Asa's Baby Blessing...

While we were in Denver and had the family together we decided to have Asa's baby blessing.  For those of you who read our blog and do not know what this is you can learn about it HERE. Darin performed the ordinance and gave Asa the name ASA COSBY WILLARDSON to be known on the records of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The blessing was very sweet and Asa was a good boy during it, besides the fact I almost dropped him handing him over to Darin...good one mom! The men who stood in the circle: Darin, Grandad Cosby, Grandpa Willardson, Uncle Troy, Uncle Trevor, and Troy's Bishop.

 (yes I did make myself look skinnier...hey it is my blog I can look as good as I want! haha)

 Check out Asa's face.  He is totally smiling for the camera!  Thank you everyone who came.

(Back row L to R) Rachel, Trevor, Tonya, Troy, Alex, Nathan, Darin, Christina, Jannice, JD, Sasha, Dennis.  (Middle L to R) TJ, Taeya, Saebra, Carly Asa, Eli.  (Front L to R) Olivia, Halle, Zachary, Natasha, Jake, Nash.

 We had the oldest grand-son (18 years old) and the youngest grand-son (5 months) there.  Alex leaves for the Navy in January.

Jake and Nash - Two peas in a pod.

 My mom and dad traveled by train to Denver.  We are so happy they made the trip up! When I was pregnant we told my dad the baby would be named after him.  We asked him what the middle name should be Dennis or Cosby.  He said he would wait to see what the first name would be.  In the end we gave Asa the name Cosby because that is my middle name as well.  My dad did not want me to have a middle name so when I got married I would keep his name too.  

Fun facts about our little family:

Jon Darin  born 2/19 

Christina Cosby  born 8/23

Nash Darin  born 5/23

Asa Cosby  born 5/19

(Do you see the trend of the birthdays.)

  We have wonderful parents that have helped us every step of our marriage.  I hope someday we can repay their kindness in helping us better our lives.  Thank you so much for everything, we love you guys!

 I feel pretty blessed to have such a beautiful family.  I think all the time about how Darin and I came together.  There were so many things that could have changed that New Years night.  I know that we were guided to one another by a loving Heavenly Father.  How great it is to know we have a Forever Family.

Grandkids...

We had 14 out of the 22 grandkids in Denver.  We are missing Olivia in this picture, she was taking a nap.

For Grandma Willardson

When you tell the kids we need a picture for Grandma they will do it no questions asked. :)

 This statue had a quote by Helen Keller.  The kids thought it was Helen Keller and wanted a picture with her. 

Pumpkin Field...

This makes me laugh just because here in PA the pumpkin patches are green and gorgeous.  This dry desert field covered in pumpkins just seemed weird.  The kids were begging us for a pumpkin but we opted for just taking pictures with them. :)

Little house on the Prairie?

Outside the museum they had a big area with farm animals, prairie houses, one room schoolhouse and a barn.  

My favorite picture!

Free Museum...

We tried to get the kids out as much as we could.  Tonya found some fun activities like this free museum.  I am not sure what kind of a museum it was but it was fun!

 Nash spent a good chunk of his time putting together a newspaper.

Willardson Compound...

Darin had a conference in Denver where he had to do a presentation on a poster of a study he did with a group of LVH residents that is being published.  Troy lives in Denver and Trevor is in Pueblo the rest of the family is in driving distance so we decided to go spend the week.  Something I love about the Willardson family is when one brother comes they ALL come.  Troy and Tonya had a full house and we are VERY grateful for everything they did for us.

We had a great time hanging out, lounging, visiting, runs, walks, watching football, presidential debate, eating and most of all PLAYING WITH COUSINS!

 It seemed like we would just feed the children and 2 seconds later it was time to feed them again.  Grandma Willardson is a pro at feeding the masses!

Darin loves his nieces and nephews and they LOVE him.  Nash and Asa are pretty lucky to have such a fun daddy!

Some of the cousins are home schooled.  They were so good to stay up on their studies and Grandma and Grandpa were great at being their teachers.  It was fun listening to Grandpa teach the kids math. 

The kids got a long so well.  They only issues we had was making them go to sleep!  Nash thought we were the meanest parents on the nights we made him sleep with us.

Everyone doted over the newest member of the family.  It is so fun to see Darin's brothers asking to hold Asa.

 Each cousin took a turn.

  But Grandma got as much snuggle time as she wanted.

 Grandpa is the baby whisper.  Although from the look on Asa's face in this next picture I am not to sure... Asa is saying "Mom, who is this guy?!" haha 

 The house at time was pretty chaotic but it was great being with everyone and we are super thankful for the help we received especially when Darin, Asa and I took a day trip to Albuquerque for an interview.  I asked Nash if he wanted to come with us and he said "ummm maybe NO!"  He didn't even realize I left or when I got home.  He had so much fun!