Madi's Baptism

This girl was so excited and ready to be baptized!  I have been very proud of her this year, she has really grown up in the last 6 months and has been trying so hard to be good!  She has come so far from the fit throwing 7 year old she was a year ago!  She truly wants to choose to be good and to choose to be happy.  She is very sweet and tender and always wanting to do something to make someone else happy.  When I had her last parent/teacher conference of 2nd grade her teacher told me, "she is so compassionate."  Wow, a proud Mom moment for me!  She was such good student and always going out of her way to be kind to the kids in her class.  She had a classmate with some learning disabilities and Madi was always the one to help her and to stand up for her when the boys made fun of her.  She would finish her own work and then always help Cami do her work.  There was a little girl in our ward for a time who was in a wheelchair and Madi met her in the hall one day, she was always thinking about her after that and on Christmas Day she took a card to her.  Ellen's dad later told Ryan that she loved the card so much she carried it around in her backpack on the back of her wheelchair every day.  She also loves to make cards and write notes to her friends and especially at home for Mom and Dad, I often think, when I see a new note she has tapped up somewhere, everyone needs a little girl to bring this kind of sweetness to their life!

Before her baptism I took her to the temple to do a photo shoot in her new white dress.  She had seen me do this for 3 of her friends and so she was so excited to finally get her turn!  We had a great time, here are some favorites...

The Big Day

 Getting ready with Daddy

Our close friend and family who were there to support Madi and celebrate with us...

 The Hansens - Ash, Baby Roam, Jet, Cora and Kurt

 The Eves - Kelton, Logan, Ellie, Bridger, Thatcher, Aunt Carolyn

 The Halls - Aunt Crystal, Brooke, Ammon, Dallin, Harrison, Matthew

 Grandma

 Great Grandpa Jens - I was so grateful for my Grandpa coming down!  So nice to have someone from my Mom's family to be here, and especially to have a Grandpa here! Grandpa was so sweet and didn't hesitate to say he'd make the drive down for Madi's baptism.  He was one of the witnesses.

 Best Friend Annie

 Annie's Family, The Woodburys - Kathryn, Jack, Annie, Grant, Heidi and Dustin

 Hannah, Bowen, Aunt Deli and Jackson

The Brooks - Grandpa Sam, Joey, Julianne, Sarah, Bishop Joe, Grandma Carolyn and Tommy.  We love the Brooks family and are grateful for their friendship, Bishop Joe was the 2nd witness and we loved having their Sam and Carolyn join us, we have grown to love them as we have gotten to know them over the years of them visiting Joe and Julianne.  

 Jens was throwing a fit for our attempted family picture so this is the best we got  - Mom and Madi

Madi's friend, Aubrey, was also here for the baptism but left before we did pictures, we also had Bro. McAffee and Sis. Christensen from our ward there.

After the baptism we invited everyone over for a delicious dutch oven dinner,  it was amazing!  Kurt and Ash's brother in law cooked it for us and it was so nice to have someone else do the cooking!  Dutch oven potatoes, beans and pulled pork, they were delish!  Mom made coconut cupcakes that were pretty much the best ever and Kathryn was so nice to make these adorable and unbelievably soft and delicious sugar cookies!

We were grateful for our family and close friends that were there with us on Madi's special day.  We missed a lot of the family that didn't make it and we really missed the ones that we know were watching but we couldn't see, Grandpa and Grandma Kathy and Todd.  Madi had a wonderful, special day, she was a little sad when it was over, she told me that she just wanted to remember exactly how she felt when she was in the water!  She was beaming and so happy, we were so proud of her and so happy that she chose to be baptized!

Our Trip to Portland Part 3: The Big Day!

Jasmine and Josh's wedding day! It was a perfect day, I was so filled with joy just being there.  Ryan and I were excited to visit the Portland Temple again and being there with the Burton Family was just the best thing ever!  It was such a very special moment for me as we were sitting in the waiting room to see Jess and Mel come into the room together, amazing Jess pushing her amazing Mom in her wheelchair.  My heart was so full of  joy and love for the two of them!  Mel's health has been so bad that for the past few months she was afraid she would not even be able to be there for her daughter's wedding.  I knew what a miraculous blessing of strength and comfort from our Father in Heaven that Mel was receiving and I could not keep the tears from running down my face.  Truly this amazing family was blessed on this very special day!  I could go on and on about all of my emotions of this day, but instead of rambling on like a fool I'll just share some favorite moments from the day in pictures.

