Devin and Lynette Bird

Mooooover Groooooover

2011-05-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is so delayed... Devin stole my computer! More to come:) This is from two weeks ago. He is now up on all fours a bit more and even faster!! We will try to video him tomorrow and upload another video for you.

And Easter!!

Easter trip

2011-05-17T19:59:00.000-07:00

For easter we went to a lake/ mountain cabin with some good friends. We boated, rode motorcycles, swam in the hot tub (don't worry, we kept it to 96 degrees for Austin:)) and had Austin's first easter egg hunt!! He loved the eggs and of course he tried to eat them which resulted in a tye dye face:)

My first "real" food

2011-03-20T09:12:00.001-07:00

After Austin's check up at the Dr. he was able to start eating solid foods. Some Stat's of Austin at 6 months 27" long and 16lbs 12oz. He is getting big and from his shots and immunizations we have learned that he has a sweet tooth. He loves the sugar water they give him mixed with one of him immunizations... thus when we started him on "real" food we started with Veggies... the reaction we got was this...
"I love Veggies"!

Blessings

2011-03-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

On February 12th we had Austin sealed to us in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. It is such an amazing blessing to be an eternal family with him in our lives! It was a beautiful ceremony and we are so blessed to have had so many family and friends there to attend. Devin also gave Austin his baby Blessing while we were there and that was such a sweet blessing for him to have. We are so blessed to have been able to adopt Austin and blessed to have such an amazing, sweet, birthmom who we love and are eternally grateful to have her in our lives.

Austin goes to Court

2011-02-19T21:58:00.000-08:00

We woke up bright and early (6:00am) on the 7th of February. We were excited to take Austin to Court... It was such a special day that we waited for, for so long. The hearing went really well he was so good and the judge just loved Austin and even gave him a teddy bear. Who we named "Court". Austin really loves "Court" and in the one picture he is holding "Court's" hand.
On this special day we are especially grateful for our amazing birthmom Debbie and all the other birthmoms out there for their unique gift of life that they give.

Austin is so talented

2011-02-19T21:43:00.000-08:00

We are so proud of little Austin. He seems to do things early. He decided that he could feed himself and now likes to hold his own bottle and doesn't want you to hold it for him or help him except on the few occasions when he drops it then he wants help. He often gets upset when you are trying to help him get the bottle back in his mouth but doesn't realize that his little hands are preventing you from putting it in (he's pretty strong). He gets very excited when he sees his bottle and can't wait to get it. He reaches so hard for it while we are making it up. It's really cute! He also went on his frist skateboard ride. We went to this standing wave place and they also had skateboards you could test out so Austin tested out his first skateboard. He rode it all by himself for 10'. We may have to post the video of that to prove it.

From Atlantic to Pacific in One Day!

2011-02-19T20:54:00.000-08:00

After our trip to New Jersey for Christmas we went to Cali for a Surf trip and the opening day of Supercross in Anaheim California. We took Austin to our favorite pizza shop on the Ocean City boardwalk and the next morning we got up really early and fly to Cali where we went right to Huntington beach. Supercross was a lot of fun Austin got to meet some of the Riders in the pit before the race and even got his benie signed by Jemery McGrath, and Nate Adams. He loved the motorcycles but didn't love the fireworks so much. We all had a nice trip! Here are a few pics Hope you enjoy!

4 wheeling in the Snow!!

2011-02-19T20:15:00.000-08:00

While we were in New Jersey for Christmas it snowed quite a bit. Devin wanted to take Austin out riding the dirtbikes with the boys, but it was too cold! So Austin stayed inside with the girls while all the boys were out in the snow. It continued to snow and snow and one day it was warm enough and Devin got to take his little boy for his first ride in the snow. Austin had a great time and loved riding the 4 wheeler with Daddy.

First Rice Cereal

2011-01-23T13:48:00.000-08:00

While we were in New Jersey Austin turned 4 months old... where did the time go? The Dr. said he was good to go with rice cereal a little in the morning and then some at night so here are a few pictures of the first time eating rice cereal at night. He actually did really well at swallowing... Mommy decided to practice with just the spoon a few times before and still thinks that was why he did so well. He loves his rice cereal we just have to make sure that he gets it before he is too hungry or then no one can feed him fast enough! He gets excited when he sees it and usually will try to get to the spoon before you are getting it close to his mouth! He is a funny little guy and it pretty fun watching him learn how to eat...now to see if it ever becomes a cleaner task...As I feed him I try showing him how to do it just picture me as I say Aah (with mouth wide open) Yum and sometimes Austin follows my moves but most of the time just thinks I'm funny thus laughing and rice cereal going all over me!

Christmas Morning Video

2011-01-23T13:46:00.000-08:00

Best Present

2011-01-23T13:30:00.001-08:00

Austin had a good Christmas Morning. Santa was good to him and he seemed to understand the excitement, he didn't want to go to sleep on Christmas Eve, he wanted to play. We were just as excited as he was for his first Christmas! He got some new shoes... for when he actually starts wearing them. Lots of clothes from Santa and both sets of grandparents and some new toys and books too! Mommy and Daddy loved having a sweet lil baby to share Christmas with. It is much more fun this way!

The perfect shirt for Austin he was our favorite thing about Christmas!

First pic on Christmas Morning (we both look a little tired still)

Yay! special Burt's bee's baby bath kit

Auntie Val got Austin all of his Red Sox gear of course.

And board shorts so he can go swimming when we get home!

Christmas Eve

2011-01-02T12:04:00.001-08:00

We had a very good dinner and we got all dressed up and then read the Christmas story after and had fun with all the cousins! Breitton loves her new cousin Austin and loves to give him kisses! Austin seemed to understand and sense that it was a Special time and he was excited for Santa to come that he couldn't sleep very well, but then he crashed!

Christmas Activities

2010-12-29T18:06:00.001-08:00

Christmas Sunday in his new suit... Thanks Grandma Coates!

At Storybook Land on the Carousel with Mommy. I loved it, can you tell by my smile?

We went to New York for the day and saw the Rocketts Christmas Spectacular and then went to Rockefeller Center and saw the Christmas Tree! It was cold but a fun day!

4 months old and learning lots of new things!

2010-12-29T16:58:00.000-08:00

Austin had his 4 month check up. He is still very healthy and is growing and developing very well. He is 13lb. 12 oz which is in the 45% and his length was 24" which is 25% so he still seems to be on the shorter side :) He is really starting to giggle and laugh a lot and it is really fun to hear him laugh we will have to get a video of that. He has also found his voice and has learned that when he's in New Jersey he has to talk really loud to be heard over all the rest of the people here! He has mastered rolling over from stomach to back and is starting to roll from his back to his side... not quite to his stomach yet, but any day he will do that. He is a coordinated little guy too - getting good at reaching for and holding onto things! He seems to like dancing he laughed all day watching his Mommy and Auntie's play dance dance revolution either that or he was just laughing at us!!! he went to his first movie yesterday (Yogi Bear) and he got his wish from Santa and is now eating rice cereal!

And he had his first Christmas . . . see the next post for more about that!

Meeting Santa

2010-12-14T21:41:00.001-08:00

I told Santa that I would like to eat rice cereal... yay soon to be a little eater!

Daddy and Mommy sat by Santa too and asked him to make me stop growing up so fast :)

WHAT DID YOU ASK SANTA TO BRING YOU FOR CHRISTMAS?

Dressed up for Church!

2010-11-30T16:51:00.001-08:00

SMILES

2010-11-30T16:50:00.001-08:00

We have been trying to catch a picture of Austin Smiling for quite some time now, but he is very curious about the camera and we end up with a deer in headlights look instead. I finally caught a couple with some distractions we make it work. He has starting sitting in his Bumbo seat and is doing really well and likes it for a little while. It's good for his core muscles and his neck muscles. He's getting strong!Next to get a good video of him talking and laughing!

