Four month smiles and fun!

Totally
Completely
Undeniably
In loveWith this little guy!!

Over the past month, Josiah has found his fingers, voice, and tongue! Get a load of this!


So super cute, huh?

And this one!


And one more for laughs!! (ours, not his)


These are a great representation of Josiah's personality! He is THE MOST pleasant baby I have ever met, and is just a complete little armful of love! Four months later, and we are still thanking the heavens for this wonderful blessing of joy in our home! Every night before I lay him to bed, I whisper into his fuzzy baby hair "Thank you for coming, Josiah. We sure needed you!"

Especially me.

Lights, Camera,...Music Man!

2011 Summer Camp #2....
Credits:
Catherine, Music Director
Kamberlynne, Mrs. Paroo
Christian, Marcellus
Jonah and Indy, School board (quartet)
Rebekah, Amaryllis
Briella (we were all shocked and amazed), band kid in last scene

Wait till you hear Rebekah's song!

Here she is with her "Winthrop"!

And now you might want some popcorn for the video clips!!
"If you don't mind me saying so", featuring Kamberlynne


"Goodnight my Someone" reprise, featuring Bekah (if you only watch one, this should be it!!!)



"Shipoopi", featuring Christian vocally, but keep your eyes out for dancing with Kamberlynne right after Christian sings, then Jonah with the girl in yellow, and Indy right beside him!


"Goodnight ladies" featuring Jonah and Indy


18 seconds of Briella....she's the one holding the flag and diverting her eyes! But she did it!!!!


5 weeks of camp this summer, plus Catherine, Kamberlynne and Christian leaped into the community big time with a show at the local Community College! "Bye Bye Birdie" opens for 6 performances in just over a week! Real Lights, Dressing Rooms, Back Stage, and someone besides Catherine running the audio!! Hooray! Hopefully we'll have some clips of that one, but for now, Music Man is in the books!!!

Blogging for the week...one post at a time!

Ok, so I'm behind. But guess what?!? I did 5 posts today, and figured out how to schedule them to post every couple of days! You know what that means? You won't get stuck reading all the catching up info at one time! Just check back every couple of days, and you'll see new smiles and new info for a whole week! So here we go!

Briella spent a lot of time tagging along in theatre camps this summer, so she and I went out on a mommy daughter date all by ourselves! Ellie got to be the center of attention, and we both loved it! I have to admit, I did have another motive as well. For those of you who know us well, you know we have a secret code name for Briella. Helen. As in Helen Keller. For those of you who know Ellie well, you know exactly why! With as much as she has to say at home and around people she knows, this darling girl is very very VERY timid around strangers. She gets this glazed over look in her eyes, becomes totally devoid of any emotion, is nearly completely unresponsive and barely talks to us. And until recently, will absolutely NOT talk to anyone she doesn't know. The good news is, though, after 5 weeks of theatre camp, she has started to talk to a very few...which is way better than it was! So on our little date, I took Briella out to breakfast in hopes that we could have a little chat about how sometimes we DO need to talk to strangers, like when there is an emergency or when you order food at a restaurant! So after our chat, Briella picked out her breakfast and we practiced her talking to the waiter and ordering. Things were going well... until the waiter came. And then there was Helen. Blank stare. Completely unresponsive. So I ordered for her. And I took a deep breath. And we chatted again. This time we talked about using our words to show good manners and appreciation. We practiced saying thank you for when the waiter would bring our food back, and I crossed my fingers and said a little prayer. Well, friends, it worked! It wasn't perfect, there wasn't eye contact, and for a minute I didn't know if there would be any words, either, but Ellie murmered an unmistakable "thank you for my food" to the waiter! She was so proud of herself-- and so was I!

The chocolate milk was worth it!!! Great job, Briella!

After our breakfast victory, Ellie chose feeding the ducks as our activity! It was a lovely day, and I couldn't help but capture the memories!

And one with momma!

What a super fun outing with my super big girl! I'm grateful in so many ways for this darling, and love to see her blossom!

As much as we love this girl just as she is, "Helen" included, it is a joy to help and see her grow and develop the wonderful attributes God blessed her with! One day we won't even be able to remember her over the top shyness in public...and we probably won't even believe that she was ever "Helen" at all!

Pretty as a Picture!

ummmm.....I mean handsome!

Josiah's 3 month birthday photo shoot...

The Good.

(just so sweet)

(those little fingers...*sigh*)

(oh, those toesies)

The Bad.

(nice slobber)

(wat'cha been drinkin, buddy?)

(that's just kinda creepy)

And the Simply Adorable!

That about says it!

(These pics were taken on our New York Trip at the Johnson Farm near Palmyra. I really am going to blog the trip...I am...sometime...soon!)

All American Smiles!

We pledge allegiance

to the flag

of the United States of America.
And to the republic,
for which it stands,

one nation, under God,
indivisible,

with liberty and justice
for all!

Let Freedom Ring!

July 4th, 2011

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.