Cori’s blessing

 

On May 30th, Derek gave Cori a name and a blessing at church.  Also standing in the circle were her Papa, Uncle Nick, Uncle Joey, and Uncle Doug.  He blessed her with health and that she would be a good example to those around her and feel the love of her family.   When Derek finished the blessing and held Cori up, Eli yelled, “Good job Daddy!”  The whole congregation laughed.

 

Cori is a very sweet baby and we love her lots.  She smiles and coos a lot these days.  We just love it when she gives us big full face smiles with her mouth open and eyes twinkling.  She also likes to stick her tongue out and get us to do the same.

 

We took a big family pic at our house after church right before we chowed down on lupper (lunch/supper).

Family Fun

May was a busy month for our family, here are some of the highlights:

Aunt Perina turned 90 on May 6th.  My Mom and Aunts put on a big shin-dig for her.  I don’t have any good pics from the party, but here’s a recent one of her holding Cori.

On May 11th my brother Doug got home from his mission in Argentina.  We are super proud of him and glad to have him home.

My cousin Cody graduated from high school, so all the Hardgrave side of the family got together at Jenny & Brian’s house.  It was the first time we had all been together in a really long time.  It was lots of fun and yummy food.

This is just a cute pic we took of the kids in their pj’s looking at each other.

Easter

Since Easter fell on General Conf. weekend, we watched conference and then went to the farm for an egg hunt and family dinner with Aunt Perina, the rest of the Hardgrave’s, and the Warden’s.  We didn’t get all dressed up, but we did get this family pic at the farm.

On Good Friday Eli and my Mom and I colored and dyed Easter eggs.  Easter morning Eli had a huge basket full of Bible videos, bath letters & numbers, a Reese's chocolate bunny, fruit snacks, and eggs.  I made a small basket for Cori too, just for the heck of it.  I told Eli I got to eat all her treats since she gets her food from me : )

Eli eating his chocolate bunny and Eli & Marcus getting ready to hunt eggs at the farm.

 

The hunt is on!

Derek helping Eli count his eggs.

The farm is the perfect place to hunt eggs.  Aunt Perina has so many pretty flowers.

Eli & Marcus with their loot.

Cori’s uncles put her in the Easter basket.

After the egg hunt and the yummy food, Eli had a blast playing outside with his Dad, Papa, uncles, and cousins.  We had a great Easter and are very thankful for our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our Big Boy

Eli is getting to be such a big boy!  He has been sleeping in his “big boy bed” (toddler bed) since March 29th.  It was a pretty smooth transition.  He also used the potty by choice on the 31st, but I think that was kind of a fluke.  He knows all the basic colors and shapes, he can count to 10, say his ABC’s, and almost recite the 1st Article of Faith.  He also plays pretend by himself, speaks in paragraphs, and has learned the art of bargaining.  His favorite color is green, favorite shape is oval, and favorite number is 38 (no idea why).  He is very independent, which is sometimes good and sometimes bad.  He has become more of a two-year-old lately, complete with fits and all.  A lot of the time he is very good with Cori, but he has also thrown things at her a few times.  Aaaa, the ups and downs of a toddler!

More pics of Cori

bath time

 

chillin’ with Mom, Dad, and Eli

 

 

Cori Jane is here!!

Our beautiful baby girl arrived on March 19th.  She was 5 lbs 10 oz and 19 in.  She is doing very well.

 

 

Eli loves to kiss her on the forehead.

Zoo trip

Eli got a zoo pass for his birthday, so we wanted to get a zoo trip in before the baby came. We went to the zoo with the Southward clan.  It was a bit chilly, but lots of fun.  Eli rode areal camel with Mazee!  He just jumped right on.  I couldn’t believe he was so brave. 

Eli & Emmy eating their lunch with a lion in the background.