A Bosom Friend

The other night my sister called and asked me when I received my young women recognition award. It took a few minutes to find it in my memory book, but I did find it... Feb. 4, 2001! Nine years ago! That got me thinking about what has happened to me during that time. As I looked through old photos I remembered the good old days with a special person who has helped me get to where I am today. Without her my life could have turned out very different. I could have missed out on six and a half years with my best friend, soul mate, and husband, and three beautiful and health children. That is why I am dedicating this entire post to my bosom friend Jennifer Marie Windel. Thank you for everything!

I met Jenny when I was working at the BYU Laundry. She is a true Texas Women who won't take no guff from no body! She is an amazing cook, sings like an angel, is very smart and motivated, and has a heart the size of Texas. (Did I mention that she sings like an angel?) She is the one who talked me into moving into the singles ward where I met Andy. She was a great emotional support when my first boyfriend dumped me, and helped keep things going between Andy and I when I wasn't sure I was ready to date him. She was continually talking to one of us trying to fan the flames of our relationship. Her hard work paid off and Andy and I started dating again. I know that being partly responsible for Andy and I getting together is a heavy burden to carry, but we will both be eternally grateful to her for it!

Here are a few pictures of the fun times we have had along the way.

Working at the laundry, haulin' hay on Labor Day, trap shooting in Levan, UT...

Picnicking at Maple Lake, going to Lagoon, seeing the Olympics in Utah, bowling, sleep overs, becoming the "other daughter"...

Feb. 2003

Jenny was a very important part in helping me get Andy to a Valentine's dinner hosted my the young women in my home ward. That was the day Andy and I started dating again. I am so glad you were part of it all Jenny!!

Don't mess with a Texas Women holdin' a gun!

After Andy and I moved to Texas for dental school we took a road trip to El Paso, TX to see Jenny and her family. We have come to love the Windel family. We are so glad they are willing to share Jenny Marie with us!

Jenny & Bradley

One of my favorite things about Jenny are her gorgeous blue eyes!

Darcy & Jenny are my two adopted sisters! (We love you too Brad!)

I love this pictures because it is of the people we named two of our children after. I mean if we are being honest with our selves Bradley is named for Brad Ellis who was dating Darcy. (Darcy isn't really a boys name and I knew they were going to get married.) Since Jenny was responsible for Andy and I getting married, we had to name our first born daughter after her. That is where Marie in Eliza Marie comes from. (We do love you too Abby!)

Bradley & Jenny at Maple Lake

It is always so sad to say good bye!

(Really I think Bradley really spilled water on her.)

Jenny, Karrie, Daniel & Darcy at the Manti Temple

Jenny flew to Utah for my sister Bethany's wedding and to surprise me. I hadn't seen her in almost two years!

Can't you see the family resemblance?

It is hard for me to put into words how much I love and appreciate Jenny Marie. I couldn't have picked a better friend to stand by me over the last 9 years, and she is still helping me today. Knowing that we are moving to North Carolina this year has been hard for me since we have such wonderful family and friends so close by. In N.C. we won't be close to any of our cousins or grandparents, but we will only be about 4 hours from our Auntie Jenny! Knowing that she is out there and that we will get to see her more often that ever two years is very exciting! We can't wait to see you again.

We love you the mostest Auntie Jenny!

Eliza Blessing Pictures

I realized after everything was said and done, the we blessed Eliza, that we didn't get any pictures of the boys and Eliza in their church clothes.  I finally got some pictures later in the week.  They turned out a little darker than I wanted, so I have been waiting to post them until I edited them.  However, I wasn't finding the time to do it, so I decided to just go ahead and post them.  If I get them edited I will just repost or something. 

 Bradley decided we needed to do the pictures in front of the fire place again.

Bradley & Eliza

Bradley is always very excited to help out with Eliza.  It makes him feel very big.  He is also good to let everyone know that she is OUR baby!  Eliza really likes him too.  I am excited to watch Eliza's relationship with her brothers as she gets bigger.  She really is our Princess...and the boys treat her that way!

I had too much fun taking pictures of Eliza.  She is just so cute!  (Yes...I might be bias!)

Daniel & Eliza

When it was Daniel's turn to get a picture with Eliza I tried to get him to hold her.  He didn't really want to so I had to just lean her on him.  He smiled for one picture and said, "Mom...I done!"  Then he started trying to push her away.  It is funny because he will ask to hold her or snuggle her, and just when I get her settled he says, "Mom...I done!

