Little Lady London

 Someone in my house had a very very special birthday!!!

Tink is 8!!!

We were so excited to celebrate her day, she loves rainbows, and, as I mentioned before, she loves Adventure Time!  So LumpySpace Princess is wishing her a Happy Lumpin Birthday!  She loved it, and I sort of loved that her and Kermit fought over where "LSP" would live...Tink won.

 Daddy gave Tink art stuff!  She is quite the little artist, she could draw and paint for hours, so he got her some really nice coloring pencils, a sketch book, and some tracing paper, she loved it!

 I got her Skylanders!  We love this stupid game, I am just amazed at how you can put those little figures on the platform, and suddenly they are on the screen!  Now the trick is to not feel like we have to buy them all!  It really is a trick too!  I am watching for sales...we need more magical ones!!!  

We are nerds, and I like it that way.

Tink got a scooter from Nana and Grandpa, and she loves it!!!  She rode it all over the house that night, it was so cute!

 Here we are ready to watch her blow out the candles!  Look at her cute friends that came over!  The Ebeltofts!  Sammi, Sophie, and Matti!  Matti and Tink are great friends, and Tink was just excited to finally have some cute girls over for her birthday!

What I love about this picture is that me and Smalls are making the exact same face!  Tink could not blow out her candles, she got too embarrassed by everyone looking at her, and she couldn't stop giggling, so Smalls and I helped her out.  Silly girl.

 Turning 8 means way more than presents and cake and parties, it means it's time to get baptized!!!!  

Tink was baptized on June 1st.  Here are her and Rambo all ready to get to the church.  Don't they look lovely.  Tink could not smile because it was too bright.

 Our cute family all ready to go baptizing!

 And this picture...I can't explain what this does to me.

This picture almost didn't happen.  With everything our family has been through the last year, there were many times I believed it wouldn't happen.

I am so happy that my dear husband was able to baptize my sweet daughter.  My heart is so full of love when I look at this picture, I love these two people so so so much!  

So happy!

When it came time for Tink to go into the font, she would NOT go in!  She crumpled into a ball in the corner and would not get in, no matter how sweetly her Daddy coaxed her, she wouldn't do it!

My first instinct was to have a full blown panic attack and start bribing her, but them a calm came over me, and I just smiled at her, and she looked back at me, and sort of smiled.  Then, our sweet bishop looked in and asked her if she still wanted to do this, she said yes, but she didn't want everyone to watch her.  He went out, and closed the doors to the font, and asked her witnesses to come in (Uncle Havel, and Grandpa Dan).  They stood on the sides of the fonts, and slowly, she went into the water with her dad.

I felt bad that our family was going to miss out on watching her, but I was so relieved and so happy that she still really wanted to get baptized.  Then I realized that was the most important thing of all.  It didn't matter if our family and friends got to see it happen, her Heavenly Father got to see it happen, He knew her heart, and I believe He is pleased with her choice, and that was all that mattered that day.

Cris did a wonderful job, I could feel the spirit so strong, and then he dunked her-and man, he pushed her down a good 2 feet!  Later, he said he knew he wasn't going to get a second chance if he didn't get it right the first time.

As she went into the water, I just felt so happy and so calm, and when she came out, she had the biggest smile on her face!

 Tink was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Primary room, and received the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Cris did a wonderful job with the blessing, and then he read a scripture to her, and said some really beautiful things to her.

Here is our wonderful, loving family who came from near and far to support our little Tink!!!

 Tink and our sweet Nana!

 Aunt Sharon!  I'm so glad she was able to come, and Tink was excited by that news too!  Thank you Aunt Sharon for coming!!!

 Grandpa Dan, and Grandma Diane, and Smalls the photo bomber!

The Edwards were the speakers at both Kermit, and Tink's baptisms.  They do such an amazing job at talking to the sweet children getting baptized.  They are so wonderful, and we love them so much, I feel so blessed to have these people in my life, and that they have participated in both my Kermit and my Tink's special baptism days.

 Grammy with the girls...I guess she didn't realize that THIS was a silly picture!

 And the girls with the beautiful Allred family!!!  

I am so glad they will be living closer to us!

 And now for the silly picture!  They rock at this!

 We needed at least one picture with mom.

I love this little girl, she is just one of my very favorite things EVER!

I surprised Tink with this shot!  But, did you notice anything different?

Not only did she have a birthday, and get baptized...she got glasses, so now she doesn't have to quit missing out on all these moments of her life!!!

I love you Tink!!!

Memorial/Mother's Day

It is absolutely true when people say they think of their loved ones every day.  I always thought that was sort of an exaggeration, but it absolutely is not.

