Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Vegan Lasagna


I made a DELICIOUS dinner tonight, so I thought I'd share.  :)



Sliced Zucchini, Sliced Yellow Squash, and Shredded Carrots


Throw in some baby spinach, add some salt and pepper, and toss


Firm tofu mashed mixed with nutritional yeast and italian seasoning


Marinara Sauce on the bottom


Layer some Lasagna noodles


Add the veggies


Add the tofu mixture.  Then top with Marinara sauce


Add some cheese.  :)


Then you repeat all of that until it looks like this.


Side view.


Finished product


Yum! 

I ended up having 2 helpings, and Grace even ate some!  She's allergic to tomatoes (mildly) so it's probably a good thing she didn't eat more.  

We had a delicious lunch too.  It was "Dillas".  Since we are vegan and don't eat cheese, can't really call them a quesadilla.  :)  We took whole wheat tortillas, covered them in red bell pepper hummus, topped it with cilantro, tomatoes (except on Grace's), red onions, and spinach.  Throw in a little bit of nutritional yeast and fold in half.  Then I cooked them on the skillet for a couple minutes.  They were warm and gooey.  :)  

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Goofy's Kitchen

On our last day at Disneyland, we ate at Goofy's Kitchen by the Disneyland Hotel.  We met Goofy, Chip, Dale, Minnie, Pluto, Belle, and Aurora.  It was so cool having the characters interact with just us for a good 5-10 minutes before moving on.  And bonus, NO LINES to wait in to meet the characters.  The food was great too and they were really awesome about finding us vegan food.  They even brought some in from another restaurant so we could eat more.  :)



The whole family!  


Joey loved their noses.  :)


Grace giving Pluto a smooch.


Joey loved Pluto's whiskers.


Grace ran up and hugged Minnie.  :)


High Five!


Grace LOVED the princesses.  She would skip around giggling when they came around.


Goofy smile from Grace but she was in love with Aurora.


Joey loved the characters too!  Minnie was probably his favorite.  He giggled for a good 3 minutes while she "talked" with him.


Grace with Belle.  She SCREAMED for 10 minutes after she first saw Belle while we waited for her to come to our table.  We were all finished with our food, but Grace HAD to meet Belle.  She kept asking where "Beast" was too.  :)


Joey was not impressed with Belle.  Lol.

I think we may have to do character meals more often!  It was so fun seeing all of them and having them all to ourselves for a while.  And being able to take lots and lots of pictures without feeling bad for people waiting behind us.  



More pictures from the sealing


















Saturday, August 11, 2012

An Eternal Family

I have a weird obsession with dates and numbers.  So I generally take that into account when I plan things.  We scheduled Joey's sealing for August 10, 2012.  Joey was born on the 4th, but his birth mom and her husband signed their relinquishment papers on December 10th.  As happy as I was to become Joey's mom, it still broke my heart to know that Kirsten loved him so deeply that she would break her own heart for him.

Kirsten giving Joey a kiss as she gets ready to place him in my arms.

2 months later on February 10th, we were sitting in the chapel at Kirsten's (birth mom) funeral.  I don't know if there will ever be a day that goes by that I don't think about her and wish she were still here.  I know she is in a better place and is free from pain, but it still hurts me to think she won't be here to watch Joey grow.

This is from their wedding.  I was able to be there and photograph it.  She was also buried in this dress. I have very few pictures of her, and this is my favorite one of her smiling.  This was the happiest day of her life so I'm so grateful I have this picture.

On April 10th, Joey's adoption was finalized.  Robby and I officially became his parents and it was a magnificent day.

Our first photo as an official family.  Glad the judge was so happy for us too.

So after 2 very difficult 10th of the month, we have now had 2 amazing 10th's.  We were sealed in the San Diego Temple for time and all eternity to our amazing little boy on August 10th.  We got dressed in our temple clothes, walked through the BEAUTIFUL celestial room and waited for about 10 minutes.  It was nice to just sit in the quiet with Robby and remember when I went through the temple for the first time 7 years ago.  Once we were in the sealing room, they brought our two children in all dressed in white.  Grace kept talking through the whole ceremony (she was very excited about her socks), and Joey was all giggles.  I was smiling through tears and know that Kirsten was there and this was exactly why she placed Joey in our family.  It brings me so much peace to know that our family will be together for eternity no matter what happens.

I love seeing my baby dressed in white.  The blanket was a gift from Grace's birth grandma that she blessed her babies in.  We were glad to have them there in spirit as well.

I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful family.  And I'm grateful for our extended families, those who could be there and those that couldn't.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Teddy Bear Pictures!

It is just a little crazy how fast my children are growing!!!  Here are a few comparisons...


This is from August 2010.  Grace was 3 months old.


2 years later... Grace is 27 months old (or 2.25 years, lol)  I can't believe what a difference there is!



And now to compare both kids at 8 months...


My little peanut Grace January 2011


My Big Man Joey at 8 months August 2012


Both of them have grown so much!  Joey is now army crawling, has 4 teeth, takes 2-3 naps and sleeps through the night, LOVES any food we will give him, drinks formula constantly, and is starting to babble Mama and Baba.  He started getting from crawling to sitting the past couple days and gets to excited when he succeeds.  He will smile at anyone who even looks at him and laughs at everyone who talks to him.  He is the happiest little guy and I've even had random strangers ask to hold him.

Grace is starting to talk more and still loves to learn new signs.  She loves to eat and will try almost anything.  She LOVES to push my buttons and her favorite words to use are Mine and No.  She is definitely asserting her independence.  But she is also getting better at following directions and listening.  I asked her to clean up her room so I could put Joey to bed.  I didn't hear from her for a few minutes then when I went to check on her, she had put them all away in her closet!  I couldn't believe it and was so proud of her.  She may drive me crazy sometimes, but she also surprises me on a daily basis.

Again today, I'm feeling so blessed to be a mom.  Some days (especially recently) have been very difficult.  But then out of the blue, the day will be amazing.  Both kids slept well, they played well together, no fighting or crying, and 2 incredibly happy kids make for 1 VERY happy mommy.  I was able to clean, shower without interruptions, and relax for 2 hours in the middle of the day.  I hope the kids will stay this nice for our amazing trip to Disneyland next week.  :)