the first day of our lives...

Eyelashes

2013-02-10T21:53:00.001-07:00

Adele loves pulling people's eyelashes. Ammon likens it unto my obsession with ears. It's super painful. Ammon thinks it's adorable. We finally compromised and give Adele one of Emma's dolls when she's in the lash-pulling mood. It is pretty cute to watch...when it's not your eye.

Our turn!

2013-02-10T07:56:00.001-07:00

It's our turn to play with Mel and Oak for a week!! The girls are having way too much fun! Mel and Emma are inseparable and even enjoyed the snow (which is a first, since Mel hated it last time)! Oak's favorite thing to do is stand over the heater vents when they are on. She thinks it's hilarious when her shirt gets puffy. Hahaha why does every girl do that? :)

Can't wait to see what adventures we'll have! Our first looks like it'll be surviving this snow storm! Yikes!!

Besss Fraannnsss

2013-01-27T00:22:00.001-07:00

I love that these two love playing together. I just wish I can get a pic that's not blurry. #fwp

I hope they stay best friends. They're different enough, so it might just happen...when they're 23 and 20. :)

Days off

2013-01-21T23:19:00.001-07:00

We love when Daddy has days off! Today we went to the mall (among other places) to see how much money Emma needs to save to get her ears pierced. Basically I'm stalling because I'm nervous for her! A mall visit is never complete without a ride on a mall money waster. The girls love this ice cream truck the best. Adele is beyond serious when it comes to steering and honking the horn. She's intense and screams the second it stops and you pry her hands from the steering wheel. Emma prefers serving the goods and posing for pics. :)

Mantra

2013-01-18T22:29:00.001-07:00

My new one. Even though it's cheesy. :)

Nicest neighbors

2013-01-15T22:02:00.001-07:00

Our neighbor, Ron, came over on Saturday showing us a nice coat he got from SAMs club for a super discount deal. Naturally, we were interested. Today, this coat showed up on our door.

Nicest neighbor!!

Blessed

2013-01-14T20:26:00.001-07:00

My brother, Logan, got into a motorcycle accident tonight. A few days after hearing he got a bike, I had a dream that he died. I'm glad that dream only partially came true. He had 2 broken knees, a broken arm, and a broken thumb. Extremely lucky. Everywhere his temple garments touched was perfectly fine. So grateful he decided to be endowed and sealed. So grateful for temple covenants. Who knows what would have happened tonight if he hasn't gone through the temple!

Visitors

2013-01-12T22:51:00.001-07:00

It's always fun to have family and friends visit. My brother Logan and his family came up for a quick day trip. It was fun to play in the freezing snow, have the girls play, and have Logan and Ammon jam together.

Thanks for the visit! We miss you already!

FHE

2013-01-08T23:15:00.001-07:00

I forgot to post about FHE last night. Emma decided she wanted to do FHE on the Tree of Life (thanks, Living Scriptures!). Ammon and I unwound his ginormous climbing rope all over the house. I told her she had to get to the end of the rope, but she was not allowed to let go of the rope no matter what. I then gave her the start of the rope and turned off all the lights. It was DARK!! Emma is super scared of the dark. I totally thought she would freak out. Ammon stayed close by whispering encouragement to her. I stayed further away telling her to let go because the dark is really scary. She kept telling me, "it's not scary, Jesus will help me". I was a teary-eyed proud mom! She got to the end of the rope super fast, and got to eat her giant bowl of ice cream. I was so impressed by her faith and testimony! She is so sweet and full of tenderness! Love my Emma!

Today...

2013-01-07T23:22:00.001-07:00

...was pretty much this (see below) until about 4 when I finally let her cry herself to sleep. Adele is not the best sleeper when Sundays ruin her schedule. Who even invented 1:00 church? Ugh!!

On a happier note, I started another semester of dance, Emma had an awesome morning before school (first time without a major meltdown), I went visiting teaching, and we passed income review on a government program to refi our underwater house in Gilbert!! Hooray!!!

