Stake Conference Surprise!

Today I was given a new calling and I'm still kind of in shock. 
I was asked to serve in the Stake Relief Society Presidency. I felt very surprised but I accepted the call and now I am the stake relief society secretary for the Bentonville Stake. 

My old bishop, Matt Lindsey, is now the first counselor in the stake presidency and he called me into talk on Thursday before Stake conference. He told me that our stake will be splitting soon and we are breaking ground on the Centerton stake center this fall. The stake president hopes that by calling two people from Bentonville and two from Centerton, we will have people with experience to help with the new stake when it comes time. 

He also said that the Stake presidency is very aware of our family's circumstances. They know Chris is currently serving as the first counselor in our ward's bishopric. He's already very busy and they are aware. He said they kept looking for other options, but the spirit kept directing them back to my name. 

I really feel completely inadequate and unprepared. I've never even served as a secretary at church so I feel like I have a lot to learn. But the women I will be working with are amazing. I already know both the counselors and the Relief Society president called me this week to talk things over and she seems wonderful. I'm very excited to get to work with these women and learn from them.

I think the thing I am most excited about is getting to serve the women in our stake. I know there is so much that happens that I am unaware of and I'm really excited to find ways to uplift and help others. 
I want to find ways to share the gospel and my testimony with others and I feel like this calling will help me do that. 

I'm praying daily for strength and guidance from my Heavenly Father so that I can be his Hands on earth. I also received a beautiful setting apart blessing after Stake Conference. 
Bro. Douglas set me apart and in that blessing my favorite thing was when he promised me that "when both my husband and I are busy with church meetings, trust that our kids are in the Lord's hands."
I just thought that was the sweetest blessing and it was such a comfort to my mommy heart. 

Wish me luck, this is my first stake calling and I really want to give it all I can. 

Tucker’s Birthday

We just celebrated Tucker's birthday and it was so much fun. 
We started the day with donuts and then Tucker and I went to a friend's baptism. 
After the baptism I took Tucker out for his birthday lunch and to get a boba drink. 

He loved it and he loved the one-on-one time. 

 

After we got home from lunch, I started setting up for Tucker's birthday party. 
It was a small, family party this year. He wanted an ice cream themed party so I made that happen.

 

Instead of cake, he just wanted massive ice cream sundaes. This was the easiest party ever and Tucker loved it. 

Before we ate ice cream though, we had dinner. Tucker got to pick his birthday dinner and he picked fettuccini alfredo and he was so happy about it. It was pretty cute. 

We watched a movie and enjoyed his dinner and ice cream.

Then we opened presents. It was a very chill birthday with our boy and we just love him so much.  

Happy Birthday Tucker! We are so proud of you and we love you more than words can say!

Happy Birthday Uncle David- Surprise Trip to CO

Chris and I just got home from a quick whirlwind trip to Colorado Springs to celebrate Uncle David's 40th birthday. All of us siblings and Nanny and Papa flew out to surprise him with the help of coordinating from Aunt Michelle. It was a total shock for him and it was so fun!

Here we are before sneaking into his house to surprise him. 

Joseph and Julieta flew in a little bit later and so we couldn't wait for them. 

Also, the day we flew in a spring snow shower blue in with us. It was crazy and I think I've decided the weather in Colorado Springs is even more unreliable than Arkansas weather.

That night we went out to dinner at a nice Italian place and then we all met back up at the Airbnb we had rented for the weekend. The house itself was super cute and had lots of room. We met back there to hang out, play games and wait for Joseph and Julieta to show up. 

The next day we woke up to a beautiful day and after having delicious French pastries for breakfast, we went to "Garden of the Gods" and did a little hike. 

Me and the birthday boy!

Here's the orginial gang- I can't believe David is 40 years old now. We are getting old but we are still best friends. 

I'm so glad this handsome guy got to come with me. It was so fun to have the adults together!

Garden of the Gods was gorgeous as per usual. 

That night we lit the fire in the outdoor firepit and sat around talking and laughing together.

