Hollie's Special Day

Our sweet Hollie was baptized on July 3rd. It was a very special day for us as a family. Not only was she baptized, but Shaun got to baptize her. It was incredible and I'm sure a moment none of us will forget any time soon. He did such a great job.

She got a little nervous just before and I just kept reassuring her that she looked beautiful and we were all there because we love her so much!!
There was one other ward with one girl there that combined with us. The talks given were great and the Spirit was very evident to me. Such a neat feeling!!

Afterward in the dressing room she told me that once she got in the water she no longer felt nervous. :)

She's absolutely beautiful & I'm so proud of her!

Grandma Leslie made her baptism dress; absolutely beautiful as well. Grandma has now made her blessing & baptism dress. We've joked (sort of serious though too) that she'll need to make her wedding dress to finish out the tradition of the 3 white dresses!! :)

Shaun, Hollie & Uncle Randy who confirmed her. Then after the confirmation Bishop Sanderson talked for a few minutes and then put me on the spot to share my feelings and testimony with Hollie. Can we say, "Oh my gosh!?" and it's not as if that was one of the moments where I could've even said, "I'd rather not". :) It was extremely nerve-racking as I just don't do those things in front of people, but I'm grateful (in hindsight) that I was able to share my testimony with my family as that isn't something we do near often enough.

All of my family except Chris. We were so grateful for those who came to share her special day.
All of Shaun's family was also there except for his dad. Unfortunately, they left the church before we took any pictures.

Hollie, cousin Maddie, Kambri & cousin Haddie. Such cute little girls!

After we took a few pictures we changed clothes and headed to the park for a luncheon with the family. It was a fun time with good food and great company!

Months of Craziness in a Nutshell

I realized there are some things I haven't blogged about. Some not blog worthy and others definitely!!! There really is no Readers Digest version so sit down and relax. :)

Taylor- see post that I had to backdate to November of 2009 for record-keeping sake. What a fabulous blogger I am!!

Tay is getting so big on me. He is growing up into a young man and it frightens me. (Don't tell him I said anything, but he's got a very small mustache trying to surface!) No way am I old enough for this. He thinks he's so funny because it won't be much longer and he's going to be taller than me. He's certainly not my little boy anymore! He loves hanging out with friends, going to mutual, having sleepovers, and I can't forget tormenting his sisters to no end.

Hollie- My sweet Hollie has had some challenges lately that we're really trying to work with. It's been and continues to be some stressful & emotionally exhausting times, but at the end of the day she is still my same sweet caring girl whom I love so very much!

She loves playing with her friends and Kami and is very ready for Spring weather so she can get out and play! She was recently awarded 'Student of the Month' at her school and I'm so proud of her! She got her picture taken for the Box Elder News Journal along with a certificate signed by the principal and a certificate for a free kids meal at Burger King!

Kambri- Wow I'm quite behind with updates for Kami! She was potty trained shortly before her birthday! Yay, no more diapers for us ever again!!!! Just after Christmas we moved her from the crib to a toddler bed. (Yes, I realize she was plenty old for it. But I have this thing with not taking them out a minute earlier than necessary! It boils down to the fact that all control feels lost with bedtime, but she's been excellent since Day 1. *See other blog for bed pictures*)

She talks a ton now and it seems crazy to think there were many days that we were so worried with her speech.

Our Family- The Bess children are being force-fed a new discipline & responsibilities program. Time will tell how the results are coming, but so far we are on the right road and are showing some signs of improvement. All I have to say on that note is that kids are super hard and I should've had a 'Master Plan' of what our disciplining was going to look like. Once the kids got old enough to need discipline we were quite late getting that ball a rolling so we're now trying to do some clean-up work!

Shaun has been working on his 'man cave'. (Pictures still to come along with a bazillion other things.) He will begin some additional training with the fire department next week which will continue for a month. This month with having him home at nights has gone by so quickly, and I'm really dreading him being gone again. But we will manage, it's only a month, right?!

We are trying to get some projects done and now that it's more like Spring weather we're working more outdoors.

Other than that, we're just keeping plenty busy with day-to-day life!!

Denial & the New "DO"

So I really don't like posts about me, but after looking at these pictures I couldn't help myself. Mind you the fact that I hate pictures taken of me and all that stuff and don't like the focus...but I was in some serious denial. Pictures don't lie!!

So I'd decided I was growing my hair out. (Mainly because Shaun likes me with longer hair.) However, because my hair is so fine when length is added to it, it tends to just hang lifelessly. I finally got tired of the 'trying' to grow it out thing and booked myself an appointment with my trusty hair lady, Nikki!!

I got her all cut and colored with a reddish/brown & caramel highlights. Now of course it never turns out the same when you have to wash it and do it yourself...but even so, it's definite improvement. Maybe I'll take a picture of it one of these days when I feel it turns out 'decent enough' to give myself some more comparison with the before!! :)

I feel like a new sassy woman! Now I need a super cute spring purse and some new clothes to make myself complete!

Imaginations Among Us

The majority of the time Hollie & Kambri play together so well. They have the most creative imaginations and I feel so proud when I see them coming up with something to do that captures their attention.

This particular night they made costumes out of Walmart bags and were pretending like they were Princes & Princesses. The cutest little ones I know!!!

Our Little Sunbeam

Kambri's Sunbeam teacher brought her her own personal Book of Mormon, CTR ring, and her crown that said "I am a Child of God". It just so happened that she was able to share this exciting moment with her boy, Gus!

She was so proud and has been carrying it around in her little scripture bag. Kambri loves to sing Primary songs and to go to her new class. Her favorites right now are "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam & Popcorn Popping".