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1 Jan 2009
15 Dec 2008
Happy Birthday Gama.
Happy Birthday Gama (aka my Mom). We had a yummy dinner last night at Great Gama’s house (aka my Grandma) to celebrate. The boys made Gama birthday cards to give her. Evan insited on writing his own words and Seth wanted to draw Gama’s face on his. They loved seeing her and helping her blow out the candles on her cake. We had a wonderful evening spending some time together.
And thanks to the wonderful mother that raised me and taught me most everything I know. I’m so greatful for you and appreciate all you have done and still do for me. I love you.
Evan helping Gama blow out the candles on her birthday cake.
The boys show off their birthday cards.
14 Dec 2008
Some Christmas cheer.
We had a fun weekend of Christmas activity. We finally put our Christmas tree up a few days ago. Kids and a tree always make it feel more like Christmas. The boys had a great time putting the ornaments on, although they were pretty impatient and we ended up with some hooks on the floor and lots of ornaments on the same few branches. And of course the bottom of the tree was full while the top had nothing on it. So after they went to bed I ”fixed” it (I just couldn’t resist making it look a little more presentable). Evan put the star on top and turned the lights on. This is getting to be a much funner activity as the boys get older and more involved.
We also went to our ward Christmas Breakfast on Saturday. We had breakfast and some crafts for the kids. We had cooking decorating to make snowman faces and paper snowflake making. Being in the Primary Presidency, I spent most of my time helping all the kids with the crafts and a few minutes with my own kids. Jonny had to wrangle the boys for most of the time. At the end Santa came to visit so we all lined up to see him. Evan willingly sat on his lap, but Seth wanted nothing to do with him. As soon as Santa came in the room Seth had a meltdown and was crying like crazy. He just wanted to go sit by himself in the other room far away from Santa. I forgot to get a picture of him, but I snapped a cute one of Evan. Afterwards a lot of people went to our city holiday parade, but we decided not to brave the very cold weather and just go home to warm up. Maybe we’ll go next year when Levi is a little older.
The tree decorating experience.
Some of their favorite ornaments.
Daddy helps Evan put the star on top.
The boys and their masterpiece.
The “before” picture when the boys were done decorating.
The “after” picture when I fixed it a little.
The boys and their snowmen cookies.
30 Nov 2008
Our Thanksgiving Holiday.
Since I have 3 kids now and wasn’t really thrilled at the prospect of traveling this year (and also since Jonny is on call this week and I didn’t want to have to rush back home if he got called) I decided to have Thanksgiving dinner at our house. I’ll admit, I was a little nervous about the turkey preparation since I have never attempted to make a turkey before. But I wasn’t too worried about the dinner in general. So after consulting several sources on turkey prep (namely Food Network) I purchased my turkey and everything else I needed to make a traditional Thanksgiving feast.
We invited our guests (we switch off Thanksgiving and Christmas every year between our families and this year it was my mom’s turn for Thanksgiving) and I planned the dinner, got down the good dishes, cleaned up the house and got everything ready for the day. I even used a couple of Evan’s preschool crafts as decorations. I always make a pumpkin pie - from scratch I might add, no canned pumpkin here – so that was no different. I made the pie and the rolls the day before. Then on the morning of Thanksgiving I got the turkey ready and put it in the oven. I prepped the rest of the dishes and waited for the guest to arrive. One of my sisters got sick, my brother had to work and Papa got the flu (and Grandma went to North Carolina to spend the holiday with Uncle Andy and his family) so our numbers dwindled a bit. Despite all that, we had a wonderful and intimate holiday dinner. There were a couple improvements to the food I noted for next time, but overall everything turned out beautifully, and tasty too. The turkey was pretty good, if I do say so myself.
So thank you to my wonderful husband and kids as well as Gama, Aunt Kiwi and Great Gama, for coming to my first Thanksgiving dinner and making it a special day. It is so fun to spend time relaxing with family over good food. I’m so appreciative of all my family does for me and I’m so happy to have them in my life. Isn’t that what this holiday is really about?
The Food
The People
27 Nov 2008
Happy Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have a wonderful day whether you are eating until you pop, spending time with family, working, or just relaxing. Let us all celebrate and give thanks for all the wonderful blessings in our lives. I am truly grateful for my family and am humbled at all the blessings the Lord has seen fit to give me.
