My dad came down from Flag and picked us up to go visit his mom, my Grandma the week before Mother's Day. WE FLEW! It's an absolute luxury to get there in record time and be able to avoid all the hassles of security and crowds at a bigger airport.
If you look close you can see my dad readying the plane. It's a beauty, ain't it? I think so.
On a side note: A couple weeks ago my parents flew down in a friends plane that has a super pretty paint job. Normally when they fly down no one at the airport even blinks an eye at them but when they came in the borrowed plane....my, my, my did they get some special treatment! Help unloading their luggage, rather than walking across the tarmac they were picked up in a golf cart and were even offered to have the plane refueled before they returned! I prefer the incognito approach to flying.
Here is the Little Z Man all tucked in and ready for take off!
Gotta protect those ears. If you've never flown in a small plane...they are loud!
Someday....Steve will be on the left, he's working on it!
We had a great flight down and back that day and Z loved it! I worried he wouldn't like all the noise but he barely seemed to notice. He is such a calm boy.
My BIGGEST regret...I didn't get any pics of Z with my grandma!!!! What was I thinking? I have no idea. We were also there for my cousins baby blessing, no pics of that either. Where was my brain that day?
#4: Halloween!
Forgive me...I had to include a lot of these, but he is just so stinkin' cute! We did a Halloween photo shoot a couple weeks after Halloween. He'll never know right?
I made his costume, something I had dreamed about for years. The pants are an old pillowcase I had from my first year in college. The fabric I bought I sewed to small the first time and needed something I had on hand because I couldn't handle taking him to the store again, plus I didn't have enough time that day. I actually liked the pillowcase better, the original fabric had bigger, wider stripes.
The t-shirt we already had. The vest was easier than I thought it would be, just measured a jacket of his and omitted the sleeves. The cuffs were a last minute idea I had after I realized he would not tolerate wearing a had and could not carry a sword. Just cut them to fit, punched some holes in them and laced them up with some of his shoelaces. Finally the jagged cutting just helped me avoid making any hems on the pants and vest, plus added to the true pirate look!
For the story on the funniest Halloween party we've been to in years go here!
#3: Our Worst Day As Parents Yet! November 15, 2009
This was the very next day after our Halloween photo shoot....what a change of pace. Z was eating in his Bumbo on the kitchen counter just before we were ready to head out for church and thought he would try to be Superman. Lucky for him Steve was right there and caught him with his leg part way down, unfortunately his little sharp teeth still went right through his cheek.
Needless to say....we felt awful. We raced to the ER and by the time we got there he was done crying and kept looking at us trying to figure out why we were so upset.
I was shocked when they gave him the same amount of sedative I give 250lb. men just to knock him out for the stitches. They had to give him even more later because he was still so active after the first dose. And people look at him and comment on what a calm baby he is....
At the time I was so upset I could barely talk about it without crying, so hence why I didn't blog about it before.
His range of motion was pretty limited on the whole right side of his face for a couple weeks and we worried he would always have a crooked smile. He also had a constant string of drool coming down from his lip...but he made a full recovery.
He pulled out his own stitches and when we took him back into the plastic surgeon a week later he said, "Yep, he looks good. Come back in a month." He didn't even examine him for the $40 co-pay. Gee thanks doc but I think he looks good enough to not ever need to come back, thanks.
He actually started to look worse days after it happened, much to our horror. The saddest part was Steve's phone call to Norma from the ER. He just said, "I ruined our boy." It started the tears all over again.
#2: Thanksgiving
Z loved Thanksgiving so much because we let him eat all the pumpkin pie he wanted! We just put a piece in front of him and let him go at it! As you can see he loved it so much he licked his tray clean!
So he took a lot of baths in grandma's sink. His look here kills me...
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He enjoyed his first snowfall up in Flag that weekend and we were able to stay all week and play in it while Steve was elk hunting. Darn, no elk this year.
Finally.......drum roll please....
#1: Z's Blessing and Sealing September 5&6, 2009
It was a beautiful overcast day in Mesa the day we took Z to the temple and had him sealed to us. I guess you have to be from Arizona to appreciate this kind of weather, we were so happy to have some relief from the heat.
We had such a special morning in the temple especially because Norma was there with us. Having her there and kneeling around the altar with us and Z was a blessing we never anticipated being so grateful for when we first started down the road of adoption. I will always count it was one of my greatest joys in life.
To learn more about temple sealings go here.
Outside, the twins (Z's bio cousins) were waiting for us with their faithful babysitter, Soleil, who also watched two more of Norma's nephews! She is very brave to watch 4 babies 2 and under...
My Grandma Frost was there along with my Uncle Rick and Aunt Cathy. My parents helped us sooo much that weekend with all the company we had.
These two pics of Norma's brother-in-law and his toddler are just so cute. Maybe its the red umbrella and red tie, I just love these guys!
This is Norma's other brother-in-law, Kali. I think he has a special connection to Z, can't you just see it in their eyes? In my opinion Kali played a key roll in bringing Z to Steve and I, I will always be thankful for the support and priesthood blessings he gave to Norma.
After the temple we all went to Buca Di Beppo for lunch. All I remember of that was the horrible almost migraine-like headache I could feel coming on. Maybe it was the weather or just the incredible and overwhelming feelings of gratitude I was having all week leading up to this weekend. I came home afterwards and took a long hot bath and a nap while Z slept for hours. We were all so overcome with emotion we were just exhausted. I came out from laying down and found Steve passed out on the couch and my parents asleep in their room!
Steve's Granny, his mom Diane, dad Larry, and brother Sam all came down from Colorado. His sister Becky came from Texas and Z loved all the extra attention; it was the first time most of them had met him.
The next day, after we were all fully rested; Z was blessed in church and we had a huge dinner for all three families at our house. We were packed to the max with people all congratulating us and celebrating the end of a long road to our little Z man.
My mom made Z this beautiful (and yes I just said beautiful referring to my son but it really was) blessing and sealing outfit. Most babies have cute little white outfits to be blessed in with blue or pink accents. But not him. Because he needed something completely white to wear in the temple as well as something to be blessed him she sewed this. Chaz (Steve's brother) made a pattern modeled after a Baby Gap outfit Z had in brown. It was beautiful, yes I said it again, but it really was.
Z's blessing was beautiful too (just said it again). We had several great men who stood in the circle with Steve including my dad, my brothers Jared and Mac, Steve's brother Chaz, Kali, and our good friends Ryan, Curtis, and Dan. Steve blessed him and said that his name had been chosen to strengthen him and set him apart that he may always live to honor it. But what I really loved was that he said Z had chosen to come to Earth through Norma to bless both her life and ours.
Great weekend that was...
Here's to a new year, bring on 2010!
