Star Wars

Yep, we're Star Wars fans. 

 

Although I think Shay has taken "fan" to a whole new level today when he purchased his Darth Vader earbuds.  

I guess it was a better choice than the Yoda set.  

I think it might have looked even more odd having green Yodas hanging out of his ears.

May the force be with you Shay as you listen to your music.  :-)

3 Years! :-)

June 20th was our wedding anniversary!

Shay totally surprised me by making reservations at the Homestead for the weekend.

I love the Homestead!  

We went there for our very first anniversary.

The grounds are beautiful!

Guess who was a very happy camper when she arrived!

This is the view of the pathway to our cottage:

Our cute little cottage:

We felt like we were the Swiss Family Robinson since we were in the upper floor.

Above is looking away from our cottage.  Did I mention how much I LOVE the grounds at the Homestead?

Friday night we decided to try out a local place called "Cafe Galleria."

We each had a personal pizza cooked in an open fire oven.  

The pizza was good.

This is a picture of Shay enjoying his pizza.

Saturday we spent the day lounging, hiking (I was so mad at myself when I realized I had forgotten my camera when we went hiking), lounging some more, taking a trip into Heber to get a famous Granny shake, and watching the Ragnar racers run by.

 How can you not lounge around with views like above.

Saturday night Shay also took me to a really nice restaurant located at the Homestead.

We were excited to be able to take time and laugh together.

I became really excited when I saw a herd of deers walk right up to where we were eating dinner.

 Shay was more excited about his steak though
 (can't blame him, it was so dang good!).

 It was a fantastic evening!

We headed home on Sunday so that we could attend church and teach our little Sunbeams.

The views coming down the canyon were breathtaking.  I felt so grateful to live in such a beautiful area of the world.

Bridal Veil Falls was gorgeous!

It was a picture perfect anniversary!

Thank you Shay for spoiling me rotten--like always! 

Love you with all my heart--

so glad it is going to be forever with you!

WOW!

Winnie was awarded

 "Teacher of the Year" 

this year!

This is a huge accomplishment and we are so proud of her! 

She is amazing with kids and does an amazing job with each and every one of her students!

La Costa

Today Shay and I stopped on our way home from the mechanics to eat at a little Mexican restaurant called

La Costa.

852 East State Street American Fork

Months before I had met up with a friend of mine, Patty, to have lunch there. She had highly recommended the place and said the food reminded her of her mother's cooking (that is probably the greatest complement ever!). I remember thinking that the food was heavenly. I loved that they brought out a yummy side of refried beans w/ the chips and salsa too! So, as Shay and I were driving home from the car shop, I decided to turn into this restaurant and forgo cooking dinner at home. We both were so grateful for my quick decision! The food was better than I remembered it. Just check out Shay's platter below and my burrito in front of his.

 

It was scrumptious to say the least!

So if you are in American Fork, and craving Mexican food, I would highly recommend stopping at La Costa for dinner.

Today we invited Shay's family over for Sunday dinner. 

Luckily Shay's parents, two of his brothers, a girlfriend, 

his sister, a brother-in-law, and 4 children were able to come! 

(Shay comes from a family of 8 kids

--which sometimes makes it difficult to get everyone together at the very same time) 

It is always fun to have the "McDaniels" over!  

We spent time chatting and playing games together.

   

At one point during the evening, while the adults were sitting around chatting, I noticed that our nephew Christian was creating something on my whiteboard in our office/tutoring room.  

I never did look at what he drew until recently.

  

I never laughed so hard.  

I guess Christian is ready for summer break!

Easter for "La Luce"

I couldn't resist this cute dog bonnet for Lucy Lou.

It is so cute to see her in it!

It does take awhile for Lucy to accept that it is going to stay on her head

but once she does.......she's all smiles.

Ok, who couldn't love this face!!!

Starting on the Adoption Road

For the last 6 months or so Shay and I have been going through the grueling process of adoption. It has been a unique, scary, hopeful, stressful, exciting time, and although we have not quite completed our profile with LDS Family Services, we decided to make a personal "adoption blog" so that potential birth parent(s) can get an insight as to who we are:

Winnie and Shay

So, if you know of anyone who is in the process of deciding whether or not adoption is an option please feel free to pass along our blog site.