Merry CHRISTmas

This Christmas has been one Jon and I will remember the rest of our lives, and much longer. We have been extremely blessed to have family and friends that love us so much. We have always known that, but have felt it in abundance this Christmas. The Spirit of Christ has touched our hearts and humbled us this year. I have an overwhelming feeling of being indebted to a group of people which has humbled me and made me want to be a better person. And through these feelings, I have come to realize just how indebted I am to our Savior, who gave the ultimate gift to us all and who I will always be indebted to. In behalf of my family, to all our family and friends, thank you for making our Christmas unforgettable... in every way. :) We love you.

Princess Lydia, loving Christmas!

Ben, doing what he does best, Rachael, Jon

Christmas morning!

Lydia holding her Christmas bear from Santa :)

Blog Overload... Sorry

So, it's been awhile folks. I think it's in the air because I'm not alone in this past-due blog thing. I was actually trying to figure out why I stopped, and it hit me after I posted my first update today! I was rejected! That's right! I was having errors and I could not deal with it! So I quit for awhile. I made a way cute post about a girls night out at Twilight, and it wouldn't post! There was an error! So, I got frustrated with the time wasted that I was in a fight with blogging, but am now over it. So, I'm back, and you get a butt load of things to look at. Enjoy!

Slumber Party!

Savannah visited us for the night, and I want to be a "fun" mom, so I let the girls drink the night away... I don't think Ben approved.

My Ben

It's time for the "Ben" update. Ben is just under 7 months old now. He weighs 25 pounds, his head is 18.5 inches around, and he's 30 inches long. He is off the charts in all categories. What does this mean? He's a big kid! Shocker. :) Funny story though. I was having lunch with my sister-in-law the other day, and obviously had my kids. Her 5 year old was sitting by Ben and said, "His head scares me." Apparently, having a big head is pretty freaky to other kids. I wanted to say, "just wait another 6 months when he's bigger than you, then you'll see scary."

Tonka truck Ben! We had seriously discussed naming Ben "Diesel". Sometimes I wonder if we should have.

Birthday Party!

So, I actually already blogged about Lydia's birthday further down, but I just remembered these pics and HAD to throw them on. Sorry!

Lydia had a joint party with her "twin" cousin, born about 8 hours apart or so.

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat!!

Here we are, all bundled up. This was the night we delivered neighbor gifts. We probably go a little overboard keeping our kids warm, but atleast we care, right? Ben is so my boy, don't you think?

Birthday girl!!!!

Because of my extremely fabulous- yet paranoid -best pal, I could not post this on the actual "big day" because I don't want someone stealing the identity of my 2 year old!... or is she 5... I'm not telling. :)

When I see this picture, I think of "The Christmas Story"- just sayin.

Her is Lydia and her cousin Savannah. Their birthdays are just 6 days apart, so we had a joint party for them and Uncle Dallin and Jon's Grandpa. What a party!


Usually, Lydia would have devoured this cupcake in 3 seconds, but she always is trying to be like her cousin, so she licked the frosting off the top, just like Savannah... So funny.

Here is Lydia opening presents. Grandpa Richard and Granny Lori got her a "choo choo". She has loved playing with it... and I have loved setting it up like 12 times! (Yes, there is a little sarcasm there...)

Isn't she a doll!! Granny Lori made such cute cakes for everyone. She's way thoughtful. Lydia loves hearing the birthday song. I think she sang it to herself more than people sang it to her.

Happy Birthday sweetie!! You are getting too old! I'm gonna cry.

Success!!!!!

My son has graduated!! From what? You may wonder. From a few things actually. First, from our bedroom to our office. And now, since he has slept 4 consecutive nights for about 11 hours each night, from the office to his permanent room with his sweet sister Lydia. Yep, this very day I took down the pack 'n play, and tonight will be their first night together. Love it!! Their nap schedule is kind of funny. Ben sleeps like 10 to 12, Lydia goes down at 12, gets up at 3, and Ben goes back down at 3.... It's like I have one kid, who is up all the time, just changing genders and IQ. Ha! .... I just wrote a whole paragraph about sleeping schedules... How lame is that. You can tell what my life is like! :)

Family Pose

We don't really have a whole family picture on our blog... so this is the best we could do for now. It's actually perfect. We have Jon, looking handsome as ever, with his perfect smile. Ben, eating like he always is. Lydia, posing but being silly which is so her. And myself, making the fake smile face because I am so not photogenic like my husband. I actually look ridiculous next to him... Oh well, he is stuck with me! Ha! Do I look a little on the "tipsy" side? I'm just sayin... :)

Spontinuity- it's the best!

How great is this! Tulips in the fall? My secret boyfriend came to my house during his lunch break and gave these to me. They have been some of my most favorite flowers I've ever got! Flowers make me so happy. I wish there was something guys liked that were simple like flowers, but made them so happy. My husband personally likes little things... like X-box games, or video cameras. Not something you just pick up at the closest store and show up on the doorstep with! It's so not fair. I'm seriously considering just getting him flowers... like these ones. The thoughtfulness would be there on my part, and the beauty of the flowers would be back in my home- probably on a weekly basis!

Stud Muffin Alert

Call me bias, whatever. But I could just EAT this kid! He is such a cutie! I couldn't leave his shirt buttoned up all day because he barely even has a neck. So, I captured the moment. Love it!

Great Things Come to Those Who Wait!

My boyfriend is amazing!!! After one year of living in our home, we finally got shelves! I'm not blaming him at all- we are just slackers when it comes to the not-so-important list of things to do.... actually, we're slackers on the important list too... Oh well! :) The shelves took all day, but they are done, and look fabulous! Thanks so much Honey! Maybe you can build our next house eh?

