A Blessed Life

Every baby is a blessing and for that reason it truly has been a blessed year. This little beauty is Ryley. She is the daughter of my dearest friend Mackenzie, as well as being Keira's best friend (the mommy's decree it). She was born during this last trip home for us and we are so glad that we got to meet her on her birthday. When I found out that Tom and I were having a daughter, I told Mackenzie that her little one had better be a girl too, because I was not going to be able to take this journey without her. I am so glad that she agreed with me and that our little girls are going to grow up together. Welcome to the family Ryley, we love you so much already.

We held Keira's blessing on May 6th, at Tom's brother's home. We are so grateful to them for opening their home to such a large group and all the work they did to help make the blessing so special. We were surrounded by family and friends and it was truly a day to remember. My step dad was the one to perform the actual blessing and I think he did an amazing job (I bawled like a baby because of the things he said). He inherited three grown children when he married my mom, but he has always treated us as his own. He is such a good man, I am so lucky to have him in my life.

As you all know, Tom and I are not super religious people, but we wanted Keira to have the same basic foundation as her brothers and sister. The choice will be hers if she wants to get baptized or have further involvement in the church as she grows up.

 

The new look of our family. Can you believe how big the kids are getting?? Austin is now taller than I am and Eric will be bigger than Arianna in no time at all..

Our beautiful little lady with the Mommy and Daddy.

This is my attempt to recreate a photo that was taken of my mom and I on the day that I was blessed. It was a beautiful day and we were happy to have almost everyone that we love with us. There were a few people that could not be there physically, but they were certainly with us in spirit. Thank you so much to everyone who made the trip to be with us.