Hoping Adele sleeps through the night tonight, and that tomorrow is much less eventful. :)

Lesson learned today:
Prayers are always answered.

Climbing

2013-01-05T22:27:00.001-07:00

Ammon went rock climbing in Sedona today. My girls (and I) slept in til 10:30. Don't know who had a better day.

Adele gets her climbing skills from Daddy. The girl cannot walk. Yet, she can do a somersault (I need to post video of that) and climb up absolutely everything. My favorite ones are when she goes through the puppet show stage at the library, and when she's straddling two toys.

Who is this girl?

Utah

2013-01-04T21:55:00.001-07:00

On Christmas Day, we packed the car and headed to Utah to spend some time with Ammon's family.

We had a lot of fun visiting Ammon's whole family since we don't get to see everyone very often.

Ammon made a snow cave, which the girls loved playing in. We went ice skating, which Emma absolutely loved doing, and Adele absolutely loved watching through the plexiglass. :)

Adele and Emma loved family jam sessions. Emma even contributed. Adele just rocked out from her perch on a guitar case. Emma loves her grandma and aunts, while Adele bonded more with grandpa and her uncles.

Only wish we lived closer so we could hang out more...and so we wouldn't have to put ourselves through the 8-hour torture of Adele screaming to get out of her carseat. So glad Emma was a sweetheart and so great on the road!

We miss everyone already!! <3

Christmas

2013-01-04T21:44:00.001-07:00

We spent Christmas as a family of four this year! It was wonderful!

Christmas Eve we ate yummy homemade chicken noodle soup, then reenacted the nativity. Emma was Mary. Adele was a lamb (she totally mastered the Baaaa). Ammon was the narrator. And I was everything else. We then "gave gifts to Jesus" by writing down ways we could be better next year.

We then opened jammies and family gifts, read Christmas stories, and jumped into bed before Santa arrived.

Emma awoke first on Christmas morning, and was the one to break through the wrapping paper Santa left. Adele awoke shortly after...totally dazed and confused. Emma loved every gift from Santa, and even helped Adele open her gifts.

After presents, Ammon made crepes and and gave us all gifts. It was a fabulous morning!! So glad we decided to be together this year. We are hoping to make a tradition out of it! 🎄

Adele One Year

2013-01-04T21:28:00.001-07:00

Adele is my feisty one. She doesn't take "no" for an answer. She screams until she gets what she wants, and she holds her own against her four-year-old sister: pulls her hair, hits, and takes all Emma's toys away. Her favorite thing to do is to throw everything out of a compartment, then climb inside.

I (my mom and sister-in-law, Jen) finally got Adele to take a bottle at 10.5 months when I had to be gone for 24 hours. On her 1st birthday, she started taking a binky (see below). She crawled at around 7 months and still isn't walking in her own. She'll cruise around walls and furniture, but sits or lunges forward when you try to get her to walk. However, she has managed to master a somersault. Go figure.

Adele isn't a great eater. She loves applesauce and chocolate. But not in that order. If she doesn't like what you offer her, she will either hit the spoon (or your hand) or pick it up and throw it on the floor. If you are lucky and it ends up in her mouth, she'll spit it out and throw it on the floor. She's not super picky, but good luck trying to guess what she's in the mood for.

Adele hates carseats with a passion. She will scream until she gets out, falls asleep, or you give her chocolate.

Adele is my cuggler. She LOVES being held, and will nuzzle you. She loves kisses and hugs. She'll blow kisses and wave at complete strangers. Such a flirt.

Adele loves climbing on EVERYTHING! How can she not walk yet? Daddy loves it, but Mommy gets annoyed of finding Adele in the dishwasher, in cabinets, on top of Emma's two-story bed, and dangling head first off the arm of the couch.

Adele says: Mama, Dada, Baba (or Baaa when talking about sheep), Hoo (for an owl), Dudu, and she also loves babbling all sorts of various "words". She's much more vocal than Emma was.

Her first birthday was fun! We had the Russells and Clarks over for dinner, cake, ice cream, and presents. Adele inhaled the cake (see below), and was awesome at opening gifts.

