May 2018

We kicked off the month celebrating Micah and Brendon's birthday. 

My, my...that's some impressive facial hair they grew! 

Even the cupcakes had mustaches.... A true celebration of manhood.

Millie Mustache :)

Spring Recital at Best In Music, in Orem

I absolutely love every recital! I love seeing my kids learning to play an instrument.  Miriam is advancing quickly in the violin and Kaylee's piano teacher says she has a gift. Sometimes, Micah practices his fiddle outside in our front yard and it's fun to see people stop and listen. I can't describe the joy it brings to my heart watching them grow in these talents. 

All Class Reunion at Provo High before they tear it down.

(Chandler, Miriam, Aunt Katherine, and Grandpa Rawlins)

Grandpa and Aunt Katherine went to this high school the first year it was built. 

Chandler and Miriam got to attend it until this Provo High's very last year standing.

Same steps in the photo below as the photo above. 

(Grandpa Rawlins is the one in the bottom left corner, dressed in black. 

Good looking guy!)

I home-school each of my kids up until the 9th grade. Then when they reach high school, I dual enroll them in online courses at home on the even days and they are on high school campus the odd days. They love it!

 Miriam and Chandler gave us a tour of some of their classes. 

See, you can tell by the look on Chandler's face.... he loves it. :)

Honestly, he really did love it... but when is it ever cool for a teenager to show they like school?

We got a little pool for the kids this Summer. It may be small but when the days are scorching hot, they don't really care. Anything to cool off makes them happy.

Memorial Day at Mom's grave with Grandpa Manwill

Miriam has always been our climber. I'm so glad we captured these pictures. 

So fitting of her fun, adventurous personality! 

She broke her arm about 3 years ago in a climbing accident. It took her a while to get comfortable with what she loved again but she made it back to her great love!

Almost every Wednesday our kids take turns visiting dad at his work for some one-on-one time with him. It was Micah's turn this day and so the rest of us walked along the parkway and waded in the river while Micah and dad had their time together. I like this picture of Miriam.

Every other month I cut hair for all our family. 

I think this is the only picture we have of me doing that since Chandler was a baby. 

It doesn't feel like that much time has passed though.

Two Trees

This past winter semester, I only took a religion class. I wanted a lighter schedule because I just didn't know what our family dynamics would look like with Foster Care. We started out the year with a little boy in crisis placement with us who had some strong needs for undivided attention. It wasn't easy on our foster daughter. We knew this little boy was temporary because we were just the crisis placement, the in-between, until the State found a permanent home for him. Anyway, things were a little tricky in January, so I just kept a religion class. It was the best religion class though, "Pioneers and Persecution" by Brother Dirkmaat.

I absolutely love Brother Dirkmaat, I've previously taken his Doctrine and Covenants class. He is my favorite religion teacher at BYU. He wrote an awesome book entitled, "From Darkness Unto Light".

For our Final Project, he gave the class the option of creating a piece of artwork, instead of writing a paper, representing the lessons we learned throughout the semester. I chose an art project! And as I explained my art... it turned into a final paper anyway, so I guess I did both. It was so healing for me though. I was taking Brother Dirkmaat's class during the same part of my life when I lost my mom in March. This class and this art project helped pull me through.

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Inspiration Behind the Project

"Why do we fall?....  So we can learn to pick ourselves back up" - Alfred (From the movie, Batman Begins). It may seem cheesy to use a quote from Batman as a way to begin my religious paper but honestly, over the course of this project, this quote has come to my mind numerous times, especially and mostly the first part; "Why do we fall?"

As I studied the history of the early saints this semester, their sacrifices, their struggles, their heartaches and stories of endless persecution... as I read how they were hated, driven from their homes, murdered, forced out of the country, beaten down, over and over again, I found myself asking a lot of  "why" questions; Why do good people suffer? Why does God allow certain things to happen in this life? Why do the wicked so often go unpunished? Why do the righteous prayers of so many seemingly go unanswered? Why do we even pray if it there's is no guarantee for protection from God's Divine hand?

