Jon, Shae, Emmeline, and Lucas

MOVE TO VIRGINIA

2012-01-21T22:48:00.000-08:00

Hey all, it is final now. Jon and I found a place to live in Virginia so he can start his new job in Washington DC by the first week of February. We are relieved that in our short trip to VA we were able to find a darling townhouse and feel good about this move. It has happened so fast as he received the new job opportunity December 1st and we will be relocating by February 6th. A wave of emotions are continually running through me, including: Excitement, Nervousness, Sadness, Stress, Happiness, Faith, Relief, Forgetfulness, Joy, and it goes on and on almost by the minute! We will miss desperately all our family and friends, but we look forward to starting new friendships in VA. Goodbye to my beloved hometown Bountiful. I look forward to places like this in my new hometown:

Happy Birthday Lukie!

2011-12-07T20:16:00.000-08:00

My Lukie Ben is TWO! He is as sweet as ever.

We went swimming at the rec center on his birthday (Nov. 29th).

Emmie was loving it. That girl is our water bug for sure.

Luke was surprising himself with how much he could do!

He makes the best faces!

Kate made this adorable birthday sign for him.

Before we went swimming, we opened up presents. This is what Emmie wrapped and gave to him! ha! He looks very thrilled..

But then the big one came! A scooter! He was SO excited and kept saying "skateboard" at first! Gotta love his side rat tail.

The Giraffe cake we made the following Sunday. Yes, Luke loves his stuffed "Giraff--ee" that he sleeps with.

He was singing happy birthday to himself. It was so cute. He is pro at that song now. If you asked him what the day was, he would yell "MY BIRTHDAY!" He had 3 parties...one with each extended family and one with just ours. So now he still thinks we are going to his birthday party if we head out somewhere!

He was so happy opening up his presents! Thanks everyone for spoiling him. A couple of weeks before, he tripped at the park and went head first into a metal pole. Hence, the scar on his eyebrow from the 3 stitches.

The Saturday (Nov. 26th) before Luke's birthday, we got our Christmas tree. This is the earliest I've ever had a Christmas tree for the season. I love it. We had a lot of fun decorating it.

Actually the kids had the most fun putting on the decorations. Jon had fun taking pictures and I had fun sitting on the couch, drinking hot cocoa and listening to Silent Night.

A week or so before Thanksgiving, I took Em to Disney on Ice. She was in heaven with all the princesses. However, her favorite performance was the Incredibles!

We had a great time together. I am determined to keep up the mommy daughter outings!

My little bubs. He's not so little anymore! He and Em were weighed at the doctor's office yesterday. Luke was almost 31 lbs and Em is 36 lbs. He has almost caught up!!

I love these two with all my heart. We are so excited to add another one to the bunch....a little angel GIRL will join us in April!

Halloween Surprise

2011-11-10T11:15:00.000-08:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN from Froggie and Bumble Bee

These tags were part of mine and Luke's Halloween costumes. WE ARE EXCITED for baby #3 :)

Family Pics and Em's Birthday!

2011-10-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

We went up to Jon's family cabin in Oakley over Conference weekend and took some family pictures in the beautiful fall surroundings. It was a lot of fun. Joe, Jon's dad and our photographer, was very patient with all my pose requests! Enjoy!!!

I am in love with my kids! (This picture was actually taken when we got home up MP canyon)

And I love my Hubby! We are coming up on 5 years in December :)

Emmie's BIRTHDAY! She turned 4 on October 12th. Both she and Luke love to wear these monster shirts from their friend, Noah. It fits their personalities perfectly!!

Here's my girl ready for her birthday party! Her family party was on October 11th so she had two days of celebrating.

The pinata was a big hit!...no pun intended.
Go B!

Emmie has so much family that love her!

"Big Luke" as Lukie calls his Uncle

Everyone spoiled Emmie with all the fun gifts. Emmie has had so much fun with her new stuff :) Thank you everyone!!

Kate made the darling birthday sign below. I love it and I'm saving it for every year!!

Getting fierce with the balloon....grrrr

Puff the Magic Dragon Cake. This was her favorite ride at Lagoon this year--and in fact, every year. She insisted this year on riding it BY HERSELF! And as usual, I made a whole event of cake making and had a lot of fun!

Charley Chew...also celebrated her bday that week. Big 5 year old!!

Emmie surprised me this year with being able to blow up a balloon by herself. That is the first big change I saw from age 3 to age 4...monumental I know.

When Emmie woke up on her birthday, her favorite meal was waiting for her...PANCAKES. Yes, they are waffles, but Emmie calls pancakes, waffles and french toast the same thing...pancakes!

CTR ring!

We love Dora around here :)

On her actual birthday, we went to McDonalds with Noah, Jenna and Curtis. What an American way to celebrate, right?!

Later that night, we had a wedding reception. Afterward we stopped by temple square and gave Em one of her birthday gifts--a model of the SL temple. Emmie has always said since her aunt "Kako" got married in this temple, that she would too.

We love you Emmie Doo! Happy Birthday :)

New Baby, New Missionary, New Haircut

2011-06-12T21:57:00.000-07:00

Henry Kimball Alexander was born this week! We already love him so much.

The proud, beautiful mama (for those of you who haven't caught up on our family lately this is not me having a new baby---it is my sister)

Emmie adores him so much. Isn't he so beautiful??

My little brother Parker left for his mission this week! (He did get to meet baby Henry).

We went to Denny's for his last meal with us. Pretty classic.

He is going to be the best missionary. It is always hard for me to send my brothers on missions. I love it because missions are amazing and mine changed me and made me a better person, but it is always hard to let go.

Here Parks is with the grandkids that live in town. Lukie with all the girls. But now Henry will join the Bountiful crew!

Little sweetie...get one last glimpse of his awesome hair (more to come on that)

My wonderful parents. I can't believe Parker has grown up this much! He used to share a room with me when he was 2.

Saying our goodbyes...

This was a sweet moment as Luke doesn't always give out hugs. We love you Parker and will miss you. We will pray for you and write you letters so we can be a part of your mission and hopefully a strength to you too!

And now for the new haircut. As you notice, my last post was about Luke's first haircut. It practically grew back in a couple of weeks. So we decided to go shorter. See if you can guess what device Lukie was looking at and questioning in this picture....

Emmie was excited to help her daddy with the first shave

Oh my! We love this dude's hair. This is what Daddy could look like if he wanted to!!

The final result....two bald buddies! We shaved Jon's head tonight too. He doesn't normally walk around with his shirt off :)

My little boy. No longer a baby and the buzz put an exclamation on that one. I think he is darling with his new cut. It did take come convincing from Jon but I finally came around!

Luke was checking himself out in the mirror and couldn't really figure out who he was seeing. His blue eyes stand out even more. What a sweetie

our little happy buzz boy

He does this face every once in awhile!

He's our happy lil man and we love him!

Hair Stories

2011-05-20T19:58:00.001-07:00

Okay so first of all, my boy is BIG. He will be 18 months at the end of this month. I still call him my baby. But there have been 3 things lately that have made me realize he is no longer a baby (tears)

1) He sits forward facing now next to big sister
2) Me, Emmie and Luke now walk into the grocery store holding hands....for some reason that was a HUGE change for me! It is way fun too.
3) I was watching a couple neighbor girls--ages 5 and 3. I told them that the "baby" woke up from his nap. I went to get Luke and brought him back out to the family room. The little 3 year old looked up at Luke with a puzzled expression. She turned to me and said matter-of-factly in her Cindy Lou Who high-pitched voice "That is NOT a baby!" I was shocked.

So, let's all be honest about Luke's hair. It is amazing. It is everywhere. It floats above his head and creates an illusion that his head is really big. His hairdresser (yes he already has one) says she has NEVER seen that many hair "growth patterns" on any ONE person. It will always be something to talk about. It will always look like this in the morning if it hasn't been cut in 6 weeks.

Then by 8 weeks he looks like Donald Trump and Jon reminds me it is time for a cut. This time Jon said "BUZZ". I thought about it for a week (while the Donald Trump hair floated even higher) and I said "NOPE." Not ready. I am already in denial that he is not a baby anymore and a buzz would make him look like he's in the 6th grade.

Nonetheless it was time for a cut. These next two pics were taken a few hours ago, before the big cut.

Did I mention that I promised Jon to have it cut SHORT....like as close to a buzz as possible without using clippers.

I think he's used to getting his haircut now. Kind of like how baby girls do not like wearing headbands. But if you start them young enough and keep putting those headbands on, they just get used to it and don't even notice it anymore. Well, I think Luke will always sit still and act like cutting his hair is as perfectly normal as taking a bath since he has done it a lot. And it always involves a sucker (for Emmie of course too)

Did I create enough anticipation and suspense for this picture?!! Isn't he DARLING? I love his new spiky hair (still flying in every direction) Sucker in the same position staring at himself in the mirror. Love it.

He does look like he's about in the 6th grade doesn't he?

Smiling behind some balloons Em found. I am very happy this little boy is in our family and I love his wacky hair!!

