Elsie is Baptized!

We are so happy Elsie was able to be baptized and become an official member of our church. She also received The Gift of the Holy Ghost a comforter and guide whom we believe will help her through out her life. When we are baptized we wear all white to symbolize purity. It is a tradition for little girls to get a white dress but it is not necessary because we know Adah did not get a white dress when she was eight. But we got Elsie a white dress and she has been happily wearing it ever since. It was an amazing morning. Adah's mom flew out to be here and all of Elsie's family that live here and could make it came. She had lots of friends there too. We had a quiet service with just our family and friends.  Elsie was able to pick the speakers, music and prayers all by herself. She had her daddy's cousin Lyndi sing the song, What Heaven Sees in You, about a girl as she grows and is dressed in white three times, as a special musical number. Elsie was baptized and came out of the water smiling and could not stop smiling for quite a while. She said it made her so happy to be baptized. We had some refreshments after the service and visited with people and had a nice time.

It was a perfect day! The only thing I might have changed was I wish I had taken even more photos!! But sometimes these things need to be remembered in our hearts and memories not just in a digital image. 

Elsie Turned Eight!!!

It is hard to believe that it has been eight years since we became parents! Elsie is amazing and our little family is perfect with two perfect girls. Eight is a big year for us. In our religion we get baptized at eight years old. This is the photo I used on Elsie's announcement/invitation to her baptism. We had a fun time on Elsie's birthday. Dad planned a hot dog and marshmallow roast. It was great and what Elsie had been asking to do for quite some time. Her uncles and aunts in the area came and grandma of course. Elsie is growing up and we are loving the smart, kind and beautiful girl she is becoming. 

Elsie's friend party!

This year we invite a few or Elsie's friends to come celebrate with her the day before her birthday. She was excited and wanted very specific things of course. We made a red velvet cake with bright blue frosting. By chance the blue frosting came with fish shaped sprinkles! Which was perfect. Her party was a movie party and we showed Dolphin Tale 2 at the party. That was essentially all we did besides cake, ice cream and presents! It was great...the only problem came when we waited too long for a girl we were hoping might come and then we ended the movie late. Also her friends ended up playing a bit during the movie but I think they all had a pretty good time. We had blue gift bags to send home with the kids with blue wrapped candy and blue bubblegum and a few other things. The blue was for the water I believe. It was a fun afternoon and a good activity for the first full day off of school for the summer!

Catherine turns 2!!!

Catherine is already two. It is mind boggling that she is that old! But is is true and we are so happy she is growing and learning new things. She says "a men" now instead of "me mo" like she used to. And she is figuring out more things like how to open doors, how to unlock dead bolts and how to open doors with child safety knob covers! Yes she is into everything and we are having to buy new devices and stay beside her to keep her safe. But we are more then happy to do so. Catherine's birthday was fun. She had a pizza party with cupcakes and ice cream for dessert. Will's dad and Mary came as well as Julia, Matt, Tyler and Katie. It was a lot of fun. She got some fun presents one of which was a bubble machine and so we played with that a little while trying to take a family photo. We love Catherine so much, she is a blessing in our home.

Mother's Day 2015

Mother's Day was great this year! Will and Elsie made me a big breakfast and Elsie and I went to church. Catherine was feeling yucky so Will stayed home with her that day. When we got home Will surprised me with a trip to The Spiral Jetty to take family pictures. Will's sister and fiance came with us to take the pictures and we took some photos of them as well. It was fun. The kids and some of the adults took off their shoes and waded into the Great Salt Lake. Will made me a yummy meal too which was very welcome after a long day or driving!

May 2015

We started May off with an early birthday party for Catherine at Grandma's house! We also got to take a walk that day to Temple Square but Elsie was being silly while we tried to take photos. It was another busy month with more soccer games and mother's day and Catherine's birthday (more post to follow on these two events). We planted our garden hopefully early enough to let to grow before it gets too hot. 

Will and Adah also went with some of Will's cousins on an 11 mile hike in Zions National Park. It was amazing! The hike is called Orderville Canyon which is a slot canyon for part of the hike. We had to be lowered down on climbing gear on a few high spots and we had to jump off boulders into freezing cold water! It was great! We wore wet suits and got to see some spectacular bits of nature! Then there was Memorial Day. It was s nice day to spend with family going to see graves and remember the loved ones who have passed before us. We spent that night putting 100 piece puzzles together with Julia, Matt and Flora.