This is the most amazing man and I don't know why I ended up with him. He is a handyman. He is kind and generous with his time and money. He is helpful to anyone who asks or doesn't ask. He is always happy and cheerful. He looks for the best in people. He is friendly. He is loved by everyone he comes in contact with. He makes me laugh....always. He cleans the kitchen!!! He is an amazing dad. He plays with his kids and would rather be with them and me than anywhere else. Even when he is sick, he just keeps working. He does everything possible to make life wonderful for me. He treats me like I'm the best thing that ever happened to him. He loves his family. He is concerned for his siblings and prays for them. He loves his parents and continually asks for their advice and counsel. He honors them. He holds my hand. A lot. He gives great 1 minute back rubs. He is often the life of the party. My mom loves him more than she loves me!! :) He guides and directs our family with the priesthood. He uses it right and uses it well. He knows where to turn in any situation. He doesn't make big decisions without thoughtfully thinking and praying about them. He teaches me and our children the scriptures and the gospel. He barks at the dog. Remember, he makes me laugh?!! He is the best thing that has ever happened to me and will ever happen to me and I couldn't be happier to be spending eternity with him.
I love you baby cakes!!! Thank you for being mine. I hope you have a great 35th year!
With all my love,
Pageant
Before Santa and After Santa
Christmas Morning Omelette. I grew up with the tradition and it has continued at our house. Every Christmas morning we have a prayer and read a story and/or we talk about why we are celebrating. Then we open presents, then have breakfast. It's been a nice tradition for our family.
This year we did the 12 days of Christmas for a neighbor. John and the kids didn't know what it was which made me want to do it even more. So every night we delivered a poem and a gift to our neighbor. We also delivered a small gift anonymosly to a different neighbor each night. Each kid took turns deciding who could use some 'Christmas cheer' and would deliver the gift with a note saying 'Just want you to know we are thinking of you and you are loved. Merry Christmas.' I hesitate writing this on here because some things are personal to our family because of the feelings and experiences we had doing this. Our neighbor who we did the 12 days of Christmas for saw our little boys a couple of times and came over after Christmas with a very sweet card thanking us. She has never had that done before and it meant a lot. It meant a lot to us too and we will continue to do it in years to come. For the 12th day of Christmas we gave her an adorable manger with a few different animals stacked on each other looking down at the baby Jesus. The poem said, "On the 12th day of Christmas, the manger in a stall, we celebrate our Savior, the reason for it all."
Every year there is a tree in our church foyer. In years past, it has had ornaments on it with dollar amounts to donate to help give Christmas to people in the ward. This year our bishop said they have enough money to take care of those that need the help and instead the tree was full of cards to take. Each card had an idea of something to do for a neighbor. He asked everyone to pick a card with something they would like to do and pray about who to do it for. I loved the idea. The purpose was to bring us closer together and I know through our experience that it did just that. We didn't pick a card, we just decided on our own something we would like to do. But we benefited from a neighbor picking a card. Natalie McMillan chose the card to babysit for someone for free and she used it on us. It was very sweet of her.
We really had a wonderful Christmas this year. It was more simple than usual and more focused on what it should be. We had a lot of great family times. We played games together a lot. We didn't get bogged down with trying to do too much. It was wonderful!!!
I am so grateful for the spirit that just comes with the Christmas season. I am grateful that we have the month to focus on our Savior and teach our children why we are here and what our purpose is. I love focusing on the Savior and His life.
This year instead of making goals, we each decided something we can do to become more like Christ. It has been very sweet to watch the kids try to do better and remind each other of our commitments. We also made a family goal for everyone to have their scriptures out when we read and to take turns. We have been reading but usually just John or I read and no one pays attention and it's crazy. Now everyone gets out their scriptures, we take turns, and it has really been amazing to see the difference it has made. Our little boys sit with us and listen and we can actually talk a little bit about what we read now. The greatest book is 'The Book of Mormon for Latter-day Saint Families". It splits up every chapter into segments so we just read one segment a night. It makes it easier to talk about what we read and then we don't lose interest too quick.
Anyway, I usually don't like to share a lot of feelings on this blog. Most are saved for my other blog that is private and only open to myself. But I decided to share some things tonight. I hope you all enjoyed the Christmas season and really felt the spirit of the season. I hope we will remember the spirit of the season and remember the little things we've decided to do to be better and become more like our Savior.
These are the cupcakes Emily made with her cupcake kit. She left them out for Santa. Looks like Santa enjoyed them and took one for the road.
This is what Mrs. Clause wanted for Samuel and it ended up being a secret to everyone. Including Santa. I LOVE IT!! So does Sam.
Little John couldn't be happier. He left some money for "Santa". This is all he wanted and he was lucky that Santa obliged. Sam is excited to get a semi truck for Christmas.
Merry Christmas morning. The green bin is a craft bin and was full of wrapped craft supplies. The four older kids got BYU sweatshirts instead of pajamas. Sam has plenty of Y hand-me-downs so he got pajamas.
And this is what everyone looked like after the gifts were open. Thomas got a DS. Jack is playing little John's DS. He got a power tour guitar, bowling set, and toy golf set. Haven't seen much of any of them since Christmas. Oops. Thomas got a DS, John the ipod, and Emily got a portable DVD player that has been wonderful for all of us. Thanks for sharing Em.
My attempt at getting a good Christmas picture of my kids. Oh I love them!!!
These worked out well. Grandma and her grandkids and one on the way. LAURA. NOT ME!!
What a great gift from Grandma!! Thank you!!
Hanging out. Having Fun. Being family.
When little John was 3, he distinguished between the two grandmas by the color of their house. Even though they are grey and red, to him they were white and brown. Hence my mom has been the "white" grandma for the last 8 years and John's mom has been the "brown" grandma for the last eight years. It just stuck.
We got home really late one night just after a snowstorm and it was BEAUTIFUL. These pictures do nothing to show how pretty it was but they are on here anyway to remind me of the serenity that night. It was quiet and peaceful and beautiful. If it wasn't so cold, I would have stayed out enjoying the peace for a long time.
Lila smothered into her mother's shoulder. And her sweet little face after I moved her. Amazingh how babies can breath without any air. She is so precious.
"Knowledge speaks and wisdom listens"
.
"Feelings are everywhere. Be gentle."
This is the most amazing man and I don't know why I ended up with him. He is a handyman. He is kind and generous with his time and money. He is helpful to anyone who asks or doesn't ask. He is always happy and cheerful. He looks for the best in people. He is friendly. He is loved by everyone he comes in contact with. He makes me laugh....always. He cleans the kitchen!!! He is an amazing dad. He plays with his kids and would rather be with them and me than anywhere else. Even when he is sick, he just keeps working. He does everything possible to make life wonderful for me. He treats me like I'm the best thing that ever happened to him. He loves his family. He is concerned for his siblings and prays for them. He loves his parents and continually asks for their advice and counsel. He honors them. He holds my hand. A lot. He gives great 1 minute back rubs. He is often the life of the party. My mom loves him more than she loves me!! :) He guides and directs our family with the priesthood. He uses it right and uses it well. He knows where to turn in any situation. He doesn't make big decisions without thoughtfully thinking and praying about them. He teaches me and our children the scriptures and the gospel. He barks at the dog. Remember, he makes me laugh?!! He is the best thing that has ever happened to me and will ever happen to me and I couldn't be happier to be spending eternity with him.
