Not sure if I'm ready for this....

Gracie has started to want to do her own hair, and this is the result. Isn't it lovely. Boy can the girl accesorize! I don't have the heart to change it, because she is so proud of it, so she goes around looking slightly ridiculous. Everyone who sees her says "ooh, I love your hair"! So that makes her want to do it even more. Hopefully this is just a stage, a really fast one!

Our new puppy...

For Christmas all Gracie asked for was a "real" dog. Durke has been dead-set against getting a dog since we were married; but one day he came home and said "come look at this". He had found a litter of Aussi pups for way cheap and he said we should get one for Gracie. I was truly amazed, but jumped at the chance so we loaded the family in the car and headed to S.L. When we saw this cute little puppy there was no turning back. We told Gracie that Santa told us we could get a puppy, but we had to pick him up ourselves because he can't carry puppies on his sleigh.

The girls named him "Jake" and I am not sure why, but it does seem to fit. He has been so much fun and we all love him to death. He goes skiing with Durke, watches movies with Gracie, and hangs out with me in the kitchen. Abi's still not sure that she loves him, but she pets him sometimes.

Anyways, something to post about I guess.

Louk...

Yesterday was 4 years since my brother-in-law Louk was killed in an avalanche in Ephraim Canyon. It's always a hard day and we still shed some tears. It's been a very hard lesson for all of our family, and we still miss him everyday.

I wanted to do a little tribute post to him. Louk was one of the most amazing guys I know. He touched so many lives. Him & Durke were the closest of brothers and best friends, and losing him has definitely made an impact on Durke and our whole family. He was always making us laugh and we still often laugh about the funny things he did or said. He was such a big guy, but a teddy bear really. He loved the little kids in our family, and boy did they love him. One of my favorite memories of Louk was right after Joslynn (his little girl)was born I would watch her, and everyday he would come down at lunch (we lived in the apartment just under theirs, and he would ask if I had any treats, and then hug and kiss on the girls. (Gracie & Joslynn).I wish my kids could know their Uncle Louk, because I know they would have loved him too. We miss him so much.I am so grateful for the plan of salvation and to know that we will be with him again.