July 4th...Independence Day

Matt had to work the night before and that night, so we did a day activity of swimming. We went swimming at Dane's and Danielle's apartment pool. Kara wasn't to sure of the pool at first, but enjoyed it so much she feel asleep on me at the end.

After swimming, we came how to sleep. Matt worked out and then went to work.

I stayed at home almost all night except to go to dinner with my parents and then walk the neighborhood while everyone lite fireworks. Kara didn't even get scared. She just sucked her thumb the whole time.

Camping on July 1 to July 3

First camping trip this year and Kara's first camping trip too. We borrowed the Elswoods tent trailer as I didn't want to have to sleep in a tent with Kara. To pull the trailer we borrowed my parents’ truck. Well we picked up the truck and trailer on Sunday evening, but my dad forgot to tell Matt not to roll down the window as it is very hard to get back up. We found this out after having rolled down the window and on our way home from picking up the trailer at 10:00pm. Well I spent 45 minutes fidgeting with the controller in order to get it up. Mind you I said a pray after 40 minutes and it went up 5 minutes later. Very nice start.

Monday, July 1st we packed up everything, well Matt packed up everything and I took care of Kara and me. On our way,  we went about a mile from the house, we had to stop and fix the tarp. 4 more miles we had to stop again and fix the load in the truck because the tarp had a hole. On the way up the canyon, the air conditioning stopped working in the truck and would only blow hot air. Mind you, we couldn't open the windows cause who would know if we would ever get them up again. Hot and stuck in a car is not my idea of fun especially with Kara and worrying about her getting hot.

Well we got camp set up...well Matt set up camp mostly while I fed Kara in the shade, but I did help pop up the tent trailer.

Kara hanging out while we set up camp. 

After we got all done setting up, my mom, Kali and Leili for an evening of visiting and dinner. We visited for a while and once it cooled off we went for a walk. Time went by so fast, we didn't even start getting dinner ready until 6:30 about the time Shawn arrived to join us. 

Kali, Leili, my mom, and Kara

What do you do with a 9 month old while camping... Give them a Slurpee Cup!

Kara found her thumb!

Kara fell asleep on her dad while out for a walk before dinner. 

We had hobo dinners with ground turkey, hash brown potatoes (already cleaned, cut, and ready to cook!), carrots, and cream of mushroom soup. Matt worked the fire while I made the dinners. We enjoyed a relaxing night of eating good food and chatting. After dinner, we had waffle cones with chocolate, strawberries, marshmallows, bananas (only Shawn and Matt had these) and wrapped them up in tin foil and put them in the fire to melt. Mighty tasty!!! But need to only put them for a minute to let the items melt. Kali and Shawn left quickly after dessert so Leili could be put to bed, which is 8pm, but they didn't leave until 8:45.

We cleaned up and sat around the fire trying to get Kara to sleep who was over tired from not having any naps since 1pm when we left to come up camping. Matt finally got her to sleep by pinning her down. Cute itty bitty slept until 7am the next morning. What a fantastic night for her. My mom left at 11pm and we got to bed around midnight. Not the best sleep for me so after feeding Kara at 7am, having a snack of donuts, and a banana, we went back to sleep until 10:30am. 

Waking up from our 1st night of camping. Kara did great and is so cute!

 We got up for breakfast brunch. Matt cooked and I feed Kara, changed her, and changed my clothes for the day. We ate bacon, hash browns, and eggs. Yummy.

Kara waiting outside with her daddy while he makes breakfast.

Matt cooking breakfast.

Now we are sitting in a grove of trees, by the river, hanging out while Kara naps on my lap.

Kara hanging out by the river. She loves nature and had so much fun looking around. 

Camping continued…

The flies got really bad while we were down by the river so we moved, which woke Kara up. So we decided to hike around the camp. It put Kara to sleep for awhile longer, I got my 5,000 steps in for the day, and it passed the time until we ate dinner.

Family photo out on our hike around camp. 

We had dinner with Matt’s parents that night. We ate Chicken Tacos. It was really easy because we prepped the chicken before we left for camping. Thank you crock pot. I think it is the best invention as I hate cooking! So chicken tacos and watermelon were for dinner. We also had some smores for dessert. It was a little hot for a fire, but the smores tastes good. Matt’s parents left around 8:30 or 9:00. 

Matt's dad having a snooze before dinner

Kara and her grandma...who isn't fond of camping,
(but loves us so much we will be going this summer sometime)

Kara wearing my sunglasses. 

 We cleaned up camp and went to bed by 10:00pm. We were exhausted. Kara woke up that night once for a feeding than back to bed until 9:00am. We woke up had breakfast and packed up to come home so Matt could work out and get some rest before going to work that night.

Kara and Matt in front of the tent trailer.

Kara and me infront of the tent trailer

Kara sleeping on the table while we take down camp.
She woke up as soon as we were done though.

All I can say is it was good we came home earlier in the day. We had to drop off the tent trailer (Thanks Kristin and David!), go home unpack, take showers, put Kara to sleep, and clean up at home. While Matt went to work, I took the truck back to my parents, cleaned out the bed, and then went home and went to bed. Camping was exhausting, but a lot of fun. Two days was the perfect amount of time. I just wished the flies would have left us alone and it be a little cooler. 

6-20-2013

Written on 6-20-2013 on my phone.

I have just fed Kara and changed her diaper. Went downstairs and got my breakfast and brought it back up for breakfast in bed. Matt just started his 7 days on, so it is pretty much Kara and I for the next 7 days.