Dirtbiking Trip

2010-11-30T16:47:00.000-08:00

Over Thanksgiving break we went up camping and dirtbiking to keep up the tradition we started last year. I love the Texas weather that allows us to still go play outside! We went about and hour from our home up to a friends home who has 80acres to camp and ride dirtbikes. The boys LOVE it! I was fun taking Austin there for his first time. He went for rides with Mommy on Kirk and Ashley's 4 wheeler and Daddy was able to take him for rides on his little 110. He smiled and seemed to have a good time. He even wore his motorcycle outfit. We had really good dutch over chicken and peach cobbler afterwards! The boys camped over night but Austin, Ben, Ashley and I went home to sleep in our warm beds... good thing too cause it rained on the boys that night. Austin had a mini camping experience taking a nap in the tent!

Playing in "Austin's Ocean"

2010-11-29T16:55:00.000-08:00

Austin loves playing in his Ocean. He is getting really good at swatting at the toys and as now started to grab onto them. He kicks his legs and when he hits the little toys on the side it plays music and lights up. He was playing so hard this day it wore him out and he crashed!

Finally finished Austin's Room - he is all ready to be a little surfer now!!

2010-11-16T13:02:00.000-08:00

Austin is smiling more and more all the time and starting to laugh a little. The other night while Devin was saying family prayers I was holding Austin and felt him start shaking so I looked to see... and he was laughing it was so cute! I am trying to get pictures of him smiling but he still gets a serious look when the camera is around him. He sure is still a kicker... you should see how he kicks when I am changing his diaper (that's when he kicks the most!) It makes me laugh a lot. He seems to be going through a growth spurt right now... he is sleeping a lot.

"The" Halloween Party! - and some trick or treating!

2010-11-16T12:27:00.000-08:00

Devin only 12 year old girls stuff their bras... you don't need any bigger man boobs!

Todd had a really good Devil costum! Here he is eating a live goldfish! GROSS!

Lynette and Baby Austin, Diana the angel she is Ash looking with any color hair! and Aimee and Cute baby pumpkin Brinn!

Austin being the cutest pumpkin I have ever seen!

The Girls of the party!

The Before and After of the biggest looser! Easy costum for me jeans an a t shirt Devin on the other hand...

And Austin trick or treating for the very first time!

Here are Pictures from "The" Halloween Party! We had so much fun playing all sorts of crazy games and eating good food... This was one of the best halloween parties I have ever been too! Thanks Rasmusseen's and Manions for all the effort that went into it! Thanks to all those brave enough to eat things... Todd Thanks for the yoga lessons Wade and Dawn Stacy :)Cup stacking by Devina and Scott! Jane Booth getting advice from the devil with a gun in her hands!And too many other funny things to list!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-11-03T20:03:00.000-07:00

Cute little Austin looking like a preppy lil stud in his little sweater. He's getting big and strong and was able to sit up really well by these pumpkins.

A Pretty little picture with Mommy!

What a perfect looking little family

Daddy and lil Austin are playing on the hay.

Another cute family shot.

We had such a fun time at the pumpkin patch going on hay rides and jumping into the hay... Daddy of course did his famous back flip off the top. Devin and Austin took some time and played in the bounce house. Austin loved it!

Halloween Fun

2010-11-03T13:17:00.001-07:00

We had 4 days of Halloween here in Texas.

We first went to Devin's work Party "The BOO BASH" it was lots of fun where mommy even entered the pumpkin carving contest and won the most creative pumpkin. We had a fun time meeting all the people that daddy works with.

Our Next Halloween adventure was the trunk or treat. It was at bluebonnet elementary school just around the corner from us. We invited our Neighbors Tim, Christine and Tessa to come along. We had a good time and Austin was so cute in his pumpkin costume.

After that we went trick or treating and went on a fun hayride. We had so much fun trick or treating with the Rasmussen's and the Manions! Austin was all smiles that day and then fell asleep on the hayride. We then ran over and went trick or treating with the Derrs, Slaways and the Mitchells. We love watching all the kids in their costumes and loving how much candy they get. Happy Halloween.

More pictures to come of the Rasmussen's Halloween Party!!

I have some more firsts to show you . . . they just don't stop:)

2010-10-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

OK- so lets review some of my most recent firsts: boat trip, bike ride, rolling over, outgrowing clothes, going to the pool, seeing Grandpa Bird. Well, if you are not totally impressed yet, here are some more firsts:

Went on a hike

Went to my first state fair and saw lots of animals - they are so big, but some of them smell:)

Rode a horse

OK - so it was a rocking horse, but it's still a horse:)

Went to a campfire

Held a rattle in my hand for a while

and went to my first BYU football game against TCU.

WE LOST! :(

I am growing up so fast

2010-10-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

There are two SURE signs that I am growing up fast - too fast for mom:)

1: I am retiring my first stack of too small clothes!

2: I rolled over!!::)) I know, I am amazing - only 6 weeks and I can roll over already.

A week of Firsts

2010-10-08T14:12:00.000-07:00

Austin's first bike ride - he is a little Lance Armstrong in training! He loved the ride, ~40 minutes long. He smiled and slept, ok, mostly slept, but we generally take that as a sign that he likes it:)

It was so cute, it was like he was holding onto his little belt buckle.

Relaxed by the pool

Austin wore out Grandma and mommy

Austin prepared for his first boat outings by getting used to his life jacket. He did really good!

The boat has a perfect little cubby just for the carseat. He fits snuggly and has a little sunshade.

He will be driving in no time:)

He got so excited, he got hungry and wanted to nap

We went out to an early dinner at the lake

Austin had a great week of firsts, stay tuned for next week's firsts!

Videos

2010-10-07T14:11:00.000-07:00

Here Austin is with his Great-grandma (Devin's grandma) and is really active. We especially love his huge yawn in the middle, so cute . . .

Here is a three part clip of Austin taking his first real bath, and his first bath in TX

and finally a little clip from his bike ride - stay tuned to the Austin Video Channel for more awesome clips! Hope you like these!

Seeing more family before coming home

2010-10-06T14:10:00.000-07:00

Before heading back to TX, we made quick stops in Pocatello and in Provo to see some of Devin's family. Devin's grandpa is 91 and so we stopped to see him and had a great time and then we spent a night in Provo to see Devin's mom, and 1 brother, 2 sisters and their spouses before heading back to TX. Austin had a great time meeting his new cousins, aunts and uncles and seeing Babba again, but by the end he was exhausted and ready for his next big adventure . . .

His first action sport event Part 3 of 3(we stumbled upon this while spending time in Boise with Devin's family)

2010-10-05T14:04:00.000-07:00

Austin went to his first sporting event( a remote controlled car race) at the Qwest Arena in Boise. We stumbled across this event while strolling around downtown. We had a fun time and we think Austin liked it too!

Austin's First Adventures (Part I of 3 parts)

2010-10-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

Austin had a great adventure in Idaho. He was a great traveler, explorer, grandson, nephew, baby and little Angel! We tried to capture alot of his first 2 weeks.

Some of his adventures were:
-Overcoming my nocturnal tendencies
-Meeting new relatives -
-Lynette's family that came: Grandma and Grandpa Coates, Uncle Justin and Auntie Kandice, Cousins Vince and Shelby
-Devin's family that came: Babba, Auntie Marissa, Auntie Alisha, Auntie Shannon and Auntie Lauren
-Became a junior Lewis and Clarke exploring the payette lake, upper payette, south fork of the salmon river, seeing 2 million baby salmon in the hatchery, Tamarack ski resort, lake cascade
-Saw my first wildlife - an 8 point deer right in my driveway and tons of fish!
-Sat on my first tractor
-Became an actor (see next post)
-and much more
-Had my first family reunion (see future post)

Leaving the Hospital

2010-10-02T13:56:00.000-07:00

There were mixed emotions about leaving the hospital. We really liked having the nurses around to check in on us and check Austin's vitals, but were excited to strike out for Parenthood on our own.

Austin was so alert in his carseat. He stayed awake all the way . . . to the hospital exit

All buckled up and ready to go. Watch out world, Austin is coming!

