Happy birthday Deborah!

To my dearest Deborah Diane,

Happy birthday, love. I am so sorry it is weeks late. Lame. I know.

Deborah, I am so glad that you were born. If you were not my life would be missing so much love, laughter, and learning. Thank you for being my friend from my first awkward moments in the SW program. I needed your friendship and you gave it so willingly. Thank you for sitting next to me, giggling with me and studying with me. Thank you for teaching me about forgiveness, compassion, and acceptance. Thank you for sharing your passion for adoption, counseling, and beauty. I know you are only like a minute younger than me, but being with you keeps me young. Younger than I would be otherwise. Thank you for celebrating my successes and for mourning my losses. Thank you for loving my family. Thank you for going on adventures with me. I may have missed Brittany's wedding if you weren't around. Thank you for giving me rides and calls and visits to VA when I so needed them. Thank you for inviting me to be with you in the temple. Thank you for sharing your spirit, passions, jokes, family, love, and snuggles with me. I love you and am so privileged to be your friend. Happy (belated) birthday, love!!

Happy Birthday mom and dad!

Although this comes weeks after the joyous celebration, it is no less sincere. Sorry for the delay, padres. Thank you Mom and Dad for giving me an outstanding foundation for a secure and successful life.

My mom continues to give me life-long unconditional love despite any mistakes I make. She gives me the best example of sacrifice for her family and friends. She loves people far more than things or selfish time alone. She has always given me a listening ear; a treasure that I can't even begin to describe in importance. Thank you, mom!

My Dad makes for a beautiful compliment to my tender, child-like mama. His greatest gifts to me include his love for the gospel of Jesus Christ and his encouragement to analyze the world closely. His passion for studying and teaching the scriptures will always be the greatest heritage he could have given me. Thank you, dad!

Together they have given me the security of their committed marriage and friendship. I couldn't have been given better parents. I love you both. Happy (belated) birthdays!!

Easter & other April adventures

Playing in the fountain

Decorating Easter eggs

National Zoo field trip - the lions were my favorite!

Up close. Stuart has been making monkey noises and signing "monkey" ever since.

We look "photoshoped"

Practicing an egg hunt in the front yard in preparation for the BIG hunt the next day. He still sometimes says "egg"  pointing to all the places they used to hide.

The BIG hunt at Brenda's house. Stu was the smallest kid there so he got a head start. Rick thought he was SO funny with this little trick.

17 eggs total!

Our Easter decorations at home. The homemade bunny basket Jared used as a kid.  His siblings all have one in their own color. 

My favorite decoration, by far! Jared's mom gave this to us to keep. His little face used to decorate their house growing up, and now it adorns ours. He was such a cute kid!! No wonder Stuart's a heart breaker. 

 Our Easter week also included watching lots of Easter movies about Jesus, listening to talks and lessons about Jesus' life, and preparing sacrament meeting talks for our new ward (aka congregation). Jared and I spoke on Easter Sunday, which also was the first Sunday we had ever attended our new church! They wasted no time in getting to know us. Although the request was unconventional, it made my Easter extra special. 

A daily occurrence.

"Just helping daddy move the dresser." My boys are such a good team!

Home ownership

My apologies for the radio static this last month. I neglected to share our other huge news, in addition to our baby-on-the-way. Of course, as our family grows we need more space. We had been looking for months for a home to buy and we finally moved 4 weeks ago! It is official. We are homeowners and, therefore, cannot avoid adulthood any longer. 

Here is the mess in our little apartment before the move. 

And below you get a preview of the house. These were taken the weekend we moved in. More to come when it is all set up! Stay tuned!

below: the living room, as seen from the second floor "draw bridge", as Jared calls it because it leads to our master suite and nothing else. It is all ours.

 Stu's room

The "draw bridge" and loft office upstairs, as seen from the living room. (Don't worry. That giant hole in the wall won't stay that hideous forever.) 

 Basement play room! Woot!

 Finally, the deck.

And there it is! A little preview with more to come as we set up house. Or at least mostly set up. We LOVE being in our own home with lots of space! However, home ownership is not all roses. We have already worked through some painful thorns. Our lessons learned is a thought for another day. Thanks for looking. 

Any advice for new home owners?