Swifty

Tuesday night I got to go to the Taylor Swift concert with my wonderful sisters-in-law and my adorable niece. I saw Taylor with my VP4 roomies back in the day before she was really big and that was fun. This time was fun, although she didn't sound quite as good, most likely due to the fact that her mic wasn't even turned up pretty much the whole concert. Another bummer was that Kellie Pickler was sick (she was supposed to open). Oh well. It was still a blast and I still maintain that I married into the greatest family. First stop: Olive Garden for a little grub (or a "spot of food" as my Uncle Charlie always said...) Mesha joined us there even though she didn't come to the concert.

Kirston, me, Brelynn, Alisa, and Shawna

Brelynn and her mom. Kirston organized this because she thought it would be fun for her and Brelynn. So true. She loved it.
Kinda dark, but me, Shawna, and Alisa. Who knew that I would be the short one when I married into this family? Kinda crazy!
Us three again. We were sweating bullets and had nosebleed seats, but we were lovin' it anyway. Brelynn and her cute Taylor Swift shirt. Isn't she a doll?

Singing and dancing along with Taylor!None of our cameras were that great, so we didn't get too many good pictures of Taylor herself. But proof that we were there and not just staging our pictures! :) Go Jazz!

Taylor's signature thing is the heart, so of course we had to have a picture doing that too.

Thanks ladies for inviting me along! I had a great time and we will definitely have to do it again. Maybe next time we can convince everyone else that we really are fun and that they should come too.

*If you haven't seen my post below, go look! We are on our way to fundraising for Relay for Life. So far I have raised $115, which is awesome. If you haven't donated, please spare $5 for a good cause!*

I need YOU!

Remember my wonderful brother-in-law Chris? In his memory, we are doing the Relay for Life in Idaho Falls in July. It is a 12 hour overnight walk to support cancer research. It is done overnight because "cancer never sleeps." Well, Jennifer has headed up putting together a team to walk for Chris. We are Team York. I am so excited for this opportunity to show our love for Chris. We are raising money for the cause, 100% of which will go to cancer research. I know that I have quite a few people who read my blog, so I am on my knees asking for your help in this. I think that if each person who reads this can donate $5, that will be wonderful!!! My personal goal is to raise $500 for the cause. Do you have $5 that you want to donate? If you want to help, Please click HERE

How can you turn down a face like that?

I promise, you'll feel good if you help...And I will be forever grateful to you for your generosity!

Been There, Tried That...

Yeah, I'd have to say that my Uncle Judd does a good job on those fries! Congratulate me too, on crossing another thing off my list!

The happiest thing that happened while at Five Guys yesterday (besides the delicious food of course) is that some random man in line behind Devin kindly tapped him on the shoulder in order to inform him: "You have a beautiful daughter." How sweet is that? This man had a little family of his own, but made sure to tell us how beautiful little Hals is too. I think I'll try to be a little nicer like him.

Widow's Peak

Check out Hallie's widow's peak as demonstrated in these photos... (you might have to enlarge to get the full effect)

I have never quite realized how bad it is. Maybe it is now that she has a tad bit of hair I can tell. But really, look at that! It is apparently highly genetic, so I guess all our kids will probably have one, thanks to Devin. Seriously, what do you do with a girl's hair when she has a widow's peak? Maybe its a bit early for me to be worrying about this, but what can I say, I am a worrier! Due to the off chance that she suddenly wakes up with a bunch of hair, I think I better start thinking about it! Any ideas?

1/4

With this participation in my ward's intramural softball team, I have now accomplished 1/4 of the things on my to do list (well 25 out of 101, so pretty close).

We are the Peaches, and we rock. Okay, so we are pretty good. Ok, so half of us are pretty good. The other half, well, we have fun. :)

Thanks to my awesome friend Ashleigh, for I stole this picture right from her.

Get-AWAY!

This past weekend, Jennifer came down to have a get-away with Chris's sisters. Apparently they like me because they invited me along as well. We spent the night in Salt Lake at Becky's family's condo and then spent all day Saturday in Park City. We had a grand ol' time. Let's just say that it has been a long time since I stayed up till 3 am! Good thing the babies allowed us to sleep in (kind of ) the next morning. Thanks ladies for inviting me along-it was a blast and a much needed weekend away!