I have been thinking a lot about my mom lately, I really do think of her every day, but it seems like lately she has been at the forefront of my mind.  I miss her so much it sometimes takes a physical toll on me, I can't explain that one-it's weird.

I have a blanket my mom made.  The last one she ever made.

She crocheted it, she loved to crochet.  I never learned to crochet until after she died.  Now that I know how to do this-very simply, she was something of a master.  I realize that you touch every inch of yarn as it turns into your project.  It just passes through your fingers.  

My mom touched every inch of that blanket, it went through her hands, through her fingers.  

She worked on it on the days she felt good.  She wanted to finish it, she made a blanket for every one of her children so it was important to her to make one for Cris, my husband-to-be and her future son-in-law.  

This blanket sits in my living room over the rocking chair.  It is a striped blanket which means she made each strip, and then stitched the strips together, then made a border.  It is beautiful, and I know a lot of labor went into making this blanket.

It is the blanket my husband wrapped around me after the phone call we received telling us that Dad had died.  Cris later told me he felt I needed a hug from my mom, that was why he wrapped me in the blanket that night.

If you look closely at the corners of the blanket, and at the end of the strips you can see that the ends are unfinished.

I can't describe how this affects me.  It is so like her life.

Unfinished.

I know there was so much more life my mom wanted to live, and I hate for me and her to have missed out on all that living!  I am being selfish in that phrase, she was such a good mother to all 4 of her kids. 

She adored us all.  

I cannot imagine how much she would have adored her grandchildren.  She would have been the squishy hug, never-let-you-go sort of grandmother.  She would have been all about forts in the family room and Disney movies until dawn.  She would have shown the kids where her secret chocolate stash was, and she would have taught them "You are my Sunshine".

How I miss this woman.

Luckily, and somewhat prophetically, my mom made a whole bunch of baby blankets and stored them away for her future grandchildren.  I have a couple of those...we all do.  I have always loved the idea of wrapping my children in them knowing she touched every inch of those blankets as well.  

It is her way of hugging them.

My mom is truly amazing.  I hope she thinks of me as much as I think of her.  I cannot wait to hug her again, and just have the longest talk EVER!  It's a good thing we will have eternity, as I don't think I will ever shut up.

Mother's Day

 THIS is my Mother's Day present.

I got a new washer AND dryer!  That's right folks, both.  They are amazing, I had no idea I would ever get so excited over laundry!

My sweet in-laws came up last weekend and took me shopping, I knew that was their plan, but I had no idea what KIND of shopping we would be doing.  

You know when someone does something sooooo nice for you, you have no idea how to thank them?  My in-laws are famous for doing that sort of thing.

I mean, look at this!!!

 Smalls was almost as excited as me!  And the guys that came and hooked everything up let her come in and take all the change they found under the dryer-she was in Heaven!  Before they left, one of the guys let her have all the change in his pocket!  How nice huh.  

So, Smalls had a great day.

She is amazed that she can watch her clothes get cleaned through the top of the washer, which is so cute, except I keep tripping over the step stool.

 Pretty soon Kermit was in on the action too, Tink enjoyed it, but she would not stay long enough to be in a picture.  Smalls was only too happy to oblige, and pose.

They stayed like this for...well, way too long.

THANK YOU NANA AND GRANDPA!  

I have no idea how to thank you so that you really know the gratitude I feel, 

but then, 

you are famous for that.

Tenderfoot!

 So, my sweet sweet Kermit is just getting older all the time!  We are so proud of him, he had his first Court of Honor, and received his Tenderfoot in Scouts!  He looked so stinking cute in his uniform, but this is as still as he held for me all the night long!  There were way too many other boys to run around with and have fun with, so I will count my blessings and be grateful I got this shot!  

It was a really good program, but best of all there were cupcakes at the end!  So all the kiddos were happy, and sugared up, and had way too much energy, so on the way home, we talked and I quieted them down but as soon as we got home....

Poor Smalls got her finger smashed in the car door!  Kermit just let go of his door as she grabbed the door frame, so she was wailing away and then Kermit felt so bad he was crying too.  Tink did her best to help me calm everyone down-I love that girl.  I took this picture and sent it to Rambo to see what he thought.  We ended up calling my visiting teacher Arica (who is a pediatric nurse) to come take a look at it.  Smalls LOVES Arica, so as soon as she walked in, Smalls bent her fingers and smiled through all her tears and Arica assessed her finger was not broken.

WHEW!!!

It was a crazy crazy night!!  I went from being one proud mama to one worried mama!  But ultimately....I am just proud of my little monkeys!

Apple Pie

 My sweet little Tink decided we needed to make an apple pie.

