Happy Easter 2012!

Happy Easter! We got so spoiled with a beautiful, warm sunday! All the kids looked so nice in pink and spring colors! We missed having Julia home with us but she sent me an "Easter" picture in her sunday dress with a few of her friends. She looked cute and tan!

We had a wonderful Sunday church service and a relaxing day as a family, including Aaron. He did not have many sunday obligations :). We had a nice dinner and then the older children hid easter eggs in the backyard for Jack and Sophie. Jack was so excited to participate in this! He talked about it all week and quickly gathered as many eggs as his basket could hold. Sophie was intrigued by the whole affair. She would follow Tristan around and pick up eggs and then walk over to her basket and put them in. She would occasionally check her basket to make sure the eggs were there. They were both so fun to watch!

This Easter was especially difficult and comforting. A year ago was the last time my Dad was in our home and I had so many emotional moments on Sunday. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have that this earthly journey is not the end. I know that Jesus Christ was resurrected that we too can be resurrected and if we live righteously we will be with our loved ones who have passed beyond the veil. I know God is our Eternal Father in Heaven and that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and willingly overcame death so we might live again. I know I will see my Father again and I look forward to the joyful day! :)

Picking Up the Pieces

I have not blogged in a year! Yikes! I always check in with a few blogs I follow but always forget to visit my own! (How sad is that?) Maybe I should set a new goal... to blog once a week, maybe twice? Who knows...

My life in a year has changed ALOT!

1)My oldest daughter, Julia, graduated from high school last year and began attending Brigham Young University in June! That is Julia in the picture below as our whole family was watching her walk away and begin her new chapter of life. It was very emotional for Aaron and me.

2) My father passed away suddenly on May 18th from a heart attack.

3) Sophie Ann is now 13 months old. She is a beautiful little girl who adds so much "noise" to our family! (As if we didn't have enough before her!) We all love her to pieces!

4)We survived another Christmas...

I will add more later. Sophie is making her beautiful noise...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! My Mom bought AJ, Austin and Tristan fun hats to wear today! They were so excited to wear them to school. Tristan came home a little sad because he said some of the kids were laughing at him and it wasn't a nice laugh. Sophie looked so cute in her "I'm a McCutie!" and one of the cute bows her aunt Dore' made. I am a little occupied with other things this year so I am not making anything green for dinner except asparagus! Oh well, there is always next year!

College Bound!

Julia got accepted to BYU! She will start in June! I have already shed tears as I will miss her so much even though she will only be 2 hours south. Julia is an awesome daughter and I have enjoyed every minute with her (ok, not during 9th grade and a little of 10th)! :) She is so smart and fun and I love all the conversations that we have. They get more and more interesting as she gets older. I love you Jules!

SOPHIE

BABY SOPHIE ANN!

Sophie Ann was born Monday, February 7, 2011 at 6:01 pm. She weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz. ; our lightest child! She weighed one ounce less than Alexis. She has beautiful, long fingers and big hands and feet! She has lots of dark brown hair and I am hoping it will be curly! :) After being in this world for 18 hours she decided to turn yellow! Well, after testing she was Coombs positive which means her and I had a blood incompatibility. I am O+ and Sophie is A+. So, my red blood cells were acting as an antibody against her red blood cells which caused her to have a high risk case of jaundice. Her count got up to 16.2. 20 is critical and can cause brain damage. We were very lucky we noticed her coloring when we did. She was able to come home with a light table that she had to stay under for 10 days. We had to take her to the hospital every day to get her blood drawn. It was hard because no one could really hold her and love on her. I could take her out to nurse her but then it was back under the lights. Sophie did awesome that whole time. We are so lucky to have her in our home! She is darling and we love her!

HALLOWEEN 2010!

Halloween this year came and went! I was on top of the costumes! A few months ago I was talking to my sister, Dore', and we discussed Halloween costumes and she mentioned the M&M idea. I loved it and I accomplished it! These were the EASIEST costumes to make and they were so inexpensive. I spent a total of $3.30 per costume. So, under 20 bucks for 5 costumes. That is a bargain in my mind, considering I have spent a couple hundred in the past on poor quality costumes.

This was so fun to see all my M&M's. Ok, not all. Julia decided against it and Alexis had decided to not dress up until Halloween Eve. Aren't mothers always running around finding or sewing something for Halloween up until everyone walks out the door? This is the story in our house.

Jack wasn't quite sure what was going on. He did not want to try on his costume all week but when the big day came and he saw his brothers getting dressed up he immediately wanted to join the crowd. He looked so cute! At the annual Fox Ridge neighborhood halloween party Jack was very timid about all the masks and people in costume. After we all had some soup and the rain clouds began doing their thing we all went out for the evening. AJ and Austin hooked up with a bunch of friends, Tristan went with Drew and his family, Alexis and her friends hung out at our house and then went out when the rain subsided, Julia stayed indoors and passed out candy (ok, maybe once she stopped Monk to get to the door!), and Aaron and I drove Jack around to a few houses in the neighborhood. He was so cute holding his little pumpkin bag and going to each door. We visited the Browns, Sis. Miller, Sis. Clark and Sis. Neilsen. He was thrilled when they each handed him a piece of candy to put in his bag. Even after 4 houses Jack and I were wet. It was raining pretty hard at times. Everyone had a spooktacular night!