Happy Birthday to Me

Once upon a time I married an amazing man. This man tells me he loves me and that I'm beautiful. Not only does he say the words, he proves it through his actions. For my birthday this year he brought me breakfast in bed!! How lucky am I?

He also spent time and effort to make me this fantastic mug holder. It's perfect and he did a great job. He also bought me some nice sunglasses since my cheap pair has disappeared. I love my husband. 

My birthday also happened to fall on Easter which made for a nice day. We went to church, sang my favorite Easter hymn "He Is Risen", went to my grandma's and had dinner, and then came home. It was a great 26th birthday.

Snuggly Bath Girl

Emma used to hate bath time, but now she doesn't mind it so much. Here is her happy smiling face before and after her bath. I just want to snuggle her all day long!

Doesn't Like Grass

It turns out that Emma's first exposure to grass wasn't a happy one for her. She was also a little hungry though, so that could have influenced the moment.

More Like Mom or More Like Dad?

People always ask us who Emma looks like and we always say that she looks like herself. But I thought it would be fun to post a few of our own baby pictures so you all can decide for yourselves.

Jake

Emma

Me 

(I'm the one on the left)

What do you think? Does she look like one, the other, or either of us? Only time will tell.

The Greats

Emma is a lucky girl to have 4 great-grandmas and 2 great-grandpas still alive!

Grandma Janet Thurston

Grandpa Steven Thurston

Grandma (great) Marge Johnson

Grandma Margaret Sjoblom

Grandpa Wally Sjoblom

Grandma Edna Stratford

I don't remember any of my great grandparents and I don't think Emma will remember some of hers, but it's still neat to think that so many of them had the chance to meet her in this life.

Baby's First Ski Run!

Our friends Kij and Cherilyn joined us this weekend at my grandma's cabin. We ate delicious steak, played games, watched movies, and enjoyed the snow. They have a little boy named Teddy who is 6 months older than Emma who joined the party. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of the time we spent there, but I did get one of Emma. As a former ski instructor and a current ski bunny, it was only a matter of time before Emma started skiing herself. Since she can't stand on her own two legs yet, I had to help her out this time.

Blessing Photos

My sweet sister in law Hannah was kind enough to take some baby blessing photos for us. Here are the results and I love them!

Baby Blessing Day

Annette and I decided we wanted to bless our babies together because it would be the perfect opportunity to have the family together and maximize the experience. And we were right. It was a great day, albeit a bit chaotic. Mixing the nuclear family, extended family, and two sets of in-laws and their extended families makes for a lot of people. It meant so much to each of us that so many people came to support us though.

The blessing itself was beautiful. Jake and Jeremy both did great jobs and really followed the spirit. I loved listening to Jake follow the Spirit and bless my baby girl. The rest of sacrament meeting was full of testimonies of loved ones expressing their thoughts on the eternal nature of family. Overall it was a very nice meeting.

After the service we all congregated at mom and dad's house for a soup luncheon. It was nice to spend the time visiting with everybody and again I am so grateful for their support and love.

Stroll at the Ole' Alma Mater

Jake had to take a test up on campus this evening so Emma and I took the opportunity to walk around the campus at Utah State University. Not too long ago Emma walked these ground with me, but at that time she was still in my belly so I figured this time she might enjoy actually seeing what there is to see. Or not... she slept the whole time. But it was still a beautiful evening and a great walk.