April 2010 Recap

Ruby's first ponytail - 4/1/2010

I adore this picture...I'm wearing her in the sling and she is enjoying the full-service treatment!

Papago Park-4/2/2010
My cute friend Jenny invited the kids and me to hang out with her and her family at Papago Park for an Easter Egg hunt and picnic. I'd never been, so it was lots of fun and the weather was awesome. Carter even found the "golden egg" with money in it! I didn't get a lot of pictures, but here are a few of the kids hanging out.

Hugo is one of Carter's favorite buddies.
Carter and Lacy had fun rolling eggs down the hill.

Acacia came too. She's a fabulous babysitter and a sweetheart!
Bunny Day and General Conference - 4/3/2010
It was the tradition in my family growing up to celebrate "Bunny Day" on the Saturday before Easter every year. The Easter Bunny brings us treats on Saturday so that we can focus on Jesus and the resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Carter especially loved his Transformer's coloring book.
I think Ruby liked her stuffed bunny.

Shane made Carter's favorite: star-shaped "egg-in-a-holes" sprinkled with cheese.
It was LDS General Conference weekend the same weekend as Easter, so we enjoyed snuggling and hanging out together all weekend watching conference. Growing up, my siblings and I made "nests" of blankets and pillows from which we watched the conference each Spring and Fall. Shane tried to show Carter how to build a proper nest and CJ had fun with it...until it was time to clean up and put it all away of course.
We took a walk between sessions.

Brad's Mission Call! - 4/6/2010
If you read the blog regularly (or know us personally at all), you know we have a very close relationship with Shane's Uncle Joe and Aunt Claudia. They live just a few blocks away and have been so wonderful to us since we arrived in AZ four years ago. Carter and Ruby know them as Nana and Grandpa. Carter said Nana before Momma, I'm pretty sure.

Anyhow, Bradley (Joe and Claudia's son) received his LDS mission call to the Chile Santiago North mission. We are so excited for him! He will be a hard-working, wonderful missionary. I found out a few days after he got his call that his mission president will be Presidente May, who was in my stake in Valencia growing up, and then moved to UT around the time my parents did. Elder Hilton will be in great hands there with Presidente and Hermana May! Brad graduates from high school at the end of May and reports to the Missionary Training Center on June 16th. Brad's mission call was especially exciting for the family because Brad is the youngest child, only boy, and will be only one to serve a full-time mission (as a young adult anyway) of his siblings.
Here is Elder Hilton with his proud parents.

Fun side note: The map in the background was posted after Brad's papers were turned in and the wait for his call began. The colored markers were guesses from friends and family of where Brad's call would be to. Joe, Brad's dad, noticed nobody had guessed Chile just a couple of days before the call was opened and tagged it as his guess.

Ruby is eight months old - 4/18/2010
Shane already posted a bunch of eight month pictures, but I wanted to include this one in the April recap to note that she was not only standing, but taking steps at eight months. I was not encouraging this. I absolutely blame her father...and I have witnesses.
Oh, but I do have to say she melts me. {swoon}

Rocker, Parties, & Prom - 4/24/2010
Carter for some reason has a love for rock and roll. He often asks us to "rock" with him. We've scored some sweet band equipment from yard sales and a clearance sale and now we have three toy guitars and a toy microphone with karaoke machine. We jam a lot. Fast forward to cute Cambria's dress-up birthday party. We gave Carter all his dress-up options (Spiderman, pirate, etc.) and he chose rocker. Love these pictures Shane took before the party.

{Notice cliche "Mom" tattoo I drew on his right shoulder and scorpion tattoo dad gave him on his left forearm.}

Carter and Ruby went with Shane to a second friend's party that afternoon while I had the pleasure of taking pictures of Brad and his darling date, Allison, before their prom. I had so much fun with them. Thanks you two!


Lastly, I spent most of April working furiously in every spare moment to prepare for the opening of my etsy shop, Ruby Jane Boutique, and Boutique in the Barn (which was May 1st). The boutique was a lot of fun and although the shop only has one listing so far, it will have many more items listed soon!

Thanks for all your support everyone!

View Full Post...

Hide Full Post...

Waiting...

"The children of Israel waited 40 years before they could enter the promised land.

Jacob waited seven long years for Rachel.

The Jews waited 70 years in Babylon before they could return to rebuild their temple.

The Nephites waited for the sign of Christ's birth, even knowing that if the sign did not come they would perish.

Joseph Smith's trial in Liberty Jail caused even the prophet of God to wonder, 'How long?'

In each case, Heavenly Father had a purpose in requiring that His children wait.

Every one of us is called to wait in our own way.

We wait for answers to prayer.

We wait for things which, at the time, may appear so right, and so good to us, that we can't possibly imagine why Heavenly Father would delay the answer."

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf,
180th Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,
April 2010 (Priesthood Session)

President Uchtdorf shared these words as part of an excellent address on waiting and patience.

As he spoke, I couldn't help but reflect on the feelings I had while waiting 22 long months for Ruby to come to our family. It was SO hard to wait for her. Looking back now, it seems like such a short time. Her arrival was such a well orchestrated symphony of miracles, that it could only have been planned out by a loving, all-powerful Father.

I also thought back to the time eight years ago, in a Cardiologists office, when we first decided that adoption would be the path to our forever family - and the next five years of delays related to Megan's open heart surgery and recovery - as we yearned with all our hearts to become parents. We waited as patiently as we could, with empty arms and hearts full of love to give, until Carter's birth family came into our lives and brought him to our family.

If only our foresight were as keen as our hindsight.

We know many of our friends are in a seemingly endless wait right now. Many are hoping to adopt, others are struggling with the frustration of infertility and/or miscarriage while hoping for a pregnancy. Some are waiting to find their eternal companion, or waiting for a lengthy trial of another kind to pass.

"Every one of us is called to wait in our own way."

Set aside 20 minutes of your day soon to listen to this whole talk.
You'll be glad you did.
(Or right click the link and select "Save Link As" to download it and put it on your iPod.)

View Full Post...

Hide Full Post...

I'll be a Sunbeam for Him!

This boy is way too grown up to be in nursery, right?

Carter moved from the nursery to the primary for church this year. Shane and Megan had been some of his teachers for the last year and a half, so we were curious about how he'd transition to primary. Trading toys, puzzles, stories, and snacks for sitting in a chair with his arms folded can't be an easy transition for any three-year-old boy.

Once we found out who his teacher would be, be breathed a sigh of relief. We knew he'd do great with her. He loved when she stopped by the day before his first class and dropped off this fun balloon. It survived a good week's worth of abuse from our little guy (and the ceiling fan).

He's doing great!

View Full Post...

Hide Full Post...