Mission Call!

Jeremy's parents have had their papers in for a month now.  They have been anticipating this coming in the mail for a long time.  It was expected earlier in the week, but finally came in the mail this Saturday.  So we all met up at their house to watch them open the call.

They are going to the Georgia Atlanta Mission and report the the Provo MTC on May 6.  We are so proud of their decision to put their personal lives on hold while they dedicate 18 months strictly to the Lord.
Finding out where they are going:

 Reading all about what will take place:

A picture of their mission president:

Thanks John and Sharon for the wonderful examples that you are to not only your children, but your grandchildren as well.

Memorial Day (and other random happenings)

We had such a fun Memorial Day.  We got to spend the majority of the day with just our little family, which is pretty rare.  We all hung out in the basement and got to just be ourselves.  Clara got to be a rock star and play with her legos.

That night we got to celebrate Jeremy's brother's birthday.  On the way to the party, Clara asked how old Uncle Michael was.  When I told her, she figured out how old he was the day before.  I was so proud of her because that's not an easy feat for someone who hasn't started kindergarten yet. 

We decided to have scripture study and prayer in Clara's room one night and she insisted that Joseph lay on the bed next to her.  I thought they were being so cute with each other.

I've started to babysit a lot.  I have two girls (ages 4 and 3) every day and then a little boy (3 years old) up to 3 days a week.  On a day I had all three extra kids, I over heard Clara reading to them and had to get a picture of the precious moment.

Clara has been very hesitant to read books because she is so afraid of getting the words wrong.  But she found this baby book that has the words next to a picture of what it is.  She has gotten so good at sounding out words because she can look at the picture and know what the word says!

Birthdays

January is a busy month for us as far as extended family birthdays go.  This week was one of several birthday parties we've had this month.  We were so sick for the first two, and are excited to get to attend one tonight.  But here are pictures of the first one we've all been well enough to attend!  So Happy Birthday to my two nephews: Jed and Hyrum!

We were also able to visit with some old friends that we haven't seen for almost a  year. She was at the end of her pregnancy and we were at the beginning of ours the last time we got together.  We had so much fun seeing them again.  And our little boys loved each other.  It was sure cute to watch.

Joseph has been getting good at grabbing things.  He's also gotten to where the loves his cereal he gets to eat every night.  Last night he was so quick at grabbing the spoon, it was hard to keep him clean.  When the cereal was gone I let him hold the spoon, and he was oh so happy.

While at my sister's for the birthday party, Jed (who turned 7) couldn't get enough of little Joe.  I love how gentle Jed is with babies.  It's so cute.

And last, but not least, a picture of me and my kiddos hanging out in the morning.

Do you think little Joseph is loved?  I sure do!

Les Miserables

Jeremy and I got to use a Christmas gift card to go see Les Mis.  We were so excited to go.  It's something we've been waiting a long time for - ever since we knew it was coming.  I forget how nice it is to just hang out with my husband.  We definitely need to hang out with each other more often!

Whenever Clara eats a tortilla, she turns it into a face.  She usually doesn't get it to match her own face quite so well.  So Jeremy had to take a picture during dinner the other night when Clara looked like this:

New Years and Milestones

I've been sick all week, so the pictures are a little lacking.  I did stay up until Midnight with Jeremy and Clara.  We had planned to bring in the New Year with extended family, but I got so sick that we just stayed home.  Clara even stayed up until Midnight without too many meltdowns!  But she got a nice long nap in the next day, which was wonderful for everyone.

Joseph turned 6 months old this week too.  I can't believe how quickly those first 6 months went.  He no longer just sits on my lap.  He has to touch anything that I have in my hands.  He is sitting by himself, although he's still a little bit wobbly.  He downs his baby cereal every night before bed, and often cries between bites because I can't feed him fast enough.  He talks to himself all the time, and I love having him in my home!

I love  how much my two children love each other.  Whenever Clara walks into the room, Joseph giggles.  Whenever Clara thinks she is doing something cool, she insists that Joseph watches.  It makes me so happy.

I also love how much Clara has started picking up on reading.  She reads all the words she knows every night for our family scripture study.  She also teaches her stuffed animals to read.

P.S.  I've decided to take a break from my picture a day blog.  I kept running into the problem where I have too many pictures on picasa (apparently where all the pictures go when you upload them to your blog.)  I either have to pay a monthly fee for more storage, or quit posting so many pictures.  So until I get that figured out, I'll just post on this blog.....