Elsie's Blessing and Grandpa and Lollie Come to Visit

Last week I neglected my regular blog post because we were too busy creating incredibly special memories for our family, but I will do my best to recap now.  Two Fridays ago, in the wee hours of the morning, Grandpa and Lollie arrived into town. They came to meet Elsie and to take part in her baby blessing, which was scheduled for Saturday.  They were here just for the weekend and the weather was pretty crummy, but we were still able to squeeze in some fun.  We managed a trip to Dave and Busters, a little park time (when the weather cooperated), Merrick's first baseball game of the season, and a trip to the Tulip Festival.

All that fun though was just the icing on the cake for the real reason Grandpa and Lollie were here, which was to be a part of Elsie's baby blessing.  The blessing was originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but about an hour before the blessing I got a call from my mom that my nephew, Lincoln, had had a medical emergency and we may need to move the blessing.  It turns out that he had been licked in the face by a dog at the park and had a severe allergic reaction.  After some time at the ER and an epi-pen injection he was fine, but we did end up moving the blessing.

On Sunday afternoon we went for take two of Elsie's baby blessing.  Unfortunately, due to the change in time, several of the friends we invited were unable to come, but we still had the family there and that is what is important.  Jeremy blessed Elsie, giving her a name and blessing, with the help of his dad and mine.  There was a really sweet spirit in the room and I will mention two things that stuck out to me.  One, which is something that has been impressed upon Jeremy and I both several times since Elsie was born, was what a special spirit Elsie has and we are so fortunate to have her in our family.  The other was that she was told that her brother and sister would be a big help to her while she was little and one day she would be able to be a help to them as well.  I can't wait to see that blessing unfold.

I am so grateful for our sweet Elsie girl, I am grateful for the extended family who made it a priority to come and be part of her special day, and I am grateful to a husband who honors his priesthood and was able to administer such a special ordinance.  Sometimes my heart is so full it feels like it could explode.

Smile! Your On Candid Camera!

Ok so this is a bit of a cheater post because it isn't exactly about the goings on of our week, rather this post has been several (6 to be exact) weeks in the the making.  This post is about how, ever since Elsie was born, I seem to have a family full of budding photographers.  Every time I turn around someone has my phone taking pictures.  Most often they are pictures of Elsie, but sometimes they are selfies or pictures of other people in the family (usually who don't know that their picture is being taken). 

Last week (or the week before, who can really remember...) at bed time, Carrigan was begging to take selfies with Elsie and I rather than read a bedtime story.  It didn't matter to her that Elsie was crying, she just really wanted a picture of us all together in that moment.  That pictures is included below.  That other thing you may notice in the pictures this week is that while they are heavy on Elsie, they are light on Merrick.  That is because when he has the Camera, Elsie is subject of choice and he is more often behind the camera than in front of it  (he gets that from his mama).  In fact, the vast majority of the pictures of Elsie below were taken by Merrick.

I love this collection of pictures more than I can possibly tell you.  For me they represent real life, my real life and the people that I love more than anything.

Spring Break and Easter 2018

This has been a jam packed week!  We had spring break, which means the kids were off school and if that wasn't enough we ended the week with Becca and Isabel's birthdays, Easter, April Fool's Day, and General Conference.  Oh, and Emily came into town on Thursday night.  To say it was a full week is an understatement.

The name of the game for the first part of the week was keep the kids busy and active.  We spent time at the library, went to the Children's Museum, went to the park with friends and of course played with cousins at Nana and Papa's house.  I guess we were too busy having fun to take many pictures, but I did get a couple of pictures of Carrigan's epic face painting at the museum.

The end of the week was all about family time.  From Friday on we spent pretty much all of our time at Nana and Papa's.  The cousins played endlessly.  We played games, watched movies, and mostly just hung out.

Saturday we started our Easter celebrations.  We started with the city egg hunt.  It is always a short event but it is fun to see friends and the Easter bunny.

After the city hunt, we had a family egg hunt with all the cousins.  We made good use of all of the property at Nana and Papa's and this one lasted a bit longer.  The rest of the day was just spent together.

Today is Easter.  We started the day with a visit from the Easter Bunny.  Afterward we turned our attention to the true meaning of Easter and focused on our Savior by watching General Conference.  We then ended the day with family dinner celebrating not only Easter but all the birthdays.

It has been such a fun week!  Tomorrow it is back to real life.  I guess all good things must come to an end.