Nicknames:
Deli
Deli Belli
Deli Bells
Belli
Bells
Sister
Adeli
Turtle
Squish
Crazy

Here's to hoping she walks before 18 months, I can take her binky away at 18 months, and her terrible twos start and end early like Emma's!! Love you, Bells!!

Anyone else have a hard time disguising their handwriting?

2012-12-07T22:03:00.001-07:00

I guess I'll have to do this again for myself in 11 days. Awkward.

This hour officially marks the start of my labor one year ago. Ammon had just taken a NyQuil and gone to bed. I was getting ready for bed and wondering if tonight would be the night I would get to meet my sweet Little Miss Adele. Little did I know that my labor would begin 45 min later and I would be holding my little mini-me only 3 hours later. She has forever changed our family.

Tonight we were cuggling on the couch while watching a movie, and I couldn't help but think of how loved and blessed I am. Love my girls. Love my main man. Love the Lord.

Short but sweet

2012-12-02T11:14:00.001-07:00

I've realized that blogging has overwhelmed me lately as I try to catch up with our busy lives. So, I've decided to post a pic daily with a short caption. Here's the last couple days (yes, the pics are in a weird order, but I bet you're smart enough to figure it out since I'm not smart enough to figure thus Blogger app out)...

Emma and I went to the Lollipop Concert (kids Nutracker shortened) with friends Bethanie and Dione Russell. Super fun new tradition!

Adele hates her car seat. In an effort to get her to stop screaming, I tried reaching back and feeding her GoGurt. She was so mad that she squeezed it. Everywhere.

We started Elf on the Shelf. Day one Bob brought Emma a sucker back from the North Pole. Day two Bob was getting a piggy back ride from the angel on top of our tree.

We've had two rounds of the stomach flu at our house in the last two weeks. Round one was awful for Emma, but round two was worse! I got the dreaded "your kid is puking" call from preschool. Adele missed round one, but definitely made up for it during round too. Poor pukers!!! On the good side, Emma has finally learned to throw up in a bowl!!!

Oh yeah... we bought a house.

2012-07-09T22:49:00.000-07:00

Front view. Obviously. (The minty-green color of the house is temporary.)

Driveway to the garage AND Jes's studio (that second garage behind the house). Photos of studio below.

Entry way. Furniture forthcoming.

View into entertainment room.

Front room.

Kitchen. The plan is to remove the half-wall/counter and set an island/bar in the middle.

More kitchen.

Office.

Master Turtle's room.

Bean's room.

Master. Clearly, the previous owners loved green. Note curtains.

Back deck.

Side deck.

View from the backyard. Just beyond the trees is Hole 5 of the Country Club Golf Course.

Jes's dance studio. A shout out to Craig Brown (aka The General Contractor aka Master Carpenter) for his help putting this together.

Another view of the studio. For more info on Jes's growing business go to dancevolutionflagstaff.blogspot.com.

Of course, it wouldn't be Flagstaff without a beautiful mountain view. That's Mount Elden through the pines.

4 years

2012-07-09T21:19:00.003-07:00

Happy 4th Birthday, Miss Emma-bean!

So excited that we survived those "terrible twos" and "worse-than-terrible threes". Emma is actually much happier, a much better listener, and has a super fun personality!

Stats:

39 lb. 10 oz. (81st) 44.2 inches tall (97th...off the charts) BMI - 14.3 (17th...we're doing our part to fight childhood obesity haha)

Nicknames:
Emma-bean

And...that's about it :)

Facts:

*Emma has a mind of her own and it is REALLY hard to change it! She refuses to let me pick her outfits. Period.

*Emma has to match Adele almost daily. If Emma gets dressed before Adele and Adele doesn't have an outfit that matches with Emma's, Emma changes. Makes for a long morning.

*Emma also gets tired of outfits. She'll change AT LEAST 3 times a day. Makes for lots of laundry, which I've now taught her how to sort before washing and put away after washing.

