emily turns 6!

We took Emily with her cousins and a friend to Chuck E. Cheese's for Emily's sixth birthday!

She is growing up so fast! It's amazing to watch her imagination blossom and her reading skills sharpen. She is one creative little girl. We are so blessed to have her in our life.

Emily chose trick candles for herself when we were picking out the cake mix at the store. She loved seeing the looks on the faces of her friends!

daddy/daughter dance

Emily was so happy to be escorted to her school's Daddy/Daughter Dance. She chose her sparkly dress and asked me to curl her hair. They had a great time dancing and playing games!

kindergarten open house

 Emily is very proud of the "ice cream" flower she painted for the open house art show

 We love her kindergarten teacher! She is nurturing and great with the kids.

Jason and I helped Emily think of words that describe her that start with the letters in her name. But she came up with the one for Y- yummy :)

new adoption pass-along cards!

I was so excited to receive our new cards in the mail today! They are business card sized, and have our most recent family picture and the information for our new adoption caseworker at LDS Family Services, the adoption agency we are using. We hand out and mail these cards to pretty much everyone we know in the hopes that someone will hear of a potential adoption situation and pass our information along with a recommendation. If you would like a few of our cards to distribute, please send us an email at adoption.jason.heidi@gmail.com. Thanks!

summer vacation

One of the best perks of Jason being a teacher is the time we spend together over summer break!

We went camping in the Redwoods with some of our siblings and their families.

Emily loves the chocolate part of s'mores the best :)

Emily helps push her cousin on the swings

 

In San Fransisco we found the row of houses called "the painted ladies" that my sister and I remember from a favorite childhood TV show "Full House"

We camped at Crater Lake on our way north and were amazed by its crystal clear blue water!

In Washington we met up with Heidi's cousin and her family to go camping at Mt. Rainier National Park

Emily and her cousin find a tree chewed by a beaver!

We hiked down a trail to view Narada Falls, which was very misty and we all got wet!

In Seattle a friend took us out on his boat to sail around Lake Union.

Emily even got to steer the boat for a few minutes!

We stopped by the Seattle Temple to walk around the gardens there.

Jason loved going to the Ballard Locks and watching the boats move through the locks from one end of the river to the other.

There was a fun sculpture on the other side of the river that Emily and I enjoyed playing around.

Emily took this picture of me in the botanical gardens by my favorite flower- hydrangeas!

The last leg of our journey took us through the rainforest of Olympic National Park. We passed several beautiful waterfalls and took a short hike by the visitor's center.

we love the zoo!

 Heidi and Emily by the Rhinoceros

 Emily tries to be as tall as the polar bear!

Emily loved the acrobats that performed during the summer Nighttime Zoo

spring break

 What is spring break without a road trip? We hopped in the car and camped at two National Parks- Death Valley and Sequoia. Death Valley was different from where we usually camp, but we had never been there before. The highlight was visiting the lowest point in the U.S. called Badwater Basin. It was hot.

Sequoia National Park was gorgeous. The spring flowers were in full bloom and of course the enormous trees were amazing!