Ella Mae (10 months) was born on February 12th. She arrived healthy and we are so thankful she is a part of our family! She LOVES her mama and daddy. She crawls all over the place and climbs up on furniture. She likes playing at Grandma's and Grandpa's as long as she can see her mom. Her favorite foods consist of avocados, yogurt, and Happy Yogi's. She keeps us smiling and laughing every day and we can't remember what life was like before her!
Collin (15) is a sophomore at Provo High. He plays basketball on the sophomore and JV team, and has even seen a few minutes on Varsity. He has his learners permit and will soon have a legal license. His 16th birthday is March 31st. He can go to Prom this year! He's grown a few inches this year and is no longer the shortest one in the family. He claims to be the "favorite uncle" but not looking forward to being the only child left at home. He can be found playing Xbox or candy crush on a daily basis. He is a straight A student so far in High School and is really close to getting his Eagle. Collin is our comic relief and keeps our family sane.
Wesley (17) is a senior at Provo High. He will be graduating in May and leaving on mission! After a rough Junior year / basketball/baseball season of foot injuries, he got surgery in July. We're hopeful he will be playing again this season, but are thankful that he has been preparing for a mission and recognizes there is more to life than sports.(He played 5 games and then broke his wrist but hopefully will be able to still finish the end of his Senior year basketball season and play baseball this spring). He was honored by BYU as one of the top math students in Utah. He is a member of the Provo High Seminary Council and can't wait to go out and serve a mission. ( After getting that Eagle Scout done...). He turns 18 the day after graduation.
Elder Bosco (19) graduated from Provo High in May and got accepted to BYU. He is currently serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Belgium/Netherlands mission, dutch speaking. He left July 24, 2013 and is loving it! Check out his blog http://www.dallinbosco.blogspot.com. He recently emailed us his testimony in dutch:
Ik weet dat deze kerk waar is en dat Jezus ons Verlosser is. Ik weet dat Joseph Smith en waar profeet was. Het Evangelie heeft zo veel geluk in mijn leven gebrocht. Ik weet dat Het Boek van Mormon die woord van God is en dat wij door dit boek dichter tot Christus kunnen Komen. Onze Hemelse Vader wilt ons gebed antwoorden. Jezus is voor ons gestorven. Ik weet dat de Verzoening waar is en dat wij rein kunnen worden. Ik hou van Jezus Christ en mijn Hemelse Vader. Ik hou van u :)We are so proud of Dallin and his desire and willingness to serve! We got to skype with him on Christmas morning. He looked so good and so happy!
Alexis (20) is a junior at BYU studying Family and Consumer Science Education. She still works as a research assistant for the Dean of Students at BYU. In June she ran her first marathon and has plans to run another one in the future. She lives away from home and loves her roommates and has made great friends in her ward. She's often found in the kitchen trying new recipes and is definitely the favorite aunt. Alexis is the stability in our family. She can always be found in the right places, doing the right things and helping and serving others. She quietly goes about doing missionary work, progressing in school, and growing into a beautiful and capable adult. We are so glad that she is in our family.
Karissa & Andres got married on August 24th in the Salt Lake City Temple. Karissa returned home from her mission in Argentina on February 13th and went straight to the hospital to meet little Ella. Her and Andres served in the same mission but only overlapped a few months. He wrote her the last year (+ some months) of her mission. They started dating not long after she returned home and the rest is history. Their wedding day was perfect. We fell in love with the whole Lazarte family and we are grateful that Andres and his family are now linked to us for eternity! Karissa and Andres live in Provo (except for three weeks in January when Andres went over to England to take a class at Oxford). They are both in school and we love having them close by.
Amber & Andrew embarked on their new adventure of parenting and love it! Andrew graduated with his Masters of Accountancy from BYU in April and studied hard all summer to pass the CPA with flying colors. We are so proud of his hard work and diligence and were thrilled when we found out his scores! He started working for Deloitte in September. Amber went back to work after she had Ella and finished out the school year. She is now a stay at home mom and wouldn't have it any other way. We are so glad that they still live in Provo, even though we are sure they will head a bit north eventually. But let's be honest- Everything revolves around Ella now- she is in charge!
Robbie & Karen love being grandparents! They get the fun job of spoiling Ella and not feeling bad about it one little bit. Robbie is still working at BYU in Athletic Fundraising and Karen still works at Westridge Elementary a few hours a week teaching a 6th grade yearbook staff and substituting wherever they need her. Karen is pretty sure that she has some sort of nursing/medical degree from last year. Since October of 2013, she has successfully navigated the family through 2 knee surgeries, 2 wisdom teeth surgeries, 1 foot surgery, 1 plate removal arm surgery, a broken wrist, and other injuries and ailments. Karen enjoyed taking care of Ella when Amber went back to finish the year. Rob can't wait until Ella is old enough to go get ice cream with Grandpa. Rob celebrated his 50th birthday in January and they celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary in May. They were able to take a trip to Virginia for the BYU football game this year.
Our year was filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows this year. But through each experience, good and bad, we were reminded of our Savior, Jesus Christ and the infinite love and compassion He has for us. We are so blessed to have that knowledge and recognize God's love in our lives each day. It was truly a growing and learning year. We are so grateful for it and look forward the expected and unexpected events of 2014. One lesson we have definitely learned this year: Everything happens for a reason, we don't always understand why but the journeys going to happen so we might as well enjoy it... Happy 2014!
1 comment:
So cute! Thanks for the update. What a great family, miss you all!
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