Lucky Seven

It was seven years ago today that we made it official...

Yes, today is our anniversary!

Luke surprised me on Saturday night with a fantastic dinner at the Hyatt Regency in Scottsdale followed by a gondola ride on the lake around the resort. I surprised him on our first year anniversary with a gondola ride when we were in Noosa, Australia, so besides being a very romantic evening, it brought back a lot of memories. Our desert was too cute and yummy - cremebrule topped with a cookie-waffle gondola filled with berries, a dark chocolate oar, and a white chocolate "Happy Anniversary" label. We spent more than 2 hours talking through dinner, another hour walking around the oasis of pools and trees, and then finished with the gondola ride.

Thanks for a wonderful evening and for

seven years of luck, love, and laughter...

Wipes

I get a kick out of the messes our little Miles gets into. So it's ok with me that he usually pulls all the wipes out of the container whenever he gets his hands on them. We just shove the wipes back in until next time... Well, this time, while I wasn't really paying attention to what was truly going on, was a little different.

As each wipe was pulled out by his little fingers, he would put it to use and did...

THIS, and

THIS, and

THIS with it! Not to worry... we will not be reusing THESE wipes.

www.lukeandemrie.com

For those of you that didn't get my email,

we've got a new adoption website

http://www.lukeandemrie.com.

We are really excited to share this with you.

We hope that all of you will be adoption advocates and help us on our journey to find another member for our family.

Check it out, tell us what you think,

and pass it on!

Say goodbye to braceface!

It took two and a half years plus a 6 hour jaw surgery,

but Luke is finally braces-free!
He's gorgeous!

He comes waltzing in the door after his appointment smiling his usual huge grin, gives me a hug, and says

"mine are straighter than yours!"

It's true!

I can't believe how fabulous his mouth looks. Thank goodness Miles still recognized his dad even though he's never seen Luke without the metal in his mouth. I'm a lucky girl...

What do you say?

He is so cheeky! We're trying very hard to mold Miles into a polite little boy, and he's really catching on. When he ... um... burps (accidentally of course), we've let him know he needs to say "pardon me." He's gotten very good at this, though now, right after his little burp, he quickly says, "What do you say?" pauses then "pardon me." Oh my goodness, it is the cutest thing. We try so hard not to laugh since we don't want him thinking burping is funny, but could you hold back after hearing that gorgeous response? Love it!

Cousins

Miles and I spent last week in Utah with my brother and sister-in-law, Xiaojun, and their three kids, Noel, Brickman, and Lincoln. I am so mad at myself for not taking a picture of 2 month old Lincoln. He is so tiny and easy-going with great big dark eyes. He's wearing some of Miles's old infant clothes which makes me very sentimental and even more needy for a baby. At 3 years old, Noel couldn't get enough of Miles and wanted to hold his hand or hug him all the time. It took about two days for them to reach an agreement about how much she could cling to him and then they were friends. Poor little Brickman was getting over a sickness, so Miles and he waited until the last few hours of our visit to start playing with one another. They'll be good buddies next time.

I have to thank Xiaojun for her friendship and for being such a great sister. I find it hard to open up sometimes about how I'm feeling especially about searching for another addition to our family, but she's always there for me and so supportive. She knows just what to ask and what to say. Thanks for a great week! Her kids are amazing and cute and never sit still. She's such a great, patient, loving mother.

See Noel in the very back? So sweet! Love it!

Taylor

Happy 17th birthday Taylor!

This is my brother with his lovely prom date, Margo. Taylor is a fantastic tennis player, loves math (like me) and is destined to be the tallest Jones boy :) Yes, even taller than Richard. We love you Taylor!

Reunited...

I let Miles open the package... He squealed with delight to have his "piggy" back. We forgot it in the mess of blankets and pillows in the hotel we stayed in Flagstaff last week. Housekeeping found it and luckily sent it back to us.
It's good to have the favorite pink animal back :)
Miles and his best buddy Caleb.
All they need is a hose and bucket to have fun all day!

Too much fun...

