Praise!!!

Hazel and Eliza had the incredible opportunity to sing in the Tabernacle at Temple Square for a denominational Palm Sunday celebration. It was one of the most amazing meetings I've ever attended! 

After church we headed up to Salt Lake so the girls could arrive early for rehearsal. While they rehearsed, Lenora, Olive, Ruby, and I had a blast touring Temple Square. We listened to parts of an organ recital in the Conference Center, took a tour, did a scavenger hunt, and just had a blast. These girls are so much fun, and I loved the "1-on-1" time with just Lenora and her friend (plus Lionel)

We ate a picnic dinner on the grounds before heading to the Tabernacle. The fireside was so incredible! There were pastors and choirs from various churches. The choirs sang, different religious leaders read scriptures, and David Butler gave a phenomenal talk. The highlight of the evening was singing and waving palm fronds as in the triumphal entry. 

The broadcast was televised too! Aunt Alicia caught both the girls in the broadcast. 

Hazel (3rd from the right)

Eliza (bottom row dead center) 

The whole evening my thoughts kept returning to a dear sister we knew in Kentucky. Tiffany King was a convert to the church. She wore her hair trimmed super short of the sides and styled in a mohawk. She LOVED the gospel and had such a great testimony. Tiffany always said, "I love this church, but you all need to learn how to praise!" Well, I hope Tiffany was smiling down on this evening from heaven, because I think she would have loved it! 

The following week our family enjoyed reading scriptures of the Saviors final days. I have loved the renewed focus on celebrating Easter as a season. Hazel also got to perform in a production of the Lamb of God. We have long loved the music, so when she saw a group in Payson was presenting it, she jumped at the chance to perform in the choir. It was SO beautiful! (Oh, and she made her concert black dress for the performances. She's amazing!)

Easter Sunday we enjoyed a beautiful day at church. I am to thankful for our knowledge that He lives! And we will we all. This Easter was our best one yet!

Wagons East!

The Ballard Family is on the move again... back to Iowa.

A series of winding events have led up to this move, but one thing has been abundantly clear - the Lord is EVER mindful of our family. While writing out the whole story feels overwhelming, it's an important part of our life story we don't want to forget. 

Back in the fall of 2024, Michael and I were sitting together in the temple when he felt strongly impressed that we would move back to Iowa some day. This impression came completely out of the blue. Yet, both of us agreed that we loved Iowa and would happily go back. Not any time soon of course! That would be silly because everything here in Utah was going so well for our family - work, school, the ASL ward, callings, sports, etc, etc. So any move would surely be far in the future. 

Then in January, several people reached out to Michael about an open position at the University of Iowa. Jobs like this open several times a year, and he usually just politely declines an invitations to apply. But this time he couldn't shake the feeling he should apply. I reluctantly agreed he could, but I did NOT like the idea of moving. 

Well, the application led to an interview which lead to an offer. All the while the idea of moving felt overwhelmingly impossible to me (to be fair, I was at the end of my pregnancy and early in the throes of newborn sleepless nights). I prayed that if we were supposed to move, that it would be abundantly clear. 

At essentially the same time Michael received the offer, he also received news from his Department Chair that the Dean was seriously considering cutting his position. Utah Legislature had just passed a bill requiring all state sponsored colleges and university to make cuts - specifically to administrative positions. UVU's response to the bill was to empower each Dean to make a some cuts within their college. Because Michael's position as the program coordinator is half admin and half teaching, it fit the criteria and must have seemed an easy target. 

So there we were, strong offer from the University of Iowa in one hand and the possibility of the chopping block at UVU in the other. We had our abundantly clear answer. An even greater confirmation from the Spirit came as we sat down with Hazel and Eliza to layout the options for them before we made the final decision to accept the offer. As we explained everything and all teared up at the idea of moving, an overwhelming feeling of peace came over all four of us. We KNEW it was the right choice. We KNEW it wouldn't be easy. But, we KNEW we could be guided on our new journey. 

From there on out, we were all in. In fact, I've been overwhelmed by the grace with which the kids have handled the news. Yes, they are sad to leave friends. They are anxious to know what life, school, our house, etc will look like in Iowa. But they have had such amazing attitudes! 

Telling friends and family was hard. Wrapping up the end of the school year with all the awesome activities was hard knowing this was the ultimate end for us. Things like the end of seminary, Vanguard graduation, and Oscar's night were all hard. 

Cleaning, organizing, and finishing house projects to prepare our house to list was exhausting and hard. Keeping our house clean for 20+ showings over the last 40 days has been crazy hard! Feeling so discouraged by the lack of offers on our home was hard too. 

But just this week everything fell into place with selling our home. After so many days with no offers, we received TWO offers within 24 hours of each other. The first was a very low ball offer and the second was from an investor. Not wanting the home to go to an investor if we could avoid it, we made a very aggressive counter offer to the first family. Miraculously, they accepted it!

Our attention next turned to buying a home in Iowa. Again, we watched as all the pieces miraculously fell in to place. We're under contract for a truly beautiful home in West Brach, IA that everyone is excited to live in! 

