A New Baby...

After Eight years we got the blessing of a lifetime.

A positive pregnancy test.

Many years my health was uncertain and Justin and I feared we would not be able to have any more children.

We had hoped and yearned and prayed for another baby but it seemed the Lord's timing was not ours.

I was making pancakes for dinner while waiting for Justin to come home from work.  As I flipped the pancakes, I decided to randomly run upstairs and take a "quick" pregnancy test.

I came back downstairs and plated the pancakes then ran back upstairs to throw the "negative" test away.

 I glanced down and saw TWO lines.  I began to shake.  I was overcome with every emotion you could go through for the next five minutes.

I immediately hit the floor and began to pour out my heart in gratitude.

I knew Justin would be coming through the door at any minute so I quickly got a pair of little baby boy infant shoes and placed it on our bed next to a little sign that said "Coming Soon."

When I heard Justin downstairs I called his name to come here.  I was in the bathroom pretending that everything was totally normal.  He came up and as if a magnet pulled him, he went straight to the new pair of little shoes.

He immediately got emotional.

 It wasn't just me on this trying journey but him as well. I was not the only one who dreamed of a new baby for years but him also.  He was by my side and experienced the same kind of emotional and mental pain.  Two steps forward one (or 500) step(s) backward- he had gone through it right there with me too.  We learned and overcame together and in turn our marriage and bond grew tighter and was strengthened because of many hard things.  It took me years to realize that hard things can actually turn into amazing blessings.

After asking me with tears streaming down his face, "Really?  Is this really?"

I shook my head yes and he then said, "We have to say a prayer!"

It was a day to remember and we couldn't be more thrilled to announce our little miracle due in December.

Happy ONE Year!!

We decided to have a party to celebrate the day we bought our new house last year.  We had all kinds of healthy snacks, balloons, and looked at lots of "before" pictures.

Such amazing memories have already been made within these walls and Papa and Dad have transformed this house into a happy home for our family.

I love the feeling here and hope each member of our family can make contributions to make it better and better each year.

Thursday Helper

One of my highlights each week is Thursday.  I get the opportunity to go and help in Kendall's class those mornings until they go to lunch.

I have gotten to know his teacher and meet all his friends.  I get to see how he interacts in class and best of all, I get to spend a little more time with him while he is away from home.

The Cheetah and the Sloth...

Aunt Martha, Buddy, and Shay meet us over at Stony Creek to go to lunch with Kendall and then to Nathan's play.

We checked Kendall out of class for a bit to come with us to watch Nathan.

We had known that he was the sports announcer in a play but had no idea he was one of the main parts and had all his lines almost completely memorized.

I could not stop chuckling at the fact that he did so good and I had never helped him go over his lines. He preformed his play for several different classes and seemed to have no fear.

The show was a hit...and so was the lunch!

Fooled Ya!

The boys woke up to giant sunny side up eggs this morning and took one bite and realized it was a delicious peach on top of some vanilla Greek yogurt. 


I had one more trick up my sleeve when they opened their lunches... Bahahaha!


When I picked the boys up from school they quickly emptied out their pockets to show me that they had saved all the eyeballs!  Silly kids, silly day!

Mammy and the Monsters

The monsters always come out on Sundays, at Mammy's.

Double Whammy!

 This weekend two of the best things fell on the same day... Easter and General Conference.

Todd, Martha, Buddy, and Shay came down to spent the night on Friday.  As soon as I picked up the boys from school they started getting ready for packed couple of days.

We all meet at Mammy and Papa's, ate some dinner (a pot luck of all sorts... pizza, chicken drumsticks, hamburgers, sweet potatoes, salad, and whatever else we found to eat) hung out, colored Easter eggs, dressed up, and ended up watching a British movie based on a true story.

The boys spent the night together on the living room floor at Mammy's and we reunited the next day for the first session of conference.  So good!

A bit after it had ended the door bell rang and 4 FUN Easter baskets were waiting on the front porch!  The boys got a matching shirt and shorts (their favorite is to match right now!), flip flops, a book, and some yummy colored Easter eggs filled with chocolates.

