One Week Old

A friend of mine offered to take some photos of our sweet little girl. Here are some of my favorites.

Garden Party (April 14, 2012)

You can't live in the South without experiencing the joy of going to a garden party. In Wilmington, they celebarte the Azalea Festival every Spring. One of the ladies I used to visit teach was a Master Gardener and invited us to her garden party. She has a BEAUTIFUL yard (better than some public gardens I have been to) and we took the opportunity to take some photos.

(I'm about 6.5 months pregnant in these photos.)

MVP's First Professional Haircut

(April 16, 2012) We spent some time up in Raleigh so that Andy could work from the Raleigh office. While he was working, I took MVP to a salon that specializes in haircuts for kids. The place was very cute and MVP enjoyed watching a video while the lady cut his hair, but since it cost about $16 even WITH a coupon, I'm glad I am his regular barber. I did learn a couple useful tips, so I guess it was worth it. For example, did you know that the best way to handle a double cowlick is to cut it very short? That alone was worth the $16 price tag.

But for now, I think we'll go back to his regular stylist...me!

Utah

On March 5, 2012, my sweet Grandma passed away. She was 97 years old and was truly an amazing woman and a very good example to me. She was always so happy and delightful to be around. She struggled with several health problems throughout her life including allergies, loss of hearing, breast cancer, bone cancer and the general ailments that come from living a long life. When I think of the challenges she faced I think it would be easy for someone like her to withdraw and feel badly for themselves in their later years, but she was cheerful and interested in everyone, especially her family, until the very end. She loved the gospel and her pioneer heritage. She made it a point to sew quilts for her grandchildren and I treasure the ones she made for me--especially the ones she coaxed my grandpa into helping out with as they got older. She was also an accomplished musician and artist. She has painted several works of art that I would be honored to have in my home. Although I was about 5 months pregnant, I was fortunate to be able to attend her funeral in Utah (MVP and I flew out for two weeks). Perhaps the thing that struck me the most during her funeral was that each of her six children praised and honored her as an angel mother--not an easy accomplishment these days. Because of her care and joyful spirit, her family knew of her love for them. She is truly an elect lady. Here are some photos from the funeral.

Some of my cousins...

 My siblings and I (sans the youngest who was out of town on business)...

 My Grandma kept a drawer in her kitchen stocked with toys for grandchildren to play with. I'm so glad MVP got to play with them one last time.

My parents recently moved into a new home in Lehi, Utah. So some time was spent organizing and enjoying the home. It was fun to spend time with my siblings and their children. Last summer, when we met up in Yellowstone, we had a blast together, so we just picked up where we left off. Since I stayed for two weeks, I had the luxury of spending some time with some of my cousins--what a treat!! MVP also enjoyed playing with his cousins and although it's hard to share toys when you're two, he had a good time with his cousins as evidenced from the pictures below. 

 It's hard to have so many cousins together without someone having a birthday soon!

With Easter right around the corner, we took the opportunity to color and hide Easter eggs.

MVP's aunties and uncles may have gotten a little carried away with playing with Play-Doh.

MVP had a lot of fun with [Grandma] "RiRi". For weeks after the trip, he would inquire as to her whereabouts.

While we had WONDERFUL weather for Grandma's funeral, MVP did finally get a chance to play in the snow. He thought it was amusing, but didn't appreciate having cold hands, so the novelty of it all didn't last very long. We were both happy to return to the relative warmth of Wilmington.

We also went to BYU to see the Monte Bean Museum--something I remember doing for Family Home Evening activities as a child. MVP was impressed by all the animals and I was impressed that many of the displays hadn't changed since I was a child.