Prayers

I do not know this family but tonight I send my heart, love and prayers to them. A friend showed me this site and I have not stopped crying since I started to read it. Please pray for comfort for this family.

http://half12.blogspot.com

Special Prayer

Tonight I will have a special prayer for two men and their families. One, to President Bush, and his family as they make a huge change and leave behind the life that they have built over the last eight years. I cannot imagine being in his position, being in a very thankless job. Well I say Thank you for leading this country and working so hard for all of us. I may not have agreed with every choice that you made, but I have the up most respect for you. You had to make so many choices that I myself am very happy I did not have to make. All I do is take care of a home and my two children and it can be overwhelming, I could not imagine having a country to take care of. Thank you.
The Second to President Elect Obama and his family. I pray that you can have the strength to take on the weight of this country and the courage to do what is needed. I pray that you will still be able to make time for your wife and your two young girls, and that you family may grow closer in the years to come. I realize the huge significance of you presidency and I wish you all the luck, and support, for the world will be watching. The hope of so many is now in your hands and I do not envy the position that you are now in. But I pray for you and say Thank you as well.
I am proud to live in country where all these possibilities are out there. And that these men were able to be chosen by the people to represent us. Again I say thank you.

Sick babies

The week in between Christmas and New Years, we had two very sick babies. It was so sad. They just lied around and slept most of the time in between being sick. I do sometimes get tired of them being everywhere and getting into everything, but this week all I wanted was for them to be like that because it was so sad to see them not being themselves. Joseph took a few pictures of them, and I think they are so pathetic. I am so happy to have happy healthy babies now. :)

Christmas 2008

I love Christmas! I really enjoyed being a parent at Christmas. Its amazing to see everything from such young eyes and experiencing it all over again. We had a very fun Christmas. Our celebrations started off Christmas eve. We actually don't really do anything on Christmas eve usually, but we went to my parents and had Chinese food and hung out. My mom decided and she wanted the kids to open a present from them, and I am so happy that she did. Bridget ended up getting sick the next day so we were able to get some pics and have some fun present opening before so pooped out. Ethan got a bird that had a string so we could walk around the house pulling it. He used it a little different, but he loves to drag it all around. Bridget got a bouncing Tigger that played music. She wanst quite sure about it, but it cracked us up.

Bridget's face is priceless, its like "What is this thing doing?"

Opening the presents it always the best part. The paper is usually the most amusing thing, right?

Christmas morning started off a little rough. Bridget has gotten sick and threw up a few times first thing. We started the morning with a fun bath! They had a great time playing, splishing and splashing as we played Christmas music and sang songs. Bridget did end up getting two more baths throughout that day, but this was a fun one :)

After baths we headed over to my parents from presents. Bridget stayed mostly like this for the rest of the day. She was very cute and cuddly. since it was crazy and there was lots to go and open we didn't really get much pictures of the morning so I was very happy to have the ones from the night before. We ended up with lots of goodies. I got an Ipod touch and some speakers for it and lots of music. Joseph got golf clubs, a golf, bag and golf shoes (hmm, does he like golf?), Ethan and Bridget got lots of fun toys and books to read.

After the present came dinner! An amazing meal made by my mom. My Aunt Lori and her family all came to enjoy it with us. We all draw names and have a gift exchange after dinner.

Ethan is awesome in his BYU jersey. He also got a little football to go with it. And then the real fun began with all the wrapping paper everywhere.

This a four generation picture of my grandmother, my Dad, me and my kids.

When we were too tired to open our eyes, then it was time to go home and remember all

the fun we had at Christmas.

An Official Toddler

Ethan is now an official toddler! When we were in South Carolina, Ethan took two steps. He cried while doing it, and did not want to try again. On Friday the 12th, He was standing at the end of the coffee table, let go and took six steps toward me. It was so exciting. Since then he has taken a few steps here and there. Then this weekend he really took off. I can't believe it but he is walking all over the place, ans he is so excited about it. He has a look of pure joy and he is laughing while walking as fast as he can. All he needs to do is figure out how to get from sitting to standing without help and he will be walking full time. I am so proud of my boy and am overjoyed to see him so proud of himself and what he has learned to do.

Thanksgiving

This year we got to have two Thanksgivings, sort of. As my previous post mentioned we went to South Carolina to visit Josephs family. We had a wonderful trip and were happy to see everyone, until Thanksgiving. Unfortunately before we even got to eat, my mother-in-law Margaret, fell and compound fractured her left ankle. So I spent most of the time keeping all the kids outside and distracted while we waited for the ambulance to come and take Grandma away. She was rushed into surgery right away. Fortunately they were able to fix everything, but she broke both bones completely so she has a very long road to recover, and we wish her lots of love and wishes to get better as fast a possible. After all that, we tried to get all the kids some food and clean up everything. Unfortunately we had to leave very early the next day for the airport, so we did not even get the see her.

Once we were home, and very happy to be there, we had Thanksgiving dinner with my family on Saturday. It was nice of my Mom to wait for us to come home to cook. She makes the most amazing Thanksgiving ever!!! We had a really nice dinner and then a few of us rushed off to go see Twilight!

Before all the drama, I was able to get this really sweet picture of the twins!

South Carolina

For Thanksgiving this year we took a trip to South Carolina to visit Josephs family. We were very excited to see everyone and have most of them meet the twins. I was very nervous to fly with everyone, but I was pleasantly surprised how well it went. Of course it wasnt perfect, there was some crying on the landings, but over all they did really well. We purchased three seats so we had one in the car seat and one on a lap, that way we could all sit in the same row. While we were there we stayed at my in laws house in Spartanburg. On Saturday we drove up to Orangeburg a few hours away to visit Josephs sister Gretchen and her family. We stayed over night and went to church to see the kids Primary program. That afternoon we spent the day at her beautiful home. They have lots of property, a pond, pond house, four wheelers, and fishing all in the back yard. It was a really fun day and got lots of fun pictures to share.

Ethan and Joseph doing some fishing together
Isn't this the most precious picture ever!

Margaret, Megan, Ethan and Bridget

Puppy love!

My nephew Jace My nephew Lane

My nephews Brett and Jacob

My mother in law Margaret and my niece Megan(she looks so much like Bridget) and Bridget

On the four wheeler