I blinked.........

and weeks had flown by!

(Disclaimer...this really should be broken up into 5 different blogs that would not only have darling pictures, but cute and clever narrative as well. Sometimes you gotta go for speed blogging, though, so strap on your seat belt!)


Our Kamberlynnie-Loo-Loo celebrated her 15th birthday!

She is the very best big sister of all time, and in appreciation, all the brothers cooked her breakfast fit for a princess...including a crown fashioned by the sisters!

After shopping with friends, we took Loo for ice-cream at her favorite little shop, then home for....a "heart attack"! While she was shopping, the kids and I cut out a bazillion hearts and decorated her room with them, along with fancy gold wrapped candy!
And in keeping with tradition, Kamberlynne chose....

Birthday Pie! This one was a scrumptious chocolate chip cookie pie that we shared with friends while we played games and enjoyed the birthday girl! The day was almost as great as she is!
(Funny insider info...take a look at what Kamberlynne is wearing in every pic...different each time! Yep, typical teenage girl...she goes through multiple outfits daily!!!)

Next...
Father's Day Fun! For those of you kept in suspense, here is this year's annual t-shirt!

Every year, Brian's new t-shirt is his favorite gift! And even if I think they are a little geek-y, I still think it is adorable that he wears them with such joy!

Not one of the best pictures, but certainly one of the best Grandpa's! We are blessed to have our these wonderful men in our lives. I just wish my own dad was around, too!

And in the meantime....

Look at how Josiah's smile (and CHIN) has grown!

Just the sweetest little prince!!

Moving on...to Jonah's Birthday!

Jonah's birthday happened to land on the same day as the Lafferty (maternal side of Brian's family) reunion! So along with most of those fun cousins came a day of swimming, picnic-ing, and...


count 'em, TWELVE candles! Yep, a super special birthday year for this wonderful boy who now is a Deacon in the priesthood service of God!

We are so loving this great kid! How wonderful to see his body, mind, and spirit grow!

To end this post, take a quick look at Brian and my very very quick trip to Montana! We got off the plane in Missoula, and less than 36 hours later, were back on it! But in between, we made forward motion on our dream to one day move here.

It is lovely to have a dream! It will be even lovelier when it comes true!

Believe it or not, ALL of this happened, Kamberlynne's birthday all the way through our trip, during our three week theatre camp! And it's not over yet...

See what I mean about "blinking"?

In case you're wondering...

Like the shirt says....


...at two months old! (And he keeps getting cuter every day!)

Official two month stats: 11 lbs 5 ounces, 23 1/4 inches long, size 2 diapers, and totally adorable!

Happy two month birthday, Josiah!

Next Food Network Star...

Christian's "Everything" Sandwich

To create this fabulous mouthful you will need:

Peanut Butter
Jelly
1 Banana, sliced
Mayonnaise
Turkey
Cheese
1 Hot Dog, sliced
Ketchup
2 pieces of bread

Layer all ingredients between bread and open wide!


So, next food network star??? Ummmmmmm....probably not! Teenage boy who has officially moved into the "if it's edible, give me some, and make sure its a LOT"....totally! Christian is hungry non-stop, and if this is a foreshadowing of things to come, when the other two boys get to the "everything sandwich" appetite stage, we are going to be in big trouble!

Blessings!!

Those lovely days when our sweet babies are blessed are always some of the most special moments that I carry in my heart! This past Sunday, Josiah received his blessing under the hands of his Daddy, and other dear family and friends. It was just perfect.

Josiah was blessed with some lovely gifts including the heart of a peacemaker, the ability to commune with angels throughout his life, and a special sense of compassion that would allow him to bring a healing influence to those around him and bless many.

He already has.


"Josiah" means "the Lord sends healing". King Josiah in the Old Testament brought a spiritual revival to his people after a time of hardship and exhausted faith. Under his influence, the people returned to the Lord with greater love and dedication. Our own little Josiah is such a gift of healing from our Heavenly Father for our family, and the renewal of hope and faith has been nothing short of a miracle from the loving hands of divinity. We are so grateful. So very very grateful.


Isn't it amazing how adding another child to the family increases your love for each of the others? We've tried to figure out how to explain that to our darlings, but have finally decided there just aren't words!

So we'll just keep offering up prayers of thanks and praise. And so much love.

Grab some popcorn...

...for our Spring Recital!

Some semesters I have had up to 15 students myself, and I've always loved doing recitals! For the past year and a half or so, I've only been able to keep up lessons with my own bunch...so now Kamberlynne is teacher of a few others. Well, we got together with another talented guy who has some students, and between his students, Kamberlynne's students, and my students...I mean children (!)...we had a great recital with 14 participants! Below are my "fantastic five"!

Rebekah performing "Castle on a Cloud" from Les Mis!


Indy begins this next clip with his "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", and hits it perfectly...on the repeat! I am impressed with how easily he travels across the nearly two octaves for the melody in the right hand!

Then Jonah joins Indy for their Great Balls of Fire" duet!

Jonah closes out this clip with his traditional Spanish dance, "The Maleguena"!



Christian's voice is developing nicely as we try and keep up with the changes! I love that he chose a vocal piece as well as a piano piece this time! Beginning with "The Impossible Dream", then playing "The Blue Danube" (again, thank goodness for repeats so you can make a few adjustments!)



