Janie got baptized!!

Yesterday our Janie girl got baptized! 

It was such a special day. 

She was so nervous on the morning of her baptism that she couldn't eat and she had to be sitting down because her stomach hurt.

Later we learned that she was coming down with a bug. But her nerves combined with a virus had her totally wiped out by noon. 

One of the tender moments at her baptism was when Sami walked up to Janie right after her baptism, while we were waiting for another child to get dressed, and grabbed her hands and asked her how she felt. It was such a tender, sisterly moment that brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

I love that my girls love each other.

We were in the middle of a full-blown blizzard that morning. Her baptism was set for 9 am, which I thought was early to begin with, but you don't mess with the stake schedule. :) But when I was afraid we could get down our hill, I wondered if we should have cancelled it. 

In the end, I am glad we didn't because Jonathan's mom and sister from Arizona would have missed it. And it was SO touching to see all the people come out on an early Saturday morning in a snowstorm to show their love and support to Janie and our family.

It was special. 

I am so thankful for Jonathan. He is such a good man. I am so thankful that he was able to baptize and confirm our Janie. 

The day before her baptism, I was helping Sami open up the trash, and as I went outside, I slipped on our steps and hit my face, hip, and elbow really hard on our concrete steps. So hard that I have big bruises, knocked some teeth loose, and couldn't eat for two days. So I don't love this picture of me but I want my kids to see me in some pictures. :) 

Right after the baptism, Janie had a fever of 102.2. She missed her post-baptism celebration because we gave her medicine and tucked her in bed. That broke my heart. But that's part of life. If nothing else, I want to teach my kids that they need to roll with the punches. 

Some fun facts about Janie:

-She's in 2nd grade and adores her teacher, Mrs. Ratliffe (she adores Janie too as she has made her a Star Student twice already this year)

-She loves art and is very artistic

-She is scared of animals, but doesn't want to be

-She is really compassionate and worried about everyone and doesn't want anyone to die. Ever. (She gets that from me.)

-She is a homebody. 

-Her favorite color changes often.

-She is our best eater. She loves almost everything, but she has a real sweet tooth. 

-She loves school and is pretty good about doing her homework without complaining

-She loves playing on her Kindle

-She hates hot lunches from school and always wants a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 

We love her more than we can say!

It's great to be eight!!

1st Day of School 2016

I have to blog about the first day of school before it's Halloween. I can't believe how fast time is passing. 

Life is busy, and fun, and crazy.

My mom and my 17-year-old nephew live with us. We love having them here and it's especially fun for the girls.

But back to school.

Sami is in 3rd (!!!!) grade this year! I don't know how she grew up so fast. Her teacher is Mr. McKinney and he is awesome. We are so thankful that she has such a fun and great teacher. She always comes home with funny stories about silly things he did at school. Her multiplication and division are coming along nicely, but lunch is still her favorite time of day.

 Janie started second grade and was super nervous about it. We had heard that her teacher, Mrs. Ratliff, wasn't very nice. Thankfully, that doesn't seem to be the case. Janie loves going to school and she loves Mrs. Ratliff. Janie also assures me that Mrs. Ratliff loves her, which isn't surprising at all. 

Janie is learning to love reading and art is still her favorite subject. 

There is a boy in her class who she thinks is cute, but she assures me that they are only friends. ;)

 Both of these cute girls were so nervous for the first day of school, but were so excited when they came home. They are having a great year and I am so thankful that they love school. 

 Lucy also started her second year of preschool at the Neighborhood preschool. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of her first day because I was at a "graduation requirement meeting" at the high school for my nephew. (Let me tell you, having a teenage boy in the house is WAY different than having three little girls! But David is a great kid and we love having him.)

Thankfully my neighbor, who I carpool with, did get a picture of Lucy on her first day, and when I get it, I will post it here. 

I am so blessed to have these girl in my life. Here's to a great school year! ♥

Catching Up

I am behind on my blogging. 