Not only are we incredibly relieved, but we're also overwhelmed with gratitude and the sense that the Lord knows us. Change is never easy, but He always sees us through. 

"With Christ at the helm, things will not only be all right; they will be unimaginable." 

                                                                        - Dieter F. Uchdorff

"Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."                                         - D& C 123:17

We can't wait to see what unimaginable things lie ahead for us in Iowa. So, ready or not, wagons east!  

 

Blessed by our Bigs

 

The blog has been sufficiently taken over recently by the littles. They're adorable, so no one blames them for being the center of attention. But, we are SO blessed by our big kids. These kids have handled having little ones in the house so well. They're helpful and kind to the little boys. And, they are SO much fun! Here's a tiny bit of what the big kids have been up to these days...

Indoor Soccer

Puzzles

Dancing 

(Swing dancing at Vanguard, Regency Era dance with IMA friends)

Marrying off my crockpots because they're clearly meant for each other

Filming silly commercials for their Vanguard class about "mandles" and made up prescriptions with unreal side effects

Climbing Things

Cooking

Discovering Beauty

Introducing the Farrells to the Lees! 

Having the Farrells come to visit was the best and we got them together with the Lees while they were here. Now Rose and Annabelle know (and love) each other and Hazel's world can be complete. We had the BEST time while they were here. 

Sewing

(Lots of sewing! More pictures of fancy dresses in another post)

Cold Plunges

Taking Pictures for Photography at Vanguard

Creating Album Covers

Writing Poetry

Lenora, Orson, and Conrad entered a poetry contest at the library. Conrad's poem about Vegetarian Bear was especially awesome! 

These kids are just the best! They make the days full of fun, noise, messes, laughter, and joy. Thanks Bigs for being amazing! 

Walter is Two!

 

Walter turned two almost two months ago now, but I'm just getting around to recording all the adorable things he's up to right now... Speaking of adorable if you call him cute he'll say, "I'm not cute! I'm 'dor-ble!" 

First up, big brother life... Walter was really excited about the idea of "baby Lionel ball" while I was pregnant.  The way he says Lionel is so sweet! It sounds sort of like "La-la" but he sticks his tongue out as he says it. 

But once Lionel was here, he was NOT a fan. In fact, he had the hardest time adjusting to a new baby of any of the kids. He had a clingy few weeks...

He tried acting like the baby himself. He even went through a phase of hitting Lionel on the head. During one afternoon at Angie's house, he wanted to be picked up. She said something along the lines of "what should I do with baby Lionel?" His reply - "Throw him in the trash." 

Luckily, the hitting has stopped, and he's warming up to being a big brother. Each day he likes Lionel a little more. I'm sure they'll soon be best friends. 

Walter is one of the most unique two-year-olds, and much of that comes from having so many older siblings. They teach him the funniest things. Thanks to his big sisters he can identify all sorts of body parts including his forehead, thyroid, knee-pit, and spine. Love it! 

His extensive knowledge of body parts came in handy when he hurt himself jumping on the trampoline with Conrad. Once he calmed down a bit, he was able to tell us his knee hurt. After a quick trip to the pediatrician, he was diagnosed with a buckle fracture of his tibia. 

He was such a trooper smiling through the whole ordeal. The first few days were painful and he was completely non-weight bearing for the first week in the splint. He did like his "wheelchair" that we engineered for him. 

After a week in the splint, he got a hard cast. He picked purple for his cast! Within just a few days he had figured out how to walk in it! Now that it's nearly time to get it removed, he's doing everything as normal. 

(Also, he finally convinced me to give him a haircut. He looks way to grown up now!)

One of my favorite things about Walter right now, is when he says "Mommy, I need you!" which happens multiple times a day. Sometimes he just wants to be held and loved. While it's exhausting sometimes to be so needed, I also love it.

Another thing I love about Walter is hearing him pray. He will either sign his prayers super small or whisper. He always prays for "Jesus Christ, over there" while pointing to our Christus statue. 

What are Walter's favorite things? At the top of the list is music. He has loved music since he was a tiny baby. Now he's getting old enough to request his favorites (Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam, Gesthsemane, and Mr. Toad which sounds like Christmas Toad when he says it). He also will ask for "Dada's song" which is "Danny Boy" since Michael often sings it to him.

Recently he's starting singing bits of his favorite songs too. It's the cutest thing! 

Other things that Walter loves: Bluey, Mickey Mouse, oatmeal, rice pudding, his older siblings whom he calls: Hazel Bob, Hi-ya (Eliza), Hor-ra (Lenora), Silly (Orson), and Hi-ya (also means Conrad), and playing with play food

Things he dislikes include: being told no, when his food breaks in half, not doing something himself, and the wind which he says makes him "sad and cold"

Walter had very simple requests for his birthday - doughnuts and playing was about all he wanted. 

His favorite gift came from Lenora's friend Paige who picked out a bubble gun for him. He LOVES it! 

Oh Walter -we love you so much! You're very much a two-year-old with strong feeling and big emotions. But you're also a joy, a light, and such a ham. Happy, Happy Birthday!!