Mason from 2weeks - 6months!

We left Spokane, WA on Friday when Mason was only 8 days old. We made it to Lehi, UT at 2 in the morning and my sister nlaw's parents were so kind to let us stay in their second home there. It couldn't have been more perfect. Annie was living in Provo at the time so she was the FIRST relative to meet little Mason.

Mason at 10 days old

 We spent a couple of days in UT before driving home. This picture below was taken at a stop in Flagstaff, AZ. I die when I look at these and remember how little he was :)

 We arrived home on the 4th so we went to dinner with Chris' family to Lucille's BBQ and watched fireworks from the window

We enjoyed lots of visits from family members...

Mason turns 2 months :)

State Fair - October 19, 2011

We go to the state fair every year with Chris' family. Mason was almost 4 months here.

             

Mason was our lil' Monster on his first Halloween

 November 19, 2011 - National Adoption Day 

This is everyone that came to this event. It was pretty emotional having it become official and was neat to be able to share it with my Dad, Mom and Chris' sister, Annie and his Dad. Mason is almost 5 months here.

 

November 19, 2011 - We were sealed in the Temple as a family for Time and All Eternity :)

This is Lyss, Mason's beautiful birthmom. Her and her sister were in the temple at the same time, doing baptisms for the dead. This was one SPECIAL day that we will never forget...

November 20, 2011 - Mason's blessing day

It was a busy weekend! Lyss and her family were here for this as well

November 24, 2011 - Thanksgiving Day

This is the annual turkey trot that we do every year. It was always my dream to be able to push my baby while running this. This year, my dream came true! Mason is 5 months in this picture.

 Thanksgiving night at Chris' Aunt's house

We had these pictures taken for our Christmas card. We used the one of Mason in the gift box and put, "Look what Santa brought us this year!" haha! He is just so dang cute :)

 

Our little family getting our Christmas tree!

haha! This is Christmas Eve! Mason sitting on Santa's lap at Bass Pro Shop :)
Mason is 6 months here

Mason with Chris' cousin, Alisa on Christmas night

Mason with Daddy in front of the Christmas tree

Mason with Grandad...so sweet :)

Mason, Cooper and Rex on Christmas Eve in their matching PJ's :)

Mason with his cousin Cooper on Christmas night after all the festivities

The First Meet...love at first sight



Walking down the hospital hall to the room...we don't look excited do we?!

hugging sweet Alyssa :)

Alyssa introducing us to sweet little Mason

LOVE

Can't stop looking at him...

So precious...

not sure we have ever cried and smiled this much... it was surreal

 I'm not sure words can describe this moment for us... we stayed at the hospital for a couple of hours to hold Mason and to be with Alyssa and her family. Did I not mention that when we walked in to her room, there were at least 10 of her family members in there! They all wanted to be there when we saw him :) It was so great to share that with all of them. It was an incredible feeling there in the hospital room and I'm not sure there was a dry eye. She has the greatest family...we consider them part of our family now so I guess WE have the greatest family! It was so neat to hear everyone express their love and admiration for Alyssa. Everyone was just so proud of her.

Alyssa, Brayden and Mason

Alyssa's love for Mason is...unconditional. It was love at first sight for her too. I remember her telling us that when she saw us holding Mason, she knew it was right. She knew we were his Mom & Dad. She loved him that much that she wanted him to have a Mom & Dad. Mason is sooo lucky to have Alyssa in his life...WE'RE so lucky to have Alyssa in our lives. Mason is just so loved. He's so sweet and has the sweetest spirit about him. We all know how special he is!

So the next day, we were able to go down to the hospital again for a couple of hours, which we loved every second. We wanted to make sure Lyss had her time with him. She had a lot of visitors that day and didn't actually get a lot of time with just him so we didn't want to stay too long. It was hard to only get to see him for a couple of hours at a time...but I had to remind myself that he was eventually coming home with us and we then would see him all the time and that Alyssa really needed this time with him. How great is that...that we get to tell Mason how much his birthmom loves him...so much!

1day old Mason & Dad

Saturday morning came with giddy feelings because Mason was going to come back to the hotel with us that night...then Alyssa called that morning and told us that she was going to keep Mason until Monday. She made it clear that she still hadn't changed her mind about placing him with us but that she needed more time with him. She didn't want him to feel like she was in a hurry to place him with us...she wanted him to know that she kept him as long as she could. My heart was broken. A little fear came over me wondering if spending that much time alone with Mason would change her mind. I just remember sobbing. Chris and I just knelt down in prayer and prayed that everything would go according to the Lord's plan. And I had Chris give me a blessing and it was so powerful. He blessed me that I would be filled with faith & hope instead of fear. Our whole family was praying for Lyss...that she would be given strength during this hard time. Chris and I went over to Alyssa's home around 4pm and at that point Alyssa told us that she had changed her mind and that Mason needed to start bonding with us so she decided that he should go home with us that night. We knew how hard it was for her to come to that decision...we knew how badly she wished the answer was to keep him a little longer. And we were just so grateful for her and for her closeness to the Spirit :) 


That was Saturday, June 25th. That night...leaving the Jamison's home around 11:30...was the hardest thing. Knowing how hard it was for Alyssa and her whole family. We knew that we would be back probably the next day to be with them but it was still hard. I can't imagine their feelings...I know Lyss never wants another girl to go through what she had to go through. One of the hardest things of her life, for sure. Which makes us love and appreciate her even more!

We didn't leave WA until Friday, July 1st and we were with the Jamison's every day until then. It was SO neat to be able to spend so much time with them. We truly love them. They are some of the neatest people we know and we feel blessed to have them be a part of our lives forever. Here are some pictures of that week. We were at their house a lot and just had so many great conversations and laughed a lot! They know how to laugh! And their home is filled with love and the Spirit... we hope to always have a home like that for sweet Mason Jamison Horne to grow up in!

we both couldn't get enough of his cuteness! Lyss did such a good job :)

all clean after a bath!

 showing us his strong neck!

So comfy on Grandma Trisha

Grandpa Jeff

Capri LOVED Mason :) She was so sweet with him!

Makayla :)

Chelsey :)

This was our last night together...they came back to the Hotel with us to see where we had been staying