Give Me a Break....

Sometimes, the monotony of life is hard. I didn't realize that real life doesn't have breaks like you get in school. You know; Summer break, Fall break (college), Christmas break, and Spring break. We could sure use a May day break. Last week Justin was down in Roseburg Monday thru Thursday. Thursday night when he got back someone stole his tools out of the back of his truck. (He uses these nearly every day for work.) Friday he drove back down to Roseburg. I was looking forward to Saturday and spending time with him. That didn't happen, guess where he had to go? Yep, Roseburg. It was craziness. Guess where he is coming back from right now? Roseburg..... (For those of you who aren't savvy with Oregon geography, the job site in Roseburg he is working at is 4 hours away).

I am not complaining, I guess maybe a little. More just recording this for us to remember in the future. I am just worn down from working as a single mom. Tomorrow will be better. Justin is a great provider and robbers are jerks. We will really enjoy our Memorial Day Weekend coming up. The end.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Finally

Natalie changes every day. She is so much more alert now and wants to let us know this.Saturday was virtually a no nap day for her. You can see why I was so excited at the end of day when she did this.

                                    

Beautiful girl. Love her so much.

White Dress

 

 

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Natalie's Blessing Day Continued

Pictures from the luncheon. 

We had a wonderful lunch after church at a neighboring park.

The weather was perfect and the company was fun.

 

Not only did our immediate families come, 

but some second cousins I have that live in the area joined us as well.

We saw them a lot when I was growing up, 

but it had been a while since I had last seen them.

They were a major help with the luncheon 

It is hard to have those who are traveling bring things like salads.

I can only imagine them spinning the water off of lettuce in their hotel rooms....

 I always get super stressed planning these family events.

Of course they always turn out wonderfully.

Mostly because we have awesome families that aren't looking to be impressed

They just want to spend time with us.

Hopefully I can relax in the future and enjoy myself a little more.

Justin hopes so too.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Natalie's Blessing Day

I never realized how loved and how much joy I brought my parents until being one. Natalie's blessing day was such a special day and the Spirit that was there is written in my heart. She looked beautiful in her dress.

Natalie actually did not wear the bonnet for the blessing, but rather a white flower headband. My great aunt crocheted this dress and bonnet for her and wanted pictures. I snapped these pictures of Natalie before church to send to her, but unfortunately I didn't get another chance to get one of what she really wore.  It was a really busy day with having all of the family there from out of town and by the end of the luncheon she was tired. I plan to take more pictures of her soon, but this shows you how adorable she did look in the dress.

Listening to Justin exercise his Priesthood power and give her a name and a blessing was beautiful. It was also neat to see the men in our family and our close friends be able to stand in the circle as he did that. The Priesthood is an incredible gift from God that truly blesses families.

I can't think of a better way to spend my first mothers day. It was rather interesting. This week a past teacher forwarded me a job posting. If I could make up a job, this one probably would have been it. It kind of made me a feel a little trapped in my situation knowing there was no way I could apply for it. This was strange to me because I never have found a job that tempting before. I guess the adversary really knows how to get to us at certain times. After hearing Natalie's blessing on Sunday and the words that were spoken during Sacrament meeting, it was reaffirmed to me the most important job I will ever do is being a mother. I know I am where I need to be at this time in my life and that is with my baby girl. I love this job and want to do good work.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Saturday

Saturday began with meeting up with the family coming into town for Natalie's baby blessing.

First to arrive were Blazzard Grandparents and Atkinson Great Grandparents.

They drove 12 hours... that is a long way. 

Trust me, I have driven that far before.

We decided to show the Atkinson Grandparents the beautiful Columbia River Gorge.

This is Lauterall Falls.

Minimal hike (more like a walk) and beautiful water fall.

Grandma Atkinson wasn't sure she was going to be able to make the walk down.

It had some steep parts...

She did really great and got to enjoy the beauty closer up.

 

Relaxing after the walk back up. 

The day was rather hot, 

so the shade and coolness of the waterfall was very nice.

Did I mention we live in a beautiful area?

That evening we met up with the Corn side of the family.

Dinner was had by Blazzards, Atkinsons, and Corns at

Tad's Chicken and Dumplings.

A yummy hometown joint on the Sandy River.

It was really busy and because of that was rather loud.

Natalie didn't like that very much, 

especially since evening times are hard for her anyways.

Justin and I took turns taking her outside so the other could enjoy their yummy dinner.

Dumplings and gravy are so good. 

I wonder why my mom didn't ever make them for me.... haha

We really did have a great time with all of the family,

best surprise of the day was my little sister and her new husband showing up.

We didn't know they were coming and were actually the only siblings to make it.

I felt very loved and realized that Natalie is one loved and lucky little girl.

She has a great heritage behind her.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Ms. Kari

The year following graduation from high school I served as a State FFA Officer. Five other individuals served on the team and we became friends for life. Friday night one of those individuals stopped by to have dinner with us on her way home to Hermiston from Seattle.

Kari and I had known each other before we became State Officers together because our older siblings had also served on a team together. I always thought she was really quiet and hard to talk to. She thought I was loud and bossy. We soon realized that we both probably fit those descriptions, but there is much more to both of us then just that. We did some reminiscing about some mischief we caused as State Officers. Our poor leaders who had to put up with us at times.

 

It was really enjoyable to catch up with her. She serves as a worker for her church, kind of like a missionary. Her experiences are different then many friends my age and it is always interesting to hear her stories and insights. Introducing her to Natalie was really neat. Kari knitted an adorable sweater for her that she should be able to wear this winter.

Hopefully this summer we will make it to Seattle to tour around and visit her.





Justin and Ruth Blazzard