O death, where is thy sting?

On this Easter Sunday, we commemorate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Almost 2000 years ago, He broke the bonds of death and rose from His tomb to live again. Knowing that this occurred has brought me much comfort throughout my life, and I'm sure it will continue to do so for the rest of eternity.

Cody's grandfather, LaVell Brown, passed away this evening after a long battle with cancer. He essentially was the main father figure in Cody's life, and his passing leaves an absence in our lives. Though I have only known LaVell for a few years, I grew to love this strong, caring man who was such an influence on my husband's life. I'm so grateful that he was able to participate in Joshua's baby blessing. I'm blessed to know that he has gone on to the spirit world, where he has been reunited with friends and family that had already passed on. I know that death has no hold on him, for one day he will live again.

This is LaVell holding Joshua for the first time.
Goodbye until we meet again!

Words! Actual, real words!

So, work has been crazy lately and I need a break...so I've decided to take the time to jot down the words that Joshua is saying now. As most of you know, he's got a bit of a speech delay. Most kids his age (27 months) at least use 2 or 3-word sentences, but he's still getting into the habit of actually labeling something instead of grunting. So, without further ado, here is his list!

hi
bye
this (dis--sometimes DI-ih-IS!)
yes ("dess")
no
please (beez)
ma (what he calls me)
home
house (always said in a whisper)
eye (also said in a whisper)
God (gahs)
ten
nine
eight (ace)
bed
mine (min)
milk (mils)
up (uh)
down (dow)
in
out
off
yay
hand (han)
day
duck (guck)
hen (we've been reading The Little Red Hen a lot lately)

That's all I can think of right now...but hey, that's like 27 words! We're out of the >10 range! We're still working on getting him to say them all spontaneously instead of having to be prompted like he does with most of this list, but I know that will come in time. I'm so proud of my little guy. It's been a long time coming. Now to get all of these words on video...

Dressing himself

This is what happens when you let your 2 year old pick his own clothes :o

Cody texted me this picture and caption this morning. We Allemans definitely have some fashion sense. Oh, yeah.

BYU most popular?

I just came across this article from U.S. News and World Report. I'm actually surprised that BYU ranked 1st in popularity in the entire country! Who knew?

I'm proud to say that I graduated from BYU and that I have worked there full-time for almost four years. BYU has blessed my family immensely, both the one I grew up with and the one I have now. I know there are things about BYU that could and probably should be changed, but it still is a great institution. It'll be weird to someday not have such ties to BYU--I mean, I'm sure that we'll eventually move away from Utah County (even if it's just to SLC), I'll no longer work at BYU, and BYU football won't be so prevalent anywhere else. But anyway, just wanted to say that I'm grateful for BYU and it makes me happy to see it getting national recognition =)

My not-so-little-anymore boy

Just a few random pictures of Joshua...watching TV:

And all dressed up for church yesterday--we finally found a white collared shirt that fits him! =)

Moose!

I promised pictures of Joshua yesterday, so here's one. Just trying to whet your appetite =P

My sister and brother-in-law went to Yellowstone over Valentine's Day weekend, and they brought back a moose puppet for Joshua. As you can see, he loves it. Thanks, Aunt Kirsti and Uncle Rich!

We're alive...

Just wanted to reassure everyone that we are still alive (though I hope most of you already know that). Things have just been really busy lately, what with school, jobs with opposite schedules, Cody's internship, classes at KOTM, us being sick...maybe someday we'll find time to catch up. I'll try to post some pictures of Joshua one of these days--that should make up for it, right? :o