Kevin, Cindy and James

2010-10-19T15:27:00.001-07:00

What's new with us?

2010-10-19T14:12:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-10-13T15:25:00.000-07:00

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! :)

2010-10-13T15:24:00.001-07:00

James's first baseball game

2010-06-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-18T15:47:00.002-07:00

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.

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I couldn't resist!

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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!

2010-05-12T13:19:00.001-07:00

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! :)

2010-03-17T16:51:00.001-07:00

Introducing James Henry

2010-03-17T15:55:00.000-07:00

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....

2009-01-05T19:06:00.000-08:00

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.

Pictures of the two of us...

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A little more about us....

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Kevin and I dated for almost two and a half years before we got married, so we were very good friends and knew each other pretty well by our wedding day. I was really excited to be getting married, because all I ever really wanted out of life was to have a family, to be a wife and mother, and to create a home. Our wedding day was the happiest day of my life. The picture above is the picture we used in our wedding invitations.

Here is a picture of Kevin from our first Christmas together. Don't you love the tiny tree?

The pictures in the slideshow above this post are mostly from vacations we have taken. I really love traveling and have had some unique opportunities to get out and see the world. I have an adventurous spirit and always feel like there is more out there that I need to discover and explore.

Kevin, however, has taught me that some vacations dedicated primarily to rest and relaxation can be just as enjoyable. Together, we like taking weekend trips to nearby getaways such as San Diego, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, etc. At local venues such as these, a typical day might consist of sleeping in (just a little), venturing out to some of the local shops and restaurants, and otherwise hanging out at the motel playing Scrabble, watching TV, dining in, or going to the pool.

This picture is from a Scrabble match when we were staying in Palm Springs.

Here is a picture of us "packing in" a night out on the town in Chicago, vacationing Cindy-style.

Kevin is self-employed as a real estate broker and spends part of his time working with clients in the traditional sense of helping people buy and sell homes. At Kevin's encouragement, I got my real estate license so I could periodically help him take clients around to go house-shopping -- something I frankly confess I enjoy doing. Kevin devotes the balance of his work time to developing relatively high-end, high-tech marketing systems for other real estate professionals who then become business partners or "clients" in a different, less traditional sense. While Kevin is good at both aspects of real estate, he probably enjoys the marketing side a little more. My "real" job is as an English teacher. When we have a baby, I plan on retiring from work and becoming a full-time mom and homemaker.

Here I am whipping up some dinner in our lovely teal kitchen.

Some of our favorite pastimes include playing with our cats; watching Survivor and those good ol' cable-TV classics Man Vs. Wild and Seconds from Disaster; getting together with friends for dinner and games; going to Angels baseball games with various groups of friends and family; getting together with Kevin's parents and grandpa for dinner and a Boggle match (nobody has ever beat Kevin); and getting together with my family at my mom's house to swim, eat, and play cards.

Here is a picture of Kevin blowing bubbles for my nieces and nephews at a party at my mom's house. The grandkids get lots of love and laughs at grandma's house!

Well, I think this should give you a good feel for our family. I think we live a fairly simple life, focusing on work, church, and home. While we like to travel and enjoy the world around us, we mostly enjoy spending time together and with our families. We have a good life and a good home, and we just want a baby to share it with.

Our brief foray into parenthood...

2009-01-05T16:12:00.000-08:00

We thought it was time to update our blog to reflect an experience we had in September. On September 25, 2008, we received a phone call from a doctor who had delivered a baby that morning. She told us his parents had made the decision to place him for adoption. We went to the hospital that day, met the birthparents, and were able to hold the baby -- such a beautiful little boy. After meeting with them, his parents decided they would place him in our home for which we were so very grateful. The next day, when he and his birthmother were released from the hospital, we went and picked up our first son.

