Family Pictures

It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it is always fun. My family was in town for Finley's baptism and we were able to have Ryan's step-sister come and snap some pictures of my entire family. Now we can put to rest this 15 year old gem that has been sitting on our bookshelf. 

Here are my favorite ones.

We are in order of birthright from left to right ... 

Julie, Me, Shauna, Ben, Becky, Valerie, Emily. 

I love my family. At every wedding or family gathering requiring group pics, we always bust out the Charlie's Angels. We are pretty awesome. 

Grandma & Grandpa Leach with all the grandkids.

After the family pictures with everyone, we let Ryan's step-sister go (it was killer hot & sunny). I pulled out my camera and snapped individual pictures of each sibling. Val was kind enough to do the same for us.

Cousin Time!

My family came up for Finley's Baptism and my sister Emily's graduation from BYU. This meant LOTS of cousin time for the kids. One day we took them to This is the Place Heritage Park to see all the baby animals. It was so much fun. Wish we could have this much cousin time ALL the time!

Berlin and the DBC (Durfee Boys Club) riding the train.

Unlikely friends. These two kept grunting and squawking with each other in a sing-song fashion. 

It was hilarious.

 

 Finley was at school when we were at the park and he was pretty bummed. But he was able to get a little animal time the next day at my friends house. Their daughter just got 2 bunnies for her birthday. This is Copper. Needless to say, bunnies may be in our future.

Finley's Baptism

This past weekend Finley was baptized and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was a very important and very special day in our home. Everyone from my family was able to come up - a feat in and of itself! And we had most of Ryan's family there to support Finley. It was so touching to see all the people in one room together. I hope Finley knows how much he is loved.   With boys, baptism is a bit different. Girls get the pretty white dresses and do their hair all fancy. Ryan and I aren't big on suits on younger boys, so we didn't want to invest in one yet. We figure YM's is soon enough for that. We are much more casual. So I bought him a new white button down Guayabera Shirt (those sweet Mexican cotton shirts), some khakis, and of course, leather flip-flops. That is just how we roll folks. I even trimmed his hair a bit the night before. He looked so sharp and handsome - in a beach bum way :)

Here they are before the baptism:

Berlin was especially sweet and wanted to be by his side the entire time - at least until the girl cousins showed up. She insisted on having a picture with just the two of them. She really looks up to him. She kinda struggled with all the attention Finley had been getting (she wouldn't admit it, but her attitude proved it). So I bought her a special dress for the day as well. I think it helped a little bit.

Here they are in their white baptismal clothes.

Ryan baptized Finley and Oliver (Ryan's brother) and my father, served as the witnesses. Next was the confirmation blessing. Ryan was awake all night, stressing a bit over it. He baptized lots of people of him mission, but it's a little different when it is your own child. It was so sweet to see how tender and emotional Ryan was during the baptism and the confirmation. I really married a great man and the kids are so lucky to have him as their father. I am so grateful that he has always honored his priesthood and is worthy to perform these sacred ordinances.

While we waited for Ryan and Finley to get dry clothes on, we had everyone write down their testimony, thoughts, or feelings on paper. These were collected and put into this journal. Hopefully, as he reads through them now (and down the road), they will be a source of comfort and inspiration to him.

The Baptism Sack he will get during FHE next week. Our lesson will be "I'm Baptized! Now what?" Inside the bag are various treats, each with a little quote or saying to remind him of the promises he made on his Baptism day (keep the commandments, be honest, pay tithing, pray constantly, read the scriptures, etc.)   Click the images below to save the stuff I used.
The poem isn't mine (found it somewhere online), but I made up the tags. 

 

After the confirmation I asked everyone to gather for a picture. I want Finley to always have a visual of how many people came out to show their love for him that day. It is just a small representation of all the family and friends who pray for him and love him and support him. And not just here on earth, but in Heaven as well. I know that Ryan's parents were smiling down on him and that their love added to the spirit present in the room.

Finley and two of his best buddies. Love that he has such great friends in our ward and neighborhood. 

After the baptism we had our families over for a luncheon of pulled pork sandwiches, chips, coleslaw, fruit & veggies. This is one of Finley's favorite meals (any meal with meat is a fave of his). We put together a cute wall display of pics of him over the past 8 years of his life. So fun to walk down memory lane. 

It was such a wonderful day and a huge thanks to everyone who made it possible!

8 is GREAT!

This guy turned 8 last week! So much happens when you are 8 - you get baptized, become a Cub Scout, you get more chores and responsibility at home...ok, so those latter ones he probably won't fully appreciate, but 8 still is pretty great. WOW! Seriously, I can't believe I have an 8 year old!