For answers, I have felt drawn to the revelation in Doctrine and Covenants 121-123, given to Joseph Smith while he was unjustly imprisoned in Liberty Jail. In the dark bleak cell of those cold unfriendly walls, Joseph prayed and pleaded with God for some kind of rescue, some kind of protection for the saints, a pavilion in the midst of a thrashing storm. It was there - in probably one of the most loathsome, brutal, and hellish trials of his life - he received one of the most beautiful, redemptive, and inspiring revelations ever to be written in history.

My focus for this project are words found in D&C 122:7-9, reaching deeper into the answer of "why" we fall. In perhaps Joseph Smith's darkest hour, after pouring out his whole soul to God, Joseph felt the Spirit of the Lord speak peace to his mind and heart, "Know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than He? Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever."

These words no doubt, were echoed in the meeting halls and sacred walls among the early saints - especially after Joseph's murder, after the Mormons were driven in the middle of winter with no shelter, across icy rivers and mountains of snow, scattered across barren hostile lands, and stripped of every right and privilege promised under the banner of freedom in this Country.

Creation Process

When I started this painting, I began with the idea of portraying a man bowing his head in earnest prayer while the dichotomies of life swirled around him; heaven and hell, light and dark,  somehow illustrating the hardships we face in mortality, the imperfections, the temptations and weaknesses of the flesh, our sins, the sins of others, the heartaches, the persecution, the deep sorrow, loss and pain we experience - but also - the joy, the hope, the light, the good in ourselves and in others, the peace, and the comfort that come through knowing our Savior.

I spent quite a bit of time searching the internet for images to give me ideas to help illustrate my message, trying to visualize how I would compose my project. After gathering and printing, I started sketching everything out onto the canvas, choosing the colors and images to symbolize a collage of opposites; death and redemption, joy and pain, dark ashes, blazing fire, thistles, and thorns - and then - sunlight, blue skies, green trees and flowers.

I had everything laid out, I knew exactly what I was doing - the canvas, paints, brushes, images I had collected were scattered across my kitchen counter - I was ready to complete my project...  but then I had a tragedy in my family which brought my life to a halt. I lost my mom unexpectedly and as a result, my whole world was turned completely upside-down. Needless to say, during that week, my project was put on hold until I could get my bearings again.

Starting Over

After spending several days at the hospital and at my dad's house, I finally returned to my own home. I found myself next to my kitchen counter, looking over my project (untouched in my absence). I stood there lost in thought about my recent experience. I stared down at my scattered work as the message I was trying to portray lapsed over memories of my mom. I knew in that moment I had complicated the painting. The images were too busy, clashing in colors, I almost felt it looked ugly. I wasn't discouraged by these thoughts and I don't think it was grief that caused me to see my painting differently. In fact, when I made the decision to start my project completely over, I felt an immense amount of peace.

New ideas poured into my mind like refreshing rain in a thirsty land. I wanted to find a way to still create deep meaning in my painting and yet have it be more simple on the eyes, more pleasing, something anyone could hang on their wall.

The question came into my mind again, "Why do we fall?"  I thought of The Garden of Eden and the fall of man. I thought of The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the conscious choice Adam and Eve made to enter this mortal life, knowing their eyes would be opened to the opposites of this world, that in the midst of their joys they'd be exposed to pains of the flesh, sicknesses, heartache, sin, sorrow, tragedy, hunger, fatigue, and even death.

After they fell, they learned of salvation; They learned that all these things would give them experience and be for their good. They were given a vision of hope found in the Savior, the Tree of Life, and the only means whereby they could return to the Father. They rejoiced when they learned that death was not the end, that all their suffering had purpose and meaning, that there was redemption through Jesus Christ - the greatest story ever to be known through time, through all the generations of Adam and Eve on this earth.

