Baby Blessing

 

In June we were blessed to have the whole Klemetson clan, minus Kenzie who we missed very much, join us for Lilly's baby blessing followed by a few fabulous days at Disneyland. (That's another post) Even Great Grandma and Grandpa Klemetson flew down for the day at the beach and the blessing. We had so much fun catching up with family at the beach and enjoying ourselves in the Southern California sun. Only Grandma and Grandpa had been down to our place in the year we had lived there, so it was a ton of fun to show off the fun things we love to do in our neck of the woods. I think Eliza had a blast playing with all of her aunts and uncles and having attention non-stop. She often even joined in as the center of attention and entertained all of us rather than just being entertained. 

My dad and my sister, Jayne, were also able to come down for the blessing. I loved having them there to represent the Smith side of the family and appreciated their sacrifice to come down more than they will ever know.

Eliza LOVES being a big sister. She's really good at it too.

It was a beautiful blessing and I was overcome with the feeling of love for all my family as I saw the men who love Lilly so much stand around her to give her a blessing from our Heavenly Father. I am so lucky to have a worthy husband who honors his Priesthood and who loves his daughters with all of his heart. As Eliza would put it, "I such a lucky girl."

Lilly's Laugh

Isn't it contagious?

The Men in My Life

I am so grateful for the men in my life who are such a good influence to me, as well as Eliza and Lilly.

First is my wonderful husband, Ryan. I don't think I could ever be the woman I am now if I had not married my best friend. I have learned and grown so much over the last 4 1/2 years of marriage because of him. He is so wonderful to me and treats me with the utmost respect. He is also a lot of fun to be around. ;) He is also such a fantastic father. I love how he will read with Eliza every night before bed and how her eyes light up when he comes home. I love how he is willing, and happy, to change any of Lilly's diapers, wet or poopy. I am so blessed to have him be my eternal companion.

My dad is one of the best men on earth. He is honorable and truly selfless. Elaine S. Dalton recently spoke in conference about how the best way to raise a daughter is to love her mother. My dad has exemplified this throughout my life. I knew I wanted to marry a man who treats me the way my dad treats my mom. I never doubted that my father loved my mother by the way he treated her. He NEVER let us speak ill of her or talk back to her. He taught us to respect and honor her. He was a wonderful example of how to live the Gospel and to continually serve with no question. Plus, he's a pretty funny guy. I love how he plays with words and can make any conversation enjoyable. Thank you, Dad, for being so wonderful and for raising me.

Then there is my father-in-law, Rick. He is a great man who has raised some pretty fantastic children, especially his boys. He absolutely loves genealogy and its always great to hear the connections of names and who is related to who. When we first named Lilly, he immediately knew of several ancestors who shared their name with her. It's great to be able to know our ancestors and feel closer to them through Rick. He is also a wonderful grandpa. Eliza and Lilly are his only two grandchildren, however, he is a pro and does the whole "grandpa" thing very nicely. Rick, thanks for being such a great example to us.

We are also lucky enough to have both of Ryan's grandpas active in our lives. These two men are prime examples of what it means to be a life-long learner. Grandpa Klemetson is professor at Utah Valley University and absolutely loves working with the students. Grandpa Cobia is an entrepreneur and has his own pancake business. It's always great to hear how his business is growing and allowing for more opportunities. Both of these men are incredibly strong in their faith and great examples to everyone who meets them. I never knew my great grandparents, so I'm thrilled that my girls can know theirs. Thank you Grandpa Cobia and Grandpa Klemetson. We love you both.

Lilly's Smile

I just had to share.

Solar Eclipse

Yesterday our family was able to witness a solar eclipse. I remember seeing a solar eclipse as a kid in 1994, however, this was Ryan's first. He was so excited to view this rare phenomenon. He did all the research for what times we had to be where. We didn't have any cool solar eclipse glasses that filter out the harmful rays of the sun from our eyes. So instead, we made a pinhole projector out of a shoe box in order to see the event.

