Wonderful Whirlwind Week-end

It feels sort of surreal that I have gone from tending

two toddlers, driving to St. George with them,

driving back to Highland, hopping on a plane for Brig's baby

blessing and hopping back on the plane and home already.

My head is spinning but it has been a wonderful weekend!

I got to spend a couple of days smooshing this little guy.

Isn't he yummy??

He's at that great age when they are still little but

sturdy enough to really snuggle and starting to

coo and goo at you and flash a few smiles.

Oh Brig....I miss you already!!!

And we made a visit to these two peanuts who landed

about 15 minutes from Paige's house.

Beck and Elle are doing really well but their poor

little mother is so sleep deprived she doesn't know

how she is doing. Keep this girl in your prayers!

I'm afraid Brig makes two of them... but they'll catch up!

Then the blessing day came...Nate was giving Brig

the details of how he was expected to behave and

what this whole blessing stuff was about.

Here's pretty Paige with her Brig just outside

their chapel. Since the Williams blessing gown

has been "retired" she purchased one of her

own to be passed down through the generations.

Brig's Grandma Colleen had a baby ring made from

the gold from her original wedding ring that she recently

had reset. Brig's little fingers were too chubby for it to

fit but he wore it on his little toe. So cute and so sweet

to have a little momento from his Grandma! Paige

has decided that this will be passed down with the

blessing gown.

Nate gave him an amazing blessing and I

don't think I have ever seen Paige happier

or more glowing! She loves being a Mom.

And I'm pretty sure Nate thinks being a Dad is

pretty cool as well!

Here is Mike and Christian being dwarfed by the

Clark men. This was a powerful group of priesthood

holders that participated in the blessing.

Proof that Mike and I were actually there....this was a very

special way to spend Mother's Day! I'll always remember

this Mother's Day.

JayDee and Colleen flew in late Saturday night

and out Sunday evening, but they wouldn't have

missed it for the world. This is grandbaby #22 for them!

Look at those darling little eyes peeking out as he is held

by his little cousin Jayden. Brig was passed around like

crazy but he was so very accommodating to everyone.

What an angel boy he is!

I just had to document the men cleaning up the kitchen....

this is Nate's brother John, Bryce and Mike doing dishes...

since it was Mother's Day the men cooked dinner and

cleaned up afterwards.

Nate's brother Greg and his wife Carie were so gracious

to host the entire event at their lovely home.

I just wish this little family lived closer so we could

see that baby boy daily!

All in all it was a fabulous day and a

wonderful Mother's Day that I got to

share with some amazing mothers.

Paige is going to be one of the great ones!

Park / Ballpark Day...Day 7

Robyn has a group of friends that meet at the park twice a week

to let the kids play and let the Mom's visit so we joined in

today. It was 86 in St. George and the littles loved it.

Minie, Gwynnie, Gilly and lots of other little friends were

busy playing their hearts out but I only got pictures of

Poppy Lou because when she wasn't contained in a swing,

I was busy chasing her...not taking pictures!

And boy does this girl LOVE to swing!!!

Minie grabbed the camera and got this little shot of Robyn and me...
I guess Minie Moo shares some of her Mommy's talents!
We headed home in time for Gwynnie to get to pre-school,
and M & P and Gil took welcomed naps after all the
fun in the 80+ degree weather.

Then it was off to Abe's ball game for Poppy and me.
Here you see Pop-tart enjoying some of the finer
things about the ballpark....popcorn and snow cones.
I didn't actually get any pictures of Abe playing
because once again, I had Poppy with me and about
all that can be accomplished is running herd on the
little busy body. Abe pitched and we loved seeing him!
Mins and Robyn took Gwynnie to music lessons
and then dance lessons and met up with us later.
(Turns out Minie actually insisted on TAKING the dance class
with Gwynnie and did remarkably well, amazing the
instructor with her attention span and skills!)
Then it was home for dinner, baths, and bedtime.
After all the littles were asleep, we headed to
Tucker's game while Abe babysat.

Here are some shots of Tucker pitching.
He is growing into a REALLY good little ball player!

Here he is batting...he got a hit every time up!

He's a great little third baseman as well.