Faith is not only a feeling; it is a decision

I have been thinking a lot as of late- weird, I know :) , and quite frankly, my thoughts led me to feel... inadequate, I guess would be the word for it. I sometimes feel like I wish I had more to offer to the world and influence it for good. I feel like I don't have near the knowledge or experiences as most people, but then the Lord sent one of His tender mercies my way... I was reading in the conference ensign, the talk "You Know Enough", and it was loaded with things I needed to hear. "While there are many experiences like the one we are having today [conference] full of spiritual power and confirmation, there are also days when we feel inadequate and unprepared, when doubt and confusion enter our spirits, when we have difficulty finding our spiritual footing. Part of our victory as disciples of Christ is what we do when these feelings come." Love it! I think this doesn't apply just to feelings of "finding our spiritual footing" but also to when Satan downloads thoughts like "you're nothing special", "your sisters are gorgeous and talented- too bad you're the middle nothing", "no body likes you", and my all time favorite, "good morning swamp witch, same old boring routine today huh? Oh, and by the way, you're chubby, so don't even try to do anything about that". I'm probably getting a little too personal here, but those are real every BAD day thoughts I have. So! What do I do when these feelings come? As much as I didn't want to, I started thinking of one thing that I might have done to do good for someone that day. I tried to be more cheerful. I prayed. The Lord loves us, He loves me. I've discovered I can't expect every day to be the most uplifting, inspiring, perfect day with everything going my way, BUT, I've learned to appreciate these normal days, because when those special days do come around they are that much more appreciated. So, if there is anyone who reads this and shares any of the same kinds of feelings, you need to know, you are DANG SPECIAL, and loved. Believe it :)

Halloween! Love it!

I realize Halloween has come and gone, but better late than never to document how cute these kids are and how much fun we had! As you can see, Lydia was a mouse, and Ben was Charlie Brown. It was so fun this year because they got to dress up on 3 or 4 different occasions.

This occasion was a little party we had as neighborhood friends. We had a way yummy lunch, then did some activities with the kids afterwards. We are decorating sugar cookies in this picture. Surprisingly, they didn't even get that dirty!

Here the kids are stepping on ghosts. I invisioned it to work out like musical chairs, but it fell apart real fast. Some kids wouldn't stop standing on their original ghost and would drag it (like mine), some were a little emotional when people started standing on "their" ghost :) and some wouldn't even sit up. So, that game ended real fast- but was still fun.


Here is my angel boy with his Grandpa. We HAD to take a picture of this, because Grandpa is a little nervous to hold babies, so this just doesn't happen often. Doesn't my dad look awesome too!! He is such a great sport to dress up just like the kids. I love my dad. He rocks. Oh, and so does my son. :)

One of the games we played at our family party was bowling! The kids rolled an orange ball and it would knock over a tower of Halloween buckets. Then, they got to keep a bucket at the end. It was a ton of fun for them!

Here is Lydia and her "twin" watching the kids bowl. I say twin because these two were born the same day! How fun is that! You can tell they have a special bond because here they are holding hands. They even kissed later on. Nothing like kissing cousins. :)

This is one of my absolutely favorite pictures of my way cute niece! She was Aireal, obviously. :) Saige is such a cutie. A handful, but so cute! She is living proof that kids are born with their own personalities. She keeps Becky and Mike on their toes. We love you Saige!!

Roar!! Who is that hunk holding my son!!! All business in the front and party in the back! Jon was "Super Dad" for Halloween. He is always such a good sport to dress up for Halloween, and other holidays when I make him... right Hon? We had a really great Halloween this year. I am sad that it's over, but I am SO looking forward to the Holidays to come.

Boo at the Zoo

We had a way great time at the Zoo the Saturday before Halloween. We met up with some friends around noon, and did a little trick or treating while visiting the animals. There were over 30,000 people at the Zoo!! But, we were lucky and got a great parking spot.

We are very fortunate that Lydia loves being in the stroller. She refused getting out for anything!

Here is me and my boyfriend. My hair was pretty much a fro. We had a Halloween party the same day, so I had it ready to go for that.... I may just start sporting my hair like that tho... It's kind of fun.

As soon as we stopped to see the penguins they migrated over to us! Seriously! I think they could sense that they are my absolute favorite animals at the zoo, so they treated us to a close encounter. Aren't they cute!!!

The giraffes were being fed right when we got in the building, so we were really close to them as well. Lydia wasn't nervous at all, but I was just a tad. We really had a great time this day! Thanks Roger family for going with us!!

Crazy Kids

Ben almost weighs as much as Lydia- but she's a tough cookie and can handle it... Ben on the other hand is, well... I hate to say it, a pansie pretty much. If you look at this kid wrong he gets all emotional. It's cute for now, but he better get tougher soon. :)

Perhaps he is more "tender" because his sister forces him to play with dolls...

Lydia LOVES putting pants of any kind on her. Whether on her head, or her legs, she is constantly dressing up. I think it's stinkin cute too. In this picture she is sporting her swimming suit bottoms.

Lydia seriously loves Ben, and he loves her too. No one makes him laugh more than her. In this picture, Lydia was dressing him up, and making sure he had toys to play with. So cute!

Bath Time!!

Bath time is one of our favorite times in our home! Especially when we have bubbles!

And what's even more fun than bubbles? When dad gives us a bath!! Jon has so much fun with the kids. Here you can see him making Lydia's hair look way great. Such talent Honey!!!