Aana's Baptism...It's great to be 8!

This weekend was wonderful for our family.  Our oldest, Aana was baptized.  In our faith, we baptize our children after they are 8 years old...and Aana has been counting down the days since her birthday. She has such a wonderful sensitivity to the spirit and such a desire to learn about Christ.  She amazes me!  She set a goal in sept. to read the entire Book of Mormon before she got baptized...and that is a HUGE goal for a girl that was seven.  She worked so HARD...read chapters everynight...and studied with Larry and I trying to understand the hard words.  (if you have never read the Book of Mormon...it is an AMAZING book and is another testament of Jesus Christ and has old language just like the Bible.)  It has over 500 pages and challenging words...but it is SO worth reading and she did it...and it was a wonderful experience to watch her reach this goal.

10 Years of Marriage, an Amazing Cruise...and LIVING it up!

We just got back from the Caribbean and LOVED every minute of it.  I don't think I would have changed a thing!  Our pictures don't reflect all of the fun we had because our new camera is a bit large to carry around all of the time.  We swam with dolphins, SURFED, zip lined, performed in a dance mob, entered doubles ping pong tournaments, dodge ball tournaments, watched broadway shows, ice skated, climbed rock walls, snorkeled the largest reef in the Caribbean, ATE, laughed, and LIVED!  I constantly had to stop and thank my Heavenly Father for the miracle of being able to do all of those things.  It was SO much fun!!!  It was the perfect way to celebrate...here's to 50 more years of marriage!

Belated birthday posts...

Life has been crazy, but Aana and Addie's birthdays can't be over looked.  It has been a fun, busy, but amazing month for our family.  We count our blessings everyday!  We are so grateful for these beautiful rays of sunshine in our lives!! 







  



Aana wanted brownies..





So surprised from all of their amazing gifts.  :)







Aana was SO excited to get her OWN scriptures!







My mom made Addie a cake of ALL her favorite things.  Take a look...it's pretty funny. Mac 'n Cheese, pancakes, chocolate, gogurts, cupcakes, string cheese, etc.  Awesome!



Cruising...and Celebrations!

Another reason I have been SO busy is that I have been trying to get ready to go on vacation with my husband to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. (Feb. 16th)  We went on a cruise for our honeymoon 10 years ago and wanted to go to celebrate this year as well.   We will be in Royal Caribbean's newest ship the Allure of the Seas and are headed to there before dawn in the morning.

We are so excited for some sun (because I missed ALL of last summer)...a chance to celebrate...a chance to LIVE a little... and feel so blessed to be able to do this!!!  I AM SO GRATEFUL to be feeling better right now!

So expect a ton of pictures when I get back...and more updates.  Thanks for your patience!

Belated Birthday Post

These past couple of weeks have FLOWN by...but before more time passes, I have to mention that both of my girls had birthdays this week.   Feb. 7th is the luckiest day I have ever had.

On that day, four years apart, my two most precious treasures entered the world.  I have been a busy mom planning parties, throwing parties, and cleaning up from parties.  Both girls had a blast and pics will follow, but for now...I will post their drawings of them.

Aana's Pajama Pancake Party Picture with her friends

Addie and her cake (that is a table...not a bug on the right)

Present ponderings

I'm feeling stronger and tackling  more each day.  The past two weeks have been cleaning out the garage...which for those that saw it before can understand what a task it was.  I have given away ALL of my girls baby clothes, the crib, etc.  Is it just me, or are those moments bittersweet?  Sweet because my husband will quit nagging me...(sorry Larry) but sad in that I was parting with SO many memories...and a VERY dear chapter of my life.  I held on to them in hopes another child would come into our lives.  I'm not sure that could happen now.  There really aren't any others who have conceived after the HIPEC (heated chemo and accompanying surgeries) that I have had.  I LOVE motherhood...and my prayer is that if there are more that are meant for our family...that they will somehow come.  My heart is willing and open.  (sorry, tough topic for me, but I wanted to vent it.)

On the flip side, I am thrilled that I am getting to raise the beautiful girls that I have.  We treasure each day...and often stop to offer our gratitude that I am feeling well enough to do whatever we had been doing at that time.  My life has changed dramatically over the past year~no doubt about that!

I am the president of our family's party planning committee (jk!) which is working HARD this week.  For those that don't know, my daughters were both born on the same day...just 4 years apart.  I am hosting Addie's little party tomorrow morning...and Aana's on Saturday morning.  I am busy, but happy.  I can't complain.  It is SO wonderful to be able to DO things...