*Emma is very social. She loves hanging out with friends, and she has LOTS of friends (so not me).

*Emma asks deep questions! Instead of just asking "why" to things, she'll ask, "Mom, how come that man is driving a cart?" "What happened to his leg?" "When can he walk again?" etc.

*Lately Emma has been really into relationships. When I get off the phone with my mom, she'll say, "Who was that?" "Your mom or dad's mom?"

Miss Steffanie: Emma's Preschool teacher that we will miss dearly!

Emma's new bike for her birthday. Complete with a seat in the back for Adele...or her doll.

The new bike gang is in town

On Emma's real birthday, we invited her friend Alora to Peter Piper Pizza. Emma won the jackpot--literally--at one game. Here are her 200 tickets that she won from just one token.

With 20 tokens, Emma and Alora won 602 tickets. Half of their tokens just went to rides, so I have NO IDEA how they won so many!!

Emma's first soccer game with friends--Kaybree and Bethanie.

Emma's Spring Dance Recital to a 50's mix. The picture pretty much captures everyone's personalities.

Lollipop...lollipop....

Workin' it.

Emma's birthday party--Pop Star themed.

Little Divas: Alora, Maren, Emma, Bethanie, Sabrina. Special thanks to Madi for lending her dance costumes.

6 Months

2012-06-24T16:36:00.001-07:00

Adele my belle is nearly 7 months, so now would be perfect timing for our 6-month post, right? :)

Stats:
13 lb. 13 oz. (10th) 25.8 in long (38th) at 42.8 cm circumference (61st)

Nicknames:
Adeli
Deli
Deli-cate
Delicatessen
Deli-two-testine (Emma's version of Delicatessen)
Del
Coronado (del)
Belle
Deli Belly
Deli Belly Jelly Bean
Jelly Bean (because we call her sister Emma-bean)
Turtle
Yes, it appears that her nicknames list is bigger than she is. That's what happens when you've got an older sister. :)

Facts:
*Aside from a 2-week lapse of waking up every 20 minutes during the night, Adele sleeps 8-10 hours at night before eating and going back to sleep.
*Adele is a very happy baby who smiles and everyone and everything.
*Adele LOVES the guitar. She's Ammon's very best audience in the house by FAR! She smiles, squeals, and stares at him at all the proper moments.
*Although we've heard Adele say a few consonants, she mostly squeals to make noise. She's quite the loud squawker!
*Adele STILL does not take a bottle!! NOT KIDDING! The only time she's done it is for 2 oz of pedialite when the three girls all had the tummy flu at the same time. SUPER fun!
*Adele does not take a pacifier, her thumb, or anything else that can help her self-soothe. Instead, she uses me as a pacifier. Awesome.
*Deli finally likes some solids, which helps babysitters since she doesn't take bottles. She only likes fruit. She'll take some oatmeal, and attempts at sweet potatoes. And...that's about it. It explains her weight, huh? Couldn't be more opposite than Emma!!
*Speaking of Emma, they are SUCH great friends...it's adorable! I love it!
*Adele has no muscle whatsoever. She rolls both ways, but is definitely a Weeble when it comes to sitting up. We're hoping she walks by kindergarten. :)

Here are some recent pics...

Einstein turtle

Love my Deli-two-testine!

4 Months

2012-04-13T22:11:00.002-07:00

Where has the time gone? I seriously cannot believe that Adele is already 4 months. However, she is still way more of a baby than Emma was at 4 months, which I love, so I guess it's okay. :)

