Mina's blessing and sealing

Geoff blessed Mina in our ward and it was beautiful. He said he actually had an advantage because she was older and he knew her better. She played with the pens in his pocket during the blessing and didn't make a peep :)

Mina was sealed to us in the Mesa, AZ temple and we were so grateful for all those who were able to come and support us.

With our parents

Mina's birthday

We celebrated Mina's birthday all week. On Wednesday we went to court and she became a Willis. On Thursday we opened some presents and had a cupcake. On Saturday we took her to the temple and she was sealed to us for time and eternity. (I'll post about that next.) We then had people over for cupcakes and Mina opened some more presents. Well, we helped her open presents since she didn't quite get the concept, but she sure enjoyed playing with the toys and books afterward! Then on Sunday she was blessed. It was a great week.

The remains of her cake. I have most of this on video and will see if I can post some.

Mina's first birthday cake.

This is a little singing mailbox and it was a hit with Mina from the first time she played with it. I, of course, now have all the songs memorized and would not mind if she fell in love with another toy, but she still isn't tired of this one. Ah well! She loves it and is so cute playing with it. Geoff spends time playing with her every night when he comes home from work. He sure loves his little girl.

It's official!

We didn't get a phone call last night, so I was pretty sure everything was going to go as scheduled for our court date this morning. Sure enough! We met our adoption caseworker Hannah and Geoff's parents at the court and less than an hour later Mina was officially ours. Yay! Happy birthday Mina!

Geoff's parents.

The judge signing the final paperwork. Woohoo!

With Hannah, our caseworker on the left, and our lawyer (that we met this morning!) on the right. In AZ the county attorney's office will take care of all the legal stuff so you don't have to hire a lawyer to finalize the adoption. Pretty nice, even though it did take a lot of extra time!

Thanks honorable judge Thompson!

random pics

We just got a jumperoo for Mina and she loves it. I'll try to upload some video, too, because it's hillarious watching her jump and jump. The little blue shoes she has on squeek, too, so it makes it that much better.

A day at the park.

For Sierra's b-day we went to the splash pad and Mina loved it. She scooted around on her belly in the water, got sprayed in the face and didn't mind at all. Sierra and the other kids had a blast, too.

This is a typical scene around Mina's high chair. As you can see, she doesn't mind sharing :)

Fun with gramps and more

Gramps loves his grandkids and they love him.

These pictures are a little older. I can't believe how much Mina has grown!

This little car is a new favorite toy. Mina and Ethan "take turns" playing on it :) Sierra pushes her around on it and she loves it. It's great having a big sis! I got the cute glasses for a buck and she even keeps them on long enough for me to take pictures. She'll then take them off and try to put them back on again. So cute.

I play the piano every so often and when I do I soon find myslf surrounded by little piano players.

Swimmin!

Mina loves the water. She splashes in it and doesn't mind if it gets in her eyes. This is the most Geoff has been in the water in a long time! He says now that he has his baby girl to play with it's a lot more fun.

D-backs game

We had a lot of fun taking Mina to the baseball game with us. She loves hot dogs and baseball caps as you can see. We had to leave a little early when she started to get tired, but she did really well.

Trip to my parents and other random pics

I took Mina for a hike up in the beautiful mountains. She does really well. I pack along some treats and toys to keep her occupied and she doesn't mind the wrap. I love being up in the fresh air with the beautiful trees and quiet. Ahhh!

Mina loves Gracie and crawls right up to her, on her, over her. She loves playing with her tags and Gracie is really good about letting her do just about whatever she wants. Mina and Sierra love playing together, too. They are great buds.

Mina is now sitting in a high chair when we go out to eat and loves to share whatever we have. She likes just about everything we give her. She got her first tooth at about 10 months and her second came in pretty quick after that, both on the bottom in the front. I'll have to try and get a pic.

Mina and I made a trip up to visit my parents for the fourth and as you can see Mina loved hanging out with gramps and grandma. We also got to see cousin Charlie for a little bit.

Fun with Geoff's family

This summer cousin Tiny has come over and watched Mina for us several times when I picked up extra shifts at work. Mina loved it! Thanks so much Tiny! We miss you! (She is off to her first year at BYU, best of luck!)

Geoff's nephew got married in June and we got to see all the family. Mina had a lot of fun playing with cousins.

More hikin!

My sister Elisa, brother Danny and his wife Shawnee, my dad, Mina and I all took advantage of the beautiful weather in April to go on a hike.

family reunion

In April my family got together to celebrate the 8th birthday of my two oldest nephews. All of my family got to come and we had a great time. This first picture is of a hike we took. It was such a beautiful day with wildflowers and great company. Mina did really well in the wrap, too. She took a little nap and only at the end did she get a little restless so I turned her to face forward and she just let her little legs flap against me and loved it.

Gramps feeding Mina. Notice how her feet are nearly at the bottle. She likes to get them involved, too!

Hangin' with grandma and Ethan.

In this picture I'm holding Naomi, born last August to my older sister, my sister-in-law Shawnee is holding Mina, born in September, and my brother Danny is holding their baby Saffron, born in January. Three little girls all close in age. I'm excited for Mina to have cousins close in age. I have fond memories of getting together with my cousins growing up and hope she can have the same experience.

The three girl cousins! The only one missing is Ethan, who was born in July. Cute kids!

miscellaneous

A Sunday morning looking for hair accessories for Mina. This one got stuck over her eyes and she couldn't figure out how to get it off, but wasn't fussy or anything, just turning her head back and forth like she was wearing a blind fold! I obviously got a kick out of it!
Cute Mina in her seat. We don't use a high chair but instead have this seat that attaches to a regular kitchen chair and it works great. The chair pushes right under the table when we're through so it takes a lot less room.

Ahh! A typical walk for the household! This was back when it was colder, but it is representative of how we enjoyed the outdoors with all 4 kids and a dog. You can't see Jacob but he's behind Ethan in Elisa's stroller. I just tie Gracie to Mina's stroller and it works great.

New haircut! I stuck the headband on for the pic but as soon as picture taking was done it was off. They don't stay on her head very well. I've actually got some small adult headbands that work great so I try to use those now.

This is my mother's mother, so Mina's great grandma. She came down for my family reunion in April and it was great spending time with her.

At the park

Mina loves going to the park. The first pictures were taken a few months ago when it wasn't so hot (and her hair was still long!) She wasn't so sure about the swing, but really enjoyed the sand, with me close by to try and prevent her from eating it. Hmm. I think I was successful 80% of the time!

These next pictures were taken last week. As you can see, Mina just loved having me push her in the swing. It was a perfect cloudy day for picture taking, too.