Spring Baseball

Jack is playing spring baseball!

He is playing on the cardinals this season. 

We all love the throwback jersey's this year celebrating the 75th year of little league.

I love this little boy in uniform.

Jack's team is sponsored by the DONUT KING! 

We try to support them as much as we can.

Jack mainly plays center field. He wanted to get better at playing catcher so over spring break Jason borrowed the gear. Jack still has some growing to do he kept falling over with all those pads!

Several times this season Jason was the umpire for games. 

I love watching both boys in the game it's a two for one special!

Jack has a pretty good cheering section at his games. 

Sometimes it is exhausting being so cute!

We have a couple of weeks left.
I truly love watching baseball and it has been fun watching Jack come to know and play the game.

Kate, Ava and Conference Weekend

Kate and Ava came to visit us for the month of April!

The first day they were here was conference Sunday. It was perfect to spend time becoming reacquainted with Ava and to just soak in time with Kate being here in person!

It is so wonderful to have a baby in the house. 

We all adore Ava, especially Jack. He had to be around her and in every picture.

This was the second year of the outdoor meal after Conference.

It is something that I looked forward to all weekend. I love to eat outside and there is just something about seeing people I love surrounding our table. It makes my heart very happy.

Look at these two. 

It is the sweetest relationship. 

Jack loves Ava and Ava loves Jack!

Conference weekend went way to fast. I always hate to see it end.

 I came away uplifted, loved and inspired. 

It was the perfect weekend.

On April 2, 2014

Sometimes I look at Jack and just want to freeze time. I try to soak up as much of him as I can each day.

Today was a good day. I had promised Jack that he could go swimming. The weather has been nice. There hasn't been a storm for a couple of days so my body was in good shape. As soon as he got in the car he reminded me of my promise. As I sat in the pool I was smitten at how happy he was to be reunited with the water. Plus his toothless  smile gets me every time.

After swimming he told me he wanted to warm up outside. This is what I saw looking out the window!

After dinner we went to his baseball game. I watched the kids warm up. They all looked the same and I couldn't see the numbers so I watched each boys characteristics and found Jack quickly as soon as I saw him run. I love seeing #10 run onto the field. 

When we got home he was resting on the couch watching tv and and he looked so grown up in his uniform but still my little boy with his trusty stuffed animal "Gruff" tucked by his side.

I truly am smitten with this boy!

Sunny Memories

When I got home from Utah I felt great. I had no chest pain while I was there. Then a couple days later a storm rolled in and the pain rolled in as well.

After three days of raining and feeling crummy Sunday came it was a beautiful sunny day. Jason took me on a drive and we had a picnic. We just sat and looked at the waves, ate and watched Jack chase the birds.

It felt good to feel the sun and to feel good for a bit.  I love the quote by President Monson "The Lord gives us memories so that we can experience June roses in the December of our lives." The memory of the day carried me through rough days that followed.

Plus I might have done a little dreaming about what it would be like to own a beach house with a boat like this!

Surprise Trip!

In March I went on a surprise trip to Utah.

Sweet TJ flew me out as a Birthday surprise for Cami!

We had to keep it a secret for over a month, it was one of the hardest things. I talk to her at least once a day and every time we talk we always lament how far away we live from each other.  On her rough days I wanted to say "Don't worry I'm coming, I'm coming to help you!"

TJ was in Florida for work and so I flew home with him. Once we got close to their house he dropped me off around the corner and I walked to their house and rang the doorbell this is what happened after. It was the best surprise!

It was a great break for me. I got to fly on the plane all by myself! I even slept almost the whole flight something that I have NEVER done before! I went to bed when I wanted to and got to be fun Aunt Whitty and shut down mom mode.

For Cami's birthday we did a flower theme. Gracie and I made the cute flower banner together as a secret project. The whole time we were making it Grace kept saying "Mom is going to love it!" It was so sweet. 

For Cami's birthday dinner we went to the Garden restaurant in Salt Lake on top of the Joseph Smith Memorial building. We were there as the sun was setting. The view was incredible.

Because I was alone I got to spend more quality time with Grace and Cooper. 

I love picking up Grace and Cooper from school.

This is how we picked up Grace from school on St. Patrick's Day!

Celebrating the first day of Spring! 

Cami was so excited she made it through the Winter season. I bought her a flower eclair to celebrate with.

 Spending quality time with Cami and the kids on a Sunday!

Cooper even fell asleep on me, bow tie and all!

We kicked off Spring Break with a trip to the children's museum.

We had a fun picnic and played a little baseball on a nice Spring afternoon.

I also got to have major girl time with Grace. We did nails and it was so fun to hear Grace talk about her life.

One of the big reasons I was there was to help be Cami's design assistant. One Saturday we spent 12 hours out shopping for her clients! It was fun and inspiring. I have mad respect for Cami and what she does. She really puts her whole heart into getting the best products and deals for those she is working for. I came home inspired to do more projects on our house! It was exhausting but oh so very very fun. 

I don't know how she does it. It took me days to recover!

It was such a refreshing trip. I needed a break and this was the perfect one. 

It was good to come home and be back with my boys. 

Valentines

I love Valentines day!

Mainly because I love things shaped like hearts and everything is pink and red.

It's all about love. A day to take time to express our love and appreciation to our friends and family.This quote from Elder Uchtdorf sums it up for me.

"Because love is the great commandment, it ought to be at the center of all and everything we do in our own family, in our Church callings, and in our livelihood. Love is the healing balm that repairs rifts in personal and family relationships. It is the bond that unites families, communities, and nations. Love is the power that initiates friendship, tolerance, civility, and respect. It is the source that overcomes divisiveness and hate. Love is the fire that warms our lives with unparalleled joy and divine hope. Love should be our walk and our talk. When we truly understand what it means to love as Jesus Christ loves us, the confusion clears and our priorities align. Our walk as disciples of Christ becomes more joyful. Our lives take on new meaning. Our relationships with our Heavenly Father becomes more profound. Obedience becomes a joy rather than a burden."

Mama went crazy this year with her sugar cookie making. I helped her glaze them and we made a lot of deliveries and kept a few for ourselves.

There was a family dance at Jack's school on valentines day.

We all got dressed up, Jack insisted on the bow tie.

After our pizza dinner we headed to the dance.

The cafeteria was decorated so darling. 

When we first got there Jack was very hesitant and shy.

He waved at some friends but did not approach. Finally after a while the girls started to surround and he broke out of his shell.

Jack with his friends!

I wish I could have gotten a picture of what was happening on the other side of this picture. All these mother's of these little girls were all taking pictures and commenting on how darling Jackson was. 

All night I heard "Oh your Jackson is just so cute."

Jack getting his groove on!

He even danced with me! I felt very special.