We named him Blake Charles. Blake was the name his birthparents had been calling him, and we felt it suited him nicely. Charles was Cindy's late father's name. On the night he was born, we went on a wild shopping spree, buying a carseat, stroller, crib, changing table, clothes, diapers, bottles, bathing supplies, and everything else a baby might need in his first week or so of life. On the first day Blake was at home with us, we put together his furniture and stroller, and took turns holding him with all our family members who came over to welcome him into our family.

Blake was an absolute doll. Not only was he beautiful to look at (as you can see in the pictures below), but he had the sweetest temperament. As long as he was being held, he was content. He didn't particularly like being put in bed, but he would sleep for hours as long as we were holding him. We, of course, didn't mind at all -- as proud new parents who had waited so long for a child, we were only too happy to oblige his every wish. He also seemed very alert and intelligent when he was awake. I could make eye contact with him from the very first day, and he also smiled from the very beginning. Mostly he would just look around with his big brown eyes, looking like a little scientist investigating a new world. The "Beautiful Baby Blake" picture in the slideshow below captures his little scientist look.

My favorite time with Blake was in the middle of the night. Although I was tired, that was the time when I really bonded with him. It was like Blake and I were the only two people in the world. His smell, his sweet baby breath, his soft skin. It was an enchanting time for me. After he ate, I would sing to him and he would smile at me -- such a sweet angel baby.

Unfortunately for us, Blake's birthparents missed him too much. After a few days of heaven with Blake, we received a call from his birthfather telling us that they wanted to raise Blake themselves. You can imagine how heartbroken we were to have to give our little miracle baby away. The only consolation is knowing that he is with people who love him as much as we do. Blake will always be, in our hearts, our first baby.

Baby Blake

2009-01-05T16:11:00.001-08:00

Catching up on 2008...

2009-01-05T15:00:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since we updated our blog, so here's some recapping for 2008...

Kevin's two nieces both got married in Utah this summer -- Melynda in June and Lara in August. We decided to turn each trip to Utah into a different vacation.

At the beginning of the first trip, we spent three days at Bryce Canyon (see picture above). During the days at Bryce, we went on different hikes along the canyon rim and down into the canyon. One day we got up early to see the sunrise over the canyon; it was cloudy so the sunrise was a bit disappointing, but we ended up hiking all day down in the canyon, and it probably became my most memorable hiking experience. Kevin reserved our second night at Bryce for NBA Finals Game 3 between the Lakers and Celtics on the tele, and on our last night we went to a stargazing party -- hosted by a special breed of park rangers dubbed "dark rangers" -- and saw some pretty cool things on some powerful telescopes (like Saturn and all its rings).

Up in northern Utah for the wedding, we stayed with some of our good friends from our singles days, Mike and Shelby, and their two kids, pictured with us here. We miss those guys!

Here is Melynda, the beautiful June bride, with her new husband, Mike.

In August we headed back to Utah for Lara's wedding. Here is a picture of Lara and her new husband, Lyon. Pretty picture, isn't it? Uncle Kevin caught this nice shot.

On the way home from Utah we spent a few days at Zion National Park. Here is a picture of us on the Emerald Pools Trail in Zion. This was a nice hike, but the real highlight of the trip to Zion was when we "hiked the Narrows," or hiked up the Virgin River as it carves through Zion Canyon (pictured below). This was a spectacular hike with absolutely breathtaking vistas around every bend, and the accompanying picture doesn't really even do it justice. Kevin says we should do this hike again in the near future -- only this time the entire 16 miles from top to bottom -- and risk taking a digital camera rather than a disposable to capture better pictures. (I say risk because if you trip and fall down in the river -- which sometimes gets 4 feet deep or more in places -- your camera is obviously going to take a bath!) I'm not sure if I'm up for the marathon trek, but we'll see! Did I mention the flash flood warnings!

2008 was also the year of Blake, to which I already dedicated a post. We miss you, Blake.

At the end of 2008 we were both in our church's production of "Savior of the World," a musical about the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the eternal significance that has for each one of us. This was a huge part of our year and will be an experience we will cherish for the rest of our lives. These pictures capture both of us in our costumes -- Kevin arrayed in robes and yarmulke (you can sort of see it on the back of his head) and Cindy in the garb of a townsperson.

