Firsts

 While on our house hunting trip, Jax had a few "firsts."

 First swimming pool experience--  I think he liked it!  He splashed with his hands and seemed to enjoy jumping up and down in the water.

First time sitting up by himself for an extended period of time.

Started saying "bah, bah, bah, bah" over and over. I was laughing at myself later that day because my heart was just swelling with pride for my son making a simple noise. :)

The big move happens next week....stay tuned.

Mother's Day

Mark totally scored on making my 1st Mother's Day wonderful!  He gave me a new paper cutter, nice ironing bored---I mean board (ha ha), and a mattress cover (I ruined our other one by putting it in the dryer...oops).  We also had a delicious breakfast of crepes with exotic fruits and fresh cream from our goat, Bill.  Mark is getting to be quite proficient in his grilling skills and cooked up some yummy chicken shish-kabobs for dinner. 

I was again reminded of the miracle of adoption on this special day.  I'm so thankful to our birth mom and birth grandma for their selfless sacrifice.  Being a mother to my son has truly given me more joy than I ever imagined.  Every time I look at my son I just have to smile!

I also thought of the wonderful women in my life who are excellent examples to me of righteous mothers and exemplary women.  THANK YOU! 

The Konza Prarie

We are now counting down the days left in Kansas.  One item still on our list to do around here was to enjoy the Konza Prairie, which is really close to our house.  It was such a nice day and the grasslands were beautiful.  We even saw some wild turkeys on our trek and tasted some poisonous wild berries....except for they weren't poisonous.  

KC Temple Openhouse, Celebration, and Dedication

 This beautiful temple in Kansas City has made a big impression on us as we have been able to participate in the events surrounding the dedication.  

Mark and I were able to be tour guides on one of the days of the temple open house.  It was such a neat experience to show and share with people the House of the Lord.  We each guided 2 tours with groups of 10-25 people. 

We were also fortunate to be able to attend the Cultural Celebration put on by over 3,000 youth of the church in the area the day before the dedication of the temple.  We thoroughly enjoyed the excellent performance--the feeling throughout the whole production was just amazing.  The youth did a stellar job and it was so neat to see the prophet there.  I love that he loves the cultural celebrations because I do too!!!  There is something special about having the youth involved in celebrating the temple and the gospel.  It's just exciting!

 

 The day after was the dedication, which was also neat.  We stayed over at some friend's parent's house and attended the morning dedication session in Platte City.  What a great weekend!  

We now have a beautiful temple a little bit closer to us!!!

     

5 on 5/5

Jax is 5 months on 5/5!  Pretty neat-o.  I can't believe how fast this little guy is growing!  He loves to grab everything lately...especially my hair and earrings.  He also rolls everywhere.  

We are having so much fun with this little cutie.   

Baby Blessing Day

 

Jax had is baby blessing on Sunday, April 15th.

Our little sugar slept through his blessing and then slept for most of the day after that too.  (He ended up being a little sick...poor kiddo).  Mark did a good job giving the blessing.  Benji also gave an excellent talk reporting on his mission in Peru.  We had a double-celebration for Benji's return from his mission and for Jax after church with lots of family and friends and lots of yummy food too--bbq pork sandwiches, salads, chips, and lots of treats.    

 

It was fun to see and catch up with Heath, my same age cousin/brother/bff who I grew up with.  He and his wife, Sarah, had a baby boy about a month after Jax was born....and his name is Jack!!!  Isn't that fun!!??  Anyway, we were really examining and comparing our kiddos for quite a while.  Good times.

 

Here are my brothers just kickin' it after the peeps left.  Aren't they handsome!!??

Such a GREAT day!

 We have been anxiously anticipating this special day for a while.  We took our little sunshine with us to the temple on April 14th  and now we could yell it at the top of our lungs..... 

WE ARE AN ETERNAL FAMILY!!!!!!  

IT'S OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL!!!!!!!!! 

 

We were joined by many of our dear family members and friends.  Thank you for making the sacrifice to share this special day with us!  

 

Jax was a little sweetheart--happy and smiling at everybody afterward.  We feel blessed beyond measure to have the chance to be in the temple with our little miracle baby and now having the potential to be with him FOREVER.  We were amazed and the feelings we had in the temple that day and since that day.  Words just can't describe the joy we feel!

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We all ate at The Pantry in the basement of the Lion House.  The food was delicious and I think everyone had a good time.  We were able to spend some time with Mark's folks that afternoon.  We went to an art exhibit at the LDS Church History Museum.  These were some of my favs: