"D" IS FOR DINOSAUR

Dinosaur Train, on PBS kids, is one of Orion's favorite shows.  And we admit, we love their take on adoption.


Kami's grandparents have lived in Wyoming for years.  It's a tradition, each time we go, to stop at Little America on the way and see the big green dinosaur out front. It's nice to get out of the car and stretch our legs. Plus, they have great restrooms!

Trip with cousins in summer of 2011

Nana and Orion in the fall of 2010

                                                                                      

"C" IS FOR CHOCOLATE

We are a chocolate family!!! We have to use the word "chocolate" in our home very carefully... Orion perks up very quickly if he hears it. Cadbury chocolate has got to be our favorite and we try to bring back as much as we can from England, but it never seems to last long enough. (:

some of chocolate items in our home

easter morning last year. i love orion's
expression before he took a bite of the chocolate egg.

"B" IS FOR BIKES

 We love bikes in our family! Tim and I both grew up riding bikes.  Tim remembers feeling a sense of freedom the first time he was able to ride without training wheels.  He will be riding in a 120 mile race this summer with a 10,000 elevation gain. Go Tim!!!
 I have fond memories of bike rides along the Provo River and competing in a small annual race. And waking up early as a teenager to get a ride in with my dad before he headed to work and I went to school.
 We hope to get Orion on a training bike of his own this year. He has already made a super hero outfit from Tim's helmet (backwards is the new forwards!). 

the plunger helps defend against monsters

just finishing a race at the 2011 utah summer games

LET'S BEGIN... "A" IS FOR ADOPTION

If someone had asked us a few years ago what we knew about adoption, the answer would probably have been very basic and not something we thought about much. We had no idea that right around the corner from us was a great experience waiting to happen.
Orion came into our lives exactly two years ago.  We were contacted through e-mail by his birth parents through LDSFS. It was an exciting and anxious time for us.  Exciting because we wanted to find out all about them. And we definitely wanted to meet them. Anxious because we were worried that they wouldn't chose us to be Orion's parents. Shannon (Orion's birth mom) didn't have much time left in her pregnancy and we soon made a trip to see them. It didn't take us long to feel a great love for Shannon and Drew (Orion's birth dad).   On Valentine's day two years ago Shannon and Drew informed us that they had chosen us to be Orion's parents- what a great Valentine's gift!!!

Our first face-to-face meeting. About a month before Orion was born.

A visit in Las Vegas when Orion was about 6 months old.

A visit to the zoo with Shannon.

A visit with Drew right before Orion had his 1st birthday.

Shannon was able to come to Utah this past summer to see Orion and attend an adoption conference.  We had so much fun! This photo was taken at a park where they were both dripping wet from the water toys.

THE ABC'S OF OUR FAMILY

Ok! Our blog has been pretty pathetic lately...so to get things going again we're taking an idea that our friends, the Moon family, used on their blog. We are going to list a word from each letter in the alphabet that represents our family. We hope you get to know us a little better and see what we're all about. Thanks!

Orion's Dance Moves

Orion puts on his dance moves while we clean up dinner... enjoy!

Summer is here!!!