This was his 8th birthday picture. I used it on his baptism invitations. Despite needing a haircut, I think he looks so handsome! We are so blessed to have him in our family. Some things I am loving about him lately:

1. He is a sweet big brother to Berlin and he really watches out for her. He always has her back. He writes cute little notes to her and leaves them in her room or one her door. I intercepted one and I cried when I read it. It was that sweet. I love when I hear him teaching Berlin to play the piano or how to build her lego friends sets, or helps her with some of the harder words in the books she reads. For the most part he is very patient with her and gives her lots of encouragement.

2. He is a jokester with a silly sense of humor and loves to act crazy. He loves to make up jokes and he is finally getting the punchlines right.

3. I love his laugh and his smile. It brightens my day.

4. He is still sensitive and wears his emotions on his sleeve. He really hates seeing other people sad or hurting.

5. Finley is very perceptive and inquisitive. He picks up on things (sometimes too many things) and loves to ask questions.

6. This past year he discovered that he enjoys boogie boarding, sushi, playing the piano, hiking, basketball and exercising with my me to my workout DVD's (especially my slide-board).

7. He has a wonderful imagination. The stories he writes at school are hilarious and extremely detailed. I think his love of reading helps fuel this talent.

8. He is an amazing lego builder and can do the big, detailed, sets all by himself. After a few days he deconstructs them and starts over with his own design.

9. I love his sense of self. He has this quiet confidence that amazes me. I wish I was as confident in myself as he is. He truly marches to the beat of his own drum, in a good way. I hope that this will be a blessing to him as he gets older, when peer pressure sets in.

10. More than anything I love that he still likes to snuggle with me. He loves to snuggle up on the couch and watch a movie, read a book, or just talk. I love this one-on-one time during the day.

11. Finley has been a great helper with Millie, the little baby that I have watched these past few months. He loves to hold her, play with her, help feed her, and make her laugh. Whenever we see her at church or other places he perks up and says, "Look, mom, Millie!" He ADORES her and it is so cute to see.

His birthday fell on a school day and he really wanted Ryan and I to bring lunch to him at school. His request: Arby's. So, we did just that and as we walked into the lunchroom we spotted him at the table wearing a paper crown, waving wildly at us, sporting the biggest grin ever. It was awesome. Here are some pics from his actual birthday celebration later that night with presents and rootbeer floats. 

We put his candles into a mini key-lime pie since he requested root-beer floats instead of a cake. But you HAVE to have candles and they weren't happening in the root beer float so I had these on hand as backup.

AND ... We still have his friend party to execute in May along with his bday dinner (he has asked for SUSHI!) this week. It's literally the Birthday that never ends!

Goblin Valley 2013

This year we kicked off our Spring Break by going to Goblin Valley with Ryan's family. His step-sister Shannon organized the whole thing and we are so glad they invited us. It was awesome and we can't wait to go again!

The drive was longer than we expected, mostly because we have a little girl with a small bladder = lots of potty breaks. As we were almost at the campground entrance, the mini van in front of us spun out of control and off the road. Ryan was worried they rolled their car, but luckily they were just turned around and the front tires were stuck in the soft dirt. Fortunately, another car stopped and they had a shovel and tow ropes to get the car out of the side ditch. Ryan spent a good 40 minutes helping dig them out before we were on our way again. 

Here's Ryan with his butt in the air digging out the tires :)

Goblin Valley State Park is awesome. This was my first time there, Ryan's second (he went back in the day when he was a scout). The kids ran wild with their cousins while we all set up tents and got dinner going. I was nervous seeing some of the rocks they were scaling, but it really was the perfect place for  my physically timid kids to explore and try something new. By the end of the trip they had no fear. 

 

The weather was fabulous - 70 degrees! At night, it was chilly, but we had warm bags so we were fine. The next day we took the kids to the Valley of Goblins where they had an Easter hunt. After the hunt we let them hike and explore for a couple hours before heading back to the campsite for lunch.

 

 

 

 

After lunch we loaded up our cars to go home, but on our way out we stopped at a nearby slot canyon for an afternoon hike. It's actually an 8 mile loop, but we just hiked the Little Wild Horse leg of the loop. This means we hiked about 2 miles in and once we were out of the slot canyon into the open area, we turned around and hiked back out. Then it was time to come home.

The entire weekend this little gal (above) had that Camelbak hose in her mouth the entire time. No wonder she had to pee like crazy all day long.

Ryan definitely got his workout on this hike. He kept up with the adventurous boys at the front, then would double back to help others down steep parts of the trail. Then get back up to the front with the older kids so they wouldn't be without an adult in case something happened.

 

 

It was awesome and we really enjoyed our time with Ryan's family. I think this is definitely going to be on our "to-do" list for next year.