take my hand... we'll make it i swear

I want to take a second and talk about last weekend.  We had some visitors - my parents, my brother Eric and my sister Kelly.  They came for Evelyn's baby blessing at church.  It was a great weekend and I'm so glad they could come.  That Sunday could've been so stressful with everything happen... Luke had to teach in Priesthood, I taught in Relief Society, Adelle had her first part in Primary (she did such a good job reading the 3rd Article of Faith - we'd been practicing it all week), and Evelyn received her baby blessing.  It could've been so stressful, but it wasn't at all.  We made it to church early, we had a wonderful day, and everything went so smoothly.  My mom made Evelyn a beautiful knit dress, so we had to get a dress of her wearing it :)  Her hair is kind of a strawberry blonde, but it looks so red in this picture.

 I am so grateful for the Spirit that we felt during and after the blessing - really the whole day. I had an overwhelming feeling of love for both of my girls and am so grateful to be their mother. I'm grateful for my eternal family and for the love that I feel from my Heavenly Father each day. Life is a blessing and I am so grateful for it.  I'm so glad that my Grandma Patty was able to come for the blessing.  It is really difficult for her to leave the house, but she is getting stronger and stronger every day.  We are so blessed to have her as such a big part of our lives right now.  I'm especially so glad that Adelle and Evelyn get to grow up with a close relationship to their Great Grandmother.

It was a wonderful weekend.  We watched KU make it to the Elite 8, we played laser tag (Me, Luke, Eric and Dad) and fell in love with The Muppets.  Such a cute movie - I love the "Flight of the Conchords" feeling it often has and I had the "Man or Muppet" song in my head for several days after that.

Now, on to this weekend.  We were able to enjoy watching General Conference from home. I really focused on my own personal preparation for it this time around and I am really glad that I did. I am the Teaching for Our Times Relief Society Teacher right now, so I feel like I'm experiencing it differently this time, also receiving inspiration on which talks should be taught for the next 6 months.  We DVRd them and I'm excited to sit and really watch them more intently when kids aren't sleeping in/hanging on my arms.  Also, on a more secular note, the Jayhawks have made it to the Championship game in the NCAA Basketball Tournament!  :)  We're just excited and I love my Alma Mater.  I wish I could've been in Lawrence last night to experience the celebrations in Lawrence, but now it's time to focus on the Championship game!

Life is good.  It's easy to remember that when the weather is so beautiful and my family is happy and healthy.  Evelyn's new trick is holding up her left hand in a fist and studying/staring at it very intently.  She has also been trying to talk and respond, making sweet little noises in response to anything we might say to her.  She is becoming better and better at expressing when she needs something without just letting out a huge wail.  I feel like she sees and understands so much already.  It's amazing.

Also, when did Adelle become such a big girl??  The other day she and Luke were working on counting and simple addition by counting objects.  I am just amazed by how smart she is.  She's doing well in Sunbeams at church, though at first she was afraid of one of her teachers (it's a married couple and she was afraid of the man).  Everyone compliments her for her manners and communication skills :)  I'm a proud mama.