Certified!

Hey, ya'll! (I love saying that) We just received word that as of November 10th, we are officially certified to adopt by the state of Arizona. How amazingly cool is that?? Of course we are adopting Lily the cocker spaniel. Depending on some test results, she will be home the week after Thanksgiving. It's exciting to build our family- even if we start with dogs and then work our way to children (haha). We've always been a slightly unconventional and rather spontaneous family anyway- don't see that changing anytime soon. We'll keep you informed! Love you all!

Sweet Little Lily

We've had Lily for two overnight visits this week, and she's doing so good, we hate to take her back! But we have to for right now. She's really smart and learning how we do things around here. Aaron and Vicki came over with the boys last night and she did really well with them, too. Hooray! Here's some cute pictures I took of her this morning- she sure loves to cuddle!

Cancun and other "spontaneous" adventures...

I love life...I'll just say that right now. It's too grand of an adventure to be missed!!!

As most of you know, Sean and I recently took our official honeymoon in Cancun, Mexico. We had a bit of a bumpy time getting there (bad weather, flight delays because of plastic clip-on Emergency Exit signs), but once we arrived, we had a blast! We went boogie boarding, which I had never done; we went biking, kayaking, and of course, swam a lot. The food was pretty good, and getting all the non-alcoholic pina coladas and strawberry daquiris we could handle was pretty awesome, too. One activity was me painting my own ceramic statue of two dolphins swimming together. The guy put on the lacquer and personalized it- pretty sweet!

We have other fun news (and no, I'm not pregnant so calm down):
1) We won the lottery! The doggie lottery, that is. We were on a list to adopt a cocker spaniel named Lily, and because the other person wasn't interested, we got bumped up on the list. So she's our girl! She will be coming tomorrow for a two-night visit, and we're excited. She's such a sweetheart and we think she'll be a great addition to the Team.

2) My mom will be visiting from Dec 9 to Dec 17, and then she will be riding up with us to go to Utah for Christmas, along with my sister Emilie who is in Phoenix. While she's here, she and I will be attending Emilie's big Christmas concert in Mesa called "Sing We All Noel". It looks fabulous- you should go if you can! It's Thursday, Dec 10 at 7:30 and tickets are about $14/person. (Okay, enough advertising for the sis...) The dogs will NOT be coming with us. A good friend of mine will be house/pet sitting, so everyone wins! Also while Mom is here, we will be going to the Gaslight Theatre's Christmas show, "On the Road to the North Pole" (Mom and Em love it so its kind of a Christmas gift for them to go). So December will be busy, with finals and trips and visits...and new four-legged children. But it will be grand!

3) I recently learned that Fiddler on the Roof will be coming to Tucson Music Hall in February. The best part is that Tevye will be played by Topol, the original Tevye from the movie! Hard to believe, but true! It's his "Farewell Tour", and they are going to only a handful of cities in the U.S. So, since I had some money saved up from my last job, and Sean and Emilie love the movie, and I'm liking it too (only saw it for the first time recently), and since I'm really good at being spontaneous...I bought tickets. Yes, we are going to see Topol play Tevye live, and I managed to get front balcony seats....this is going to rock! I love Broadway!

And 4) This isn't exactly good news, but kind of. Our adoption papers finally went to the courts, so hopefully we will be certified by the end of the year. We'll keep you posted.

Okay, NOW I will post pictures...(pics of Leo and Lily coming soon!)

We're here!!!!!!!!


The view from our room


Ta-Da! Our fabulous studio


Shaving cream and traveling don't mix... :P


I found a live star fish- so fun!


The Lagoon


Who's that handsome guy? Must be a tourist.



Ridin' the waves! (Sometimes...)


Chillin' at the beach


The pool at night...so pretty!


Chichen Itza!


Ancient Tic-Tac-Toe...looks like somebody won.


A Mayan temple (and us)


Our ocean view via bike ride


We found this sandy area that had thousands,
maybe millions of tiny seashells. I had to collect
some of course!


Sean was asking how to say "boat" in Spanish.
The waiter wasn't sure what a boat was, so
Sean held a napkin above his hat to illustrate.


Painting my dolphins

Of Grooming and the Gaslight Theatre...and Hiking...oh, and Painting, too!

This week has been pretty fun....we finished painting the master bedroom. It looks pretty good!


(sorry if the pics are a bit fuzzy...no flash and slightly shaky hands...)

On Thursday morning, I gave Leo a hair-cut, commonly called the "cocker cut" (see picture). I think he looks oh so adorable, and if I keep this up, we will save almost $150 a year by not taking him to the groomer. Gotta love it...(even though he's not a big fan)


Last night, we went to the Gaslight Theatre with Loren and Austin. Austin had never been and he had a blast, which I think says a lot about a person. Anyway, the show was "Cronan: The Barbarian", and it was by far the funniest show I've seen there. We all laughed so hard...and the cast did, too. In one scene involving a centaur, the main actress on stage was laughing so hard she couldn't speak for like five minutes...it was fantastic...If you get a chance to see it, totally go- its there until Halloween (Oct 31).



