Missing Hawaii.

The past few years we have spent a week in Hawaii during the long cold month of January. Warm weather, hot sand, sunshine, sunshine, sunshine all sound really good right now.

Lily is growing like a weed. I can't believe how quickly it is going. Just yesterday she was a little curled up ball in my arms who just melted onto me. Now she has to be stretched out and is constantly moving.
She is such a joy to be around. She has been smiling since she was born. She loves to talk. She laughs all the time. She loves her brother! She watches him whenever he is in the room and she thinks he is hilarious. She laughs at just about anything he does.

Bridger's 4th Birthday

Bridger wanted to have a Football party with his friends this year. This is the first time I have ever thrown him and official birthday party. We have been in Hawaii every year on his birthday. So all he knows is one small gift wrapped in a beach towel and ice cream with a candle in it. (I guess I shouldn't leave out the fun day spent playing on the beach)
I wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to do. So we made a table cloth that was supposed to look like a football field. Bridger wore his favorite football clothes. We played pin the football on the field goal and other games. I think they all had a good time.
He invited his friends Rigby, Owen, Stone, Carson and Eston. (Eston not in picture-he's hiding in the other room).

A Name and a Blessing

We were lucky enough to bless Lily in Utah. We were so happy to have our family there. We made a last minute trip. Derek decided to go in the morning and we left that afternoon.

I was able to fight off the family and get one picture of Lily in her blessing dress. She was asleep but it turned out cute.

I was excited to get a picture of our family- But Bridger was more exctied to put on his football clothes. The second the blessing was over, he ran downstairs and changed. By the time I found him he was NOT going to take them off. So here we are. I guess it's a true representation of our family.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

This is what you do on Christmas when you're bored!

Yesterday was not the best day of my life. It had been an incredibly stressful day. I am having major cabin fever because we have been snowed in for two weeks. I have a newborn that I am still adjusting to. It's Christmas. My house is a mess. Laundry is piling up. None of my clothes fit. My Christmas decorations were still not finished. It had taken me all week to make goodies for my neighbors.

I had a few minutes of quiet (Bridger was asleep) I was sitting in my nice warm living room and rocking Lily in my soft recliner. A Faith Hill Christmas special was on. She had an amazing song called "A Baby Changes Everything". At first I was thinking about how our babies have changed everything. These sweet little things come into our lives and create all sorts of upheaval. It's a lot of hard work being a mother.
As I listened to the song and looked out at the beautiful snow on a winter night, I thought about another mother...Mary. At Christmas time I always think of Jesus. But this year my thoughts are with Mary. What a remarkable mother she must have been. As we read about her experience bringing Jesus into this world, and the very uncomfortable conditions she had to endure...I just can't imagine! Surely giving birth to the Son of God deserves a room at an Inn, a warm bed to sleep in.
I am grateful to Mary for the role she played in bringing our Savior into this world. I am grateful for the fact that she raised him and I'm sure played a role in who he became as a man. My heart breaks for her suffering in watching him mocked and ridiculed and hung on a cross to die. I can't even stand to see Bridger scrape his knee!

Mothers are often overlooked for what they do. This year I am grateful for Mary, for my mom, and for all the other mothers I know.


MERRY CHRISTMAS!