The Symbolism 

This oil-based 11X15 painting is entitled, "Hold On Thy Way". The background is made by scanning and printing Section 122 from the Doctrine and Covenants and then piecing, gluing and covering the foundation of the canvas completely with scripture, then priming the top surface of the pages with a clear gloss in preparation for the next step. 

Painted over the words are two trees; the one on the left is symbolic of The Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden (the tree of the fall) and the one on the right is symbolic of The Tree of Life (the tree of hope through Jesus Christ our Savior). With the scripture in mind from Isaiah 1:18, "Though your sins be as scarlet, They shall be as white as snow." I used a scarlet for the red and a titanium for the white (the whitest of all artist paints).

The trees point heavenward to keep our gaze looking up toward God, remembering always that He has a plan for us. Pointing high above the realms of this earth, they remind us to call upon Him daily, to converse with Him, commune with him about our joys and sorrows, to plead for forgiveness and trust in His atonement.

The trees grow together as their fruits nearly intertwine - to remind us that we need both to understand the character of God. We need both to expand our vision. To progress. Our mortal and spirit beings are interwoven, inseparable during this journey here on earth.

Some of the white fruit from the Tree of Life, I've purposefully highlighted words from the scriptures in the background: "Son of Man - Trust in God - Holy Ghost; spiritual - Trust - Hold on thy way - Truth - Mission".

Finally, these two trees from the Garden of Eden also pay tribute to the many Temples around the world, which blessings we as Latter-Day-Saints enjoy from the truths Joseph Smith restored. Such blessings are open to all who will receive them, even those who have never had the opportunity to learn of Christ while on this earth - we perform ordinances for our kindred dead and are sealed together as families through eternity.

In these holy and sacred walls of the Temple, we learn about the creation of the earth, the fall of man, and God's plan of Salvation through our Savior Jesus Christ. Temples are where we covenant to remain true to the commandments of God, true to our Savior, trusting in His blessings, centering our lives on Christ, knowing that He redeems us from sin and death, He will carry us through this mortal life no matter the hardship, no matter the opposition, no matter the heartache as we place our trust in Him. "All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than He? Therefore, hold on thy way" - D&C 122:8-9

Faith-Filled Fathers

I've been thinking about parenthood and how much we pour our hearts out in prayer for our children. There is nothing more difficult and heart-wrenching as a parent than to see one or more of your children willingly choose a destructive path. I ache and worry so much for our oldest son. When he was five years old, he was diagnosed with High-Functioning Autism, Oppositional Defiance, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. And, ever since he was really young, he has struggled with being very empathetic with others.

I tried to avoid those labels, I didn't want him to grow up thinking he had a handicap because I believe that many difficult aspects of his personality also make up some of his most amazing gifts and talents. He is so incredibly smart! In all the testing they did on him as a child, they discovered he has a photographic memory and his IQ is way above average. I chose to not medicate him because I didn't want to change anything about his personality. He may have his challenges but who doesn't?!

The challenges that came with him were just ones I wasn't familiar with and it didn't seem as if many other parents were familiar with it either. When he would act up at church or in a social setting, I would often have well-meaning friends freely dispense their parenting advice to me. They didn't know my situation or how much I had already tried. I had exhausted every idea. Every situation is so unique and parental advice is rarely, if ever, one-size-fits-all.

This morning, Joseph and I were talking and sharing concerns about our son as we often do. Through the years, he has improved in so many aspects. It has been miraculous to watch! He has many great qualities we love so dearly but we're concerned once again about his ability to empathize, to show genuine interest and concern for other people. We really don't know how much of his behavior is "willingly choosing" to lack empathy or if it is related more to the high-functioning autism he has been diagnosed with all his life. Either way, it will inevitably present relationship issues in the most vital areas of his life.

