A Touch Of Tyrell

Eight is a big year in our religious culture. It's when you're old enough to decided if you want to follow Christ and get baptized. Everett for sure wanted to get baptized.  He had a baptism interview with the bishop the Sunday prior and was excited for the week ahead! We finished up a few party preparations in the morning and then went to the church for him to be baptized.  Roxy insisted that she bring her baby and stroller. She is obsessed and very passionate about her babies! My dad took a few pictures and then I got one of him with the group.  Roxy wasn't going to be without her baby so we were either a family of 4 or 6 :) Either way, these were the best pictures! Everett with all of his Grandparents. (He does still have two great grandmothers too) Weeks prior Everett got to pick out the songs we'd sing and the people to give the prayers and talks.  Everyone did such a great job! It was ...

It seemed like I was looking forward to general conference for months. I soaked up every word and loved all of it.  Everett and Jake continued their tradition of going to Denny's after the priesthood session. The funny thing is they do this tradition with two other guys that only grew up with sisters too (so they have an extra special connection :)

Easter is quickly becoming my favorite holiday. It seems to be the most simple to celebrate yet the most profound and important.  At church I tried to teach my class of 7 four-year-olds about the real Easter story... at least by the end of class they knew Easter was about more than just Easter egg hunts :) It takes a while before the true importance of a holiday like Christmas and Easter becomes more important than the traditions... although the traditions are super fun and we definitely had our fun with the Easter bunny 😉 Breckie is QUEEN of putting lots of little things into bags/purses/containers/jars... so stuffing the Easter eggs may have been the highlight for her! She had cups and bowls and baskets all over the place.  We dyed eggs on Saturday with Everett and Breckie. It was actually quite enjoyable with only happy moments... after we had to explain we weren't "die"-ing the eggs!  After church Jake and I took turns cooking our...

Roxy was blessed in church this morning.  She wore (a grumpy face and) the same dress Breckie wore when she was blessed at 3 weeks old! After her blessing I wrote down as much as I could remember. Jake blessed her to have a strong body, that it will work correctly inside and out and blessed her to have a strong spirit and an optimistic mind. To be an anchor to our family and hers. Be a light in the gospel. Get an education. Be worthy for the temple. Understand the importance of the gospel and be an example of Christ.  *Double chin double chin... at least we know where she gets it! She was super wiggly and tried to eat the microphone the entire time. It's a good thing we didn't wait any longer to bless her.  Three kids has Jake and I constantly overwhelmed with life. Roxy was born right before Summer and then life just got way too busy. Roxy's blessing was scheduled two other times but something always came up. So we just went ahead and bless...

I've spent the last year team-teaching Everett's primary class.  There were 12 of them.  It was a good experience and especially fun to see how each kid is so unique. They all grasp the gospel and concepts so differently. Today I taught the Christmas lesson and talked multiple times about how Christ is the greatest gift. Then as they were making a Christmas card (with a gift of service to someone) I asked "So, what's the greatest gift?" One kid raised his hand and then shouted "money!" Looks like they'll have plenty to learn next year in CTR 7 😅

I am one of Everett's primary teachers in church. And this year the theme was about scriptures. All of the teachers were challenged to read the Book of Mormon before the primary program... which was about 60 days away.  I finished last week.  The program was yesterday in church. It was perfect. It's the best Sunday all year and I was lucky enough to get to sit up on the stand with them and feel a double dose of the Spirit. I teared up several times but managed to keep it together :)

August is a great time to get married.  Jake and I, along with three of my siblings, one of his sisters, and my cousin (Raven), have all been married in August.  This year, on their four year anniversary, Raven, her husband Lance, and their 5 month old son Rowen were sealed in the Mesa temple.  Jake and I were able to be there and witness this special and sacred event in their lives. There were definitely happy tears! Raven and I are only 6 months apart in age and spent a lot of time together in the Summers and on holidays. Some of my best best best memories are with her and our sisters so I was glad I was able to be there on such a monumental day for their family!

The primary program was yesterday. It's the best Sunday of the year! This was the first year Everett was old enough to participate and I honestly didn't think he would.  But he did!  And by participate I mean he held on to the back of the pew and jumped and bounced and nearly knocked the little girl next to him off. (The Sunbeams were on the front row pew and stood up and turned around for the songs). But he sang a word or two here and there and said his part in the microphone! It was fantastic and Breckie wanted to be up there the entire time.  I tried getting a picture of how cute they were but Everett insisted on sitting on the exercise ball and then at one point they were both in tears. I'm so grateful for all the the teachers and primary workers that teach Everett and helped put on the program. It was so cute and I'm already looking forward to next year!

The weekend after my birthday we took the youth to the Phoenix temple open house.  The coolest parts of this temple are the oval rooms and the fact that it's super close to my dad and Kelly. I'm glad we were able to go! After the open house we took the youth to see Meet The Mormons. SUCH a good movie/documentary. I absolutely loved it.  I'm so glad I'm a mormon and so happy to see so many temples being built. I'm especially glad that the Gilbert temple is so close to us because it's definitely my favorite… although the Mesa temple is pretty fantastic too.   I've been working on my family history a lot lately, too (which is always exciting for me) and so I've been able to do temple work for family names. It's actually so satisfying to find missing people on my family tree. How old am I, lol!!

The Gilbert temple had it's open house Jan 18th-Feb 15th.  We went three times.  First we went with my Dad and Kelly the first Friday it was open. It was absolutely incredible. I was blown away with the beauty, detail, and spirit inside. So was everyone else. This temple is special. They all are, but this one is especially special. We went again last Wednesday with Jake's office manager, her mom, and her mom's significant other. It took about an hour longer than the first time because there were so many people but they loved it. They were so excited to see the inside. It's breathtaking.  We also went on Saturday with my family. The kids were so good every time.  I'm SO glad we got to go. It really was such a special experience for all of us. And really, I love our family so much. I'm glad they're mine forever!