SIX MONTH BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!

(22 July: The ballerina princess! We love you!)

(22 July: Mommy and Mercydez)

(22 July: Cousin Braxton came and partied with us!)

(22 July: Uncle Kade had WAY too much fun in the blow-ups!)

(22nd July: This is the AWESOME Titanic Blow-up! Adrienne is at the bottom, Nic is trying to climb up, I'm at the top with Kacey! Waaaahooooo!)

(22nd July: We have such a wonderful, supportive family! We love you all!)



(22 July: Uncle Kacey being a dork!)

(22 July: Nic comin' down the blow-up!)

(22 July: Nic trying to climb up Titanic)

Deep down inside I think I've always wanted to be a mom. I've wanted to be at home, with beautiful children and teach them. My mind and body has come to recognize from my spirit what I truly want in life. I am so grateful that I have an amazing husband who supports this dream, because it's his dream too! He wants me to be home. There is so many scary things going on in the world and I've learned you can only trust a few. I would rather be with my child, caring and raising her, than having someone else do it. In no way am I trying to demean anyone who chooses differently. Many have no choice... there are so many amazing mothers who would love nothing more than to be home with their children, but they can't. I have a great deal of respect for these women. They work overtime, the work hard. I am just grateful I am able to live the dream of being home. It's not always easy (infact, I honestly think it's harder than almost any job out there), but it's such a blessing.

(22 July: Grandma and Mercy, just chillin')

Mercydez is amazing! She's a six-month (and counting) miracle! In celebration, we had a BIG party yesterday! We had all the Gourley's and the Haws' together and we went to Jumpin' Jacks in Springville! It was SO MUCH FUN! We had a "Castle" party room and we had pizza and icecream cake! I ventured out and decided to make the cake instead of ordering it! I felt like such a domestic diva!! Ha! The icecream cake was so good (if I do say so myself)! I made a TON of cakes thinking they'd all be gone in a hurry, but I made WAY too many! It was fun anyway! After eating and talking we opened gifts that so many brought. I was humbled. We were honestly just wanting to celebrate Mercydez and her achievements and we had so many who were so willing to give! Oh my goodness! Talk about cute outfits and hairbands and books... and even a WAY cute little girls umbrella! That'll be perfect for shading Mercydez's eyes when we're out and about! We are so grateful!

(22 July: The much-loved icecream cake)

After opening gifts we were able to bounce on the HUGE toys! It was so fun! Nic's neices and nephews were having a blast on this huge blow-up "Titanic" Ship thing and they were all crowded to one side on the top! All of the sudden the blow-up started to tip and we were all screaming! There were a lot of people who jumped up to try to catch the blow-up (I think it would have been quite comical to watch that happen) but the kids were able to even it out and everything was okay! What we didn't know was that Nic's brother, Zac, was up there with the kids! After things settled down, Zac suddenly popped his head up! It was sooo funny! Here we were, screaming with terror because the kids were getting out of hand, and yet it wasn't just the kids! It was Zac too! We had a good laugh out of that!

(22 July: Zac attempting to climb up to get Kolton, Lucas, and Lucy)

(22 July: Ahma with Mercy... what a beautiful ballerina!)

It was such a great evening! Mercydez was the princess and did she ever look it! We put her in an awesome pink and white tutu with a matching bow. Her onsie said "The Princess Has Arrived". She was soooo cute! She's ALWAYS cute!

(22 July: Aunt Auriel, Mommy, Aunt Addy, and Aunt Ashley were bringin' down the house!)


It was so wonderful to have everyone together to celebrate Mercydez and how far she's come! Here's to our sweet Mercydez! We hope and pray we have many more half-birthday celebrations to come! We love you!