Ryan & Kerri

Well, it certainly has been a long time. My excuse; I lost my camera charger. What's a post without a picture? Fortunately my new camera came just in time for my brother's wedding! I'm am so happy for him and his beautiful bride Kerri Crosby (as it were)!
She and he are now Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Quinlan. I think it sounds perfect. They were married last Saturday the 24th of September in the Snowflake temple. And what a lovely day it was to have a wedding. They were going for a white theme with accents of the Young Womens value colors (blue, red, green, orange, yellow, purple, and gold). Well, without further ado....

True love

blooms when we care more about another person than we care about ourselves. That is Christ's great atoning example for us, and it ought to be more evident in the kindness we show, the respect we give, and the selflessness and courtesy we employ in our personal relationships.

Jeffrey R. Holland (Created for Greater Things)

Visiting Springerville

My mothers day gift from my amazing mom-in-law. We made hanging flower baskets together. I've never done one before and I really enjoyed it. Momma Lisa (my mother-in-law) said watering them in the morning is almost therapeutic. So I call them my therapy flowers. Here's a picture of my in-laws back yard in the morning ....

...And, here's the front yard later the same day. There's Springerville weather for you. Calen, enjoying his new walker from grandma and grandpa Wilkins (and showing off those two front teeth).

Aaand, a picture Chase got of Calen eating his squash. Yumm!

Some Family Pictures

Mothers Day!

My first (official) Mothers Day. The past five and a half months I've had the privilege of being a mommy. It has been the most difficult and rewarding experience of my life. I also learned something about motherhood that I had never thought of before. Apparently in our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) Mothers Day is a pretty big deal. One of the traditions of most wards is to have a small gift for all the mothers in the ward on Mothers Day. Usually it's a flower or a small chocolate bar, in our ward they gave all the mothers a book called Giver of Life -Lessons From Eve.

'What! My first Mothers Day and no chocolate!?' Actually, this was better. As I read through this small but very enlightening book (it's really more of a pamphlet) the following concept stood out to me.
...When Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit, God appeared to them. He cursed the serpent but (quoting from the book) "In contrast to His cursing the serpent, God strengthened and empowered Adam and Eve." He was giving them opportunities for growth, not punishments. Adam would have to work by the "sweat of his face" and to Eve He said "in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children" as it says in Genesis Ch.3. This is the short version but, it just gave me a new perspective, these were actually great blessings. I don't know if I'd really understand this if I'd read it before I became a mother myself. But in all honesty, motherhood is such an opportunity for growth although at times, (giving birth especially) there is quite a bit of sorrow. Just another example of how much God loves us. He blesses us with such marvelous (difficult but wonderful) experiences that, if we are faithful, will strengthen us more than we ever thought possible.

Ambria's Senior Pictures

Ambria, one of my very best friends in all the world (not to mention my younger sister) is graduating this month so we thought we'd try our luck at getting some senior pictures. Now, I'm no photographer but it wasn't hard to get a good picture of her. She is a beautiful young lady inside and out.

I can't believe how fast he's growing! He'll be six months old on the 14th of this month! He has been sitting up by himself for a week or two and he's learning to hold his bottle and stick out his tongue (I think that part has something to do with that tooth he's got on his bottom gums). It is amazing to me how he learns all these new things. I can't really teach him to hold things or sit up or eat from a spoon, but somehow he just seems to catch on. If babies aren't a testimony that God lives I don't know what is.

And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.

Matthew 18:5

A first time for everything!

During the past few weeks Calen has had a number of "firsts." I just had to post some of them!

First time eating solids (Organic brown rice), he did very well.

First time going down the slide. This one was actually pretty tall and twisted. It surprised him but he seemed to enjoy it. First time going swimming! Other than in the bath tub of course. We got him cute baby swim trunks (to wear over the little swimmer diaper :) but you can't really see them in the picture. We didn't know how he'd react to the water at first but he didn't cry at all, in fact after he'd had some time to get used to it he seemed right at home. Of course dad and mom got to be his coaches. After trying so many new things he needed a nap and didn't want to be bothered. We love our brave little guy.