Passed!

Off To Take My Boards!!

Mother's Day

A dream come true...



My Mother's Day gift, come to find out...good things do come in small packages. :)

I have had an incredible day from the first moment I opened my eyes. My wonderful husband brought me Starbuck's in bed and Lauren shared a hot cocoa with me in bed. She then took my hand and brought me to the dining room to show me the roses she and Daddy picked out. As we dressed, I pulled out a matching necklace to the one that I wear often, but just a little smaller version. It is Mother of Pearl and has the Chinese character's of "Daughter and Mother" engraved on it. I put this on Lauren and she thought this was so, so special to be wearing a necklace like mommies. It was such a special moment and she wore the necklace all day today. We then went out for breakfast at my favorite, Mimi's. After breakfast we walked over to Border*s and I got a book from one of my favorite authors, Francine Rivers, "A Lineage of Grace". We then went to church and I enjoyed every minute of being with my precious daughter on my first Mother's Day church service.

Tonight, my mom, Lauren, Bailey, and I enjoyed a nice walk together through the pretty Sierra Verde neighborhood where there are waterfalls and wildlife throughout. Now, I am off to get Lauren into her jammies and I into mine and we are going to snuggle together until Danny comes home from work. (right now, I look down from typing and she is naked and has just strapped herself into her doll stroller and is putting on her sunglasses...better go!) :) Happy Mother's Day everyone!!

Let me not forget...

147Millionorphans.com

Truly Blessed~

As Lauren sleeps, I thought I would take the chance to post our morning. Lauren and I enjoyed breakfast with friends at "Lucky Acres" Farm. Suz & Dan invited us all and it was so fun and another event full of memories I will always hold dear to my heart. As I drove home and Lauren talked to "pretend Kailahni" :), I was just filled with such appreciation of all that God has given me. The friends who we have met on the journey to Lauren are so incredible.

It's funny, I am reading a "90-day renewal" devotional right now that I had done 6 years ago as well and as I read my prayers 6 years ago I see that I have been given so much more than I had ever imagined. My prayer 6 years ago today was that I would become pregnant this month...I thank God that I didn't or I would not have my precious Lauren. God truly blesses abundantly beyond anything we can dream. Below are some pictures of this morning and also of our time in Prescott a few weeks ago when the infamous Zoey was in town!! Love you all!

Our First Family Vacation!

We just returned from our first family vacation. Thanks to my wonderful mom who reserved a cabin for us as my graduation gift last December, we enjoyed time away in beautiful Oak Creek Canyon. The weather was perfect and we had the time of our lives. We hiked, spent an afternoon in Sedona, grilled, hiked some more, played in the ice cold creek, slept in, had a picnic in Flagstaff, laughed... and took in each minute of our time together. I've created my first movie to share our trip (you may need to mute the pink playbox on the bottom of the blog page), enjoy...