Remember how I said I had over 800 pictures to go through from our trip?  Ya, I wasn't exaggerating.  I've finally made it through all of them, here are some favorites....

My buddy Jared - man I love this kid.  Everyone needs a Jared in their life! 

Beautiful Janessa!  Twin sister of the bride! 

Me, Janessa and fabulous Laurel!
Laurel is Mel's niece, we totally knew each other before we ever met.  This was only the 2nd time we've met in person, which seems so weird, we are dear friends (thankful for blogging!)  and I love her!
  

Ted with Handsome Jeremiah, and beautiful daughters Jennalise and Jayla

Beautiful Mel with her stunning daughters!

Twin Sisters = Best Friends! 

Ted & Mel, pretty much the most fantastic couple on the planet.  

Seriously love these 5 people! 

Beautiful Jess and her darling family - handsome husband Mason and cute boys Cooper and Dane.  Dane really is cute too, he was a bit tired!

Happy Jared! 

Me & Mel - love her so much!  I was so happy she had such a wonderful day and was able to do so much, she did amazing! 

Lucky Groom! 

Happy couple with the Happy Couple! 

A Happy Couple of Parents! 

Love this!   

What a perfectly wonderful day it was!  We were so happy to have the opportunity to be in the temple with Josh and Jasmine and their family and to share in their joy on this happiest of days!  We had so much fun spending time together and with the Burtons.  We love you all so much!  

Our Trip to Portland Part 2: It was totally WICKED!!!

When we heard from Mel that Jasmine was getting married,  (Gasp!)  I went through some slight shock and then realized that Jasmine and Janessa are not 11  any more,  and that is was actually ok for her to be getting married.  Then we decided we would plan a trip and be there for the wedding, we were very much in need of some quality time with The Burtons!  We made our plans a couple months in advance and we had been planning to leave Pierce and Madi with Grandma and take Jensen with us.  As the trip got closer I considered leaving him home, debated back and forth and then decided we would go ahead and take him.  I really wanted to show him off (he is the cutest thing on the planet after all!) and I didn't know how he would do with out me.  He is such a Momma's boy!  Which I love.  Anyway we were planning to take him up until the day we left... I was just getting so nervous about how he would do on the plane ride, we would be getting to Portland around mid night and I was worried he wouldn't sleep well, I was worried he wouldn't sleep good in the hotel and that he'd be miserable and tired the whole time.  I finally decided an hour before we were to leave, that I would leave him with Grandma!  I figured he would do better at home in his comfort zone and in his own bed with out me, than he would being on the go for 3 days and being thrown off his schedule.  I bawled when we left and could not believe I was leaving my baby, then questioned myself all night if I had done the right thing.  The next morning after calling JoAnn and hearing he was doing just fine I totally relaxed and was SO thrilled to have three days with Ryan.  Just me and him.  Alone. For the first time since we've had children! For three days.  It was Heaven.  

We had planned to be up there a day before the wedding so we could make the most of it, and we did!  We headed out to Forest Grove and had a little blast from the past just driving around, to the school, past our old apartment and just enjoying the beautiful green roadsides!  We had to make a stop at the school bookstore for new T-shirts - Pierson loves his "Pacific Boxers" tee shirt and was sad when he got a hole it it when it was quite new.  When my sister asked him about us going to Oregon he told her, "ya they're going to get me a new shirt.  Oh and to see some friends too."  We did not disapoint and he is thrilled with his new tee shirt!

We really do love Oregon, it is absolutely beautiful!  It's just that all that rain that makes it so beautiful is a little too much for us, so we always knew would could never live there, but we absolutely love visiting!

