I am so excited for my baby sister! She just gave birth to her baby, a GIRL! I was hoping it was a girl. She knew the gender but is so good at keeping secrets she didn’t tell anyone. This is her sixth baby!  And she gave birth naturally! Woo-hoo! I got to go see new Little Miss B and hold her! There is nothing like new babies to give me a sense of wonder and belief in God and his power to create life.

I think she has the Simkins’ nose. The Simkins are an ancestral line on my mom’s side. My sisters and I and my girl cousins all have it. One time my sister was touring the Mormon Battalion visitors’ center in San Diego and a strange lady came up to her and asked her if she was related to (my mom’s name). She said she knew it because of my sister’s Simkins’ nose!

Last week was busy for our family: a birthday for my baby, Little Miss B’s b-day the next day,  a wedding for my cousin, then a trip to St. George and back for a mission farewell for our nephew/cousin.

I was thrilled and full of wonder after this family-centered weekend when I found out that another new baby has been born, a baby who defied the odds given by doctors. She was born to Representative Jaime Beutler of Washington. Doctors diagnosed that the baby had Potter’s Syndrome and said the baby would not live after birth and the mom should abort the baby. Jaime and her husband refused to do this and with faith in God they proceeded with the pregnancy and birth. The baby lived, being the the first known baby to be born alive with Potter’s Syndrome. I love hearing stories about moms who trust their heart and fight for the life of their baby. This is a testimony of how God can work through parents to bring about life even when the doctors say it won’t happen.