Asher's Blessing Day

 The day after Kate was baptized... Asher was blessed.
Chad gave his son, Asher Caleb Slade, the most beautiful blessing.
It was such a special day!

These cousins, Asher and Jude (Chad's sister Krista and her husband Anthony's baby), are only two weeks apart. They were definitely the center of attention! Are they cute or what?

Kate's Baptism

   Kate Marie was baptized on May 18th. She was so excited for this day to finally get here, she could hardly stand it!! She had every Article of Faith memorized and when asked which was was her favorite, she said... "All of them!"

Kate told me exactly how she wanted her baptism dress to look, and even sent me pictures and told me she would really like it to be all lace... and long and flowy:) When she tried her dress on right after I'd finished it, she said, "Grama, it's perfect!!!"

Honoring Caleb

Our family was all invited to Ruthie Deskin Elementary School on May 13th to be part of a special program honoring Caleb. It was so sweet as each of his classmates got up and shared something special about Caleb. What really stood out to me is that each one of them thought that Caleb was their best friend. One girl said Caleb would come and sit by her at lunch when she was all alone. One day he just sat by her and said, "I like your shoes." Another friend said that he liked Caleb's laugh and that he always made her feel happy. Several 5th grade students who were asked at the end of the school year to write about their experiences at Deskin, chose to write about Caleb. One 5th grader said that he was just amazed at how Caleb always made everyone around him feel better and feel happy. He said Caleb was a role model to him and that he wanted to be just like him.

There were lots of tears and hugs. His sweet school nurse talked about a quilt that she was making last January, and how she decided she wanted the quilt to be for Caleb. She was sad she didn't get it done  in time for him to enjoy it, but she wanted Brian and Olivia to have it. She wrote a little poem to go with it. All of his teachers spoke about him and how their lives will forever be changed for the better because of knowing Caleb. 

They said he was truly their hero. 

It was a sweet, precious day to be able to be where Caleb spent so much of his young life, and know how very much he was loved at school by his fellow students and his teachers.

Amy's Birthday and Mother's Day

Happy 27th Birthday Amy!!!! Amy and Caleb share the same birthday, so it was a little bitter sweet this year... 

We were all missing Caleb so much. Amy really missed her birthday buddy. 

Jennie gave Amy the sweetest gift ever. It's a beautiful mounted picture, called Caleb's Ocean that Jennie took in Laguna Beach shortly after Caleb died...

The day we went out on the boat, and the day we said our last good-bye (for now).  

Such a special, perfect gift.  

We all met at Bucca di Beppo for dinner. It was Caleb's favorite place to eat.

 Here's a birthday pic from just last year of the birthday buddies... 

And here's this years birthday pic...

Happy Birthday Amy!! You are amazing and wonderful and we love you!!

Mother's Day was great...I even got a Grand Dogs Photo Book:):) And the boys did all the dishes:)

Butterfly Release

Knowing how much Leah loved butterflies made going to the annual Nathan Adelson Hospice Butterfly Release even that much more special. We felt so much comfort and a really special feeling of love as we gathered at Symphony Park and heard some wonderful people from the hospice pay tribute to all of the loved ones that had died. Livi.is.amazing. She lifted all of our spirits as we witnessed her strength. She's something else:) 

As several hundred butterflies were released, one came and landed on baby Asher's shoulder and just stayed there for a while. It was so sweet. We really felt Caleb and Leah close. Families are forever...