April

There was a partial eclipse and Brett was able to catch this photo from the school lunch room. 

 We had so much fun celebrating Lizzie's 8th birthday! She has grown and worked so hard this past year on so many things. She has worked on fighting her anxiety, she took gymnastics classes, she has taken speech class in school to help with her r's and l's and she has worked really hard on her handwriting. She is sunshine and joy and we are so so glad she is in our family! This birthday was particualarly meaningful as she was preparing for her baptism. Lizzie has taken this so seriously and has been amazing at reading scriptures and understanding gospel principals. She explains things in such a beautiful way! 

Lizzie wanted to go to airbourne for her birthday party and I convinced her to have a cake decorating party here at home. The night before as I was trying to make all the cakes, they would not work! I ended up making cupcakes and it was still lots of fun! She invited a few friends from school and the Ellis kids to celebrate with us 

She wanted fox decorations and to play pin the tail on the fox. 

We had her friends over Friday night for a party and then on Saturday she got to open her presents from us before we watched General Conference. Conference is a pretty big deal here with all the candy and crafts. I think she enjoyed the day! 

On Sunday after the final session of conference we had family over for cake to celebrate Lizzie a little more. 

She got Princess Peach Showtime for the switch and has really loved playing that! 

Mom P came to watch the Saturday evening session with us and Oreo thought she came just for him. 

This was one of my favorite photos from conference. President Holland gave a beautiful message about prayer. And talked about how he had been so so sick and that his life had been spared so that he could continue to testify of Christ. I am so grateful for our leaders! They are old and should be in the relaxing phase of life, but they are serving with all their effort!! All the talks were amazing and we all felt a renewed desire to go to the temple more and learn more about our covenants! 

Lizzie loved being the center of attention and getting to celebrate with cousins. 

Sean and I took Lizzie up to Draper temple to get her baptism pictures! She looked beautiful and and we had so much fun together.

Brett participated in a fun Lego Robotics club each week after school. He made all kinds of cool things! This was his robot that battles with other robots. 

Lizzie's baptism was super sweet and the spirit was strong. She asked Mimi to say the opening prayer and then Lexi gave a talk on baptism. Sean baptized Lizzie with Brett and Alana as witnesses. I gave a brief talk on covenants and then Lizzie was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Sean gave Lizzie a beautiful blessing as she was confirmed and blessed her with three things: the tongue of angels-that she would understand and speak with angels, that she would be a beacon of happiness, and that she would recognize and be a part of miracles and save many lives. She was welcomed by the primary and the Bishopric member and then we had a closing prayer by Grandpa and came back to our house for some muffins and sandwiches. 

Lizzie was baptized on the same day as our friend Everly. We got a picture of them together in their baptism dresses. 

Brett went to a star gazing party with Eli and Kari. They stayed out super late, got eaten by lots of bugs, and saw some amazing stars. 

Here is a picture of the robot wars Brett and his friends did. Brett won the first round and got second in the next. 

I love when they take pictures in their games! The girls never cease to amaze me with their fun and clever games!

As we have been making our way through the Book of Mormon, Sean decided to help explain some of the logistics of people moving around in the book of Mosiah with stuffed animals. Bear became Kind Bearjamin.

The sandbox got some new sand and is as popular as ever!

Here's King Bearjamin giving his address to all the people who have pitched their tents around his tower. 

Lizzie went to a birthday party where they painted faces!

She has loved having her own scriptures from her baptism and she loves to highlight things she likes. She highlights almost everything! 

Brett and I went to the temple to do baptisms one morning before school! It was a neat experience and I even did some names myself! 

Trish hosted a bridal shower where we learned to arrange flowers. I made two arrangements and gave one to my mom and one to Mom P. 

Blowing bubbles and roasting smores at Grandma and Grandpa's is a great way to start summer!

Crazy hair day at school! Bear usually waits in the kitchen for Lizzie to come home from school. 

Alana participated in Battle of the Books at school. Her team was in the finals and they won! They were so proud of themselves and one of the moms took them all to Fat Cats to celebrate that weekend. 

We attended the Taylorsville Temple open house. It was so beautiful and fun to see a temple in a part of town I remember from living in West Valley. 

I ran into my dear friend Mikey from Albuquerque! What a wonderful place to run into an old friend! 

We took some fun pictures at the bridal shower =)

So many flowers!