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Dear Erin and Michael,

Dear Erin and Michael,

I have to tell you what a profound effect your wedding had on me. The day that is expected to be all about the married couple, was also all about the Lord. I thought it to be a great gift you gave to all of us - that we all left your wedding feeling uplifted and edified.

At your marriage ceremony, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and I knew God was in attendance. Then at your reception, to hear the stories of Michael and his pilgrimage through Europe was absolutely amazing to me. It inspired me to re-commit myself to doing that daily, to look for how the hand of God touches our lives each day.

Another great moment was Erin's toast. When she talked about how Michael tries to be the "face of Christ" to everyone he meets. At that point, Chris turned to me and said,"Wow, this guy really makes me look bad!" :) It made me think of when you both came to my home after I had Sarah. That night, I was so affected by how kind Michael was to my son. He played with him and entertained him and was so loving. I can see how Michael lives his life as a "window to God's love." (Let me know if you never heard that song - GOOD one).

I have lived much of my life in awe of Erin. She is kind of like my hero. She always had such a confidence about her convictions and her faith. She was not afraid to stand up for what was right. She was a good friend and I love her. I am happy that she has found someone so perfect for her!

I just wanted to thank you for letting me witness such a special day. I can't thank you enough for the wonderful feelings I had and for the opportunity I gained to rededicate myself to good things. With all the kind feelings of my heart, I wish you two a long, joyous life together.

Love,
Jill

P.S. The purple candy table looked like Martha Stewart designed it herself! It was soooo COOL!

Easter 2009

Easter is such a special time of year. A few days before Easter, James and I had a wonderful conversation about the reason we celebrate Easter. He found it very hard to comprehend why people would want to kill Jesus. After church on Sunday, James reported that they told him exactly what I said! My story of Easter was accurate. :)
Easter was a busy day for us and we are grateful that we have so many loved ones to share our lives with! We started the day by taking a drive to Fremont to make breakfast for Chris's grandmother and his Aunt Megan and Uncle Robert. We had a fun Easter egg hunt in the backyard for James. We laughed so hard when James put his hand almost on top of the egg hidden in the tree and didn't see it... And then laughed hysterically when he proceeded to climb the tree and climbed right over it without seeing it. After the hunt, Robert and I performed an impromptu duet (he sang while I played the piano) and Grandma cried. It was really lovely. We got to get Grandma on Skype so she could talk AND SEE her loved ones on the holiday. She was amazed at the technology. From my heart, I have to say that I LOVED spending that time with Grandma, Megan and Robert. We have never spent a holiday with them in the almost 8 years we have been married... and I don't know why. I plan to do so more in the future.After we left Grandma's house, we went to church and then off to my parent's home we went. We had lunch and watched James hunting eggs with Haleigh. We hope to get my parent's yard in order before next Easter so we can have a BIG egg hunt with all my cousin's kids too. It is just not as fun to have an egg hunt for only 1 kid. James trick was to follow Haleigh around until she found an egg and then try to be faster than her at grabbing it. Poor Haleigh was getting a little frustrated! I laughed about all Sarah's costume changes. It was like she was hosting the Oscars... she had her pre-oscar outfit, then the red- carpet look, then her after party outfit. Fun part of being a girl. (James did have a nice suit for church, but wouldn't pose long enough for any pictures and promptly changed back into his play clothes.)After the egg hunt, we went over to Chris's parents house for Easter dinner and had another egg hunt! James is a spoiled guy, that's for sure. Dad was so cute to Sarah and was teaching to "smell the roses." Aren't they cute? We want to thank everyone for helping make the day truly memorable. We love you!

double the blessings

Today was a great day! We were church hopping... First, to my cousin Julie's ward to watch her baby being blessed (Evynn Claire - born 1/18/09). Then to my cousin Scott's ward to watch his baby being blessed (Grace Marie-born 2/28/09). It is always so much fun to be around family and I have to say... I LOVED being around all those babies. There is just something so special about a baby so new from Heaven. I was so happy to see cousin Allison down visiting with her 2 week old baby, Brian Anthony (born 3/10/09). He was so precious.Here are all the cute little cousins together. And I threw in a blurry picture of Sarah from today too....Sometimes I cringe when I think of what a crazy teenager I was and wonder what people must have thought... (Don't answer that!) The great thing about family is that they love you anyway and they can look past (hopefully) your growing up years. The quote always comes to mind, "No matter what your past, you have a spotless future." It is a comfort to me to know that everyday I can begin again and try harder to be a better me. What a blessing!

After the wonderful church meetings today, I went over to my parents house where we all received individual letters from our dear friend, Mike McFarren who is currently at the MTC preparing for his Portugal Mission. We went around the room, and everyone took turns reading their letter aloud. As people read their letters, you could really picture Mike saying it. His letters were so sincere and touched everyone. There was laughter and some tears. Today was a really nice day and filled my heart up with love.