Lanie Caroline

Another reason we went to Utah was for the blessing of my newest niece, Lanie Caroline Ward. It was so fun to have all of the Swensen cousins together to play and to meet the newest addition!

My mom soaking up some Lanie time!

My turn! Lanie is such a sweet and well-behaved baby.

For some reason Blogger won't load this picture in the right direction. Oh well. Here's a cute and funny face from Lanie!

Sydney loved her older cousin Danny. They are both "physical touch" kids so they enjoyed cuddles and back scratches. Plus, Danny was a lot of fun to play with!

It was hard for the kids to stay away from the sweet baby girl.

Lydia and Sydney coaxed Grandpa and Grandma into reading to them on multiple occasions.

Wes had a fantastic time jumping on the trampoline with his cousins. This is pretty much what all the kids did over the entire weekend.

Here are the kids having a snack before church on Sunday. It was quite a production!

Beauties Angie and Lanie after the blessing.

Grandpa and Grandma Swensen with Wes.

Three little girls (Madison, Lydia, and Sydney) playing on my iPhone before bed. I'm so grateful for my family!

A White Wedding

On Saturday, April 30th, we woke up to a snow covered city. I couldn't even believe it! What a day for my cousin Megan's spring wedding!

A view of my sister's front yard in the morning. Crazy!

Lukas and Megan coming out of the Salt Lake Temple after being married for time and all eternity. (It's so nice to know it doesn't have to end at death, isn't it?)

My sisters, my mom, and my Grandma Smith. Can you tell we're related? I've heard you can. :) As an aside, my hair is dark!

My mom holding baby Lanie during the reception.

My Grandma Swensen with Wes and Lanie.

Cute girly cousins...Madison, Lydia, and Sydney.

Sydney was mooching cake off people. Luckily, Aunt Angie was kind enough to share with her.

Wes with his oldest cousin, Nathan.

Megan and I have been good friends/cousins our whole life, but became even closer when we spent our junior year at the same high school. I'm so grateful for the great relationships I have with my cousins.

The kids had fun dancing to the string quartet. This is Wes and Lydia.

Here's the "cousins in a line" picture that we take anytime we can get all of the cousins together (which should be more frequently now that Brian and I live on the west coast again). It's a great tradition. Technically, Lanie's being held by Nathan, but I love that he's old enough to hold her. Cute stuff.

Wes and Sydney with their Great Grandpa and Grandma Swensen. The kids were lucky enough to see all of their cousins on both sides of the family, both sets of grandparents, plus a few great grandparents, plus some great aunts and uncles. That's something I love about Utah and family gatherings!