Here Tucker is smacking the ball with Coach Bob

in the background. Too bad we don't live closer....

I'd be to EVERY game! Such fun!!!

So tomorrow on Day 8 we load up and head back north.

Sweet Holley and Cheyenne are coming to stay the

night with the girls so Mike and I can catch the late

flight to California for Baby Brig's blessing.

They will keep them until after nap time on Day 9 and

then deliver them to Kennan to sleep there Friday

night and spend Day 10 with them until Mom and

Dad fly into SLC about 4PM. It has been a super

busy week but these are the most adorable little

girls. Some of our favorite moments have been Minie

telling us she was wearing a bow with "pokey pots" on it

instead of polka dots and when Robyn said she was

fixing Gwynnie's hair like Belle's hair she looked in the mirror at

her hair and said she had "beast" hair. She makes us all giggle.

These are super busy times in a young family's life,

but they are gone in a flash. Look how fast this time has

gone. It's such a great work....hard work, but a great work!

Thanks again, Robyn and Bob, for letting us join in your

family's life for a few days....it made these little girls time

away from Mommy and Daddy lots of fun and helped make

this Ol' Grandma's job a lot easier.

XOXOXO

Taking It On the Road....Day 5 & 6

When we woke up Sunday to MORE snow, it sealed the deal....

I decided to load the little girlsies up and head to St. George

for a little fun in the sun. We left about 10:45AM and the girls

only slept from Provo to just before Scipio so we stopped for

lunch in Beaver at the Mickey D's Playplace.

These two love themselves some McNuggets!

Here Minie models the lovely hair adornment that
came in their Happy Meal! After lunch and some
play time, they slept all the rest of the way.
We arrived in St. George and the girls headed
straight for the backyard and didn't come back in
until time for baths and bed. We even ate dinner
in the backyard. Kids are just happier in a warm
climate. And they sleep SOOO much better too!


Tuesday morning found us arising early and getting
set for a run to TJ Maxx and Target (of course).
Then we made another run through McDonald's and headed
to the St. George splash pad and play stream.

Geena (who took a mental health day from school) and Gwyn
made this outing delightful for all concerned. Andrea and
her youngest ones (darling Finn included) joined us as well.
The girls were in 7th heaven and Minie kept saying. "Hi
Nannie, this is fun!!"

These pictures pretty much tell the whole story!

These girls played until they had no more play in them.

And a good time was had by all....we brought them home

and they dropped into bed for their naps. Why is it

again that we don't live here??? Robyn has a

great little life down here and she is amazingly

generous to share it with us whenever we want.

Thanks, Robyn and Bob, for making this experience

at least 95% better than it was last week!!

Post Script: While cuddling Minie tonight before bed, she was talking

my ear off and then right before she dozed off she said,

"Nannie, don't leave me. I wouldn't know where to look

for you." Tear my heart out!!! I think she may

be having some abandonment issues. Sweet girl....

Proud Day for Us and # 2

The most important thing that happened today in our life

was Brad's graduation with his Bachelor's in Business

Management. We are SO proud of him for all the

hard work and diligence that went into earning his degree.

It's not easy to finish your degree while raising a young

family and building a career but he whittled away at it and

"walked" today. He deserved lots of kudos for sticking it out.

I was unsuccessful in finding an appropriate sitter for

M & P, so we drug those sweet little girls along.

Sitting through a graduation is hard for a full grown

person, and asking WAY too much of a toddler.

They were thrilled to have Gabi and Bella there,

and they were all really good considering. But

let's just be honest...not a great idea under any circumstance!

Our crazy little Minie in true form!

Love her...

And Pop-tart following her lead....as usual!

Cute Brad waved to us at every possible opportunity!

This darling family all sacrificed for this degree.

Gabi and Bella went without there Daddy many nights

and week-ends.

This young man has ALWAYS made us proud and

this was just another one of those stellar moments!

Tradition says that you should give the stoll of

your university to the person who helped you the

most or sacrificed the most to help you attain it.

Vanessa proudly wore it after Brad gave it to her.

Congratulations, Brad (and family)!

We love you more than words can express!!

XOXOXO