All in all, we'd have to say 2008 was a pretty good year.

Getting to know Kevin...

2008-05-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

Kevin is a very unique individual. He's very sensitive and is a good listener. When we were dating, I always appreciated how he took the time to know the real me. I always felt like he was looking me in the eye, trying to understand what it was I was saying, which helped me to feel very close to him. One of the things I love about Kevin is that there are a lot of male stereotypes that he just does not fit: he is never afraid to stop and ask for directions, he always reads the instructions all the way through before assembling anything, he can appreciate good music or a movie or play that has a good message, he owns no power tools, and he hates the commercials that play on male stereotypes which seem to dominate during ballgames on TV.

On the other hand, he loves sports, is very competitive no matter what type of game he is playing, can always put the TV/VCR/cable wiring back together (something I won't even attempt!), and loves to wolf down pizza and junk food -- typical male stuff. :) In the picture below Kevin is standing in front of Wrigley Field in Chicago, one of our stops on a road trip to his nephew's wedding during the summer of 2007. Kevin definitely got a kick out of visiting this historic ballfield.

In our church's singles ward, Kevin was nicknamed "the Professor" because he always had so much to contribute in class. While the nickname was a joke for most, to me, his professorial nature was one of the most attractive things about him when we were dating. In this picture, though, you can see that he has more than brains to offer. :)

Another thing I like about Kevin is how well he gets along with my family. In this picture he is sitting with my niece Emilie, who has always had a good relationship with him. Whenever we get together with my family I hardly see him because he is always off with my brothers and stepdad, talking sports, while I'm with my sisters and my mom, talking girltalk.

I am lucky to also get along very well with Kevin's family. His parents live nearby so we see them often. His sisters, on the other hand, both live out of state and yet we somehow have managed to see them nearly every summer since we've been married. His oldest sister has four grown kids whom I've really come to know and love. This picture was taken at Bryce Canyon, where we stopped on our way to Utah to visit Kevin's family.

Here is Kevin eating Mexican food (our favorite!) on our first anniversary trip to Santa Barbara. Mmmm, yummy.

In the picture below, Kevin is showing off his "flying fish" that was caught on our second-anniversary trip to Catalina Island.

When we bought our home it was approaching 30 years old and needed some cosmetic upgrades. I took this picture of Kevin scraping the popcorn off the ceiling in our entryway to document our home remodeling efforts.

In general, Kevin is a likable guy whose goofy side is often more visible than his serious side. Because of this, people always like him and feel at ease with him. But he is also a serious person who wants to make the right decisions and live his life right, which is the thing I love about him. Hopefully these pictures have given you a good feel for him.

Getting to know Cindy...

2008-05-23T15:44:00.000-07:00

I consider myself pretty shy, and I'm always hesitant to seek attention. But I'm usually in the background, working hard to make sure everything goes right. In school, I was always the student who never raised her hand (too shy!) but whose grades reflected a pretty studious side. Once you get to know me, however, I'm very open, caring, warm, and funny (at least I like to think so!).

When I was 11 my parents bought a piano from a family at church and I began taking piano lessons. I discovered early on that I had been blessed with a talent for playing the piano as well as a love for it.

I love music in general. I love classical music and a lot of eighties and nineties rock and alternative music, but my favorite is musicals: I love Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, The Sound of Music, West Side Story, Show Boat, My Fair Lady, etc.

My true love, however, is literature. At the bottom of this blog I put a link to my "shelf" on Shelfari.com, a website where I can keep track of all of the books I have read, the books I want to read, talk with others about books, and even rate books. I am almost always in the middle of reading a book. Some of my favorite authors are Thomas Hardy, George Eliot, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters and Leo Tolstoy.

