The past few days were so wonderful. WONDERFUL doesn't capture how special it was. My entire family was together for the first time since Thanksgiving. Matt, Kayla and the kids came to stay with us and visit for the past few days. Zellie is now talking lots and walking like a pro.
We had so much going on. Our church threw Gentry her first bridal shower on Saturday. Thank you so much Rachel for hosting a beautiful shower. I was completely blown away with how special it was. Plus, we had girl time this weekend. We had so much fun. Zellie was not happy in this photo!!!!
I can't leave out my boys. My heart is truly so overflowing as I write this blog post. Wow, who would have thought when I married Ty that together we would blend and create this BIG and awesome family. Now we have Kayla and Devan, Maxson and Azalea. It shows me that it's true... LOVE grows and expands/ multiples.
This is Seth in the center of the photo in the plaid. He is not often here with us. I am truly so proud of him. He gave a talk in church yesterday. It was his mission farewell. He leaves this Wednesday for the Missionary Training Center. He will learn Spanish and serve his mission in Mexico. This young man expressed from the heart a testimony of God that was so strong. He had a hard time in high school and did some things that he was not proud about. Seth talked about this and how he was unhappy with his choices and knew what he needed to do to feel Heavenly Father in his life and heart. It was a beautiful talk and I shed many tears for his honesty and being so strong and brave. We are truly going to miss him. We will write him every week as a family and support him. He will serve for two years.
This photo means so much to me. It is our last photo together as a family for TWO years. I would have loved to have a professional photo done, but I simply wanted to capture OUR kids. I wanted Seth to have this photo to take on his mission. (Ty, Zach, McKay, Taylor, Gentry, Devan, Seth, Kayla, Azalea, Matt and Maxson) That is my gang and I'm super thankful that God blessed me with this crazy crew. We are certainly not perfect and yes, we have fights and misunderstandings, but we always forgive and love each other.
Maxson loves the attention from his aunts and uncles. He can pretty much get away with anything with them.
We celebrated that Seth was going to Mexico. The kids love to do silly photos.
I guess your never too old to do things like this. Right?
I am super proud of this young man. He is mature for his age. He is a really hard worker and he is just a sweetheart. He never lived with us and honestly, I wish he had. Zach and Ty really have looked up to both Seth and Matt and I'm so thankful for them.
This morning I watched Matt and Kayla load their car and leave again. This time they drove to their new home in Huntington Beach, CA. They moved for Matt's job and are going to their new home for the first time. I tried to not cry, but I broke down. You would think that it get's easier... I admit I am very emotional. We want our kids to grow up and be on their own and be happy, start their own family, make good decisions... and with that we have to let them go. I never realized how much my heart would be conflicted with happiness and sadness to see them leave.
So to keep myself busy I started to craft today. I have some big news that I will be able to share soon. It is something that I am so thankful about. It has been keeping me busy and I have not been able to share anything about it.
I debuted a new MY CRAFT CHANNEL segment today on my new file folders. You can watch it here: www.mycraftchannel.com/shows/Teresa-Collins-Designs-Show/Teresa-Collins-File-Folder-Albums
Also, Utah crafters. Join me this FRIDAY at the Scrapbook Expo in Sandy Utah. I will be in the MY CRAFT CHANNEL booth doing a free make n take from 11:00-12:00 am on Friday and Saturday morning. I would love to see you there!!!!!!
