WINNER!

I couldn't resist posting these pictures! I promised I wouldn't put them on Facebook!
Saturday was the Elder's Quorum Shotgun Shootout.
It ended up in a three-way tie with Garrett being the WINNER!
I was shocked when He came home with this fabulous jacket as his prize!
He gets to keep it until next years shootout :)
So proud of you Garr and so glad you had fun with the guys in our ward.

Easter Party on St. Patty's Day!

My Grandma's Easter party is one of my favorite traditions! This year it just happened to be on St. Patrick's Day.

Love this picture of Harper, his cheeks have slimmed down over the months but this makes them look chunky again.

Bustin' a Dance Move! He loves to dance and rock out to music.
Gotta love his tongue sticking out!

So excited about playing "Mother May I" with Grandma Great & Aunt Tenli.

Loading up on his favorite treat - Fruit snacks!

Resting after a fun party, this little boy loves his Daddy!

Thanks to the BEST Grandma out there for keeping this tradition alive! I look forward to this party every year and love to live through Harper and be part of the Money Egg Hunt.

Temple Sealing

Our precious little family just after the most amazing experience of our life. Hazelyn's sweet little spirit was felt very strong, she was calm which is not usual this far along in my pregnancy. I love knowing another piece of heaven will be joining our family soon. She will be a great reminder of why we made the changes we did to be an Eternal Family.
Harper was an absolute Angel. The past week we've been talking to him about going to the temple on our special day and what he should except once we are there. He asked everyday if it was time to go to the Bountiful Temple! He was so sweet in the sealing room, precious moments that will never be forgotten.
Perfect best describes this day!

Me & my best friend Larah.
We have been friends since we were 6 years old. She has been a great example to me and I love having her and her family in my life.

So lucky to have each of these wonderful people in our life, their love and support is endless. My older sister Bri, was at the temple before us, waiting there to give me a hug. A moment I'll never forget.

Best In laws one could ask for. I truly married into an amazing family and love each of them dearly. Each one of them are an example to us.

We have had many great days together as a family, this day tops the list! We now have an Eternity of great days ahead of us!

A HUGE thanks to everyone who came to show their love for us on this very special day, whether you were inside the temple or out, we love and appreciate each of you and the time you took to be with us. Also, thank you to those who weren't able to be with us but had us in your sincere thoughts. We have been surrounded by wonderful people cheering us on through this journey, we couldn't have done it without all of you. We have felt your love and prayers throughout the months, a feeling that is hard to describe, it is one that has to be felt from the heart.

True Happiness

Today I decided to step out of my comfort zone, put my fear of worrying what others think and share some very personal experiences that have happened in our life recently.
Fall of 2010 Garrett and I decided it was time to start attending church again, and to stop ignoring the spirit that Harper has brought into our home. I will never forget the fear I felt walking into Sacrament Meeting for the first time, I will also never forget the immediate love we were given from everyone around us. Since then our lives have been blessed with the strength to change, it felt as if we were given the chance at a new beginning, step out of our old life and into a new one with much more clarity on true happiness for our family. This change didn't always come easy, but the work and effort we have put in has paid off time and time again.

Watching my Husband and Son want to learn, grow, and develop their own love for the church has been an amazing experience for me as a Wife and Mother. About a month ago Garrett was ordained an Elder in the Priesthood by his Dad. This is a day that I looked forward to for quite some time and I'm so proud of him for this accomplishment. It was a very spiritual day, one I will never forget. It was our Ward Conference, just before Sacrament meeting the Stake President came over and said he may call Garrett up to bear his testimony if he felt it was right. WOW! My nerves were through the roof for him, luckily time ran short so he was let off the hook. After our meetings our wonderful and supportive family met at our church for his ordination. We were privileged to have the entire Stake Presidency and two of our Bishopric Members there, along with both our Dads, Mike - our brother in law and Logan - Garr's younger brother. The blessing was amazing, perfect, and very touching. President Thompson then invited both Garrett and I to share our testimonies for our family, so I guess we weren't really off the hook :) Hearing my loving Husband share his feelings, beliefs for the gospel and things he is grateful for is a big deal to me, my most favorite gift of all time. He is one amazing man and I have loved watching him grow into the man I always knew he was. It felt so good for me as well to share with our families what I have learned to believe it, to express my love for them. All of them have been a great example for us and I will be forever grateful for them. We had a small celebration for Garrett back at our house, we loved having our families together in our home! Thank you for coming!

