Lily & Thistle

Favorites on Friday...Royal Wedding Tribute

I wasn't planning to watch the Royal Wedding footage today (not that I wasn't looking forward to seeing Kate's dress...I knew there would be plenty of photos). But, I am so glad we (Grandma, Mom, me and the girls) did. It was so beautiful and in fact, inspiring. I loved the ceremony, it was so centered on beauty and truth. I was especially moved by the Bishop of London’s Address/Sermon. When I heard it, I immediately thought that everyone should have an opportunity to hear/read and meditate on it’s words. I have put my favorite excerpts below. Some of the best marital advice I've heard. You can read the whole transcript here. Enjoy!

"Many are full of fear for the future of the prospects of our world but the message of the celebrations in this country and far beyond its shores is the right one - this is a joyful day! It is good that people in every continent are able to share in these celebrations because this is, as every wedding day should be, a day of hope."

"In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and the groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future."

"Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this: the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life."

"As the reality of God has faded from so many lives in the West, there has been a corresponding inflation of expectations that personal relations alone will supply meaning and happiness in life. This is to load our partner with too great a burden. We are all incomplete: we all need the love which is secure, rather than oppressive, we need mutual forgiveness, to thrive."

"As we move toward our partner in love, following the example of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is quickened within us and can increasingly fill our lives with light. This leads to a family life which offers the best conditions in which the next generation can practice and exchange those gifts which can overcome fear and division and incubate the coming world of the Spirit, whose fruits are love and joy and peace."

Good stuff. What are your thoughts...did you watch?

Happy Easter...He Is Risen

How thankful I am for His sacrifice. I know that he loves me and that because of His atonement, I can overcome my weaknesses and make lasting changes. I know that He lives! I hope this Easter is one of peace and remembrance for you and yours...what a gift we have all been given.

Favorites on Friday...Funny Thoughts From a Tired Mama

Hope this finds you all happy and healthy and ready for a wonderful Easter weekend. Things here are good...more normal (minus sleep) which is good...we like to call it our "new normal". I will be posting something special for Easter Sunday tomorrow...until then, have a great day!

Checking In...

It has been three and a half weeks of getting to know our new little man-cub... two weeks of living here and it really has been about what I expected it would be...crazy, hard and wonderful all wrapped together. I knew to expect high emotions, pain, exhilarating moments of pure love and joy and complete and total exhaustion. That is about what it has been.

We are getting settled in and really enjoying our life here so far...waiting and hoping for the house in Utah to sell and loving the wide open spaces and all of the extra love from my parents and Grandma Dahl. I'll post pictures of my view from here as soon as our camera card gets replaced.

Tragedy: the camera card that held all of the pictures from the last three weeks (and the first three weeks of Ollie's life) is broken and all of the pictures...gone. :(

Thankfully we have some pictures Micah and Camille took (they drove with us and hauled a bunch of our stuff...bless them).

Remember this post? So much more fun having these two "on the outside". Ollie is owning the "grumpy old man" look here. Don't you just want to jump through the screen and kiss that Bradley's cheeks?!

Oh and on a totally unrelated note, I thought I'd post this months' outfit. It's one of my favorites so far.

How are you? What are some of your memories of life with a newborn?

Baby Ollie is Here!

Oliver Bradley arrived on Monday, March 21st at 7:17 a.m. He was 6 lbs. 1 oz and is 18 1/2 inches long.

I was going to post from the hospital, but frankly, I was enjoying that wonderful, peaceful time too much! There is nothing like a comfortable bed, kind nurses waiting on you hand and foot, Percocet and hours and hours to snuggle with the cutest little boy I've ever known! OH, he is so precious and has our hearts already!

Here are some of the first photos of him and of our new family of SIX!

Baby "Ollie"

He has all of his fingers and toes...I just love his toes! :)

Some of the most unflattering pictures of me...but I was willing to sacrifice my pride for a family photo :)

Laurel has been waiting for this moment for so long! She was practicing holding baby Ollie for weeks before he came. She was in heaven!

Maise loved holding him too. It was so fun this time considering they were only 13 months old when Norah came to us...this was the first time they "got it".

Norah wasn't sure what she thought but warmed up to Ollie after a little while. Grandma Stevenson came a couple of times to the hospital to hold Ollie and help corral the girls :)

Two of our favorite nurses: Risa and Bautta. They cared for the twins in the NICU three years ago so it was a really fun reunion!

Today was the first day back home and packing is almost done. Hard to believe we will be on the road to our new adventure in a week! I'm still feeling like I just had a c-section but my Mom won't let me do too much and Jeff has been great as usual. I am in good hands! We are in the midst of "crazy" but it feels OK so far. :) I'll do my best to keep this updated ...until then, wish us luck!

Favorites on Friday...Japan Relief Edition

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I know I'm not alone in the feelings of concern and sadness for those suffering in Japan right now. I have had a powerless feeling as we've watched the footage and imagined the overwhelming grief and fear so many families are experiencing right now. This last Sunday we heard a report from a young man in our congregation who just returned from a mission in Japan. Hearing him speak and seeing the love he had for the people there, made the tragedy even more real for me.

So I've been thinking that there is something I can do...I will be donating 100% of all paper doll profits made today to The American Red Cross (I wish I could do it longer but Baby Ollie is coming on Monday so I won't be able to fill orders after Saturday).

If you are looking for a good excuse to get some paper dolls, or some new outfits for the dolls you already own, now is the time! I'm sure many of you have already donated to your favorite charity and if so, that's great. I'd love to hear who your favorite charities are.

Something my friend and I were talking about today is the lack of looting and chaos happening with the people there. Many of the news reports I've watched/heard say that the people there are organized and patient in waiting for much needed help/supplies. I'm sure there is some chaos, but compared to what we are used to hearing, I think this is remarkable.

On a much lighter note, wanna know what else I think is remarkable? The fashion that comes from Japan....LOVE it. Here's a sampling of some of my favorites:

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Do you have relatives who have a special connection to Japan? What are some of your thoughts on what is going on over there?