Jan. 21, 2010

(Daniel didn't have the fat lip and scrape on his chin on Sunday, but thursday morning I woke up to a bang and crying!  His little lip is almost healed now.)

Eliza's Blessing Day

We blessed Eliza this past Sunday. Later that evening we had some friends and our cousins over for some refreshments. We want to thank everyone who came for sharing Eliza's special day with us.

Eliza & Elyse:

It has been a couple of weeks since we did pictures of the girls together, so we took advantage of having them together again. Elyse was so alert and happy for the pictures. She kept trying to sit up. Eliza on the other hand was laid back and relaxed. She didn't want to look at the camera. They both did good not to cry during the whole ordeal. We did get some fun pictures of the girls. There would be more pictures if I could figure out how to get the edited pictures to save where I want them...but that is whole other story!

Karrie, Eliza, Diana & Elyse

I just love these girls.

Jan. 17, 2010

Our Favorite Aunt Darcy

We really enjoyed having Darcy here with us. Daniel frequently said, "No Mom...not you...I want Aunt Darcy to help me." The boys loved wrestling with her and taking her around to show her things. The boys still tell me things that they did with Aunt Darc. This afternoon Bradley asked if he could watch a show. I told him yes since it is so rainy today, and he said, "I can get it out on my own Mom. Aunt Darcy always lets me!" Thanks Aunt Darc!! Now he wants to run the DVD player by himself! :)

What is that look?

Stealing Aunt Darc's kisses!

"Did you see that Dad?"

Darc and Eliza

Eliza wore this outfit just for Aunt Darc.

Happy 2 Months!

Eliza is already two months old! She has been such a joy to have in our home. EVERYONE adores her. Her brothers keep track of her for me. Just the other day Angie asked Bradley if she could take Eliza home with her. (Keep in mind that Bradley would live with them given the chance.) Bradley told her "no" because "we would miss her too much!" The boys have been so gentle with her and ask every night if she can snuggle with them on their bed.

Eliza loves her brothers too. When she hears them talking and playing she moves her little head around to look for them. She loves it when they tell her stories or just talk to her. She is starting to like her baths better too. She has even been brave and bathed once or twice with her brothers in the big bath tub!

"All fresh and Clean!"

Daniel is my best helper when it comes to getting Eliza ready for the day. He supervises all the accessorizing!

He also loves to hold Eliza.

Sometimes all Eliza needs is to lay down and kick a little.

She has decided that the swing is one of her favorite places too!

We are so grateful to have Eliza as part of our family. She is such a pleasant and delightful baby. I love picking her up first thing in the morning. She is so happy and rested...she smiles and coos...it does my heart good! She has been sleeping so well at nights. She is starting to go to sleep around 7:30-8 o'clock. I feed her one more time about 10 pm and then she sleeps until 3-5 am. Then she goes back to sleep until about 8-8:30 am. No wonder she is growing and changing so quickly! She really is our Sweet Little Princess.

We love you Eliza Marie!

Jan. 12-13, 2010

Aunt Darc: Part 2

I took another trip out to "The Rock" with Dacry.  The day started out really foggy, but it cleared a little so that we could see the Golden Gate Bridge from Alcatraz.

This is Eliza inside the isolation cell block.  She slept through the whole thing.

Waiting for the ferry to go back to San Francisco.

Darcy with San Francisco in the back ground on "The Rock".

This is a model of a pre-historic shark jaw down by Peir 39.

The seals dissappeared from Peir 39 just before Christmas, but a few came back.

This is Lombard Street.  It is the curviest street in San Francisco.  The streets around it are super steep!!  I was glad Eliza was strapped in her car seat so that she didn't fall out!

This is looking back towards Peir 39 from the bottom of Lombard Street.  This picture doesn't show how steep the street really is.  I drove up it and there were some tourists standing in the street at the top.  I was so glad that I wasn't in a stick.

Darcy on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I love this picture because it shows how far you have to walk out on the bridge to be over the water.

Eliza was trooper.  She did so good for being drug around all day long.  She only cried for the last 20 minutes in the car on the way home.  As soon as we got home and I got her out of her seat and handed her to her Dad she was fine.  We did have a lot of fun with Aunt Darc and we got to try In N' Out Burger.  It was pretty good.

Jan. 16, 2010