#3: Christmas Eve with Diane and Steve.

Happy almost New Year! We had a wonderful Christmas week with family and friends. Steve got me a ticket to the upcoming George Strait concert (he's my favorite dreamy old cowboy), and I got Steve some guitar lessons. Hopefully he can learn to serenade me to some George Strait songs. :) 

Even though we missed being with my family this year, we enjoyed the downtime at home. One of my favorite things was sitting by the Christmas tree and staying in my jammies for the whole day after Christmas! 

Christmas Eve lunch at our favorite local restaurant -- Cafe Rio.

We went to Costco for some flu shots. Remember to exercise that arm!

Steve helped peel the fruit for my favorite family Christmas treat -- "fruit ambrosia".

Christmas Eve dinner at Steve's cousins house. 

We had his Aunt Karen's famous homemade spaghtetti.

After dinner we had a snowball fight in puffy white coats.

I love teasing Matt! He is so tall!

 Our dog Diesel likes to watch Christmas movies while sitting on my lap.

Facetime with my mom and dad. 

Merry Christmas to two of my favorite people!

Steve and Matt shoveling snow at his grandma's house. 

She only had one shovel, so Steve improvised and used a broom.

Visiting at Steve's grandma's house with his cousin Elyse and her cute new baby.

Family photo with Steve's grandma, Matt, and Steve's parents.

Grandma's favorite color is purple, in case you couldn't tell. :)

 One of our favorite holiday traditions is a white elephant party with Steve's longtime 

family friends, the Weirs, on Christmas night. I got a pair of wool socks.

Tonight we played "Ticket to Ride" with our wonderful friends.

They are adopting a new baby in April. We look forward to our kids being friends someday. 

#2: Temple Square and a Superman Snuggie.

Steve here. It's been a great week! We are overwhelmed by the love and support that we have received since we announced that we are trying to adopt. We are blessed to have so many kind people who love us.

On Friday night, two of our good friends got sealed in the Salt Lake temple. They have been married for about a year-and-a-half and were expecting their first baby together. Turns out that the sealing was great timing as their healthy baby boy was born this morning!

I gotta be honest--I think I look quite dapper in my fancy overcoat.

Diane loves to see the lights at Temple Square.

 Plus, it gives me an excuse not to have to put up any on our house this year.

Diane's sister Marjorie, her family, and their best friend Will came to visit yesterday.

Marge's son found something tasty to eat--hopefully it wasn't Diesel's dog food.

 Watching a movie with Marge's daughter on their iPad. 

And yes, I am wearing a Superman snuggie.

And also yes, I do look like I have a Friar Tuck haircut in this picture, but really it's just nap hair.

#1: A New Blog & What We've Been Up To

Hi there! Welcome to our brand new adoption blog. This is Steve writing tonight. Diane and I are both very excited to get to know you better and to be able to share more of our life with you. The last couple weeks of  adoption interviews, essay questions, and uploading profile pics ("No, don't pick that one! I've got a huge zit on my chin!") has been crazy busy. But it has also been very satisfying to know that we are officially taking the first step to starting our family. Without further ado (I don't know what "ado" actually means), here is what we have been up to lately!

Diane and Alecia (one of our totally rad friends) taking a ride 

at the new Scheel's superstore in Sandy, Utah. Buckle up! 

Laser-tag at Boondocks. We totally smoked the other team! 

Thanksgiving in Idaho: Diane's dad taught me how to carve a turkey. I am now a REAL man! 

Steve's work Christmas party at Thanksgiving Point. 

We won a $25 gift card to Rumbi's (pretty much the same as the 60-inch TV grand prize). 

A typical Saturday meeting up with Steve's parents at Sam's Club. 

Clearly, we drink a lot of milk. 

Nap time with our dog Diesel. He hates it when you wake him up to take his picture. 

Snowy Saturday mornings are the perfect time for Mickey Mouse pancakes. 

Diane's niece and some of her friends came down to visit and go to a Jazz game.

For some reason, my John Stockton jersey isn't quite as loose as it was when I bought it 10 years ago. 

Thanks again for checking out our blog. We look forward to posting again soon!