Our Trip to California

Our trip to California

We were very excited when a few months ago, we received a "save the date" for one of Mikes best friends wedding in southern California. Cam (the groom) was the second of three best friends to get married. We called my parents who are staying in southern California for a few months and asked if we could stay with them while we were down there, and they said yes!

I like to be prepared and ready in advance for most things. The day before we left, I made a list for myself and a list for my husband for what we would need. Starting from head to toe and toiletries through our morning routine, laying everything out before folding everything and putting them in the suitcase. The day we left was so long, Mike had to work and we weren't even going to get there until 11pm! By the time my parents picked us up we were so ready for bed, but, it was an hour until we could finally collapse. We slept great!

Board during our layover

The first full day we got up at 6 am to go play golf... .well my parents and Mike, I just rode along. Believe it or not, we had a frost delay! It was need a jacket chilly in the morning but not for a frost! The course was beautiful, lush grass, pretty flowers, and once the sun came up it was so warm! The rest of the day we just laid around and went out to dinner at Jackalope, it was delicious.

The next day was the day of the wedding. That morning we walked along "el paseo" like Rodeyo Drive... a bunch of stores that are insane expensive. We didn't buy anything, it was just fun to look around. Before we left for the wedding we had lunch at a little cafe in the neighborhood, I didn't like the food very much but Mike and my parents liked it a lot. The drive to the wedding was about an hour. My dad told us to take the freeway but, so we didn't get lost we followed our GPS. Bad idea. Our GPS took us over the mountain. Switchback after switchback but there was a positive to taking that scary route. The view. The view was amazing so we had to stop to take a picture. The wedding was nice. I kept noticing a pregnant woman and wondered what it would be like. The bride was beautiful and her dress was amazing. It was an outdoor wedding with a sit down dinner after the ceremony.

Saturday we walked around the local street fair. That was fun! My mom found this gorgeous hat, but she decided it was too expensive so she passed, but my dad got a hat... it's ugly... very ugly. As we were walking out, I saw some adorable baby hats, and they made me sad because it was a quick reminder of the emptiness in our life and our hearts,a little baby. If we had a baby I would have bought him, her, or them one of those little hats. The fair had numerous jewelry stands, sunglasses stands, and purse stands. And even an outdoor furniture stand! We walked around for a few hours and ate at the Habbit (more great food) before the movie at the most awesome theater ever! They had recliners like the ones you would have in your living room :) Best movie theater ever! We saw the 33, if you haven't seen it you need to. I can't imagine being one of those men. It was my birthday, and they all wanted me to pick what we had for dinner. I didn't care but they talked me into choosing. Oh well, at least I know they love me lots!

Our last day was kinda stormy, it was beautiful the rest of the time we were there though. Mike and my dad went golfing again, but my mom and I had a better idea... We went and got pedicures! While my feet were soaking in that warm water, I was thinking and wondering, if we were blessed with a girl, what color our child would pick for her toes. And wondering what our child will have for hobbies, wondering if he or she would enjoy going out golfing with Mike. The girl who did my pedicure was awesome. She was gentle, fast, funny, and did great work! The guy who did my mom's pedicure though, wasn't very good. He was gentle but he didn't speak a word of English and it was his first day there. He was so slow and didn't do very good work. I kinda felt bad for my mom. We met up with the guys and went out for lunch again, this time at the yard house. I've been there many times, it's okay, the other restaurants were better. We later went to the airport where we scrambled around trying to find our gate that wasn't listed next to our flight on the departures list. We eventually found our gate and got on the plane. When we got to Seattle my sister picked us up and brought us home, Lemmy was so happy to see us! She was crying and running around like a madwoman. When we went to sleep Lemmy slept with her head next to ours. It was so cute :)

We found this in a store at the air port 

Our attempt at getting a picture showing how windy it was

  

Overall our trip was fantastic!

