Lily

This is an unusual moment with her shoes and brace off. She wears that thing all day long and only gets to take it off for bath time. I thought I would post this to show how great her feet look. They are nice and flat and positioned very well. She gets to stop wearing the brace all day at the end of the month. We are looking forward to it, although we have really gotten used to dealing with it.


Lily has finally started trying some baby food. She loves it all so far. She is sitting in her little bumbo chair up to the table here. I just love how only her nose and up are showing. Such a cutie.


Always hanging out with her brother and sisters close by for entertainment and fun. That boppy pillow has turned out to be a great tool for physical therapy and just for a comfortable way to elevate her head a little.


This Bumbo chair is going to be her good friend for a while, I think. It really supports her upper body very well, so that she can sit upright and enjoy that position for quite a while. Hopefully when she is older she will be strong enough to sit up on her own with her hands as help to prop her up.

Dr. visits have finally slowed down and we are just enjoying our little girl. She is a happy, patient, sweet soul.

Happy 4th of July!

The kids participated in a kids parade as part of our 4th of July celebration. They were so thrilled to be in a real parade and had a good time. Joel was probably the only Hawaii representation in his red white and blue aloha wear. But I guess he had to represent. =)

Eryn Graduates and turns 5!

Eryn is 5 years old! She had such a happy birthday. We did a puppy party (because she has been obsessed for over a year now with dogs and dalmations). She insisted on having a dalmation cake and dog pinata. The party got rained out, so we did it all in-doors. But she really enjoyed herself. Only I felt a little extra stress with so many kids inside and watching a pinata get knocked around in my basement.

Eryn adds so much to our family. She has a very giving, sweet nature and is such a joy to us.



Eryn successfully finished her little preschool at the end of May. This preschool was such a blessing to Eryn and to our family. In Hawaii we talked about putting her into a preschool, but I was not comfortable with it being every day and the price was soooo high! There really weren't a lot of good choices. So when we moved here we were thrilled to have so many options in price, level of schooling and days and times. She just went two days a week for two hours. It was just enough for her to get a little experience and confidence as well as socialization. Kindergarten is only half day here, so it was a great prep for the next step which will be 3 hours five days a week.

Lily's Doing Well

Lily got her last set of casts removed about three weeks ago. We decided to really sign them up, since we didn't on her other casts. She looks funny in this picture because she was half crying. Anyway, I wanted to do a little dance when her last casts came off in celebration. Dr. says her feet look great.
Now Lily is on to the phase where she wears a brace attached to special shoes. The brace and shoes keep her feet in a good position and hopefully her feet will not be tempted to turn back into their original club foot position. She gets to wear this contraption for three months all day long and then will only need to wear it at nap and bedtime until she is three. I can't believe I am actually getting used to it, but I am. The shoes had quite the dramatic start, though. She immediately got sores and blisters on her feet because they did not fit right. Then her feet swelled up really bad. I was very upset about it and felt semi-responsible for not asking more questions when I thought they didn't fit properly. Anyway, luckily it all worked out over a period of about two weeks once we got the new shoes. Otherwise she is growing really well and enjoying life.

Mother's Day

I had a very nice Mother's Day. Joel and Andy bought Emily and me leis (straight from Hawaii) to wear to church. It was a very nice surprise and we both loved it. We would have given one to our mom, but she can't take the smell because of allergies. Anyway, I loved the opportunity to go to Anna's class for Mom's and Muffins just before Mother's Day as well. She and I rarely get to have one on one time. So it was a great little chunk of time for both of us to just be together.

Motherhood is a unique and special role. I love my mom and have a great deal of respect for her for all that she did for me and my siblings. She was a great role model in so many ways and I hope to be as good a mom as she was (and is). Motherhood has been a great spiritual education for me. I am learning so much about the gospel and myself on a very deep level. I love each of my children very much and find a great deal of Joy in watching them learn and grow. Being a mom is hard in so many ways. But I truly do not want to be doing anything else.

Lily's Room

Before . . .

Joel and Andy working on the room.


After. Isn't it beautiful? I wish I could say that I did any of the work, but Joel, Andy, Emily and my dad did it all.

Our New House

We have been in our house for about a month now and we are loving it! We never thought we would ever live in something so spacious and beautiful. It is a rambler with a basement. The main level has three bedrooms a small living room, a bathroom, and a great room (kitchen/dining/family room). The basement has a large family room area with a kitchenette, three bedrooms and a bathroom. The backyard is nice and wide with lots of trees and play equipment in the corner which the kids love. We are finally starting to feel settled now that furniture is in place and two major projects are done (finishing Joel's office and fixing Lily's room). This picture was taken the day we moved in, but now the sun is shining, the grass is green and there are leaves on the trees. Coming from the small two bedroom, one bathroom apartment we lived in in Hawaii, we feel totally blessed.

Going Back in Time

Our little Joseph turned two on St. Patrick's Day. Even though it is long past, I wanted to post pictures anyway. He brings us so much joy and laughter. We just love having him in our family. Joseph is a very tender-hearted boy. He forgives quickly, shares well, LOVES his dad like crazy, wants to push every button in his reach, loves any kind of computer or electronic device, loves music, obsesses about his pascifiers and talks up a storm. One of the cutest things he says is "Lily-la-lou". This is his little nick name for Lily. We love you Joseph and Happy belated Birthday!

Easter 2009

A little late, but here are a few Easter photos. Our family Easter tradition is to search for Easter baskets (hidden by the Easter Bunny). The kids really enjoy finding where their baskets are hidden and then laughing about how funny the hiding spot was. Anna found hers in her backpack this year and Eryn's was up on a ledge in the shower. Joseph didn't get the whole searching business, but maybe next year he'll be more into it. He sure loved the candy, though. =)

A Wicked Weekend

My sisters all came together here in Utah for a girls' weekend just before Easter. It was so nice to be all together and without kids distracting us (not that we don't love our kids). The main event was to attend the musical Wicked. I loved the whole experience and even got teary-eyed at a few parts. What great music and creative story-telling! Attending the temple was also very special. It is not very often we all get to be together in such a quiet, beautiful place. I was especially emotional since I hadn't been to the temple since before Lily was born. I love my sisters. They are not just my sisters, they are my friends! (Mike we missed you).