On to the next hair story.....

Em was playing beauty school and rolled a comb up in my hair. Two hours later, after my mom and I worked on it, and giving up, I set up an appt to get my haircut. After I knew I was getting it cut, I just started pulling it out harder than before. Em said a prayer for me because she felt bad about it. It was really sweet.

Her prayer was answered.....and I looked like this!

After several washes with shampoo and lots of conditioner, my hair was all intact....at least most of it

Oh and when Emmie is not rolling combs up in my hair, she is eating blue markers.

But I love my two toddlers and I get excited thinking about the new adventures we will have tomorrow!! And tomorrow is Aunt Kate's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We love you. My kids adore their aunt KAKO!

The kiddos

2011-04-01T20:48:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this picture. I couldn't ask for cuter kids! Emmie had just taken off Lukie's coat and was in the process of taking hers off (We love "coats off" days) This is just a small every day moment that makes me happy.

Jon Feathie Family

2011-03-19T18:28:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken on Jon's birthday this week. Lukie loves his giraffe and he loves being read to. What a darling boy (both of them!) I thought I would make it a tradition to post something on our birthdays.....and I guess ONLY post on our birthdays (my last post was on my birthday 3 months ago)

Emmie is 3 1/2 and has the spunkiest, cutest personality. We love her. We do miss these long beautiful locks of hers.

In February, she got her first bob! She loved it and so do we!

Here she is getting ready for a princess party with her new hair-do.

Lukie got his haircut too.....and yes he did stay like this for 95% of the time. The kid cracks me up with how mellow he is. The hair stylist could not believe how still he would sit! And no, this is not his first haircut like it was for Emmie. He has had several and probably could have used more (see next picture).

This shot was taken minutes after her woke up from a nap. Can hair get anymore amazing??

Lukie is our sweet 15 month old boy. His personality is as cute and sweet as he looks. This was his first time at the park after learning how to walk over the winter and he couldn't have been happier. Out of all the swings, slides and toys there, his favorite things to do was run around holding a pinecone. I guess that says something about nature vs man made stuff :)

My two little ones are growing up and don't look quite this tiny anymore...

Yet they still want to be babies and I'm sorry Rach if Luke breaks this swing before it gets to you and your new little boy!

Emmie gets Luke to do everything with her...including playing with their dollies. Notice that she gave Luke this scary version of a strawberry shortcake doll (a ripoff brand). I guess she and Luke have similar hairstyles.

I haven't posted since Christmas time.....but we had a really good time.

We spent Christmas at the Featherstone cabin this year. This was our version of the Christmas story. Emmie got to be Mary and baby Joseph was Jesus. Joseph's dad was Joseph. Did ya get that??! Confusing, I know. It was fun but a bit chaotic. In fact, I'm not sure a bystander would be able to tell that it was indeed the Christmas story we were reenacting!

Jon and I celebrated a great 4 year anniversary in December as well. He is the best husband I could ever dream of! He works so hard for our family (he is at work right now on a Sat. night) and I appreciate all he does and is. Love you babe!

Here are a few of our happenings since Christmastime....

Emmie experienced the cheerleader life by entering a clinic with her Aunt Hannah. She loved it and surprised us with her coordination and dancing skills!

Santa signed Emmie up for dance classes with Charley. They were hilarious to watch together. We tried it out for a month and decided to wait a little longer before sticking with the ballet class routine. I think it was fun but a bit too regimented for our rambunctious three year old! Thanks for taking care of her while she was there Charley! "umm, excuse me, my cousin isn't crossing her legs!" Too cute :)

Erin, my sis in law, lived in Bountiful with her two boys for a couple of months while her husband worked across the world in Malaysia. We had the best time doing preschool nearly every day with our kids. Mike, Erin , Andrew and Joseph have all since moved to Malaysia and we miss them SO much! We still do preschool all the time and Emmie keeps asking me when we can go visit them in Malaysia. What should I tell her?

We finally got Jon to come check out discovery gateway with us since he has been funding our pass there for the past year. The kids liked showing dada all the cool stuff there.

Both my brother and Jon's brother got their mission calls! Parker is going to Everett Washington!

Scottie is going to Argentina! They will both speak Spanish. Estoy MUY FELIZ!

My little sis Shelby turned 17 and we had fun celebrating with her. We were also so proud when she and her high school drill team took state championship this year. Go Shelbers!

We have done a bit of sledding on our grass hill with Rach and her girls. It was one of the highlights of this winter. Cute Rach was such a good sport sledding and managing all the kids while pregnant.

Emmie, Charley, Lukie (yes he does look girlish in Em's old outfit) and Brittana. These cute kiddos are so fun to watch together. Each time they see each other (even if its only been a day) they scream and run to each other to give big hugs. It is so much fun.

Well that wraps it up for the Feathie family....hopefully you'll hear from us again before the end of the year!!

Shae's Golden Birthday!

2010-12-28T21:19:00.000-08:00

28 on the 28th. I had a fun-filled day and the big finale was seeing the lights on temple square with Jon, Emmie and Luke. I love my little fam!

It was a marathon birthday since Jono had work off...yeah! We started out by going to the temple in the morning (my amazing sis took on 2 extra kids which meant her morning was most likely chaotic...thanks Ray!) It was a wonderful way to start the day.

Yes, Luke is wearing a hand-me-down coat from Em and it does have pink in it. At least his hat from Andrew looks more "boy."

My best friend Mariah was in town from San Francisco and took me to get a pedicure...yeah! It was such a great surprise for me to find out she was in town for Christmas. I haven't seen her for probably a year. It was so much fun...Thanks Marye! And yes, you can see my wonkie toe in this picture :) I asked Emmie which color nail polish I should get and she said blue! So, that was my present to Em as I knew she would be one of the only people who would see my toes and appreciate them in the winter anyway!

My darling Jon watched the kids and I came home to this (it was 6pm...perfect time for napping!) Thank you Jon for making this day so great...especially for facing the parking battle at temple square! Love you!

Then we went to Kneaders for dinner. We love their French dip (and of course all their pastries: see picture below)

My sis-in-law Erin surprised me with Peacock flowers (I love them) and Jon got me a new phone with a keyboard so I won't take 20 minutes to write a five word text! Thank you to everyone who called, left messages, emailed or texted me....It made my day!

P.S. Jon's Christmas present to himself:

Lukie's First Birthday

2010-12-27T14:34:00.000-08:00

My baby turned one on November 29th. It has been a fun couple of months with all the holidays and birthdays. I cannot believe how big my little boy is! He took his first few steps on his very birthday. Then on Christmas Day we realized that he is pretty much walking (ya know, the duck waddle with a huge smile and still several falls). He is so stinkin cute! And yes, his hair is still his very best feature!!

He got a doggie cake this year! That was his first word ("Da"). He gets so excited every time we see one.

He had no problems enjoying his cake!

There's that Featherstone look!

Oh how I love being a mommy to this boy :)

The Sunday before his birthday, GraMare made a birthday dinner for him. Here he is with Emmie's help to blow out his candle.

Yum....where is his bib with his new sweater??

The feathie fam....do we really have two kids and we haven't quite been married 4 years??....well it will be four years in a couple of days!

Snuggle time with Daddy

During the day on Luke's birthday, we went sledding in our backyard (yes, I like to call the apartment courtyard our backyard just to make me feel more at home!)

Emmie is a snow bug! She loves it.

And there's my sweet little Lukie! He has the biggest smile that always melts my heart.

Trick or Treat

2010-11-12T19:49:00.000-08:00

Emmie was Snow White for Halloween this year and Lukie was her prince! Here they are at Granny Jyl's ready to get some sugar...

still waiting and looking so cute :)

However, this was our experience 10 minutes before we got to Granny's:

Blurry pictures of crying babies. Classic.

They cheered right up to see Granny, Shelby, Scot....and CANDY!

Shelby (the cute Dr. Seuss baby) came with us to a Halloween party afterward.

Emmie's buddy Noah had a little Halloween party where they decorated cupcakes and went trick or treating. They had a lot of fun. I kept thinking they were going to turf it in the rain as they were running as fast as their 3 year old legs could carry them from house to house.

After the party we went to see "Jampa Go" and "GraMare"

Kate and Alex came to join our dance party (Snow White was dancing to some of Grandpa Joe's rock-n-roll)

More Halloween fun....the pumpkin stand next door to our place had pony rides earlier that week. Emmie rode on "Snoopy" and absolutely loved it.

We decided to carve pumpkins this year. When Emmie turned one around Halloween time, one of her first words was "umkin" She has always loved them since.

Emmie was way into all the gooey stuff. And yes, I'm sure you already guessed that she did eat some. That's our Emmie!

Lukie wasn't sure what to think!

Emmie drew the face and Jon went to work...

We liked how he turned out! Emmie named him "balance" (Must have been a new vocabulary word for her that day!)

