celebrate!!

my baby brother, ryan, graduated from high school this weekend. and by baby - i mean younger...because he's almost a foot taller than me. i used to attempt to kick his butt in wrestling...but i didn't even try to this weekend. i would get crushed. :)

might i also add that he was the valedictorian of his class. so proud of you brother! we love you!!

one of my favorite things about ryan is his goofy, fun-loving side. we always have a blast together! over the years we have done our best to take fun photos. i think the selection below will give you a glimpse of our capabilities. :)

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this is the first time in 3 years that all of my siblings and my birthmom have been together. it was fabulous!!! evie loved her time with her grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins! we had a blast!

evie was so proud of her uncle ry ry!

evie, ryan & jo-jo

grandma & evie

my beautiful birthmom, tammy!

three generations

a haggar extravaganza

this weekend the haggar's got together for our annual celebration honoring grandpa ed & grandma arlene.

balloon release at grandpa & grandma's final resting place

the family is certainly growing! those in attendance were grandpa & grandma's

5 children + 5 spouses

& our wonderful aunt mart (grandpa ed's sister)

12 grandchildren + 3 spouses

12 great grandchildren

and that's not everyone! the family just keeps growing and growing! it was wonderful to see everyone together!

evie hanging out with uncle terry

ali & evie

good company. good food. good times.

no more monkeys...

every parent dreads their child getting hurt. and today, i experienced a heart ache that i've never felt before. evie took a nose dive off of the couch...i grabbed her legs but wasn't quick enough to stop her face from planting nose first into the ground. of course her body erupted in a wail that pierces a mother's ears. her nose immediately began bleeding & swelling. i cried along with her...of course feeling awful and full of guilt.

evie's grandpa gus, who is also a family physician, made his way over to our house to check evie's little nose. no concussion or neck injury. no missing teeth or broken nose. just a little swollen nose. we'll see what tomorrow brings...we may have a black and blue little sweetie on our hands.

i need to take full responsibility...erik and i have always let evie just crawl around and jump on the couch...

ironically - evie's favorite book right now is "five little monkeys jumping on the bed." when she reads it she points her index finger and shakes it when i read "no more monkeys jumping on the bed." well our little monkey will not be jumping on the couch anymore...cause as the story goes..."one fell off and bumped her head. mama called the doctor. the doctor said. no more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

crazy curls

easter sunday

easter 2010

easter 2011

we celebrated easter with erik's family this year. it's amazing looking back at photos from a year ago. this year, evie actually got to enjoy her easter basket! and she got to get her own eggs! the cousins all ran around the yard - filling up their baskets. evie kept her basket in hand the entire time. she loved it!!

what a wonderful day to spend with family celebrating our Risen Savior!

cousins - take one

cousins - take 10

egg huntin'

found one!!!

getting full!

dedication sunday

on sunday, april 10th we were blessed to be able to stand in front of the church body and dedicate evie. with evie's grandparents surrounding her, we made a promise to our sweet daughter, the church, and to our heavenly father that we would raise evie to seek after Christ. we feel incredibly loved and supported by our families and thank God for the example of our own parents.

we celebrated this wonderful day by grilling out, eating yummy cake, and blowing lots of bubbles in the yard! God is good.

we love you evie!

papa's dream came true

anyone who knows my dad...knows he loves bubbles. he always has the trunk of his car loaded with bubbles in all different sizes! he has all the latest bubble machines and loves giving them to the kids at church. he even found a bubble machine for evie's bathtub!

the last time papa visited, he tried to blow bubbles outside with evie. she could have cared less. she was bored in two seconds. but today...it was a different story!! evie laughed hysterically as she watched papa make the bubbles fly! and she love love LOVED popping them (with a little help from grammie). papa's dream definitely came true watching evie's face light up with joy with each bubble.

(ignore the poor quality video as it was taken on my phone)