Happy Birthday Kate!

Our little Katie Bug is three years old today! It's hard to believe that just three short years ago we moved to Henderson, were blessed with a beautiful little Kater Tots and have enjoyed her smart spunky personality ever since. It's been wonderful! She is a constant delight and every member of our family adores her and giggles at her every whim. She brightens our hearts every day and was brought into the world when we needed her most. Parker says that she is the boss of our family and we all agree, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

It doesn't matter who's birthday it is.... Kate ends up blowing out the candles at least two dozen times before the night is over. Since today is her special day, she got to blow out the candles 34 times! We would have gone a few more rounds, but she was ready to play with the princess hearts on the cake. She made us sing to her all 34 times and the song got shorter and faster as the night progressed, but we all enjoyed serving her and seeing her grin after every blown out candle.

Kate's favorite place to play is at McDonald's. We ate dinner there followed by the kids playing in the playland for hours. It was the perfect day for her. We love you Kate. Happy Birthday!

Grace's Baptism

This girl is straight from heaven! She has been so excited to be baptized and I beam with pride at her little testimony. It was so fun having my daughter get baptized. I got to wait for her just outside of the baptismal font and held her hand up the stairs and into the changing room. Being behind the scenes was very special. It felt like a privilege to be the first one to see and speak with Grace after she came out of the water. She was shivering wet, but grinning from head to toe. I asked her what it felt like and she said, "When I went under the water it felt like heaven. All warm and beautiful. I expected to see Jesus and Heavenly Father. I wanted to tell them, hello. Then I came out of the water and it was done." She continued to shiver and grin the whole time in the changing room. I've never seen her happier.

Here's a photo of the whole family after Grace's confirmation. She's still grinning!

Grace asked Papa Tim to baptize her. He was a little nervous because he had to perform Parker's baptism twice. This time he nailed it on the first try for his girl. Grace loves her Papa Tim.

Days like these remind us of what life is really about. Grace taught us to put away all of our worldly worries and focus on the little bit heaven Grace has brought to our family. Thank you for sharing your testimony with us today Grace. We love you!

Happy 8th Birthday, Grace!

Grace is eight years old today! What a wonderful eight years it has been. Since the moment we laid eyes on Grace, we knew she was a special package sent straight from heaven. What a privilege it has been to have her sweet spirit in our home. Grandma Kathleen gave Grace the little china doll nickname because she was the most perfectly adorable baby we have ever seen. Happy Birthday, Grace!

Grace chose to have a party at home with her siblings. She planned out the whole day from what to eat for breakfast to party favors to the flavor of cake. But, first she wanted to have everyone create their own party hats. They turned out great and Parker even got to make a boy hat!

She was a bit spoiled this year. What's new? She is an excellent artist and crafter so she got a craft bag organizer that she can fit all of her art supplies in. But, her favorite gift is the two baby turtles she is holding in her hands. She named them Tina and Tiny. They are both under one year old and look like little old adorable men in a shell. Our whole family loves them, but they seem to like Grace the best. They love it when Grace pets their necks and they poke their little heads in and out for more strokes from Grace. It was love at first sight.

Later in the evening, Grace decided to let the turtles outside to get some sun and exercise. She closely supervised them and worried about their every foot step. But, turtles are surprisingly fast especially when they want to burrow in for the night. Grace went chasing after Tiny to keep her safe, but while she was away for half a second, Tina got lost. It was getting late and the sun was setting. It was difficult to see and we couldn't tell the difference between a fist sized turtle and a rock. Grace was almost in tears and kept yelling out Tina's name like she was a dog and would come running back home. But, that attempt was unsuccessful. Grace started to cry out, "Tina... Tina... Oh, it's all my fault. Tina! Please come home." Kate followed closely behind shouting, "Tina... Oh, it's all Grace's fault. Tina get back here!" The scene broke my heart and put a smile on my face at the same time. I said a silent prayer and started lifting bricks from the side of the house thinking that Tina had hidden herself in a warm place for the night. I kept lifting and moving heavy bricks until I found Tina wedged between the cement and foundation of our house. Grace was elated and I was so grateful that my sweet Grace's birthday was not ruined by a lost turtle. Whew!

Bring On the Blessings!

Several years ago a Stake President promised me and my family that all things could be restored through the atonement, even time and hurt feelings. At the time, I knew the atonement had great influence in this life, but I wasn't so sure that it would touch all aspects of my life. 

Today, I know the power and blessings of the atonement more intimately. While I still don't know how it all works, I know the atonement is what has afforded me the blessings I enjoy now, and ever experienced in my life. There was a lot of mercy given in my life, but it was only obedience that unlocked the sweetest and purest of blessings.

It is at this time that I have expereinced what the Stake President (Gospel) promised.  I have never felt so much of the spirit, love for my family and desire to serve than ever before.

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Here's some other news:

• I Got a Raise! I was managing a call center that was ranked 1st of 20 in terms of efficiency. So the company gave me a big raise.

• I Got a Promotion! After getting the raise I applied for higher position in the company. A couple of interviews later, I am the newly formed Regional Director for the southwest area. I essentially oversee the development of systems and growth of 8 interpreting call centers.

• We're Pregnant! I know Melissa already announced that, but it's my baby too! lol.
  

Bring on the Blessings! 

  

  

Another Bun In The Oven

It's official! We are expecting our fourth little bundle of joy! The baby is due on April 9, 2009. We are all very excited to see how this little one will turn out. 

When we made the announcement to our family we got some pretty funny responses:

Parker said, "I guess I will like the baby better when it's more like Kate's age. Newborns just aren't much fun. But, I hope we have a boy. I'll like that the most!"

Grace said, "I hope we have two babies because then we could get this whole baby thing over with and me and Parker could both hold a baby and not fight. But, new babies aren't exactly cute. They have to grow into that a bit."

Kate said, "Mommy has a baby in her tummy. It's cute! My baby in my tummy is cute too."

My Dad said with his typical hidden excitement, "What are we going to do with another Kate? I guess we'll just have to love this one too."

Wing said, "Maybe we should take this pregnancy test again. Are these things really accurate?"

Wing and I are just thrilled. After I had completed the necessary steps on the pregnancy text strip... ahem... we checked it together holding hands and saw the little positive line. We just looked at each other and grinned. Wing's eyes were huge! So far the best thing about being pregnant is Wing's nesting. He's been a great help with cleaning the house and getting ready for the little one. He even cleaned the garage! If being pregnant wasn't such a pain, I might do this a bit more often.

The kids love to see how the baby is growing in my tummy so I posted a little pregnancy ticker on our blog. They check it every day to see how the "little peanut" is growing.

Thank you for all of your positive comments and excitement for #4!