A day in Bethlehem

Yes, yes I know. It's too early for Christmas, but you have to see this! This was a fun day! I can't wait to see what our friends Sharon and Sanae do with all of these great pictures. Guess we'll have to wait 'till December to find out. ;)

Click HERE!

For They Shall Be Comforted

I have this really wonderful friend, Camille. We met while serving in a primary presidency many years ago where she was the secretary who was always a step ahead on everything. Our families became friends. Eternal friends! I will forever be grateful for her friendship, for her listening ear and for her love. Camille is perfect! :) She has set a very perfect example of what a hard working, caring, loving mother, wife and friend should be.

Camille wrote this amazing book, "For They Shall Be Comforted; Grieving the Loss of a Child." It actually came out in the spring of this year. I went and bought it right away, however I was pregnant with TJ at the time and so couldn't bring myself to read it quite yet. I had been staring at the beautiful cover for too long and finally opened it up. Once I started I could not put it down. I NEEDED this book! I know I will read it again and again just to feel the spirit of eternity that is felt when you read it. I really loved reading Camille's very detailed and intimate thoughts about the loss of her son and daughter. I loved reading what she went through, how she dealt with it, how others around her dealt with it, what we can do to help others that are going through it, and how we can remember those precious spirits that we were so excited to love and to hold.

I cried a lot! At first I tried to read it in public while sitting at gymnastics or something, because I didn't want to cry, but then I realized I couldn't do that. I did want to cry and sometimes we all just need to cry and the thing about it was, it was mostly tears of joy. Tears of peace, love and comfort.

I really do recommend this book to everyone! We all handle grief like this in so many different ways. Most things Camille wrote about I would think, YES I remember thinking that exact way or feeling that exact way. Other things were completely different than what happened with me, but it helped me so much to know what other women and families might be going through. If you have ever lost a child, whether it be through "miscarriage, stillbirth, or early infant death", or you want to be there for someone who has, I recommend this book to you! There are journal entries, book references, scripture references and most of all a VERY strong spirit in this book.
Families ARE forever!

Click HERE for an announcement of Camille's book on her blog:

Click HERE to see an article that was in the Casper Star Tribune


Thank you Camille!! Love ya!!

A Weekend Home!

We are finally home! We have had a couple of fun and crazy weekends traveling and we have been so glad to be back home this weekend. The pictures above were from my trip to Laramie last weekend for Jackson and Morgan's wedding reception. Since we all went to Vegas and the older girls had things going on, we decided I would just take Emily and TJ this time. It was so fun! Emily, being the sweet middle child that she is, loved the time alone with Mommy! And I loved the time with her! Isn't she too beautiful?!

Getting back into the routine didn't take long. There was lots to do. We had tons of visitors this week too. DJ came on Tuesday night with 2 of her kids. I always love talking with her. Then on Wednesday night Matt's parents came for just the night (and KILLED us in a game of spades!). My cousin Kelly was also with us Wednesday night. He has been staying every Wednesday and Thursday night for a while and will be for a while longer. He is really the easiest house guest to have as he has to work until really late and leave pretty early the next morning. The girls look forward to seeing him in the morning and Kierra has become his little buddy. (I wish I had pictures of all our wonderful houseguests! Maybe next time!)



Kelly brought us a good bucket of tomatoes last week. So Matt made and canned some salsa out of that. Then, this year our peach trees went crazy. We had maybe 10 peaches last year. This year we had a couple of buckets and a wheelbarrow load. Friday is my only day that we have absolutely nothing going on, so yes, on my birthday, I spent all day canning and then cleaning to get ready for the baby shower the next day. That sounds horrible doesn't it, but it was an awesome, productive day and I still had an amazing birthday. Thursday night I got to go out for dinner with the amazing ladies below. Friday morning I woke up to cards and gifts from the best girls and husband ever and then that night after I finally got cleaned up we also went out to dinner. It was a great day! Matt is amazing! He is so great at getting the girls involved and making it a perfect day!





Today was also a great day! The baby shower for Heather and her sweet little Ellie was so wonderful! These two have been showered with so many gifts already so Kelly decided to do a book shower! Perfect huh?! It was so fun and the crazy thing is that with ALL of the many books they got, only 2 were doubled. Now they just need a book shelf to put them all on! ;)



So that is it! It was a great weekend. After the shower we all just relaxed. The girls played, I even stole a small nap and now here are my sweet girls downstairs watching a movie and eating popcorn. This is the best bedtime routine ever!! Good night!

Here's a good laugh!

Sorry that I haven't posted for a while. I get on the computer a lot but can usually only double click with one hand while the other is holding a baby. Sometimes I laugh out loud while trying to get the baby to sleep and this was one of those times!

My Wish

Thomas Jay Gardner

TJ is so handsome in his blessing outfit! I love his little vest and boutonniere. He cried during the blessing (which, come to find out, I did too (in my blessing and his)), but we were still able to hear it. Matt is such an amazing father. I'm thankful for him and the priesthood he holds and uses to bless our family. It was an amazing day! I wish I had taken pictures of all of the family we had here. We love the love and support we always feel from both of our families. We are so blessed!

I still wish I could get this song, "Little Guy" on my playlist. I call TJ my Little Guy or Little Man all of the time. I do love the Rascal Flatts song though. If you cry when you listen to it, it must be a good song right?!

Jackson and Morgan

Wow! Look at that family! Jackson and Morgan were Married on Saturday, September 5 in Vegas. They were so sweet. While waiting around for things to start, Jackson just could not stop smiling. It was awesome to see the look on his face, first when he saw Dylan and Chloe and then when he saw Morgan. She was such a beautiful bride! We are so excited to have her in our family! They are an amazing family!

We had to take a couple of pictures while waiting for things to start!



Check out those boys! Don't my Dad and brothers look great in pink!





Dylan and Chloe were so beautiful! Sorry Dylan--I mean you were handsome!





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Friday night we drove to Vegas and Stayed with Matt's Aunt and cousin (his other cousin was at a sleepover). We had fun visiting with them for a little while. Then just a random picture of the girls at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a quick trip down and back but definitely worth it!