But in my defense, life has been crazy here. 

We had another flood in our basement. (Enter crying cat emoji here.)

My 17-year-old nephew moved in with us. (We love him!)

I started another blog. (Shoot me now.) It's at www.teepeegirl.com, for those interested.

Jonathan's work is changing and being so crazy. I can't say anything yet, but changes are coming to that part of our lives. We hope and pray that they are blessings in disguise.

And we are getting ready for my mom to move in with us within the next two weeks. My parents filed for divorce (enter crying cat emoji again), and my mom is going to live with us for awhile. (We are super excited for my mom to live with us. Hello, date night!) 

And my girls started soccer for the first time. (Shoot me now-again!) We have practice and games twice a week, and I wonder if it's worth it. Between piano, activity days, soccer, and life, we are staying busy. 

But, as always, life is good. 

Lucy had a fun, little birthday party. We all adore this little girl. I am so glad she is in our family. 

Dave, my nephew, is awesome sauce. I am super proud of him. He is doing well in school here, has a busier social life than me, and is so much fun for Jonathan. I guess Jonathan needed another male in the house. Those two are best buds. 

Easter was great. My neighbor, Shawnna, put on a great Easter egg hunt. It was a lot of fun. 

The Easter baskets were a hit, as always. 

And Janie was a star student of the month in March. She was recognized for her good behavior. Way to go, Janie!

I am so thankful for my life. Sometimes I how I got to be so blessed. I constantly hope and pray to be more worthy of the amazing blessings I have. 

♥

Happy 4th Birthday Lucy!!

I can hardly believe Lucy is four. But she can! If you ask her how old she is, she may say "six," or "eight." 

She has become our little sweetheart. She is still stubborn and tenacious, and always will be, but we have seen such a kindness and sweetness about her. 

She has melted all of our heats. Sami and Janie often vie for her attention and they are always telling me how cute she it. And I agree. She is really, really cute. 

 Some things about Lucy:

-She loves tv. Right now her favorites are "Phineas and Fherb." But sometimes it's "Sohphia the First," or "Masha and the Bear."
-She loves playing with our neighbors. We are blessed with kids on both sides of our house that she enjoys playing with. One of them are over almost every day. It's fun.
-She doesn't love to eat. We have a daily battle to get her to eat her meals.
-Her favorite color is pink.
-She adores her sisters, and the they adore her. It works out nicely.
-She has such a good Sunbeams teacher, Sis. Roberts. She sends Lucy something in the mail every week and brought her presents when she was sick. Lucy loves Sunbeams. Thank goodness for awesome teachers!
-She goes to preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is learning to write her name.
-Lucy goes to bed before 7 pm every night. It's awesome. Sometimes she asks me to put her to bed earlier. I always oblige. This girl needs her sleep!
-She loves Costco Dino Nuggets. She requests them for lunch almost every day.

We feel so, so blessed to have her in our family!

We love you, Lucy! Happy birthday!! 

Valentine's Day 2016

We had a really fun Valentine's Day this year. 

I made fondue. First we had cheese fondue, where we dipped chicken sausages, bread, apples, and carrots. Then we had chocolate fondue and we dipped rice krispie treats and strawberries. It was delish!

But mostly, it was so nice to spend the day together. 

After dinner, we wrote Valentine's Day cards for each other. I made 4 cards for each person and we each made a card for every other member of the family. It was really fun to see the girls get into their cards. They wanted to make each other happy. 

Jonathan also got into it. He did borders around his cards and used different colored ink. It was fun. I loved watching my family express love for each other. That's what Valentine's Day is all about. 

January 2016

A new year. 

It has started off with tons of snow and sickness around here. We have all been sick. Currently, it's me and Lucy. We have nicknamed Lucy "Typhoid Mary." She has been hacking and sneezing and had a runny nose like you can't believe. But she is on the mend. It's amazing what a humidifier can do. And my sore throat is getting better, which is a good thing because I told Jonathan, "I can't live like this!" I am a total wimp when I am sick. 

