Happy Birthday Joseph

 Today my little preemie boy turned 14. Life is flying by. This little 2 pound miracle is the greatest joy! He serves others so willingly. He is a good boy all around and I am so proud to be his mom! 

 My sister and Emily chipped in to get Joseph these awesome shoes he has been wanting. Emily wanted to stay up until midnight to be the first to wish him Happy Birthday with a really strange dance. She gave him his present and as you can see from the picture, she was being really strange. (Not strange for her though)

 One of Joseph's friends, J.T. was there at midnight to celebrate too. He left and came back in the morning and made Joseph breakfast. J.T. is such a good kid. I am glad Joseph has such amazing friends.

 Speaking of amazing friends.....this is one of our families best friends in the world. She is a second mother to Joseph and Emily. She is Joseph's other BFF Cole's mom. She got Joseph this cool shirt. We love you Katrina!!!

 Joseph got this cool helicopter.

 For dinner, I took Joseph on a date to Tucanos. It is a Brazilian BBQ with non stop meat. He was so excited to go! 

 They made him dance while they sang to him.

 He decided to try the chicken heart for the first time. He had to spit it out.

 Dessert was delicious. He shared with me.

 When we got home, Christopher called him. Christopher secretly bough Joseph a Play Station 3. I hid it in my closet. Joseph was on the phone with his big brother when he told him that he needed to get something out of the closet for me. He was shocked!!!! He was so excited. 

 He also got him a game! What a good big brother!!!

He out now hanging with friends. His friend, Cole brought him another game and they plan to come back for a sleep over game night. Happy 14th Birthday my little miracle. I love you to the moon and back!!!

Especially For Youth

Joseph got to go to EFY last week with one of his best friends, Cole. EFY is a youth conference held at BYU. It is a chance for young people to get together and learn more about the gospel in a fun way while making friends from all over. Many fun activities and spiritual experiences. The first night I received a text from Joseph:

I read a chapter in my scriptures and I had so much fun today. Thank you for letting me come. Thanks mom, I love you and I am sorry for lying and I also wrote a page and 1/2 in my journal!! I love it here and I've learned so much about the gospel. This place is strengthening my testimony so much. It is actually fun learning about the gospel and my counselor loves me and Cole cause when he walked i...n me and Cole were writing in our journals and reading the scriptures and now I am in Mormon 4. It's awesome!!!!!!! I love you so much and today I made so many new friends like all the kids on my floor love me and we hung in me and Cole's room. It was a blast today love you goodnight!

 The second to last night I received another text from Joseph. He bore the most beautiful testimony of the atonement and his love for the gospel. I am so happy that it was such a great experience for him. It is a pricey camp, but when you take into account that he has his own testimony now, it is worth every penny. I guess we better start saving for next year. Oh, after I finish paying this year off. 

Joseph & Joseph

Emily's First Camp Out

 Emily has never been tent camping. She doesn't remember our year living in campsites in our fifth wheel to travel with her dad for work so it was time to give her a trip she has been begging for. 

 Emily brought her two friends, Nadia and Sasha. We went to Crystal Hot Springs. The water is supposed to have the highest mineral content in the U.S. and maybe the world. It was so relaxing. So many temperatures to choose from. My favorite is the warm tub with the cold waterfall running on your neck. The girls had a great time.

 The water slide was a huge hit!

 Their Barbies all went camping too!

 Emily learned how to start a fire in YW. She was excited to show us how.

 After swimming for the second time, she started it again.

 We roasted hot dogs and s'mores. It was so yummy!

 Sasha getting settled in for scary stories by the fire. 

 We had a couple of girls try to scare us!

 Dennis was there behind the scenes helping us set up the tent and stuff!!! Thanks Dennis!

Dennis slept in the car, so it was just us girls in the tent. We had fun little adventures along the way. It was a lot of work for a one day camping trip, but well worth it. Emily was so happy and that is all that matters. 

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Three years ago my sweet baby girl, Sarah Marie was born. She lay on my chest, holding her daddy's finger. She struggled for breath as I tried to take in every single second of the 15 minutes I would have to spend with her here on Earth. Much too short and oh so painful. When Sarah died, a part of me died as well. I have been forever changed by the short life of my little girl. I know her spirit lives on and she is waiting in heaven for us to come and raise her, but my head can't seem to quite explain it to my heart. I still ache for her all the time. On days like these it helps to know that there are a few people out there who love me enough to reach out to me on this day. I am still surprised at how many people don't express  love for our family on this day, especially family members, but the precious few that do, I appreciate so much. I want to know that other's are aware that although brief, my daughter was born, she lived, she is part of our family and she matters. 