Beautiful green roadsides, such a change from St. George! - (and I did take these pics while we were passing by so excuse my poor quality), Ryan in front of the campus sign, (a tradition now) and Ryan getting ready to enjoy his "Jumbo Burger" at the Helvetia Tavern, a great little place for burgers he liked when he was in school.

AND, now that we were totally kid free, we could go see WICKED!  It was perfect luck that it was playing in Portland while we were there! I was so excited!  I  have been dying to see this show for the past three years (since I bought the soundtrack and fell in love with it!) We had planned on visiting Ryan's old roommate, Toby, and his wife Julie, while we were there, and luckily  they were up for the show on very short notice and tickets were available!

It was fabulous!  I loved it.  So much that I think I need to see it again this year when it come to Vegas.  Plus I wasn't able to fully appreciate every detail since our seats were on the side balcony.  So, it really is necessary to see it again.

After Wicked we hit PaPa Hayden's in Downtown Portland.  This is quite the happenin' little place, we had only been there once (when Ryan graduated) since it really isn't something poor students can justify. They are known for their desserts and let me tell you- delicious, scrumptious, amazing, divine...pretty much all the yummy words you could think of, ya they all apply.  Totally worth the 9 bucks each.

Isn't it pretty?  We definitely recommend the Chocolate Truffle Cake and the Peanut Butter Cheesecake.  And we loved it so much and figured- hey we're on vacation, with out our kids, for the first time ever!  So we went back the next night and got pick up.  So we definitely recommend the St. Moritz too, and we wished we had been able to try the Banana Cream Pie, they were out!  So we recommend that too.  It you are ever in Portland, stop in, and have  Coconut Macaroon for me too!  And while you are there stop by Moonstruck and get a milkshake!  Ya, we did that too.  But hey, we were on vacation!  Alone!  With out our kids! For three days!  And we kind of have a weekness for beautiful and delicious desserts.

Baby Shower!

I have to start with a little background on this post.  This is a story I must write down...and it's not even about me.  So, if you've been around my blog for awhile you know my friend, Julianne.  I've had a link to her adoption profile on my blog for awhile (YAY for needing to take it off!)  and her boys, Joey and Tommy, have  made an appearance on the blog a few times, along with her hubby Joe, AKA Bishop Brooks.  Anyway, Joe and Julianne have been trying to adopt another baby for over a year now, and we have been praying and hoping along with them for another baby to come to their family.  On with the story...

One October afternoon I talked with Julianne and she and Joe were preparing to speak to a group of birth moms that evening.  She was nervous and excited and I was nervous and excited for her, thinking that maybe one of the girls attending would hear them speak and she would be the one meant to place her baby with them.  I wished her luck and said, "maybe tonight's the night".  I needed to pick something up from her so she left it on the porch for me to pick up while they were at the meeting.  I pulled up to their house and very nearly had a heart attack!  There were several people in her driveway who had put up a banner on her garage saying "It's a girl!"  I was entirely confused!  I knew they were at the meeting speaking at that very moment, how could this have happened?!  So I got out of my car and talked with one of the girls who was there, (whom I actually recognized from having previously lived in the ward!)  A birth mom had chosen them!  They didn't know it yet!  She was at the meeting listening to them speak!  And wanted to surprise them!  I was FREAKING out!!!  They were getting a baby, and they didn't know it yet!  I was trying not to hyperventilate and thinking about the situation.  Joey and Tommy were down the street at Samantha's, and I knew I needed to make sure Joey didn't come out and see the sign before they were home.  I ran down to Samantha's, trying to breath, and told her what was happening!  She said she'd make sure the boys stayed inside until they were home and I went on my way.  As the kids and I drove to Ryan's office, tears were running down my face as I explained to Pierce and Madi what was going on.  Of course they wondered why I was crying and asked, "well aren't you happy?"  One of these days they'll figure out the happy crying thing!  I got to Ryan's office, and ran inside.  He could hear me running down the hall way to his office and then appeared in his door with tears in my eyes.  Of course he was alarmed, and with our luck, thinking - who died?!
 I told him, "they're getting a baby!"
 He was confused, "What?!"
"Joe and Julianne are getting a baby!"  I cried.  Literally.
Ohhh, well that was a relief for him to hear!
The next few hours were very long.  I was about to burst knowing they had no idea what was happening, that they'd pull in their driveway any minute and find out their life was about to change.  Not to mention be confused, as this was not a typical surprise!  I waited a few hours, thinking I was giving them plenty of time to come home, see the sign, call their case worker, find out what was actually  happening, talk to the birth mom, and call their family.  I pulled up to their house and they had only been home 5 minutes!  They were standing in the driveway, taking it all in!  I hugged them, cried with them and then I started breathing normally again.  What an amazing night!