But other great things have happened. 

First and foremost, Sami got to be a January "Star Student." She has been waiting and waiting for this. Every month she and Janie would tell us about kids who got to be star students, and why couldn't they? 

Well, it turns out that everyone gets a chance. I didn't realize this until I went to see Sami get her award. But every class gets 3-4 star students a month. I like that everyone will get a chance to be a "star." Sami got hers for excellent S.O.A.R. behavior. It's an acronym for something like "safe inside and out," obedient, and I don't know the rest...but Sami does.

And we are super proud of her. 

 And Jonathan's office had it's official grand opening and ribbon cutting from the mayor. 

It was a not-big-deal-but-kind-of-a-big-deal sort of thing. They mayor and lots of members of the Murray Chamber of Commerce came out. 

 So I took pictures with my lame cell phone and am too lazy to edit them. But you get the idea, right?

Here is Jonathan interacting with a patient. 

 His staff did some face painting. Lucy loved it. 

 They used giant scissors for the ribbon cutting. We thought it was fun and hilarious. 

 Our neighbor is part of the Murray Chamber of Commerce and came out for the occasion. He loves Lucy. The feeling is mutual. 

 And Jonathan's dad came out. Thanks, Dad.

So here's hoping for a great 2016. 

And Spring, where are you? Please come soon!!

Sami's Baptism

The best part of 2015 for our family was Sami's baptism.  I am a little late in posting about this, since it happened before Christmas. But since this was the highlight of our year, it seemed appropriate that this be my last post of 2015.

Sami was so, so excited to be baptized and waited in great anticipation for her big day. 

It was such a special day, surrounded by family and friends.  

My mom works in a department store part time in Nebraska and found this beautiful dress for Sami. I found this coat a few years ago at a yard sale and have hung onto it, waiting for baptism day. 

Sami looked so grown up and so beautiful. She literally brought me to tears. 

 

 My mom did a fancy braid in Sami's hair. 

The baptism was early on a cold, Saturday morning. We got up early and got there early, and that in itself was a miracle. We were able to have family pictures. 

 It was such a special experience for me to get to help Sami get ready for her big moment. 

I am so proud of the girl that she is. She has really tried to be obedient, say her prayers, read the scriptures, and learn the gospel. Of course, her testimony is young and she will continue her whole life to grow and learn, but this is a great start. She truly wanted to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

This picture just touches my heart. I am so pleased with Sami's choices and Jonathan's choices. I don't think Sami can appreciate how special it is to be baptized and confirmed by your dad, but one day she will. 

 So many special people were at Sami's baptism. Both Jonathan's and my parents were there. Aunt Tami was there from Arizona. Neighbors and friends came. But the most special visitor was her birth mom, Becca. Becca and her husband, Preston, and their baby, Colby, came all the way from California to be at Sami's special day. It was a huge sacrifice for them. It meant so much to Sami and probably even more to Jonathan and I because we understand the hardship financially and physically of coming this far and with a newborn. 

But Sami will look back and I hope she never forgets how much her birth mom loves her and how much she has sacrificed for her. Again, maybe it's one of those things that we don't really "get" as children, but one day, she will. And I think it will mean so much to her.  We love our Becca. And Preston, who gets smothered every time he visits us. And sweet, chubby Colby. 

For me, it was the perfect day. To have Sami so beautiful and sweet, and to be surrounded by people we love was perfect. 

There are so many people who could  not be there in person, but we felt your love for us as well. Our dear friends in Arizona, Missouri, and Omaha. For friends and family all over the country. (If you are reading this, then that's you, for sure!) Thank you, all, for what you have done for our family. For teaching Sami, being a good example, sharing your love and friendship. It has made all the difference and we thank Heavenly Father for you. 

We are so proud of our Sami girl and her choice to join the church. 

Good things keep on coming.