Joseph has been studying the power of revelation and faith. (He is a wonderful, righteous father, who is always striving to set a good example. I love him so much for that!) In Joseph's personal scripture study in Alma Chapter 12, he noticed several "awakening moments" in the lives of Alma, Amulek, and Zeezrom. Each of them had experiences where their eyes were opened and their minds were enlightened. He expressed the desire to pray for this blessing with our children, to have the faith that God can create a miracle as we claim a blessing from Him. God can open their eyes as we call down the powers of heaven on behalf of and especially for our oldest son. After kneeling together in prayer this morning, Joseph looked at me and asked, "Do we have the faith to let go and allow him to have his experiences, to make his choices, even if it is terribly painful to watch?" He sighed and tears filled my eyes.

I turned to my scriptures and read, "Assuredly as the Lord liveth, who is your God and your Redeemer, even so surely shall you receive a knowledge of whatsoever things you shall ask in faith with an honest heart... Remember that without faith you can do nothing; therefore ask in faith." - D&C 8: 1&10.  The great miracles that happened with Moses proved the impossible, the unthinkable could occur through simple faith. That's the kind we're praying for.

We pray for our son, for all our children, for the youth everywhere. This world is so hard for them to navigate, so much more difficult than we ever had to face. The adversary is far more invasive and persuasive than in any generation before. We pray that our faith will remain anchored and strong through every test, through every storm. And no matter what choices our children make or how much they end up following our counsel in life, I'm glad I have the faith-filled companion that I do, who honors his Priesthood, who treasures his fatherhood, and genuinely and sincerely loves God.

-Alicia

The Lord Has Led The Way

Both our adoption day and temple sealing day were filled with the Spirit. We felt a calm and sweet assurance that what we were doing was right. The Lord impressed upon our hearts a couple of years ago that we needed to adopt and we were led very clearly to do it through the foster care program. We know that this little girl is meant to be part of our family. 💗

 Amillia (Millie) Esther Rawlins

Trust Fall

Several months ago, a woman in one of our adoption training classes showed us this meme, explaining how she felt going into adoption. The people in the boat represented herself, her husband, and her two biological children…. And the whale was the adoption, the inevitable change of circumstances, the increase of challenges, and burdens that seemed too heavy to bear that come with bringing a child into your home who is not your own, especially a child who has been traumatized by a difficult past and removed from the ones they love.

I should be very excited about tomorrow and I assure you, I am…  but there’s a big part of me that’s scared too.

I honestly don’t feel cut out to be the kind of woman, the kind of mother, I need to be in order to provide for this little girl.

Amillia needs someone far more patient and compassionate than I naturally am. Don’t get me wrong, Millie is a very sweet and loving little girl but she’s more comfortable with us since she first came to our home and has let her guard down numerous times in the past several months to test the waters. Regretfully, I didn’t handle all those tests very well and there’s been some strain that has caused a ripple effect of more rough waters. She has lots of needs that are difficult to explain to those who have never fostered or adopted.

Thankfully tonight (the timing couldn't have been more perfect) I had a wonderful visit with my dear friend, Margene Snow. She invited me over to her house for an hour or so because she knew I wasn't doing very well today. Margene listened to all my anxieties and fears intently and compassionately. Gently and lovingly, she related to me some of the exact same feelings, difficulties, and hardships she experienced adopting and raising two of her six children. Despite all the struggles though, she said she would definitely do it all again in a heartbeat. She loves her two adopted girls very much and is so proud of her decision to have them sealed together with their family.

Margene and I spent over an hour tonight sharing stories, testimony, tears, and hugs.  I appreciate her friendship, her timing, and council so much! What a blessing! Bring on the trust fall!

Moving On

I can't believe it's the end of May! Joseph and I were just talking this morning about how it seems time is passing freakishly fast. We're entering Chandler's senior year of high school, Miriam will be a sophomore, Micah is now thirteen, Kaylee will be ten in a few weeks, and Millie will officially be our little girl in five days.

Speaking of the adoption, I still can't believe that things went through with our case this fast! June 4th is the first court day our adoption attorney set for us. He guarantees that we will win the case and we'll have our adoption certificate in our hands by that evening. We will be sealed to Amillia the following evening in the Provo City Center Temple. The brother who is sealing her to us is our Stake Patriarch (Patriarch Snow) and also the husband to my counselor in the Relief Society (Margene). They adopted their two youngest daughters.