Fast forward a couple of months... They have been greatly blessed with an amazing birth mom! Every thing went perfect with the birth and placement of baby Sarah into their family.  It has been amazing for me  just being a friend on the sidelines, to see this miracle come about.  Ryan and I had fasted and prayed together and with the kids for this blessing to come to the Brooks.  I have been grateful to have such a positive experience to talk with my kids about, an experience in which we have prayed for something wonderful to happen and it did! I have worried that the losses our family experienced last year have  felt like unanswered prayers to our kids, so this was something I was grateful we had talked with them and prayed with them about.  I have also realized what an amazing example of our Savior's atonement this situation is.  What a miracle it all is.

On to the baby shower...
I have never been so excited about a baby shower before!  I was just ecstatic for Julianne!  Samantha and I worked on organizing a shower for her and it turned out wonderfully!
Let's start with the food...

Look at this vegetable tray Samantha made...

Isn't it beautiful?!  Seriously, I was so impressed with her presentation!  And how darling to put the dip inside the peppers!  LOVE it!  

Kathryn mad these delicious mint brownies (a personal fav of mine!)  I love how she does pink frosting, so perfect for the occasion!  And did I mention they are delicious!

I decided to make cake bites since I wanted to make a "pretty" dessert for the event.  I tried a new one this time- coconut.  They were a hit!  So good and so cute, I did some dipped in chocolate and some in vanilla, they looked like little snowballs, I loved it!  I love making cake bites because they really are so easy, they look beautiful and everyone thinks you're fabulous!  You can't go wrong!  I also did some regular chocolate ones with pink drizzle on them, I had to have some pink in there.  

We also had delicious homemade cheeseballs, thanks again to Samantha and also sweet Roberta, and apples with caramel dip that Roberta also made.  We had so many great friends to help make the food, it was all fantastic!  Pretty and delish!  

Onto the decorations...

My sweet friend, Staci, provided us with the darling little banner.  Samantha did these cute little favors for the guest- mini star cookie cutters saying "a star is born" with a cute tag with Sarah's info on it.  So fun and so cute!  And since little Sarah was not going to be making an appearance at the shower (staying home to stay healthy) I put her pictures in frames and had them around the house.  

The Fabulous Guests...

I thought it would be fun to get a picture of everyone that came, this didn't happen, but I did get a few shot of some of our fun party comers!  I have such cute friends and neighbors!  

The guest of honor...

I love this picture of Julianne!  I made her pose for me with all of her gifts. So many sweet friends and neighbors came and brought so many fun and darling gifts for her.  It was fun to hang these cute outfits from my stocking hangers too.

And there you have it!  That's my recap of the big event!  I was so happy to be able to do this for Julianne.  I have just been beyond thrilled for her and her sweet family to bring this precious little girl into their family.  I don't know if it's because I'm in baby mode myself, but I was so emotional during her whole experience.  I kept thinking to myself- what is your problem, it's not your baby!  I was crying half the day on the day of their placement, overwhelmed with emotion thinking of this amazing birth mom handing her baby over to them, something I know I can not begin to imagine.  And also overwhelmed with such joy for Joe and Julianne!  I can't imagine going through either side.  I have thought a lot about how different our trials are from one another.  This has made me even more grateful for the friends who help and support me in my own trials and made me want to be there to help and support my friends even more. Friendship is such a great blessing in my life, I am grateful daily for the strong and beautiful women who are my dearest friends.  I am so thankful we can help each other in our trials and share in each other's joys!