Rachel's Baptism

I realize that this is out of order from the last post, but I wanted to dedicate an entire post to such a special event! On April 10, Rachel was baptized! It was an emotional and spiritual experience and we are so proud of her! We were also happy that many friends and family could be there to celebrate with us. My mom was able to come from UT--it was great to spend some time with her. It was a beautiful, memorable day!

My friend Rebekah is a photography student-she took these a few weeks beforehand.



So happy to be baptized by daddy (even though the water was cold!)



Grilling out at the house afterward

Cousin Sarah

Before church the next day

Hailey and Alison in their Easter dresses. I feel so blessed to have girls that are beautiful on the inside and out. We are so proud of all of them!

our busy, crazy, fun, amazing spring!

I realize that this blog post is LONG overdue. Seriously, things have been crazy--almost out of control crazy, but I have loved every minute of it! Here are some highlights from the last few months--starting with the most recent.

We just got back a few hours ago from a whirlwind trip to South Carolina to attend the sealing of our good friends Serge and Sarah at the Columbia, South Carolina Temple. It was an amazing experience and we felt honored to be a part of it. We were also blessed to have the opportunity to stay with long time friends of the Craig family--Lee and Linda Starling. They live in SC on a lake. Their house and the surrounding area is stunning! We all had such a good time!

Here we are yesterday getting ready to spend the day boating on the lake! It was 90 degrees this weekend. A perfect day to be out on the water!

Alison

Rachel

The Starlings have a zip line in their backyard (cool right!) The kids had so much fun!



Even little Hailey enjoyed it!

On the way down to SC we made a detour to the American Girl store in Atlanta. The girls were in heaven!! It really was cute!

After having no luck finding a reasonable used doll for Hailey, we decided to buy her one. Yes, we are suckers!

We had lunch with the dolls in the American Girl Bistro. Anyone with girls really needs to do this at least once in their lifetime. They will never forget it!

We also had the dolls ears pierced. After doing so, Rachel and Alison decided they wanted their ears pierced too. Totally spontaneous and so much fun. Their new earings look great!



Hello Kitty earings

Sparkly blue flowers
Such a great weekend!!!


The Nashville Zoo with Jordynne and Brooklynne Larsen




Rachel's 8th Birthday!!!! She invited 2 of her best friends to come to Nashville for glow in the dark mini gold and dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. We had a great time. The biggest event for Rachel was her baptism! I am going to do a separate post of pictures from that special day!



Maritza, Rachel, and Amber holding hands at Opry Mills

As I post these, I can't help but be reminded of the extensive damage that took place last weekend at Opry Mills, Opryland Hotel, and many homes and businesses throughout Nashville as a result of the flood. Nathan and I saw some of the damage first hand when we were stranded in Franklin because of flooding on the freeway. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those that are still trying to pick up the pieces following this disaster!