I love that I have known Marsh his whole life. Before he was born, I was so excited to have a new baby in our family and to see what a little brother was like. Babysitting Marshall allowed me to learn tons of useful baby skills, and feel more like an independent, grown-up sibling in our family. I relished the times I could make him rice cereal,
swing with him in the yard, change him into his sweet, baby-blue clothes or his soft, cuddly jammies, and hold him and smell his sweet baby smell. He made me fall in love with babies, and then toddlers, and then children as I watched him grow through each phase. I am 8 years older which is enough distance to feel older and really appreciate his sweetness and laugh at his silliness. I will always remember how much joy and happiness our littlest brother brought into our home.
Marshall has an insatiable thirst for knowledge that is totally contagious. He is a fun uncle who will build Legos, climb into forts and race through the yard with his nephews (who absolutely adore the attention and his youthful energy). He is passionate, and totally and completely loves the things he loves (i.e. Tolkien, the founding fathers, Kansas and other classic rock bands, Ruth Ann's rolls,
24, etc...) I love that Marshall took a huge leap of faith in joining the swim team his senior year of high school. Now he is like a fish and happiest when he is in the water, testing his endurance and strengthening his body. I absolutely love Marshall when he is giddy or silly--he makes me laugh so hard that I cry like crazy and my face hurts from so much smiling.
Marshall and I have actually gotten to know one another more than we ever have before in the past year or so and it has been such a blessing in my life. Because of Marshall, I have learned about faith, honesty, character, prayer, and love in ways I never expected, but definitely needed in my life. He has such a good heart yet he doesn't always see how radiant, sincere and uplifting he can be. I have laughed out loud at his stories about finding classes as a freshman on campus and quietly cried as he's borne his testimony at Lake Powell or through simple emails to the family. He still has so much of his life ahead of him and I am thrilled for the possibilities and opportunities that are his. Happy Birthday Marsh--I love you.
Welcome to the world little Kai! Krista and Johnny had their second baby on Friday, April 27th. He was just under 7 lbs and 19.5 inches. I met my new nephew last night and he is a total sweetie and very new and beautiful. He smelled like heaven and was easy to hold. I am excited for him to grow up and learn crazy boy ways from Bentley and Tiago--the older, wiser cousins :) Congratulations to John and Krista and to Sisi--now a big sis!
If anyone who reads this doesn't know this yet, I am surrounded by amazing women in my family. They are strong, capable, intelligent, and sophisticated but they are also gentle, kind, selfless and very supportive. They lift me up and inspire me to be a more patient mother, a better friend, a more informed citizen, more daring with fashion and more committed to the Gospel. I love them and they made my weekend so perfect. We are all very different yet we have similar core values and at the end of the day, we are happy together. Thank you so much for our trip Mom (and Dad :) and thanks to you, Cecily, Heidi and Stacey for loving me just as I am.
little she was the best companion for playing American Girl dolls, Playmobile Victorian house, dress-ups and fashion shows, and restaurant (with our carefully coded menus :). As we grew older, I began to see Heidi maturing and growing up. I was inspired by how sensitive, nurturing, and compassionate she was (and still is) even when she struggled to find friends who were as loyal and true as she was. During a particularly hard time in my life, right when I was starting college, Heidi's comforting nature seemed to anchor me in the storm. It was a time when I honestly felt the weight of the world and very, very sad. I don't know if Heidi remembers, but she slipped me a card the morning before I moved down to school. It was perfect--a card filled with the loving words I needed to hear. Her kind words and sweet sentiments cradled my troubled heart and showed me what real love is. I knew then that she was my ally and my friend forever.
swing with him in the yard, change him into his sweet, baby-blue clothes or his soft, cuddly jammies, and hold him and smell his sweet baby smell. He made me fall in love with babies, and then toddlers, and then children as I watched him grow through each phase. I am 8 years older which is enough distance to feel older and really appreciate his sweetness and laugh at his silliness. I will always remember how much joy and happiness our littlest brother brought into our home.
Cecily blogged perfectly 
about our experience provided by Grandma Bobbi and Grandpa Sherm. We all enjoyed the sunny skies, open fields of grass, bridges, streams, hidden gardens, fountains and colorful flowers everywhere we
looked. It was the perfect place to be on such a perfect spring day!
I think my favorite thing about Justin is his quiet, shoulder shrugging laugh. It seems to surface most often when the whole LeBaron gang is hanging out and making joke after joke. Justin won't laugh at everything but when someone can really get him going it is great fun. Justin is a very methodic ROOK player and really likes to win when he can fully cream his opponents instead of just scrape by with a win. Justin is totally enamored with the women in his life, Gracie and Maggie, and I love how content and comfy Gracie looks when she's on his lap or cuddled in his arms. I am always jealous of Justin in the summer because he gets the best tan (even if it is a farmer tan, it's still impressive!). If he and Maggie end up moving to St George for good then I will never be able to compete :) Happy Birthday Justin and good luck with all the big events and decisions coming up in the next little while. Don't forget to email us a picture of little Gracie in her cap and gown at graduation!
Here's to my one and only big brother. It's funny that I can remember several birthdays of Tye's when we were growing up because I always wanted to be a part of them. It looked so fun to have Easter egg relay races and run around in the yard and play crazy boy games. If I didn't get included in his birthday games then Tye totally made up for it in our free time together. I remember him teaching me how to play all of our Nintendo games and Contra as a team became my favorite thing to play together. We spent many summer evenings rollerblading around the neighborhood or up in the Country Club, playing ping-pong out on the deck or badminton in the backyard.
Heather--how is the the most recent pic I have with you?? (Emily's wedding Aug. 2004)
Our Martha Stewart centerpiece project
Dying Easter eggs
Will and Ethan 
