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).

We Bought A House!

We became official homeowners for the first time ever this week. We feel very blessed to have bought a house that is only two blocks away from my sister. It also keeps us at the same elem. school for our kids and the same ward. I will have to post pictures soon. It's nothing fancy. But it's quite spacious and has room for visitors. =)

Playing Catch-Up

Life has been pretty busy lately. Joel had a visit to the ER a few weeks ago and we found out he had pneumonia and the super flu. That was exciting. So he was down recovering for a week while I was trying not to have a break-down. I was pretty stressed out about handling everything without his help and trying not to get sick myself. As a great blessing to me, the Relief Society jumped in and brought us meals all week. We had more food than we knew what to do with, but it was very helpful to us. Thank goodness, Joel is healthy again and my mental health is in tact (I think).=)

Anna and her cousin Gabe performed recently in a patriotic program at school. Anna was talking about this and practicing for it for weeks. She was very excited. Two of my favorite songs performed were "We're Coming to America" (It cracked me up to hear them sing this one, "Far. . . we've been traveling far. . . without a home. . ." too cute) and "What's More American".

This picture is priceless. Grandma Ruth came for a visit!! She and Lily met for the first time and of course, Lily was charmed. Ruth is very good with babies and got her to smile quite a bit while she was here. I am so grateful for her visit. It was great to spend time with her and very helpful to have her support with the kids while Joel was traveling for work.

Lily is doing very well with her casting. The Dr. has been changing her casts weekly and adjusting the foot position each time. The left foot was a little bit more stiff than the right. But so far, it looks like she will not need any feet surgery at all. I am glad that everything has gone well. But we still have a ways to go with about three weeks worth of casts and a few months of wearing the shoes with the bar.

Flat Stanley Visits Utah

Anna's 1st grade teacher in Hawaii has been very sweet to keep in touch with her. Recently we got a request to take some pictures of her friend Flat Stanley and send them back for the class to see. The class is reading the book and each student has sent their version of Stanley to relatives or friends in hopes to receive pictures of his adventures. We had a lot of fun taking the pictures. If you are wondering about the bear and rhinocerous, we took those at the Bean Museum at BYU. =)