Adele's Top 10 Update:
1) She's itty bitty still. 10th percentile for weight (don't worry...doctors say she's growing/developing perfectly), 50th percentile for height, and 50th percentile for head size. According to her doctor, "she's going to be a string bean like her mom". Gotta love genes.
2) She's absolutely content doing anything and everything...as long as she's near her mom. Adele is a total mommy's girl. She will freak out if anyone tries holding her unless she can see me. She's happy playing with toys by herself or with Emma, she's happy during tummy time, she's happy in the Bumbo, she's happy in her car seat, she's just one happy girl! The only downside is that she really doesn't try to roll over at all because she's perfectly content on her tummy or back. The only time she cries is if she's hungry, wet, or poopy.
3) She sometimes take a binkie...woohoo! It gives me a break if we are in the car and she suddenly decides that she is hungry.
4) She will not take a bottle. Will not. We've tried the whole leave-the-room (or house)-and-have-someone-else-give-it-to-her thing. We've tried breast milk and formula. She will starve until I finally decide that it's not worth the suffering for either of us. :)
5) She hates rice cereal. Our first experience was beyond frustrating. She not only gagged and spit up most of it, but what little she did eat, she spent throwing up all night long until she dry-heaved. Probably not going to try that again until 6 months!
6) She absolutely adores Emma. Adele will squirm when she hears Emma's voice, and arch around to see where she is. She totally lights up...it's so stinky cute! :)
7) Adele giggles the most girly giggle ever. The only problem is that she will only giggle for me, and sometimes Emma. See post below.
8) She is quite the talker! Adele jabbers all day long...unless you are trying to video it, naturally. :)
9) Adele is still our swaddle queen! It sounds ridiculous, but whenever she is overly tired, the only way she will sleep is by being swaddled. It is so adorable!
10) Adele constantly has her tongue out. This is how she earned her nickname "Turtle Tongue". Other nicknames include: button nose, sister friend, delly bells, and peanut.

"Ohhh"

I'm cute and I know it.

Turtle Tongue

Bumbo Time!

Happy Easter!

Emma loves her Madi Mads!

oh the things moms do...

2012-04-11T13:29:00.001-07:00

...for a laugh...

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

my cute little squeaker is all grown up! Happy 4 months my Little Miss Adele!

BYU...BYU...

2012-02-21T14:59:00.000-07:00

Adele at 2 months

9 lbs. 7 oz. (9th percentile)

22.5 in. long (50th percentile)

15.35 in. circumference (50th percentile)

As you can see, being sick really took a toll on her weight. :( When she was born, she was at 22nd percentile (yep, my body kept fighting her off), by 2 weeks she was at the 65th percentile (my milk is cream, basically), and then 6 weeks later she dropped all the way to the 9th (dang mucus). We're trying to fatten her up a little so that her weight check in 2 weeks will bring happier news...despite this dang cold she has again. Can a girl get a break?!?!

Adele is the easiest baby. Strangely, she doesn't really like to be held. She's super content just sitting on the floor as you talk to her. The best part is that she doesn't like to be rocked to sleep. You just wrap her up, lay her down, and boom...out like a light!

When Adele's not awake and smiling/talking at you, she's asleep. But then again...sometimes she's asleep and smiling at you. :) Anyone recognize this pose while sleeping?? Yep, she's a Brown!

My little Miss Emma is such a great big sis! Here she is entertaining Adele while getting ready for dance.

...And when we're sitting in the parking lot feeding sister during our errands, she's content to play with my phone while we wait. :)

Mountain Dew sponsored a ski/snowboarding event in Flagstaff a few weekends ago. They laid snow down San Francisco street (main street). The courthouse that Ammon works at is on the right.

Here they are digging to put in rails...

...here is a box and stairs...

...holy rail! I would be surprised if they got going fast enough to really do it.

Most of our nights are spent like this.

Ammon was recruiting at BYU and UofU for his work, so the girls and I tagged along so his family could meet Adele. Thanks Gramma Mommy for all the adorable matching outfits in the subsequent pics. :)

Here is Aunt Becki with the girls' only cousins on the Barker side: Sabrina (pink?) and Fiona (purple?). I can only guess at which one is which, so Becki & Dallin will have to correct me in the comments. :)

While Ammon was at BYU one day, I decided to take the girls on a walk down memory lane. Here they are SO excited about it. :)

Walking into the Wilk...

Hitting up the bookstore...

Eyring Science Center...Emma's FAVORITE place! Looks like we have a science major on our hands. :)

Emma loved the JSB. She was super reverent and spent forever looking at the statue of Joseph Smith.