It was so fun to get just get to talk and play games, without any worries or stresses.

We stayed up late again that night playing games but the next morning we had to get up and move out of the Airbnb. So once we did that, we drove over to David and Michelle's. 
Michelle made us all sorts of yummy food and we all enjoyed it. 

I spent some quality time with my brother's cat kids. 
Of course, I can't touch them because I'm allergic, but I sat next to them while they avoided me. 
So that's always enjoyable. 

Then we all had dessert and sang to David with his chocolate mousse and birthday candles. 

Before we had to leave, we all got a picture together. 
I'm so incredibly grateful for this family of mine. 
I love that we all love each other and we want to be together. 
I have so many friends who don't even talk to their siblings to parents and it makes me all the more grateful for the relationships I have with my family. 

We drove back up to Denver that night to return the car and get a few hours of sleep before our super early flight the next day. 

We flew in on a Friday and we left on Monday morning. We were back in time for Chris to get to work and Mom and Dad were able to drive home. It was a real quick trip but we had the best time and loved getting to celebrate David's 40th birthday! Happy Birthday Bub!

 

Easter Weekend with Nanny & Papa

 We had a wonderful Easter weekend with Nanny and Papa. 

We actually started our celebration earlier with dying eggs together.

I put together a little setup and when the kids got home from school we dyed eggs together. 
Well actually we colored eggs.  

I sure love these kiddos. 

We all had fun coloring our eggs. The "egg-mazing" is so fun to use. We all love it. 

We also had our annual Christian Passover Feast. 

I love this tradition so much. It was especially poignant this year as we've been studying the New Testament and learning about Christ and his atonement and resurrection. 

I always enjoy the conversations we have during this dinner and the food is always yummy too. 

Then Friday afternoon, we were invited to the peeps festival at the Lanoy's house and it was so fun. There were all sorts of peep and egg related games and the kids loved it! We also had a nice soup bar and I brought homemade rolls. There were 4 different kinds of soup and everything tasted so good. 

There was an egg toss first and it was pretty fun to watch. They had to toss the eggs into each other's solo cups. 

Then they did a peep on the spoon race.

 

However, Uncle Don taught them a sneaky trick and some of the kids took his advice. They licked the bottom of the peep and then it stuck to the plastic spoon and wouldn't come off as they walked across the yard. 

The last thing we did was an egg battle. We rolled our eggs into each other and whoever's egg cracked was out. 

Benson did not like that his egg cracked. He was so sad!

We had a great time at the peep's fest!

Saturday morning we hung out with Nanny and Papa, we had our egg hunt  and we celebrated Nanny's 65th birthday. 

 

I love these kids. Although Benson was very disappointed that the Easter Bunny only hid real eggs this year, no candy eggs. 

Benson reminded me that we needed to plant our magical jelly beans. He was so excited to plant the jelly beans and see what grew. 

Then we had fajitas for dinner and then had cake. 
After dinner we watched Nanny open her presents. 

Her new foot massager was a big hit with everyone. 
Benson really loved it and would giggle so hard every single time. It was hilarious.

Easter Sunday was wonderful. We had a beautiful musical program at church and the spirit was so strong. 
After church we went to take pictures downtown because the tulips are beautiful right now and I needed to document them. 

How cute are my parents? I just love them!

I also love that Bailey and I had matching dresses this year. 
The outfits coordinate so well and I just love the pink and the florals. 

The kids also wanted to climb this art structure so naturally we had to get a picture. 

Then after we got home from taking our pictures we got to work on our Easter dinner. 

Oh and Benson was thrilled to see the lollipop that grew overnight in the spot where he planted his jelly beans. I love this kid and his belief in magic. 

Chris smoked a delicious ham and Mom and I made all the rest of the dishes. 

They were delicious and the whole meal was so good. 

 

We had a beautiful Easter and it was sad to have Nanny and Papa leave. 

Happy Easter everyone!

I'm so very grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful that HE LIVES. Because He lives, I will too. Because he lives, I get to be with my family forever!