Sorry this picture is so blurry...but I had to post it simply because I LOVE Ticket to Ride and I think I converted a few people that night too!
Saturday we started out at the Olympic Park in Park City. Here we are looking cute, minus Cheilah who was taking the picture. L to R is Becky and her daughter Eva, Wendy, Stephanie, me, Jennifer, and of course Hals and Sadie are there too.

Hals looking profesh as a skiier. That would make her Uncle Mike really happy! Here we are in the bobsled. Jennifer was complaining because it wasn't comfortable. Wah, wah, I say, since I didn't even have a seat!We then all went on the zip line, which was really fun, except far too short. Here is me, Wendy, and Jennifer at the top of the hill getting ready to go. Here we are strapped in. Let me just say that when that door holding our knees went out, it was quite scary. That was the only thing that was scary, everything else was just fun.

Chris has some awesome sisters. Jennifer is blessed to have them in her and Sadie's lives. We had a great time this weekend and will definitely have to do it again!

A little of this, a little of that

Here are a few things that we have been up to lately!

1) We finally planted a garden! It is mini, but cute. I am sure it won't be cute when there are weeds and stuff, but that is what Devin is for, right? Just kidding...2) My dear friend Kylee graduated from one of the most brutal programs that I have ever heard about, the dental hygiene program at ISU (My mom graduated from the same program when I was in high school and she has barely recovered). I am so proud of Ky and the hard work she has put in. Camille and I drove to Pocatello for the day to see a graduation ceremony held in her honor (okay, not just hers, everyone who graduated with her, but still...)


This is our engagement photo look-a-like. Ha ha!

Camille, Kylee and I with Hals. Everyone thought that Hallie was Camille's and asked her how old her baby is. She kind of does look like Camille more than me, huh?

3) Birth Mother's Day and celebration walk at Provo High. We were able to attend the walk this year, which was awesome. There was a great turn out and I got to talk to a lot of people who are involved in the world of adoption. I am so enthralled with my job, it is becoming a passion. I love it. I love everything about adoption and the wonderful process that it is, the miracles it creates, the lives it touches. Birth Mother's Day is officially held the Saturday before Mother's Day to honor these wonderful women for the sacrifices that they have made. I think too often we only think of "mothers" in one sense, those who have borne their own children. However, there are those who place their children for adoption and also those who are infertile or struggle to have their own children. To me, they are no less mothers because of their circumstances. I love that we honor birth mothers and give them their own special day, because they deserve it.

Devin loves to be photographed, can you tell?
Hallie was looooving this mat. My supervisor's grandson was running back and forth on it while she sat there and she was laughing so hard. I have no idea what she found so entertaining about that, but hey, whatever floats your boat.

4) Mother's Day. I told Devin not to get me anything for Mother's Day and legitimately thought I had him convinced. But, I woke up on Sunday morning to flowers and a new outfit. Go Dev! But the best present of the day was being with my sweet husband and my hilarious daughter.

Can you see why she has stolen my heart?
Don't mind my ugly t-shirt, gotta be comfy on Sundays, you know?

Speaking of which, my mom (and my dad and Sharon) have yet to receive the cards I sent for Mother's Day and my dad's birthday (which is today) due to the fact that they were sitting in my mailbox for three days. I kept thinking that the mailman was making me really mad because he never took them, he just simply put our mail in there with them. Then, I finally pulled them out and realized that I had not written addresses on any of them! I am such a dingbat. Ha ha, the poor guy was probably like, "When is that woman going to figure out that I can't take her mail until she tells me where it is going!" Yes, I am a dork sometimes. So sorry Mom, Dad, and Sharon. Your cards are now officially on their way.

Chris part 2

I said that I would write a little bit more about Chris and his funeral, but I have been putting this off because I don't quite know what to say. I want to adequately describe how wonderful Chris was and how touching his funeral was, but I know that I won't be able to do it as well as I want to. However, I am going to try.