Eating snacks by the JFSB.

MATH LAB!!! hahaha I was so excited about this! I spent my entire last 2 years here. I wanted to take a pic of Emma holding up a stick (that we used to do if we had a question), but sadly they got rid of that ridiculous system.

Adele loved the math lab! :)

LRC (now "Media Center"...lame) was BARE! Apparently once everyone decided to take their laptops around with them, there was no need to socialize by computers.

If only they had this 8 years ago. It would have made me very happy!

Once we got the girls some t-shirts, Emma went all over campus chanting "BYU...BYU...". I made sure to ask her where she was going to go to school every 5 seconds. Look, Gramma Mommy, we found a BYU pez to add to her collection!!

This is how I would find Ammon every time he wasn't answering his cell when we were dating. He would be sleeping in the atrium at the bottom of the library. No, not with his hand up...he would have a book on his chest.

Here's Adele glowing and talking to her only great-grandma still alive.

Emma's head exploded when great-grandpa showed her the trains!

Here is the princess castle they built together. Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa were so good to sit on the floor and play with Emma the entire 2 hours we were there. She loved every second of it!

Grandma Zoom and Grandpa Bike got Emma a...bike...naturally. :) It's one of those crazy no-pedal ones that's supposed to teach you how to balance first. Everyone in Flagstaff has one. Hoping it'll work with a little (a lot of) practice! :)

stinky cute

2012-01-21T22:39:00.000-07:00

Emma is notorious for making phrases her own. She constantly calls Adele "so stinky cute" as she grits her teeth and plays with her ears. Yes, she gets that from me, so I have a hard time reprimanding her. :) Poor Adele!

Major update:
Adele has been sick for 4 out of the 6 weeks she's been alive. (Is breast really best? That's an entirely different post). This last cold she's gotten has made her cough so hard that she throws up an entire feeding. The only good thing about this is that I've pumped a lot and now have a freezer full of milk...just in case I decide to sell it someday (since Adele isn't a bottle fan). The last day or so she is finally doing much better, which has allowed me to start sleeping at least a few hours at a time. I no longer have to jump up every time she coughs to see if she's still breathing or needing a wardrobe change.

Adele has started smiling more than a gas bubble smile. Although I wouldn't say she's entirely aware she's doing it, it still melts our hearts. She is also trying to make noises, which is completely adorable! Emma is a tough teacher, though. She gets frustrated when Adele doesn't mimic her back OR doesn't cover her mouth when she sneezes and coughs. :)

Adele has also acquired some interesting nicknames: button nose, baby seeter, master turtle, and monkey. They all mainly refer to the face she is making at that moment.

Adele has actual ROLLS! At her 2-week check-up, she had already gained 2 pounds. She then, she's started getting rolls on her legs, which is completely adorable! Since she's been throwing up a lot lately, she probably is losing some weight, but I'm hoping to fatten her back up in time for her 2-month check.

First real tub time...

...wouldn't be complete without sister. :)

One Month Old!

I missed her "smile", but here is the ending of it.

Finally got some light on that adorable face!

Emma sporting her booty she got from a friend's birthday party. She's been watching too much "Hook".

Prepping for their snowball fight

Emma's first snowman of the season...we finally got enough snow! Thanks, Aunt Jess for the snowman accessory kit...it was PERFECT!

We decided to take a trip to the Grand Canyon since admission was free. Here we are eating at the Wendy's before the park. We also ran into a family from our ward...small world? :)

Beautiful!

It was FRIGID, but that only made it more fun!

Don't worry...Adele was warmer than we were. She had a onesie, fleece jammies, a winter bodysuit, a wool carseat cover, the sunshades for both the car seat and stroller (forming a tent), and 2 blankets on top. She was toasty!

Warming up in the observation room...Emma loved the binocs!

At 6 weeks old, we took Emma to Hawaii. At 6 weeks old, Adele gets to go to the snowy Grand Canyon. Good thing neither kid will remember any of it. At least we have pics! :)

Adele's monkey toes that she gets from Mom. If you put your finger under her toes, she will literally grip them.

