Busy Weekend

My wonderful mother-in-law and friend, Mary, was honored by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers for her many years of service, including ten years as their International President, on Saturday afternoon. A tree was planted in her honor on the lawn of the state capitol and a plaque was also placed there. It was a nice ceremony and she definitely deserves the recognition. I'm truly blessed to have her and True as my parents-in-law.

True and Mary with state senator and family friend, Margaret Dayton. Margaret received the tree on behalf of the state.

Next it was off to a baby shower for Emily, given by Adam's family. She received so many nice gifts--even a diaper "cake".

The diaper "cake"

The real cake was masterpiece of fondant and chocolate cake. I thought the baby must be made of plastic, but it was created from fondant, too. This was made by the same woman who made Adam and Emily's wedding cake.

We ended our busy Easter weekend with a wonderful dinner at my parents' home. Adam's parents, two of his siblings, and two of his cousins were able to join with our family for the occasion. The youngest members enjoyed a fun Easter Egg hunt after our meal.

A Full Heart

I love how participating in General Conference always makes me feel--that feeling of wanting to be better and try harder in everything I do. The positive ways our leaders encourage us always makes me feel like I can be a better person. So my heart is full of gratitude for the things I've heard this weekend.
My heart is also full because our prayers in Joel's behalf have finally been answered. This weekend he has announced his engagement to the beautiful Emilee Bradley. (She's the one in the middle.) We have been praying for so long that a wonderful young woman would come into his life and consent to stay forever and we're so happy that she is the one. The big day will be in July.

Adam

Although he was born on April Fool's Day, he's no fool--after all he made the choice to marry one of our daughters. We love his quirky sense of humor, fun personality, and we appreciate the kind of husband he is to Emily. I'm happy to call him one of "my boys". We can't wait to see him in the role of "Dad". Happy birthday Adam!

Celebrate!

Tonight we celebrated Nate's, Adam's, and my birthdays together with the entire family. I'm surprised we didn't set the smoke alarm off with all of the candles! The food was great, the company was better, and I got to have my picture taken with two handsome guys--what more could a girl want? Oh and I haven't even mentioned the presents yet. Good times!

One of "My Boys"

There have been a few young men I've crossed paths with in my life that I have come to think of as "my boys". Many of them have come into our home as Joel's friends and others have married into our family. And one of them, who just happens to be celebrating his 30th birthday today, has been in our home as both. Though we aren't flesh and blood, he is truly a son in my heart. Happy birthday Nate!

Share the Love

I found this on my niece Aimee's blog. I will get a homemade gift from her (and my niece, Brittany) by posting this on my blog. The first five people who comment on my blog and post this same offer on theirs get a homemade gift from me--most likely something good to eat if you live close by. This will be fun!

This and That and Another Birthday Celebration

About a week and a half ago Jim had double hernia surgery, from which he is recovering nicely. We have before and after pictures, but we thought that they range in the TMI area. He goes back to work on Monday.
We are also going to refinance our house and wanted to have it nice and clean before the appraiser came. Well one thing led to another--the steamroller effect, you know--and we ended up purging the house of 21 years of accumulated stuff in a week's time. I do not recommend doing this in such a short amount of time and I promise not to wait for another 21 years before doing it again.

Today is the 1st birthday of our youngest grandchild, Emily Lanae. What a sweetheart! Her parents held a little party for her this evening and she was so cute about all of her gifts. Happy birthday dear little girl!