26 Nov 2008
Another cute smile.
At 2 months old (I know, I can’t believe he’s that old already either) Levi is starting to interact more with the people around him. He loves to smile and get your attention, then coo and talk to you. And of course, his smile is adorable (although I don’t think the pictures do it justice). I can’t resist sharing some of the cute pictures I’ve taken lately, just because.
Look at me. I love to punch and kick and make you look at me.
A little sleeping angel.
25 Nov 2008
Just some silliness.
My silly middle child keeps me laughing, that’s for sure (although he also keeps me pulling my hair out most of the time). But it’s the moments of hilarity and his sheer cuteness that are so endearing. So in honor of that here are some recent pictures of him being silly, just for fun.
He loves to try on glasses and wear them around. Here he tries on Aunt Melanie’s glasses and mommy’s sunglasses (I think it’s even cuter that they are upside down).
He recently tripped and fell, which gave him a swollen and bloody lip. I tried to get him to pout a little to get a good shot of the injury, and this is what I got.
23 Nov 2008
Blogger apologies.
I know I’ve been slacking a little in the blog arena lately, and for that I apologize. I’ve got some fun entries and pictures in the works, but I just haven’t gotten around to putting the last touches on them and publishing them. But the big boys are visiting Gama until Thanksgiving, so maybe I can find enough quiet this week to get them finished (I’m not sure what I’m going to do with only one little one at home). So stay tuned this week for something new.
10 Nov 2008
A wonderful weekend – part 2.
With Jonny’s brother in town, we took the opportunity to bless Levi at home after church on Sunday. Our bishop came over and Jonny, Papa and Uncle Andy held Levi in their arms and blessed him. As a mother, it is such an incredible experience to feel the power of the priesthood in action in your home. It was very moving and the Spirit touched us all again. After the blessing, the bishop asked me to bear my testimony and I had a heard time getting it out through the tears.
Between the sealing and the blessing, we were on a spiritual high all weekend. What a beautiful thing to be surrounded by family for such wonderful reasons.
The proud parents and baby Levi.
Here is part of the family. We all miss having Andy and Jamie live locally.
The man of the hour.
A wonderful weekend – part 1.
We had such a beautiful and wonderful weekend in so many ways. Jonny’s brother and his wife came to town to be sealed in the LDS San Diego Temple. They were married 2 1/2 years ago and have been waiting and working towards this blessing ever since. Since Jamie used to live in San Diego and work in that temple, I think it held a special place in her heart and she wanted to be sealed there.
On Friday night the family went out to dinner to spend some time together. It was great to see people we haven’t seen in awhile and introduce Levi to his aunt and uncle. Then on Saturday we drove to the Temple to watch the sealing. The Spirit was so strong as we listened to the officiator talk to Andy and Jamie about love and marriage. Like the song says, “the spirit of God like a fire is burning…” The Spirit was certainly burning in my chest and bore witness to me of the truth of His word. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room as we all watched them receive this most precious blessing to be sealed together for all eternity. As beautiful as a wedding is, I always feel a bit of sadness when the mnister gets to the “until death” part. What a wonderful gift we have in the abilty to be sealed and joined together in God’s house not only until death, but for all eternity.
Afterwards we took some pictures then we all went to a celebratory lunch.
Andy and Jamie at the Temple. It was a beautiful sunny day. The sky was so blue, it looked almost unreal. Jamie even got to wear her wedding dress again. She looked so beautiful, and they both just glowed with happiness and joy.
Later that night we all went to Big Corona beach in Corona del Mar for a bonfire. Even though it was late, the boys were so excited to go. They had a blast playing in the sand and making smores. Although they didn’t really care if the marshmallows were roasted – they just wanted to eat as many as they could. And even though it was a little chilly, we had to drag the boys home to bed well past their bedtime while the rest of the group stayed to play.
(I’ll post some more pictures of the kids when I get them from others that took some really good ones)
On Sunday, Andy and Jamie visited their old ward in Fountain Valley then came to our house later that evening after we got home from church. We were able to bless Levi while they were in town, which was a wonderful bonus (but more on that in the next post).