Aunt Jenn made this adorable Candy Cane outfit for my December baby. It's a 0-3 months outfit, and NOW just barely fits. :) Thanks again, Jenn...we love it!

Emma thought Adele's outfit looked like Strawberry Shortcake, so she had to throw on her Halloween costume from last year to match baby sister.

My gorgeous model

LOVE HER!

Turtle tongue...look how long that thing is!

CUTEST picture! Yes, they both have their hands like that. I'm totally blowing this up and hanging it in Ammon's office with the sign, "This is why I have kids".

Peer Pressure

2012-01-08T14:24:00.000-07:00

1. Emma has been wanting to bear her testimony in Sacrament Meeting for several months now after she saw her friend do it. The rule in our ward, though, is that the kids have to do it themselves without their parents feeding them their testimony. So, I asked the mom of Emma's friend that goes up every Fast Sunday how she get her son to do it. She said they just practice at home. For FHE last week, we learned about testimonies and took turns bearing our testimonies.

When the bishop stood up to bear his testimony right after the Sacrament, Emma said she wanted to go next. I told her she had to wait for him to sit down. Halfway through his testimony, she said she was too scared to go. I told her that was fine...she didn't have to bear her testimony in Sacrament Meeting if she didn't want to. Then her friend Caleb bore his testimony, and her friend Bethanie went up (even though she was too scared to bear her testimony). I decided to bear my own testimony, and Emma said she wanted to go with me. I had her sit up at the stand next to the Stake President (our ward is his home ward) while I went first. After I went, she stood up at the podium. She said, "I want to bear my testimony. I know Jesus loves me. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." Precious!

2. Last week, Emma was assigned to give a talk this week in Primary. Yes, it happened to be only her second week in Primary. I asked Caleb's mom (who makes all her kids--no matter what age--memorize their talks) for any tips on how to make a talk age appropriate. I asked her preschool teacher for any tips on how to specifically help Emma be successful. After gathering lots of information, we finally designed a talk that was right for Emma. We practiced her talk (or tried to) all week long. I was SO nervous for her! I didn't want her to have a bad experience since public speaking is a big deal in life.

When we got into Primary today, Emma was visibly nervous. When it was her turn to give her talk, she jumped up, and ran to the front. She quietly said:

"Agency is choosing.

I chose to come to earth (holding a picture of the earth).

I can choose to pray (holding a picture of someone praying).

I can choose to read my scriptures (holding a picture of someone reading their scriptures).

I can choose to be baptized (holding a picture of someone being baptized).

I can choose to be married in the temple (holding a picture of a couple in front of the temple).

I know Jesus loves me.

I love to read the scriptures.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen"

Flawless! I was SOO proud of my little Sunbeam! She was so proud of herself, too. Success!!

Peer pressure works really well for Emma. She's competitive enough that when she knows that her peers are watching, she wants to do a good job (or a better job than they did). Hopefully that will only help her in life and not make her lose friends. :) Love you, Emma-bean!

P.S...Happy 1-month to my lil Miss Adele!

Adele's Baby Blessing

2012-01-02T21:53:00.003-07:00

We were very fortunate to have both sets of Adele's grandparents (and her favorite Aunt Mads) join us for her baby blessing despite the fact that it was on New Year's Day. It was a gorgeous Flagstaff day, an emotionally beautiful blessing, and a super yummy meal afterwards.

The blessing was totally fitting for our sweet Adele. It reminded me that the Lord is mindful of each of His children. He knows all His children and what they are in need of. I am so grateful that Ammon is a worthy priesthood holder and able to be in tune with the Spirit.

Taking a break from the scratchy dress

<3 Sisterly Love <3

First Family of Four pic

with Gramma and Grampa Brown

with Gramma Zoom and Grampa Bike

She ADORES her Daddy

...and for the million pics of the girl of the day in her gorgeous dress :)...

We love you, our precious Adele!