Merry Christmas

Well, I have been horrible with updating the blog. The past month and a half have been crazy with studying for classes, taking finals, going to Texas (we are still in Texas) and taking care of lots of misc. things. I have a lot to catch up on, and I will (mostly for my sake- I kept this blogger as a mini-journal). For now though here is a highlight of what has happened.

Making homemade Christmas gifts. Studying like crazy for finals. Young Womens in Excellence. Matt graduating! A mini Christmas in Utah. Matt being accepted to dental school in Utah. Flying to Texas to visit family. My dad in the hospital (mostly in ICU) the ENTIRE time we are here. A very different Christmas (due to my dad being sick). James playing LOTS with his cousins. Matt looking for a job. Celebrating our wedding anniversary (which is today- yippee!)

Overall these past few months have been a rollercoaster ride with exciting things as well as devestating things. We have made it out alive and are happy at where we are as a family.

Next semester I will be taking my one L.A.S.T. class so I will definitely have more time to spend teaching James and hopefully blog about what he learns and the activities we do!

Tata for now :)

Can you guess what we Had for Dinner?

(and yes the IS a huge bruise on his head… he is 100% BOY) :)

Our Little Rabbit

Tonight we had BLT’s for dinner (one of my favorite meals). When both Matt and I are in the kitchen at the same time, we usually let James sit on the counter and ‘help’ us make dinner. Tonight we discovered that we have a little rabbit in our family :)

James LOVED lettuce- especially the crunchy part

He also liked tomatoes, but he went back to eating the lettuce

(side note: Just FYI in case you were curious, James has a band-aid on his finger and then we put Duck tape on top to make sure it stays since he sometimes wants to take them off)

Thanksgiving Craft

So I DEFINITELY have the holiday 'itch'.

For the first time in my life I am listening to Christmas music BEFORE Thanksgiving..... and I LOVE it!

It seriously puts me in a more cheerful mood!

Don't get me wrong, I still love Thanksgiving- in fact, James and I did a craft today to send to our loved ones :)

We made lots more turkeys than are shown above, and I wanted to take pictures during the process, but a little boy with a messy hand does not mix with a camera.... so this will have to suffice. James loved doing this craft though. At first he was unsure of the squishy feeling, but as soon as he realized he was "stamping" his hand on paper, he LOVED it.

I also wanted to make the fingers different colors, but that was too hard with a 14 month old... maybe next year :)

Early Happy Thanksgiving!!

James’ Hideout Spots

In our house, particularly our living room, James has his own spots that he likes to be. Randomly he will go to those spots, sit down and do nothing. I think its really cute and don’t mind him having his “me” time.

I gave James a stick of cheese and he immediately went to ‘his spot’ and sat down.

“Hey mom! You caught me!”

“You can’t get me!!”

James’ other spot in the livingroom

100% Boy

James loves to mash up his food in his fingers whenever possible

James loves to take his bat everywhere and he tries to hit everything that he can (he is still learning what things are okay to hit and what isn’t okay to hit)

He loves to stand on things

James loves to bang on things and make noise- here he is with the Jack O Lantern lid banging it on the countertop

I love my calling :)

We may be small in number, but they always make me smile :)

The 18th Anniversary of a 7th Birthday

This past week we went to a birthday party for one of Matt's friends entitled, "Gabe's 18th Anniversary of his 7th Birthday"- I thought it was a cute way to say 25th birthday :) To celebrate the occasion, he had a logically themed "Dinosaur Party". This was perfect because James had  a dinosaur costume that he wasn't able to wear for Halloween (that story will be explained in a later post). Here are just a few pictures :)

Here is James still at the house after he got dressed into his costume

All ready to go to his first college-costume-birthday party :)

James with the birthday boy Gabe... Gabe is acting like a dinosaur :)

Mallory, Bradley, Matt and James

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABE!



Another Tender Mercy

For those that don't know, Matt loves soccer. He has played on 5 or 6 intramural soccer teams throughout his time at BYU. BYU intramurals allow all teams to enter the playoff season and each team is eliminated in a single elimination competition until a champion is reached... so basically the entire regular season doesn't really mean anything since everyone can go to playoffs.

Every year Matt's team has had an AWESOME regular season, but they have NEVER been able to win a single playoff game.

