Dean

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Spilling the Beans

I'll get right to it. We are having two babies, but they're not technically twins. Confused yet? Let me explain...

Part I: Most of our readers know that we have been approved to adopt for about a year now. It's been an interesting journey learning about the various aspects of adoption and how in a lot of ways adoption is misunderstood. About 2 1/2 months ago we were contacted by a Birth Mother who started off asking a few questions about us and before we knew it (quite a few emails later) she said that she wanted us to adopt her child. Over the past few months as we have corresponded with our Birth Mother we have grown to love and respect her for the tough decision she's making. She is a truly amazing person and getting to know her has been a real life-changing experience for us. She has taught us that the heart of adoption is love. We can't wait to welcome this boy into our home in October. Did you catch that? It's a boy! And he's due in

October!

Part II: As if it wasn't a crazy enough day for us--we found out that were expecting on the same day our Birth Mother told us she wanted us to be the ones who adopted her baby. (We know, it's ironic) Our Birth Mother made the decision that if we were okay with having two children so close together in age that she was okay with us still adoption Baby October (that's what we call him). I'm sure you want to know what we are calling Baby #2, huh? We don't know the gender yet, but we call #2 'Baby February' or just 'February' for short.

A day or two after we found out all of this exciting news Emily went to Panda Express and her fortune was very fitting. Here's a pic of what it looks like hanging on our fridge:

We hang all of our ultrasounds on our fridge and the one pictured is from 11 weeks. Today we are at 15 weeks. Just in case you can't see the fortune very well, it says: "A sudden change in plans will lead to good fortune." That's exactly how we feel...

Outer Banks

After driving through the night we arrived in Raleigh, NC on Sunday morning at about 9am. We arrived at just the right time to be able to caravan with Emily's family to Outer Banks, NC. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Outer Banks--it's a group of barrier islands just off the coast of North Carolina that stretches for roughly 200 miles. Here's a pic for those who are visual learners.

Historically the area is known for being the place where the Wright Brothers achieved their first flight (it actually occurred in Kill Devil Hills, NOT Kitty Hawk). Also, nearby Roanoke Island is the place where the 'Lost Colony' mysteriously vanished in 1587. For those romance novel lovers--Nicholas Sparks lives near Outer Banks and many of his novels are set there. He's the guy that wrote The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, Dear John, Nights at Rodanthe, etc.

Emily's parents rented this awesome beach house within walking distance of the beach.

Currituck Beach Lighthouse near Corolla

Hanging out with Bam-Pa!

We saw a few people crabbing--they used raw chicken breasts as bait.

It worked!

Back at the beach Matt caught plenty of crabs without bait...

I think the girls were checking out a rooster

My cute bride wave watching with Ceilidh

Sarah (Emily's neice) and Andy (Emily's uncle) came with us on a kayak trip on the Alligator River. We saw a lot of wildlife, but no alligators.

The only thing better than wearing flip flops all week was wearing flip flops while eating flip-flop-shaped cookies. Thanks, Andy!

The Wright Brother's Monument

Matt and Cameron flying kites near the Wright Brother's Monument

Sarah practically lived in the water. She only got out to eat and sleep. The jellyfish didn't even keep her out of the water!

Why use a spoon when your face is right there?

Em just loves the beach. Sometimes I feel guilty that we don't live a little closer to the ocean.

When we got up to leave on Sunday morning we found that we had been tagged. We love you, too! Apparently Emily didn't ask to take off work, she just called in and said she was really sick.

Here we are! Thanks for making it such an awesome and memorable trip, Jewell's!

If you want to see more pics of our trip, check out this link:

http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1881885028/a=3550255028_3550255028/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Six Years!

On our way to North Carolina to spend a week with Emily's family, Em and I decided to stop by Arkansas and celebrate our anniversary. We didn't just randomly pick Arkansas, either. I lived in there for seven years or so and that's where I graduated from High School.

On a side note--there is a fitting Anniversary-related quote on our quote board (look to the right-hand side of the blog) "I can't believe it! She's still with you." Yeah, I can't either, Bry.

We left Albuquerque on Friday, July 23rd and drove to Gentry, Arkansas. We found a cute Bed and Breakfast there called the Apple Crest Inn. Here are some pics...

That evening we went to a nearby restaurant called the Wooden Spoon which is run by the Mennonite women in the area. It was awesome home-cooked goodness! If you are in NW Arkansas it is worth a detour to eat there.

On Saturday (our 6 year anniversary!) we got up and drove to Central Arkansas, spent the afternoon visiting with old friends, and eating some great food. Those fans of Man vs. Food might have heard of a little place in Cabot, AR (where I used to live) called the Mean Pig BBQ. We ate there for lunch. It would have been nice to spend a little bit longer there, but we just had to get to the beach! After eating some awesome dinner with great company (thanks Brother and Sister Williams!) we left Central AR at about 8pm Saturday evening and drove straight through the night so we could make it to Raleigh, NC.

P.S. If anyone is looking at buying a bed and breakfast, the Apple Crest is for sale.

Alaska Trip: July 3rd

Last Summer Emily left me for a couple of weeks to spend some time in Alaska. This time I decided to go with her. We left after work on July 2nd and arrived in Fairbanks late at night...or maybe it was early morning. It's light pretty much all the time right now in Alaska which threw us off the whole time we were there.

A major highlight of the trip was getting to hang out with my mom, my two brothers (Mike and Nick) and Mike's wife, Melissa. Oh, and Emily.

Another bonus was that the airline misplaced our luggage so after traveling for 12+ hours we didn't have any toiletries or clothes when we arrived. After arriving in Fairbanks we went to my parents condo and slept for a few hours before heading out to see some sights. Our luggage had arrived by the time we woke up.

Our first stop was the Tanana Valley Farmer's Market. Don't worry if you can't pronounce the word 'Tanana.' I spent four days in the Tanana Valley and I have no idea how to pronounce it.

Em, M&M at the Farmer's Market waiting for...

Popcorn!

Afterwards we headed out to see a portion of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. The pipeline carries 42 million gallons (or 1 Million Barrels) of oil every day. While we're on the topic of oil I thought I'd mention that the Gulf Oil Spill was spewing less than 1/10th of that at it's worst point. It makes me hope that the Alaska Pipeline has a shut-off valve or something...

These types of signs about the sunrise and sunset were common to see around town.

We just had to stop in for a little treat at the Fudge Pot...