Easter Blessing

We had planned to bless Dez on the 24th with most of both of our families here. We were so sad to find out that only Ty's mom could come, and then she ended up sick and unable to come herself. What to do now? I was headed to Canada the next day with my folks and the boys while Ty pulled his shift and then he would join us :-)

We then decided to bless Dez while in Canada so my grandparents could be there, along with all my cousins and aunts and uncles. It sure wasn't the same without Ty's family (or the Botschs). We sure missed them. It turned out to be quite a spiritual weekend for me. I was able to be in the Cardston temple for my cousins sealing. It was a beautiful sealing, and sure reminded me of mine. Unfortunately, Ty wasn't able to be there since someone had to watch the boys. I was so grateful to be there to be reminded of what is most important in this life. Congratulations Morgan & Nikki!

The next day, yesterday, was Easter Sunday--Dez's blessing day. :-) We blessed Dez in Uncle Tracy's ward, where he is the bishop. I am so grateful to have so many worthy priesthood holders in my family. There were eight men in the circle: Tyler, Grandpa Adams (my grandpa), Papa Duce (my dad), Mike Duce (my brother), Tracy Duce (my Uncle), Brad Duce (my cousin), Cody Bass (my cousin), and Ryan Bass (my cousin). It was a beautiful blessing. I was surprised to be prompted to bear my testimony in testimony meeting. I never bear my testimony in public (besides when giving a talk) because I always cry. This was the first time since I was a kid, and the first time Ty has ever heard it. I am grateful for the testimony that I have, and pray that I may be more willing to bear it in the future. Ty said that Parker sat quietly and listened to my entire testimony. That made me realize that I need to make sure to share my testimony with my children. Being an example is important, but verbally expressing our testimony is just as important. It is never too early to start :-)

After the blessing, my wonderful sister, Jacilyn, made a tasty dinner for us all---and we took pictures! My cousin, Cody, did a great job! I'm so excited to get these printed and finally have a nice family picture on my wall. Thanks Cody!!!

 

After the dinner we did an Easter egg hunt for Parker. While waiting to start, he kept looking out the window and yelling, "Eggs! Eggs!" He was very patient while waiting to finally get to go out. Last year he was more interested in eating his candy after a couple eggs. This year he picked up EVERY egg. He was so cute.

We absolutely loved our time in Raymond this trip :-) Thanks to all who contributed!



Baby Blue!

I am so excited that I passed on the blue eye gene! This boy sure looks like both of us, but I am glad that he looks more like me (since Ty got to have a mini-me in Parker). :-)  We also noticed the other day that Dez has dimples! YAY! He is so flippin adorable! We are so blessed that he is such a happy little boy. Unless he is hungry, he looks like this all day long:

 Check out them dimples! They are just starting to show. Hopefully they will become more prominent :-)

 

 

We were watching a show about alligators the other day, and then Parker wanted to play with his play-dough. He said he made an alligator. Can you believe how good this is?! We were so impressed! He was quite proud as well, if you cant tell ;-)

Here it is close up. Way to go Parks!

 

Daddy was being silly and climbed in Parkers crib. Parker loved it. Eventually, daddy ended up with a binky in his mouth.

 

February

Tuesday's Letter {2}

*Dear Husband:* Thank you SO much for the new laptop. You always go over and beyond spoiling me! I sure love you. I am so proud of your self-control and that you are able to lose weight. *Dear Jeanna:* You better stop making cookies since you're the only one who will eat them. You're gaining what Ty is losing! *Dear Pawn Shop:* Thanks for selling a freakin' nice laptop for cheap! *Dear Tax Return:* Thanks for your arrival, and for paying off debt. It is greatly appreciated! *Dear Parker:* Please tell us why you are so cranky lately. We miss our happy little man. *Dear Dez:* Please get over your dairy allergy, or whatever it is. Momma is sure missing her ice cream and cheese :-) Thanks for being so happy despite it though. *Dear Deer:* We love seeing you in our yard. You are welcome anytime! *Dear Monday:* Please hurry up already...I am dying to know who Sean picks on the Bachelor! ;-) *Dear Neighbors:* We are so grateful for your friendship. Thanks for being great adopted grandparents for Parker. *Dear Red Dawn:* Thanks for gracing us with your presence. You're entertaining and quite funny! *Dear Pinterest:* Please help me find healthy recipes that don't include dairy--I'm getting stumped! *Dear Morgan:* Please hurry up and get married! I want to come to Canada already!

Ty's Pictures

These are all pictures from Tyler's phone. As you can see, they date back all the way to June 2012, when we were in Utah for Kody and Chelsea's wedding :-)

A wonderful picture of four generations of Littles at the reception.

These two pictures are from the night before Kody's wedding. We went to a sweet arcade, and I somehow hit the jackpot on a plinko game! {first try!} Me and Kody are trying to get control of the 1,000 tickets I won!! :-)

A great view of Helena from Reeder's Alley.

Reeder's Alley is the original settlement of Helena. There are businesses/residents still using the original buildings. It was really fun to walk up the hand-laid brick road and read the plaques telling about how Helena originally began.

Parker just chilling in Papa's tractor :-)

I completely forgot that we had pictures of our fun family trip to the corn maze/pumpkin patch in Missoula. We went back in October, and had a complete blast. They had a play area and miniature straw maze for kids, a petting zoo, a corn/straw maze for adults, and a pumpkin patch. Parker had a blast with it all :-)  Tyler got lots of really cute pictures while we were there. It was a lot of fun!

Parker just showing off his aviators!

Wearing mommy's boots!

Future paramedic :-)

We love the Carousel in Helena :-)

We love going to Nana and Papas house!

A picture just for papa :-)

False-alarm #1: Parker was a trooper while we were in the hospital seeing if baby Dez was ready to come. We pulled him in a wagon while we walked the halls for an hour.

Playing in the puddles at daddy's work last summer

Tyler entered Parker for a Christmas drawing at our bank, and he won! He's showing off all his winnings! Boy did he love it all!