Happy Halloween! A little late I know; I realized this after walking into the grocery store and being bombarded by candy canes, stockings, nutcrackers, snowman oreos (yes the advertising did work because those were the first things to go in my cart....they even have red filling...YUM!), and of course all the huge Toy Story 3 displays (KMart has Toy Story 3 playing on a flat screen at the display so your kids can be entertained for a few minutes while you go through the checkout line!) Oh my, TIS THE SEASON! I am excited for all the upcoming holidays....including two birthdays (me and Luke) and our FOURTH wedding anniversary....has it really been that long? Well, I guess since we have two kids, it BETTER have been that long!

SURPRISE!!

2010-10-23T07:15:00.000-07:00

Mike and Erin and their two beautiful boys came in for a surprise visit last evening. Marianne's face says it all! She was in shock and could not believe she was seeing our sweet Baltimore family in her very own living room. Andrew was very sleepy and didn't join in all the action of the night. Baby Joseph, however, was ready for the party!

Kate, Luke and I were in on the surprise so we could orchestrate everything. We planned a Halloween party to cover up the surprise visit. Emmie was so excited to meet her new cousin Joseph. I love this picture. Kate is such a sweet, gorgeous aunt.

I was THRILLED to see Erin! She looks amazing after having Joseph only 3 months ago. She and Mike were so great to fly in this weekend and spend time with family before beginning their adventure in Malaysia next week.

Still in shock.....! Mare's boss at work was so great to get someone to cover for her on Saturday so she could spend all weekend with her family.

Mare adores her grandbabies. They are lucky babies to have her.

Gug and Bumps were in on the surprise too. Bumps is always so great to pick up the Mike Feathies from the airport. This time with both babies in carseats, there wasn't room for Guggie in the car. Jon faked a call from work to go and pick her up. They had to stall for 45 min. in the car in order to show up at the same time as Bumps and the Baltimore clan. Thanks for being such a good sport Guggie!

Bumps and Gug are so amazing. They love their great grandbabies! Also, Joseph was named after Bumps---his name is Gordon and baby Joseph's middle name is Gordon. I love how Joseph is smiling in this picture.

Luke and baby Joseph. Luke was going to miss our Halloween party to go fishing in Idaho. We told Mike and Erin to fill him in so he would stay. Thanks Jama and Scottie for thinking our party was cool in the first place so we could still surprise you! Next time, don't question our parties Luke! ha:)

Emmie was so excited to hold baby Joseph. It was so late but both Joseph and Emmie were wide awake and happy to be there!

Emmie was having the time of her life watching Cinderella. She took this picture and was proud of it!

Emmie stayed up until 11pm, got to spend time at GraMares, got a darling birthday present from Gug and Bumps, and got to munch on Halloween treats. What a dream night for a three year old! The real surprise came at about 10:30pm when Emmie came and handed me an unopened Reeses peanut butter cup. She was eating a carrot and wanted me to have the candy instead.....what??? I could only conclude that she was delirious because I have never seen anything like that before :)

Emmie and Luke dressed up for the Halloween party as a prince and princess. Jon was so great to orchestrate everything for the surprise to work.

We were all pretty wiped out by the end of the night. We are so happy to spend the weekend with the Feathies. The pumpkins in the background were going to be carved but we were too excited for the visit so we kept stalling. Finally, Marianne said "Luke, come with me to the garage to scout out a place to carve the pumpkins." There was no stopping her. She walked out right when Bumps' car pulled up. We heard a scream and ran out to the garage. We had all missed the initial surprise but Mare's reaction was priceless. She couldn't have been happier.

Joe had gone to the Jazz game. (Our Halloween party wasn't cool enough to convince him to turn down a friend who had offered him a front row seat......Come on, Joe----carving pumpkins and watching Cinderella or sitting in a $1,000 seat to watch one of your favorite sports games? I don't see where the toss up was :) He was a bit taken back when he walked in and saw Erin sitting in the kitchen.

We love you Mare and Joe! And we couldn't be happier to spend time with Erin, Mike, Andrew and Joseph. Come surprise us more :) I wish we could surprise visit you in Malaysia. I'm afraid we would get lost in South East Asia and that is just downright scary.

Emmie is THREE!

2010-10-15T21:03:00.000-07:00

Our little Princess is three years old. I still cannot believe it! As you can tell, one of her favorite things to do is play "Dress ups." She makes a beautiful Aurora.

The night before her big day, I made her request: a Penguin cake. Random, I know! She has loved Mary Poppins lately and we always sing the Penguin song about Mary....hence the writing on the cake. I got into decorating birthday cakes when I would see the amazing cakes my sister-in-law, Diana, would make for her kids. Both her and Rach have made some darling ones. It is a fun tradition. My mom was always so great to grant our requests for birthday cakes too. She was amazing and would actually draw the picture instead of piecing it together. I remember my favorite cake was a "My Big Sister" cake. The doll she drew on the cake looked just like my own doll. It might just be my favorite from pictures though because I think I was only turning three, right mom?

This was Em when she first woke up.

It was a cold morning and I was rushing around getting ready for the day's activities. I couldn't find anything warm for Luke to wear (he doesn't have much, poor guy!) so I put him in one of Em's sweatshirts......needless to say I did NOT read the lettering until later and I couldn't help but laughing out loud at my amazing choice of shirts:

Yes, it does say "Girls will be girls" and Luke's expression is priceless!

We made sure to put the sweatshirt on Emmie before Daddy came home and saw his son's masculinity slowly diminishing.

We went to Discovery Gateway for a daytime activity. It was a lot of fun.

That night we surprised Emmie with a family party at Jungle Jim's playland. The Merry-Go-Round was her first ride.

Charley, Em and Brittana were the threesome on all the rides.

The Featherstone look of surprise....you knew it would be somewhere on this blog post!

I hardly got any pictures of the Feathies or the Marsdens (Rach usually takes care of those photography details.....we love you Ray!) Here is cute Kate to represent the Feathies (and Scottie looking creepy in the background).

And here is my mom riding with Lukie to represent the Marsdens :) We were laughing because as adults, when you go up high on the airplanes, it looks like your head will hit the ceiling! We all enjoyed going on the rides with the kids. (well, minus the spinny ride which we convinced Jon to take the kids on)

The spinny ride....all passengers survived without throwing up which I know hasn't been the case in the past for Jon's side of the family!

And of course Charley to represent the Alexanders :) She is the best buddy to Emmie.

Nice nose shot Em! She insisted on wearing her new high heels. It was so cute!

Lukie's moment of fun came when he got to ride behind the wheel! Charley was so sweet to make sure he stayed sitting straight up. So classic to see this little guy on such a big kid ride!

Emmie chose the wild roller coaster to be our last ride of the night. I was grateful I didn't get sick :) Her smile says how she felt about the night. Thanks for everyone who came. We love you and Emmie has been in heaven with all your fun gifts! We missed Spen, Nana, Mitch, Sam, Mike Erin, Luke, Scot, Parker and families.

Em fell asleep in her new Princess tent after a fun, exhausting day.

She woke up bright and early the next morning (always too early) and went through all her new stuff. I loved watching her put on all her accessories.

I snapped the earrings on a little too hard and the alligator tears were cute only because she was all dressed up!

After seeing Shelby and Hannah dance a lot this year, Emmie has come up with some pretty amazing dance moves! She loves to show them off so next time you see her, tell her you want to see her famous princess dances :) (She broke off two heels from her new shoes the day after she opened them if that tells you anything about her intense dancing!!!) WE LOVE YOU MISS EM!!

Highlight of Lagoon

2010-09-12T09:13:00.001-07:00

Can you even believe this sight? Jon and I could not believe the attendant agreed to let Luke sit next to Emmie on the Bulgy the Whale ride. It was the best moment of our fun-filled day at Lagoon!

Luke didn't cry or smile so we consider him a ride lover at age 9 months! The ride attendant told Emmie to keep her arm around him so he wouldn't stand up (he barely knows how to sit up straight). However, Emmie remembered her duty and when the ride was over, she looked up at me proudly and said "He didn't stand up or anything! I took care of him." It was a great big sister moment.

New Things

2010-08-27T15:24:00.000-07:00

My two babies. Well, let's start off with an update on Luke. He has experienced many new things lately. For one, look at his hair in this picture. Yes, his hair has always been a hot topic since he was born. It was time to chop some of those locks!

Don't you agree?? This is product-free hair minutes after waking up. His hair has always give me good laughs :)

This picture was taken the day we headed to the hair salon.

Luke wasn't sure what we were doing! My friend Shannon did an amazing job at taming his wild calic-covered head!

Here is the new look...what do you think?

We love it!

But I think it will always stick up!

Luke also has a new bed....yes, this is our living room floor. He is on three blankets and they are barricaded by pillows, ottomans, etc. The sleep situation was almost unbearable a couple of months ago. We have made a huge breakthrough, but we still need to figure out a bed for Luke! Poor guy.

Luke had his first laundry basket ride today. This was a favorite past time of Emmie back when we lived in the Franciscan.

