{i love}forever families

this past weekend was incredibly emotional, wonderful, and so many other things all rolled into one big ball of take your breath away amazingness. it started on friday night with the arrival of my mom, dad, grandma, grandpa and little brother ethan(aka uncle doofus. sorry kid, you'll never outgrow that one). i'm so happy they made the 10+ hour drive from nevada safely. i was even more thankful they arrived in a timely, unscathed fashion when i heard that elevator music was the select station for the entire trip. my dad got a little courage in him at one point and changed the station to country but as soon as grandpa noticed, soothing elevator music was right back on. my family made the long, boring drive from nevada for a very special reason. this was the weekend that john & i were being sealed to sutton blue for time and all eternity in the portland temple, and we were blessing her in church on sunday as well.
being sealed to sutton blue was single-handedly the best experience in all my life. i can speak for both john and i when i say this. watching sweet sutton come into this world is also up there on my list of best life moments. the spirit in the temple that day was the sweetest thing i've ever felt. sutton was perfect. smiling, peaceful, happy and shining. all eyes were on her. i'm pretty sure she was the only one in the room not crying. i could not stop the waterworks. i'm so grateful for the promise of eternal families and also know that my two sweet brothers who have left this earth, along with other family members, were with us in the temple that day. even though sutton was not physically born to us, we know without a single doubt that she was always meant to be a part of our eternal family. and we thank the angel that brought her to us every single day.
on sunday john blessed sutton in sacrament meeting. being a convert, this was the first time john gave a blessing. he was nervous but he did an incredible job. he gave her such a sweet and original blessing. some of the blessings he placed upon her:
*that she will always have a strong, sweet spirit
*that she will be strong and grow in the church
*that she will be worthy someday to go to the temple to be sealed to a young man and have many children
*that she will have a strong mind & intellect and be able to face any challenge that comes before her
*that she will be able to attain any goal she desires
*that she will always know Heavenly Father loves her and is watching out for her
*that she will grow in her knowledge that this is the true church
*that she will know her mom and dad love her very much and waited a long time to meet you and will always be there for guidance and love
*that her ward family loves her

we are so in love with this precious little girl. how did we get so blessed?

sealing day

love my mama, dad and doof :)

sutton's smile sums it up perfectly!

grandma and grandpa

wow. dad has eyes. 

blessing day 

sutton blue with daddy and grandpa

my cute family

could.not.be.cuter.

have binky. will travel. 

daddy and his favorite sidekick

sutton loves grandpa!

{oh baby} life with sutton blue. month four.

what a difference two months make. i'm going to try to learn to blog. really hard. harder than a post every two months. and i want to give up sugar. not sure which of the two is more likely to happen but for me, these are two enormous goals. wish me luck.
summer is slowly coming to an end. we've enjoyed over 60 days of glorious pacific northwest sunshine. heaven. sutton blue, or lil' blue as we often call her, loves to go for long walks with the puppies. she just takes it all in, peaceful and happy as can be.

month four and currently loving...

her smiles. she is full of smiles for her mama, daddy and yorkie brothers.

sleeping... 8-10 hours of blissful straight sleep. i know, we lucked out with this one. lil' blue isn't much of a napper during the day. in fact, she reminds me of my grandma dolores. twenty minutes here, twenty minutes there...

her coos and giggles. she just discovered her tongue a few days ago and is constantly sticking it out and blowing raspberries. adorable.

her sweet spirit. she is such a happy, blissful baby and we are so in love and feel blessed beyond measure. i'm one lucky mama.


earlier this month we had the joy of taking sutton to see dr.m for her four month checkup and shots. she is a growing girl.

sutton's two month stats:

Height: 22 1/4" (42 percentile)
Weight: 11.11 lbs (70 percentile)

four month stats:

Height: 24 1/2" (53 percentile)
Weight: 14.13 lbs (71 percentile)



our month of august in pictures

doesn't get sweeter than this

grumpy face after 10 hours of sleep!

teo at wild waters

first boat ride

my three boys at rye patch

elliott wants to marry her. he told me so. 

brittany and her adorable family came to visit so we had to take them to ruby jewel. charly approved.

two bald guys and a half bald baby sparrow

charly and sutton

aunt connie came from ohio for a visit and couldn't get enough of this babe

pops and sutton

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john celebrating our finish of hood to coast with a pronto pup in seaside, or

top of mt hood ready to run!

family.love.summer.

labor day pool party 

mermaid blue couldn't get enough

sweet baby cakes

"grandma" natalie gave sutton her first polish. of course i had to copy her. 

getting the hang of holding her own supper

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                                                  can we pause this moment, just for a bit???

Summer of Sutton love...

 I can't believe Sutton Blue is already 4 months old! They really aren't lying when they say how fast this time flies! It's amazing how much she has grown in the last few months. Her funny little personality is showing more and more each day. She makes the best silly faces! She started giving us full belly laughs a few days ago and I don't think there is a better sound in the world. We have taken her swimming quite a few times this summer and she loves the water! She loves grabbing toys and eating them. She also really thinks her fingers are yummy and a few days ago she discovered that one finger is yummier than the rest. Oh yes, the thumb. I think have a little thumb sucker on our hands! She has a pink little "lovie" elephant that is always with her and when she is tired she rubs her eyes with it. It's quite adorable. She absolutely loves Tucker and Jaxson and gets a big smile on her face whenever she sees them. She is still sleeping like a champ and gives us at least 9 straight hours a night. And yes, we know how lucky we are! This little girl (who I'm pretty sure is having a blow out on my lap as I type) is such an incredible blessing to our lives and we can't imagine life without her. We are so in love! And...now I have to change a diaper. And possibly my pants as well.

Emmery and Sutton Blue

  Sutton and Great Grandma D were both taking  nap :)

Grandpa with his two baby girls at Rye Patch

There it is...that delicious thumb!

I'm 4 months old today!

Let's go swimming! 

Elliott and Sutton

She likes options, what can I say? 

Sutton in Nevada