Family Fun

This past weekend, Sam and I headed to Bakersfield for my nephew Gaige's 10 birthday party (I can't believe he's 10. . . I feel so old!). We had a blast and it was good to see everyone!

Sam holding our nephew Luke. It looks so natural for Sam to be holding a baby. . .sigh. . . one day! :)

Em and I hanging out!

Me holding our niece Remi. Her hair was all cutsy with pigtails and bows, but she ripped those out of her hair. . . thus leaving crazy hair. She's still an adorable girl! :)

Hayden and Gaige riding their bikes in the street. Gaige just got a bike for his b'day, so he was eager to show it off to Uncle Sam.

Gaige and Hayden and their awesome bikes. I was surprised by how big they've gotten! How time flies! Well, we had a blast in Bakersfield. Now that Sam's done with school, we look forward to hanging out more with the fam!

Santa Barbara

For the weekend of our 5 year anniversary, Sam and I decided to head to Santa Barbara for a quick weekend get away. We had such an AWESOME time there (and I'm secretly hoping that one day we're successful enough to actually live there. . . *sigh*).

Here's a pic of our ADORABLE bed and breakfast that we stayed at. It was conveniently located a few blocks away from State Street, and so it was very centrally located to all the restaurants and cute shops!

We had our own private entrance into our room at the B&B. Look at the cute garden right outside our room!

One thing I really don't like about B&B's is awkwardly eating breakfast with total strangers. I'm sorry, but if I'm staying at a B&B, I'm trying to spend time with my hubbie, not random people. Well, this B&B found a way to solve that problem. . . they deliver your breakfast in a basket right to your room door. That way you can eat it in your room, or go down to the beach and eat it! I LOVE this concept! :)

Look at the yummy breakfast from inside of the basket! And it was warm too! Yummy!

That Saturday, Sam and I decided to head to the Santa Barbara Mission, since this was our first visit to Santa Barbara. Our tour guide was the cutest old lady who was filled with all sorts of cool info. It was amazingly fun!

This fountain use to be used as a community laundromat. I wish that my laundy room looked this pretty!

Being in the mission kind of change me. . . I became a monk! Hahah! It kinda suits me, huh?




I loved that they had a garden area inside the middle of the mission. So serene!


Sam enjoying the serenity. . . if only I can get him to smile in his pics! :)

After the mission, Sam and I decided to head to the beach. I think we picked the wrong weekend to go to SB because it was WINDY that whole weekend. We tried to get a cute pic of the two of us, but the wind kinda got in the way. Anyway, Sam and I are hanging out at the beach in this pic.

Hanging out at the beach.

More beach pics. After the beach, we went to the SB pier, walked along the pier (trying not to blow away), and we went to a cute little aquarium on the pier.

That evening, Sam and I made reservations for Opal. Prior to our SB visit, I had researched Opal online and discovered that it was a local favorite. Boy am I glad that we found that place. First of all, everyone was so friendly (we got wished a happy anniversary by like 5 employees. . . the manager even offered to take this pic of us outside of the restaurant- how kind!), and the food was AMAZING! I had the duck with a berry sauce and Sam had a cheese rizotto. Holy cow, it was YUMMY! We still talk about how amazing the food was!

For dessert, we ordered a berry creme brulee, and look at what they wrote. .. IN CHOCOLATE! It was SOO yummy! I'm DEFINITELY coming back to Opal on our next visit! :)

Sam's request for that evening was to watch the sunset on the beach. So we found this park that overlooked the ocean. It was SOOO peaceful and romantic!

I can't believe it's been 5 years! Wow! How time flies! :). On Sunday, we lounged around at the B&B, went to church, and then headed home. We hit lots of traffic, so we're glad that we left early. We had SOO much fun in Santa Barbara. . . if only I can get Sam a job there where his salary is over $500,000. Hahah! :)

Going Private, Part Deux

Hey everyone! I plan on adding everyone that commented to our list of people who can see our blog, but I REALLY need your email addresses before I can add you to that list. So, please either post your email addie or email it to me at drama_queenie82@hotmail.com. Thanks! :)

Going Private

Since our adoption profile is up on the internet, Sam and I have decided to make this blog private. Please let me know if you'd like us to add you to our list of people who are invited to our

blog. Thanks!

Adoption Button

You guys are seriouly amazing! Our profile has had over 220 views in a week and a half! :). Thanks so much! To help continue this momentum, I have created an adoption button that you can put on your blog to help us promote our adoption blog. Don't feel obligated, but if you want to, we'd sure appreciate it! You never know who might benefit from seeing our adoption blog.

To add our adoption button to your blog, simply add the button on the right toolbar as an HTML link and it should work (please let me know if it doesn't work)! Again, we REALLY appreciate all that you guys have done! It's really touching to see everyone helping us out! Thanks! :)

Thank You!

Thank you!!! Our adoption profile has already had 135 hits since Thursday! Please continue to spread the word! And if you haven't already checked out our profile, please go to: https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/23587548/ourMessage.jsf. We REALLY appreciate all of the outpouring of love and support. It means the world to us! Thanks! :)

Our GREAT News!! :)

Hey Everyone!

As some of you may know, after struggling for a few years with infertility and failed fertility treatments, Sam and I have decided to pursue adoption as the way to begin our family.

We have decided to go through LDS Family Services, and you can view our profile by going to: https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/23587548/ourMessage.jsf. You can also view our adoption blog by going http://www.smhopefullyoptimistic.blogspot.com/.

We REALLY need all of your help by helping us spread the word. Most adoptive couples get picked by word of mouth, so please announce it to anyone that you can! Also, although we are going through LDS Family Services as our adoption agency, the birth mother does NOT need to be LDS to place through us.

Thanks for your help, love and support. We truly appreciate it! :)

-Sam and Marcie