Sunday Best

I'm not sure why, but each time I dress Reagan and Cole up for Church on Sunday, I feel like I need to take a picture of them. Is it because they are fresh and clean and haven't had a chance to spill on their clothes? Is it because they are my own personal dress up dolls? Is it because I just love them to pieces? YES YES and YES!!!! Whatever those (and other) reasons, I gotta do it. I adore them and feel the need to document.... and share.... each precious stage.

Here's last Sunday:

Happy Easter!

Believe it or not, we were lucky enough to be visited by the Easter Bunny!! He (and Mom and Dad) brought stuffed animals, candies, books, clothes, toys and all sorts of fun. We had a great time getting up and rummaging through our baskets. Then, we needed some sugar, then some more playing, then more sugar. By the time we rolled into church at 11, we were fully hyped up and totally unable to be reverent. That's ok, I'm pretty sure the entire Primary was in the same boat.

Our Primary Children sang two songs during Sacrament Meeting and it may be the first time I have seen Reagan and Cole sing in Sacrament and actually be able to see their faces. When I was in the Primary presidency, I would usually have to be on the stand singing with the children or wrangling one of the Primary kids to keep them under control. It was so nice to sit and watch Reagan and Cole (and the rest of the Primary) sing about Jesus. I was in tears!

Our friend, Stacey, was kind enough to snap a pic of our family after church. Then, we ran home to get ready for dinner with Rachel and Kevin and their family.

I'm so grateful for the Easter Holiday and for the ability to stop and focus on the life and mission of our Savior. It really is everything!

I'm also grateful that I have the freedom to celebrate Easter (and whatever other holiday I choose) and that we were able to attend church today with our friends and neighbors and to share our feelings and spirit with them.

Finally, I'm so grateful for our little family (and for our big families). Reagan, Cole and Steve mean the world to me and I feel so blessed to be theirs.

We have been able to see many of our family members in the last week or so and that is always fun. I'm glad that Steve's girls are "local", even if they are so busy that we can't quite all get together. I'm glad that we have such a good relationship with each of them and that we can look forward to seeing them, playing with them and just being together.

Family Easter Party

Apparently Megan and Drew (Steve's brother Brett's kids) decided that they HAD to have some cousins over for an Easter party. We were lucky enough to be invited and we had a blast! We've been with them many times.. in fact, Cole calls their cousins our "other" cousins. Well, I guess they are... sort of.

True to form, Annie had all kinds of crafts for the kids to do, cookies to decorate, games to play and eggs to hunt for. I'm not sure if being a former teacher made her that way or if she became a teacher because she was that way, but we sure love her! The kids had sack races (which Cole opted out of) and a egg in the spoon race along with a "hide the jelly bean" sort of game that Brett swore the kids wouldn't get, but they did... and they loved it!

We always have fun with Brett and Annie. Thanks for the invite guys .... next time, our place!

PS - No post about Brett and Annie would be complete without a pic of Brett - this is his "standard" pose.... Seriously! Someday, I'll have to devote an entire post, complete with a collage, of Brett pics - all in this pose :)

Stake Women's Conference

We have a new Stake Relief Society Presidency and one of the members is Cheryl, who served with me in the Primary Presidency. We love Cheryl. She sits with us every week at church, works at Tai Pan Trading, is super talented, and is a great friend.

Well, she is also good friends with Marie Osmond, so.... she hooked us up! She invited Marie to speak at our Stake Women's Conference. We knew it was big, so, I invited my MIL, Nancy, my stepdaughter, Rachel, and my friend Jennifer (who brought her cousin). It was a great meeting! Marie spoke for an hour and a half and it was uplifting, humorous, tender and very entertaining. We had overflow seating (with video of the chapel) in the Relief Society Room and in the Primary Room. Unfortunately, Marie had to leave right after speaking (she performed her show in Vegas the night before and had to head back to perform that night), otherwise we would have taken some great celebrity pics. But, even without pics, it was a great occasion. I love each of the women I invited so very much and I was honored to be sitting next to them as we listened to Marie talk about friendship, family, challenges, sisterhood and our Savior. Thanks Ladies - I love you tons!!!!

