Dear H, O and B,

We had a great Easter weekend. We dyed eggs, had a lot of great family time, and did the things we always do to celebrate Easter! We found baskets that the Easter Bunny had filled, had an egg hunt, ate resurrection buns and went to church. All in all, it was a great weekend!

Love you,
Mama

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Dear H, O and B,

Spring has spung and in Arizona, that means it’s hot! So, we’ve begun the splish-splashing! We took our first trip to the water park and we’ve been splashing in the back yard with friends! Such fun!

Love you,
Mama

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Dear H, O and B,

This weekend, Dad had a LOT of work to do! So, Elizabeth and I decided to take all 6 of our kiddos up north to Flagstaff for a “camping” weekend. I use the word camping lightly because we rented a house so we weren’t really roughing it. We had a great time — we “hiked” at Buffalo Park, did crafts and had a lot of fun! It’s always fun to go on adventures with you!

Love you,
Mama

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Dear Hayden,

Today, you are five and a half. Five and a half looks great on you!

Five and a half is a whole lot of silly and quite a bit stubborn. Five and a half is creative and unaware of how loud it is. It’s excitement never seen before and emotions that are expressed clearly and without shame. Five and a half will head to kindergarten before it turns six. Five and a half knows what it wants in every situation and is shocked when it has fun even though things didn’t go the desired way. Five and half can pray and hope and dream with words that are complex and inspiring. Five and a half loves its fellow five and a halfs and would rather be with its peers than anywhere else. Five and a half is not a baby — five and a half is a kid, plain and simple, and acts accordingly. Five and a half is an amazing helper, when it feels like it. Five and a half values fun over everything and finds joy in the mundane.  Five and a half is welcome to stick around… but it’s sure to take off running.

Love you,
Mama

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Dear H, O and B,

Today is St. Patrick’s Day! I feel lucky today (and every day, really) that I get to be your mom. It’s so much more than a lucky day, It’s a lucky life.

Love you,
Mama

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Dear Bennett,

Today, you are eight months old! You are getting quite a personality! You don’t like to be away from Mom and Dad, you smile and laugh all the time, and you play on the floor with your toys happily! You are a big boy so we’re not seeing you start to crawl quite yet, but we know it’s coming!

Love you,
Mama

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