March

In March, Josh and I had a Fox Hollow mother-son activity at the Legacy Center (he's somewhere at the edge of that group of boys), we took a couple pictures of Lia in her new dresses for a plaque Janet gave her for her birthday, we went to the mall to see a Lego display with Kristen and Easton and Tysen, Megan had a play date with her friend Emma and her other friend Emma, Laura and Ainsley shared shoes and socks, and Grandpa Nelson came down to help (well, he didn't help--he did it, I didn't help) paint the garage. He was so nice to let Megan and Josh help. That's the kind of grandpa he is.

Last Ski Day of the Season

Lia's Friend Party

Lia had a party with her friends that night after we went to the temple. She wanted a pink lemonade party with a theme of "Life is Sweet." She also wanted to do a service project for her birthday party so we had all the girls tie fleece blankets which we later donated to Primary Children's Hospital. They also had pizza and watched a movie. It was a fun party to end a fun few days of birthday celebrations!

Lia's First Temple Trip

On the Friday after Lia's birthday (March 6th), we took her to the temple for the first time to do baptisms for the dead. Nate's dad works in the baptistry on Friday mornings at the Salt Lake Temple so we planned to take her there and invited Nate's family to join us. His mom, Ashley, Luann and Jan all came. It was a very special morning and Lia was really excited! She had over 50 family names with her that she had done the research on and was waiting to do the work for when she turned twelve. We were so proud of her for her enthusiasm for family history work and her excitement to go to the temple. When we walked in and saw Nate's dad standing there waiting for us in his white suit Lia went right over to him and said, "grandpa!" and gave him a big hug. I wish I could describe how I felt in that moment. I was so grateful for Lia, for the temple, for the priesthood, for family history work, and for our family. I felt so much love and support from Nate's family and I could feel the binding and strengthening power of the temple. And more than anything I was so grateful Lia wanted to be there. We did baptisms and confirmations for all the names. Janet and Ashley helped and Luann and Jan were there in their temple dresses to watch and help when needed. Afterward we took her to breakfast. I'm sorry to say Luann and Jan missed the pictures, but the lei Lia is wearing is from Luann and Jan and Wendy (Wendy brought it back from Hawaii that week). It was a great, great day and one I will never forget!

Amelia's 12th Birthday

In March Lia turned 12. Twelve is a big birthday and we were all looking forward to it! I think the things she was most excited about were being able to go to the temple and going into Young Women's. I'll write more about the temple in the next post. The night before her birthday, the beehive presidency "chalked" our sidewalk as a welcome into the beehive class. She was thrilled! Thankfully the snow didn't wash it all away. She asked for a mountain bike for her birthday and was so excited about it! She also got some make-up. When I turned 12, my mom let me wear mascara and blush, so I did the same for Lia. She looks so grown up with it on! I took her lunch at school and took treats to her class and then we went shopping after school with her friend Jane. That night she went to her first young women's activity and had her first temple recommend interview with the bishop. We had cake and ice cream that night with just our family since we'd be celebrating after we went to the temple a couple days later. I hope she had a good birthday and that it was everything she wanted it to be. Lia is such a good girl. I find myself telling people that all the time. She just came that way. It's nothing Nate and I can take any credit for. She is so caring and thoughtful and is always wanting to do things for others. She is also very creative and is always coming up with party ideas, sewing ideas and new ways to do her hair. She loves to babysit and all of her cousins love her because she takes time with them and plays with them. I am so excited to see all the great things Lia will do in her life. These last 12 years have a been a joy!

Daddy Daughter Dance

The Daddy Daughter Dance is one of my girls' favorite nights of the year. This year Megan got to go and she was SO excited! They all looked so pretty and had a great night! I'm so grateful for Nate for being such a great dad, not just on this night, but always.