This morning, Sean and I went to Pusch Ridge in Oro Valley for a little hike. It was fun, and of course, watching Leo explore and chase rabbits was half of the entertainment. Afterward, we went to Arby's for lunch, mostly to visit my friend Min who's the manager. Good day so far...Sean is leaving on a business trip this week until Friday, so spending all this fun time with him will sure help. I don't think we've been apart for more than a couple days, so I'm really going to miss my honey bear.







In other news, I got a D on my first chemistry test, but because I kick butt on quizzes and HW, I still have an A in the class...figure that one out...anyway, if I just keep trying, I will survive this semester!

And...let's see...oh! Sean and I are hoping to adopt another Cocker Spaniel. It's not official yet but we're really praying we get to be her family (we're on a list right now). Pima Community College's Vet Tech program (the one I'm trying for), gets animals from local shelters for the students to take care of. At the end of every semester, they find the animals permanent, loving homes. I think its a pretty cool system. Anyway, right now they have this absolutely cute female cocker named Lily. She's a golden color with amber eyes and a brown nose. And her personality is so much like Leo. She's a snuggle-bug, very sweet but very excitable, too....she's basically a golden, female version of Leo...although he could chase a ball till he fell over and she'd rather snuggle. We feel like its the right thing, especially for Leo...he just needs a friend, and Sean refuses to get another cat...anyway, keep your fingers crossed!


This isn't Lilly, but its kind of what she looks like, only her tail is docked like Leo's and her coat is more of the top length all over...just to give ya'll a visual. Real pictures coming soon!

Sean also bought me a new ring....it's not quite what I was expecting, but its the thought that counts, right? It's definitely unique...

Color Makes Me Happy

So here are some pictures of the final paint job, especially showing the red color, Autumn Sunset. We're really happy with it. I also included some cute pictures of Leo- he was practicing to be the next Underdog...love you all! (p.s. I got the job with the horses...yay!)


Our beautimous kitchen!!!!


Lovely tan and red...


Super Leo!


He looks just like a little kid dressed up as
Superman...I love this dog...


Snuggles with Sean...aaawwww....

Livin' the Dream

So this weekend has been really busy, but fabulous. (And it's only mid-Saturday!) Yesterday (Friday), we had our adoption homestudy. It went really well. We expect to be certified by the end of October. It could be sooner, but we'll see. After that, Mom and Loren came over to help me paint our main room. We got a lot of it done. My two colors are "Nevada Tan" and "Autumn Sunset". I'm starting on the sunset this afternoon. So that's super exciting. It just makes it feel more like home. Around 5, Aaron and Vicki came over with the boys and we all had pizza to celebrate Loren's birthday. It was fun being with the fam. This morning, Sean is working on a project with Aaron. They are trying to solve the "Eternity II" puzzle, which I guess is so challenging that, whoever solves it wins $2 Million...good luck, guys! I went to live my dream today. I was "hired" (it's pending but I'm pretty positive I got the job) to work at a stable near Tanque Verde and Pantano. I would go there in the evenings 4 times a week to bring in the horses. I would be paid $10/night which would go toward a riding lesson once a week (an hour lesson is $40). So I get to work with horses, learn how to care for them, and learn to ride...if you can't tell, I am so excited...it's the best!!!! I start classes this Wednesday. Apparently there is a waiting list for my program (Veterinary Technology), so my goal is to take Equine Science classes and work with horses until I can start the program. If our kids come first, at least I'll have the knowledge to teach them about horses and how to ride...which is a big goal of mine, too. Life is good!!!!!!!!

p.s. just a few painting photos...enjoy!


Taping the walls is fun to do...

Isn't this fun????

Sean caught Mom in her "zone"...


Gives new meaning to the term "smiling cheeks"-
Loren and I had fun with this one...

Families Supporting Adoption Conference

This last weekend, Sean and I went to Phoenix to attend an adoption conference sponsored by FSA (Families Supporting Adoption). It was a great experience. We'd been to one before, focusing on open adoptions and birthmothers. This conference focused on several topics, and we attended a few workshops. Some topics we investigated included trans-racial adoption, foster care/older child adoption, infant CPR/care, and the various "adoption options". During the foster care workshop, Sean and I both felt impressed by the Spirit to look into foster care. We are still researching and praying, but we may look into becoming licensed to do foster care. It won't affect our adoption certification at all- in fact, that certification will help. Anyway, if we don't do foster care right now, we would like to someday. We have also being very impressed to look into the adoption of older children from the foster care system, ranging from infants to teenagers. Who knows where Heavenly Father will lead us, but we are looking forward to every step of the journey. Love you all!