Oh Dear!

I was so glad to stumble upon these pictures! Here is my Dad, obviously being a good leader and directing others. He looks so tired to me :(
And then there is a giant arrow pointing to my cute brother Sam, who like many others, were trying to help the Haitian people by buying their food and in result... got sick and was resting with these others who did the same thing. My Dad also saw a bag of Costco trail mix and asked if they were ok to have..... he was told yes but then later was told by another that they were for the haitian workers. Without details... my Dad was sick for 2 days. Many are being so kind as to buy their food to help them, but knew to be smart and throw it away.

HAITI UPDATE

Here is the Croix-des-Missions LDS Church and sounding through the air, the hymn, How Firm A Foundation. I have been following this magazine: www.meridianmagazine.com/churchupdate/100202church.html
You cannot help but be touched by the faith of these members. It is truly remarkable to see how though most have lost their homes and family members, their foundation is in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and it is firm. Please go to this link and read about their faith and love of the gospel.

They prayed "We are thankful to be counted among the living. We are grateful to know of thy truth.There are many outside the walls of this church who do not have this truth to sustain them through the trials. We know we were kept alive because we have a mission to complete. Bless us all that we can be strong and take care of eachother."


I could not be more honored to have my Dad and brother there to do all they can to help rebuild their country. I couldn't be more excited to see them here in these pictures! They have been helping out in an orphanage and are now being directed by the Stake President to help LDS members reconstruct their houses, or make houses suitable to occupy.
(both in white tee-shirts)

(Brother Sam in the white tee-shirt and Dad next to him (his left)

Follow their mission by going to http://www.utahhospitaltaskforce.blogspot.com/ or to make a donation.

Happy, Healthy Lulu!

This BEAUTIFUL, very happy, very healthy girl - believe it or not - will be going home this week!! She is doing so good! LIFE in every sense of the word is in this girl! So happy for her and her family! xoxoxoxo

HAITI

I just got back from my trip to learn my Dad and my brother Sam were so fortunate to be in a group that was brought together to help out in Haiti for the next 3 weeks. The orginal plan was to help rebuild the hospital but they are now being directed in helping in the temporary orphanage. They arrived late Thursday night and have seen many miracles in the one single day they have been there. The reality of the devastation is more than one can describe. My mom will get very few brief updates from my Dad but you can follow there efforts there by going to:

www.utahhospitaltaskforce.blogspot.com

BAHAMAS

AHHHHH! So nice and warm! Too bad the water was ice cold.

I can't wait to get more pictures from everyone who took pictures for me! Ya I was lazy with my big camera. It just wasn't small, sleek & handy enough so I'll post more later when I get some!

Sweet Lulu

I was so very lucky to be able to spend some time with London and her family before the transplant. I was amazed how content she was and Grandpa even got her giggling and smiling! What a tough girl! It had been such a long day of waiting and finally before I left they got word that more preparations were needed before they harvested all the organs from the donor so the transplant is tentatively set for 4am.
This is such a bittersweet time for Liz and James knowing that a family is saying their goodbyes to a loved one. Not much sleep will be had tonight.

www.liverfor lulu.blogspot.com

GREAT NEWS!

Today is the day that dear, sweet Lulu will reciever her new liver that will save her precious life. Please take the time to say a prayer for her and also for the medical professionals that will be involved in this life-saving procedure. Most importantly, please pray for the family who is grieving the loss of their child, for who this day would not be possible without their sacrifice.

Be a donor. Save a life.

Go to liverforlulu.blogspot.com to follow up with Lulu.

Wedding Cakes

Doughnut Day!

Our most delicious tradition was this last Sunday and we had a special guest this time! My best friends' little boy Jonah who LOVES doughnuts just as much as his Daddy does!


All the grandkids -minus Brinley and Nolan....one was asleep, the other didn't really care for it this year.

Shooting

Not quite sure what this face means but it was cute.

Brigham went to the top and yelled "I'm the king of the world!" That is of course Brigham just copying his dad with cheesy movie quotes!

Then Brigham falling down the hill!

LOVE these colors on Brinley!

What a fun morning we had this weekend! Brigham was so shocked when Dad told him he sould shoot his rifle. SHOCKED!

Sexy husband!

I finally got to use my birthday present!!

Brinley really was concentrating on her target!

Brigham's proud moment!

Brinley is 2!

I think she loved blowing out the candle more than eating it!

It's the big cheese party!! Packed with a hearty Mac 'n' Cheese dinner and of course... cream cheese filling in Brinley's cake! I put the pictures in the wrong order...yet again. Sorry.

This was the next morning and she was very happy to have new toys! At first this "fancy nancy" feather boa (sp?) freaked her out....

But then I found her in the closet thinking she was a princess with it!

This is where she puts her baby set and plays- all the time. MAKE ME CRAZY!

Of course she loved the cake but she also loved eating the little black fondant mice. (wanna scare your spouse the next morning when they go to change a diaper...let your child eat black fondant!) YUK!

Loves having her own fancy sunglasses!

And don't forget the big cheese hat! Too bad it wasn't real. She would have eaten it!!

I love this face!

Cakes

So I am starting my own cake business...I intended to wait until I had more practice and especially planned to wait until my kids were a little older but hey....I dove right in. I'm working on starting my website www.simplysweetbyleslie.com and it is a work in progress as I gather pictures of cakes, cookies and cupcakes that I have made and also sort out pricing so be patient... but here are a few that I have worked on in the past couple of months.

A cake for "someone" who LOVES butter!

Like I said, please be patient cause my sister helps me with my blog background and my brother-in-law is the guru helping me with the rest. BIG thanks to them!