Connor is 10

The time keeps going by faster and faster.  These ten years have gone by quick and I'm afraid the next ten will go by even quicker-and he will be 20.

The boys can choose a big party with friends or a family dinner with gifts for their Birthday.  Connor has always done a fun party, but wanted to celebrate at home this year, which was perfect because he shared his Birthday with Father's Day.
He had a few friends over on Friday, they did dart side, ate dinner at Wendy's and had a late night playing basketball and baseball.

Sunday we did a Father's Day/Birthday BBQ.  He requested black and white cupcakes and cherry limeade that he wanted to make.

Justin was so excited to get him a wood bat for his Birthday.  Connor had been asking for one for a long time and Justin found the perfect bat that was Red, White, and Blue.
Americana colors and Dominicana Colors, perfect fit!

He also got a pro scooter, a soccer ball and my Dad surprised him with a microscope.  

Connor had been wanting one for a long time, my dad had no idea, but thought he might like one and picked one out to give him.  Connor was so excited and surprised, it was perfect. 

It was a wonderful Birthday celebration that lasted most of the week with different 

friends and family.  

Connor coming to our family ten years ago was a miracle.

I will never forget the experiences and feelings I had during his adoption.  We don't have contact with his birthmother, but I would love to write her and tell her how amazing Connor is.  

He is kind and gentle.  He is always aware and sensitive of everyones feelings. He is crazy athletic. Loves science and reading.  I always say he should have been a farm boy.  He is an early riser, loves to fix and build things, wonderful at yard work, loves being outside, and has such a way with animals.  

His light shines so bright!

I am grateful to be his mom and celebrate ten years of Birthdays with him!

BABY SHARK

Brooks was invited to play comp baseball with the Tiburones this spring.  Chales, who has been helping Connor with Pitching, was the coach and we were excited for the fun little team he put together.  Brooks did great and pitched quite a bit for the team.

 I just adore the picture of him on his scooter.

Tiburones means Shark in Espanyol.  I've been calling him Baby Shark ever since he got his cute little uniform.  We have put on our matching Tiburones hoodies and danced our hearts out to "Baby Shark do do do do do, baby shark!"  The nickname really suites him well since he is such a water boy and loves swimming, diving, splashing.  If there's water he's happy!

               

It's Been Awhile...

After a four year hiatus I think it's time to get back to the blog.  I miss documenting our day-to-day and special occasions.  Sadly, it would be too hard to make up for all the lost time. I may do a quick recap to get things going again, vacations, baseball, school, the highlights of what I've missed and start fresh.

IDC DESIGN

I had been looking for part time work during the holidays. My mom had been going to classes, just for fun, at IDC Design and heard they were look for "Elves" to help decorate during the holidays. It sounded like something I would love and somehow it all worked out and I found myself decorating away throughout the holidays. It was a ton of fun, and absolutely exhausting. I knew I was signing up for six weeks of insane schedule and tons of work but thought the opportunity to work with such great vendors was worth it! I am so glad I did it and loved it!  I was even offered a permanent position with the company.  As much as I loved it, it wasn't worth the crazy schedule of never seeing my kids.

As always, I should have taken so many more pictures! Keep in mind the lighting is terrible in all of these photos and I don't think I ever got pictures of the finished project, which sounds CRAZY, but I promise the work itself was literally crazier, to the point where the last thing on my mind was taking pictures. Out of respect we don't take photos inside clients homes, which were some of my favorite finished results! We did all the trees at the Grand America Hotel. We helped with the Gingerbread house there and did all trees and garlands around it. We also did decorations for the Huntsman's Hope Party at the Grand America. We did the LDS Conference Center for the Tabernacle Choir's Christmas Concert with Sesame Street. We also did the decor for the First Presidency Devotional. To give you an idea of how crazy it was, as soon as the devotional was over, at 9:00 at night, we had to undecorated 50 Christmas trees and start redecorating them for the Concert. We spent lots of time inside the IDC shop building sets, painting, putting together wreaths, making giant ribbon, floral arrangements, you name it! We also did hotels, law firms, country clubs, etc. All of this was done in six weeks, a lot of nights I got home after midnight and was up at 5:30 heading out again. it was absolutely nuts but so much fun! Definitely an awesome opportunity! There were four of us that would decorate and a separate crew of about four that was over setup and more of the construction side of things.

Here is picture overload!

Getting the set ready at the conference center. 

My car was always packed full of Christmas decor!

Working at the Gingerbread house was definitely one of my favorite projects!

Hope Christmas party. 

Getting more trees ready at the Grand America

Outside decor at The Grand. 

Loved the Jou Jou tree at the toyshop!

It was so fun seeing the sesame street puppets, and puppeteers. 

First presidency devotional set. 

Making giant ribbon from chicken wire for the conference center. 

Boxes being painted, getting ready to be wrapped in ribbon, to make giant Christmas gifts for the stage. 

Decorating on ridiculously high ladders. I would sometimes sing at the top of my lungs with the tabernacle choir! It was so fun working above them and listening to them practice. 

Getting more and more done. 

Watched so many dress rehearsals.

We built these giant wreaths. It was so so tedious but they looked good once they were finished!

I really loved working for IDC. It was an awesome experience, definitely one I will never forget!

And I never could have done it without my awesome family! My cute grandparents babysat my boys so I could work.  My mom made sure my family was fed and happy and spent countless hours taking care of them. And Justin worked everyday and came home took care of the boys. We hardly saw each other but he was more than supportive knowing how much I was loving this break from my normal routine.