Cody & Julianna: 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

A Very Merry Christmas!

Here are a few photos to capture our Christmas...


Louie and Blake playing with their cousins

Louie playing in the snow!

Daddy teaching Louie how to snow ski. He loved it!

Christmas Morning!


The second the flash goes off, we loose his smile and get a startled look instead!

Merry Christmas Louie!

A great photo of Blake - Christmas 2011 - Salt Lake City, Utah.

Christmas morning with Blake

Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Dear Santa,


Where's Santa?

What a fantastic experience! This year Louie UNDERSTANDS the concept of Santa and the connection with presents. So when we told him we were going to visit with Santa and tell him what we want, he could barely contain himself all day. He would practice what he was going to say -- over and over again! When we finally got our turn to go inside the house and meet Santa, Louie FROZE. He covered his face as if to disappear. (Now I wish this concept really worked for the embarrassing moments in my life.). We slowly melted him onto Santa's lap. He went mute. Santa talked to him about his birthday, dog and new baby brother (all talking points we emailed earlier). Eventually, Santa was able to show him a little gift (we had delivered a week ago) which snapped him out of his "oh my gosh this is the real Santa" stage fright. Santa gave him a little bag of treats for his dog, Murphy. You could see the surprise on his face, "How does Santa know?" Oh he was so happy. Just as he got off Santa's lap, he remembered what he was going to say, "Santa, can I have Diesel train please?" Santa, like magic, already had it in hand. His hands went over his gaping mouth in surprise! Louie unwrapped his present to find the very train he wanted. Again, "How did Santa know?" I think the connection has cemented now. I wonder how long his list will be next year?

Isn't he a great Santa?!

This picture with Santa was barely OK with Louie, only after he had gotten a present. This picture was also taken just before Blake burst into tears! Timing is everything.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Louie's Third Birthday

Louie is three years old! We decided on a Toy Story theme at the Hobby Farm/horse stables.

Here's the birthday boy all ready for his party!

Toy Story Friends: Buzz, Mr. Potato Head, Minnion, Cowboy, Jesse, Woody and Woody II

Abigail gave horsey rides to Louie (aka: Woody) and all his Toy Story friends. These photos are so cute. I would put Louie into riding lessons just for the photos! Seriously?

Louie aka: Woody


Jordie aka: Jesse


Andrew aka: Mr. Potato Head


Joe: Handsome Cowboy

They had just as much fun climbing on the fence and huge log


Jesse, Minnion, and Woody

At three, he walks around like he owns the place!

We constructed our own Buzz Lightyear Lasers out of PVC pipe. Then we did a little target practice with marshmellows. I think more were eaten than actually aimed. But that is what a party is for!

This is baby Blake skipping target practice...just catching a quick nap before cupcakes. Happy Birthday to the birthday boy turning three!!!

Happy Birthday to You!

Now, that is one happy cowboy!

Happy Birthday Louie!!!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Don't Forget

We have been wanting to go to Dubrovnik, Croatia for some time. The entire country is on the Adriatic Coast with many small islands to visit and explore. We packed up two kids, two strollers, baby food, and diapers. I think I may have had only two pair of pants for myself in our luggage!
Dubrovnik's old city was charming with the cobblestone walking streets, old shops and churches. This is a picture of Blake and me on the main street of the old city.

As always, I was fascinated with their form of government (some politicians could only hold office for a month), their history and what architecture still remained despite their earthquakes and wars.
Louie and I went two days ahead (due to some logistical reasons). He loved chasing pigeons through the square, eating ice cream, and going to see the fish, sea turtles and eels in the aquarium.

Once Cody and Blake joined us, we walked/hiked the many steps along the city walls. The scenery was stunning.

Afterwards, we enjoyed some ice cream. This was Blake's first taste and second and third! He kept grabbing my hand to bring over more when he was ready.