The next step in our journey has been preparing for our Family to be Sealed in the Temple. Another wonderful experience from Temple Preparation classes, to studying the scriptures together, and temple recommend interviews. Last night is what I mostly want to share about. Our final and last thing to check off our list: Interview with the Stake President, who I must say is an amazing man, he is very in tune with the spirit and has been a great support for us. First thing he asked if Garrett had given me a priesthood blessing yet, which he had not and I have had a cold and not feeling well so it was the perfect time to receive one. President Thompson instructed Garrett on what to do, I knew he would do well but I was also nervous for him, just being in the presence of the Stake President and all for his first time. Tears came from the moment my Husband placed his hands on my head, the blessing was perfect, powerful, and very personal. This is one of those moments that I never want to forget and I hope by writing this it can help me relive how I felt at that time. Garrett - I have never felt more proud than to be your Wife, I look forward to a lifetime and eternity of Happiness with you and our children. I thank you with all of my heart for the choices you have made to help change our life and for the example you are to me and Harper.
I have never been more excited than to invite our family and close friends to the sealing of our family. Emotional messages have been coming all day, those words are what inspired me to write and not be afraid of my beliefs! I have never felt more happiness and love for everything around me, I feel I have a completely new outlook on life and want to be better about sharing those feelings. I have been touched by others words lately and want to do the same for someone else, even if it's just one person. I hope all those who know and love us, will not look at us different for the changes we have made, that is one of my greatest fears. Someone very dear to me explained that faith is the opposite of fear. I want my faith to outshine my fear and always have the knowledge and confidence to share what I believe and what means the very most in life to me.

Best Friends!

As time gets closer to Hazelyn's arrival, I wanted to express my love for my sweet Harper. Now, don't get me wrong I am ecstatic about having a little girl, and can't wait to build a friendship with her. I look forward to watching her grow, learn, and experience all the joys that come with being a Mother to a Daughter.
I have been very emotional about Harper not being "my baby" anymore. The relationship he and I share is priceless to me. I have never been more proud than to be his Mom, to teach him, to be his comfort, and watch him develop into everything and more that I dreamed my Son would be.
He truly is a GIFT sent from Heaven!
My day starts with him climbing into bed to snuggle, asking me if he can play with my hair. This is something he has done since he was very little, he notices if I've pulled my hair up during the day and requests for me to put it down so he can play with it. I will cherish this forever and love the comfort it brings to both of us!
Harper is the best HELPER and wants to be involved in everything I do throughout the day. I had to take a step back and realize this won't last forever, so I now slow down and let him help. We make meals together, do laundry, clean bathrooms, dust and anything else you can think of. Getting things done takes a lot longer but I enjoy his company and the teaching experience it is for him. He has become more independent as he plays, he is very creative with games and stories he makes up with his toys. I enjoy sitting, watching him play and always wonder what he is going to come up with next.
Harper is now in a big boy bed, and to no surprise had no problem adjusting to this change. I feel so lucky/blessed to have him in my life. There are days he is so tired he tells me he's ready to nap, climbs right into bed and is asleep in minutes. I'm so glad he loves to sleep like his Mama!
One of my favorite things about Harper is that he is a LISTENER! He gets this from his Dad. No matter what is going on around him, he is listening and remembers what he has heard. He does not FORGET anything and has a MEMORY that blows me away.
I could spend my entire day writing about my little man, and feel I have done a good job documenting his life through pictures and writing something about each day on a calendar to cherish forever!
Harper I love you through and through! You bring joy to me that I didn't know existed. I thank you for making me the happiest Mom and for being YOU!
"We'll always be friends forever, Yeah forever"