You knew I had to post this old classic video right? This was a video I posted a year or more ago from our last apartment. Emmie's buddy Neve used to push Emmie in the laundry basket up and down the halls all the time.

Luke was fed his first bottle by Emmie. Luke doesn't take bottles. He never would. Until the other day. I was doing some chore in another room. Emmie pulled a chair over to the cupboards in the kitchen, found a bottle, poured some juice in it, and put Luke into this position to start the feeding! I went to check on them because it was extra quiet. This is what I found! Luke was happily drinking the juice and Emmie was beaming at her accomplishment. It was too cute.

Oh my poor baby. I have cried myself to sleep a lot the past week thinking of this new thing my little boy went through. Here Luke is with a wrap around his broken collar bone!

Oh my, did you even think a 9 month old baby could break his collar bone? I sure didn't. It was a horrible moment for me when I left Luke on my bed and went to grab something in the bathroom. I got distracted by Em for a few moments longer. And then we heard the thud. It was an awful sound. I came out to see Luke on his stomach on the floor. For a split second I couldn't remember if he was on the bed. The sinking realization came, YES, he was on the bed and now he is not. I couldn't believe it....by baby had fallen off our king-size bed. And yes, it is a VERY high king-size bed. I knew Luke was hurting for the next few hours as we would wince and cry when held in different positions. After watching him when Jon came home for lunch, we determined something was wrong with his right arm/shoulder. Jon predicted it was his collar bone. He was right. When the doctor showed me the little X-ray of his skeleton and the little cracked collar bone, I again wanted to burst into tears. The doctor comforted me and told me it was the best bone to break. It would heal quickly and easily. They said they couldn't do much to help it heal though. They said he would probably break out of the wrap, which he did in less than 5 minutes. However, babies are smart and they won't use their arm if it hurts them. So, Luke has become ambidextrous these days. He has been a good sport through it all. It has been over a week and he seems almost 100% back to normal. Here is a picture of him right after the fall. I have felt so bad. I hate making mistakes that hurt someone else....especially when it is my precious, helpless baby! But, I learned that you can't put babies up high, even when they aren't crawling yet and even when you think it will be for just a second, and even when you think you put them in the very middle with a toy that will entertain them. Sometimes they are practicing being mobile behind your back (like Cordoury the bear) and sometimes they push the toy off the bed and try to lunge for it! I am grateful that he is going to be okay. I love my Lukie Ben.

What a sweet little guy. He really hasn't complained much about his broken bone and is still pleasant and sweet.

And now for an update on Em.....

She tried out the alpine slides last week which she LOVES. She calls them the "airplane" slides.

She has been doing more dancing in the rain.

And of course we hardly miss a day of swimming at the pool. In fact, one week I think we were honestly 6 for 6 (only missed the pool on Sunday). She also swam one morning and danced in the rain that afternoon. Crazy weather. Emmie will do anything to keep her swimsuit on.

She has become pro with her lifejacket.

Emmie also got her first haircut this month. She sat so still and calm the entire time. Shannon was very impressed.

These were her golden locks before...

The trim after...(not much different!)

Happy about her new doo

We went to the Featherstone cabin this summer and got some cute shots of the kiddos.

Love the hair and the smile on Lukie!

Mommy and Em

These guys are becoming best buddies! The other day I had to run something up to a neighbor's door. When I came back to the car, Lukie wasn't fussing like he normally is when the car is stopped. I asked Em if he had been crying. She said, "Yes, but then I held his hand." I looked back and their hands were still interlocked in between the carseats. It was the sweetest moment. I love being a mommy to my Emmie Shae and Lukie Ben!

Singing in the Rain

2010-08-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

Rainy August days....

And for the skater dude....(thanks to Stacy, Ben and Max for the sweet shirt!)

Check out that doo! Oh my!

Hi to Daddy!

2010-07-31T16:03:00.000-07:00

We wanted to tell our daddy hi as he has been gone for business a lot lately. I took the kids to the pool last night and they couldn't have been more happy. Happy kids = Happy mommy

They were both still happy even when we got out. I am thankful for Utah hot weather because we got out of the pool at 7:30 pm and we were still sweating from all the heat.

Emmie loves taking care of brother in the pool

Other happenings lately have been Lagoon and July 24th activities. I don't have any pics from Lagoon but this was the swing ride at the 24th carnival. Emmie is a ride maniac and loved all the rides at Lagoon. She always had a big grin on her face. She went on Puff the Dragon roller coaster with Papa and just smiled the whole ride. Her friend looked like he was about to pass out! I love watching kids on rides. It is so great.

Charley and Emmie waving to all the floats at the parade (at this point they didn't know candy was involved. After that they forgot about waving and held out their hands to catch the taffy!)

My niece, Brittana (who is at the cutest stage right now) pointing at all the police motorcycles. Her favorite word is "Woah!"

My mom helped make this float in her stake. They celebrated Boy Scout's 100 year anniversary. It was the best float there! I loved the Scout's face :)

He was staring a skunk right in the eyes. "A Boy Scout is brave" is what I think the flag said.

And in parting a picture of my two sleepy heads. One without hair, the other with too much hair.

Oh and lastly, a "cool trick" from Emmie! WE LOVE YOU JON

1st Times

2010-06-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Here are two new things Luke experienced this week:

Green Beans

And big sister pushing him on the swings...

A day at the park with my sweeties

We visited my grandparents' graves on Memorial Day. I hadn't seen their grave since my Grandma passed away 2 years ago. It was nice to see it and reflect on the wonderful people they are. My Grandma Rita passed away just over a week ago and I thought of her as well. I hope I can follow the great examples of these two amazing mothers.

My Grandpa Ralph died when I was about 5 or 6. I was so glad my grandma could finally reunite with him. My favorite part of their tombstone was the Book of Mormon symbol in the middle.

And in closing, another one of Emmie's amazing poses...

Long Time No Blogging

2010-05-24T15:20:00.000-07:00

Snow on May 24th? Emmie saw the snow this morning and suggested we go out and play in her snowsuit. Here she is posing for the camera (a pose she came up with herself and you will see she uses quite frequently. I think she came up with it herself because I don't recall posing like this, although it is possible)

There wasn't much snow on the ground, but she did find some slush on a neighbor's car.

And yes, she did eat it!

Playing in the gutter (I wish I could say this was a first)

Wishing our Aunt Hannah a happy birthday today with our wet, snowy hair!

I have posted some pictures from the past few months. Blogging has been last on the list for me, and therefore has simply not happened! Today I must feel caught up on life....ummm who knows what that even really means! I hope you enjoy the pics of my cute kiddos! I feel so lucky to be their mommy.

Jon's sister Kate got married a couple of weeks ago and she got Luke this darling suit for the occasion. Isn't this picture priceless?

It was a bit windy during our photoshoot!!

Check out that wild hair :)

Luke is a happy little guy. He is 6 months this week!

Here are some more of those poses I was telling you about....

Anther pose at the Burger Bar when we went with Rach and her family.

My two blue-eyed kids. Emmie loves Lukie Ben.

He tries his best to tolerate her!

Even with all the mauling, Lukie still loves being with his sister.

We are looking forward to more park weather...

This is Emmie's element!

Kate and Alex's wedding was absolutely gorgeous!

She is now Katelin Smith

Emmie loved her bouquet.

She is so grown-up these days.

And our Lukie....always wide-eyed and excited for life!

Such a sweet boy. His hair is still sticking straight up. We love it!

He started eating rice cereal last week. I think Emmie loves the activity way more than he does!

But Luke never stays sad for very long....

Our two sweethearts!

Luke is 3 months old!

2010-03-02T14:44:00.001-08:00

Here are a few pictures to give you a glimpse of our past 3 months with Lukie:

First of all, Shelby's sweet 16 birthday is this weekend and we celebrated today when she came over for lunch. This is the best smile I've gotten from Luke on camera. I told her that was his birthday gift to her. Aren't they both darling?

Emmie has been mommy's big helper

She is always hugging and talking to Lukie. It is funny to hear her mimic my voice as she talks to him "Good Morning buddy," "Emmie is right here." My favorite is when she lifts up his arms and brings them back down, all the while saying in a high pitched voice "up and down, up and down" just like I do with him, and just like I heard my mom doing with her babies!

Our little boy always has to share his space with one of Em's dolls!

Example #2

Example #3 This one you have to look closely to see the little miniature doll she snuck in some kitchen rags on top of Luke.

Yes Luke has been wrapped in a pink blankie!

Baby Andrew, Mike and Erin came for a weekend in February. We had so much fun. Here is this beautiful boy with his gorgeous Aunt Kate.

We had a sports night with the Feathies and watched the boys play some bball. I think they mostly had fun dressing up and being cwaazzy (Jama and Scottie demonstrating that in this family photo).

Family snuggle. We still can't believe we are a family of four sometimes.

And yet another picture with Luke next to "Ella." Poor guy, he just can't get away from her! I think it was John A. who termed the look on Luke's face as "The Featherstone look of surprise." He pulls this face more often than not. Hey, you can't blame him. There is a lot to take in when you are a baby!