The following day, we took a boat and sailed to three different islands. We walked through the small towns, saw the local cow and played on the beach. Louie and Blake really enjoyed being on the boat too. Until at the end of the day, Louie kept telling me that his tummy hurt. I thought he was hungry. Quite the opposite, he chose to get rid of anything in his stomach and onto my legs! Poor guy was sea sick!

One day we took a road trip to Montenegro in our little roller skate of a rental car. Our GPS led us astray to some of the most stunning views. After 32 switchbacks, we came to the top of the mountain and found a bar and a small, small farming village. Clearly, we were not close to our destination - the Bay of Kotor. We walked around, changed some diapers, ate a few snacks and then back down the switchbacks. This picture is at switchback #14 where you can see the bay below.

At this point we still hadn't found it. Back to the bottom of the mountain, we saw the clearly huge sign we missed due to our dutiful efforts to follow our GPS. The bay at sundown was like a picture postcard. So beautiful. This picture doesn't do it justice

We packed up two kids into two strollers and off we went into the tiny old city. We had some delicious pizza al fresco and strolled the streets until the kids were absolutely DONE; which made for a peaceful ride back to Dubrovnik. Loved Montenegro -- would definitely go back.

Our last day was spent in Bosnia. On our drive to Mostar, it was surprising to see many of the buildings hadn't been repaired since the war. The people were very friendly and helpful when our GPS once again was guiding us along the "shortest route!" Once in Mostar we found the famous Old Bridge and cobblestone streets of the old city. The main street was very fairytale-esque. We bought some fun old fashioned children's toys from a shop and of course magnets to add to our collection.

This sign is leaning against the left side of the pink store.

Cody and I were so TIRED when we got home. Who knew? The days of coming home relaxed, refreshed and rejuvenated from a vacation are a thing of the past. However, we enjoy taking the kids to see, to learn about other countries and cultures of the world. When is the next time we are going to have a conversation with Louie as to why that building is "broken?" while traveling through Bosnia. Amongst our exhaustion, this is the take home message we can't forget.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Times Have Changed

Last Halloween, Louie did NOT want to dress up in his costume when all his friends came over for a party. He was suppose to wear one of those cute lion costumes with the fringe on the hoodie to surround his face. With the cringing scream he let out, you would have thought I had asked him to donate all of his trick or treat candy to Cody (which some of it did). So not much success with the costume last year.
THIS YEAR, was a completely different story--matter of fact, TOY STORY. He loves the movie and often creates dialogue (using some unknown voice) between Woody and Buzz. Crossing my fingers, I bought a Woody costume for Louie and a Baby Buzz Lightyear costume for Blake. Blake's costume was the default but in the end... the star of the show that night. Oooops!

I wasn't sure if Louie would wear his costume to his school party. So I didn't say a word and just began to dress him for the day as if he always wore a sheriff's vest with a gold star. Thankfully, he really liked the star and so the vest stayed on. However, he drew the line at wearing the fabric cowboy boots over his shoes. The school party was a success. I am pictured with him in my Snow White costume I have milked for at least 10 years.

In getting ready for trick or treating, I was nervous Louie would want the Buzz costume since he at times considers himself the "alpha child" and gets first dibs on everything. But I kid you not, he saw me dressing Blake and cooed, "Awe, a baby buzz year for baby Blake!" He was so excited for him and I was over the moon that this night could possibly be drama-free!
We only trick or treated to a few houses of our favorite friends. They loved it! A few hours later, Louie and I were on a plane to Croatia with Cody and Blake to follow two days later...see our next post.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Blake's Metamorphosis

When Blake was born, he had very dark hair. We were told eventually it would grow out and turn blond like his other birth siblings. Blake has such dark hair and a ton of it that I just couldn't imagine him any other way. Well, it happened! Here's how Blake went from having dark brownish/black hair to a Swedish blond...

In this photo, Blake is two months old.

Four months old.

Five months old

In this photo, Blake is six months old and a little blondie. Can't believe it!