Around 5:30 we headed down to the beach. We figured this would be the best place to view the eclipse so nothing would obstruct our view. We invited our close friend, Tara, and her daughter to come enjoy the evening with us. It was so much fun to play in the sand as the eclipse began and progressed. We were able to spend time as a family and as friends while once in awhile checking on the progress and being in awe each time.

 

When we arrived at the beach we were worried we wouldn't be able to see the partial eclipse because the fog was rolling in from off of the ocean. However, it provided the perfect amount of blockage of the bright rays so we could easily see it with sunglasses through the fog before denser fog would roll in front of it. Then a few minutes later, the sun and shadow would peek out again. And for the times when there was no fog, we used the pinhole projector to save our eyes.

By the time the moon passed in front of the sun as much as it was going to, Eliza was shivering and saying she wanted to go "night-night."  It was breezy and it was close to sunset, so we figured we would honor her requests and go home. When we got to the car, we wrapped her up in a spare blanket we had. As we were driving home, I asked her how she was feeling, to which she replied, "Nice." I love this girl! However, by the time we got home, she had absolutely no intention of going "night-night" and it took us another 2 hours to actually get her to sleep. Ah, the joys of parenthood.

Regardless of when Eliza went to bed, we all had a great time watching the eclipse, Ryan more so than the rest of us.

Home Improvements

When I was first married I was so excited to be able to decorate my home however I wanted to. However I quickly gave up because 1) I lived either in a place where we could not hang our own things or in an apartment with cinder-block walls and 2) I realized how bad I was at it. Our apartment now is really the first we've been able to do anything with. We have definitely been through a lot of trial and error, but it is slowly coming together. Here are some pictures of the latest improvements we've made.

It only took me 4 months to fix these pictures from popping them out of their frames on the drive back from Utah at Christmas time, and then another 7 weeks to actually hang them up. But here they are. I was given these pictures by my mom. They always remind me of her and of my home in Utah. It's a great addition to my kitchen to make it feel a little more homey.

I have had the same vinyl shower curtain for the past four years and it was getting pretty old. Pieces of it were flaking off and it was starting to discolor. So, I found a shower curtain that I like at IKEA. I like my bathroom a lot more now. 

I wish I had a before and after picture for this improvement, however I didn't have any pictures of our old desk. This is because I hated how it was always a mess and things could be seen everywhere, so whenever I was taking a picture, I would point the camera away from the desk. Ryan's work recently had an auction for old office materials they were getting rid of. We bid on this SOLID WOOD desk and got it. I didn't know if I was going to like it or not, but I was so tired of my other one I was willing to give it a shot. I think we won on it too. I did think there were going to be more drawers, but I'm happy for the two that I have now. I also wish that the filing cabinet could fit under the desk, but alas, it doesn't. We just have to keep making due with the things we have now and it will work.
My previous desk had a shelf that was quite high above the desk, so that filled a lot of the wall space. So when we moved this desk in, it felt very empty. We moved our wedding pictures over from another wall and I'm planning on getting a family portrait or picture or some sort to fill the space above the monitor. But as I stated above, I'm not very good at this. So if you have any suggestions, I would REALLY appreciate it and love you forever and ever.



And just because I can't write a post without posting pictures of my fun family, here are some of us at the 175 birthday party for John Deere at Ryan's work.

Eliza and Daddy in the tractor

Pound it!

What a fun family. :)

Easter

 I know it has been almost a month since Easter, but I figured I would still post a few of our favorite pictures.

Family picture

Getting ready for the Easter egg hunt

 We had an Easter Egg Hunt with some of our very close friends in our ward. Jon and Ryan set up all of the eggs in a grassy area across the street from our apartment. As you can see in the picture, they set up a lot. The funny thing is that all three kids stayed within a 5 feet radius of where they began. E was so excited about what was in each egg, he had to open it right there. Eliza mostly just watched E, and C would pick up an egg and hold it. Most of the eggs weren't even touched. Needless to say, they we ended up gathering most of  eggs. It was still fun and well worth the set up.

 

Three best friends

Three Klemetson girls

Eating candy after the hunt

Cute dress from Grandma-Great Cobia

Daddy and his girls

Smelling flowers