We went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point with my parents and some of my siblings. We had a great time.

Here we are digging for bones.

Emmie has definitely become a daddy's girl. Jono loves it!

We go on lots of "blankie rides." On this day, Emmie had me wrap up her baby, teddy bear and herself in a "burrito" just like Luke. Signature trends of Feathie babies: the green binkie and the straight jacket burrito wraps.

One of my very favorite moments of the chaotic newborn days. Yes the object on the TV is a maxi pad! Pretty much Emmie realized that anywhere and anything was free game when I was nursing Luke. She would tear apart our house in seconds. It was very frustrating, but when I saw this, I just started laughing. She wasn't quite sure what she had done, but she is smiling proudly in this picture!

Emmie really just needed to get out of the house. This is our happy, smiling girl! She has really been a good sport about staying indoors all the time and I have been so impressed and grateful with her transition of having a new baby brother. She just loves him to pieces and never gets mad at me for taking care of him. She loves being with him and gets SO excited to see him every single morning. It is the cutest thing.

And here is the little guy himself!

"I love my Lukie Ben"

A Baby's Laugh

2010-02-17T13:22:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite sounds in the entire world...

A Baby's Smile

2010-02-11T19:37:00.000-08:00

We love you Luke!!

Luke's Blessing

2010-02-07T20:41:00.001-08:00

A few pictures of our special day with Lucas Ben...

Love to all of you!

The Answer!

2010-02-01T14:11:00.000-08:00

The answer to the picture mystery is here! Drum roll please......Luke is on the left and Emmy is on the right. I wish I had some cool prize for those who guessed right. An elementary school pat on the back will have to do for now. Don't feel bad if you took a 50/50 guess and were wrong because your wrong guess actually made the post worth it, and confirmed my hypothesis that my children do indeed only inherit genes from their dad! (They are very much Featherstone babies). Here are a couple of pictures from that day. The first two are from the original post so you can see if you were right or not.

Luke

Emmy

Who's Who?

2010-01-26T12:59:00.000-08:00

Emmy or Luke? These two pictures show the incredible phenomena that our two kids could be identical twins. The other day I was looking through Em's baby pictures and noticed how similar they are to Luke's pictures now. I told Jon, "I want to find out the exact date those Christmas pictures of Emmy were taken so I can figure out exactly how old she was. Then I want to take a picture of Luke in the same outfit when he is exactly that same age and compare the pictures side by side." I got some pen and paper that very second and figured out Emmy's age was 1 month and 22 days. I then looked at the calendar to see when Luke would be 1 month and 22 days. NO JOKE---It was that very day. I shouted to Jon "Oh my gosh, Luke is 1 month and 22 days TODAY!!! This is crazy!!" Can you believe it? I thought it was the coolest coincidence ever--in fact I really can't think of another coincidence that has made me more excited (I think that is what being cooped up in the house for 2 months straight has done to me). We dressed Luke up in the Christmas outfit (1 month after Christmas) and set him on the same couch, in the same position. I was very particular and wanted everything just right (sound like me?) Anyway, after taking the pictures I couldn't wait to put the sim card in the computer and see the pictures enlarged side by side. I apparently was in too much of a hurry trying to jam the sim card in the slot because what resulted was that the sim card just disappeared in the dark hole. I looked closer and realized I had dropped the sim card in the wrong slot---a slot that was too big. I couldn't reach in and get it out. Oh man! I was totally bummed. Jon said he would have to take the whole computer apart to get it! yeeeouch. So I had to wait a few days before he had time to do that (Poor Jon, if he's not worrying about Emmy messing up his computer, he has to worry about his own wife doing that instead!). But he got it out last night...thank you Jon! And these are the results (sorry for such a long story but it was seriously too dramatic for my stay-at-home-with-a-newborn life which has consisted of walking in between 3 rooms for the past several weeks. Thank you for reading all this if you made it this far!) So, take your votes---who is picture #1 and who is #2?? They even have the same smirk. I love it. The answer will come in a future post.....(dramatic music) DA DA DA......

Lucas and Emmeline

2009-12-28T21:38:00.000-08:00

Here are a few picture updates of our last month. Today is my birthday and it has been one of the best ones yet. I think having a newborn around makes everything that much better. Also, I got so many birthday messages from friends and family that made me smile in between naps and changing diapers :). Jon and Emmeline made it the best day too. Emmy sang me happy birthday at least 10 times and Jon brought me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers and my favorite dinner. He has been the biggest help the past month. I couldn't have asked for a better husband. I don't have the pictures from my birthday yet but here is a peek into our lives since Luke was born. . .

Emmy and Luke on a blankie ride

I love newborn bodies.....so little! I love how they scrunch all their limbs together. He has already grown so much since I took this picture.

A full belly makes a very content baby!

A pic of the umbilical cord....Emmy was fascinated by his black belly button. Now it's not so cool anymore!

Charley and Brittana are so cute with him.

My brother Scot didn't make it to the hospital to meet Luke but he came later and probably scared Emmy because he was wearing a Santa hat! We've had so many friends and family come and visit and also babysit Emmy. We are so blessed to have all of you! Thank you.

Jon and Em have become the best of buds. Between buying and decorating the Christmas tree. . .

And going to nursery together. . .

Emmy has, more than ever, become her daddy's little girl

We love this little guy so much! He's our little monkey...referring to the jammies he's wearing and not the big hands (althouth he did inherit my big hands and long fingers)!

These two have already become the best of buds. "I like Lukie Ben"...a comment Em made earlier today. Here she wanted me to wrap her in a baby burrito just like her "sister Luke..." She hasn't quite matched the brother/sister titles with the right gender! I love it.

Our Christmas Baby

2009-12-04T18:31:00.000-08:00

It is so fun to have a newborn around for Christmas time! Today Lucas Ben is one week old. It is amazing how he has only been in our home for a short week, and yet we really can't picture our lives without him!

What a sweetie!

The reunion (I believe they may have met before this life :o)
Emmy was so sweet when she first saw Luke. We didn't say anything and she simply held him, nuzzled her cheek into his head and gave him a kiss. She is going to be a great big sister.

A very sincere, happy smile.

Interested in the binky, of course.

Our first family pic with baby Luke

First trip to the doctor's (yes, I hated taking a three day old baby to the doctor's office on a bitter cold December day but we had to check for his bilrubin levels and they were fine...we have much to be grateful for with this healthy little guy)

All bundled up!

Somehow sleep is always the bonding moment between daddy and his kids.

This guy is such a snuggler that I have found myself sleeping next to him a couple of times too!

Our little fireball Em has been into everything this week. I loved finding her in Luke's carseat eating fruit snacks---finally an activity that wasn't harmful, poisonous or disastrous!

We play "duck duck goose" with the dinosaur and the teddy bear. Em was excited about being able to pick up Luke's chair, put it on daddy's chair, and crawl under it to end up where she is in this picture. The Talented Twos.....just trying to focus on the positive of this week with Em because it was a rough one :)

I still swaddle the little guy real tight just like I did with Em. I'm hoping the colic doesn't start up again in a couple of weeks.

For now he is a pretty content little guy.

He does like the binky though.....round two with the green bink.

Lukie loved his first bath. They call this the "baby hot tub" in the hospital's nursery. Check out the umblicial cord. That thing is crazy! What a cool process. Ask Jon about the placenta though--that is a bit much for him to handle :) I thought it was fascinating but maybe that is because it was part of my body.

Jon earns the Best Dad award this week. He is so sweet with Luke and loves him so much. But not only that, he has been such a huge help here around this house while I recover and nurse Luke around the clock. Emmy is running circles around him and driving him up the wall but he is still our constant around here and does whatever he can for all three of us. We are a lucky crew to have him.

Jon experienced the first "whiz" from Luke at the hospital. It caught him off guard and he almost swore but caught himself to protect the newborn's innocent ears! I was laughing so hard :)

Such a sweetie

Jon can't complain about being daddy to #2

Family pic with Great Grandparents "Gug and Bumps" who couldn't be more sweet with these kids.

And we can't forget the family pic with baby Nakomi! Shelbs is taking a Child Care class and had to take care of a newborn doll for the weekend. The doll is programmed to wake up in the middle of the night for feedings and diaper changes. If you are too rough with the baby, it cries and you can get docked on your grade. Yes, Em did tilt the head in the wrong way and it started wailing. We thought maybe she had triggered the "Shaken Baby Syndrome" in the doll's program. This would be terrible for Shelby's grade. I felt bad but I couldn't help but laugh. Em was so concerned about the doll. She keeps asking about her a day later. I just thought this pic was hilarious too with the newborn Luke so peaceful and real looking and then Nakomi who looks real for a split second and then with a second glance your brain tells you something is not quite right. Classic.

Emmy loves holding Luke "by myself!"

Our sweet Emmy. This is going to be rough time for her but she is doing her best and so are we!

I just love a newborn's little body. So precious.

