First trip to the ER

How big is Lil?  Sooooo big!

 

Our sweet Lily experienced her first trip to the ER.  She was bouncing up and down on the couch in Midway, lost her balance and launched off into the corner of the coffee table.  Yeouch!  Coffee table:1, Lily:0

Poor baby.  Her nose bled and was instantly swollen.  Pictures just don't even do justice but here she is waiting patiently in the Park City ER for her first ever face x-rays. 

 She hated that experience but when they were done taking pictures she was back to her sing-songy, happy, curious self.  And here she is on day 2 in all her swollen, bruised, but happy glory.

 I would point to her in the mirror and say, "Who is that?"  Lily would just stare at her reflection for a while and then say, "Nose".  She knew something wasn't right.  She had many sweet and concerned cousins who were so darling with their little baby Lil.  Love them!

 Day 3: Swelling has gone down a TON (she's starting to look a little more like Lily) and she's getting some sweet color around her eyes.

Seeing our baby scared and hurt and not being able to help her was awful.  Trips to the ER are no fun (whodathunk?) but we realize it could have been so much worse.  I'm so grateful that Brenton was with me when this all happened.  He was so calm and sweet as always.  I was on the verge of tears the entire time.  We were also so lucky to have my sisters around to watch our Claireygirl so we could just focus on Lil.  Thanks sisters!  So proud of our brave little Lil who took it all like a champ!  I'm not sure about this growing up stuff . . . Lily-are you sure you don't just want to stay my tiny little baby doll forever?

Ty guy's baptism

This handsome little guy got baptized.  Such a sharp, fun, sweet boy.  Love him! 

It's what fun is. . .

 

We were able to go to Lagoon with Brenton’s work and boy did we have fun!  I have such fond memories of that place with cousins and friends so it was fun to reminisce and create new memories with our little family.  Obviously the experience now is completely different.  The joys I have now don’t come from making myself sick running from coaster to coaster (although those were good times!).  The joys I experience now come from moments like these:

Watching my little Claire overcome the fear that struck right after this picture was taken.  :)  She ended up giggling the entire ride.

 Lily and Claire each got their own steering wheel-and they took turns with the bell on their little boat.  Every time they came by Brenton and I would cheer and wave and make a scene.  :)  We've gotta live it up while our girls enjoy our doting and attention.  I love cheering on the sidelines with my best friend.  He is the sweetest man.  So hilarious, caring, and kind.  Best dad ever to these girlies.  I won the lottery with that B.

More sisterly bonding in the blue car.  Claire was hoping to get the blue and lucked out.  Ahh.  The simple joys.

 Claire's squeals of delight on bulgy the whale.  This girl can't get enough of that ride!

 She somehow convinced Lily to join her on this one as well.  Can you tell who's a bit nervous for the ride to start?

 Bulgy the Whale does not hold the same honored place in Lily's heart as it does for Claire.  She was not lovin' this.  So Claire wrapped her arm around her sister and comforted her as best she could.  I might've teared up a little (totally teared up).  Brenton and I looked at each other with such gratitude and admiration for our sweet Clairebedoos who reached out to help her little buddy-unprompted by either of us. 

 The train and the ride that takes you from one end of the park to the other really are so stinkin' fun when you're with littles.  Everything is magical and so great to see through their eyes.

We also rode the skyscraper a few times and thoroughly enjoyed the view from up there.  It was so nice to be with my family "so way up high in the sky" as Claire put it. 

Turns out that for us-Lagoon really is what fun is.

Quatro

Not quite sure how we went from this . . .

To this . . . 

 Fastest four years of my life!  Claire is such a special girl.  We are so lucky to have her in our family!  She slept in until 9:30 (happy birthday to everyone!) and was so excited to come and open her presents.  She had stayed up late the night before as she could hear Brenton and I assembling one of her new and exciting presents.  :)  She kept coming by the front room (without looking in) and asking us how everything was coming along.  Needless to say, she was pretty excited to come around the corner to see her brand new-

   Kitchen!  She loves this thing!

She requested some yummy pancakes (4 tinys and one shaped like a 4) with strawberry syrup.

 Yep.  I'm dyslectic.  Totally didn't realize it was backwards until AFTER I took the pic.

 And then she wanted a quiet day with me and Lil.  We went to the aquarium to see the "yucky octopus", seahorses, and funny penguins.

 She had her favorite "macanoni and cheese" for dinner and then presents and cupcakes with Grandma and Grandpa McD. 

 Again with the kitchen in her fancy new jammies from Grandma!

 

 Here she is blowing out FOUR candles on her piece of Ranchy toast.  Yep.  That is toast with ranch dressing per her request.  I love my funny little four-year-old-peanut.

Knoxville Tennessee

Knoxville Tennessee has no idea how lucky it is about to get.  :)  My parents are going to serve there as Mission Presidents for the next three years.  Yee-haw!  I'm not gonna lie, I was crossing my fingers for Anaheim California, but the more we learn about Knoxville, the more excited we get.

My dad documented the occasion of opening the call for our family newsletter:

"Since we were in Hawaii, we had our kids pick it up and then we arranged for a group Skype session between Hawaii, Murray, Provo and Milwaukee as the letter was opened. Emily certainly has a future as an MC of an awards show as she did all she could to finally get out the words Tennessee Knoxville. She talked slower than someone with a southern drawl. We are way excited to serve there and are so blessed that some of our friends in our ward, Ernie and Sylvia Smith, served in that same spot from 1999-2002. The current President, James Griffin, is an ENT from Little Rock, Arkansas. He told us his first interview was with Elder Russell M. Nelson back in 2007. He also told us that the home we will live in was purchased in 1993 and was dedicated by Elder Nelson at that time. Small world isn’t it? We have purchased the Rosetta Stone language tapes for the Southern dialect and hope to have them completed by July."

 Wish there was a way to get Lindsay there from the Provo MTC.  She was there in spirit for sure!

 

 

I'm not sure why I got to be the one to read it, but it was sure fun!