Kambriella got her ears pierced!

It seemed to me that every morning in the bathroom as the girls were getting ready, I would here the same words come out of Kambriella's mouth. "Mama, ears!" Then I would hear the echo of her big sister behind her saying, "Ya mom, Kambriella wants pretty ears like Kierra!" I had gotten Kierra's ears pierced when she was one and so Kierra thought that we needed to do the same for Kambriella. I however was having a hard time thinking about actually doing it because I knew that it would probably hurt and I couldn't stand the thought of inflicting any sort of pain on this sweet little girl. After all, she has already had to go through a lot in her short little life! Nevertheless, as Friday, February 18th rolled around, Kierra, Kambriella, and I found ourselves with an opportunity to have a girls night out while all of the boys were enjoying a night out at the "Monster Truck Jam." So, of course when I asked the girls what we should go do, there was a cheer of, "pretty ears, Mom!" So, we ended up at the mall and found our way into the jewelry store...

When Kambriella saw the "poo poo" chair, (the purple chair:) she was immediately intrigued and with no prompting at all she climbed on up and reclined herself back and said, "Mine!" Yes, she thought that the purple chair now belonged to her!

Then, I sat down and let her pick out some pretty earrings and held her and asked her if she wanted "pretty ears like Kierra." She held the earrings and said, "Mine!" At this point I thought we could go through with it because she was being so agreeable, but I was the one getting nervous, NOT her!

She saw the cute Claire's Bear and of course said, "Mine!" The lady gave it to her thinking that it would be a great distraction while she prepared everything.

The two ladies in the store held Kambriella's ears and counted to three while Kambriella sat perfectly still. I was quite shocked at how cooperative she was being and we all sat ready for at least a little bit of drama to come. One, Two, Three!

At this point, everyone in the store was watching in amazement as Kambriella didn't flinch, didn't budge, didn't scream or even make a peep! Both of the ladies turned to me at the same time and said, "WOW! She is amazing! We've never had a little one not cry before!" So, here are her "pretty ears!"

As they handed me the mirror to show Kambriella, I breathed a sigh of relief at her pleasant reaction - and NO crying! This little girl is one tough cookie! And she loved looking at her new "pretty ears!"























As soon as we were done, Kambriella was out the door and chasing the train down the mall! That was it! I couldn't believe it! She had her new pretty ears and now it was time to go have some fun! Trains, suckers, shopping...














...and dinner! We had panda express for dinner, we talked and laughed, and admired Kambriella's pretty ears all night long!















Kambriella, you are such a little angel! We love you and are so happy that you came to our family! You make us appreciate life everyday AND you make it fun! We love you... and your ears!

Will you be MINE?

Valentines Day is such a sweet day when you are living out the dream of being married to your best friend. Wasn't it Joseph B. Worthlin that said, "Come what may and love it?" Well, in this relationship of love that we have built, the "come what may" seems so EASY to love - with Clint by my side. It is true, that frustrations in life arise, and trials accompany us down our path of life, but thanks to an amazing husband who sees only the good in me and the humor in everything all around us, we can honestly say that living out our eternal marriage together is like having Valentines Day everyday. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Sweetheart, you are the greatest blessing in my life and I'm so glad that I have you forever.

Clint and I have a tradition of taking turns planning out our romantic holidays like Valentine's day and our anniversary. That way, there is always an element of excitement and surprise for one of us to enjoy. All the while the person doing the planning is giddy with anticipation for how happy they are going to make the other person be! And yes, sometimes we drop very heavy hints to each other knowing full well that whatever the end result of the planning, it will be fully enjoyed by BOTH of us! So, here's to life, love, and the hopeless romantic inside of all of us!


Here are just a couple of sweets that we exchanged with each other. Sparkling grape juice and chocolate truffles from Clint, and gourmet chocolate dipped strawberries (that were wrapped really cute in a rose sleeve) for Clint. I also bought a couple of nice wooden tables to complete our favorite "dinner and a movie" date nights.;)















Clint knows how much I love Paul Cardall's music so he was sweet enough to buy me his new CD that came out on "Heart Day" and his new book that he wrote sharing all of his life experiences that he went through while waiting to receive his heart transplant. His story and his music are so beautiful and inspiring and they have extra special meaning to me with some of the experiences we have had with our sweet little Kambriella and her heart.