We just love our little Emmy Doo. It is amazing how my heart has just been so full of love for both Emmy and Luke this week. I kind of worried about how I would love Luke and Emmy the same. But it is amazing how a mother's heart works. I don't really feel like I have to share my love between Emmy and Luke. I actually feel like my love has increased for both of them. It is a really cool feeling.

My two darling kids. I can't believe we are a family of four. We are so blessed.

And here is the most recent shot of little Lukie that Jon took tonight while I put Emmy to bed.

He was wide awake and Jon got a good video clip of him.

Lukie Ben

2009-11-30T21:00:00.000-08:00

Lucas Ben Featherstone is here!
2009.11.29 @ 9:00 am
7 lb. 5 oz.
19 in.

Sunday morning at about 1:30 am, Shae started having some pretty gnarly contractions. We threw together some quick things, called Shae's mom to come watch Emmy (thanks Jyl!), and off we went to the hospital. I don't want to say that we exceeded the speed limit, but lets just say that I was not about to let my second child to be born in the car.

I am glad that we lead-footed our way to the hospital, because Shae was already at 5+, so we got the go ahead to stay and have the baby. As soon as we signed some paper-work, the nurse asked if Shae wanted an epidural, to which she answered "yes please!" After waking up the anesthesiologist (yes, he was a bit groggy, and yes, that did make me nervous), he did his deal with the needles and it was smooth sailin' after that. This is what hard labor looks like with the marvels of modern medicine.

I will be happy to go the whole natural route again if that is what my sweet-heart wants, but lets just say that I was able to fall asleep at one point for about 20 min. I think that you know what my preference is. At about 8:40, she was ready to go an the Doctor showed up. After about 20 min of pushing, Lukie Ben made his entrance into the world.

The proud parents. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect labor and delivery. We have much to be thankful for. Thanks for all of the prayers from family and friends.

Jono, Luker, and Luker. Those of you who grew up with us know that Luke and I are best friends. We were so close in age that we had the same group of friends that we would hang out with. We got along really well (except for when I punched him in the face, but that's a different story) which I think is rare for brothers so close in age. When Shae and I found out that we were going to have another baby,we both talked about how fun it would be to name a boy after Luker. I am glad that we had our boy.

His middle name is after his great grandpa Ben Fowler. I thought that it was only appropriate that the last meal that Shae and I ate that night before we went into the hospital was a "Big Ben" from "Big Ben's Burger Bar". Shae had the great experience of working on his personal history and has felt a great bond with him since.

Here's a little video of him while he was awake and alert. Handsome little guy isn't he?

Still Here!

2009-11-27T20:37:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm still pregnant and surprisingly feeling quite comfortable! My guess was that I would have the baby on November 24th. It is now the 27th so my intuition was off on that one. But I'm glad I was wrong because we've had so much fun this week and I didn't have to eat Thanksgiving dinner in the hospital! I think this picture is great because it shows how I have to rock Emmy now with the big belly in the way! I didn't realize how funny it looked until Jon took this picture. She just lays on the bump :)

The last belly shot? (I keep thinking that)

Thanksgiving dinner with the Featherstones. I didn't get many pictures, but we went to Jon's grandparents on the Featherstone side. His grandma did such an amazing job with the decorations and table setting. It felt so cozy and nice to me. Also, Em's aunts and uncles were so great to take her the entire evening so I could eat a ton and just relax for the evening.

Uncle Luke!

Even though it was FREEZING, Em had to take advantage of the trampoline after Thanksgiving dinner (her dinner consisted of 3 bites of mashed potatoes, a piece of roll, a few pieces of broccoli, a cupcake, a creamy popsicle, and some banana cream pie......the joys of aunts and uncles!! The sugar rush sure gave her energy to jump hard!)

Swinging with daddy

Here are some pictures of Em as of late. . .
Trying on Mom's boots and wearing a bandaid on her forehead (everything is a "boo boo" and needs a bandaid)

She loves bringing water balloons into the bathtub.

Jon bought a new computer (yeah!) We found Em here the next morning.

Em and Charley hiding in Granny's closet. Charley says this is where she hibernates. I'm surprised Emmy went in there as you can see the stuffed Santa Claus peeking out from behind the mattress. Lately, Em has developed a fear of Santa Claus. Bad timing.

Sweet baby B! I love that I caught her smiling with her new teeth.

And here is our little love bug. Notice her red puffy eyes and nose. She has been struggling with sleep this week to say the least. This picture was taken after hours of fighting sleep and finally crashing for a half hour. She is now crying again in her crib and it's 10 pm. It all started last week when she bit through her last two binkies. She said they were "bad" and wanted to throw them in the garbage. So that was it. No more binkies. No more instant comfort and instant "night night." I am so glad she chose to get rid of them but man it's been rough. Any suggestions??

Sledding for the first time at Granny's

The latest adventure.....sledding down the stairs in a sleeping bag with Aunt Shelbs!

Halloween, Belly Shots and More

2009-11-05T13:29:00.001-08:00

Our little pumpkin!

We were the family of pumpkins this year...

Minus me, because I decided to dress up the baby boy instead :) I now have two lil pumpkins, just haven't seen what the second one looks like. Jon thinks brown hair, blue eyes...we will see shortly:) This was taken on Oct. 20

This belly shot was taken two weeks later on Nov. 4. Trust me, I felt that baby's growth spurt! I am due December 3rd but I honestly don't think I will make it. However, my baby boy might sense I like surprises and come late. I will be happy either way.

For Halloween we went to my mom's ward's Trunk or Treat. Here Shelby (Thriller character) is with princess Charley and pumpkin Em. I think Em is eying Charley's candy bag....in fact I know she is!

Grannie and little Winnie! Britanna was SO cute in this outfit. I wanted to take her home with me. We had a great time. Thanks mom!

We made a stop to the Featherstone household and instead ran into a banana.

We love Gramare adn Grandpa Joe!

Emmy with her sweet aunts. Nice glasses Han. Kate's footsie jammies are amazing. Her and Em should have a slumber party.

Eating a sucker and simultaneously biting through a tootsie roll wrapper. . . welcome to Halloween!

Okay, I know most of you must be cracking up right now. Yes, this is Jon and yes his chest hair is sticking out. What you might not know is that he is wearing our niece's little mermaid wig!! We had to dress up as 80's people for a ward mystery dinner. Jon played well the part.

I couldn't stop laughing. It became a bit creepy after awhile!

Awhile back the Feathies pulled out this cute little red Korean ceremonial dress their grandparents brought back from Korea. Jon's grandparents served a mission in Korea long before he did. How cool is that to have that connection with your grandparents? Jon brought back his ceremonial outfit from his Korean mission. They looked so cute dressed up together. This is a preview shot of a future Halloween costume, I'm sure. (Just pray it won't be because we are living in Korea...hhahah)

I'm glad my husband is not Korean and I'm glad he is not a ninja.

My neighbors have the coolest Princess battery-powered jeep that Em and Charley LOVE. I always wanted one of these when I was little. I thought this was such a cute shot of them "driving."

As I said in a previous post, We LOVE the FALL! This was on a Sunday after church. We walked past the most gorgeous red tree that had lost most its leaves. We had to stop and get a picture of sweet Em in all the pretty leaves.

Emmy and Daddy--they spend the whole time at church together in nursery. It has actually been quite nice. I hope you feel the same, Jon!

Mommy and Em

My little girl!

And here she is, ready for the months of winter snow. I think this picture was taken the same week of the red leaf pictures. I'm glad we are having a little more spring weather after that bizarre snow. But yes, the Feathies do love the snow.

Happy Birthday Emmy!

2009-10-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

Today Emmy is two. (okay yesterday because I never ended up finishing the post). I still can't believe what a little girl she has become---no more baby. I think this first picture shows how old she looks.

Here is Emmy on her actual birthday blowing out a candle. I let her blow out as many candles as she wanted that day! She was pro this year (minus this video where she actually struggles quite a bit).

We had 3 celebrations this year. I know, more parties than how many years she has lived! The first one was a big get together with the Marsden and Alexander family. We were celebrating Charley, Rissa, Emmy and Matt's birthdays. The big surprise was the party pony. Emmy loved to look at the ponies, but the minute anyone asked her if she wanted a ride, she said "no." But eventually she warmed up and went on the pony named "Cookie Dough" a few times by herself. It was fun because she had never done anything like that before (although riding on Dad's back is a close competition).

Cousin Marissa, Emmy and Jon under some pretty Autumn trees.

Shelby is the greatest aunt to my kiddo. These next two pictures are darling.

Em loved the built in tramp. She wasn't afraid to go jump with all the big kids either. My little girl is growing up! I loved Dean Alexander's superman pose in this pic.

This was when Emmy was a bit unsure about the pony rides. She and Jon have become such good little buddies and she only prefers me over him when she is tired. One of my favorite things she says lately is, "mommy tired" when she sees me yawn (which I guess has become quite frequent!!!)

She was content to just watch the kids ride the ponies and stay with her daddy.

Birthday cake time! And just like her mom, this is always the favorite part of the celebration!

The next celebration was with the Featherstones. We had so much fun as GraMare, Kate and Hannah had prepared a princess party, tiaras and all. Here Emmy is awaiting more birthday fun.

I wasn't kidding when I said the birthday cake is my favorite part of birthdays! I have so much fun scheming ideas for the birthday cake months in advance, and carrying out the big project. This one was simple but still so much fun. Emmy has loved finding the moon in the sky and loves the nusery rhyme, "I see the moon and the moon sees me; God bless the moon and God bless me." I have always loved stars, so this cake was a perfect fit for her 2 yr. old cake. And it doesn't hurt that I could sneak in my favorite color...purple!!!

When Emmy woke up from her nap, I brought the cake to her in her crib. I had a very excited little girl who was more than ready to be a wake! She liked her "moon cake."

"Liked" the cake is an understatement. For those of you who know Emmy, you will know how truly happy she is when she is enjoying a yummy treat. She was especially happy to get her own large piece of cake and eat it however she desired (which meant eating the skittles, frosting, and then throwing the boring cake part in the sink!!!).

Emmy with Gug and Bumps. Aren't they the cutest Great Grandparents? They are so good to little Emmy. I think Em and Gug looked adorable in their tiaras.

Em has been absolutely fascinated with her dollhouse from the Featherstones. She likes to have the baby doll go potty in the little toilet. We're hoping that will influence her desire to use the big potty. She also likes the dolls to go down "the slide," which is really the roof of the dollhouse. That idea transferred quickly to her little brain as she tried to sit on the roof herself and try out the new slide. Luckily, I got to her before the roof broke. So, why isn't the idea of going on the big girl potty as fascinating as going down the roof slide??

This is Em on her actual birthday playing with all her new toys. Thank you to everyone who gave her presents! She has been loving her tea set, puzzle pieces, bubbles, play dough, baby accessories, bath toys, and books. And I have been loving to dress her in all the new clothes!

Here she is posing in a new outfit from Granny. So cute!

Feeding her dolly (well, Granny's dolly that we stole but we'll soon be giving back as Em received a surprise later that day).

The 3rd Celebration was going to the Kangaroo Zoo with our buddy Jake. Emmy adores Jake and looks up to him (literally) as a brother/uncle figure. He is so good to play with her.

They wore their matching Converse shoes.

Emmy loved all the blow up toys. It was great because Jake could take her on all the big slides while I sat and watched. Boy do I love just sitting these days!

The big surprise was Daddy's gift later that night: a baby doll, stroller, baby bed and baby highchair. Oh my, I have never seen such excitement from my baby girl. She loves going to her cousin Charley's and pushing around all her baby doll strollers. This was a dream to finally get her own. She wouldn't stop smiling and she refused to go to bed (which is kind of weird for Em....thanks to the bink!) It was really the cutest thing for Jon and me to watch.

She would go from one piece of baby furniture to the next. The baby was hungry and fed in less than 30 seconds and then the doll needed to sleep in her bed for 15 seconds, etc. It was hilarious.

All these genuine smiles reminded me of the time I first took her to the park after she could walk. The perma-grin just melted our hearts.

I asked Emmy what the baby doll's name was. She said without hesitation "Ella." She kept saying "baby Ella" over and over and just smiled and looked so happy and proud of the name she chose. It was so cute because it was so original. We don't know any babies named Ella and I'm not sure where she got that name! It was so sweet to see how well she took care of the little dolly. But toward the end of the video, you will see that Emmy is still my little baby girl as she needs me to make a "boo boo" feel better.

We LOVE the Fall

2009-09-25T14:04:00.000-07:00

Blogging has not been my thing lately, but I had to post this video that Emmy and I found browsing through pictures today. It is my welcome to Fall, one of the best times of year! (according to my husband, THEE best time of year and I am really starting to agree with him).

And here is Emmy a year later still enjoying pumpkins as much as she always has.

More Happenings

2009-08-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

We had an uplanned Marsden Reunion last week as my brother Spencer and his wife Dian surprised us with a visit from Texas (They are now a family of 7 with the newest addition of 6 week old baby Sophia). It was a blast! I had so much fun with my whole family. It has been so long since that has happened. How long do you think Mom? This is a picture of the whole crew (well, sorry Shelby, only half of your head made it in the pic!) All 8 grandkids were there plus my belly represents baby #9 on the way. Oops, and Jon just pointed out that Spen, Scot and Parker are not in this picture. I guess I just missed that since all the Marsdens look the same. Well, we were all there at one point or another during the week.

A favorite activity of the kids was playing "pizza" or "popcorn" on the tramp. Here they all lie very still as Uncle Parker puts all the toppings on them before putting them in the oven to cook.

Spen and Diana have two twin boys (Owen on left and Hudson at far right). If you enlarge this picture you can see how much Emmie resembles the twins. She could be their triplet! Most espeically I think her and Hudson have similar faces/noses. They also had very similar personalities. We loved getting to know them more!

Lagoon Day with cousin Brenna. We had so much fun with Aunt Dosy, Tima, Brenna and Tess at Lagoon. Em loved having a friend on all the rides.

This little girl was so brave on the bumble bee. If any of you can remember this ride, is is a wild one for kids. It whips the kids around very fast and they can pull on the bar to go up high (some of the characters are dumbo and other animals). Emmy was hilarious. She pulled on the bar the entire time and whipped around way up high. Her facial expression was like "woah, this is pretty crazy!" She seemed to enjoy it and didn't cry as I thought she might. I love when she surprises me like that!

I had the time of my life watching Miss Em.

Our first camping experience.....
This is Jon and Emmie in the morning after sleeping all night in the tent (or not sleeping). We didn't realize how cold it would be in the Uintahs in August. Oh my, Jon's head got so cold in the middle of the night he stole Emmy's hat and completely stretched it out. It was hilarious! Emmy was snug as a bug with her 5-6 layers and an amazing sleeping bag/3 blankies, my large socks on her feet, etc. (I don't pack lightly). I was proud of how well Emmy did her first time in a tent. She didn't wake up once. However, Jon and I were unprepared for the cold as were the rest of my family who came. It made for a great experience. We were all glad when morning came so we could stop pretending to sleep!

Emmy was super happy to wake up and find both Mommy and Daddy on either side of her. I definitely look refreshed and well rested, don't ya think?

Jon was crazy, die hard and left the tent at 7am to go fly fishing down at the lake. I couldn't even get near the lake until about 10 am. The three hours before that I pretty much spent in and out of the parked car, blasting the heat! Jon caught two fish. Way to go babe!

Midget Shelby with the giant pink crocs showing us how cold it was.

Emmy had a blast running around, tripping on logs and finding flowers for everyone.

I love this pictures of Emmy and Granny!

Recap of the Last Month

2009-08-10T14:04:00.001-07:00

Saying Goodbye to Baby Andrew, Mike and Erin. Emmy still talks about them and loves to ride in "Baby Andoos stroller" at GraMare's house. Aren't their blue eyes adorable???

Our amazing, rejuvenating vacation to San Diego. And yes, we left Emmy with her wonderful grandparents, otherwise the word rejuvenating would probably not describe the vacation! I want to thank our families again for watching Em while we took this get-a-way to our honeymoon spot (Coronado Island). This time we stayed downtown San Diego and went to Seaworld, spent a lot of time on the beach, ate good food and just enjoyed the time together. Thanks for a great time Noj!

Need I say more??

We also had the chance to go through a session at the San Diego temple. It was gorgeous and the spirit of the temple was such a highlight of our trip.

When we got back, Jon had nose surgery to fix his deviated sceptum. I decided to spare you all of pictures from that exciting time in Jon's life! It was a hard two week recovery, but Jon is breathing now.....through his nose (I understand that two weeks without breathing would be fatal). He can also successfully blow his nose which wasn't really possible before! I am glad you are feeling better babe. While he was laying in bed moaning and miserable, Emmy and I went to the 24th parade with the Feathies.

My sweet mother-in-law and best grandma to Em.

Em plugged her ears a lot with all the sirens. It was so cute! I think that is when she learned the meaning of the word "loud" because ever since then she uses it in the right context.

My sister-in-law Hannah was in the parade with the BHS cheerleading squad. She is an amazing tumbler and I caught a video of her flawless moves!

The other highlight of this month was our outing to the Oquirrah Mountain Temple Open House with Sue, and her two kids. Here are Emmy, Pauline and Chadwick all squished into the back seat of our car!

Sue was a good friend from our Salt Lake Ward. She really enjoyed the temple as it was her first time inside of one. She is preparing to get a temple recommend. Her excitement throughout the open house was contagious. Her kids were so good the entire time. We went on a very busy night and didn't end up going through the temple until 10pm! Emmy, Chadwick and Pauline kept themselves entertained by pushing the two strollers around the grass. They actually did really well considering the late hour and I count that as a blessing. It was neat to have Em see the temple. She talks about it now and especially likes looking at pictures of the baptismal font. She remembers the "water" and that Jesus was "batized." The other day I asked her what she wanted to do that day. She said "tempol, Pauline!" Whenever we pass a temple (or a chapel for that matter) she says "tempol mommy, tempol!" I hope that love for the temple continues throughout her life.