(after his nap of course)

2010-10-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed my first night at the hospital. I had a comfy, special blanket to keep me warm the nurses were so nice and mom and dad took great care of me!

I love kisses! and mom loves to give them, what a perfect pair!

And dad's a natural at feeding, maybe cause he likes to eat so much . . .

We are in Love with a boy!

2010-08-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

Check out the pictures of Austin and you will fall in love with him too.
Little Baby Austin arrived on Thursday August 26th at 7:24pm. He weighed in at 7lbs
8 oz and was a short little 18.5" long. He is very healthy and was able to go home the day after he was born. We headed up to McCall, Idaho where we stayed in my Aunt and Uncle's beautiful Cabin. We are so lucky to have been able to stay there and enjoy our first 3 weeks with Baby Austin. We loved spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Coates, Auntie Kandice, uncle Justin, Cousins' Vince and Shelby who all came up to see Baby Austin in McCall. We also spent a day in Boise with Babba,Auntie Marissa,Auntie Alisha, Auntie Lauren,and Auntie Shannon. We then drove to Pocatello and visited with Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Bird. Then on to Salt Lake City where Austin got to meet Uncles Steve, Lorin, Logan. He also got to meet Auntie Brenda and cousins Ashton,and Ava. There were several friends who came to see him too Molly and Tom, and Dave and Tandi and there 3 beautiful children!

Nesting!

2010-08-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

Most of you who know me well enough know that I Love having a list of things to do, ilove writing them down checking them off It's a thrill form me to get things done. If there is a day I don't have a list i feel crazy and often will think i accomplished nothing that day. Sometimes I will even write a list afterwords of what I did just so i can check it off and see what I did that day! I love seeing everything I accomplished. On that note I also love having projects to do around the house... see post from Labor day last year :) This year I had a few projects. Here you go this is one of my lists!

-Refinishing, staining, and varnishing the front door... Lesson learned from that one ok 2 lessons learned #1 don't always trust the guys at Home Depot... #2 hire someone to do it for you :) CHECK

-Organize the garage... Devin helped with this one and it looks amazing! It makes the garage look so much bigger!

Check check

-shampoo the carpets... Thanks Lauren!

check

- Paint Austins new room... Ahh Yay Thanks Melanie, Koral Amiee and Brinn oh and Devin for your help it looks awesome! check

Before:

After:

- Arrange furniture in Austin's room Thanks Craig!

-Design Austin's bedding and Draperies

check check

Lynette's new Love

2010-08-02T21:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, there is a new love in my life... don't worry it's a different kind of the love I have for Devin... it's the love of a challenge and something new and exciting. Much of our summer is being spent out on the lake on the boat! If you can't find us chances are we are on the boat. We love being on the water and love taking everyone out and teaching them to surf ski, wakeboard and sometimes even wakeskate. As much as i love watching the boys do their tricks and flips and all there jumps grabs and all that fun stuff, I love being behind the boat too! I watched them all last year while I was restricted from doing all water sports and now I am ready to go out there again. I have always loved skiing, but on the lake you have to go at 6am to get nice glassy water which I don't mind but there are only an occasional Friday and Saturdays that we go that early so I decided to start surfing behind the boat... which you can do anytime with any type of water,choppy or not. I LOVE IT!!

Watching Devin do one of his amazing flips!Go Babe! You rock!

Surfing will 2 year old Will! I'm not sure who loves it more Devin or Will! So Cute!

Memorial Day Trip

2010-06-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

We went to Lake LBJ this Memorial Day and rented a lake house with our good friends the Rasmussens and the Allens. We had so much fun boating and having camp fires playing in the yard and swimming!

There was a railroad bridge on the waterway out to the lake that we passed everyday and everyday Devin would ask the kids if they wanted to jump off. Addie the cutest little 5 year old girl said yes... and then the boy figured if she was going to they had to too, so they all jumped off! It was about 20' they did awesome!

We're having a . . .

2010-05-19T22:45:00.000-07:00

BOY!!! (This is Devin making the post and I am not as blog savvy as Lynette so I don't have colors).

We had an amazing visit with Debbie (our birthmom) and her family on Tuesday - and it was such an undescribable experience that she invited us to come to the ultrasound. Seeing the baby, watching him move and knowing that he is healthy (and a boy:)) were experiences that Lynette and I didn't know if we would have - but thanks to Debbie we were so fortunate to be able to attend the ultrasound. Most adoptive couples don't get to be there for that, so it was very special to us.

At the end of the Ultrasound, Debbie asked us if we had any names picked out (because she wanted to start calling him by his name as he kicked), and Lynette and I smiled as we said we had picked out a name like six years ago! So, his name will be . . . Austin Craig. Austin is just a name we like and Craig is my father's name.

Thanks for all of your prayers and support - please keep praying for Debbie!

We love you guys and could not have been so strong and optimistic for so long without you guys!

Love,

Devin and Lynette

Guess what we're having?

2010-05-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

A BABY!!! A BABY!!! Adoption - the miracle of life for us!! A little over a month ago, a little Angel, a birthmom, our birthmom, Debbie, selected us for adoption!!!
Before we go into details. We are going to Boise to see Debbie on Tuesday to find out together whether we are having a boy or girl!! So you only have 2 days to place your vote for boy or girl!!

Now to some details:

The birthmother's name is Debbie. About 2 months ago, one of Lynette’s family friends Marc reached out to Lynette via facebook and started asking questions about adoption and what was the best way he could help a friend of his who was considering adoption (we didn't know who it was that he was helping at the time). The friend, turned out to be Debbie, who we also knew. When Marc told us that Debbie was not only considering adoption, but also considering us as adoptive parents, we were instantly excited because Debbie is totally a sweet, beautiful, talented girl.
After meeting with LDS family services, Debbie became comfortable with adoption and us as adoptive parents – which is where we come into the story . . .
One night, Lynette and I were watching one of our go to TV shows (24) when Debbie reached out to Lynette via text and Lynette and her shared an amazing string of texts. Debbie brought us to tears as she told us she wanted us to be her baby’s adoptive parents as we could feel the love she has for her baby. Debbie was very sweet and warm in the messages and told us she was comfortable with us telling others that she has chosen us to adopt her unborn baby and that she has a great feeling of comfort about the decision right now.

Thanks for all of your guys prayers and fasts for us so far, we really, really appreciate it and love you guys! We ask that you now also include Debbie and the baby in your prayers!

(And remember to vote – boy or girl)

Talking about the boat never ends

2010-04-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

Devin has been nagging me to put some pictures up of the virgin run and pictures of the first wakeboard and surf runs of the season. I somehow didn't get any pictures of Devin surfing behind the boat... sorry babe! but we had a great time although it was raining a little Saturday that didn't stop us from going out on the boat! It really only rained on us for about 20 mins. we were lucky! Here are some shots of the guys.

Devin:

Kody:

Kirk: sorry I promise i will get better shots of you next time I just needed documentation that you were "the real man on the boat" ha ha

Todd:

Devin's new toy!!!

2010-04-22T08:23:00.000-07:00

Ever since we graduated from undergrad Devin has been trying to convince me that we needed and could afford a boat... which we both well new was not true... he may have wanted one but definitely could not and would not afford one. However he talked about it all the time like he really was going to get one the whole 2 years in Boston he talked about buying a boat and then we went to B-School in Michigan again we needed a boat during this "blissful school life" sure Devin everyone in B-school can buy a boat with their student loans right? So no boat there either, now you have to understand Devin's sadness that this exotic boat wish was looking pretty bleak. Once we graduated and moved to Dallas Devin just knew he would get a boat it was perfect we would be working and the weather was always nice, so he began the oh so familiar trips to boat shows and to marinas and to boat dealers looking up boats on line, looking at new boats at used boats and at left over boats, you name it his life revolved around getting that much wanted boat... my desire for house things always came with Devin's question to me "would you rather have that or a boat"... which I somehow managed to get a few things for the house too. However reality set in and no boat was bought the first year... Crunching the numbers in the budget in the end quit clearly said NO BOAT this year... student loans to pay off, Lynette's gorgeous home and medical bills took the place of the boat. Devin was a little lucky he had made a good friend who had a boat and went out in the mornings before work... Devin soon joined Kirk in morning ski and wakeboarding runs before work and weekends spent at the lake on the boat. I thought this would suppress his desire for a boat, however in the end it only fueled his desire for his own boat more... Again the number crunching and obsessing about boats began once again... he did everything he could to make sure his desire for a boat was met. He even sold his truck and bought what we call the '82 Volvo (love you for that Ash) it actually is a '95 Lexus, to sacrifice for the greater good. After test driving every boat known to man, Devin fell in love with the Supra 21V... it is the best crossover for skiing, wakeboarding and surfing all of his loves including me looking hot on the boat too. So boat show time came and we pulled the trigger and bought a beautiful boat. Did I mention Devin had to convince me about every weekend that we could afford this? The next new "toy" is for both of us... more about that later :) For now here are a few pics:

I love my dad!!!

