It's been a while

Ok, ok! Gees! It's been a long time since I've written anything, so here goes...

So many things have happened lately. Let's get you caught up! Heather and I we're blessed to have a weekend away to Lake Tahoe a couple of weeks ago. My parents volunteered to take the kids for a couple of days so we could get away from what has been an emotional roller coaster and a very stressful month. We headed over on Thursday morning and stayed 'til Sunday. We stayed at Harveys in South Lake Tahoe, which sits at the base of the beautiful snow capped mountains and also looks over the lake. What a beautiful place. We had an upgraded room that sat above the tree line. Looking out from our window, you could see the ski resorts and the lake. I had never been to Tahoe before. I couldn't believe how clear the water is! We drove over to Reno on Saturday, hoping to find my Uncle David playing cards, his daily ritual, at the Peppermill. Wouldn't you know it, we missed him by just a couple of minutes! So after taking Reno for a few hundred bucks, we enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner and went back to the Oasis in the sky. And now for the best part...

Friday morning we received a call from the Lawyer's office, letting us know that the judge ruled in our favor in the adoption case!! YEA!! We were so excited. What a weight lifted off of our shoulders! I immediately was overcome with so much emotion that I had to go for a walk. I left Heather in the casino and called my mom first to tell her the good news. After speaking with her, I sat on a bench outside and thanked God for this blessing! My heart was pounding! I hadn't felt this way since Heather told me she was pregnant with Canon. I felt so happy, excited, thankful, and scared all at the same time. God has entrusted me with another child to call my own. Wow! What a blessing! THANK YOU !!

We go back to court ONE MORE TIME to finalize the adoption on June 19th. Shani will now be a Parreira!

On a lighter note, this past weekend has been crazy too! The flu/cold bug has traveled around my house. And let me just say, Heather started it! Ok, maybe she didn't start it, but she was sick first. Saturday was Jean's baby shower and Daniel's diaper party. Beer pong and being sick was not a good combination! I toughed it out and we had a great time! In a couple of weeks, "Baby boy" will be here! I'm so excited! (Besides, Daniel needs some back up with 3 girls in the house!)

Sunday was my nephew, Ashton's first birthday party. We expected to go to beautiful San Luis Obispo to sunny weather. It was indeed sunny....and windy! I don't mean a little windy. It was crazy wind that felt like it was blowing right off of an ice glacier. Allegra had spent so much time planning all of the little details of a perfect first birthday party and was greeted at the park by Jack Frost and Hurricane Harry. This may sound a little gay, but all of the little decorations were so cute! She had a lemonade stand set up with fresh lemons from her tree and little mason jars. She had planted flowers in used formula cans for the center pieces, and she handed out sunflowers in little pots (which she called Son flowers) that she had planted with little tags that said "Life grows so fast." They were adorable. I wish I had an ounce of her creativity. The cake that she put together looked like a caterpillar and she had made little cupcakes with dirt (crushed oreo cookies) topping. There was a jar of "dirt" with gummy worms in it (that I kept invading) that said "Ashton's bug jar." Everything was awesome! If you ever want to plan a party, you have to give her a call!
Well, that's enough for now. I hope somebody is reading all of this! If not, oh well!