Kamberlynne closes out your viewing pleasure with a contemporary piece that we all love to hear her play here at home! She continues to impress us all with her lovely piano talent, and would rather sit down and play for hours a day than do just about anything else! Here is John Schmidt's "Waterfall"!



There you go! As all of these cuties continue to develop these wonderful gifts, the greatest blessing of all is seeing them cultivate a love of music, and having those sweet sounds fill our home on a daily basis! Music has been such a blessing to my life, my hope is my own darlings will find the same joy and happiness it has brought to my own life throughout each day of their own!

(Wow...two posts in one day! I can't believe it!)

One Month!

(Momma is still trying to keep up with sleep vs blogging...but since today is my 6 week birthday, she thought she better get this post up!)

See how I've grown!

One Day....
One Month...
See how my pants are big and baggy when I was brand new?!?!? Now they barely fit! Momma loves how my belly is practically hanging out of my shirt now! It took a little while for me to grow, I actually got teenier first...I was down to 5 lbs 11 oz when I was 2 weeks old! Silly me, it took me a little while to figure out that eating and pooing thing! But now I am just over 8lbs...I gained 3 lbs in 2 weeks!!!! I graduated to a size 1 diaper today(I was still in newborn!), and my preemie homecoming outfit was retired after this photo shoot! Earth life is great! My family adores me and thinks I'm the cutest little guy in the world! They are pretty smart, don't you think?!?!?

Guess who's four??????

I just can't believe it!


Briella's birthday was extra special this year.....it fell on Mother's Day!!! It was too sweet remembering the miraculous way this darling came to us, and perfect for me to celebrate with her! I picked cheesecake after lunch for my treat, and Briella picked...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Reese's Cup Cake for her treat!!!!

But the fun didn't stop there!


A few days later "Princess Briella" entertained some of her royal friends for a fun afternoon of dancing,
cupcake decorating, and princess accessorizing!

The only thing sweeter than all the sugar on that cupcake is the princess who licked it all off!!!! (And left the rest of the cupcake behind, of course!)

Happy Birthday sticky sweet super special Princess! Your smiles and love fill our hearts, and we are so so blessed to have you in our forever family!

Motherhood...


...is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its holy calling and service next to the angels.

--The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

My Stripling Warriors

I surely know that there is no role in life more essential and more eternal than that of motherhood.--Elder Russell M. Ballard

My Fair Daughters

One cannot forget mother and remember God. One cannot remember mother and forget God. Why? Because these two sacred persons, God and mother, partners in creation, in love, in sacrifice, in service, are as one.

--Thomas S. Monson

My Angel

Parents who have surrendered the sweetest and smallest flowers from the family's garden need to remember our Heavenly Father. He has promised a special reward to those who now suffer in silence, who spend long days and longer nights through their trying times of bereavement. Our Creator has promised glory. He said, 'For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but nigh at hand.' (D&C 58:4) That promised glory includes the blessing of reunion with each child who has left the family circle to help surviving members of the family to draw nearer to God. Those children still live and are a heritage to the Lord." Russell M. Nelson

My Joy

As mothers in Israel, we are the Lord’s secret weapon. Our influence comes from a divine endowment that has been in place from the beginning. In the pre-mortal world, when our Father described our role, I wonder if we didn’t stand in wide-eyed wonder that He would bless us with a sacred trust so central to His plan and that He would endow us with gifts so vital to the loving and leading of His children. I wonder if we shouted for joy at least in part because of the ennobling stature He gave us in His kingdom. The world won’t tell you that, but the Spirit will.

-- Sheri Dew

My heart is still shouting for joy......

Two more weeks with "Turtle"!!!!!

Aka "Little Prince", and "Little Joe" (always sung...from the Little Joe Veggie Tales movie), but mostly his little nick name is "Turtle"!



Ummmmmmm...let me explain.
When I was about 5 months pregnant Briella found a little pacifier attacher thingy that was a plush turtle. Within days, she began calling the baby "Turtle", and somehow, it stuck. And it was just so cute, we kind of got carried away.

The nursery, which was lady bugs for Briella, got transformed rather easily to Ladybugs and turtles!


We made blankets and burpers and hats and bought stuffed turtles....

And searched for turtle clothes....and even had others gift us not only turtle clothes, but turtle pillows, books and more!
Remember his homecoming outfit...

A closer look...

Yep, turtles!

So here is "Turtle's" 2 week birthday shoot!!


Don't let that belly full of milk trick you....at his 2 week weight, he still was just below 7 lbs! And of course, momma taking all those pictures to get just the right ones is exhausting!!!

What a darling little turtle!

Now by his 3 week birthday, he had made it to just over 7 lbs!!! (my favorite homemade blanket and hat!)

And my favorite 3 week pic...all worn out again!

Just so precious!

So what do we all do between weekly birthday shoots??? Well.....



That's why I'm a little behind on blogging!!!! But oh, so worth it! We are all loving finally having him here, and even the brothers will let me pose them for pictures with the littlest Washburn guy! Wait till you see the Mother's Day post....

Here's a sneak peak!

Who knew a turtle could be so adorable?!?!?!?