2010-04-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

My kitchen went from this:

To this:

One of the awesome things about my dad is that he is so handy. He can fix just about anything and build anything and I love that I can call him too and ask him about a problem in my home and he can walk me through the process on how to fix things. I like to say that I have fixed almost all the lil problems we have had in our house but really I have to give credit to my dad he's the one I call and he will tell me how to fix it, SO thanks dad!!! I love how excited he was while he was here to do any little or big project I was wanting done in my home. He did everything from building me cornice boards to fixing my toilet (which I failed to fix 3 times)helping me get rid of that awful wallpaper in the nursery and retexturing it, installing our bike rack in the garage and installing all my new kitchen appliances!!! Yay Thanks mom and Dad for my new kitchen... I think about you every time I use them it will only make moving that much harder... so i guess we'll just have to convince Devin that we need to stay here forever. Thanks Mom and Dad for all the fun we had while you were here. I love that things are fixed in my house I just miss having a good reason to call you SO much!i always say cooking is much more fun in a cute apron but cooking in a new kitchen may just be better than that!

Adoption help

2010-02-24T22:01:00.000-08:00

We have been approved for adoption for almost a year now. As I keep looking at how many people have viewed our adoption profile, I can't help but think about the phase that we are at... It is called Finding your baby... I feel the urgency in that phrase every time I read it and feel like we need to do more every day.So we are asking for your help. First off we want to let everyone know that we are thrilled with the idea of finally being a mommy and daddy. The last six years have been quite the roller coaster and we're looking forward to what the next couple of years could possibly hold. Thanks for sharing in our adoption journey! We hope that you will keep us in your prayers and we promise to keep you updated on any exciting news.

NOW IS YOUR CHANCE... We would like to ask that YOU help us spread the word about our efforts to adopt in a very simple way. PLEASE... tell everyone you know about OUR ADOPTION blog,(THERE IS A LINK AT THE END OF THIS POST) even if they may not be single and pregnant, they may know someone that is or maybe know someone at their child's school, at their church, at their work, that is part of a sports team, etc. that is or may become pregnant and may wish to explore the idea of adoption. YOU could be the link that brings us together with the birth mother of our special baby. YOU could take part in the miracle of completing a family. Yes....YOU! Thanks for sharing in our adoption journey!

http://devinandlynette4adoption.blogspot.com
https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/22270401/ourMessage.jsf.

Christmas in Dallas

2010-01-10T11:49:00.001-08:00

What does Christmas in Dallas mean... Warm weather nice sunshine, a "brown" Christmas and usually pretty dry... However this year was a little different... My parents, grandma and one of my brothers came here to spend Christmas with us "Dallas style". We had lots of fun going to the stockyards in Fort Worth and looking at Christmas lights and making treats, had a great Christmas Eve Dinner, reading the Christmas story and just spending time with each other, we also got a great surprise of a white Christmas!

My Favorite Tree

2010-01-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

Devin and I ventured out this winter in the colder than usual Dallas weather in search of a perfect Christmas tree. After much research online (a must before we do anything for Devin) we found a tree farm about 45min.-1 hour away. We had such a fun day drinking cider and eating yummy BBQ chicken and taking a hay ride to get the trees. Here are a few pictures of our "perfect tree" hope you enjoy!

Dirtbiking

2009-12-01T08:46:00.000-08:00

We had a really fun weekend trip dirt biking and camping! We went up Friday afternoon with Kirk and Ashley,their boys Matthew, Palmer, Will and Baby Ben, and Kirk Derr and his boys Korbin and Ethan. Poor Koral was sick so Mel and Teague stayed home and took care of her. The Boys got a fun ride up to camp in the tractor bucket!

The crew Korbin, Ashley, Will and Ben, Devin Palmer, and Ethan

The boys are roasting Doritos? We had yummy tinfoil dinners and we did roast marshmellows and had smores too.

Devin and Will! The crazy dirtbike boys! You gotta love that the helmet is on even though it's a lil big! Devin is safe sometimes.

A little Teatherball tournament

The Boys warming up their lil toes by the fire!

Devin and Will riding a Wheelie

Trick or Treat a little Late!

2009-12-01T08:31:00.000-08:00

"Scuba Devin and Lynette"

Our friend the Bounty hunter and his wife.

Lynette, Ashley, Diana, and Allyson

The cutest Baby Ben pumpkin

My favorite Dinosour Will. He loved to Roar at everyone and thanked everyone for his candy while trick or treating Cute kid!

i had a dream that died last year.

2009-11-23T21:45:00.000-08:00

OK I have to admit I stole this post from a friends blog, because I could not have described my feelings better than she did. I changed it to fit my story a little better.

i had a dream that died last year.

a dream of little babies that looked like Devin and me.
a dream of being a co-creator of life.
a dream of feeling life grow within me.
a dream of surprising our family and friends with the blessed news.
a dream of getting flowers in the hospital.
a dream of hearing the heartbeat.
a dream of Devin and i alone in the hospital room with an hours old baby in our arms.
a dream of the little ankle bracelet with my name and baby's name on it.
a dream of maternity clothes.
a dream of taking pictures each month to show how much bigger the baby had gotten in my tummy.
a dream of counting down the days.
a dream of experiencing the spirituality of the delivery room as my mother described it.
a dream of having a baby when i wanted to have one.

but...
those days after the "bad" news were hard.
(that's the understatement of the year!)
we fasted and we prayed and we poured out our hearts.
i cried and cried and cried ...because the dream had died.

those prayers were answered.
and we were blessed with a miracle.
the miracle of understanding and accepting.
the miracle of gaining a testimony and a desire for adoption.
the miracle of feeling the power of the sealing power seared into my soul.
the miracle of peace.

and i was blessed with a new dream.
a new dream that i daydream about in the car everyday ...still.
the dream of hearing the words, "i chose you to be his family."
the new dream of babies my babies.
and recently the dream of seeing all of my children dressed in white sitting in the temple with us.
new dreams that are as dear to me now as the old ones were. new dreams that make tears streak my cheeks. good dreams.

2009-11-21T09:10:00.000-08:00

Dallin and Shannon's Wedding

2009-11-15T19:57:00.001-08:00

Visit www.moblyng.com to make your own!

My HOT Ironman!

2009-10-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

Devin decided that he wanted to do an Ironman triathlon about what seemed like a year ago. Now he had an excuse to play any sport he wanted to and several in one day. The phrase around our house was "I need it for my race" "it's for my race" race race race race... Finally the day of the race came we drove 3 hours to Oklahoma and stayed in a hotel the night before the race and went to bed early . However, just as we settled into nice relaxing sleep, some little punks running in the hallway, knocked super loud on our door - startling and waking us up. Needless to say, we did not sleep well.

After finally falling asleep, we woke up to a beautiful morning - that is until 30 minutes before race time. As soon as we got to the race black clouds rolled in faster than I have ever seen and it started to rain! It poured and poured everyone was grabbing trash bags and umbrellas. The race was delayed for an hour and there were sections of mandatory dismount on the bike part because there was 8" of standing water on the course. It was crazy! I watched Devin during the 1.2 mile swim and his transition to the 56 mile bike, he did very well on the swim finishing it the exact time he wanted to. He did well on the bike also. I left during the 3 hour bike portion of the race and spent 2 hours drying my clothes at the hotel!

