Because everyone needs a reason to smile today :)

Just in case you haven't found a reason to smile yet today, I thought I would help you out. I'm nice like that. :) Check out these pictures:

Are you smiling yet?  I know I am!  These kiddos make my heart happy. 

It's going to be a great day!

end of year AWESOMENESS!

Well, the end of the school year has come and gone and we are in the full swing of summer...YAY!!

I love having my kids home for the summer.

Except for maybe yesterday when they were fighting most of the day. Didn't love that so much.

But I was only called a mean mom once and only one of my children screamed that they wanted to go back to school, so I think we will survive.

Ahhhh...Summer! :)

I really do love it!

Anyway, here are a few pictures from the end of year celebrations.

First up, Grace's Kindergarten Celebration:

She was a nervous at first, but once she got going she was singing her little heart out.  So cute.  She had informed me beforehand that she would be the loudest girl singing, and she was definitely giving it her best shot! :) I am proud of Grace and all she has learned this year.  She is a great reader and loves to do math.  She's one of those crazy kids who likes doing their homework. Not sure where that trait came from, but we'll go with it!

And here is Grace with our favorite Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Ellis.  Both Joshua and Grace had her and we just think she is awesome!  She is having a baby and moving this summer so we will miss her!

Next up, Mr. Joshua and his 2nd grade awards assembly:

Joshua received an award for reading as well as a citizenship award. 

This kid is an awesome reader! He reads well beyond his grade level but the thing that gets me is his fluency and comprehension.  I'm pretty sure he can read faster and remember more than I can when I read!

I was also proud of him for getting the citizenship award.  His teacher and other staff at the school have often told me what a good kid he is and I love that!

WAY TO GO JOSHUA AND GRACE!!!!

HAPPY SUMMER!!!!

Easter Day

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter!  We had a nice Easter weekend here. On the day before Easter we had 40ish people from church over for an Easter Egg hunt.  It was a little crazy but a whole lot of fun!  On Easter Sunday the kids enjoyed their Easter baskets and church meetings were good. I always love going to church on Easter and singing the special hymns and learning more about the Savior. It really is a joyful holiday when we contemplate the wonderful blessings that come to each of us because of Christ's atonement and resurrection!

 After church we had some friends over for Easter dinner, too, so that was a lot of fun. All in all a lovely weekend! :)



Feeling Grateful

Hi.  

There are so many things I need to record here on the old blog...

someday I will get to that. :)

Today I had to take a quick minute to share this picture:

I recognize that I am a bit partial to this Little One,

{who is now FOUR months old - - CRAZY!} 

but doesn't she just make your heart happy?

I know she does mine.

And Bryan's.

And Joshua's.

And Grace's.

Yep, we are all quite smitten with her around here.

I love that she has awakened in me things I was forgetting, 

mostly the wonder and miracle of motherhood and the overwhelming gratitude I have to my Heavenly Father for letting us be earthly parents to His precious children.

They are pretty amazing spirits, aren't they?!

Hannah's Baby Blessing

With so many of our friends and family in town for Joshua's baptism, we decided to go a head and have Hannah's baby blessing the same weekend. Hannah was blessed during Sacrament Meeting at church on Sunday, December 9th. It was wonderful to have so many family and friends there for this very special day for our family. She was given a beautiful blessing by Bryan, a blessing that confirmed to me what I already knew: this little girl we have waited so long for is very special!  I am so grateful I get to be her mom, that I get to love her and teach her.  What a wonderful blessing!  I have to admit that I am grateful for the time spent waiting and longing for this sweet girl.  As painful as the last three years often were, I have a different outlook on being a mother than I would have without the last three years.  Being a mom is what I was meant to be, I feel that more deeply than I even did before, and I certainly cherish the experience more than I did in the past.  That thought makes me feel a bit guilty, but then I realized that I really wouldn't have known how to cherish theses moments so fully had I not wanted them so badly.  The waiting has truly been a blessing to me, and I think to our whole family.  I'm almost certain we couldn't love a baby more!

At Grace's request, Hannah wore the same white dress that Grace wore when she was blessed.  At first I thought I wanted each girl to have their own dress, but I am glad Grace wanted Hannah to wear her dress, especially since I made it. The plaid baby blanket below was mine when I was a baby, and I have pictures of me on my blessing day with the same blanket.  Kind of special. :)

We love our Baby Girl!

Joshua's Special Day!

On December 8th, 2012, Joshua turned eight years old! (Can it really be true?!)

It was a very special birthday because that afternoon he was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He was so excited for this day! He and Bryan had been meeting about once a week for several weeks before his baptism and Bryan had been teaching him basic lessons about the gospel and what it means to be baptized, so Joshua had been looking forward to this special event for quite a while. We were blessed to be able to have many family and friends there to support Joshua; it was wonderful.  We had a whole group of visitors from Utah and Idaho: Grandma and Grandpa Guymon, Grandma and Grandpa Henke, Great-Grandma Larsen, Aunt Maren and Uncle Spencer, Aunt Paige, Aunt Katie and his cousin Anthony all made the long trek down for this special weekend!  

It was so sweet to watch Joshua be baptized.  He came out of the water with a huge smile on his face, he was so excited!  Grace was really excited for him, too. As soon as Joshua was baptized Grace turned to me and with a huge smile on her face she said, "He did it!" I couldn't help but be grateful for all the time and effort we put into helping him prepare for this important event, reading the Book of Mormon and having the lessons with him.  I know he realized how important this day was, and he wanted to be baptized because he knew why he should be baptized.

Congratulations on your baptism, Joshua, we love you!!

The first few days

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the first couple of days after we brought Hannah home from the hospital.  

We are all crazy about this baby girl...just thought I'd throw that out there in case you couldn't tell!!