Dear Charlie,

Our checklist is almost complete. Your clothes are washed and ready, diapers put away, blankets made and folded, and I even finished the skirt for the bassinet. I hope you'll like it. It's the same one I slept in as well as your aunts, uncle, brother, sisters, and cousin. It's getting old, but it has a lot of love attached to it. I can't wait to see you all bundled up and sleeping peacefully in our little bassinet. See you soon! Love, Mommy

Happy Birthday Amie

Today, Amie is celebrating her 30th Birthday...What a wonderful time of life.

I wish to express my gratitude for her and the immense blessing she is in my life. I feel so privileged to be married to her and to know, that whatever may come, if I remain worthy of her, I will have the opportunity to be with her forever. Life's rainy days may pour down at times, but with her in my life there is always a sunshine of hope that all will be well. After all, what greater blessing one could receive than to know that you will never be alone.

I am grateful for her smiles, her faith, her dedication to the gospel and her willingness to Be...a blessing from the Lord to all she interacts with.

On this very special day, I wish to say...Happy Birthday to you Amie. You are loved by a family who recognizes all your daily efforts to change the world by being a Mother who teaches her children how the Lord sees them and a Wife who supports, loves and care for a husband who strives to earn to be worthy of her.

I am grateful for the last 30 years that not only lead me to her but prepared and allowed me to make a sacred promise to the Lord that I will serve her forever. I look forward to eternity as I know that with her, it will be as bright as the sunshine.

I love you Amie.....

Your servant.
Roland

En francais...
Aujourd'hui, Amie fête son 30ieme anniversaire ... Quel merveilleux moment de la vie. Je tiens à exprimer ma gratitude pour elle et la bénédiction immense qu’elle est dans ma vie. Je me sens privilégié d'être marié à elle et de savoir que, peu importe ce que la vie apporte, si je reste digne d'elle, je vais avoir l'occasion d'être avec elle pour toujours. Les pluies de la vie peuvent s’abattre de temps en temps, mais avec elle dans ma vie il y a toujours un soleil d’espoir que tout ira bien. Après tout, l’une des plus grandes bénédictions que l'on peut recevoir est de savoir que nous ne serons jamais seuls. Je suis reconnaissant pour son sourire, sa foi, son dévouement à l'Evangile et sa volonté d'être… une bénédiction du Seigneur avec tous ceux qu’elle rencontre. En cette journée très spéciale, je tiens à te dire ... Joyeux Anniversaire Amie. Tu es aimé par une famille qui reconnaît tous tes efforts de changer le monde en étant une Mère qui enseigne à ses enfants la façon dont le Seigneur les voit et une Epouse qui soutient et aime un mari qui cherche à être digne de son épouse. Je suis reconnaissant pour les 30 dernières années qui ne m’ont pas seulement conduit à toi, mais qui m’ont préparé et m'ont permis de faire une promesse sacrée avec le Seigneur que je te servirais à jamais. Je me réjouis de l'éternité car je sais que, avec toi, l’éternité sera aussi brillante que le soleil. Je t'aime Amie ..... Ton serviteur. Roland

Then and now...

Lagoon day 2006 (Lydie was born a month later)

Lagoon day 2009 (Charlie will be born in a month)

Oh what do you do in the {rainy} summertime?!

Go to the dinosaur museum with your cousins!

Cut up all of mom's old magazines to make collages {and a mess!} !

I heart "Mormon Messages"

I have posted a couple of these before. They always inspire me. I'm so grateful for all of the Men in my life (including my sweet husband) who have sacrificed so much for their families. Happy Father's Day on Sunday!

It's what fun is!

Yesterday was our annual OC Tanner Lagoon day. Since Lagoon is not a place we would pay $35 per person for, we are grateful for Roland's company who gives us this chance to play every summer! The kids always look forward to it and have a great time. The weather this year was PERFECT (hooray for the almost due mommy!). This was the first year that Lydie was big enough to go on almost everything her siblings went on and she loved every minute of it!
p.s. click on the collages to enlarge

reason to be grateful

One of the things I most dreaded about being due in July was the summer heat. I can't believe how lucky I've been so far. The weather has stayed 10-15 degrees below normal (and cloudy and rainy too) for the past couple weeks and looks like it will continue this week! I know, it's a silly thing, but seriously...I'm totally grateful!

the writing on the wall

Our poor children have lived with boring un-decorated bedrooms their entire lives. Let's just say their mother is very picky and it took me a while to decide what direction I wanted to go. Anyway, with the help of my talented sister, we finally began the process this week! These pictures are from the boys room. We patched and painted the whole room this great light blue color and then added the trees on one section of the wall with chalkboard paint. I think the girls will be inviting themselves to play in the boys room quite often now! Both Eric and I are really happy about how it turned out. Now if we could decide on bed linens!

p.s. pictures of the very girlie girls room to follow...

it's official!...maybe?

I had my 32 week check-up on Tuesday and got scheduled for my induction on July 21st. I realize that it's no guarantee, they might not have room for me that day, but it sure feels good to have a definite end in sight!