I got back just in time to watch him do the 13 mile run! He ran really well, because he had the best running coach:). However, due to undertraining, his hamstring started to cramp up real bad after the first few miles and that made it tough to run fast but he kept at it and ran well! He finished his race in 6 hours and 20 Min which was just a bout 20 mins over his goal.

Devin thinks he did pretty good. Especially since before race day he had never biked the full 56 miles or ran the full 13 miles! He is thinking he should train a little more before his FULL IRONMAN race next year:) Great Job Babe! Here are some pictures from the day

Projects

2009-09-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to do some projects around the house for some time now and just kept putting it off because other things came up, so I decided that I would give myself a deadline to get everything done... There you go more proof that I LOVE Schedules, lists and being busy! I gave myself until Labor Day to finish everything on my list.
-Stain and varnish front door
-Trim Bushes and trees
-Power wash the fence (oh the story is a whole other post)
-Plant flowers again since they died while we were in NJ
-Make draperies and Cornices for Bedroom and Living Room
-Patch all holes from previous drapery hardware and paint
-Make molding and put on living room wall
-Make sconces for Living room wall
-Paint and hang sconces for Guest bedroom
-Hang Mirror in Media room
-Plant trees and bushes in backyard
-Clean and Organize Garage, pantry and craft room
-Refinish antique chairs
-Polish the brass feet on antique chairs and table
I conquered my list and still had time to spare! Here are a few before and after photos! hope you enjoy!

THE GRAY IS BEFORE: AFTER:

BEFORE:
AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:
BEFORE:
AFTER:
BEFORE:
AFTER:

Summer is Over?

2009-08-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

Where did Summer go? I have been so busy this summer that I have not taken time to blog. There was so much that has happened.
June: Our first summer working since we lived in Boston.We had internships in between but we both worked the whole summer.
July: We stayed at the Bird Resort in New Jersey! We had so much fun with Devin's family. We watched fireworks and went to the beach, played in the pool went dirt biking and played lots of tennis, Celebrated birthdays and enjoyed being with family. We love watching all of the nieces and nephews grow up they are so much fun and I love their personalities. I have all the nieces and nephews pictures on a wall in my home and all I have to do is look at their pictures and a smile comes across my face and everything seems to be good again.
Dallin and Shannon got Engaged!!

August: We went to Reno and had so much fun there. We went to My 10 year high school reunion and we went to the lake and went on bike rides, played with Vince, Devin and Justin rode the big swing at the Hilton and we loved spending time with family. Taught Vince how to play Skee Ball. He beat all of us! Loved talking to Vince and playing with him every second we got! We tried to take him home with us til Christmas time but Mom and Dad didn't agree to that one. We miss him so much already. Watched some Monk, Ate great food, relaxed and played hard!

Motocross

2009-08-20T20:42:00.000-07:00

Devin and I have attended a few motorcycles races and a free style motocross event. We invted Kirk and the Derr boys to come along with us for their birthday. It was such a good time Here are a few pictures.

Tornado vs Fence and tree

2009-06-23T21:08:00.000-07:00
Last week I was sitting at home around 8:30 and I noticed it was staring to rain, so I ran outside to cover our Chaise lounge chair. I wondered how did a storm blow in that fast? It was so nice less than an hour ago. I walk out front to see a wall of black coming toward our home. The wind really picked up and the rain was coming down so hard I could barely see across the street. Then I heard it... The tornado sirens. I knew it was time to duck and cover. On the way to my "tornado room" I looked in my back yard I couldn't believe it my tree was laying on the ground as well as my whole back fence!!!! I was home alone and Devin was going to be working really late that night so I have to admit I was a little scared. I waited for what seemed like forever in our tornado room with my phone talking to Devin,friends and neighbors. (Everyone was calling to make sure I was ok.) After the storm ended I went outside and this is how I found our yard!
Visit www.moblyng.com to make your own!
GOOD THING I COVERED THE CHAISE!

My Green Thumb!

2009-06-15T21:22:00.000-07:00

My garden is doing great I am getting lots of green beans and my squash is coming in well too. I have 3 little squashes which should be ready to pick in the next week or two! I love My Garden!

Spring in February!

2009-05-27T19:50:00.000-07:00
We love being in Dallas! One of my favorite things to do is to look at the daily temperature difference between the weather in Dallas and the weather in Ann Arbor and thank Devin for moving us to a warmer climate! When I get up in the morning in the month of February and look out my window to see this I thank Devin even more!
I started planting flowers and a little garden. It has been a lot of fun and I love working in the yard getting it just the way I love it a nice realxing place to hang out in the afternoons and evenings with Devin eating dinner and reading on our chaise lounge. Here are some pictures of the day I planted the flowers

Now this is what they look like
This is my little garden! I am excited at how well it is doing!

Beautiful Baby Ava May Jensen

2009-04-20T17:00:00.000-07:00

Baby Ava is finally here, and I finally am taking the time to post! Isn't she gorgeous? We love love Baby Ava! She is so sweet and such a good Baby. She has the most beautiful hair and her mommy dresses her up so cute, she is a little fashion queen already. Miss and Steve are the best parents and are loving every minute of it. Ava loves having her hair played with like a true girl always does.She melts in your arms. I loved seeing her and didn't get enough of her while we were there. We had a great time with Steve, Miss and Devin's parents. We are counting down the days til her blessing when we can see her again. We love you lil miss Ava

Utah Trip

2009-04-20T16:25:00.000-07:00
We had a crazy trip to Utah in March. After debating forever about taking a ski trip to Utah this year, Devin finally convinced me that he should go and this year I decided to go with him, after all I haven't been skiing since we left Utah, and this year I was able to go. We got to Utah and had a great time, we stayed in Park city with the Miller's for the first two nights and we loved seeing them and catching up. We got up early Friday morning and skied all day at the Canyon's. Then day two we decided to go snowshoeing instead of skiing because the weather was so warm. Devin, Dallin, Logan,Justin and I went for a little snowshoe trip. We had fun and tried to look tough in our pictures! The girls headed out to dinner for a little girls night together, we ate at a Japanese steakhouse! The boys went mountain biking on Saturday as well since the weather was so nice. Brenda and I went to some really fun baby boutiques, which I will have to remember when our little baby comes. We ate an amazing little Italian restaurant on Saturday night in Provo. If you get a Chance you have to eat at Gloria's Little Italy! They have the best desserts and some of the best Gelato I've had in the US. The rest of the trip was the crazy crazy part. We stayed at Molly Adam's house the rest of the trip and I thank God every day that we stayed with her. She is so much like a second mom to me and she took care of me the whole time we were there. Ok to preface the story I have a very strong stomach and never get sick, in fact I have not thrown up since I was 8, So I always told Devin that if I did throw up he would know for sure that I was prego... well for as sick as I was in Utah you would have thought I was prego, but no such luck I was just plain sick for 3 days!!!! I have not been that sick ever in my life! Molly was the best she made me some tea to settle my stomach and then kept the fridge stocked with Gatorade and lots of Chicken Noodle soup for me. I can't thank her enough for taking care of Devin and I while we were there! Somehow everyone in Utah got sick. There was a flu bug going around and all the little birds got it bad. Overall the trip was great! Devin and I loved our new skis, and had a lot of fun skiing. Next trip to Utah I am excited to finally have new ski boots!