We are very happy to adopt this sweet little girl. She definitely fits very well into our family! There are moments I get a little fearful: those moments she displays certain difficult behaviors that are very common among children from hard places, from trauma, common among children who have been removed from their families. It's hard to explain to anyone who is not in the trenches. I mean, let's face it, the way the rest of the world views adoption is totally romanticized. It is hard!!

Currently, I am involved with three hours of training and therapy per week revolving around Millie. Which on some weeks, it equals out to five. I take Kaylee with me whenever I can so she doesn't feel left out. She's a little more sensitive to me being gone.  I am learning that I need to rewire my own brain and seriously confront the abuse and trauma from my own childhood. It's hard but it's very very good.

We're moving on... continuing into the unknown. I feel very blessed despite the difficulties though. I have an amazing family! I couldn't be more proud!

"How to Grow Love" & "Now and Most"

We recently had Stake Conference. The Saturday talks centered on the new ministering program ministering.lds.org

My favorite talk was by Elder Cornish of the Seventy, who spoke about the cycle of love and serving others, the way it grows more love in our hearts. He shared the scripture 1 John 4:19, "We love God because He first loved us." He asked how anyone could ever love another when that other has done nothing for the one who loves them.

Elder Cornish has delivered hundreds of babies throughout his career and he gave the example of a mother's love to answer his own question. "What did that baby ever do for the mother those nine months in the womb or those first couple years of life? She loves because of the time and sacrifice she has given in total selfless service to her baby."

Elder Cornish then testified that if we  have faith in God's infinite and perfect love for us and allow it to work within our hearts so we can really feel who we are to Him, let it change us, fill us with hope. And then, try and share that love with others through charitable acts and service, showing them what God's love feels like - our love will grow in two ways; Our love for those we serve and the ability to feel God's love for ourselves.

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The Sunday talks were mostly centered around the 4th commandment -honoring the Sabbath Day and keeping it holy. I have a strong testimony of the blessings that come from treating the Sabbath with reverence and using it to honor the sacrifice of our Savior and be about His ministry.

Again, the talk that really stood out to me was Elder Cornish's. He spoke about "now" and "most". He said that too often we sacrifice things we want most for what we want now, which always leads to bondage and misery.

He said happiness and blessings from God come the other way around as we learn to sacrifice what we want now for what we want most. It seems pretty simple when it's written out like this but it's not always easy to put into practice. What we want now usually has more to do with our physical appetites but what we want most usually has more to do with the eternal and spiritual matters. It takes practicing meekness, humility, and living the first commandment -having no other God's before our Father in Heaven.

Elder Cornish pointed out that one of the most common false God's worshiped in today's world is the god of "self" selfishness or self-centeredness. He said that the biggest obstacle in our way of honoring the 4th commandment (keeping the Sabbath day) is often our breaking of the 1st (worshiping other gods).

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It was a wonderful Stake Conference!! Of course, there was so much more shared than I have here but these were the parts that really stuck with me... and I just wanted to write them down somewhere so I wouldn't forget. :)

Another One Bites the Dust

Perhaps the hardest death to watch is the death of one's faith, to see the light in their eyes and the love of the Gospel go out.

My husband met him in 2008, they were both studying physics and astronomy. They started studying together to help each other out with homework and exams, instantly becoming great friends. It was a big deal because Joseph doesn't usually have close friendships with anyone, well he hadn't up until Ryan.  Joseph is a family guy, he keeps his relationships strong with his siblings and doesn't usually venture out from there because he's a little shy and a little introverted.

But somehow Ryan was like a brother to Joseph. Many late-night studying sessions on campus would often end in wonderful and enlightening spiritual discussions. I remember Joseph often coming home around 11pm, crawling into bed, and telling me all about school and his friend.

