Wow it sure has been a really long time since I last blogged. Life has been crazy like it always is but time has seemed to just fly by and I haven't had a chance to sit down and blog about it. I kept trying to decide if I would post each event individually, do a highlight post, or stop blogging altogether. Since I love to look back at posts and use this as a journal/scrapbook I figured a highlight post would be okay and I will try to be better about blogging the important events in our lives! So here it goes...December to April 15th in a nutshell:
We found out we were pregnant at the end of September. We were and are so excited for our 5th child. Here I am at about 14 weeks pregnant.
In December we found out that I was pregnant with a baby BOY! We were so surprised and so excited for a little boy to join our family! Here is a picture of him! We can't wait to meet him when he is born!
Mayli turned 7 on December 5th. She is so grown up and is such a great helper. We love her so much and so grateful she is part of our family. We celebrated her birthday at Planet Play. We had a fun time!
Mayli is a great helper. She loves to serve people and is always trying to help someone in need. She loves school and loves to play with friends. She is great at everything in school and we are so proud of how hard she tries. She loves every color but really likes the color black right now. She loves to ride her bike and scooter, she loves to sing and dance, and she loves to spend time with family. May loves to wear jeans and doesn't like when they are all dirty and she has to wear leggings or a dress. She also loves her pajamas and puts them on as soon as she can at night.
We love you Mayli!!!
Mid-December Madi and Juliet had their winter dance recital!
Here is Madilyn posing so cute!
This was Juliet's first recital she did a great job and was adorable!
Cute sisters!!!
We spent Christmas in Montana! The girls had a great time and we enjoyed being at Grandpa and Grandma Clayton's house! Look at these cute cousins!
Christmas morning
The girls had so much fun opening presents!
January 5th my brother Samuel married his eternal sweetheart Traci in the Salt Lake Temple. It was freezing cold but a lovely day! We had such a wonderful day!
Here is the cake I made for them.
Mayli won a bike for reading at school! Every week depending on how much she reads she gets tickets put in to win a bike. She was so lucky and her name got picked! She was so excited for a new bike!
Juliet turned 2 on January 28th! She is so cute and we love her personality and what she brings to our family. She is so cute!
Here she is with one of her presents. She is holding her 'lips' as she calls it. Whenever she wants me to put chapstick on her she says I need some lips Mom.
She is so cute and so fun! She loves to sing and loves to dance. She loves to follow her sisters everywhere and wants to be as big as them. She talks so well and says complete sentences. She loves fruit snacks and loves corn dogs! Everyday I ask what she'd like for lunch and about 99% of the time she'll say corn dogs. She loves to play with toys and absolutely loves outside. Juliet loves baby dolls and loves to take care of people. I call her our little nurse because she is always trying to help those in need. When someone is sad she tries to make them feel better and when she sees someone in need she tries to help them. She smiles a lot and still loves her binky and blankie. We love her so much and are so glad she is a part of our family.
Right after Juliet's birthday it was time for New Beginnings for Young Womens. I thought the decorations were so cute so I had to post. The theme was "Walk in the Light and Find the Right Spot." These hot air balloons ended up turning out so cute!!!
We wanted the girls to know that where ever they go they can find holy places because they can be that holy place.
Shortly after was another activity. The Laurels were in charge and they did such a great job decorating. We had a Plan of Salvation night. It was a lovely night.
Cupcakes at the end and the cute table.
Then little Madi turned 5!
We are so blessed to have her spunky spirit in our home! She is so much fun!
Here she is with her pink cake. She is seriously so fun! She just loves life! She loves to sing and dance. She loves to play barbies, little dolls, and my little pony. She loves to read books. She loves school and loves to play with friends. She finds joy in everything around her. She has such a wonderful perspective about life and finding joy in everything. I love to watch the joy in her face and try to do that in my life too. Many times when trying to get her attention she doesn't even hear us because she is just enjoying what she is doing so much, smiling the whole time. We love our Madi!
Madi had her 1st friend birthday party this year. She picked a Princess Tea Party theme. Luckily it was warm enough to have outside since we were in the middle of remodeling our kitchen because the party was postponed due to one of her sisters having the flu. It was beautiful outside and they loved it.
Here are the treats!
All the girls having fun!
Present time!
Craziest thing that has been going on is we put our house up for sale on April 6th. It was such a hard decision and Mike and I dragged our feet a bit in getting it put up but we knew the Lord wanted us so put it up so we did. Back in January Mike and I were discussing how baby number 5 was coming and our 3 bedrooms were just not enough anymore for our family. We talked about how we either needed to finish the basement or get a bigger home to accommodate our growing family. After weeks of praying, studying, temple attendance, and fasting we finally had our answer. We love this place, our ward, and our neighbors; and putting this home up for sale was a very hard thing for both of us. Our home has been so wonderful. We have so many wonderful memories. When we first moved in here almost 7 years ago we only had 2 children, ages 2 and 6 months old. We were so young. We've grown so much over the past 7 years and as we look back this home and this place, it has served us so well. I remember when we looked at this home and it felt so right. Our offer got rejected and we were so afraid that they would accept another one because the market was so crazy at that time. Luckily they counter offered and we quickly accepted. We knew this was where we were supposed to be. We have had 2 almost 3 children in this home. We have served in various callings that have helped us grow so much spiritually. Three of my siblings have lived with us and 2 of those 3 found their eternal companions right here in Eagle Mountain one who just lived a few houses behind us. The 3rd sibling was able to get on his feet, find a job, and move into his own apartment, where he soon found his eternal companion too but he started out here. We have made amazing friends, had amazing support from all those around us, and our lives have been changed for good forever. What a blessing it has been to be in this special place. I am so grateful to the Lord for allowing us to be here as long as we have. Now the Lord is calling us somewhere else and we are anxious to know where He needs us. Eagle Mountain will always hold a special place in our hearts.
Here I am 31 weeks pregnant. Moving, preparing for baby, and livin' life! Life is beautiful and full of surprises but the Lord is in control and we are so blessed! Now hopefully I'll keep up with this blog so it doesn't get so behind. :)