Adoption

2009-02-28T09:57:00.000-08:00

We Are approved! Devin and i are so excited We are completely approved to have a baby placed in our home. I can't believe how quickly it has gone and yet how long we seem to have. I think the hardest part now is the waiting time. You are so busy filling out papers and all the important information about your life and your ideas, your home study and then once all of that is done you feel like "ok, now what?" I have heard so many stories and have had friends who have had very few days notice that they will be parents and so I am trying to get ready... So in the words of my good friend I am a "prego adoptive mother" meaning that if I were to have my own baby I would be prego right now... I have been reading up and learning everything I can so that I will be ready if we happen to be one of those couples who have 3 days notice! I have picked out a stroller and car seat combo, a crib and of course some cute clothes and accessories for their room. Of course the little baby girl things are so much fun! I love this baby bling binky! I've got such a cute binky for my baby girl when she decides to come to our home!Devin of course has all the sports equipment and toys picked out that any little boy would love. Thank you to all of you who are saying prayers for us, we appreciate all the love and can't wait to have our baby in our home!

Storybook Land

2009-02-28T09:52:00.001-08:00

We spent a cold night at storybook land with all the kids... we rode every ride possible more than once and waited to see santa to light all the lights and were exhausted by the time we left.

First Christmas in Dallas

2009-02-28T09:35:00.000-08:00
We has such a fun Christmas in our new house and being in Dallas. Devin got up on the roof and did an amazing job on our Christmas lights. Our house was the best display of lights on our street! Good Job Babe! We finally got to go cut down a real tree for our house and it was so fun... Our tree was HUGE! Lynette spent days in the kitchen making treats for all their friends and neighbors. Devin was not on a specific client so after a few days of convincing by Devin's dad we flew to New Jersey early and spent a long Christmas break with his family. I'll post some pictures of our storybook land trip with all the nieces and nephews.

Global Warming-- now made by BABIES???

2009-02-03T15:00:00.000-08:00
From The Sunday Times February 1, 2009.
Two children should be limit, says green guru Sarah-Kate Templeton, Health Editor
Couples who have more than two children are being "irresponsible" by creating an unbearable burden on the environment, the government's green adviser has warned. Jonathon Porritt, who chairs the government's Sustainable Development Commission, says curbing population growth through contraception and abortion must be at the heart of policies to fight global warming. He says political leaders and green campaigners should stop dodging the issue of environmental harm caused by an expanding population. A report by the commission, to be published next month, will say that governments must reduce population growth through better family planning. "I am unapologetic about asking people to connect up their own responsibility for their total environmental footprint and how they decide to procreate and how many children they think are appropriate," Porritt said.
"I think we will work our way towards a position that says that having more than two children is irresponsible. It is the ghost at the table. We have all these big issues that everybody is looking at and then you don't really hear anyone say the "p" word." The Optimum Population Trust, a campaign group of which Porritt is a patron, says each baby born in Britain will, during his or her lifetime, burn carbon roughly equivalent to 2a cres of old-growth oak woodland - an area the size of Trafalgar Square. The British population, now 61m, will pass 70m by 2028, the Office for National Statistics says. The fertility rate for women born outside Britain is estimated to be 2.5, compared with 1.7 for those born here. The global population of 6.7 billion is expected to rise to 9.2 billion by 2050. Porritt, who has two children, intends to persuade environmental pressure groups to make population a focus of campaigning. "Many organisations think it is not part of their business. My mission with the Friends of the Earth and the Greenpeaces of this world is to say: 'You are betraying the interests of your members by refusing to address population issues and you are doing it for the wrong reasons because you think it is too controversial," he said. Porritt, a former chairman of the Green party, says the government must improve family planning, even if it means shifting money from curing illness to increasing contraception and abortion. He said: "We still have one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancies in Europe and we still have relatively high levels of pregnancies going to birth, often among women who are not convinced they want to become mothers.

Interesting that now Global Warming "climate Change" is now saying we should only have 2 children. This is in the UK not communist china. Its getting crazy fast... I can't believe that these crazy environmentalists! Devin's brother said it best. "They are whacked and are going to burn in hell whether it happens here or when they die.. you can't preach abortion and not get your a... Kicked when you meet the maker. Couples who have children are responsible!

Thanksgiving fun

2009-02-03T14:18:00.000-08:00
We traveled to Reno for Thanksgiving and had a great time visiting Grandpa & Grandma Coates playing with Vince, watching movies football, toured farrell Ross's workshop and went and shot the guns
The guns were LOUD! Even Vince's bear thought so!
I wouldn't suggest trying to break into my parents home. What an Arsenal!Devin has a great shot! Especially with the .22 pistol
Shooting the clay pigeons! Dad shooting the rifle.Thanks Mom and Dad for a fun trip!

New Year's Day Polar Bear Plunge

2009-01-25T19:43:00.000-08:00
(posted by Devin)
My brother Dallin and his girlfriend Shannon jumped in the ocean with him on New Year's Day. Like last year, I was not able to recruit many people to jump in with me--Lynette desperately wanted to jump in, but she was willing to make the sacrifice and be a team player and take the video. (she apologizes for the shaking video, she was just shivering).

The ocean was 40 degrees, which isn't too bad, but add the 29 degree weather and 200 yard post plunge run up the beach, and we were freezing. You are all invited for next year's plunge into Lake Tahoe on New Year's Day!

Stay tuned for more posts from our Christmas activities.

One of my Favorite Finds and more home pics

2008-12-22T20:00:00.000-08:00

I love my office!!! I love the clean fresh feeling that it has every time I walk in. I knew that I had to have a fun office because I would be in there paying bills and doing all those tasks and it makes doing those tasks so much more fun if you have a fun enviornment to do it in.

I couldn't decide for a long time what color to do our guest bedroom in. I knew that it would be either in white black and red or tiffany box blue. Since I did our powder room in tiffany box blue we went with red in the guest bed. I wanted something comfortable and old fashioned. I have added a few more things I got from my mom when we went home that add the pefect touches and I really like how it is turning out.

One of my favorite finds is this ottoman! I loved it the instant I saw it! Devin really liked it too and it adds color to our Family room. This room is the one that needs the most work--we are excited about it and I know everything I want to do, I just need some time to. 1) save enough money to do what I want and 2) to find the perfect accessories. I 'll post some more pictures as it comes a long. I love how fun it is to go watch a movie in this room!
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Devin's Olympic Triathalon

2008-12-21T20:13:00.000-08:00
Over the summer, I decided to train for an Olympic distance triathalon (1500M swim, 24Mile bike and 10K run). The only problem was a week before the race, I still didn't have a road bike. So a couple of days before the race, I found a bike on craigslist and trained with it a couple of times. I had a great time competing in the race--I finished in about 2 hours 50 minutes, which was 20 minutes faster than my goal.

Next up, I am going to do a half ironman next fall. Lynette bought me new Nike shoes for Christmas to help me in my training and I am excited for the race.

I have found that triathalons are a great way to stay in shape, to push my limits and I like the variety with the three sports.

Lynette is a great coach, giving me running, eating and race day support!

Home Sweet Home

2008-11-18T20:34:00.000-08:00
We finally have a home after 6 long years of living in apartment after apartment and moving every 2 years, we have decided to settle down a little. We Love having a home! I think that Devin is almost more excited than I am about it. Every time he comes home he says "I Love having a home" about 3 times in a row. I love being able to decorate any way I want knowing that I'm not going to have to paint it white again when we move out. I also love having so much space, not having to cram things in to every little nook and cranny that I have. We have a beautiful guest room that I want to have used a lot so we want you to all come visit! Remember this in about February when you are all so sick of winter and think of a free stay with the Birds!

Janelle's Wedding

2008-10-28T17:16:00.000-07:00

Visit www.moblyng.com to make your own!

Tagged

2008-10-28T16:10:00.000-07:00
8 Favorite TV Shows
1. 24
2. Everybody Loves Raymond
3. So You Think You Can Dance
4. Cosby Show
5. King of Queens
6. Friends
7.
8.