Welcome to our blog! What a change...we went from blogging about our travels to blogging about teething, taking first steps and talking about Elmo. Such a 180 degree turn and we love it! Louie and Blake are such a joy to us and can't imagine life without them.

Truly, we are thankful for adoption--for this is the way we will add to our family a third time. We are open to different nationalities, either gender and hope for an open adoption. We are comfortable going through a private attorney or an agency.

Please feel free to share our blog. Thank you in advance for mentioning our quest for adoption to your family and friends!

With Love,
Cody, Julianna, Louie, Blake and our dog, Murphy

About Me: Julianna

I was born in a small town in Tennessee. We lived there until I was in the fifth grade -- what a great place to grow up! In the nearby woods, we would play "house" by designing floor plans with sticks as our walls and a piles of leaves for furniture. As a child, I loved to play games, ride bikes and play barbies. With a family of six kids, often my dad would engage us in a game of hide and go seek to wear us out for bedtime. Or, my dad would play "wild music" on the piano and let us dance around to get our wiggles out for bed. Looking back, I think we must have been a high energy group of kids. This might be why we only could have "sweet cereal" on Saturdays. However, on Christmas morning, each child got their own box; which would be gone by the next day. My poor parents... 6 kids hopped up on sugar plus the Christmas chaos! Our family of 8 then moved to Ft. Worth, Texas. We happily adjusted to Texas BBQ Brisket and Blue Bell Ice Cream. We took advantage of our location and would visit my dad's parents in El Paso for vacations. My grandma made us feel like her greatest treasure. During high school I couldn't wait to DRIVE! After parallel parking an enormous green station wagon, I passed the driving test and had my license in hand. I was very social. My brother Jeff and I were very active in our church youth program. I participated in plays, church volleyball and basketball. I loved going to youth conferences and would sew new outfits. My sewing career was short lived...I'm too much of a perfectionist and would spend more time pulling out stitches rather than sewing them in. I left this talent to my mother and sisters. In high school, I helped to make homecoming floats, joined the pep squad and the German Club; which really was a party with the cutest guys at school. Ummm yeah, I think I have been boy crazy since I was 12. My crushes' names would end up in the doodling of my school notes. At age 12 I may have seen one too many soap operas when I stayed one summer in El Paso with my Aunt Barbara! College was creeping up and I needed money. Therefore, I've had a job ever since I was 15 working for a sandwich store, gelato ice cream store, Dunkin' Donuts (gained 10 pounds in my first month and saw the necessity to quit!) and as a receptionist my senior year for an attorney (work release program). After high school, I went to BYU and LOVED my independence. At age 21, I took an 18 month break from college to serve a mission in the Arizona Temple Visitor Center. By far, this experience was one of the highlights of my life--serving and loving the people of Mesa. Before graduating with my Bachelors in Education, I went to study abroad to Israel for four months. I learned about the Jewish and Muslim cultures, religions and histories... fascinating! I will always have a sincere respect for the rich history taken place on that soil. During my first three years of teaching first and second grade, I earned and graduated with a Masters in Education. I continued to teach in Utah for a few more years. I loved teaching but wanted to find new opportunities to stretch myself in the field. I moved to Washington, D.C. and began to work as a literacy trainer (of teachers) for a non-profit in Baltimore, Maryland. For four years, I had the wonderful opportunity to help improve children's education in inner city schools. My favorite memories were those of helping young children find and cultivate the love of reading. The success of learning to read increased their self worth and opened doors of opportunities in their future. I continued a similar position with George Washington University working with the DC public schools, teachers and students. I loved my time of living in D.C. Many opportunities helped me to appreciate and learn of our nation's history. I'm such a "hands-on learner." Knowing this about myself, I took advantage of my location and traveled to a few countries across the Atlantic Ocean to learn of their cultures and histories. D.C. will always be an important chapter of my life filled with wonderful friends --and of course, where I originally met Cody. In 2005, I returned to Utah and began teaching second grade. This is when I became reacquainted with Cody and our life together started its course.