I think it was Chris' sister Stephanie that said during his funeral that there were no parts of his life that they had to "skip over" when talking about him because there was nothing that he would have been ashamed of. He was that good of a person. I was honored to be able to be by my sister's side for a week after she lost her husband and I learned alot about not only Chris, but Jennifer, as well as their marriage as everyone prepared their talks about Chris and as we talked about memories of him. I think it is appropriate that we laughed at least as often as we cried. I think Chris would be pleased to know that. One thing that I thought was funny is that as his sisters were reading through his journals to prepare for the life sketch, one of them came across a passage and said "Oh my gosh! I think this is the meanest thing I have ever heard Chris say!" What was it? He had written that he "disliked" someone. I think that is very telling of Chris and his character.


Chris was so amazing that he was honored on this big sign in town. There was a middle screen too that flashed his picture, but we were unable to get a good picture of it.
There were so many people who came and offered support and help. My cousin Cortney did all the display tables for the viewings and my cousin Che'Lyn made an awesome video of Chris' life. The video was particularly touching because Becky, Chris' sister, had tapes that they had sent back and forth to each other when they were on their missions at the same time, so Che' was able to use voice clips during parts of the video. As you remember, Chris had been unable to speak fully for quite some time, so being able to hear his voice and especially hearing him bear his testimony was amazing.

Sadie is Chris' pride and joy. He wanted nothing more in life than to be a father and he loved this little girl so much. I am sure that he will be looking out for her and helping her throughout her life from the other side. She is definitely Chris' child! She looks just like her daddy.

Sadie doesn't know quite what to think of her cousin Hallie yet. So far she is pretty calm compared to Halls, but you never know if she will get some of her dad's "wild" personality. No, Chris was actually very calm in demeanor as well as an adult, but apparently he was kind of a funny little boy. My favorite story of his childhood is that once he was so mad at his two older sisters, that he went and got the biggest rock he could find, determined to throw it at them. It was so big he could barely pick it up, yet he managed and then chucked it as hard as he could. Well, it came landing straight back down onto his own head! I am sure he was just that much more upset after that. Poor kid.

The actual funeral service was one of the sweetest that I have ever been to. The message that was shared was not only of Chris' life and the courage and strength that he had, but his testimony. It was powerful. His journals were key in helping construct such wonderful thoughts about him. His testimony was shared in his own words and his dad spoke of the Plan of Salvation and how we have hope because we know that we will see and be with Chris again. I love this. I can't imagine believing otherwise. I can see a difference in the way that we handle death as people who understand this plan and others who believe that that death is the permanent separation of loved ones. That is devestation right there. I was so proud of my sister and the way she has handled everything, because despite the difficulty of the situation, she has at peace and has handled everything so well because she has the reassurance that since she was sealed to Chris in the temple, that she will be with him for eternity. There is no greater assurance than that and I am so happy that we have that comforting knowledge.

I don't worry about Chris. I know he is happy, healthy, and doing a great work on the other side. We joked that he was probably talking a mile a minute now that he is free from the restraints of his mortal body that wouldn't do quite what he wanted it to. Now we just have to worry about the rest of us and hope that we can be the type of people that Chris was so that we too, can partake in the blessings of salvation and exaltation.

We are going to do a Relay for Life race this July in Chris' memory. We are going to start collecting donations to raise money for cancer research. I will post more information later, but please start thinking about what you might be able to donate as we want to raise as much as we can in Chris' name and in his memory.

It's Official

I can't count the number of times I have used that title. It just cracks me up. Okay, It's official that Hals is one big girl!! Here are her stats, since I know everyone was dying to know:

Height: 26.5 inches (90%)

Weight: 18 pounds 4 ounces (90%)

Overall, not as large as I was expecting! But still, one large girl.

6 months!

I seriously can't believe that my baby is already 6 months old. It seems like yesterday that I was there in the hospital in such agony waiting for the little baby to arrive. But at the same time, I can't remember what life was like without her. Weird, yes. Here are some recent facts about the Hals along with some adorable pictures of her (mostly with her cousins, cause the pictures were too cute not to post). We go to the doctor tomorrow and I will post her recent stats because I am sure she has gained a ton of weight. Hals and Sadie

*Hallie is super diva. She is loud and very vocal about having things her way

*She is sooo funny. I don't think she has a calm bone in her body. She is wiggly, squirmy, giggly, all the time.

