What's new with us?

It's been a long time since I've updated the bloggie, mostly because Kevin got a new computer and now I can't access the network. All of our pictures are on the computer I can no longer access, so when Kevin was gone one night last week I went and stole a bunch of them so I could update. So here's some news...

I forgot to post that I was released as Relief Society President when James came home. Kevin was finally released as Executive Secretary when the ward boundaries were realigned in June, but was quickly called the next week to be the Elder's Quorum President. I am very impressed with the job he is doing with this calling - he is diligent about presidency meetings and visits, and I know he spends much time pondering the age-old question, "What can I do to help the Elders?" James is faithfully fulfilling his calling as the Ward Darling Baby. :)

As you all know, blogging is one of those things I have to squeeze in to James's naptime, so I'm going to keep updating bit-by-bit over the next few days. I think I am up to our summer vacations now, so I will start with our trip to Utah in June.

In June we took a roadtrip up to Utah to visit family and friends and introduce James to everybody. The trip there was a little perilous - we narrowly escaped getting pulled over by a cop for escaping >100 degree heat, car with no air conditioning, and poopy-diapered baby with a heatrash. If you ever want the details, just ask! Anyway, we stayed with our beloved friends Mike and Shelby, whose own bouncing baby boy is a mere four days younger than James. Here is a picture of James with his bff, Andrew. Don't you just want to eat them up?

While in Utah, we visited Kevin's niece (James's cousin) Lara and her hubby Lion. Here is a picture of the three of them in Lara and Lion's apartment in Provo.

We also visited Kevin's aunt Sharon and uncle Lynn and their family. Here is a picture of their whole family with James, and one more of James with Uncle Lynn that Kevin and I love.

Finally, we visited Kevin's sister Trish's grave. We brought her some flowers and also a bookmark that some of her loving high school friends had prepared in her memory. Here is a picture of Kevin and James at her grave.

I will post a slideshow above this post with more pictures from our Utah trip. It was a good trip, and James was a wonderful boy, as he always is. We love doing things with him; he just makes like more fun!

We went to the aquarium!

In May Kevin had the brilliant idea to take James to the Aquarium of the Pacific (a.k.a. the Long Beach Aquarium). We found out they had a good deal on annual passes, so we bought passes for James's first year of life, and it turns out it was a great buy. On the first day it was just the three of us and James loved watching the fishies. I think the lights reflecting through the water and bouncing off the fish scales was mesmerizing to him. We would hold him up in front of the glass and he was perfectly content to just watch the movement and flashing lights through the water. He also liked the sharks and the sea lions, which were big and stark in contrast with all of the blue water. Most of the aquarium pictures in the slideshow below are from that first visit.

The next week Kevin's nephew Ryan and his wife Denice were in town from Wisconsin, so we all went back up to Long Beach and went on a whale-watching cruise. We didn't see any whales, but we saw lots of dolphins and sea lions. A few minutes into the cruise James got a faceful of sea-wind and didn't like that, so I took him downstairs, fed him, bundled him up, and he slept through the rest of the cruise! It's a good thing he was free! After the cruise we went back into the aquarium for another visit, and James loved it again. A couple of aquarium pictures in the slideshow below are from this visit, and the boat pictures are also from this visit.

We also found out that Cindy's sister Jeanine and her family had annual passes to the aquarium, so this week Cindy and James met Jeanine's family up in Long Beach and spent the day together at the aquarium. On this visit James seemed more interested in people-watching as all he had to do was catch the eye of any of his cousin and then he was instantly the center of attention. Everybody just loves this little guy! :)

James's first baseball game

We took James to his first baseball game on May 11 (Angels v. Tampa Bay Rays). Here are some pictures:

In this one he's all bundled up in his warm clothes in the carseat after we got home...doesn't he look cozy and warm?

Pictures of James at home

I put a slideshow below of pictures of James at home. Most of these were taken when he was right around three months old. The pictures in the green plaid outfit and the blue-striped overalls (including the cute one with Kevin) were taken on Mother's Day. Aren't the ones with the blue blanket on the couch so cute? He was being extra adorable that day so I was just clicking away on the camera.

I couldn't resist!

Here are some more...

My little genius, playing with the alphabet toy. "Spin, spin the letter..."

All dressed up and ready for church...

The whole family. :)

Oh, you know there's more to come!!

More James!

Here are some updates on our little love bug...

Here he is having some Daddy-time. Doesn't he look smart?

Here is his sweet little James smile...

He really is the sweetest little thing. I just can't wait to get him up in the morning...he gives me a huge smile every time I lean over the crib to pick him up. He also smiles like this, laughs and coos every time we change him. He loves getting his diaper changed and taking a bath!
This is a good four-generation shot: Great-Grandpa Seth, Grandpa Daryl, Daddy Kevin, Baby James.

Here is James in my favorite jammies...he grew out of them so fast! :(

Here is James gettin' jiggie....

James and Mommy...

I love this face, but I don't think it's a face only a mother could love! :)

Introducing James Henry

If you're looking at this blog, you probably already know the great news - we've adopted a beautiful baby boy! James Henry came home to us on March 11, 2010, two weeks after we found out his wonderful birthparents had selected us to adopt him. He was born on January 28, 2010, in San Diego county, and LDS Family Services made the arrangements for him to join our family. We are just beside ourselves with love and adoration. This little boy is a wonder in so many ways. He's asleep right now, so I've got a few minutes to try to quickly get some pictures on here for those of you who haven't met him yet. I'm going to attach a slide show above this post. Keep checking back for more pictures!

A little about us....

We are excited to introduce ourselves. We were approved for adoption through LDS Family Services in January 2008 and are now anxiously engaged in searching out and finding our little baby! We feel like the time has definitely come for us to add a new member to our family.

Let us tell you a little bit about ourselves.

Cindy was born and raised in southern California. She went to BYU for her Bachelor's Degree in English, but after graduation came back to California and hasn't left since. She later earned a Master's Degree in English from Chapman University and now teaches college English, the best job in the world! Cindy loves all things beautiful: waterfalls, mountains, blue skies, rain, oceans, classical architecture, classical music, and most of all, books. Cindy will mostly be maintaining this blog, so when you read the "I" voice, it will usually be hers.

Kevin was also born and raised in southern California, and also graduated from BYU -- with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. He served an LDS (Mormon) mission in Brazil and now speaks Portuguese and Spanish. Kevin loves to analyze things, has a great eye for detail, and can get totally caught up in a project, but he also knows how to relax and have fun. He also enjoys taking in the occasional ballgame -- particularly if it involves the Dodgers, Angels, or Lakers.