Tennis Shoes, Tricycles and Tortoises: 2011

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Fun With Hair!

I bring you...pig-tales!! This was our first success at pig-tales, and the brightest, most beautiful smile to go with them!

The day before Gabriella turned 5 months old!

Then, there is bed-head!

And big, pretty bows!

And more adorable pig-tales.

The pig-tales after a nap.

Friday, November 4, 2011

With the adoption being official, we were able to take little Gabriella to the Temple. October 8th was the big day and it was perfect! Grandpa Grumpy was able to get her to sleep before the sealing and brought a sleeping angel into the sealing room. The Sealer talked to Sam for a few minutes about sealings (what a fantastic opportunity for him to get to be with us in the Temple!) and then Grandma brought the sleeping girl to the alter and held her hand on ours for the sealing. It was short and sweet. There was not a dry eye in the room!

We love this sweet baby. She has made each of us better people. We are so grateful for the wonderful friends and family who support and love us. And we are so grateful to Gabriella's Birth-Mom for this amazing gift.

Our dear friend, Jamie of Accidentally Creative Photography took some photos for us:

This isn't everyone who was with us (some escaped before pictures)!

Notice the matching Father and Son ties!

After pictures at the Temple, we went to a restaurant to eat lunch:

With many people!

After a while, Ella was pooped!

The next day, Daddy blessed Gabriella at church. Afterward, we celebrated with another party complete with a beautiful cake!

It tasted as good as it looked!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

It's Official!

On September 29th, we all went to the courthouse and waited for a long time...long enough for Ella to fall asleep in Daddy's arms.

Daddy was in heaven!

After the long wait, we finally met with the judge. In about 3 minutes, the judge declared it official. The adoption is finalized!

We are all thrilled! We feel so blessed to have these two, beautiful children. We are forever grateful to Ella's Birth-Mother for her courage which made this all possible. We love you!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

It's the Little Things...

Life truly is made up of many beautiful, little moments! Here are a few of those little moments I have captured lately...

The other day, I was hanging towels in the bathroom and noticed a couple of beautiful little changes there that made me smile.

Two fun kids towels! One for a big boy, and one for a tiny girl!

And a new, (big) collection of hair bows for that tiny girl!

A wonderful little seat was sent to our sweet girl from an awesome Auntie and Grandma. This fantastic Bebe Pod is worth it's weight in gold because it allows my little Ginger Snap to sit up and be in the thick of the family's goings on!

And it has very fascinating toys to play with

and chew on!

It just makes her SO HAPPY! Which makes Mama happy because it means that Mama can put this sweet girl down and get some things done (like cook dinner).

Remember those fun, little hair bows...