Lily is 5!

Lily climbed into bed with us at 4:43 a.m. Since it was her birthday, we let her stay there. Doesn't that look comfortable? She kicked Aaron in the face twice and "snuggled" right up to me. Cozy.

Good morning, sleepy head! Lily opened her fun presents bright and early before her favorite breakfast: crepes and bacon.

Smooches from Grandma. Carter loves Grandma so much. He loves to read and snuggle with her. We miss Grandpa Ford and wish he was here too.

Lily had a horse party. She especially likes unicorns and pegasus. This happy horse came to Lily's party and the kids got to ride it.

Lily's friends were so cute. I loved watching them run and play together. It was fun to see them interact. We did a couple of relay races and they didn't exactly get the concept. When the first runner passed the horse to the next runner, instead of running immediately they waited for me to say go again. So the teams ended up tying both relays. Those kids are so cute!

Yeehaw! Run, girlies!

Pin the tail on the unicorn. Anavey (not pictured) has x-ray vision. She put the tail in exactly the right spot!

Birthday cake for my girl. She blew out her five candles one at a time.

Lily chose Red Robin for dinner. Surprise, surprise. ;)

We told Aunt Julie we would email some fries to her in Taiwan. These ones are for you, Aunt Julie!

Carter thinks Red Robin is a place to eat fries and climb walls.

Happy birthday, Lily! Happy birthday to you too, Jordy!!

Happy birthday, Lily!

My precious girl turned 5 today! She has brought sunshine and cleverly induced giggles to my life. My life is blessed because of her.

Lovey dovey

Valentine's day was so fun this year. We spent lots of time together as a family playing at the park and just being together. We had a lovey dovey family dinner together and exchanged valentines.

Carter got an airplane full of love for Valentine's day. Have I ever mentioned that he loves things that go?

Aaron is truly Lily's dreamboat. She wants so badly to marry him. She made him a valentine with a hot air balloon on it. We love hot air balloons and see them several times a week, often with a picture of a cactus on the balloon. (Don't mind the overexposed faces!)

My heart melted when I saw the sweet valentine Lily made for me. She painted a picture of me on my wedding day, complete with painted fingernails and a lavendar and yellow bouquet.

Our friends threw an awesome prom-themed party. It was great to get together with friends to dance and play.

Aaron is my love now more than ever. It's amazing to see our love deepen as we experience life together. He is my best friend and my love.

Valentine cookies

I love sugar cookies. I'm sure I've already blogged about sugar cookies. It's because they're so delicious and an integral part of certain holidays in my family. I love making cookies with Lily and Carter. They are my baking pals.

Licking the beaters. When Carter sees the beaters he excitedly shouts, "Bite!"

Carter frosted one cookie.

Lily told her preschool teacher she frosted "a hundred, hundred cookies" the other day. We ate just about that many too.

Yuummm.

"The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21

Job's words describe some of my feelings this week. I miscarried. I put my trust in the Lord and seek his comfort. Some of my other feelings are in a different direction: sad, disappointed, frustrated. But for me it all comes back to saying, "blessed be the name of the Lord" and putting my trust in him.

Butterflies

I fell in love with this salad plate at Target yesterday.

A personal victory

I ran my longest distance this morning. It felt great! The weather felt wonderful and the desert mountain scenery was beautiful.