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| This boy had his backpack on for an hour waiting for me to be ready to go! |
We did the unspeakable again, and drove through the night - like fools! We left about 6PM, stopped around 9 to feed Rowly, and then again about 2:30AM in Grand Junction. We were going to stop and rest, but I got some crazy second wind and took over the driving. The last hour and a half I got woozy, and Stephen woke up and we chatted the rest of the way to Utah. I fed Rowland his morning feed, and then we crashed asleep for the morning at his parents house while they played with our kids. It was quite nice! Rowland got to catch up on meeting everyone too. :)
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| Rowland Doneal White meeting his namesake Grandpa Don :) |
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| Rowly pulling the classic "concerned" look and hanging out with Grandma Claudia |
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| Meeting Grandpa Stan - like two peas in a pod the minute they met. :) |
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| He really did love Auntie Rachel - this is really his usual look he has! |
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| Ruby swindling Grandpa to watch something on his phone...they both seem pretty pleased about the situation. |
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| Rowland and Jaxton meet! They are just 4 months apart, but I think Jaxton's chub could swallow Rowland up! :) |
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| They will be best buddies for sure! |
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| Love this face! |
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| Cousin Alex came too - just in time for bath night! WAY more fun with cousins! Ross trying to hoard the toys as usual. Ruby also splashing against everyone's wishes as well. Alex trying to figure out which boat to snatch. ;) |
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| Beka and I tried to get these kids to look at us for a picture for about 15 minutes. They were having way too much fun to give us the time of day. |
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| Hangin' with Uncle Nathan. |
That night Stephen snuck away to Nickelcade with his brothers, having the time of their lives, and I made this INSANELY delicious Double Chocolate Coca Cola Cake for the celebration of Stephen's and my dad's birthdays. Seriously - I'm not allowed to make it unless other people are sharing, because it will be gone within an hour.
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| Steve and his brothers get pretty crazy when they get together - lots of yelling, taunting, possible wrestling, and laughing. |
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| A successful game night. |
The next morning Ruby and I went to my wonderful friend, Maren's to get my hair done and Ruby's hair trimmed for the first time (yes - Stephen was worried what I was going to have done to it - don't worry - nothing drastic!). It was nice catching up and seeing her cute 5 month old baby Maggie I hadn't seen yet.
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| First hair cut! It really needed it! |
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| Ruby did so well too - I was worried she wouldn't stay in the chair. I forget that if she feels she's doing a grown up thing - she is all about it! |
Afterwards we rushed to my grandpa's house to celebrate HIS birthday (he's 88) and visit a while along with having them meet Rowland. That afternoon after sneaking in some shopping, we got family pictures done with my family and then had pizza and the birthday party for my dad and Stephen that night. Lots of fun! We had our traditional game of 5 Crowns that night as well with Stephen coming off the winner! YES! I parred the game, but we had a lot of fun.
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| Happy Birthday to my Grandpa Grenny! With great grandkids - Cameron, Ruby, Rowland, and Aleah. :) |
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| Walnut muffins - scrumptious! |
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| Great Grandma Grenny with Rowly :) She's such a sweet grandmother to have :) |
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| I love this picture of my grandpa! I can't believe he's 88! He still gets down on the floor with the grandkiddies too. |
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| 6 of the 15 great grandkids. :) |
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| 4 Generations! I love the women in my family. :) |
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| I'm so sad I didn't get a picture of me holding Jaxton - his favorite lives-far-away Auntie. He has a cute mommy though. :) He was so cute and chubby - I loved it! |
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| The partiers |
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| That night celebrating Daddy's birthday and Grandpa Stan's! |
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| Her faces...she is so full of life and spice - this one! |
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| Helping to open presents. :) |
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| So I forgot candles for Stephen's cake (though I made it from scratch!) - so he turned 2034 instead of 29. ;) |
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| This girl loves pizza. |
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| My bro Garrett - sporting the 1940's army haircut. Miss that kid! |
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| More partiers! |
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| Making wishes |
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| Prepping for game night - little did Stephen know - he would win the jackpot! |
The next morning was Rowland's baby blessing. It was beautiful. I'm so grateful that I'm married to a man who's worthy of holding the Priesthood of God, and who can give my children special blessings. I'm grateful for a Savior who loves us enough to provide a way for us to be perfect someday and the tools to become so. I know families can be forever. I know Heavenly Father is so aware of each of us and places us where we are for a reason.
Rowland was blessed by his father Stephen, Grandfathers - Doneal White and Stan Staheli, Great Grandfather - Guy Grenny, and Uncles - Nathan, Thomas, Garrett, Michael, and Dain. It warmed my heart seeing such loving family members who are wonderful examples blessing my son. I have such incredible men in my life. I'm so grateful for them!
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| This sweet face was so good for his blessing. :) |
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| He wore his Daddy's baby blessing outfit just like his brother did. :) |
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| Our family of 5 celebrating a wonderful day. :) |
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| Uncle Micheal finally holding Rowls |
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| Our family - so thankful for all the love and support they give for these special times. |
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| My cute Sis. |
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| Goof! |
We finished church and then had a small luncheon with my family and Stephen's afterwards. We had some great friends come to the blessing to support us as well! The Jepsons, Steenbliks, Dilles, and my mission companion Sheena. It was just a great day. :)
That evening we took the kids to see my mom's choir concert. Ruby yelled out, "Hi Grammy Joanne!" a few times for every one to hear, and then had a great time sitting on her Auntie Rachel's lap listening to the beautiful music. My mother is so talented. It was fun seeing her perform.
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| I went to feed Rowland after the luncheon and came up to find this...EVERYONE asleep! |
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| Ruby sat on Auntie Rachel's lap for most of the performance. :) |
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| This sat on mine - it was quite and enjoyable concert! |
Monday we went and spent some time at my parent's house and then had our Conference dinner that night with Stephen's family after taking family pictures at their house. (There was a CRAZY amount of family pictures being taken during our trip.) We had some fabulous Indian food sans kids - since my wonderful parents took on babysitting for us. I enjoyed talking about all the counsel our church leaders have given us.
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| Steve and his sibs - what a fun bunch. ;) So nice to have Meghan back around to keep them all in order. |
The next day we went to the new Payson Temple Open House. Ross and Ruby were really excited to go in the temple and see all the beautiful rooms, stained glass, and paintings of Christ. I was in awe at how detailed it all was. There were a lot of new paintings I've never seen before. The Spirit was strong there, and I loved seeing everything with my family.
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| We had a great time seeing the beauty of the Temple! |
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| Grammy and Gramps with all the grandkids. :) |
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| Nate and Beka and Alex came too. :) |
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| Payson Temple :) |
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| Cute kids :) |
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| My cute parents! |
That night I snuck out with my mom and sis to see the Cinderella movie. I just love being with them. Girls nights are the best! The funniest part was showing up thinking the show was at 9, but wasn't till 10. Just another hour to hang out with my family peeps though. I love it. :)
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| LOVE Staheli girls nights! |
The next day was getting ready for Stephen's, mine, and Rowland's trip to San Antonio. :)