:(

With Matt graduating this December, this was his last chance to clinch a playoff victory, and we were very excited to go (Even though the game started at James' regular bedtime).... we even said a prayer in the car for good luck :)

Within the first minute and a half of the game started I immediately knew this was going to be a rough night for Matt's team. Multiple players didn't show up leaving them shorthanded and the other team was REALLY good. Their foot skills were impeccable and they worked so well together. Matt was playing defense and within the first minute the guy that Matt was 'guarding' displayed some savvy footwork and scored a goal.

My heart sank.

I thought that the game was over and I was so sad for Matt because I knew how much this game meant to him. So what do I do? Well, I do what has worked for me in the past.... say a little prayer. It went a little something like this (quite literally): Heavenly Father, I am so grateful that Matt has an opportunity to play in this game because I know how much it means to him. I know that I shouldn't wish for the other team to lose, but Matt really wants to win this game. He hasn't been able to win a playoff game and he really wants to win one. I know I have asked for a lot of tender mercies, but if it is ok, please grant this particular tender mercy to Matt and I and allow his team to win the game.

I know it is a silly request, but at that moment, I deeply desired that Matt's team win the game because I knew HOW BADLY he wanted a victory. As soon as I said Amen (LITERALLY), the game completely changed. I don't know how exactly, but Matt's team just started clicking and by the end of the night it was 5-1 with Matt's team winning. In the car ride home, Matt said something like, Man I totally thought that we were going to lose tonight. Did you see how strong the other team was for the first couple minutes of the game?

I was then able to share with him this tender mercy and he too agrees that this game was definitely a gift from Heavenly Father.

I am so grateful for faith, prayer and tender mercies from my Heavenly Father.

A Fall Stroll

Cute little bums :)

James had a fascination with throwing rocks in the water... I think it reminded him of splashing around in the bathtub (something he LOVES to do)

My handsome boys :)

Throwing rocks in the water again

He also LOVES making noises- combine that with rocks and you get a little boy who is in heaven!

Playing in the leaves right in front of our complex

1 Samuel 1:27

"For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him" (1 Sam. 1:27)

You may (or may not) know, but when we found out that I was pregnant, I was excited and surprised. From that moment forward, every night during my night time prayers I would say, "I am so grateful to be pregnant, and if it be thy will, please grant me a tender mercy and let my child's eyes be blue" (or something to that effect). I know you are not suppose to have repititous prayers, but I sincerely wanted this seemly insignificant wish. I have deep brown eyes and Matt has hazel eyes, so the odds were not favorable, but I knew that Heavenly Father is a God of miracles.

And because of tender mercies I have this to look at everyday.

Everytime I look at his blue eyes I am reminded that God really does hear and answer our prayers... however insignificant they may seem to other people or the world.

Play Time with Friends!

I am so grateful for all of my old college friends, especially my past roommates. This past weekend we were all able to get together and reunite (except for Alex and Brandi). It was so nice to see everyone! I haven't seen Kortney and her husband Jason in over a year, and we got to meet Lisa's fiance! (he lives out of state currently). Here are lots of pictures from the night! (Megan and Fallon- let me know if you want me to email these to you).

James loves playing with Claire! He was grumpy and crying before leaving the house, and when we asked him, "Do you want to see Claire?", he immediately stopped crying, started smiling, and nodding his head yes, yes, yes! Here he is giving her a massage :)

James loves water, and when Matt and I weren't paying attention, James headed over to the puddle. I noticed him near the water and yelled for him to stop, but it was too late. The puddle went all the way to his knees! Even though he was wet for the rest of the night, I think he thought it was well worth it!

 James and Creed

Lisa holding Claire 

James was going down the slide EVERY way except the right way- on his tummy, standing up, backwards... oh our silly boy!

I absolutely love this picture!

I love James smile in this picture!

The three amigos playing on the bridge

The boys going down the slide!

All three of the kids together again!

 

Claire loved hanging from the bars

Creed liked being held up high by his mom :)

What a cute couple! Lisa and Steven are engaged! Yay!

So all of the husbands played the game below (called Ladderball). Later we played it as couples. It was a fierce competition, but Megan and Kade came out on top!

Meanwhile James was playing in the dirt- he LOVES dirt!

Brice (Fallon's husband) and Kade (Megan's husband) playing Ladderball

 The kiddos sitting on the rock while their parents play Ladderball

James coming to show us what he found- an acorn!

Kortney and Jason watched the kids while Megan and Fallon played- she is going to be such a good mom someday!

Claire wanted to play with the balls too!