Monday, December 17, 2012

The Nutcracker

Emmy started taking ballet this year and has loved every minute. It is so heart warming to watch her dance with a wonderful smile on her face. 

The company she dances with put on a performance of the Nutcracker. Her class was not in the Nutcracker, but she and I got all dolled up an went to watch. However, it did take us a long time to come up with an outfit that both she and I could agree on.  

We got there early to make sure we were able to have a good seat for Emmy to see the stage well. After we found our seats, we went to the front where I let Emmy pick out a Nutcracker.  She was so excited. She picked out a Nutcracker King as we call him. 

Emmy was enthralled with the performance. For the most part she sat quietly and watched the show. Sometimes she would ask me questions and sometimes she would hold her nutcracker close. 

Emmy said her favorite dance was that of the Snow King and Queen.  The snowflake dance was one of my favorites.
After the performance, we went out to McDonald's (her choice) where she had a happy meal, hot chocolate and ice cream. Emmy was tired and fell asleep before we even made it half way home.  It was a wonderful night. 

I LOVE spending some quality time with just my Emmy girl. I love hearing her thoughts about things and I just enjoy being with her.  She is my beautiful, smart, baby girl who I love so much!

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Hyrum's Baptism

Hyrum turned eight earlier this year.  For us, that is a big year in a child's life, it is the year that they choose whether or not to be baptized. Brandon and I tried our best to prepare Hyrum through out his life to make sure he had enough information to make this important life decision.  During Hyrum's interview with the bishop to be baptized we were nervous.  It was as if I was taking my final exam as a parent to see if I fulfilled my role as Hyrum's mother. 

On December 1st, our oldest son, Hryum, was baptized by his father.  He was washed clean and became a new member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  His two grandfathers served as witnesses as Hyrum made this sacred step in his life.  Later, Hyrum was confirmed by his father and received the gift of the Holy Ghost.  There was such a sweet and tender spirit there that night which touched my heart.  It reminded me of the overwhelming, tender and loving spirit that I felt following Hyrum's birth. I know that he is a chosen and loved son of our Heavenly Father.



The program that night was wonderful. Hyrum, Ben and Emmy sang the opening song of When I am Baptized.  My mother gave a nice talk on the importance of Baptism. 

 We were so fortunate and blessed to have many family and friends there to support Hyrum on his special day and I know that there were many who wished that they could have been there. 

Hyrum's friend Rebecca was also baptized that night.

Hyrum had to be baptized twice. Brandon, in his excitement, had his hands reversed while performing the baptism. 

Following the baptism and the confirmation of the Holy Ghost, we invited everyone to our house for some light refreshments.  I put up pictures around of Hyrum through out his life.



Once again, we are grateful for the people who support Hyrum in his choice to be baptized.  As parents, Brandon and I are so proud of our son and love him so much.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Thanksgiving 2012

We were in Utah with my family for Thanksgiving this year.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. 
To start the day off, Hyrum and Brandon went and played football with the guys in the morning. Hyrum thought that he was pretty awesome going with the guys and from what I heard, he made some good plays.
After the boys came home, we all got cleaned up to go to Thanksgiving dinner. 


This year, my grandparents held Thanksgiving at a church close by their house. Simply put, my family is just too big to fit in Grandma's house. There were many people at the church for Thanksgiving, just the way I like it.  It has been five years since we had a Thanksgiving with that side of the family. I have missed it. 





The food was fantastic, like always. The desserts were incredible.  

Ben arranged and swapped plates and cups so he could end up with all yellow.
 Emmy loved being with the big girls. 

There were fun games for the kids to play. 

After everything was cleaned up and put away, we played a fun game of jump rope that we played all the time growing up.  Even my kids got in on the action and were met with big cheers from everyone when they jumped. My cousin Brandon was the best to watch since he would get so excited just to run through.

After jump rope, we headed to my grandpa and grandma's for games. Lucy thought grandma's stairs were awesome.  It was her favorite place to hang.

It was such an amazing day and I truly enjoyed spending it with my wonderful family.