I was so glad Joseph had someone there on campus to make the hours fly by a little more easily. I'd take the children up to the science building a couple times a week so they could visit dad. It was often the only time they got to see him besides Sunday. They'd giggle with excitement all the way down the hall as they approached the office Joseph did his studies in. Ryan was always there with Joseph and the kids began to call him, "Uncle Ryan".

They did a science presentation in Puerto Rico together. He came to Joseph's graduation and Joseph went to his. Our whole family went to Ryan's wedding ceremony at the Timpanogos Temple and Joseph stood in the circle for their first child's baby blessing. Ryan came to almost all our kid's baptisms too.

He moved away a couple years ago and changed his major to psychology. Ryan and Joseph were like brothers so they maintained close contact across the miles through email several times a week. I don't know exactly when the shift happened but Joseph started noticing a change of tone in Ryan's messages. When Joseph would share a quote from a recent conference address or from the scriptures, instead of being affirmed through Ryan's testimony, the responses were less supportive, debating the validity of Joseph's spiritual thoughts because they weren't from more "enlightened philosophers".

His criticism of the prophets increased and his church attendance decreased. Their emails to each other slowed to about once a month. After about a year of this decline, Ryan finally told Joseph all together, that he and his wife had left the Church, to explore a new freedom, new thoughts, and new ideas among the swells of moral relativism. At the end of this last message to Joseph a couple weeks ago, he said,  "thanks for not trying to save me" as if Ryan wanted to make absolutely certain that Joseph understood he doesn't want him to ever try to save him.

It's been hard to watch Joseph go through this. Even though Joseph is not an emotional guy and does a pretty good job keeping his true feelings beneath the surface, I can tell he has been experiencing a very real loss. This has been horribly painful for him. To lose a friend spiritually feels more grievous than lossing one to physically to natural causes.

I've been very proud of Joseph though and have been impressed with his stamina. He has held strong to a pattern of regular, daily morning prayer and thorough scripture study. He spends at least a half-an-hour or more every single day studying the gospel through living and ancient prophets, he journals extensively too, and could publish volumes upon volumes alone of his scripture study thoughts. He's a great example to me. I know this habit has kept Joseph from being swept away by his friend and has kept Joseph anchored to "the good ship Zion". I thank God that Joseph has remained true to his covenants in the middle of this storm.

I am also proud of Joseph for continuing to be kind to Ryan. He has left the invitation open to still be there for his friend. Who knows if he'll ever return?

-Alicia

P.S.
Here's some great articles about the dangers of Moral Relativism.
https://www.lds.org/search?lang=eng&query=%22moral+relativism%22

"We live in a day when the age-old standards of morality, marriage, home, and family suffer defeat after defeat in courts and councils, in parliaments and classrooms. Our happiness depends upon living those very standards.......  Paul told young Timothy to continue in the things he had learned from the Apostles and said he would be safe because 'from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus'  (2 Tim. 3:15)"

-  Boyd K. Packer

First Mother's Day Without Mom

Mom, I'm missing you especially hard today because I can't call you. I can't visit you. Oh, I wish so much I could be with you to thank you for everything in my life, to hug you and tell you what a blessing you are. You always took me and Amy out for dinner for Mother's Day weekend and always wrote us a sweet and loving card, telling us how happy you were to be our mom. (I always felt that you shouldn't have done such things for us on Mother's Day. It was our time to CELEBRATE YOU!!)  But you told us that your greatest joy was to see your daughters become mothers. I never ever once doubted your incredible love for us even as a kid when I knew I had done something to make you mad. You forgave me so quickly. Mom, I miss you and love you so much!! Thank you for your unwavering faith in God, the simple truth you taught by your example, "With God - nothing is impossible!" You had so many trials in life, so many hardships outside of your control, but you faced them head-on, with courage and bravery. You may not have felt brave in the moments when you cried, when you felt grief, fear, or depression, but mom, you were incredibly brave because you kept trying, you kept going, kept working hard, kept praying, kept believing, and never quit. Some people look for praise or recognition when they fight so valiantly but not you. You never once cared about popularity, you cared about people. You never once cared about material things, you cared about memories. You never cared about the latest fashion, you cared about being grateful for what you had and sought to help those less fortunate than you. Mom, you were an unsung hero, genuinely good, with the purest intentions to put forth your very best because you sincerely cared and deeply loved every person in your life. Thank you, thank you forever!! <3

