Eggs

The girls enjoyed coloring these eggs. I enjoyed taking pictures of them and the beautiful colors they made.

Name tags

I have really enjoyed all the fun blogs that are out there and their great ideas. I saw these name tags from a friends blog and had to make them for our Easter dinner. Click here if you want to see how to make them. They were super easy and cheap. I think they will be a great addition to our Easter dinners each year. I'm excited to see how the table turns out.

A little preview of what I have planned for our table setting.

Wyatt garden

I fell in love with these flowers the instant I saw them. Even better they were on my list of flowers that attract butterflies. I just had to get them.

When Wyatt was born my parents took the kids to the store and had them each pick out a rose bush to give to me. I had Derek plant them in the backyard outside of the kitchen window. There was a spot that we hadn't landscaped yet and it happened to be there. I'm so grateful now because it's what I see each time I'm working in the kitchen or doing the dishes. It reminds me of the many wonderful days and months we had with Wyatt. And the joy and happiness he brought to our family.

Well, last year for Wyatt's angel day we planted the Weeping Cherry tree next to the rose bushes. At this point I decided this was going to be my Wyatt garden. Since Wyatt died I've wanted to do a garden and fill it with pretty flowers, trees and bushes in memory of our sweet boy. Well, yesterday I decided to clear away a little patch of dirt and start the flower portion of our "Wyatt" garden. I wanted flowers that would attract butterflies. I was able to find a few on the list. Hopefully, this will bring more Wyatt moments into my life...but if not the flowers brighten my day. I'm glad I took these pictures yesterday because today the wind came and they just don't look the same. I hope they will recover. I'm going to add some bark and the butterfly stepping stone that my sweet visiting teacher and friends gave to Tyler on Wyatt's birthday. I'm sure I will take more pictures once it's done.

My big helper.

We have planned since we did the yard to put a water feature and patio area in the corner(where all the weeds are :) which obviously hasn't happened yet. But someday it will happen and it will go right along with our Wyatt garden. It will be interesting to see how these flowers survive the hot summer. I'm sure there will be much trial and error but heck isn't that how we learn?

Spring...Hope

I love spring. I love the flowers, the blossoms and all that spring brings. It brings joy into my heart especially after a long winter. It has not been an easy past few months for me but I'm feeling added hope and joy that rebirth of the earth can bring. To feel the warm sun on my face is wonderful and to have "Wyatt moments" again is so great.

I took a little photo walk around my yard a week or so ago. Here are some of the pictures. Now most of the blossoms have been replaced by leaves...beautiful green and purple leaves. I'm so grateful for the beauties of this earth. What a wonderful time of year. I love spring and I love Easter. Easter signifies to me HOPE.

I know I've expressed it a million times but this is what I hope for...the RESURRECTION. Because of our Savior Jesus Christ I have hope that it will happen and that I will hold my baby boy again. What a joyous time that will be.

We have started our Easter traditions we began last year. Our "Love one Another" jar is filled with love notes. We picked our secret pals tonight and the acts of service have already begun. We have started reading the scriptures that go along with Christs last week and we have begun learning and singing "I know my Redeemer Lives." We look forward to Easter morning when we can go as a family to Wyatt's grave and talk about that glorious morning when Wyatt will be resurrected and we will get to hold him again. We will talk about the gratitude we have for our Savior for making that possible. We will read our love one another notes and enjoy a picnic breakfast as we watch the sun rise. I think it will be a wonderful week. A week of HOPE.

I love the blue, blue sky in the background.

I just had to bring some of it inside. I cut off these branches and put them in a pretzel jar that my kids had just finished eating all the pretzels out of. I had seen an idea like this on one of the house idea blogs but they had a beautiful big vase...this worked fine for me because it was free. It was fun to enjoy them this past week.

I love having the garden boxes planted. Can't wait for the vegetables to come. Tyler and I planted the garden this year. We hope to have lots of tomatoes, peppers for salsa, beans, peas, beets, some lettuce and cilantro. One of the pepper plants.

And this week I don't need to buy any tulips to enjoy because I was able to cut them from my garden. Oh, the simple things of life that can bring such joy.