I've tried and tried to get Miles to wear goggles, but he would never allow the eye protection anywhere near his head... My 10 year old twin brothers come for a visit and suddenly wearing goggles becomes the cool thing to do. Love it!
Let me introduce you to my brother, Timothy. He's here to work and live with us for the summer.
We are so happy to have him!
My beautiful niece, Ashlynn, paused long enough to pose for a photo.
It has taken them 2 years, but Ellyce and Miles are finally friends! The cousins just didn't hit it off mostly because they were after the same toy or Miles preferred to play with Ashlynn. Now they run around the house playing chase, singing, and bouncing off the walls.

Choo-choo

Luke and I finally went to the Grand Canyon together! We've both been before but never with each other. His parents tagged along. We did the whole tourist thing staying the night in Williams, watching the wild west show, hopping the train to the canyon, hiking the ridge trail, scoping out the great views, taking the photos perched on the precarious looking ledges (Miles was always holding one of our hands or was strapped in the stroller), and getting held up on the way home. So fun for our little "choo-choo" boy. Miles enjoyed planting his ear on the window to listen to the rumble of the tracks. It put him to sleep on the way there. He did NOT like the entertainment though. A fiddler came through the car, and he immediately started crying. It took me a few minutes to calm and reassure him that it was just music. Then he sort of liked it :) Funny because he's often listened to me play the violin. I loved being out in the fresh cool air with my beautiful family.

Hunted

Jogging on the street this morning before the sun came up and in my own little world, I noticed a moving shadow out of the corner of my eye. The NEXT thing I was conscious of was this huge, ferocious, clawing, black CAT attacking my brand new white running shoes! My heart was already racing since I was into my 2nd mile, so I nearly had a heart attack... The cat pounced, I screamed, the cat jumped off my foot, and I screamed again. He had his back reared up like he wanted to attack again and was showing no fear of me as I hyperventilated. He must have thought my shoe was a rat or rabbit or at least that's what I'm telling myself so I have the courage to run again tomorrow without the fear of being stalked... it's a jungle out there, hiss-meow.

Aussie Family

Luke's mom and dad are here again!

We love that they get to visit us so often. Monica and I always have a great time together while Miles loves their extra attention. He's been saying "Nana & Pop coming on airplane" for the last 2 months. He is so excited to have Nana follow him into his bedroom to play, and he pursuades Pop to push him on his swing for nearly an hour at a time.

This coming weekend we'll be taking them north with us to tour the Grand Canyon and take a train ride.

Proof he's a true toddler...

We've known for a while, but it was still so funny! Miles is getting out of his crib... and taking his pull-up off before he jumps. I knew he could do it because a couple of months ago he jumped out at me while I was laying on his floor waiting for him to decide he wanted to get up. He came climbing up and over, and I caught him on the way down. So, we had decided he was just really, really smart (of course he is). He had the ability to get out but knows it just might hurt, so he chooses to take the more cautious route and actually go to sleep. Not anymore! The drop is no longer a problem. He jumped ship three times this afternoon. I didn't even realize he'd gotten out until he slowly creaked open his door, slammed it, and then raced back to his crib. He was trying to climb back in the first time I found him - naked and trying like crazy to return to his cage. And no... he never did get to sleep. Love it!

Outdoor fun...

I persuaded my friend Lara to let me watch Lillian for a few hours. Miles entertained her in the bike burly on the way to the park where they had fun chasing each other around the basketball court and running up the greenbelts. I really enjoy seeing how he interacts with younger kids - he was very sweet with Lillian and wanted her to follow him everywhere (whether she wanted to or not).
Watch out Tru! Our little water boy discovered the fun of chasing our dog with the hose. Miles gets such a kick out of watching her run and jump away. Of course Miles was soaked and cold while Tru didn't have a drop on her :)


I found out Miles is no longer a fan of egg salad sandwiches... He was such a good sport though and took several bites, though I finally let him spit them back out after he carried them around in his mouth for about 10 minutes without swallowing. Love it!

Another Birthday!

Happy Birthday Lukey!






Luke had a birthday, shout "hurray!" And for his birthday he got a fantastic opportunity, the chance of a lifetime, all his dreams came true... He was lucky enough to help babysit his 3 beautiful nieces! He was psyched! Ok, the truth, we celebrated his birthday on Saturday with dinner and a movie and Monday night Nathan and Cindy really needed a babysitter, and we were more than willing to help out. Check out these photos! Miles had a blast lovin on Jillian, pushing Ellyce around on the bike, and racing Ashlynn around the house. I don't very often get to spend time with Jillian so I loved that she was all mine for the evening.