We want our future child to see so many different places and do so many things. We will take our child to different places at least every summer whether it be for a night or a month or longer. We will support him or her in whatever they decide to do.

Letter to Birth Parents

Hello,

If you've found this page, hopefully it's because you're looking for someone to bless with your baby. And that's good news for us because we want a baby!!! Thank you for taking the time to read our profile and for considering us to be your baby's adoptive parents. We hope that as you learn more about us you will prayerfully consider whether we are the couple you are looking for, because we would love to welcome your baby into our family.

Let us tell you a little bit about ourselves. Mike and I have been married for almost 3 years and we have always wanted a family. Mike and I first saw each other in a church parking lot in Redmond Washington and that's when I noticed the shape of his head. Not that it's weird or anything, but there was something different about it. One month earlier and I wouldn't have been able to see him because I had really bad vision due to my brain tumor. Yes, I had a brain tumor, and after the successful surgery to remove it I started referring to my tumor as Buddy. After Buddy was removed, my vision improved and I was able see who I later learned was Mike. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to meet at "first sight" because I was leaving my home in Washington to go to BYU-Idaho for school. A year later I got a friend request from a guy on facebook and I realized I had seen the shape of that head before :) but I couldn't remember where I saw him. I'm a cautious person by nature so I didn't add him as a friend. Instead I messaged him and it took us more than 30 minutes before we finally figured out why we both looked familiar and then as they say the rest is history! We facebooked back and forth that night so late that it was almost morning. We exchanged phone numbers before we went to sleep and we've been talking non-stop ever since.

I came home from school to Washington a few months later and met Mike in person the day I got home. We officially dated for about a year and a half before we got married. It was the best decision I have ever made. :)

I work for a chiropractor as a licensed massage therapist and I love what I do. Being a massage therapist allows me the freedom to set my own schedule. Right now I plan to work as much as I can to set aside money so if we are blessed with your baby I will be able to stay home and devote all of my time to our baby. I have always wanted to be a mom, like my mom. My mom and dad raised me and my sister Megan in a loving home and we were lucky enough to be able to celebrate birthdays and holidays with both sets of grandparents and extended family. Mike and I believe that families are eternal and we are so grateful for each of our families.

Let me tell you about Mike. Mike grew up in Washington, and despite the constant rain he is an avid year round golfer. Mike started working for Safeway when he was 16 years old as a courtesy clerk. He has worked his way up to management, and now 15 years later he's still happy with his career choice, which has provided stable and secure employment and benefits. Mike grew up playing video games and he still loves them, almost as much as loves movies. He can quote random lines from any movie, and he has a lot of random trivia stored in his odd shaped head... just kidding... his head isn't really shaped oddly, here see for yourself.

Mike and I both love dogs. We grew up with dogs and we adopted our Boxer dog Lemmy at 9 weeks old in 2014 and I have enjoyed taking her to nosework classes (like drug dogs) and we're planning on competing next year! I grew up with horses, and while I don't have one now I hope to have one in the future so I can teach our child about them, the responsibilities that come with having an animal, and the joys they bring.

Mike with Ceaser his family dog

Me with Lemmy at the dog park

Mike loves to cook and I love to try (I've gotten better about not burning stuff). And we both share laundry and house-work duties. We bought our home when we got married and I have had fun fixing it up and Mike has loved working in the yard. Speaking of the yard, there used to be an olympic sized swimming pool which was damaged when we bought the home. We have had it filled in and now in place of the pool is beautiful green lawn. Our yard is fully fenced making it a safe play area for our Lemmy and family.

Mike and his sister Lyndsey grew up in Redmond, Washington and he is as close to his family as I am to mine. We are lucky to have both of our families living close by and we have their love and support as we move forward with adoption. We want you to know we will love, respect and care for your child as if they were our own flesh and blood. Your child will not only be loved and cared for by us but they will have two sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, who can help us spoil them.

If you have any questions, we would love the opportunity to answer them. 

Wishing you all the best,

Mike and Jessica