Sunflower

One day Laura brought home a sunflower plant from a Primary activity. It was just a tiny thing, kind of like Laura. She really wanted to plant it out near our backyard, so we went ahead and did it, of course dreading the moment it would die. Well, we planted it and ended up forgetting about it. A few weeks later Laura came running up, super excited because her plant was growing. We went to check it out and sure enough, there was a sunflower (flowerless, of course) about eight inches tall. We thought that was pretty cool and ended up forgetting about it again. After all of our trips this summer, Aaron and I thought that the flower had probably died from neglect. Nope. As of today the sunflower is a little over seven feet tall and has a gigantic, bright yellow flower. Laura is incredibly proud of that flower. As I look out my window at that beautiful plant (sunflowers just happen to be my favorite) I've been thinking about the simple pleasures and beauties I enjoy each day. I've also thought about the similarity between the sunflower and it's planter, Laura. Something that starts out so incredibly tiny grows and develops and becomes this amazing witness of our Heavenly Father's love for us. As I look at Laura I see that He does love me because He entrusted me to care for her and to teach her. I am so thankful for the wonderful blessing in my life named Laura.

Her Ears

I absolutely love the way Avery's ears stick out. I can't help but mention them any time a family member or friend is around. Aaron says I'm teasing Avery, but I don't mean it that way. I just love her ears! I love knowing that her ears are uniquely hers... no one else anywhere has ears just like Avery's. I love how light illuminates them from behind, making them stand out even more. I appreciate how God gives us each our own bodies, each with their own little quirks. Even if we don't necessarily like those quirks, they are OUR quirks, just as Avery's ears are HERS (but I sure do enjoy them!!!).

Laura Begins Preschool

Well, today was Laura's first day of preschool at Hawthorne Elementary. She was so excited! On Saturday we let her help pick out a new outfit to wear... of course she chose a Dora t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Last night we got her clothes set out and ready and wrote her name in her new Princess backpack. It's so cute to see her wear her backpack since it's half her size. The school has a bus that will pick up and drop off the preschoolers right in front of their homes. When Laura discovered that she could possibly ride the bus to and from school she was determined that would be. I, of course, wanted to take and pick her up at least on her first day. This morning we got up and got ready to go. When she found out that I was taking her instead of the bus she was really upset. She did better as we arrived and went to her classroom to drop off her backpack before breakfast (they feed the preschoolers breakfast each morning). I gave her a big hug and kiss and as I looked back at my little girl standing in line with her new classmates, not even missing me, I couldn't help but tear up.

Aaron ended up going to pick Laura up after school. When he arrived she was standing outside with her class near the buses. When she saw her dad she got really mad because she really wanted to ride the bus. Her teacher, Ms. Sandbulte, sternly told her to be nice to her dad and to listen to him. I don't know if that helped much, but it was nice that she tried. Aaron brought her home and she ranted about the bus for quite awhile. Luckily she was done by the time I got home. I asked her all about school and she told me that they learned about cowboys today and made cowboy hats. She gave me her first work of preschool art.

I look back at the past four years and I am so thankful for the blessing of my little girl Laura. She seems so tiny, but is so big at the same time. The Lord has truly blessed me with wonderful, beautiful, smart and healthy daughters. I am so thankful.

Our Own Family Blog!

Well, I've decided to create our own family blog... we shall see how this goes. Aaron and I will be celebrating our sixth wedding anniversary in October and we have three beautiful girls to show for our time together so far. Laura turned four in April and is such a fun girl. She gets to start preschool at the end of this month, so she's getting really excited about that. She is so brave! It scares me because she jumps down from the middle of our staircase. Well, she jumps off of anything and everything now. Laura loves to help with her younger sisters but she absolutely does not like to clean up after herself. That's our biggest struggle with her right now. Kaitlyn turned two in January and she is definitely a joy. I must admit that she seems to be struggling a bit with her little sister lately. I've been trying to make sure I spend some time with just her every few days, but it gets difficult. She loves to play outside and she has to at least try to do everything Laura does. I think she may have a hard time when Laura first starts preschool. But, I imagine she'll get used to it. Avery was born in May and she is such a chunk! It's so amazing to us that we have a little girl that is so pudgy! She is such a wonderful baby and she is so patient with her big sisters. Avery has red hair which is so fun. Aaron's genes have been really strong with the older girls since they both have blonde hair and blue eyes, so hopefully Avery will keep her red hair. Aaron is such a good dad... he loves his daughters so much. It's fun to watch them be goofballs together. We have a lot of fun.