A Happy Father's Day

Our second day in Idaho, was a very special day. It was Father's Day and the day Clara was blessed. In our Church, we bless our children. It is very simple and very beautiful. (Read more about how we bless babies here.) It was such a wonderful sight to see my three brothers, father, grandfather, and husband (along with Annie's brother and father) all gather to bless our sweet little girl. I can't recall what Chris said, but I certainly remember how I felt. The deepest and perfect love was radiating out of my heart. I know that Clara has been part of our family for much longer than the 5 months she's spent on this earth. And now that she is here, 

she is stuck with us forever.

Of course, I didn't take any pictures of Clara in her sweet dress, but after Church we did take a new family picture with all 17 people! Hannah, Jonathan's sister, conveniently lives in Rexburg and takes amazing pictures! We picked her up after Church and brought her to the farm.

I love the look on my dad's face. You can tell that he got exactly what he wanted for Father's Day; time with all of his kids and grandkids. It's crazy to think that this family started 33 years ago with just these two kids.

Sorry about that detour, back to the pictures (it was seriously windy that's why our hair was everywhere)!

These 4 boys are so funny together!

Yes, it is tough getting 7 children to look at the camera with smiling faces!

See, it's hard work.

Even when they have their two trucks.

Dropping them, doesn't help.

Sorry Clara!

Wayne kept telling Jonathan that he needed to take his bride out on
the pond in the row boat. This is proof he did it.

After pictures were done, Jonathan and I needed to take Hannah back to Rexburg while everyone else enjoyed the 40 pound turkey for lunch. Thank goodness that turkey was so big. so there was still plenty when we got back. We ate our lunch as Kyle was waking up from a nap and all he wanted to eat was jam. I'm not kidding.

Chris feeding Kyle his jam.

Seth was refusing to take a nap, so in a desperate attempt to get him to sleep, we asked him if he wanted to take a nap with Jonathan and me and he nodded yes. Well, that certainly shocked us! It seemed like he was still warming up to us at this point. He laid down with us and was quiet until he eventually fell asleep. After awhile I woke up and saw how cute Jonathan and Seth looked together. I headed downstairs and spent time with the family. After awhile, Denise, Annie's mom, checked in on them and Seth was wide awake, silently laying on the bed next to snoring Jonathan. (Jonathan is a very, very heavy sleeper.) He's lucky she showed up, or else he could have been there for a very long time.

Jonathan sleeping on the job.

We spent the evening chatting in the parlor as the children played together.

I just love these two little girls! 

We ended up outside to play another game of kickball. It was really windy and chilly, but lots of fun. During our game, Mike was able to kick a ball over the back fence. (Yeah, it was very impressive!)

One of Garrett's favorite things to do is to come up from behind and hug/choke people. 

He ended up getting Grandma this time.

After the game was over, Jonathan and I sat on the porch to watch the sunset. It was so lovely and relaxing. I had visions of us doing the same at our own home after we put the children down for the night.

It was such a wonderful day to celebrate Clara and all of the fathers in our family. My brothers are such great fathers. Andy is always making up cute little songs with his babies, Chris is always making Seth and Clara laugh, and Mike is always watching out for Garrett's safety. Jonathan is a wonderful uncle. He is adorable playing with the baby girls and goofing around with the boys. Our children are so blessed that they will have him as a father. This was a memorable Father's Day for our family.