Easton's World

E's world has changed a lot in the last two months. He's so longer the sole center of our universe. He's adjusted very well and we're happy to say that he's just as in love with Alivia as we are. Since our focus seems to be a lot on Lou lately, here's a brief look at what's new with our (not so) little man.

He's celebrated a birthday. Little Man is 3 now! And when there's a birthday, there's a party. This year E chose a Lion King theme. It turned out really well and we were so glad he had so many people come to celebrate with him. Here's a few pictures from the big day. The first one here is of him riding the new bike he got from Mom and Dad.
Here he is getting super excited when we wheeled in the new bike.

Getting the much antipicated guitar from Grandma and Grandpa Stock and wearing his super cool Angry Birds hat Brook made him.

Blowing out the candles.

The cake. It was impossible to find a Lion King cake so I ended up finding some little figurines on clearance at Walmart and taking them over to the bakery.

We told the kids to pop the balloons with their bums to get "money" from inside the balloons to buy their movie treats at the "theater". Dancing and being a goob at the party. These pictures are blurry because E likes to play with the camera and he had smudged up the lens. It took me a while to figure that out :)

Here he is just chilling in the hot tub on New Year's Eve. We got a hotel room for the night in town and let all the kids swim and play before we counted down the minutes to the new year. He had a great time playing and swimming with his cousins.

This is how I found him sleeping the other day. He had started to come downstairs from his nap, but I guess it was just too long of a trip so he fell back asleep on the stairs.

Here he is building his new toy tractor with Daddy.

That about sums up the past few weeks/months for E. We are so proud of what a great kid he is.

Alivia's Blessing

Yesterday, we blessed Alivia. Okay, Kade did it, but it makes me feel better to say "we" did it. She looked absolutely beautiful in her white blessing dress. It was crocheted by my Great Grandma Summers years and years ago, and is the same dress that I wore when I was blessed. Kade did an amazing job. I am always so amazed by the power of the priesthood and feel so grateful to have a wonderful husband who can bless our children. (I was also very proud that my dad was able to stand in the circle for the first time. Go, Dad!) It was a very emotional day, and I'm afraid that I've already forgotten a lot of things Kade blessed her with. But here were a few that I remember:
-A strong healthy body
-A love for the gospel and a desire to seek it out
-Patience for her older brother as he does his best to love her and do what's right for her
-The ability to look to her father to know how her eternal companion should treat her
-A temple marriage
-To be an example of Christ to those around her

I'm sure there were so many more beautiful things that Kade said, but I was distracted by my tears and the overwhelming Spirit I felt. And also, Alivia was true to herself and screamed the entire time she was being blessed :) I wouldn't have expected anything else.

There was something very different about blessing Alivia. A girl wears 3 white dresses in her life, and I couldn't help feel so blessed and grateful for her life as I dressed her in the 1st white dress and thought about the other 2 times that I will get to do that with her. Sometimes I can't help but stare at her (and E, too) and wonder who she will be when she's my age. I have no doubt that whoever she is, she will be a woman of worth and a source of great pride for her family.

My testimony of Eternal Families has grown so much in the short time Alivia has joined us. It's strange how each child reaffirms and contributes to your testimony in his or her own way. It's a comfort to me to know that I will never truly be separated from my husband and children--the great loves of my life. I'm so grateful for the grand design of Heavenly Father's plan.

When we decided to change the spelling of her name from Olivia to Alivia, my oldest sister, Rachel, said something that has been sticking in my mind lately. She said "It reminds me of "Alive". Funny how a single letter can change the meaning of her name so much, but I'm glad that she has a name that reminds people she's ALIVE. And she is :) So alive. And as Mary Poppins would say, she's "practically perfect in every way."

In other news, this is my 100th post! In other, other news, Lou went to the doctor today and she weighs 9 lbs 7 oz and measured 22.5 inches. Her height is average, but weight is fairly low (14%) but she's growing and happy and we're not concerned about her. She had her first shots and was a real trooper. I think it's because she had a spectacular Big Brother with her to help her be brave. *Sigh* It's a wonder my heart doesn't explode with love and joy.