I was so happy that my dad came with us too. He was so good with the kids and Chadwick really liked him. I remember my dad telling me how going to the temple elevates us more than anything else. Every activity we do in a day after going to the temple is never quite as uplifting as being in that Sacred House. He helped us drive out the big group. Jon came too but somehow he was always the photographer and never in the pics.

We have also been to Lagoon twice in the past month! Once with Granny Jyl, and once with cousin Brenna. Emmy loved being with her Granny and I now know why taking kids to Lagoon is one of my Mom's simple pleasures in life. It was a blast to watch Em get so excited on the rides and I plan on taking her any chance I get!

Our little fam on the wild kingdom train (which wasn't very wild because all the animals were inside sleeping or didn't exist at all!) Jon and I even went on a ride together "Tilt a Whirl." It had been a long time since I'd been an a ride like that and I ignored the "use common sense if pregnant" warning and went anyway. I'm not sure if "noodle" (Charley's nickname for our baby boy) appreciated my judgement, but we had a good time anyway. Jon was a good sport and came too. He still hadn't fully recovered from the nose surgery and I think all our activities that week brought on another infection.....uh oh. You can thank your wife who always overschedules us. Thank goodness for antibiotics

Emmy's favorite---the "hoe-sies"

She also loved the boats. I don't have the pictures to post of her trip with Brenna but she was even more brave that day and tried some pretty wild rides. She really surprised me!

And our little Em isn't so little anymore. She just keeps growing and turning into a sweet toddler. Here she is modeling some winter boots she likes to wear around the house.

Her hair is so long now she can wear it in a ponytail!

And her latest phrase to say good bye "See ya layta"

Baby Andrew

2009-07-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

We have been having so much with Jon's brother Mike, his wife Erin and their darling baby boy, Andrew. Here is the 8 month old showing off his walking skills and his beautiful rolls! I cannot get enough of this baby.

The Feathies came swimming at the pool and it was so fun. The pool is finally heated so the babies loved it!

Shannon and her cute baby Isabel came swimming too. It is fun for me to get together with Shannon as we have become friends through Erin and also through my sister, Rachael.

"The Boy" as Mike calls Andrew is always so mellow and just chillin (so Scottie and him are the perfect match).

Emmie loves her Aunt Kako! (and her crazy hair after she swims. Don't worry Kate, I didn't include that picture but I love it!)

All three of these babies have the most beautiful blue eyes.

Cousin bath time! Look at the size of Andrew compared to Em. I love it. This kid will be 6 feet 5 inches easily.

Our New Niece Sophia Elizabeth

2009-07-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

This beautiful baby girl, Sophia Elizabeth Marsden, was born on Sunday morning (very early in the morning) to my brother Spen and his cute wife Diana. They have the cutest family already and I am so happy they have added sweet Sophia to their family.

Look at all that hair! I love it. My mom says that Marsden babies come this way---looking like they are already a few months old.

Two Little Girlies!

2009-07-01T13:08:00.001-07:00

Best Friends! I was looking through all my pictures and noticed some very cute ones of these two girls. It has been so fun for Rach and me to live so close and for our girls to spend so much time together. Emmy can't live a day without saying their names over and over. In fact, she has merged the names Charley and Rachael into one: "Charachael."

They are so sweet to each other (most of the time!)

Swimming at the pool has been a favorite activity of the summer. They love the water and they love swimming together. Our two fair skinned babes (we cake on the 50+ SPF).

"winging" at the park. This is Charley's favorite video of her and Em so I thought I would post it again for her.

One day I took them to the "big blue park" as Charley says, and they wanted to lay down and rest. As you can see Emmy is about ready to get back up---her "rest" lasted as long as it takes to shoot a picture.

Mine and Jon's all time favorite moment caught on camera. Charley really did help Em up and it was so cute to see how Charley held onto the pole with one hand, and to Em's hand with the other. I love these little girlies! (The title of the post comes from a chant we do whenever we hold both Emmy and Charley in our arms at the same time: "two little girlies;" they laugh and laugh).

We Love our Daddy

2009-06-21T06:54:00.001-07:00

I wanted to post a tribute to Jon on Father's Day because he is the best dad in the world to our little Em. This picture was taken when we went fishing a couple of weeks ago. I love it. They were running around in this field together and playing with the big grass weeds in the water. For as much as a mama's girl Em is, she really does love being with her daddy.

Living so close to Jon's work has been a huge blessing because we get to pick him up almost every day for lunch. Lately we have been going to different parks for picnics. Em is never interested in the food because there are "sides" and "wings."

Em and Jon are good little buddies now. It wasn't always like this and Em still has her major "I can't survive if I'm not in Mom's arms" moments. However, props to Jon because he is one of the most involved dads I know and has weasled his way into Em's little heart. Lately when he leaves for work, she will ask throughout the day "daddy go?" or she'll go look out the window for the car and say "see daddy." She also likes to hide in this little blankie hut in her room. Every time we go in there, she puts her finger to her lips and says "shhhh, daddy," hoping daddy will come find her. Then anytime she does something out of the ordinary (like put black olives on her fingers, or put on mommy's makeup, or put on daddy's shoes) she says "daddy" because she wants to go and show him. It has been the neatest thing for me to see them form this bond. Jon, I really appreciate your ability to walk through the door every evening, lay work aside, and help out in whatever way you can. You truly do honor the noble callings of husband and father. We love you!

I also wanted to tell my dad how much I love him this day. He is "papa" to Emmie and as you can see in this picture, she likes to feed him! This was taken at Thanksgiving dinner. We went to Little America for the big feast and the only thing Em wanted to eat was chicken fingers. My dad gladly accepted her offer! Papa loves his grandkids and spoils them with his attention and affection just as he always has with his own kids. My dad is a big softie and cries when he talks about how much he loves his family. That is something I have never doubted--how much my dad loves me. He would sacrifice anything for anyone in our family. He is always so concerned about our well being and happiness. He also has a strong testimony of his Savior and I am so grateful he shares that with us. We love you papa!

I think I pretty much lucked out with my father-in-law. Jon's dad is the greatest. I love this picture of Jon and his parents rocking out to karaoke. One thing that brings their family together is music. One thing I love about "Grandpa Joe" is the way he brings his family together. They always want to spend time together because they have so much fun together. Joe is the first to crack jokes, razz people and get us all laughing. Then Jama will get us laughing with some story and Joe and Luke will start wheezing and then we are all dying from tummy aches laughing. I also love Joe's ability to bring his family together spiritually. He not only reads scriptures with them, but shares openly how he is applying the scriptures in his life and the help that he needs from the Lord. He is the hardest working, most humble, generous, gracious man I know. He is also an amazing chef (my favorite being French Dip) and I am so glad he has passed on his love and talent for cooking to my sweetheart, Jon! Thanks for all you do and are Joe!

As of Late

2009-06-20T12:14:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures of cute Em and our summer happenings. Here she is in her brand new pink Converse shoes given to her by our friend, Jake.

Swimming at the rec center. It took her awhile to warm up to all the chaos of this indoor swimming pool. Jon took her down the big yellow slide first thing and that tipped her over the edge of not liking anything to do with that place. However, after about a half hour of watching other kids and then slowly jumping to me in the water, she soon discovered the joy of swimming and wanted to run everywhere on her own. "My tone" (my turn) as many of you have heard her say.

We've also been swimming a lot at our apartment pool. We had some of the Feathies over this week to celebrate Uncle Scottie "Doo Daa's" birthday.

Em with her favorite Uncle, Jama (she is the only one who doesn't know that yet)

Em with her two aunts, Kate and Hannah. I love this picture! They are so sweet with Em and she talks about them in her prayers.

We have made it boating once this year to Willard Bay. Emmie was so happy and content to watch the water and of course be with her aunt Shelby and Grannie (and watch Uncle Parker and Sockie from a short distance)! She probably thought it was crazy to watch people hold on to a rope and get pulled out of the water. I always wonder what goes on through the little ones' heads.

I insisted on going early in my pregnancy so I could get one more taste of my love, waterskiing. It turned out to be a beautiful day and I even had a "glass water" run to boost my spirits and keep me on a high note until I get to experience that adrenalin rush again.

Jon prefers the Wakeboard. We sometimes call him "Roger" on the lake (mostly when he does something amazingly crazy and cool) and then we call him "Wally" (when he does something crazy that results in a crash landing). Don't worry Jon, we end up calling you Rog more than Wally.

We went to the Gateway Mall with Grannie, and Emmeline had to jump out of her stroller and "see water" It was a little cold that evening but it didn't stop her from getting completely soaked. She was loving it.

And a day doesn't usually go by without a stop to the park.

The cute baby Em that is not so much a baby anymore!