4 wheeling in Uintas

Yesterday we had an absolute blast. Kimberly and Jason invited us to go up to the Uintas with them to check out some camping spots for later this summer as well as ride some 4-wheelers around. The day started off a little rough with one of Jason's 4-wheelers leaking oil and gasoline. He was able to get it fixed and then we were going to load the 4-wheelers and a welding point on his trailer had given and fallen off. We got the bikes loaded and got on our way.

It was absolutely beautiful up there. We went up to Soap Stone in the Uintas

Here Shaileen is being an amazing Aunt.

See I told you it was beautiful up there.

Unfortunately the same bike we were having problems with gave us fits up there too. We even had to end up towing them up a hill. 

Jason, Alex and I got on the wheeler and I rode him back to the truck so he could drive it up to load the other bike.

 

We found a little grasshopper so I picked it up and showed the boys! They love it. DJ loved it so much that when I let it go he decided he would step on it.

Christmas Eve 2011

We spend christmas eve with my side of the family this year and as always had a blast.

Kim and Alex

Each year we play the chimes to Christmas music! This is Madison rocking out to it!

My two favorite grandparents ever!

Kimberly singing grandma got ranover by a reindeer

Madison and DJ leading christmas songs with their wizard wands! :)

This year we played the game where you pass the present right and left. As you can see Alex loved it!

Shaileen and DJ. Can i just say that she absolutely loves him, and he loves her!

Every Christmas Eve when we get home like lots of other people we have a tradition to open PJs to wear to bed.

She loved them

Yay

Shaileen made this awesome sausage dip for christmas the next day

Here we are laying in bed waiting for Santa, we forgot that Santa wont come when you are awake through so we quickly fell asleep!

Cline Family Temple Christmas Lights Trip

We decided as a family that it would be nice to get together and go up to the LDS temple in Salt Lake City and see the annual Christmas lights. They are so beautiful there especially when they surround the temple. It is nice to go up there because it is easy to remember what the true meaning of Christmas is. My parents brought a couple boxes of doughnuts and hot chocolate to eat while we were up there too. We ate them and then gave the rest to other patrons that were there cause it was freezing and we thought other people would enjoy something warm. I absolutely love my family. It is nice to be with them on temple grounds because it reminds me of the eternal blessings the temple allows us to be together for eternity. It is such a simple but powerful blessing. I am thankful for my Savior that was born into this world in very humble circumstances to come and teach us the way that we should live. I am also thankful that he gave his life that my family will be able to live with him once more.

Grandma, Grandpa and grandkids

DJ absolutely loves Shaileen... (and i dont blame him)

My favorite parents

Janica just had knee surgery so she was in a wheelchair

what a stud

Husband and Wife!

Painting and The forgotten carols

Yesterday was our day off of work so we woke up early and painted the extra bedroom/nursery! It was nice to get that done because it was really needing it! It is gray with white trim! We decided to make it very neutral so we can cater it to either a boy or girl when it comes time! We just need to paint some extra wood pieces in the closet until we are finished! We are now looking for a vinyl tree for the wall that will go behind the crib when we get one! In the afternoon we were bored so we decided to go see Kimberly, dj and Alex cause she still has a couple more days off work! We had a blast as always, just cause we are that cool! Haha.. At around 6pm we met my parents, grandparents and Bret and Hilarie at Texas roadhouse for dinner before we went to the forgotten carols! Dinner was great as always and as you can see from the photo Shaileen's baked potato was the size of a baby elephant! The forgotten carols were absolutely amazing! It had been a long time since I had been so I had forgotten the story! It is so nice to go to the play because it puts back in perspective what is really important not only this time of the year but always! Of you have not seen this show I would certainly recommend it! There were many songs that made me think about Shaileen and me going through the adoption process and brought me to tears ( but if you know me you will find that it is easy to get me to cry). I appreciate my
Parents for inviting us because it is something that I personally needed in my life!

By the way, sorry for the lack of pictures today! I don't know what I was thinking :)

One of the best Saturdays in a long time!

As you can tell from the photos below we had a fun filled, tiring day of adventure! We love this time of the year and one of the reasons is because Carlye starts her Jr Jazz basketball. We really enjoy going to cheer her on and support her. This year she has got much better and one of the best players on her team!

She was really into it! :)

Bestest Sisters!

After the basketball game I needed to go to one store and finish up some christmas shopping. Shaileen knew it was going to be a busy day so she got some shut eye to make sure she was going to make it through the day.

If you read one of my previous posts you would know that our new nephew was coming home today! We went and decorated my sisters house to Welcome them home and into the family! We also brought some hotdogs and hamburgers and had a little BBQ.

Sampson was soooo happy to see us. He is such a good dog that he will stay home all by himself as long as you leave food and water out for him.

Grandma and Alex!

Shaileen made some pretty awesome cookies and as you can tell DJ loved them!

Dad and Alex

We even had a fun night because after leaving my sisters house we went to hang out with some friends and went to dinner at Johnny Carinos and when home and talked and had a great time. It was nice hanging out with them because it had been a long time. We are so lucky to have the lives that we have to be able to spend time with family and friends as often as we do. Sometimes it is tiring being busy but certainly well worth it!

Excited for Saturday!

As everyone that knows us understands that we love the blessings of adoption. This is why we are so excited for Saturday. It is when my sister comes home from Ohio. They traveled there on Thanksgiving to pick up their son that they are adopting from a loving birth mother. It is so neat to see the adoption process work not once but twice now for my sister and her family which gives Shaileen and I hope to move forward. We have not met Alex in person yet which is her new son but we did Skype the other night and have heard tons about him and I already know that we love him very much and that he will be an important part of our family! I just cannot say it enough that we love adoption and look forward to having a child one day to love.