Want to see the cutest 18mo old evah…?

The months between 12 months and 18 months have been amazing….. by far my most favorite! Charlie is not a little baby I have to take care of anymore – he’s my playmate! We do everything together.  Kinda reminds me of that commercial back in the day, “My Buddy” (which is hilarious by the way!). He really is my buddy!

 

Here are some of the cutest pictures of the last 6 months. I have about 400 that I love, so it was hard to narrow it down this much… Doesn’t every mom have this problem?

                   

Looking at these pictures, he’s grown up so much I can’t stand it! I sure do love this crazy, happy, inquisitive, tender, rambunctious,inspiring boy. He makes my heart melt.

Happy 1.5 years Charliebug!

Why Duke?

Why Duke?

Well it’s kind of a long story. But one worth telling. :)

In our law school researching process (which was over a span of three years or so!), we learned several key things that quickly narrowed down our long list of choices to just a few select law schools. Then after learning more about different Asian studies dual degree programs and especially about specific faculty members, a few more of the contenders dropped off. Finally we added to the list qualifications of being in a family friendly city, with a temple no more than 45min away. The choice became clearer and clearer that Duke University is where we belonged…..so clear that this time last year Scott was filling out one and only one application to law school. And he marked the “early decision” box which meant if he was accepted, he was obligated to reject all other offers from any other school. It sounds like a risky gamble to only apply to ONE school, but it wasn’t a hard decision to make, because we KNEW it was where we were supposed to be.

We had that feeling confirmed several times, such as the time we drove to Miami for the LSAC forum and Scott was able to meet some of the Duke admissions staff in person. Six month old Charlie and I tagged along………and ended up hitting it off with an admissions representative who was also a new mom. She raved about the family friendliness of Duke and even the law school itself. Then she invited us out for a visit in September. We gladly accepted and made it work……taking Charlie on his very first flight and even getting to stay at the prestigious Washington Duke Inn because of a crazy cheap deal we found on Hotwire!! :)

That whole trip was confirmation after confirmation that we did belong there. By coincidence we were even visiting the same day as the PALS (Parents as Law Students) opening social and were able to meet lots of other LDS families who were so warm and friendly and gave us lots of great info (as well and some yummy North Carolina barbeque!). We even got to stop and see the beautiful Duke gardens.The whole 24 hours we were there was amazing.

We came home from our visit knowing more than ever that we were meant to go to Duke and it was torture waiting to find out if it really was going to happen. After much faith and prayers, November 18th, 2010 Scott got the phone call he was waiting for – We’re in!!!!!!!!!! What an amazing day that was! We knew God had His hand in this huge blessing.

So for those of you not familiar with the Blue Devils, here is a little trivia for you:

Duke is located in Durham, North Carolina and has been around since 1838. Among other things, the campus has 55 acres of gardens, 11 square miles of forest, some lemurs, a pretty good basketball team (with fans who camp out in tents for months prior to the biggest games), and an amazing Gothic chapel within walking distance of the law school.

Below is the entrance and surroundings of the law school. Interestingly, these pictures were from our drive-by of campus back in January 2008 when we picked up Scott’s car from Ohio and drove it home to FL. We were there on a Sunday afternoon and the building was locked, but it was still fun to see it in person and dream that Scott might be going to law school some day!

So I guess all of that was just the prologue!! The story really began on June 1st, when Scott started law school….actually living the dream. His emphasis is in Intellectual Property, with a joint Master’s degree in East Asian Studies (focused on China). If we’re not too tired and broke by the the end of the three years, we’ll be headed to China after that for one more year of study so he can earn his LLM degree.

This is a picture of his very first day of school, new backpack and everything. (I felt like a proud mommy so excited/nervous for her child’s first day!).

Wow, looking back, it has already been quite the journey… Can’t wait to see what lies ahead!

Jaydon and Jyson’s Baptism

Jaydon and Jyson were baptized on May 8th, 2010. We are so proud of them for the decision they’ve made to become followers of Christ and make a covenant to take upon His name and always remember Him and keep His commandments.

It actually started the night before when we drove to Columbus, OH to visit the temple there. Scott has always wanted to take his children to the temple grounds when they turn 8 to explain to them that the covenant of baptism is only the first of the sacred covenants we make on this earth. The grounds at the temple were beautiful and the Spirit was really strong as he taught the boys.

   The day of the baptism we spent time as a family and Scott did a little practicing with the boys!

 

May 8th, 2010

We were so blessed to be able to participate so fully. Scott’s mom gave the opening prayer, Scott baptized them,  his dad was a witness, I gave the talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost, Scott confirmed them members of the Church and gave them the blessing to receive the Holy Ghost, and my mom gave the closing prayer.

This was the first time that both of the twins’ sets of parents and grandparents had gathered together. It went really really well. The twins were especially excited to have Charlie meet their sister Ari.

 

Don’t all of my boys look so handsome in their suits?!

The baptism was a wonderful, special event. It is such a sweet feeling as a parent to see your children follow Christ. It’s also a feeling of shock- I can’t believe we’re old enough to have boys who are baptized!