Merry Christmas

Pictures

I am working on a few projects for Christmas for my mom and dad so I had to take some pictures today...this is what I was able to get!

If you know my Grandma at all...Sammy takes after her when it comes to having her picture taken--She LOVES to pose!!!!!!

In case you are wondering--YES, my backyard is really that small!!

My Cute Kids...

We are lucky enough to have my  mom and dad come to our house for Christmas this year.  I was trying to think of different gifts we could make them so they could have a few extra things on Christmas.  We have no money so they had to be things that would be basically free to do.  My mom and dad like to read so I had Sammy and Andrea make them bookmarks.  Andrea just scribbled on hers really fast to be done but Sammy put a lot of thought into her bookmarks.  This is what she came up with:

Here is a close up of the three that I thought were the most creative.  She did a bike one and a helmet one for my dad.  The bottom one is a swimming pool then a runner with two paths to follow to a bike and then a path to bike on.  My mom and dad are really big into triathlons!  I think these bookmarks are the perfect gift for them!!!

Inspiration

The last couple months, I have been following the blog of one of my friends from high school.  I learned about his blog through facebook.  My friend has a 7-year-old son who got a rare tumor called a chordoma tumor.  I have read about their family's struggles and sacrifices during this difficult time.  I have been strengthened by their testimony of Eternal Families and our Heavenly Father's love for each of us.  If any of you are feeling a little down with how things are going in your life I strongly recommend that you read the testimony of the Vance family on Jared's blog.

I was deeply saddened this week to find out that Jared returned to his Heavenly Father on Monday.  It broke my heart as I thought of my own children and the day to day struggles we have.  I hope and pray that I can learn to enjoy every moment I have with my own kids.  I also have learned to appreciate the blessings that come from a temple marriage even more than I already did. 

Soccer

These are pictures from Sammy's last soccer game!!!  I was glad when soccer was over...Sammy didn't love it so it was hard to go every week.  She thought she got to throw her shin guards away after the last game!!!  I thought that was pretty funny...it shows you how much she loved soccer.

Joshua's Birthday

Our Little Man Turned 1!!  I can't believe that Josh is already 1.  It seems like the last year has flown by.  He is a happy little guy.  He LOVES his dad during the day and LOVES his mom at night.  I am still trying to figure out how to get him to like his dad at night!!  Josh loves balls and cars.  He is really good at kicking the soccer ball around, teasing his sisters, and giving his mom and dad hugs.  We love this little guy!!

I can finally post!

Our internet has been HORRIBLE lately so I haven't been able to post anything...here goes a month long catch-up!!   By the way...we got high speed internet today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!