Mother's Day Weekend and the Coast

This Mother's Day weekend was full of fun for us.  For obvious reasons this was the best Mother's Day yet for me:).  I had high hopes that my first Mothers Day as a mother would be a good one and I was not disappointed.  It really started on Thursday night.  Ben and his sister, Deidrene, decided to make us a special dinner as a gift for mothers day.  It was quite yummy.  They made steak (which was actually pork chops, but it was yummy nonetheless) and twice baked potatoes and a fun dessert.  They made sauces for both with yummy avocado and some other special stuff.  It was quite tasty and so sweet of them.  While sitting at dinner, Ben then plopped a new IPOD nano down for me and I was ecstatic!!  

The festivities continued on Friday when we drove out to Seaside on the Oregon coast to spend Mother's Day weekend with the extended Bugar family (Ben's moms side).  Ben has SO many aunties it's hard to not get them all confused.  They are all so wonderful though and we have a great time with them.  I was excited to go out to Seaside since that is where we went on our honeymoon and we have not been since.  It was so fun to go and spend the weekend in the same place we had been on our honeymoon and now with Benson in tow.  

We got there Friday evening and were greeted by Ben's cousins as well as the kids.  Everyone fell instantly in love with Benson and he LOVED all the attention.  He also seems to really enjoy listening to Tagalog.  I love that he is surrounded by so many cultures and languages.  No wonder he is such a smart kid :).  I immediately took Benson out on the patio to see the ocean.  I was so excited to share it with him.  It was BEAUTIFUL!  

Saturday we went and walked down to the beach, put our feet in the ocean, walked the boardwalk and down through the cute little downtown of Seaside.  It is an adorable little town and it was so fun to remember and re-experience the places we had gone on our honeymoon.  That night we went out to eat with the cousins, John and Noa, and their families.  Sunday morning we woke up, had tasty treats for breakfast and then left to go to the Sunday market in Astoria.  It was a fun filled weekend and we hope to get to do it again soon.

Benson with his "Lola Elizabeth".  This is Ben's mom's older sister and such a wonderful wonderful woman

Cousins...Colby, Nicholas (Nicky) and Bailey.  

Alli, Colby, Benson and Nicky.  The kids LOVED Benson

Benson's first time at the ocean.  I was SO excited to share it with him.  I LOVE the beach and the ocean and the beauty of it all.  Such a fun way to spend Mother's Day, sharing the things I love with this little man.

Benson and daddy on the beach

Crisantos

First time in the water, it was a bit cold

The 2 loves of my life

We had to ride the carousel, since we did on our honeymoon.  We have almost this same shot from 6 years ago.

Benson's first time on a carousel

Did I mention that I LOVE the ocean!!!  This was the view from our room.  I won't complain.

The Saturday before Mother's Day is Birth Mothers Day.  I wanted to be able to tell Benson's birth mom how much we love her and how truly grateful we are for her.  She made me a mother!  She was constantly on my mind this weekend. I just hope she knows how truly grateful we are.

I recently bought this Hello Kitty for Benson.  If you remember we bought the same on for Benson's birth mom, Sierra, on placement day.  Sierra's is a bigger version.  Benson's is just little.  I loved the idea of them having matching stuffed animals.  

I am so grateful for Benson and for the opportunity to be a mother.   I woke up this morning to my sons smiling face and all I could think was how truly blessed I am!

 Happy Mother's Day!!!!