Here is a picture of me when I graduated from BYU. This was in my bedroom...my roommate and I had decorated it like "a romantic Italian restaurant" with vining ivy and white lights wrapped around the ceiling (and a moon and sun motif).

Here is a picture of me with my two oldest friends on the day I graduated from Chapman. I am proud of my college education and truly identify myself as an "English major."

This is another picture from my bedroom at BYU. I don't really play the guitar...that's my roommate's. But I do like to act pretty goofy sometimes, and I like to rock it out once in a while, too. ;)

One more picture from BYU days...I dressed up like a pirate one Halloween for work. I was a waitress at a Mexican restaurant in town, probably the funnest job I've ever had!

After I graduated from BYU, I moved back to California and worked at an environmental engineering firm (the same company my dad worked for) as a technical writer and editor. I enjoyed the job because I got to work with my dad for several years and really got to know him a lot better. Here is a picture of me in the office, showing my "professional" side.

My dad passed away suddenly after I'd been working with him for four years. Losing my dad was the worst thing that ever happened to my family and me, but we all agree that it made us closer than ever because we know what it's like to lose someone.

While I worked for the environmental company, I attended a singles ward and met Kevin during this time. Kevin took this picture of me in the living room of the house I was living in while we dated.

My whole life has changed since I married Kevin. I'm never more happy than when I'm at home making plans for our family. I love to make plans for home improvements, vacations, dinners, and picnics or other ways to spend our Saturdays. I also love to arrange get-togethers with my family.

I really love my family more than anything in the world, so I'm going to end now with some pictures of me with my family. First, here is a picture of my sister and me (in the white shirt) on our uncle's boat, sailing past Laguna Beach.

Here I am with two of my youngest nieces, Kali and Kaytlin.

Here Kevin and I are on a camping trip with my brother and his wife.

And finally, here is a great four-generation photo of some of my family, taken at one of our get-togethers at my mom's house. This includes my grandpa (who passed away in 2008), my mom, three of her six kids (one sister holding her son, one brother holding his daughter, and me holding one of my nieces), and five of the grandkids (there are now eight, with a ninth on the way).

Thanks for taking the time to learn about me! :)

Introducing our cats...

2008-05-16T19:55:00.000-07:00

A little about our cats, Shadows and Mitch...

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In 2006 we adopted two male cats, Shadows and Mitch, from a family we knew through our church. Shadows was one year old and Mitch two years when we adopted them.

Kevin and I both grew up with pets; my family always had dogs and at least one cat at all times, while Kevin grew up with a dog and two cats. However, neither of us realized how much fun cats could be until we brought these two guys home. Even as I type this they are chasing each other around the house like the little wild animals they are. They keep us laughing with the way they hunt and pounce on each other (and occasionally on us), talk to the birds and rabbits outside, run away from the "cat bogeyman" (any noise or movement that startles them), and play with their favorite toy -- one of Kevin's discarded shoelaces. They are also very sweet and give us lots of cuddle time full of purrs and love. I've learned that there's nothing nicer than a warm kitty cuddling up next to me and purring himself to sleep.

Some of our favorite scenery shots from vacations we have taken...

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Why we like our scenery shots...

2008-04-11T15:14:00.000-07:00

I have added in the posting above a slideshow with some of our favorite "scenery" shots from vacations we've been on. I like all of these shots because they are so physically beautiful. I have to give Kevin credit; I think he actually was the photographer on all of these, though I was always close by offering my "artistic" advice. :)

I love the pictures of the California coast--they seem like professional pictures to my amateur eye. I included the picture of the Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle because that is one of Kevin's favorites. The Alaskan sunset picture is one of my favorites because it has some of my favorite colors -- cool blues and purples -- which are very soothing to me. The pictures of the old homes in Georgetown, TX capture two things: first, one of the things we like to do when we travel, which is to explore the "real life" wherever we are; and second, my obsession with old homes (I love HGTV!!). Hopefully the pictures of the Nauvoo Temple in Illinois and Mt. Rushmore speak for themselves...what more can I say?