What I just HAVE to take time to say today!

I just ran a marathon.

Or rather, I feel like I did.  We had a family photo shoot at 9:00 a.m.  Doesn't sound too exhausting, but somehow it was.  The actual photo shoot wasn't too bad.  Besides Elli not being cooperative, having a goobery nose, spilling water all over herself, and completely messing up her carefully done hair, it was great.  (:  It was trying to coordinate outfits for 10 people and getting them to all look good at the same time that was a bit crazy!  Luckily, my sweet friend,  Channy, came over at 7:30 to curl hair and totally save me from going off the deep end!!  So grateful for good friends.  The photo shoot was done by Fotofly, who so generously waived their normal fee for our family upon learning of our sweet kiddos.  What a blessing!  The photographers were amazing and super patient-- I can't wait to see the photos!  We took a bit longer than a typical family (go figure) so we'll be going back later today to see how they turned out.  The last time we had professional family pictures was in 2005-- WAY too long ago!  Maybe now that I've conquered the fear of just doing it, we'll make it an annual thing.

Or not.  We'll see.  (:

But that's not what I came on here to say!  Nor to tell about Taylor and Parker's experience at BYU basketball camp, or how their baseball season ended, or how Elli played Heart and Soul with zero mistakes after hearing it once, or how Lexi is driving me batty asking to play with friends every half hour, or how she took her first motorcycle ride, or how Graci looks AMAZING after chopping a foot off her beautiful long hair (under a bit of pressure from me) and donating it to Locks of Love, or how summer has been a daily emotional rollercoaster for me-- going from loving it to going out of my mind to perfect bliss to mental breakdown about every few minutes, or how tough it was to watch the Herriman fire burn down several homes in our stake...  All good things to blog about, and so many more..

Today I just HAD to take a few minutes and express how full our hearts have been.  The last year and a half, our family has seen the recipients of so much Christlike love.  We have been a true charity case!  Not a charity case in the negative light that is often associated with that phrase, but in a most beautiful way.  The scriptures teach us that charity is the pure love of Christ.  That is the kind of love that has been shown our family.  And we have recently been overwhelmed at the thoughtfulness and sacrifice that has come our way.

We want to say thank you.

And we wish that there were words that could express it better, because we feel beyond thankful.  Jeremy and I have both been in tears the last few days as we have seen the love of Christ enveloping our family.

We are so, so grateful.