Slideshow For Mom

Grafted Into Our Family Tree

We filled out paper work last month to petition for adoption with our little foster girl and didn't hear anything from our attorney for a few weeks.  Finally, he called us last week asking if we would be available to be in court on the first Monday of June.

Joseph and I checked our schedules and told him it would be fine. We asked our attorney several questions since we have never met or been to court with him before and didn't know what to expect. 

We just assumed this date he was setting for us would be a "first of many" court dates.... that's why we were so surprised when he told us that it is the official adoption day they've set for us and encouraged us to invite all our family and friends. Wow! We didn't know it would happen this quick after our petition. From other cases we hear about in foster care, we assumed our case would also require several court dates.

We didn't expect to have our first court date with our attorney be our only court date but we're very pleased that our case will be so easy. The Temple is closed the day of her adoption so, our sealing date is set for the day after.

We are looking forward to participating in a family sealing and the experience it will provide for our bio children. They love her so much! We are very excited! This little girl fits so well in our family! 💓
-Alicia

April 2018

Easter Weekend 2018

Amy, Dad, me, Millie at The Wentworth, to participate in the Easter Egg Hunt Amy planned with her residents.

Amy and her two beautiful kids.

Four of my five beautiful kids at Amy's work for her Easter party.

Dying Easter eggs with Elise and Lucy

Traditional Easter Baskets made from milk jugs - started by my mom when I was growing up.

Easter Sunday 2018

Easter morning looking for the baskets.

The kids played an egg smashing game that was supposed to be these rubber eggs filled randomly with water. Since it was April 1st. I took real egg and poured it into a couple of the toy eggs. Miriam and Micah laughed about that trick but I still don't think Kaylee has forgiven me. I thought it was absolutely hilarious!

Jeannie, Dad, and Alexa on Easter Sunday with our traditional golden eggs hung from a tree (left background)
 Within the eggs, tell the story of the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
I think mom is the first one who showed me the story like this.
(My dad's sister, Jeannie, now lives with him since my mom passed away.
I'm so glad my dad has her there so he isn't quite so lonely.) 

Kaylee took notes during General Conference.
 Her favorite talk, by Elder Lynn Robbins, was all about how everyone makes mistakes
 and to keep going and not get discouraged.

Spending Time Together

Joseph and I are trying to go hiking once a week for our date night.
 It doesn't cost a dime and we have a great time together!

Really cool looking tree from our hike.

Micah and His Creations

Joseph and I were at an Adoption's training class all day and when we got home,
we discovered Micah entertaining our two younger girls with his Brain-O-Tron.
(Nice side profile.)

Brain-O-Tron Mugshot

Micah made this little leprechaun trap out of craft scraps for St. Patrick's Day.
Later, he made it even more cool by painting it green with sprinkles of gold glitter. 

Medieval gloves, sword, and helmet entirely out of cardboard and silver duct tape.
The gloves and shoulder pads he also covered with silver tape after Joseph took this picture.

Nice Days Outside

Happy I LOVE YOU day

I just wanted to randomly surprise Joseph with a cute little date night.
I got Micah and Kaylee on board to help me. They were our adorable little servers 
for "The Attic" restaurant above our garage. 
(As you can see, it's pretty high class. ;) )
Micah made the menu and Kaylee drew a big heart on the white board for us. 
We had soft romantic music playing and we danced after the dinner was over.

Miriam Turns 15!!

Alexa photo bombing :)

Awesome, beautiful, and fun Miriam! We love you!!!

Kaylee having fun with her two grandpas on Miriam's birthday.

Family Night