Dance, Dance, Dance

It was the girl ask the guy dance...
Except these three thought they would be working
and weren't exactly sure they wanted to go!
Until the last minute.
So they put some cute dresses on and headed out to have some fun.
Except...
I think they forgot their shoes.
Their Converse are cute though! :)

Blessing Isaac

Sunday was Isaac's special day.
And what a blessing he is!
It was so fun to have everyone here,
and to sit in church and watch the babies get passed around.
I couldn't help but smile at the joy that this family feels
over each baby born.
Kimi was holding Noah...
and I thought how wonderful it is that although she has a child of her own
she takes every opportunity to hold Noah...
Garrett does the same.
I loved watching them pass Isaac and Jared around,
and Gabe just wanted grandma...
He sat with me the whole time.
It was so cute when he saw Jace and Caitlyn come in
and yelled, "Hi Jace, Hi Caitlyn..."
Life couldn't be more wonderful than watching our family grow...
in the end, there is nothing of greater worth,
nothing that truly matters except family!

Our two newest boys!

God made us cousins, because He knew our moms couldn't handle us as brothers!
What fun we are going to have with these two beautiful boys!
What a blessing they are to us!
What joy they have brought to our family!
And I am a little afraid of the trouble they will bring...
Although as grandma, I am okay with that!!!
Love you Jared and Isaac!
We are so lucky to have you!
Jared Matthew!
Isaac Jay!

Babies!

Life just can't get any better than this!!!!!!
Seriously!!!
This was SO fun!!!
Last night the family got together for tacos and babies!
Kimi is here for the weekend because Tiffany and Garrett
blessed Isaac today...
Which meant the cousins were finally ALL meeting!
What fun it was to scoop them all up and love on them.
This picture is simply PRICELESS!!!
It is going to be SO fun watching them grow up together...
Hope they will always be the best of friends!

My sweet Noah... although he always looks kind of stunned when we take his picture!

Simply sweet!

Isaac and Sariah hanging out....

Sweet Jax! And Noah too!!!

Angels watching over us!

Last week I had to bring Thayne home from church early because

his back was hurting too bad to stay.

I took the back road...

And as I went around the first bend

I had the most overwhelming feeling that my grandma C was with me.

I told Thayne that I wondered what was going on in the spirit world that grandma

got to check in on us!

I felt so much peace, and that warm fuzzy feeling that makes you feel good all over.

And them I promptly forgot...

Monday found us in Utah for Thayne's pre-op appointment.

And a fussy Noah.

VERY fussy!

Tuesday was Thayne's surgery.

It went well... But it was complicated.

And Noah cried...constantly!

He was miserable and teething.

Thayne was sick from the anesthesia

And I was exhausted from it all.

And then Kimi called in tears telling me she was headed to the hospital

To find out why she was in so much pain.

And then through her years she told me she needed me.

It almost broke my heart!!!

They thought she would need emergency gallbladder surgery.

I felt sick that I was so far from her!

I went back to the hotel feeling a little overehelmed and sad.

Then I remembered that warm, fuzzy feeling of my grandma.

And it came back... Just as strong!

I knew then why I got to experience that warm, fuzzy feeling.

Heavenly Father knew there would be some challenging moments.

So he sent an angle to let us know that He is there...

That He is aware of us and that we are never alone.

He any His angel to watch over us.

And I am do grateful for the peace.

Bummy is 9

Happy Happy Birthday to my Bummy!!!
I can't believe it has been 9 years...
Such an amazing boy that melts my heart
and makes me grateful everyday that he came to our family.
He is such a sweet, loving boy....
A mama's boy!

I love you sweet boy!
Hope this coming year is absolutely wonderful!
JUST LIKE YOU!!!

Visiting Jared... um, I mean Kimi!!!

This is going to be bad... Bad that Jared lives several hours away from me! What is a grandma to do, but pack a bag and head out for an overnight trip to see him! It's going to be a bad habit I am sure!

I LOVE seeing Kimi as a mommy! She has waited her whole life for this and she is so good at it. She is so patient and you can see how much she loves him, and how much joy she finds in being a mom.

We didn't get to stay very long... just overnight because I had to get home. But I am pretty sure that these quick trips are going to become a habit because it's too hard to have him be so far away from us!

Gabe is TWO!!!!

I can barely believe this little man is 2 years old ALREADY!!! Wow, where did the time go???
I can't believe what a huge blessing he is to our family. Two years ago I became a grandma... and it is better than I ever thought possible!

Yesterday Tiffany asked if Gabe could come and hang out because he was a little bored at home. We told her sure, and told her to bring Isaac over too. They spent the day at our house and it was so fun! When Tiffany came in the house to pick them up, Gabe told her to take off her coat. She told him that she was there to get them so they could get ready for dad to come home. He told her, "No mommy, dad is working!" and wanted her to take her coat off. We finally told her that we would take him home. He was so HAPPY that he got to stay!

I love being his grandma!!! I love watching him grow up! I love that our family is growing and that we get the opportunity to watch our kids have children of their own and realize what an amazing gift they are!

I love you Gabriel!!! Happy Birthday sweet boy... can't wait to see what the next year brings!

Nate got impatient with how slow Gabe was opening his presents so he jumped in to help!
Gabe loves Nate's cars... now he has some of his own!

Two of my favorite girls...

They don't look very happy... the cake was yummy though!

Cait and Noah...

Aunt Kalli loving her nephew!

Just eating up the attention!

We tell Gabe to give us his monkey ears... he has the BEST ears!!!

THIS makes me smile!!!

He is making 'the face' for grandpa!

As if one amazing grandson isn't enough... we got this one too! Love this little man!!!

The long awaited baby shower!!!

Years ago we promised Candice that we would make sure she had a huge baby shower when she had a baby!!!! It is something I could hardly wait for over the years. I still smile every single time I think of them finally being able to adopt sweet Jax. It is amazing how the faces he makes looks just like his dad... my sister said her son saw a picture of him and said, "Wait, I thought you said they adopted the baby!" It's like he was always meant to be Shalum and Candice's baby!!!

So her mom planned a shower and I got to help. Candice has the same bedding for Jax that I have for Noah.... Noah's Ark! I asked my friend Rana is she would make the cake for the shower. A Noah's Ark cake, to match the bedding, and the invitations. I knew she was good, and I was almost as excited about the cake as I was about the shower. It turned out AMAZING!!! The shower was great, it was fun to see so many people come to celebrate this baby! I look at the joy that just beams from Candice and Shalum's faces and I am overwhelmed with happiness for them. Candice radiates absolute JOY! Shalum is the typical proud papa and will tell you all about his boy! Adoption is the greatest, most unselfish gift that is blessing so many livess!

Congratulations Shalum and Candice!!! We are all so happy that Jax is part of the family!!! The Loot!

Kailee stole her 'birthday present'.... Sariah came to the party too!

The food table... with lots of yummy food!

And our other baby... Isaac!

My sweet little girls!

Baby Jax didn't stay for the whole party... he can't afford to get sick so Shalum took him home... he helped Shalum and Jace build book shelves while the girls partied!

So funny... Kailee didn't know that Shalum was standing over her making faces!

Shalum being Shalum.... he was helping set up the tables and then hung around sneaking food until party time!

A different kind of Ark..... :-)

Kami was helping with the pacifier game.... handing out pacifier necklaces and telling everyone not to say BABY!

LOVED this diaper 'Ark"... so cute!!!