Our Little Ones

This past weekend, I attended a funeral for a 4-month old baby girl that past away from SIDS. She is the daughter of a neighborhood friend that moved about a year ago. It was the hardest thing I have ever sat through in my life. It is amazing how much an infant can touch our lives and in such a short amount of time. I recently saw my friend at the grocery store and met her little girl for the first time. I remember distinctly her beautiful smile. That day, my friend's biggest concern was what kind of cake to buy for her husband's birthday. One month later, her world was completely turned upside down. I came home from the funeral and just hugged my kids and cried. I was just so grateful to have them. So, next time your kids are fighting or driving you crazy, take a minute to be grateful that they are actually there to drive you crazy!

Picture A Christmas

Picture A Christmas is one of my favorite Christmas songs. It really helps me to visualize the scene in Bethleham that “sacred, silent night.” I decided that it was important for my kids to know what Christmas is really about. When I was little, my cousins and I would all get together and act out the Nativity scene in the Bible. I looked forward to it every year. Every year I hoped that I would be picked to be Mary, but alas, every year I was an angel. Even though there are only four in our family, I thought my kids would enjoy doing this too. They absolutely loved it and wanted to keep acting all night! Here are the pics!

Mary and Joseph walking to Bethleham

Joseph handing baby Jesus to Mary

A shephard abiding in the field (or just striking a pose)

An angel (yes, again) bringing good tidings of great joy

The shepard visiting Mary and Joseph in the stable

A “wise” man traveling from the East

We really enjoyed our little Natvity Play and I hope you did too! Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving weekend was a lot of fun. It started out with the perfect thing...a trip to the gym! Mark played in his annual Turkey Bowl with his high school buddies at Albion Middle School. Then it was back to the kitchen. This year was my first attempt at making rolls and I am happy to report that it was a success! They were so yummy! We ate a wonderful meal with all the trimmimgs at my parent's house. My brother and his family drove from Montana arriving at 1:30 AM. It had been a year and a half since I had seen them!! My niece Olivia was only 3 months old the last time I saw her and now she's almost 2. It was great to spend time with them. After dinner and watching the rebroadcast of the Utah/BYU game, we hit the road for St. George. I wouldn't let the kids have any drinks during the drive because I was determined not to make any stops. But, after Mark downed 2 Diet Mountain Dews we had to make a potty stop in Beaver. At least we went to, according to Aunt Shana, "the nicest gas station bathrooms on the I-15 corridor." We arrived at my bro-in-law's house in Hurricane around 9PM, but didn't get the kids in bed until 10:30.
I decided to get up at 5:30 and do some Black Friday shopping on-line. Shortly after I crawled back in bed, Mark got up to go referee the Dixie Invitational soccer tournament. The rest of the weekend was a blur of hikes, swimming, pancakes, kids running everywhere, football, driving inbetween Washington and Hurricane, more pancakes, more kids, and a lot of laughter. The highlights of the trip for me were:
The patio on the roof at the Marsh's house--the scenery is so beautiful!
In-n-Out--always delicious and cheap
Live Nativity at Tuachan--short and to the point
Sacrament Meeting in Hurricane--really good talks, and Lexi sat with the Marsh's!
Having all the cousins play well together all weekend!

our family photos

We recently had our family pictures taken, so I thought it would be a good time to start a family blog.