A sweet fellow angel mom sent me these pictures today. She said she was walking on the beach while on vacation and was thinking of her son Stephen. She decided to write his name in the sand. She took some pictures of Stephen's name and then Wyatt's name came to her mind. At first she had to remember who Wyatt was and then she said "seconds later, I was smiling as I wrote Wyatt's name in the sand." She said to me "I know this sounds out of the ordinary, but I think that Wyatt wanted this for you." How sweet! I wouldn't be surprised if Wyatt did have something to do with that. He is always letting me know how much he loves his mom. Thank you Jess for such a thoughtful and kind act. What a tender mercy for me today. I LOVE the beach and the sand and I especially love seeing Wyatt's name there. So sweet!

Tulips

I have a dear friend that has inspired me in so many ways. A little over 10 years ago she was the one that introduced me to "No Empty Chairs" and the quote from President Benson. She is such an amazing mother of 8 kids. I truly don't know how she does all she does. She has been such an inspiration to me through the years.

Last week I read one of her posts on her blog about Tulips. She had splurged at the store and bought some Tulips for $5. She had taken pictures of them and expressed the joy they had brought into her life. She said quote:

"Sometimes we need beauty as much as food to remain truly alive. Flowers really
are food for my soul."

Wow! What a beautiful statement. As I read it, it truly touched me. That's when I decided I needed that kind of food. Especially, as my soul has been aching with the memories of 2 years ago when Wyatt took his last breath. I decided I needed my own Tulips. I was determined to have my own little splurge.

I at times can be too practical. I've gone past the flower section at the store and longed to buy some flowers but never have bought them because it costs money and it's not practical... they will just die. Well after reading her post I decided I was going to splurge and I was going to buy my own tulips. I was going to let these flowers feed my soul. I saw these pink ones and grabbed them. To my surprise they were 50% off so I only had to splurge $2.50. I have to say that $2.50 splurge has been well worth it. These flowers have brought such joy and happiness in my home and life this week. I've LOVED taking pictures of them and simply just enjoying their beauty. It has brought a certain spirit into my life as well. They truly have fed my soul. I remember as a child when spring was approaching seeing the tulips coming through the snow and getting that excited feeling inside that yes winter was about over and spring was to come...my favorite time of the year next to summer. These tulips reminded me of those feelings. They have been a wonderful addition to my week this week. I love flowers and am going to make a more conscious effort in bringing them into my life so that they can continue to feed my soul. Thank you Jennifer for the inspiration and for all the other inspired things you have brought into my life.

Here are just a few of the pictures I took this week....I'm sure I will be taking more until they are gone.

Simply beautiful!

I came across this quote a few weeks ago and have added it to Wyatt's part on the magnet board. I don't feel like I came across this quote by accident. This is something that I'm going to have to figure out the rest of my life as my arms and heart ache for Wyatt. I've had the mindset of just enduring the rest of my life but I know that is not right...I've got to learn to enjoy it. Some days that is not possible as the grief hits and things continue to not go the way I would like but I know I will learn how to laugh more and enjoy things more. I'm finding more and more days where I'm enjoying those things I loved before Wyatt died. Enjoying the simple things of life.....just like flowers. They truly can feed the soul if you will let them.

2 years ago today...

Seriously, I can't believe it was 2 years ago today that we had Wyatt's funeral. It doesn't seem like it could possibly be 2 years ago when it seems like yesterday that it happened.

I remember feeling such an enormous amount of peace and comfort that day. The spirit was so very strong. The talks and music were amazing. It was such a beautiful spring day with all the blossoms out...just like today. I felt such a strength that day. I guess I figured it would continue with me. I was so naive. After life continues on for everyone else that's when the hard journey of grief started for me. I look back on those weeks after the funeral and see how far I have truly come. Those weeks and months were so unbelievably hard but I've come so far now. Though I have moments and sometime days or a week here and there when grief hits it's nothing like at the beginning where it was constantly there with very little breaks. I'm grateful for the progress I've made and continue to make. I'm so very grateful for the daily tender mercies that have come to me the past 2 years. In fact yesterday I had 2 different butterflies fly right in front of my car. So grateful for the "Wyatt moments" I continue to have.

The girls and I wore white for Wyatt's funeral to symbolize our belief that families are forever. That we are a celestial family. That life does continue on after death and that Wyatt is not far from us. He lives on and it's just a matter of many years and then we will be with him again. The being with him again is a comfort but the many years part is beyond hard. Especially when my arms and soul ache to hold him again. But I will continue on, knowing that each day is a little closer to the day he will be in my arms again.

So beyond grateful for the wonderful support we received from so many family and friends.