     

 The sweet woman who works at the Macey's bakery made my day. She made this cake special for Sarah and gave me a great deal. Her loving kindness touched my heart and made me cry. She is seriously the best cake maker I know. She has made many special cakes for my children, but this one takes the cake......yes, I went there. Oh by the way, it was DELICIOUS!!!!!

 My wonderful friend from California sent Sarah this bouquet. I put it on her grave. Thank you Jamie for remembering Sarah today. It means so much!!!!

 My sweet friend brought this over to me this morning. I love it. It is a necklace with a nest carrying four eggs. One egg for each of my four babies. I love the mommy bird charm on it too. Thank you Teri for remembering that I have four babies and loving me on this hard day.

 We went to the cemetery to bring Sarah some special things we had gathered for her. 

 Emily brought her balloons!

 My beautiful friend brought this over for me with a sweet note. I was so glad she came by. I needed the personal visits I got today. It has been a rough day. Thanks Alesha for always loving me so perfectly!!

     My mom bought this sweet little bracelet for Sarah. It says, "Princess". Sarah means "Princess" so I love it. She also told me that it said Heavenly Father's Princess. I put it in her special box. I am sad the boys were not here to celebrate. The celebration felt so incomplete. I guess it always does because Sarah can only be there in spirit and when it comes to our babies, that just isn't enough. 

Happy Birthday my beautiful daughter. I miss you more than I could ever express and my empty arms ache more than I thought they could. I cannot wait to see you in heaven. I cannot wait to raise you and hold you and do all of the things I feel that I am missing. I love you Sarah Marie Ige. You have a piece of me with you. I am trying to get along without it. 

Emily Barker, My Shining Star!

Emily has had a really fun couple of weeks. One of the greatest things was her singing in the 6th grade talent show. It was her first time using a microphone and I have to say, she was AMAZING!!! We sometimes have a lot of negative going on, but hearing her sing, made my heart soar. That's my girl!!!! She is confident and talented and I couldn't be more proud. 

The night before her performance she received this good luck balloon bouquet from one of the most wonderful women I know. She loves Emily and watches over her. Emily calls her her second mom. I am so grateful for such a loving other mom to my baby girl.

 This is Emily after her performance. I think she looks so beautiful.

 This is Emily with her principal. He has been on a long road with us over the years. Emily has yelled at him and many more not so nice things. Through it all he would say, I like you Emily. She really does like him, but gave him the hardest time. I think he only had to suspend her about 8 times. Each time was done so lovingly. He is a really good man and principal. She started calling him "Crackhead Craig" after she asked what he was smoking one time. I don't think he knows this nickname. It has become a term of endearment that most would not find endearing. This picture makes me smile. 

For the World's Fair, Emily did Mexico for her report. She did her report ALL on her own. She would not let me help her at all, even when she wrote things like, "I really don't know the population, but I think it's a lot and I feel really sorry for the person who has to count them all."

Emily had such a wonderful school year. She got the Principal's Award because of how hard she worked. Good job Ems!

And then she graduated. She went to school at Windsor every year. I think they may just celebrate her departure. She found a boa and decided to wear it to graduation. She is a funny girl.

 After graduation, we went out for ice cream. In her card we wrapped up this below.

It took her a few minutes, but she finally thought she figured out what her gift was.

 I told her that she guessed wrong and that she was getting the "eye pad" and that was it. She got mad. So I stopped the joke and gave her her real iPad.

 She was one happy girl!!!

 She got an iTunes card from her Nanny and some yummy ice cream.

Congratulations little miss graduate!!! We are all so proud of you. Love you to pieces!!!!

Poetry Night

 Emily had a poetry night at school a couple weeks ago. The kids each read two of their favorite poems from their poem book.

Here is the first poem she read:

Sadness

I'm sad inside.

I want to run and hide.

I'm sad, I'm sad, I wear a frown

My world is turning upside down

Depression, Depression in the air

Depression, Depression everywhere.

What do you think of that cheery little number? The other kids were all speaking of flowers and sunshine, not my daughter. Makes me so sad she feels this way. Good poem though and I could recite it about myself in all reality. Sigh.

We were all there supporting Emily. I just wish Christopher would have been there. Here is the other poem she read:

Emily Barker

My wish is to be a musician

Dreams of being a guitar player

Wants to be a singer

Who wonders how they'll turn out

Who fears shots and spiders

who likes singing and dancing

Who believes in vampires and fairies

Who loves music and dancing and art

Who plans to be a singer

To be or not to be, always me

This is Miss Crenshaw. The best teacher in the world. She has made Emily's school year so successful. Emily was very leery of me posting her poems. She does not want anyone to copy them. So, if you are reading this, please do not copy these poems without consent of Emily Barker.