Marty and Emily: Itty bitty Clara

A few pictures that I thought may have been neglected....

Strolling the courtyard at the hospital is one of my favorite memories ever.

I want this tiny thing back!!! I love her just as much as a 10 month old but I think I will always pine for my newborns.

This helmet was Bryce's main request for his birthday. We let him have a few minutes of bike time on his birthday before he rushed off for school.

I have no recollection of the cake whatsoever. I mean none.

I love taking my babies for walks.

Camille's birthday was 8 days after Clara was born. Marty called me from Walmart telling me she definitely needed overalls for her birthday. I thought it was so cute. Good taste, too. That was our favorite outfit she ever wore.

I left Clara with my mom and took this girl out for a special (and foggy) birthday lunch. MAN that was a giant post-partum week. How on earth did I survive that week?

Marty made good use of the POGO pass so I could stay behind with the baby to recover.

The MCO concerts for Marty and Brynn were a total and complete blur to me. I remember driving a six day old to the dress rehearsal in downtown Mesa with the other kids and then having to wait and wait for Brynn to come out. Bryce was the hero of the night and took such good care of the Littles but I felt like death and we got home so late.

The concert I went to was just so, so incredibly stressful. I couldn't believe I was doing all this a week after having Clara and I made up my mind a couple of times to just skip it, but I couldn't do that. These concerts are so huge for us, and I wasn't sending Marty and Brynn off to DC that summer to perform and record (with Jenny Oaks Baker!) and never hear the songs! My baby-sitters for the Middles were saints. My parents and I drove out separately and met Neil there who had been driven down from Glendale by Kelly. Then Neil and I saw the concert together and my mom and dad spent those two hours in the car holding Clara. I felt a little bad about that, but they say she was perfect and they loved that time with the newborn. Then Neil and I drove Clara home and went to bed and my parents saw the second concert. It was one of the most musically stirring performances I've ever been to and very emotional for me because of all we had been through over the past week. I cried on and off throughout the concert. I remember it was very unusually cold and stormy for April.

Justin and Helen came out to meet Clara. They have been so good to come out for all the newborns and I appreciate it so much.

Newborn pics. I will have to post those sometime...

Third strait baby determined to get a hold of that thumb. I was more determined this time, though!

I knew Christy loved babies, but I didn't know how much! I love it when people love my babies.

Brynn and Daddy had been working hard on the powderpuff pinewood derby and rocked it.

It's a limo.

One Sunday morning we woke up with suspiciously yellow water. The whole process of working with JU to get it figured out was a nightmare, of course. And we never really did get it figured out, of course.

The stake youth camp, Moroni's Quest, was building Nephi's ship behind Marty's office. We got a good chuckle thinking about people driving by and wondering about those crazy Mormons building an ark.

Clara got some good time with Kelly. We watched the Olympics together often. While watching, I took an online defensive driving class for a ticket I got for not coming to a complete stop. Second ticket I've ever gotten and first time I've been pulled over since high school. Oooooh I was mad about it.

We like putting on BYU's Vocal Point music on Sundays.

Progress on the new seminary...

Marty's life's mission fulfilled. Marty has been sitting on the ward council for most of the years we have lived in AZ and this ward. Every year he begs for the fathers to get corndogs at church on Father's Day. Last year it. Finally. Happened. Never stop dreaming, kids.