CREATE

Yesterday at church, in Relief Society, we were talking about Elder Uchtdorf's talk from General Relief Society Conference in October 2008. It was such a good lesson, and an amazing talk. If you haven't read it, do, it's awesome. You can find it here. But part of the lesson we were shown this video clip, I thought it was neat, and thought I'd share.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhLlnq5yY7k

The challenge of the week:
-create SOMETHING (a clean home, a beautiful photograph, a family memory, etc.)
-help meet someone else's needs

Messy Baby & Splish, Splash

We gave Hallie her new snack, maple teething biscuits. Do you think she likes them?

I would say so. Though I think we'll wait awhile to give them to her again. One because they are VERY messy, as you can see, and two I think there may be something in it that she is allergic too. She got little red spots around her mouth after eating them (you can see them in the bottom picture), which could be from the grit of the teething biscuits, but I just want to be sure. So back to the research for snacks. :)

But because she was oh so messy, she got a much needed bath. We weren't sure what else to do with her. :) She likes the water a lot, and loves bathtime. Eric said last night, he thinks she'll swim before she can crawl. Because she was rolling over, and kicking her legs, and pushing herself where ever she wanted to go. What a crazy lady!

Our little bathtime baby:

A Not So Exciting Event

After some discussion, and Hallie having a constant runny nose, and watery eyes, we decided it was time to take Hallie to the allergist. Though, we knew it would not be a very exciting trip, we are glad we now know what we do. The doctor told us that it is not very common for a baby to have hay fever type allergies, it is possible. But we decided not to test for them in particular (except dog and cat), and so we just give her children's Zyrtec once a day. Food allergies on the other hand we decided was the most important to test, based on her history, as well as mine. This way we could see really what we were dealing with, and how to avoid major issues. So they did a scratch test for egg white, egg yolk, wheat, peanuts, milk, dog, and cat.

This is the look I got after they started the scratch tests,

I'm sure her back was VERY itchy

Here are the results:

Looks like fun doesn't it? Ya not so much. Poor girl! I guess that is what she gets for being related to her parents. :) We both had food allergies when we were little, and mine were especially bad, and I still have to be careful. Milk showed up as not a true allergy, but said to stay off it for awhile longer, because it probably is some sort of intolerance or sensitivity that we need to work through. Eggs were the worst by far, so for now nothing with eggs in it, of any sort, ever. Peanuts were pretty bad. Wheat was bad, but the least of the four that reacted badly. Cat and dog didn't really react, but he said that is possibly because she has not been exposed to them, and that she could still easily develop that too. The top left one I can't remember what it was, and he didn't write it down for me. She had enough reactions that were strong enough, that the doctor prescribed her an Epi-pen Jr. to carry around with us, so that if she does have a serious reaction we could be able to do something about it.

So now the hunt begins for snacks and foods she can eat. Snacks are by far the hardest. We've found a few, but nothing too exciting. Hallie can have rice rusks, Cheerios, and apple wagon wheels. Though this week we found her some organic maple teething biscuits, and some organic teddy rice puffs that she does okay with.

I don't know why we were talking about her first birthday party today, but we realized that odds are she won't be able to have cake on her first birthday. How sad is that? I'm sure we'll figure something out though.

Anyway, I'll quit rambling, but I thought we'd document this not so exciting event. :/

A Final Farewell

Last Thursday, April 23, my dear Grandma Adams, passed from this life into the next. It has been a hard week for all of us, full of emotion. Sad for our loss, for the void she has left in all our hearts, but glad for her release from this frail existence, leaving her worn out body behind. We will miss her greatly, and things won't ever be the same without her, but we have all learned so much from her, in all aspects of our lives.

There are so many ways she has impacted my life, and helped me become who I am today, here are a few:

-Family comes first, no matter what

-work hard, then take time to enjoy life

-enjoy the little moments life brings you, life moves too quickly not too

-life isn't about the things you have, but who you have in your life

-the temple is the so important (I remember when she couldn't go help at the Mt. Timpanogos temple anymore, and it just feeling so weird, because I know how much she loved to be there, and how important it was to her)

-give everything you've got

-she always praised modesty, I remember numerous times her complementing me on how nice I looked, and how modest it was. She let me know you could be modest, and look nice, and be happy

-serve others, you don't know who you'll impact

-she loved the babies, and loved to hold them

-remember that Heavenly Father is in charge

-endure to the end, even when you don't understand why

I love this picture, it was taken when Hallie was only a few weeks old.

I have another one where my mom is looking at the camera, but I love the happiness in my Grandma's face.

Tuesday was her funeral, and to say the least, it was a hard day. I think it hadn't completely hit me until that day. But it was a beautiful service, my mom and Aunt Karen both spoke, and did such a great job. It was nice to see all the family, who we don't see or keep in touch with often, but would've been nicer under different circumstances. All 10 of her children, and 34 of the 35 grandchildren were in attendance. I can't remember the last time that many of us were together.

(I forgot to pull my camera out, so Kelsie was nice enough to share her pictures with me)

My Grandpa with his 10 kids

My cute Grandpa The neighbors kids, who my Grandma loved, used to bring her "flowers" (dandelions), if you look close you can see their last gift.
Grandpa Bob and Hallie
All the grandsons were the pall bearers, they all left their corsages for her

I forget how hard it is to lose someone who you love so much. You think you've got it all out of your system, and cried every tear you can, then something will happen, or a memory will come back to you, and it starts all over. Though I know she is much happier now, and we will see her again, it is just hard for now. We love you Grandma. you will never know what a blessing you have been in our lives.

Easter Festivities

For Easter this year we went up to my parent's house for dinner and an Easter egg hunt. It was a fun time for everyone.

Our little Easter baby, in her Easter dress

With the bunnies, Hallie wasn't too interested in taking pictures.

Just us

Getting ready to go outside for the huntLauren picking up eggs

We hope you all had a fantastic Easter too.

Christmas 2008

Sorry, I somehow missed posting Hallie's first Christmas. I'm only four months late. :) Look how much she has grown since then. So here is Christmas Eve and Christmas 2008....

Christmas Eve....

This was our attempt at a family photo before we left.

My Mom with the grandkids reading the yearly Christmas storybook.

My darling Grandpa.

Cute Lizzie.

Eric, Keshav (one of Eric's co-workers), and Hallie

Christmas Day...

Our cute Christmas tree.
Our stockings, with my tickets to Wicked sticking out the top. :)

Hallie and her teddy bear we made her at Build-a-BearThe best toy of all...

Hallie with her Grandma-Great at Christmas Breakfast.

Don't you feel all sorts of Christmas-y now? :)

WICKED!!!

Remember these from Christmas?

(except I just realized I didn't post Christmas pictures,

how did I manage that?

Maybe we'll have Christmas in April)

The day finally came to enjoy them. On April 9th, Eric and I had tickets to see Wicked at Capitol Theater in Salt Lake. It was AMAZING! I was ready to see it again that night! If you get a chance, Wicked is definitely a must see!