Mary Esther's Introductions to the Family

 When Baby Esther was just 6 weeks old, Andrew, Essie and I flew to Salt Lake City to introduce her to her great grandmother.  My grandmother, Marion Esther, was named after her grandmother Esther and her mother Mary.  In one form or another, Mary has been in my family for nearly 5 generations.  My mother Rosemary, my grandmother Marion and myself, Mary-Cristina all hold a part of that courageous heritage.  I dreamed of naming a little girl after the women in my family AND of the two most remarkable women in the scripture. We love you Mary Esther; you have an amazing life ahead of you!

So happy Jeff's father could make a trip to meet little Essie a few months after she was born.  Jeff's mother, Helen was with us the day Esther was born and was so kind to help us as we needed it during those first few weeks! His sister Sarah came to visit us a few times during that first week too!  We were so thankful to have family close to us and our family.

FAMILY!  Nothing in the world seems more important to me right now than my family. How grateful I am for their friendship.  I wish everyone was represented her in the this post. such as more of Jeff's family, but we are grateful when we can get together with as many of them as possible.

Mei is so excited to no longer be the ONLY girl in the family (with a brother and two male cousins). Essie has an instant friend and babysitter.

Andrew is really protective of Essie and tries to help her stop crying.  When she cries, Andrew often says, "I go get toys for Essie."  I know he wants her to be happy, but I think some times he also wants her to stop crying so he can hear his movie.

Esther's blessing day.  It was perfect!

 Introducing Baby Essie to Jeff's nieces, Jessica and Erin in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho during the Ironman weekend. We went to support Jeff's sister, Lisa in the 12 hour race.  Andrew still repeats, while racing his little matchbox cars on our hardwood floors, "Lookin' good.  Keep it up!  You can do it!"  We all yelled that to the participants, and his sister, for 12 hours that day.

 With all the attention on Esther, Andrew and his dad came up with a fun weekly adventure.  They ride the bus home from Jeff's office almost weekly together.  Andrew doesn't look too excited in this photo, but honestly it is the highlight of his week. I may have just told him he couldn't get a treat until after he got home.

We were privileged to fly back to Salt Lake City for Sammy's blessing and it was so great to all be together!  How blessed we are to have healthy, beautiful children.