Just a side note - With Cheryl in charge - and my friend Stacey (who also works at Tai Pan, was in the Primary Presidency with us and now rents Cheryl's basement) also helping, you know it had to be a beautiful event. Cheryl wanted it to look spring -y, but with rain and snow everywhere, it wasn't encouraging. So, she made it spring! Yep - a bunch of us got together to decorate the week of the event and we ripped pink tissue paper into little bits and glue gunned it to tree branches from Cheryl's yard. Then, they were placed into vases with more pink "blossoms" scattered all around. The cultural hall had six food tables with salads, fruit and rolls and then were "attached" to a center dessert table with ribbons and flowers. It was sort of a Maypole effect. My pics don't do it justice.... it was so pretty. Cheryl did a great job and we are so glad to have been able to help in some small way.

Easter Party for Friends

One of Reagan's friends from school hosted an Easter Party. Luckily, Cole was invited as well. They had a great time playing, running around and hunting for eggs. I had to laugh at Cole being surrounded by a bunch of 4 year old girls. He jumped right in and held his own.

It wasn't an incredibly sunny day (have we even had any of those??), but it was warm enough to have the egg hunt outside. Here are some pics:

Easter Pics

Happy Easter from Reagan and Cole!!!!

We've only ever done Halloween pics at Target, but I thought an Easter sitting might get us through between sittings at our favorite English Photo. Some are good - some... not so much, but you've got to document these little ones at every precious stage :)

Click here to see a slide show of Reagan and Cole's pics:

https://viewimages.targetportraits.com/sharealbum/sharealbumlist?rndId=AgYBCAU=&uId=AAICCAZOWg==

Hello ... Hello

I was helping Cole with something and he said, "Mom... I learned this in Primary" and he proceeded to sing part of the Hello song. I just HAD to get the camera and have him tell me again. He was so excited to say the song. (I think he's even using jazz hands.)

How fun to be a Sunbeam!!!! Everything in Primary is new, fun and super exciting... even saying "Hello".

A Kiss

There is a family in our ward with a little boy just a few months older than Reagan. He was born with a rare genetic disorder that prohibited him from walking, talking or doing many normal things. Since he and Reagan were a year old, they have been "friends". The mother and I would have our babies in Relief Society when they were little. Then, when Brady and Reagan were 18 months, they both attended Nursery. As Brady's parents couldn't leave him with others in the ward, they were called to be the Nursery leaders and both Reagan and Cole were in their class.

Brady gave Reagan and Cole an opportunity to care about and learn about someone very ill. (I don't remember the name of Brady's disease, but no one with that disease has lived past the age of 6.) Reagan would come out of Nursery and tell me about how cool it was that Brady could eat through a tube into his tummy. As Brady became more ill, his parents would not bring him to church, but each time Reagan would see them, she would run over to him and ask how he was feeling. As a member of the Primary Presidency, we tried to include Brady as much as we could and he and his family were a central part of our Sacrament Meeting program two years ago when the theme was Eternal Families.

Well, last week, Brady passed away and our whole ward mourned with his family. It was especially hard for me to tell Reagan and Cole about it, but I tried to focus on the fact that he could now run and play and talk and that he was with Heavenly Father and Jesus. As the funeral was during Reagan's preschool time, I asked her which she wanted to attend. She wanted to attend both. So, Steve, Cole and I attended the viewing and the beginning of the funeral. Then, I left during the funeral to pick up Reagan a few streets away and returned, with her, for the remainder of the service.

At the end of the funeral, Reagan was insistent that she wanted to see Brady. She kept asking that we hold her up so she could see and she wanted to see him... really see him. I told her that she couldn't, that they had already done that part of the funeral and that now we would just think of him. She wanted to give his parents a love and again asked them if she could see Brady. They were so sweet as they hugged her and thanked her for her concern. When we were back in the car and driving home, Reagan was in tears. She said "Mom - I wanted to see Brady because I thought if I could give him a kiss, that I could make him wake up." I just bawled. Some may say that we've watched Snow White a few too many times, but I love that Reagan was just trying to do whatever she could to help. She did the only thing she knew to do in this situation - she was willing to pucker up. It is funny and yet, to me, so very sweet that she was going to fix everything.

We'll miss little Brady and will remember him fondly along with the notion of what might have been .... with a kiss :)

Reagan's First Talk .... The Update

Well, I'm happy to report that Reagan did GREAT when saying her first talk in Primary!!!!

We practiced and practiced and it really paid off. I sat up front with her and handed her the pictures of Noah, Nephi and Lehi, Joseph Smith and President Monson and she just rolled through the talk without any problems. I only had to remind her of her words a couple of times and she wasn't scared or nervous or anything. She sat up there, smiled and delivered her talk like a pro.

Way to go Reagan - your hard work paid off and you did an awesome job!!!! Daddy and I are SO proud of you and we love you so very much!!!