*When we get her laughing, it is hilarious. She loves to play games and has recently taken up playing Peek-A-Boo. It is so cute. I haven't been able to get a good video yet, but when I do, I will surely post it.

*She has taken to "patting" people. She gets her little hand and just pats over and over again, sometimes softer than others.

*She is loving her solid foods. She eats everything as if it is the same. She has no preferences, if its food, its food.

Halls with her cousins Jack, Max, and Sadie. Aren't they adorable? They will be such good friends growing up.

*Let's just say that Halls is not petite by any means. The girl's thighs are outrageous and her cheeks are ever larger. Good thing it is cute at this age, huh?

*No one knows where she came from- lots of people question if she is really "mine". Yep, despite the fact that she doesn't resemble either her father or me, she is ours.

*Hallie has the fake cough perfected. She will cough, look at us for a reaction, and then cough again. Fake, all fake.

*Hallie loves the bath still. She splashes out of control so it looks like we have had a flood every time she gets in.

*Speaking of entertainment, all she needs is her feet, socks, and tongue and she is good to go for quite a while.

*She already repels Relief Society. Yesterday she was so naughty, but as soon as she got out into the hall, she calmed right down and had a look on her face like "Yeah, I got just what I wanted!"

*We are having a problem in the clothing department as this picture demonstrates. The pants are plenty long, but man do they make for an uncomfortable gut exploding over the edge. Poor Halls. And its not just that pair either...

*Hallie can now roll both ways (video below of her rolling from her back to her stomach...I had no idea she could do this until today, but then I kept putting her on her back and she kept rolling right back to her stomach like it was no big deal, so she must have done it before?) She also sits up like a champ, holds her own bottle (which is way nice), and dances the wiggle on a frequent basis.

We sure love our Hallie. What a beautiful gift she has been. She has an awesome personality (heaven help me as she gets older) and is so much fun. Happy 6 months baby girl!

Backtracking

Ok, so I am backtracking a little bit and putting up some pictures and things from last week and then I will get around to posting pictures from this week when we were in Idaho and talk about Chris' funeral and things. If you haven't noticed, I kind of use the blog for a journal and way to keep track of the happenings in our life, so forgive me if I post a lot in the next little while. Maybe some day I will print the blog into a book. I do have to say though that Chris was a great journal keeper and being able to have his written words has been so helpful for Jennifer, so I am going to make a better effort to write in my actual journal too. I used to be AWESOME at writing, but I don't think my future posterity really wants to hear all about all the boys I liked in jr. high since that is mostly what I wrote about, so I better start writing other things too! :)

While babysitting Mesha's boys, we had the opportunity to go swimming. What a fabulous idea. It kept the boys entertained for hours, and Hallie got to use her cute swim suit!

Tyge, Tade, and Trey in the pool

Trex
Hallie and I. Where does she come from? Her eyes look so blue in that picture and of course they didn't come from me!

Hallie in the pool with my mom. She liked it, though she didn't want to let on that she did.

Later in the week, I got a surprise call from my best friend Haylee, who was in town from Tennessee for her great-grandpa's funeral. I was so happy to be able to see her and chat with her, even if it was for a short while. Remember Jackson and Hallie are getting married? Yeah, they are so cute together!
Here we all are... sorry that Hallie is screaming and Jackson is not looking! Can't control those little kiddos.

Ok, if this isn't the most adorable thing I have ever seen, I don't know what is! Please, please tell me that it is so cute! Jackson has learned to say Hallie and this little video shows off his skills! I die every time I watch it, seriously, so cute.

Lastly, one of Devin's favorite mission companions (Donevan) got married during the week that we were at Mesha's. We took two of the boys with us to the reception while the other two were at karate. The two who came with us didn't think they were all that lucky until we spotted the most fancy ice cream sundaes we have ever seen. Then they loved it.

The week at Mesha's was fun, eye-opening, and busy. We left abruptly early Saturday morning when we heard about Chris' death, so Aunt Kirston and Aunt Alisa got to come stay with the boys until their parents came home on Sunday. It is awesome to have so much of Devin's family around. They are all so great to help whenever it is needed and we appreciate that they were able to come and help with the boys so that we could get up to Idaho as quickly as possible.