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Cafe Rio
2. Hula Grill in NJ
3. chipotle
4. Big 10 Burrito in MI
5. Ruth's Chris
6. Legal Seafood in Boston
7. Great Harvest
8. Mimi's Cafe

8 Things that Happened Yesterday:
1. Organized my Office
2. Hung some more pictures
3. Fixed my front door
4. Recorded finances
5. Made some Flower arrangements
6. prepared a lesson for Beehives
7. cleaned my kitchen
8. made a new recipe

8 Things to Look Forward To:
1. Christmas in NJ
2. A play in NYC with family
3. Getting a calling
4. Thanksgiving at Home
6. Seeing my nephew Vince
7. Spending time with my family
8. Devin not traveling

8 Things I Love About Fall:
1. The Clothes
2. Pumpkin Spice smell
3. Fall Foliage
4. Making treats
5. The Autumn colors
6. The crunch of leaves on a walk at night
7. Remembering what we're thankful for
8. Thanksgiving dinner

8 Things on My Wish List:
1. Vacation
2. furniture for my house
3. Black quilted purse
4. a computer that works
5. Jeans
6. cute T's
7. picked to be parents
8. McCain to be president

8 People I'm Tagging
1. Melanie
2. Kara
3. Julie
4. Mandy
5. RicAnn
6. Erika
7. Sarah
8. Laura

Scuba Diving

2008-10-28T15:48:00.000-07:00

Logan's Homecoming

2008-10-28T15:32:00.000-07:00

Night In Venice

2008-10-28T14:49:00.000-07:00

We Love Night in Venice. Going and watching the boat parade.

Having Fun with the Nieces and Nephews

2008-10-28T14:31:00.000-07:00

We has such a wonderful Summer in New Jersey. We went to the beach played in the pool with all the kids got some Mac and Manco's Pizza, Rode Bikes on the Boardwalk, went to the park with all the nieces and nephews taught Chandler how to water ski and surf, Skim boarding, Devin and Lynette surfing. Getting lunch on the boat. Crabbing with Becky and the kids. Going to the beach with Logan. Hanging out at Becky's house, the men "fixing" Darrin and Becky's bed. Jumping on the tramp with Chelsea and Breitton and Stella, Surfing in the pool with Lucas and Ridding 4-wheelers with the little kids in the back yard. The two family reunions in Lava Hot Springs,ID and Aspen Grove,UT. Hanging out with family and having a great time.

Vincent LeGrand Coates

2008-06-22T14:24:00.000-07:00

I couldn't just pick a few pictures of Little Vince because he is so cute! A little tribute to my big brother and his wife. Justin called me on June 7 at about 11:00 and told me that Kandice was in Labor... I was so excited I couldn't stand it and then reality set in and I realized that the baby was coming a month early. They didn't have time to give her and epidural so she had him naturally, at least he was only 5lbs 12oz. The doctors all say she was phenomenal as a first time mom with a preemie and a delivery without an epidural Kandice you are an amazing MOM! All she told me was how sweet Justin was during the whole thing. Vince is still in the NICU but is getting better all the time and we are hoping he will come home soon.

HAWAII

2008-06-22T14:21:00.001-07:00

2008-06-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Most people are glad and relieved that this day has arrived (after all the hard work and hours upon endless hours of studying and tests, they have finally graduated!) Devin on the other hand thinks that life has ended! No more "easy life" full of time to play tennis, basketball, running, intense games of raquetball and killing Mike at ping pong, not to mention the late nights of playing broomball, and inner tube water polo. I am so pround of Devin because although he seemed to do nothing but play in his spare time he was also very involved in school, helping everyone around him, whether it was advising new applicants, or working on school projects, to helping people out with their interview cases interviewing skills to finally get a job. Devin I love you so much and am grateful for your hard work and dedication, and being so helpful to everyone around you too. Now your "real hard life" begins!

Quick trip home

2008-06-11T15:37:00.000-07:00

Markie with dad

Markie and his lion that he named tigger

Me and my grandpa

My cuddle time with gramps gotta love how cute he is

My mom and her friend Pauline

We went to Reno in April to spend some time with my Grandpa. He had surgery on his heart and did much better than we expected. We are so happy that he is doing well! While we were there Markie turned 30 so we had a little party with some of his friends there. Happy Birthday Buddy! It was good to see my family as well, it had been too long since we had been together.

Dr. Seymour

2008-03-18T12:39:00.000-07:00

Ok,Ok so I have had enough people wanting to know how my surgery went that I just decided to do a post on it. To be honest I was a little nervous about going under the knife for the first time in my life but I think that is normal what wasn't normal according to Devin was how obsessed I was with being completely antibacterialized before, during and after the surgery. I lysoled my entire outfit before putting it on the morning of the surgery as well as my teddy bear who I took with me of course for moral support and something soft to squeeze. Overall the surgery went well. The recovery time is being longer than I was hoping I hate the feeling of not being able to do everything for myself. I have to thank my awesome friends who brought me some of the best food! I am not one who likes to ask for help but after receiving food that first time I realized just how nice it is, Thank you!!! I also should thank my sweet husband who took such great care of me and was so sensitive and wouldn't let me over do it like he knew I would. It makes you realize how much you are loved when you can't do some things yourself. Thank you to all who prayed for us and had us in your thoughts during this time. We appreciate it and love you all.

I've Been Tagged

2008-03-17T18:38:00.000-07:00
5 Places I want to visit before I die:
1. Tahiti
2. Figi
3. Africa
4. Australia
5. Norway

5 Salad Toppings:
1. Cheese
2. Crasins
3. sunflower seeds
4. Broccoli
5. carrots

5 Fiction Books:
Don't love fiction books

5 Favorite Shoes:
1. My new Brown Maxx Mary Janes
2. All my flip flops this means it's summer!
3. My Black patent leather shoes with the buckle
4. My pink nike running shoes
5. My plaid rocekt dogs they are the most comfortable shoes ever!

5 Hobbies:
1. Scrapbooking
2. cooking
3. tennis
4. shopping
5. interior design

Mexican Rivera Cruise

2008-03-05T12:18:00.000-08:00

Husband Tag

2008-01-26T09:17:00.000-08:00
1-What is his name? Devin Samuel Bird
2-How long have you been married? Almost 5 1/2 years. Loving every second!
3-How long did you date? We were friends from day one, I was never going to marry the funny short kid...then his good looks and "charm" won me over, although he still made the first move, we then started dating in December and then Married in August I'll let you do the math.
4-How old is he? 28 tomorrow!!! Happy birthday Babe!
5-Who eats more? Most people would agree it's Devin, but i bet if you see me all day long it would be pretty close, he pretty much cleans his plate at every meal, but I am constantly eating... Gotta love the great metabolism thanks Mom and Dad!!!
6-Who said I love you first? I did, but now he says it to me more every time he comes home or leaves for school whenever he gets the chance, he says "I love you beautiful".
7-Who is smarter? Devin is the smart business one, but I am pretty smart in everything else besides math! We are a good balance he is smart and I am the smart music, fashion and art person.
8-Whose temper is worse? We are both pretty mellow,I am just a stress case so I get stressed and then I can loose my temper but I hardly ever yell!
9-Who does the laundry? I do, Devin is really sweet to fold it sometimes while watching sports or politics but it takes him twice as long to fold it.
10-Who does the dishes? I do. He helps sometimes.
11-Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Looking from the foot of the bed he does. Closer to the door (he's my protector)
12-Who pays the bills? Bills? We don't have any money to pay the bills? We'll start that next year!
13-Who cooks dinner? That would be me, He thinks I am the best! only once did we not like what I made, got the recipe from a roommate.
14-Who drives when you are together? Devin, he's sweet that way.
15-Who is more stubborn? We are both stubborn, Devin just had about 15 years more experience on persuasion than i did.
16-Whose parents do you see the most? Devin's they live closer and Devin's works with his dad!
17-Who proposed? Devin, At Lake Tahoe; it's the left finger sweetie!
18-Who has more friends? He does. Everyone loves Him.
19-Who has more siblings? Thats easy Devin, by a long shot, 11 vs. 3
20-Who wears the pants in the family? I like to let Devin think he does, but his are shorts... so I wear the pants!
I tag Kandice, Marissa, and Erika

YOU DECIDE 2008

2008-01-26T08:41:00.000-08:00
The 2 weeks before the republican primary here in Michigan We got very involved in the campaign. We made about 200 calls for Mitt, we put up signs for Mitt all over the Ann Arbor area and then got up at 5:30 and while it was still snowing and the ground was frozen we put up about 40 signs on the corner of Washteneaw and Hill Street where the rock sits and we PAINTED "THE ROCK"!!! There is a huge bolder that sits at the entrance to the northwest side of campus on the corner of two major roads. The rock is painted every day promoting something new. We promote Mitt Romney for President 2008!!!

