August

Things finally started calming down for is in August and we didn't go out of town at all! That is unprecedented!

Probably the biggest event of the month was the table we were in charge of at a local county fair. The point of the table was to spread awareness about adoption and it was a big success! We ended up bringing the kids with us and I think it was good for people to see the faces of adoption and realize we're a normal family just like everybody else, we just found each other in a different way.

There was a petting zoo right next to our area and Kiara loved the cow, although she had a very hard time looking at me while she was petting it. Every time I went to take the picture she looked off to the side like this. It was pretty funny. 

Another huge event that happened this month was Kiara started preschool! She has been asking to go to school for over a year and she was so excited to start! I couldn't help but cry after I dropped her off the first time and realized that my baby is getting way too big. She is such an incredible little person and I've loved seeing her grow and learn at school. Every time I pick her up she talks non-stop for about 10 minutes about all of the fun things she did and learned at school that day. Let's hope that excitement and love for learning never leaves her!

She looked way too grown up that day and every day since!

The rest of the month was filled with trips to the zoo, 

lots of swimming,

and of course, eating!

Hope your summer was as great as ours!

July, part 2

I decided to split July into two parts because I thought this story deserved its own post!

Ben has always wanted to run a marathon by the time he was 30 and back in July he accomplished that goal! We knew we were going to be in Utah near the end of the month anyway so we moved our trip up by a couple of days and he registered for the Days of  '47 marathon held on July 24th. By the way, we found out later that this is one of the hardest marathons in the country because of the altitude, hills and heat, and apparently it's crazy to do as your first marathon. Information that would have been useful beforehand...

We were so excited to go and support Ben and Kiara loved that her BFF Grandma came to join in the fun.

Boston's becoming a big fan of Grandma as well.

 These 2 were such good sports while we waited.

We ended up waiting over 2 hours for Ben to cross that finish line and I stood poised with my camera ready that whole time. Then, just seconds before Ben rounded the final corner, a stupid float came right in front of us so I wasn't able to stand out in the street and get a good shot of him coming up. These are the best I could do: (Ben's in the blue shirt and shorts, behind the guy in the red hat) 

You can't tell in this shot but Kiara is chasing after Ben, running her little legs right off. She caught him right before he reached the end so they crossed the finish line together! It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen! If only I had a picture... 

Ben never ceases to amaze me at how determined and focused he can be. If he says he will do something you can take it to the bank that it will happen. He is my own little superhero who doesn't feel pain or discomfort when there's a task at hand, he just powers through and gets the job done. I think this marathon was a perfect example of that. He had quite a scare around Mile 22 where he couldn't feel his hands, his vision went blurry and he ended up collapsing on the grass. Luckily people saw it happen and got him help right away. After some gatorade and runners goo (that's the technical term :)  he was able to get up and keep moving on. Despite incredible cramping from having to sit for 45 minutes he finished the race and within an hour was already talking about doing it again next year! He's totally crazy and sometimes I wonder if he's mortal like the rest of us, but he's incredible and I love him so much. I seriously hit the jackpot with my guy!

Four going on Forty

Kiara turned four at the end of July and we celebrated in style! We were going to be in UT on her actual birthday so we had a party here the week before. Her only requests were a party at the park and an Ariel cake, both of which turned out to be pretty easy things to provide. All of the parks around here have splash pads so a lot of the kids wore swimsuits and had a blast in the water.

We always do Kiara's party on a Monday night and invite the whole family and it is so much fun! This year was a record number of people for us though, I think we had almost 50! It was so great to see so many people show up and know that they were all there for Kiara. She is one loved little girl!

We told people they didn't need to bring gifts but nobody listened and she got super spoiled! I was very proud of how gracious and polite she was though and I loved seeing her so happy.

I was a little nervous about making her an Ariel cake because every year I set the bar too high for myself and always fail miserably. This year was different though and I found a very easy pattern for an ocean cake and just stuck an Ariel doll on top. She loved it and I wasn't embarrassed to serve it! Win-win!

It must have tasted pretty good too because this was what was left of my hard work after about 2 minutes:

We had a great night though and we all went home very happy and very tired, just the way it should be!

The day of her actual birthday we had another, much smaller, party at a park in Salt Lake. It was just family and was kind of thrown together at the last minute when I couldn't think of anything else to do, but she still had a ton of fun. Ben's grandma and uncle even came down from Kaysville for it and it was good to see them.

That night she chose to go to Red Robin for dinner, I think because she remembered the giant dessert she got there last year on her birthday. This year's dessert was no different and she enjoyed every bite!

It was fun having so much of our family join us. That's definitely the thing we miss most about living so far away.

There truly aren't words for how much I love Kiara. She is the daughter I always dreamed of and has brought so much joy and peace in to my life. I didn't know what loving someone more than yourself was until I held Kiara in my arms and my desire for her to be happy has only grown over the last four years. I am so proud of the little girl she is and the way she loves others unconditionally. She is always the first to share with other kids or to notice if someone is feeling sad. I am always amazed at how easily she forgives, especially me, and how she has a real desire to do what is right and be obedient. I get a pit in my stomach when I think of how close she came to not being in our family and I honestly can't imagine the person I'd be today if she weren't here. She is the perfect fit for our family and we would not be complete without her. I'll never know why I was so blessed to be her mom but I will ALWAYS be grateful that I am. I love you, my little beauty queen, and I promise I will do right by you in this life and the next. Always stay the strong, independent, beautiful and confident girl you are right now and know just how loved and adored you are, especially by me.

Love,

Mommy 

July, part 1

July was a pretty busy month for us and we were gone more than we were home. We did stick around for the 4th though and loved having Ben home for a long weekend. On Monday we went swimming with our good friends, The Christensens. Kiara loves Ayson-boy and Boston and Macey are becoming quite the cute little couple too.

We finally convinced Kiara to go down the little water slide and of course she ended up loving it. Her hair took quite the beating though!

Also in July, we started our little princess in a dance class. The girl has been dancing since she could hold her head up so we figured she'd love the classes, but she became obsessed with them! That one hour on Wednesdays became the highlight of our week and the topic of conversation the other six days! She was really in her element and I think we'll have to get her in another class soon.

Later in the month we headed up to Lake Tahoe to meet my parents and my oldest brother and his family. We had such a great time hanging out at the beach, playing games, eating and getting spoiled by Grandma. This was our second year going to Tahoe and I think we'll have to make it an annual tradition. It's really the most relaxing place I've ever been to.

All of the kids love Grandma, and she is going to love me for posting pictures of her in a swimsuit!

Next to Grandma and Papa, her cousins are Kiara's favorite people in the world, and she loved having them all to herself during this vacation.