Congratulations, Dr. Jack!!

Nate did it, he graduated with his Ph.D.!! 5 years ago, we thought this day would never come, but it did, and it was so wonderful! I am so proud of Nate, he worked so hard, and sacrificed so much for his family, and with the Lord's help we made it!

Nate's parents came to celebrate with us, and we had a wonderful time together!

Introducing...Sarah Jack!!

Dr. Jack preparing for the surgery...well he just watched...some of it.



Sarah waited until the scheduled C-section to come, so we got to go to the hospital for a lot of preparation!



All went well with the surgery and Sarah was born at 12:30pm and weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces!



She has more hair than our other girls did and it is dark like Nate's...we'll see how long it lasts.





Her sisters were very excited to meet her. Jessica is saying, "ooooooooooooh she is too tiny teeny!"



Emily is super cute with her and always has something to tell me that Sarah is doing (or questions about why she is doing something or other.)





Easter Sunday at the hospital.



The Easter bunny found our house a little late this year, when everyone was home together again!



The older girls were a little more excited than Sarah was.





It is amazing how much we love our precious little girl when she has just arrived. She is an angel!

Celebrating Early

Since our baby is coming so soon and I will be in the hospital during Easter and Nate's birthday we have been celebrating early this week!!

Monday we died Easter eggs.





Today the girls and I made a cake for Nate.



We sang to him and let him blow the candles out early!!



Coming soon.......baby pictures!!!!

Dr. Jack....almost

Nate defended his dissertation last Friday!! I got to go see him, which was pretty exciting! He got up in front of his committee (four professors who decide if he is eligible for a Ph.D.), students in his research group, and me, and talked for about 1 1/2 hours about his dissertation. I, of course, didn't understand much of it, but he did a really good job. One professor, especially asked him a lot of questions and he answered them all very well. Besides his own adviser, none of the professors had any changes for him to make--pretty amazing.

What an accomplishment to put together 5 years worth of work in a 130+ page dissertation and he's almost done...

Way to go Nate!! I'm so proud of you!

Goodbye Nauvoo

It has been so wonderful to be close to Nauvoo for the past 5 years and we have been to visit many times. We went this past weekend for probably the last time.

We saw several bald eagles on our drive by the Mississippi!



February 4, 1846 was the day the saints began the exodus from Nauvoo, so Saturday morning we got to participate in a reenactment of the exodus. We each wore a name of someone who was part of the exodus and walked from the cultural hall down to the Mississippi River. It was raining on us and pretty chilly, but I can't imagine what it would have been like for the pioneers outside in the freezing weather with only wagons and tents for shelter! We are so grateful for the strength and faith of the early pioneers and our ancestors who passed through so many trials for the gospel's sake and that because of them we are blessed to have the gospel.

Emily's Birthday

Emmy got to open a couple presents early at Grandpa and Grandma Alder's on Jessica's birthday.



The morning of her birthday; she is showing us that she is 2!!



Helping me make the cupcakes.





Crystal and Mike came for a fun visit the weekend following Emmy's b-day. They brought presents for the girls and they got to celebrate one more time!! It was fun to do a lot of birthday celebrating this year.



Videos of Emmy on her birthday:

Jessica's Birthday

We were still in Utah for Jessica's birthday. Aunt Janice threw a super fun Princess Party for Jessica and Emily (and went to all this work on her own birthday!) She even brought supplies and guided me through frosting a Cinderella cake for Jessica and a Tinker Bell cake for Emily. The girls had so much fun dressing up with their girl cousins and being princesses!