Republican Debate

2008-01-26T08:34:00.000-08:00

One of the Republican debates was held in Dearborn, Michigan so Devin and
I drove up for it and then afterwards got to meet Mitt and his wife Ann, it is such a fun experience to see him running for president. We seem to gravitate to where ever he is we were in Utah during the Olympics and then in Boston while he was Governor and now seeing him in Michigan a lot with his family and campaigning.

Sledding

2008-01-26T08:19:00.000-08:00

We finally had enough snow after Christmas to go sledding, the one thing Devin had been begging like a little kid in candy store to do. We called our good friends, the Derr's (we can't go sledding without them) and we all went sledding. This year Koral semmed more adverturous as you see she's on her Daddy's back. Ethan, Korbin and Devin were the crazy boys who built jumps. We had a lot of fun and now we are just hoping for one last big snow storm and the have spring quickly follow.

CHRISTMAS!!!

2008-01-16T09:23:00.000-08:00

Christmas was so exciting this year, Devin and I managed to keep each other's presents a complete secret this year which was so fun. It was so much fun being in Reno seeing Lynette's family. We had fun seeings movies together, making yummy food together, sharing receipes, playing games together (did I mention that Lynette won all the games we played) going to the hot springs at the time share and sharing the exciting news of Kandice being pregnant, yea what fun being Uncle Devin and Aunty Lynette!!! Congratulations Justin and Kandice! You will graduate from M.I.T. and F.I.T in july!

Christmas Bear

2008-01-16T09:21:00.001-08:00

My Christmas Bear Seymour!

2 Weddings

2008-01-16T09:07:00.000-08:00

My Cousin Mark got married to a beautiful girl, Teandrea in the Mt. Timp temple on December 21st. They are a great couple! She is majoring in nuclear engineering and he in aeronautical engineering. The day after his wedding his older brother Mike got married to another beautiful girl, Lindsey in the Salt Lake temple. 2 sealings, 2 receptions, lunchens and 2 beautiful brides! What a fun time! It was fun to see so much family and see the little ones growing up so fast. Little Kaylee is getting so big, we had a fun time together!

Kite Skiing Dec.15th & 16th

2008-01-16T08:59:00.001-08:00

On Monday and Tuesday Devin and I went up to Ben's Cabin up in Northern Michigan. Ben and Devin spent all day kite skiing, while I spent the days scrapbooking in the beautiful cabin. Devin got pretty good managing the kite and the wind on the second day... can't say much for the first day :) It was such an amazing experience to walk out on a frozen Great Lake and walk to the waters edge where the frozen lake meets the water, a little scary but it was so beautiful! Thanks Ben!!!

BAINEES!

2007-11-29T14:49:00.000-08:00

After a year of preparation, grueling interviews, and anxiously awaiting...more waiting... and more waiting (it seemed like it was forever) Devin finally was accepted into The Bain & Co. Consulting firm. We are offically Bainees! We will move to Dallas, TX and Devin will start working in September. Thank you, Devin for all your hard work and efforts in school, leading up to a good job to provide for our family!

Thanksgiving

2007-11-29T10:25:00.001-08:00

I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving Holiday! We all have very much to be thankful for! Devin had a great morning of football. We had a great dinner with our friends James and Andrea. Look at that pie! You'd think Martha Stewart came to our dinner, but it was our friend James yes, James who made that beautiful pie! We had three thanksgiving dinners this year 1st with James and Andrea then we had our own turkey as well and then we had thanksgiving with Mike and Kara and their family as they like the rest of us had too much food for just themselves. It was a great holiday in which we are grateful for all of our blessings.

Cedar Point Top Thrill Dragster

2007-11-29T10:03:00.000-08:00

We went to Cedar Point with our good friends Mike and Kara. We went for HalloWeekends Night Rides. And the first Ride we went on was the Top Thrill Dragster. After watching a dozen people go I was so scared! I can't remember being so scared of a rollercaoster since I was 3 at Disneyland! We got so hyped up about it that as I got in my seat I almost jummped out to say I couldn't do it but thankfully Devin made me stay and it was a blast the funnest rollarcoaster of my life! Imagine going from 0-120 mph in 4 seconds, going straight up to 420 feet, then back down again all in 17 seconds. What a rush!

Fall Hayride and Bonfire

2007-11-02T11:45:00.000-07:00

Devin and I went on a hayride with his class section from school this year instead of going to any halloween parties. Halloween is not my favorite holiday, I can't ever seem to make up my mind on a costume and it is such a hassle to me, so I was relieved that we had a "way out" this year. The hayride that was supposed to be a haunted hayride was... unless you are scared of girls screaming in the distance and guys in plastic masks and dark robes jumping on the back of the trailer, among a few clowns with fake chainsaws... not scary! We enjoyed the hot cider and smores at the fire pits. Although everyone said it would not rain on us it did, just little raindrops but a lot of them, just enough to get a little too wet on our walk back to the truck. It was a fun change this year but as I look back I enjoy all my friends halloween parties much more.

CRAZY BOYS!!!

2007-10-29T11:22:00.000-07:00

Devin and his buddy Kirk from the business school went skydiving on the 29th. It was the first activity of the Weekend Warriors. This was Kirk's first time and Devin's second. Devin had to convince Mel that Kirk would be fine. She aggreed to let him go with Devin on the condition that if anything happened to him, that Devin would be financially responsible for her children. They had a great time and I have to say it looks kind of fun... if I could jump from about 500ft and not 14,000ft and open my chute right away and just drift down softly.

Good friends

2007-09-25T10:50:00.000-07:00

Korbin loves Devin so much that he waited and arranged
his baptism around Devin's schedule so he could speak at it.Devin was so excited to
be able to take part in this special day for Korbin. We had such a fun time at Korbin's Baptism. We are so happy to have made some wonderful friends like the Derr's that we love spending time with.
We love you guys! Kirk, Melanie,
Korbin,Ethan and Koral

Devin's first triathalon

2007-09-19T17:07:00.001-07:00

One of our friends told Devin about this triathalon on Tuesday and Devin decided he would do it as well dispite not training so on wednesday he did a practice run through and then Saturday was the real thing... He did very well despite having to wait 20 minutes for a bike after swimming because I forgot to bring the bike lock key to unlock his bike, so he waited for his friend (who started the race an hour earlier) to get done the bike portion to use her bike, a mountain bike nonetheless, but he finished in a little over 2 hours which is great. It was a half mile swim. 15 mile bike ride and a 3 mile run! A road bike is Key! Next one is in October!!

Devin teaching Chandler how to surf

2007-09-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

Chandler did so well surfing with Devin. He got up and went down the line, they had a great time!

At the Beach in New Jersey

2007-09-19T17:02:00.000-07:00

Our Cute Little Nephew Bradley sporting Lynette's sunglasses What a cute kid!

A Little Late but some pics of our Cruise

2007-09-19T16:41:00.000-07:00

We had the time of our life in February when Devin finally convinced me that we should go on a cruise... so we seized the moment since we would never have this kind of time to do so again. We loved it! We went to Mexico, Jamacia, and Hatti. While on the ship, Devin spent most of his time mastering the standing wave (he got pretty good) We loved the food and our waiters were hilarious! He would say things like YUMMY when he brouhgt us our found and Gotcha in his little acent. The food was the best!

Horseback Ridding

2007-09-19T16:20:00.000-07:00

Our 5 Year Anniversary Dinner

2007-09-19T16:17:00.000-07:00
We had a really good dinner on Saturday night at the Manor house. I loved the asparagas soup!