Can't believe our 9th anniversary will be here in 5 days! So strange to have been married that long already. Love Mattie so much! But I can't also believe how lucky I am that Kara is in our lives. I know she will grow up and develop into who she is meant to be and will get married and one day sit with her little one in her room by her side one day too, probably will feel sooner than later as I have been told "enjoy them, cause they grow up fast"! I do understand that as it has been amazing to watch her grow. It is crazy that once she finds something like smiling it just becomes part of her. She now likes to giggle. We have caught her on tape twice now. Once with me sniffing here sides and once when she and her daddy are playing together, which made my heart just fly.

I love how she lights up and smiles and talks to me when I get into the room to pick her up in the morning. Or after she has spit up or had a blowout, she gives me the biggest smile that lights up her whole face and makes me crack a smile even with the fun of having to clean up.

I don't particularly like these things but I wouldn't give them up!

Matt and I recently went and saw the new Superman movie. It made me want to cry when superman's kryptonian parents put him in a spaceship to send him to earth to save him from being destroyed with their world. I can't imagine their heartbreak of not seeing him grow up! I can't imagine not having Kara! I know last year we had given up on having kids through adoption and were just going to move on with living, but I want to say how impressive and beyond any comprehension what birth parents do when they place their little ones with another loving family to be raised and loved. You birth parents are the super parents that are in the movie Superman movie. I know Matt and I struggled and are supremely happy and glad we had Kara, but I am thankful for those birth parents sacrifice for whatever reason it is to place their loved ones with other families! Without you we wouldn't have Matt's older brother and sister. I also know the other side of having the hope taken away at being told you have been selected by a birth mother and then it being taken away.

Gut wrenching! But I don't know the feelings of the birth family after the placement or the longing of the birth parents wondering about their child they so compassionately placed. There are so many sides to adoption that I couldn't imagine! I am thankful for those hopeful times though that Matt and I had to share and help us grow as we waited for Heavenly Father to bless is with our miracle, Kara. To all those who read this and me especially, always be grateful! Life will constantly change and have ups and downs but remember that Happiness isn't a destination but a state of mind.

Enjoy what you are going through as you will never experience it the same again as we are all constantly changing and growing!

Kara...June 2013

Check out the pictures and videos of Kara during June:

Kara's first time in her bumbo

Father's Day photo shoot...Such an adorable cutie!

Time spent sleeping as she is growing so fast

Notice her arms as they started down by her side before she was asleep.
She is our little whodini!

Kara starting to really talk to me. 

Kara loves to eat her hands.

Kara laughing for the camera. Fourth time laughing.

Matt's first time hearing Kara laugh. Caught it on camera!

Kara...3 Months Old

3 Months Old

Weight - 13 lbs 4 oz.

• Went on her first hike
• Giggles a lot, especially when she is tired, but not TOO tired. 
• Still loves going on walks
• Went to her first drive in
• Sits up in her bumbo
• Insists on always standing up
• Has grown out of her 3 month pajamas
• Went on her first sleepover to the Elswoods with her parents
• Almost out of 3 month clothes as they are getting too tight, plus her head is getting bigger
• Loves to play with her Dad when he is available to hangout.
• Loves to be outside and won’t go to sleep if she is. She is afraid she will miss something

We did her 3 Month photo shoot after church on June 30th. She was tired and hungry when we started...

Stopped her to feed her...

This was the last picture....She told me with her eyes she was done and wanted to go to bed. 

Random Video of Old Times...Nieces and Nephew

I have been on this kick of cleaning and organizing, sometimes a little to strongly to know where to start. But I have started organizing my photos and came across these video of my nieces and nephews. I forgot how little they were and can't believe how grown up they are now. Such cute little ones. I am glad we live in a day and age of the digital camera. You should see how many negatives and photos I need to scan to get those organized.

So hopefully these videos will bring back memories to those who remember Kasiah, Jayden, and Arlee so little.

Happy 9th Anniversary

So I pretty much spent 1 hour with Matt for our actual anniversary day as he had to work, but he got me a SPA Day and a Massage. I am going to do the SPA Day with Kristin sometime soon.

I got Matt a night away sometime in August or September while my mom watches Kara overnight. That should be quite interesting!

We celebrated our Anniversary for Matt's 7 days off starting on June 26th.

We went out to Outback Steak House for dinner. It was yummy, but as soon as our food arrived Kara decided to she was too tired and need to go to sleep! Matt cuddled her up nice and tight and got her to calm down. We also went to the movies with Kara, the drive-in movies that is! What a blast! Kara slept the whole time. We watched Monsters University and Epic. I know they are more kids movies, but they turned out to be good and light.

We then pretty much slept in on Thursday and just had a relax day, except we went up the canyon to look at campsites and ended up hiking an hour up the Lake Blanch trail. Definitely not ready for that hike yet!

Small Waterfall before starting up the trail

Picture moment at one of many stops...
well Matt stopped alot to wait for me. 

At the stopping point before we turned around to go back down.
Beautiful Scenery!

Kara loves hiking and her daddy!

Friday we had a sleep over at the Elswoods on Friday, June 28th. It wasn't the best at night with Kara as she slept in the room with us and the blow up mattress kept deflating.

Well we had a good dinner of enchiladas and great company. The kids are great with Kara. On Saturday, I finally got to sleep around 6 am and was able to sleep until 10am. Thanks to David for fixing me crepes after I woke up.

Gracie and Kara...Matt's two little girls.

Kara taking a nap...She never sleeps anywhere but her bed usually!

We went on a walk/bike ride on Friday night. It was fun and I even rode Kristin's bike. Definitely too short, but I am ready to start riding soon, but I need a bike trailer for Kara though.

After the kids were in bed, we attempted to watch Star Dust, but we were all tired we went to bed at 11:30pm.

Saturday was so hot that the kids, David, and Matt went swimming in their little pool. Kristin and I stayed in the shade mostly with Kara.

What a fun first 4 days of 7 days off. Next is camping, but that is a post all its own!