Valentine's Day or "Heart Day" as stated by Paul Cardall was the perfect day to release his new album that was written with his new heart, and the perfect day to host a benefit concert for all those other people out there waiting for their heart transplants. Yes, this was where the little hint dropping had to come in on my part, but I was very pleased and tried to at least ACT surprised when Clint told me that he had bought tickets for us to go to this concert on Valentine's Day!
















Here we are at the intermission of the concert and loving every minute of it! The concert in Clint's words was, "the best concert we've ever been to." There was beautiful music, amazing guest performers, dedications and updates from local fundraising groups. There were moments of inspiration, laughter, heartfelt emotion and tears. But all in all, the entire night was sweet and reflected a feeling of gratitude that just made you feel so glad to be alive and to live in this wonderful time of life.

As we rode home together that night, there was an extra added measure of love that I felt deep inside. I have truly been blessed to have Clint in my life. He brings out everything that is good in me and is the best friend I've ever had. He makes me laugh and makes me cry (but only because I'm laughing so hard that it makes me cry!) He makes me smile and makes me feel important and always knows how to give in and let me think that I am right! ;) He treats me like I am a queen and makes me think that I am the most beautiful of all of God's creations! He also let's our children know that they are the luckiest kids in the whole world because they got the "best, smartest, and prettiest mom in the world!" (You know how Clint can make you think he knows everything because he's so confident when he says it, well they really believe it because "Dad said so!") And, he let's them know that I am his favorite too! Am I a lucky girl or what? Clint, you are amazing to me! I love you with my whole heart and soul and am so excited to have eternity to spend with you! Thanks for being my Valentine, forever and ALWAYS! I Love You!!!!!!!! XOXOXOXO

Kierra's a Teenager!

13!!!!!!! I can hardly believe what is happening around here! My sweet little baby Kierra is now officially a teenager! While I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, I still can't believe WHERE the time has gone! From the "pioneer parade princess" to dance, tumbling, baseball, 5 K's, horseback riding, cheer leading, choir, arts, and band... I believe that Kierra has developed into a very talented and beautiful young woman. She knows how to laugh, smile, lead, and love beyond the capacity that even sometimes I can comprehend. She has many sweet friends and seems to make more with each passing day. She is kind and true, honest and genuine, and draws many people to her with her caring and sensitive personality. While I know I could make the "proud mama" list go on and on and on, just believe me when I say that Kierra is going to be happy in this life because of who she is on the inside and what she does with it on the outside. She will forever be my baby, my princess, my angel Kierra!

On Kierra's birthday, the young women in our ward came over and "flamingoed" our front yard! I must say it was pretty cute with a note attached to the door that read, "We are tickled "pink" that it's your birthday!" She also went with a couple of friends after school to the temple. What a cute bunch of girls!

Here they are after the temple ready to sing "Happy Birthday" to Kierra. Kambriella was so cute too, feeling so "BIG" with all of the girls! What a nice change from all of those crazy brothers! ;)

Making a wish for... what was it again? An I-POD touch, some "bling-bling" jeans, or maybe another hello from that cute boy Brayden? Or was it Lawson? I can't keep these things straight! ;)

Cute friends just having some fun! (And Kambriella beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea after all? Maybe these girls really are as crazy as those brothers of mine! ;)

Our sweet friend Natalie who is Kierra's "other mom," doing Kierra's nails for her birthday! Soooo fun! Isn't it great when the hardest decision you have to make is, "what color of sparkles should I pick?" (By the way, she picked pink!)

The glamour girl herself! Pink sparkly nails and all! Now it's time to get down to business! Shopping anyone? :)

"Oh mom, they're all so cute! Can't I just get them all?;)

Did someone say, "glamour girl?" Oh why yes, that would be me!

Well, if I can't have ALL the clothes in the world, then how about just all of this yummy candy? (Just kidding mom, I just needed something to attract some more attention to my nails!!! ;)

Oh sweet Kierra! Thanks for sharing your birthday celebration with me! (Here we go winding our way back to the car, literally! Which door of the mall DID we come out of? ;)

Sweet Kierra,

Happy Birthday you cute thing! Thanks for being you - beautiful on the inside and out! I love every minute of every day getting to be your mom. I must have done something right to deserve you for my daughter! I love you to the moon and back! All my love wrapped up in a "soft shell taco!" ;) Ha Ha!
Love mom