Katrina

My sweet dear friend passed away today.  I am so very tenderhearted.  In fact, my head hurts I've cried so much today.  Here is just a glimpse of her beautiful story, the story that I'm thankful to have been a part of even in a small way.

Her sweet family with new baby Jett Li.

This sweet baby is here because of the sacrifice of his angel mother.  He was her sixth child and sixth C-section.  She developed placenta previa and accreda (I think it how it's spelled).  She had been in the hospital on bedrest for several weeks but she made it to 34 weeks and then they delivered this beautiful little boy.  She was then rushed into surgery where the doctors and nurses fought hard to keep her here but they were unsuccessful. 
So many beautiful words have been said about Katrina, I feel unable to even express myself.
Suffice it to say, she was loving, generous, fun, creative and drew people to her like a magnet.  I'm not sure how her family will get along without her, but they are good strong people and I'm confident they will be surrounded by angels, foremost among them, their own sweet wife, mother, sister, daughter, etc.
Love you Katrina.

Update: June 2, 2013 (from Justus on Katrina's facebook page)

We miss you and cry everyday for you. Baby Jett li is good and sleeping through the night only waking up to feed. Koa loves Jett and always says "he's so cute" Maya is loving playing with her friends. Dax rides his new scooter after he p...uts on his winter coat and pants and is outside all day. Te has several cute girls calling to hang out, Kai has opened up and made a huge change, he still loves drawing. I still can't eat or sleep because I miss you so much. You have the best and most supportive family. I couldn't do this with out marissa and Bruce helping me so much. I look at your pictures and can't help but cry. I love you... Ill see you again

Ryan's Space Station

Ryan created this cool space station for a 6th grade project.  I thought he was particularly creative with his use of legos.

Izzy's Cup Stacking

Izzy made these creations with hundreds of cups in our garage.  Unfortunately, the car had to come back in, so the creations had to be destroyed.  They were pretty cool though.

I hate when friends move

We've had lots of friends come into our lives because of where we live.  It's kind of a transitory neighborhood.  While there are disadvantages to living in a place like this, there are also benefits.  I'm thankful to have made lots of amazing friends over the years.  Unfortunately, I'm going to have to dig for pictures of them, so currently I'll only post about the latest two to leave.

 

Eric and Camille have been in our ward for several years.  We have loved being their friends.  We have journeyed through fertility issues together and our delightful little sons were born about 5 weeks apart.  They moved to Seattle recently (and were so excited about it) much to our chagrin.  Best wishes to Eric and Camille!  (Incidentally, we had just gotten home from camping, I'm super cute.)

Garrison and Valeri moved in just a year ago but we quickly became great friends and were very caught off guard when they told us they were moving in March and moved out the next day.  (Although one might wonder if we chased them off considering the fact that they kind of snuck out, one would be wrong.)
Scott and Garrison still work out in the mornings at the church and they still come over to visit, but still, I hate when people leave.

Be careful of asking Garrison to take any pictures with your camera, inevitably, you'll end up with this self-portrait.

The Beautiful Bayli

Bread Helper

Ashley loves to be my little helper when it's time to make bread (or she'd really prefer cookies so she can snitch dough).  I love to have her help.  She loves to do the flour and doesn't mind at all if we need to refill the container because then she gets to scoop even more.  I love this little princess. (She chose her hair accessories today, isn't she lovely?)

Ashley and Midnight

For some reason, sleeping next to Ashley on top of the bunkbed is one of Midnights favorite places.  Unfortunately for Ashley, he only comes up once she is asleep, so she never even knows how much he loves to snuggle her.

Cinderella and Prince Charming

Forgive me for allowing myself to dream of these two loving each other even when they are grown.  But you can't possibly blame me when I catch them in moments like these.  Ashley's boot fell off and Micah very sweetly put it back on for her.  Love it.
(February)