One of our favorite, silly family shows right now is Adventure Time, one of the characters is a little elephant named Tree Trunks, and she bakes the greatest apple pies in all the land.

 That is why Tink needed an apple pie experience.

Rambo did all the camera work and I cannot help it if he thinks I am hot stuff.

 She did such a good job cutting up all the apples, I was a little nervous giving her the knife, but she totally rocked it!  AND she still has all her fingers!  She is going to be an amazing apple pie baker all by herself some day.

I got the amazing job of making the crust...I guess I needed the practice.

I did not get a picture of our finished apple pie, but it was delightful!  We had it a la mode for our Family Home Evening treat and it was a hit!

Tink said she thought Tree Trunks would be proud, and you know, I think she is right.

I love this girl, and I love that we can do stuff like this together now, she is becoming such a sweet little friend.

Owls!!

 Our day started out with a little hike around the foothills!  It was beautiful and sunny and COLD!!!  I told them to wear their jackets, but do they listen to me?  NOOOOOO!  :)

 My favoritest things in the world right there!  RIGHT THERE!!!  I can't tell you how much I love these little goobers!

 Sweet little Tink and Smalls, they thought this looked like the perfect fairy spot, and you know?  I think they are exactly right!
We hiked around to all the spot scopes, we got to see a red-tailed hawk in her nest with her babies and then we got to see the burrow where the owl's nest was.  It was really cool, it was in the side of the hill in a great big hole.  We were a little bummed that the owls were so shy, but it was still plenty exciting for the girls, just KNOWING there were owls up there!!!  GAH!!!

 This was the little tree that had the "nest" in it, so naturally, my little owls had to get up in there (Kermit was completely done at this point).  This was Small's first attempt.

 Tink made it!!!  She is happy as a clam-er owl up there!

 And then Smalls joined her and they were quite content to stay up there all day...if only Tink had worn her jacket....

 No matter, there was plenty to do in the Learning Center!  There were tons of little owl crafts, so the girls both made a toilet paper owl craft, very exciting!

 They both got their faces painted.

 This is Marjorie painting their faces.  She was soooo nice!  Tink didn't want anyone else to paint her face after seeing some of Marjorie's work.

 Sweet little Smalls chose a Snowy Owl.

 There she is, Miss Tink getting her face done.  (She did NOT want me to take pictures of this, so this is exactly like photographing wildlife...in the wild).

 And they are officially OWLS!!!

 And one more stop to make owl hats!!! 

Kermit was quite patient with his little sisters through it all, there was only one minor scuffle throughout the trip, and after a couple quick death threats, things were hunky dory! 
We had a great time!  I really do love hanging out with my kiddos and I was so excited to discover this little learning center up here!  I have a feeling we will be doing a lot of stuff here during the summer!  There were TONS of trails up there!  And I have a brood who love to "discover" things!

Back to Life!

After nearly 2 years of the most terrifying, trying, and ultimately strengthening obstacles of my life, I feel like I am back and better than ever!
There is a saying about having to go through a storm and not being the same person when you come out on the other side.  It is absolutely true!
While I wouldn't wish these trials on my worst enemy, I like myself so much more now!  I have come to realize the blessing of family, of faith, and of self.  I truly think of myself as a friend now, my relationship with my Heavenly Father is so much more meaningful.  I love Him, I know He is there, I know He hears and answers my prayers, and most importantly, I know He loves me.  He is absolutely aware of everything I need and He knows how to help me, He knows exactly what I need, and when I need it.
I need to speak of my children.  They are angels!  They have been through so much, they have watched me struggle, they have watched their father struggle, and I hope the lesson they have taken from all this is that family is stronger!  We are stronger than anything, we are here for each other, we love each other through all of life's storms, and we become stronger by doing so.  They always knew when I needed a hug, when I needed to cry, when I needed to laugh-I cannot tell you how these sweet children made me laugh at times that I should have been so upset!  They truly are my angels, and I don't know how I could have been so lucky to have been entrusted with them!
I have taken many lessons away from these trials, but there is one that continues to stick out, and that is you do not give up on people.  The Lord sent Jonah back to Ninevah in a most unusual way, he sent missionaries countless times to the Lamanites when their hearts were hardened, and then to the Nephites when they were awful.  He never gave up on them, He kept loving them, He kept trying, He kept hoping they would change and come back.  I will never give up.
I am happy.
I have not been able to say that in such a long time, but I am happy-throughout my countenance I am happy.
I love my husband, he is my eternal companion, he is the person I am here to help through this mortal life, and I am happy to be his help meet.  I understand him so much better now, and I will continue to pray for understanding, I will not give up!
It is time to start blogging again, it is time to be happy again, and it is time to start living again!
 
xoxoxoxox