Then they noticed eggs were hidden all over the backyard!

They changed into their clothes and off they ran with Buddy to find some eggs! Chocolate, popcorn, and money filled the eggs!

We ate egg salad sandwiches,chips, fruit and veggies for dinner and watched the next session of conference.  I will have to re-watch most of this session.  I fell asleep, Justin had to go to a meeting, and we were keeping kids busy.

After Dinner the boys and I ran to a baptism for Berit Bergstrom.  It was great and I love the spirit that always accompanies a baptism.

Martha was in charge of dinner after conference and she made a delicious pork roast, potatoes and gravy, salad, and the most delicious coconut cake for dessert.  Yum!

We ran to TJ Maxx Home goods and Trader Joes while the guys watched priesthood session. I stocked up on some creamed honey and applesauce.

That night we said goodbye to Todd's crew and woke up the next morning to sleeping in.  Finally, after we all rolled out of bed we ate some poached eggs and toast and got the conference board ready for Sunday morning session of conference.

This was by far my most favorite session.  The boys listened really good and Justin and I got choked up several times.  Such amazing talks! I love how a simple thing like watching conference can be so bonding for a family.

We ate lunch and went for a walk to the school by our house.  We tossed around the football and enjoyed the spring blossoms and beautiful weather.

Mammy and Papa joined us for the final session of conference and after mom and I went for a walk.  The day was too pretty to keep indoors.

Felt really grateful to live in such a beautiful world, to have just listened to a prophet on the earth, and for an amazing family.

Nathan is TEN!!

Nathan woke up to the traditional colorful birthday streamers hanging down the door way welcoming the newest TEN year old to our family!

Downstairs his gifts awaited.  He got DOUBLE his favorites since he was now in the double digits!

For breakfast he and Kendall got to eat some yummy fruit loops- a rarity at our house.

It's so fun to give Nathan a gift because he makes you think is is the most amazing thing in the world! 

 He got a new scripture case, a volleyball net, and a new volleyball.

Kendall gave him some money, a pencil, a spider man bookmark, and some adorable letters.  They said:

"Dear Nathan,

I can't wait for you to get your drivers license so you can take me to the store and get some yummy treats!

Dear Nathan,

I can't wait to go to fun city.  I can't wait to see the look on your face when we do laser tag.  It will be so fun!

I think Kendall must have known that we were going to take Nathan to Fun City and let he and Kendall get a fun pass.  Turns out it was so fun that Justin got one too!

Mammy and I joined the boys for a game of laser tag and then watched them have a blast!

We spent the rest of the day playing some volleyball, checking out the baby chicks at Murdoch's, and eating Homemade Oreo blizzards with gummy worms to celebrate Nathan!

Spring Break with the palmers

One day during the week, I got the best phone call while the boys were at school.  It was my cousin Kami.

After talking and finding out our kids had the same spring break we concocted a plan for her family to come up and visit.

The timing was perfect!

We made foil dinners in the fire pit and Aunt Martha worked her magic and made some delicious cakes.  The kids (Ellie the mastermind) put on a show about worms, we played games in the backyard, went for walks, hiked Red Rocks, had a talent show, got a babysitter and had an adult dinner and date night at Park Meadows, went to chick-fil-a and Cebelas, swam at the Apex center, and even had time to tour the Denver Mint and walk around a little downtown.

It is always fun to have late night talks with Kami and Jonathon.  I always know that we are going to spend plenty of time laughing which, of course , is my FAVORITE thing to do.

We loved getting to see the Palmer kids and I love that my boys are getting to know them.

Come back, anytime!!

Sunny Sunday Afternoon

 I had some old buns, but not moldy, in the cupboard.

  It was a beautiful day.

A perfect combination for feeding the ducks at the pond pier.

When we got home from church we all got dressed and waited for dad to get home.  He had more meetings to go to so he couldn't get his swimsuit and stripped socks on but was more than willing to come and enjoy some sunshine with the fam.

The ducks gobbled up the bread and we got some vitamin D.