Brighton's Baptism

I don't even know how to describe it. The joy that comes from having an amazing husband who honors his priesthood, being able to baptize our oldest child. What a beautiful day this was!!Brighton was so excited. He was nearly giddy when he walked down into the baptismal font. He almost bounced! I have never seen such pure delight on his face. What a perfect memory.
I love these 2 men so much!!!

Thank you to our dear family who was able to make it!
Auntie Sue Ward

Collins Family, Auntie Carrie, Steve and Bobby.

Aunt Titi, Brookelyn, and Uncle Ryan. (Ryan had to get back to work before we took pictures.)
We were asked to sing the special musical number and so we choose "I Love to See the Temple". Brighton did a solo for the first half, and then we joined him in singing the second half. Bright did a really terrific job on his solo. Loud, clear, and not at all timid. I am so thankful for Kids Are Music and all it has taught him with confidence.


Cole was NOT THRILLED with Brighton getting all the attention today. Cole loves his attention! I love my Cole!

They asked the mom's to introduce their child to the congregation, and I got to talk about what a fantastic kid Brighton is. I also talked about his birth mommy Annette and how much she loved him to let him come to a family that could help him learn about Jesus and Forever Families. I felt such a special bond with Brighton's birth mommy Annette today. I hope somewhere out there she will somehow know that her son is AMAZING!!!

A Beautiful Day

Today we "buried" my uncle Mike Ward. What a beautiful day it was.

Some of the highlights include:
The morning mass at the St. Edwards Church that overlooks the Dana Point Ocean. The setting couldn't have been more amazing.

The "Celebration of Life" at the club. Uncle Mike would have loved it! A huge party with food, friends, laughter and tears.

Many fantastic men and women stood up to share their memories and love of Mike Ward. Men with great honors and ties to the community talked about how much they all admired and love Mike. Everyone talked about his compassion, service and commitment to those he loved. I got to stand and read a letter from my mother and father from the Congo, Africa where they are serving a mission for our church. It was a beautiful afternoon of tributes. Once again, we were packed! There were at least 40-50 people who didn't have seats, and the ballroom was full of tables!

But the very best part was being on one of the 15 boats (mostly sailboats) that went three miles out off the Dana Point Coastline, to join in the Internment at Sea. This was an incredible experience. It was so beautiful, peaceful and serene. Everything was exactly as Uncle Mike would have hoped it would be.

This video is from my little camera. It is not perfect, but I hope you can catch a small part of the beauty that surrounded us this afternoon.

Dinner at the Yacht Club

We went to dinner tonight at the Dana Point Yacht Club, and while we were there, the boat Christmas lights parade was going on!

This was the best year ever! We go every year with the Wards, and it is always a terrific, but this year the boats were better than ever. It was a really warm night (72 degrees at 8pm!) and so I think a lot of boats that don't normally go out must have gone out!

Thank you Mike and Sue for inviting us! What special memories we always make at the club!
Uncle Mike is looking AMAZING! He is so much better than he was even 10 days ago. His chemo is over for a few weeks... so he has just started being able to eat again. He went a few weeks without eating at all, and we were so worried about him. But tonight he had his first meal in over 3 weeks! Congratulations uncle Mike. We love you so much!

It is so fun to hae babies the same age. Savvy and Izzy LOVE playing together. They are so cute.
What a FUN FUN FUN night!

White Elephant....

I have amazing friends. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.
Tonight we had our "traditional" white elephant dinner party. We had the Collins, the Wards, the Bostrom, the Conley and the Johnson families all together. This was our first year to have kids come. I really enjoyed watching the younger kids laugh and play together. Ally, Anderloo and Miss Bianca are so cute with our kids. They really are perfect aunties and uncles for my kids.

Bill cooked a yummy ham, and we had lots of other great food. My favorite was the baked bree with phyllo, sundried tomatoes and pesto. It was the first time I have ever made it and YUMMMY! (Thanks Audra Bollard for teaching that fun cooking class last month!)

While eating our cheesecake dessert we thought of my mom and dad and how much we missed them tonight. They are usually a big part of this evening. We are all so thrilled with where they are though.

Guesstures - I love a group who plays games!
We had so much fun tonight!
Thanks everyone,