About Me: Cody

I was born and spent the majority of my childhood in Bountiful, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. I was a fairly social kid and spent more time than a normal 5 year old visiting all the senior citizens in my neighborhood who had nicknamed me “Windy”. Apparently, I talked a lot. I was just there for the Iced Oatmeal Cookies sitting on their kitchen counter. So I would talk and talk until I could close the deal and walk away with my Iced Oatmeal cookies. I think they knew what my intentions were and would milk me in their boredom. Just give me the cookie! The steep hills of Bountiful provided the perfect childhood existence. Steep hills for sledding and skiing in the winter and the twisty streets made great neighborhood night games and Olympics in the summer. Life really is simple as a kid and maybe it is best to enjoy the first portion of your life in a relative blissful ignorance. Mom and I followed Dad to Juneau, Alaska for my 9th grade year, as part of Dad's work in developing mining operations. After a year of playing football on a rocky dirt field with a team of female line(wo)men, I was glad to move home and be a part of Bountiful High School's first back to back high school football championship. I really had great friends and was active in choir, madrigals, student government and sports. I bought my first car when I was 15 ½ (it supposedly sat in the garage for the next few months while I waited to turn 16) with my own money. I worked at Farmers Insurance at nights and mowed lawns in the summers. This was my first experience in just how expensive life was going to be. Either that, or I had high expectations of myself and what I wanted to accomplish, but I did learn early on that you'll get out what you put into something. My parents, to their credit, really stressed work work work. This undoubtedly helped me day in and day out when serving an LDS Church mission to Alabama. It drove me nuts to see the lack of work ethic some of the other missionaries had. Spending two years performing community service and other church activities was probably the most difficult but most worthwhile challenge in my life to that point. But, the best part is that none of it is for yourself. Service is a great thing to learn at 19 years of age. Following my mission I attended the University of Utah and received a degree in Business Management (Finance) while working full time and was active in student government, Sigma Chi Fraternity and participated as a moderator for a weekly radio and TV show called Coffee and Politics. During my senior year, I received an internship in Washington DC, which completely changed the direction I thought I was headed. I loved the energy and great minds I met and worked with in Washington. Following graduation I worked in New York City for an internet start up that eventually closed its doors following the events of Sept. 11. I jumped at the chance to move to Washington DC and began working for U.S. Senator John Ensign shortly after. I spent four years working on healthcare and financial industry policy before heading to Las Vegas to do some campaign work. In August of 2005, Mom and I took my Grandma and Grandpa Meyer to visit the sites of Washington DC. The whole time I lived there, I really hoped it would work out that they could come and visit and could show them around. We had a great time and on our last day I took them to a favorite Saturday morning market and breakfast joint called Eastern Market. As fate now has it, I ran into a mutual good friend, Jill Chappell, who told me Julianna was moving to Salt Lake. I am getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning...

OUR STORY
A couple of years ago in D.C., I had taken Julianna out a few times. We got to know each other over Mexican food at three different locations. However, at the end of our third date, instead of inviting me in, she gave me a luke warm side hug at the door. I understand girls have this need to be pursued but an awkward hug doesn't really lend itself to an “oh baby baby” hot pursuit! Please. So, three years later, our story picks up again when I ran into Jill at Eastern Market. She wasting no time reacquainting us, called Julianna and handed me the phone. Julianna asked me if I could take a precious duffle bag of shoes she didn't have room for on the plane. These were essential items needed for her first week of work in Utah. With lack of time in heading to the airport, she met me in front of the Smithsonian on the Washington Mall for the handoff. The day she arrived in Salt Lake, she called to get her shoes. I was in Houston at the time and promised her bag of shoes at the end of the week in exchange for a dinner of steak fajitas. I think in her mind this meant two things: the comforts of Mexican food and a reason to buy new shoes until her own arrived safely. After our date of steak fajitas, it all went quickly from there.