Our Lives So Blessed

Our precious little girl was born Friday, May 14th at 5:27 a.m. She weighs 7 lbs. 7 oz. and is 20 inches long. Can you say so cute! She has such a sweet temperament with a beautiful smile and eyes to match. We had a hard time coming up with her middle name but finally came up with one. Her name is Macy Esperanza Lara.

Thank you to all who have supported us so much at this time with your love, help and prayers. We love you all.

Our Trip

What could possibly be the best trip? How about a trip that took you away from the cold and the snow to 70 degree weather with sun all day, surrounded by family and a wedding to top it all off. Yes, we took a trip to Arizona to see family and to see my good friend get married. It was enthusiastically fun!

When we arrived at Devan and Robyn's home we were greeted with the grandest welcome. Mckay, James and Ashlyn came flying out the door to give us hugs, we felt like royalty. The Anderson family really made us feel at home. They took us out to dinner, Mckay gave up his bed, they popped us popcorn in their super fancy popcorn machine (so cool), treated us to a wonderful night of American Idol on the wii and delighted us with Cold Stone ice cream. It was a perfect weekend.

Anna had the time of her life with Ashlyn. Ashlyn took Anna under her wing and showed Anna the ropes of how to be a princess, how to dance, sing and dress. Friday night Susanne, Ashlyn and Anna put on a performance for Robyn and me. It was so great, I wished I had a video camera, but these pictures will have to do. Susanne was in charge of the music while Ashlyn danced and Anna copied whatever moves she did. Not only did they dance but they did the whole shebang with outfits and makeup! Loved it! Thank you Anderson Family!!

Friday was packed with fun events. Robyn was so awesome and watched Anna for us while we went to Melinda's wedding. It was so great to see a childhood friend again and especially neat to see her get married, the ceremony was wonderful. Her and Stephen make a great couple. Later, at the reception, I was able to see another childhood friend. I felt like a little kid again catching up with Andrea and being with the two friends I spent the most time with as a girl. I can't think of wanting to have any other childhood than the one I had. The whole time memories came flooding back, it was great!

I was able to see a lot of other wonderful people from my youth who were great influences and examples to me while growing up. You could say this was the best trip!

Just In Case You Didn't Know

I know this is horrible and I feel really bad, but just in case you didn't know we are expecting our second baby! We are so excited anticipating our new little one's arrival. We found out that we are having another little precious girl who is due May 17th!

Each day I find myself deep in thought about Anna and her sister. I think about the adventures they will go on, the people they will meet and through all their exciting experiences knowing they will always have each other. Anna is very enthused about having a little sister. Dad said that Anna will have fun having a live doll to dress up, I think he is right.

Anna's First Haircut

Yes, this is Anna's first haircut! For 3 years I put off cutting her hair because I loved her long hair. I loved styling her hair in a buch of different ways and I wish I had taken pictures of my favorite hair dos on her. But the time has come that I could no longer put off cutting her hair. I thought to myself, "If I'm going to cut her hair at all, I am going to CUT it!" So I started cutting and cutting and cutting. With the first chop I thought I had ruined it. I didn't realize how short I had cut it, so I started to worry and freak out thinking that she is going to look like a butch and then I thought I'm going to have to take her to a professional and get it cut even shorter in order to fix what I had done to my beautiful daughter. Each cut made me more worried, until I was almost done, then I could see her hair take shape. I felt a little relieved towards the end, but there was still a lot more to do like, even it out. Cutting children's hair is a lot harder then I thought. I wasn't fully sure about her hair until Ernie saw it and loved it. Anna told me that she liked her hair too, so I didn't feel too bad about chopping off 10 inches! While I am thrilled about Anna's hair turning out very cute I still have mixed emotions about her not having long hair anymore.

BEFORE AND AFTER

Diapers are for Babies

Anna has been working very hard today and wanted to tell everyone her momentous news! This morning I explained to Anna that babies wore diapers and big girls wore panties. She was so excited and very determined to be a big girl. I am a very proud mama and, just like Anna, enthused to tell everyone that she has gone to the potty all day today. We can't wait to see how potty training goes tomorrow!

Stake Conference

This past weekend was our Stake Conference. We had the opportunity to hear from our Stake President and his counselors, as well as, Elder Pocock and Elder Holland! It was a great experience for our little family to hear from all of these men. The spirit was strong and their messages were beautiful. At the Saturday session Elder Holland didn't prepare anything for his talk, he said, "I just want to talk with you." He then went on telling us of his love and concern for all of us, as if he wanted to get to know us personally, you could really feel his compassion towards us. What a wonderful man!

Because of his love and concern he pounded on the pulpit and said don't you dare lose your faith when storms come, that is when you need it the most. I've known how important faith is, but Elder Holland spoke about it in such a unique, spiritual way that it seemed completely new to me. It was like my eyes were opened finally. I didn't have anything to take notes and I was wrestling with Anna, so I can't remember most of his other points, but that one point made me realize that there really is no more sitting on the fence. I've always been quiet and never wanted to talk about the church to anyone because I didn't want to put any pressure on them, or offend them. But what I realize now was that I wasn't following the Spirit or relying on my faith. I can't be afraid anymore because this is the time when we need to put our trust in Lord, he won't led us astray. I think that I will always stress about bad times, and standing for something openly, but I know that Heavenly Father will be there, the Lord is on our side.

This doesn't come close to what I am trying to express, but I wanted to share a little of what I learned that has strengthened my testimony.

Ernie and I watched as a line was formed to shake Elder Holland and Elder Pocock's hand. They did not leave until every person that wanted to shake hands with them were shook. We know because we were one of the last people to shake hands with them. What wonderful men!

In the spirit of General Conference that is coming up here is another wonderful man.

I got this in an email from mom. It is a beautiful clip made by the Relief Society from one of Elder Uchtdorf's talks.

It Has Been A Long Time

I haven't looked at our blog for a very long time. School, primary, and family takes a lot of my time, but I finally caught us up. I almost forgot most of the things that our little family has done in the past couple of months, it was nice to reminisce.
This video cracked me up, I think you'll enojoy it too!