Hazelyn Marjean Douglas

11-11-11
Last Friday was our Ultrasound appointment to find out the gender of our Baby. Garrett took the day off and took Harper and I to breakfast at Sill's Cafe (a local favorite). Our appointment was not until 3:30 so we spent the day getting things done around the house. I attempted to take a nap but that was not going to happen, too much excitement! Finally the time came, we took Harper to my Mom's then went to the doctors. I had so many emotions running through me, nervous, anxious, and thrilled, that at any moment I could have burst into tears. Well it didn't take long for those tears to come, it is amazing to see your unborn child and hear that we are going to have a healthy and beautiful baby GIRL!
At our last doctors appointment (14 1/2 weeks pregnant) our doctor did an ultrasound, she told us not to hold it to her but she thought it was a girl. So for a month we have somewhat known we were having a girl.
The name we picked for our sweet girl has much meaning, we have loved these names since before Harper was born. The name Hazel is a bit too popular for my liking even though I love the name, so we added Lyn. Her name is pronounced
Haze Lyn (2 syllables).
My mom's name is JoLyn so there is meaning behind Lyn. Marjean is both my Grandma's and Garrett's Grandma's name, although the spelling of Garr's Grandma is MarGene. We have known since we were married if we had a girl her middle name would be Marjean. We love and adore our Grandma's and are very proud to name our daughter after them.
Harper is very excited to be a big brother to a little sister. We couldn't wait to get back to him to tell him and show him pictures from the ultrasound. He talks about Hazelyn all the time, asks where she is, says her full name out of no where. He is going to be much help to me, I look forward to seeing him in his new role as a brother.
I am a bit obsessed shopping for a girl - it is a whole new world! We picked out a few newborn outfits for her and I've already ordered her bedding set. We decided we'd move Harper into what is now the toy room and put Hazelyn into Harper's room, hopefully without having to paint. So I started looking online to find bedding to match light blue walls and found the cutest set. Once I saw it I had to have it. I'm so excited for it to come and can't wait to fill her closet and get everything ready for a baby again.
I am very grateful to be pregnant with the sweet gift of a little girl. She is going to bring so much joy into our lives.
I love you Hazelyn and can't wait to hold you in my arms.

19 weeks

FLOORS

Since the day we bought our house 4 years ago, we have wanted to replace the floors. We finally decided it was time to just do it, well little did we know it would be quite the process!

This is the vinyl tiles that were under our bar. They separated over time because of sliding bar stools in and out. I know, GROSS!

After 2 days of demo! We had a few surprises during the demo which I guess is to be expected. It was so much work, my brothers and dad helped a ton! We couldn't have done it without them.

Our front room, turned into the kitchen for a few days. We got so used to the fridge being in here, we would come to the front room even after our fridge was back in place! It is so nice to have your kitchen back after almost of week of no stove to cook on.

Handy Harper - always willing to help and wanting to do whatever Dad is doing!

YEAH! Floors are in, I'm keeping this post positive because I don't want to go into detail about all the problems we faced. It would take me an hour to write it up and bore you to death. Here again is Harper being the awesome helper he is, I never have to worry about dirty floors, he loves to help clean them!

Finished TV area & Harper's new way of saying "cheese" screaming at the top of his lungs and pulling this face! How can you not love it!!!

Front room - I hated this room for years until we turned it into an office earlier this year and now it is my favorite room in the house!
We LOVE new our floors and how durable they are and how great they look!!! Thanks to EVERYONE who helped with this project, we love and appreciate you all!
A special thanks to my Man for his constant hard work for weeks and for spoiling me with these floors!