Another one bites the dust!

So, if you haven't noticed, we're Previa People. That's what we drive. When we upgraded from a sedan, we "purchased" our white van from Rob's parents. It was kind of a dud - it leaked oil like no tomorrow and there was always something to fix. But, we enjoyed it and loved having all that space! We drove it for 2 years when over Thanksgiving at Rob's parents house it just quit.

So, Rob's parents came to the rescue with our next family car. Rob's mom had driven this for a while and was trying to figure out what to do with it since she had bought another Previa to replace this one. We started driving this in December with 323,000 miles on it. Sad to say that it finally bit the dust this weekend. I drove it home and was pulling in the driveway when the "dreaded white smoke" started consuming my yard. Sigh. It was half-way in the driveway and half in the street. My good neighbor lent me a hand pushing it into the driveway. That car had earned it's rest - it had 325,000 miles on it. So, Friday afternoon our search for a new family car began...

...and ended Saturday morning with this:

Sydney's Blessing

We blessed Sydney last Sunday. It was such a sweet occasion and I feel so grateful for my husband holding and being worthy of the Priesthood - the true power of God. I know our children and their children will be blessed because of it. I'm also grateful for my beautiful daughter. Even though my life is full of restless sleep and chaos at times, there is nothing more important for me than to love and care for my children. I feel so grateful to be a mother and can't wait to see how this new little girl turns out!

This blanket was made by my great-grandmother and was finished just months before I was born. Since then it has been passed through countless numbers of new babies in my father's family. I feel honored to continue this tradition by blessing my fourth girl with this blanket.

Her blessing gown was made by my dear mother. All of my girls have been blessed in this outfit and I am so glad that regardless of the miles between us it still felt like she was here.

My grandparents made the trip from Utah for the occasion. We had such a nice time visiting with them and want to thank them for making time for this event. Rob's parents came up too and his sister was there (thanks for enduring 2 church sessions!). I missed my family but know they would have been here if they could. I love you all and am so grateful for eternal families!

Too tired!

Lily gets really tired. She tries to stay awake but sometimes just can't resist the temptation to fall asleep wherever she is. Shortly after I had Sydney, Rob's mom was watching the kids and noticed how tired Lily was. It was close to lunch time, so she tried to feed her real quick before naps. I guess Lily was too tired to even eat - she fell asleep right in the middle of a bite of yogurt! Once after she had fallen asleep in a chair, I stood her up and took her hand to walk her to bed and she just gave up, plopped down on the floor and fell back asleep.

First Bath

This is Sydney's first sponge bath. This is the look she was born with - a little confused and mad all at the same time. It wasn't a pleasant experience and she still freaks out when I bathe her. Hopefully it will turn into a more pleasant experience for her soon!

Another Church pic

I just thougth she looked too cute to not take a picture. Here we go into the world of ridiculously large bows - I can't seem to get enough of them!

First Day of Church

So I'm 3 weeks behind, but this was Sydney's first day of church. She's wearing a dress that I had when I was a baby. All my girls have worn this dress in their debut Sunday. These are her "big eyes" that she puts on when she's got a lot to look at.

Aspirations for Awesome-ness

Sometimes I do something CRAZY with Ginny's long hair - like not put it in a normal pony-tail. Wow, now that's adventurous! Today I put it in crazy and she's pouting about it.

Ginny: Could you make my pony-tail straight? I look terrible!
Me: You don't look terrible, you look AWESOME!
Ginny: I just don't want to be awesome.

So much for my aspirations of AWESOMENESS.