a hard time getting into the spirit! Here's hoping my Christmas background will do the trick!