Happy Mother's Day!

This year has been the exception to well the last almost 8 years of my life. Every Mother's Day I have dreaded. Mostly because I thought the Lord forgot me and that someday I hoped I would be lucky enough to have a child. Well, this year, I am that lucky. Blessed with the grace of Heavenly Father no doubt. (That is why her name is Grace!) Here is a picture of me basking in the sereneness of the evening. We are each so blessed in different parts of life. We get stronger and have the opportunity to help each other. I feel like hugging everyone.

Nursery Fun....Assembly required

Assembling Gracie's nursery. The crib arrived in the end of April. Jim and Lisa helped us load up their truck and helped us deliver the crib from the store. The dresser came too. They are nice! They are made from mahogany. Mom and Dad are gone enjoying Europe. Wow, I hope they bring nice pictures back!

Another addition to the family? an April Easter present.....

Seanie,(Sean) my brother in law, has really been absent from a few family gatherings. I had my suspicions. And guess what...it was true. Bekki is just the cutest girl ever. Not only is she now engaged to Seanie but we are so alike too! She plays the piano, violin and is a nurse at Lakeview. How did he find her? From their Bountiful singles ward! What blessings abound in this family. The wedding date is to be 10-10-09. Yippee!!!

Happy Birthday Mom B.!

We celebrated my mother in law's birthday in April. We love her a lot. Happy Easter everyone! I truly felt the love of the Savior this year. But every year I feel it. I guess I am just really grateful for the love he has constantly shown our family.

the Fat Ides of March....hee-hee

Here I am getting fatter. I couldn't be happier at 6 and 7 months along. I feel great. Yes, still a little nauseated and have thrown up still once or twice a week. But guess what? No heartburn yet. This pregnancy is a piece of cake. So far!

What a Valentine's gift we got this year!!!

We found out we are going to have a little girl! Her name will be Grace Marie. She will be the cutest little angel ever. We are so lucky to welcome her in our home in June. We have much to do to prepare.

What a fun time we had...

Bev and I had a fabulous time in Walt Disney World at the beginning of February 2009. We spent a week and went on tons of rides in all the parks. Disneyworld, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom. We went to a value Disney resort and all our food was included. It was a very fun and not too expensive trip. It was kind of our last horrah before the baby. See the slide show to the side. We had a blast!!!!!

Here's ......Luke Thomas !!!

Here is the cutest nephew ever. My sister Lisa delivered Luke on Jan 25th. He was a perfect little boy at 6 lbs. 11 oz. Lisa, Jim and Luke are so happy. What a cute little family they are. We are so excited for them. At the hospital we were so excited to hold him. Wow he is so tiny!

Changes abound...

It has been so fun to get used to the idea that maybe our family is changing. Alex is so excited about "Chumly" (we call it so it is not an it before we know the gender). Here is a picture of me starting to poke out a little. I am pretty sure it is a boy. What else could it be in Alex's family?
I started to feel the baby kick on January 20th.

So there is something going on.....

When I went out in November for my birthday dinner with Alex. I just wasn't feeling very good. The food tasted funny and boy was I nauseated. Could it be? Since I miscarried last year and it's been 7 years of waiting ...I thought no. Let's wait and see later and not spoil my birthday. Finally Alex piped up and said tommorrow we are going to take a test aren't we Shell! He suspected weeks ago and I thought I was being sneaky.
Then we took the test Nov 14 at 5:15am. It was positive! I couldn't believe it. I cried and was shocked. Still I was cramping. Remember last year I took three tests of positive but there was no heartbeat. So....
At work I called and begged to get an ultrasound that day just to make sure.
Guess what??? There was a heartbeat!
Here is a picture of what I saw at already 8 weeks along that day!

October '08 Blanket Service for Huntsman Institute

So as part of my job at the Infusion room we get to graduate the patients after they have completed their regimen of chemotherapy. As part of the graduation, we present them with a song and a blanket. Being in charge of service with the MSA this year, I planned to make blankets for my job at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Here is a picture of Lisa and Heidi helping me at the first of two activities with the girls. We completed 11 blankets! Woo hoo!!
I get so close to each of the patients. They truly keep me going and show me how to be determined to get the most out of life. I love them.

Sept..Utah State Fair with Julie's kids....

What a neat family they have. I adore them and their kids. Ben and Alex are great buddies in school. They study and do almost everything together. Here Julie and her kids and I went to the Utah State Fair and had a blast. Each year I look forward to going and seeing the lambies, piggies, and cows. My favorite!!! They even have cool hypnotist and tiger taming shows not to mention the comedians are hilarious. Each year they have a butter carving contest. Here we are shown in front of the most amazing sculpture out of butter! Maybe we can go next year?