Turkey Day Fun

We had a great thanksgiving. We spent the day at my dad's parents house. It was a small gathering (compared to how many people there are in the family). It was my parents, all my siblings and their families and my Uncle and his family. We had a wonderful day. I didn't get as many pics as I wanted, but here are a few...

My sister Tami with her baby, Spencer. Isn't he wonderful?!! He is almost as chubby as Malia was. Almost. My mom and Kylee

We headed over to the park after eating. The kids had a great time. Malia spent the whole time going up and down the slide. She would sit down at the top of the slide and fold her hands like this and slide down, it was cute. Kylee wore flip flops to the park...yes...flip flops and was playing basketball and skinned a huge chunk of her toe off. It was not a pretty sight. Then, my brother, Troy (who is a bigger sucker than I am) told the kids that they could have $5 for every time they stole the ball away from him in their basket ball game. Tyler walked away with $20 in his pocket and Kylee with $5. Good times!

my thanks

There is a beautiful excitement and peace that comes with this time of year. We all feel it. Something changes in the air. Something changes in people. I feel it more today than anytime before. I feel a peace and a hope that hasn't been there for very much of this year.

If I was looking at this last year as a glass half empty, I would whine and tell you about all of the hardships. The trial after trial that have come, one right after the other with no breathing room. But if I was to look at it as a glass half full, this is what I would tell you. These are my thanks...

James. How grateful I am for my husband. I did not know that men like him existed. He is so good, and patient, kind, helpful, forgiving, understanding, intelligent, funny, humble and strong. He honors his priesthood and honors his role as husband. To that, I am grateful.

My kids. When I was a girl I filled my days playing with dolls and imagined being a mother. My own mother instilled in me a reverence and an appreciation for the importance of being a mother. But even that would not have prepared me for how much I would love being a mother. Is it painfully hard at times, YES. But the joy that I feel when I look into their little faces far out way the bad times. I am thankful to be a mom.

I am grateful for my health. I am grateful for sleep =) I am grateful for my family and for James' family. I am grateful for friends. Good food. My home. The mountain. Summer nights. The Gospel. Volleyball. Spring. Christmas music. Hot showers. Exercise. The beach.

I could go on, but I would just bore you.

I have come to realize in my life that our glass is more than likely always going to be half empty if we let it. It doesn't have to be. There are always half full things around us, if we let there be.

Happy Thanksgiving. Eat Lots and Prosper!

Boosum Buddies

My good friend Tiffany just gave me a bunch of pictures of Malia and her little girl, Allie. Malia and Allie were born three days apart and they love each other soooo much. Malia will talk about Allie all the time and visa-versa. When ever they see each other they get so excited and always leave each other with a hug. Here they are. So Sweet.

A couple weeks old.

2 months (cute matching dresses and blankets.)

About 7 or 8 months old. Look how cute they are!

18 months old! Best Buds!

My Baby is Two!!

Who could forget those Chubs!

Malia Ann is 2!!! I can't believe that she is 2!!! I remember as if it were yesterday bringing her home. The day Malia was born was a crazy one. It was the longest day of my life. We arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am. Malia was posterior and for the past 3 weeks I had had excruciation back pain. I was going to have my water broken, but the hospital and my mid-wife had huge communications errors and I didn't actually start into labor until after 12pm. Malia finally arrived at 4:20pm. Her delivery was insanely painfully and I was pretty traumatized by the whole thing. I had Baily without pain med and, though it hurt a whole lot, I loved it and was so happy with how it turned out. Malia's birth was not so fun. Because she was posterior it was a lot harder.

I can still remember how swollen her little face was and she even had some broken blood vessels on her face and her eyes. It was so sad.

Malia captured all of our hearts from day 1. I don't know of another baby who receives more kisses and loves than her. Her older brother and sisters are so good to her. She has always been a daddies girl and on more occasions that I would like to admit would rather be with him than me!

Here are a few things that we love about Malia, and maybe a few things that are tell-tale signs of a 2 year old that we could do without:

-She loves to sing. She will sing songs all day long. Mostly when she is playing with something or in the bath tub.

-Before she goes to sleep she will go around telling everyone goodnight and giving kisses.

-We like to play the "Maggie Simpson" game with her...we will all sit on the couch and she will stand several feet away by the TV, and we will all say at the same time, "Come to the one you love best!" and she will run to the lucky person. The kids have stooped to bribing her with candy and what-not to be the winners. We have played this game for hours on some occasions.

-She will shout of the top of her lungs for "Baily" to "Stop IT!".

-She knows how to spell her name thanks to the Leap Frog "My Pal Scout" that she got for her birthday. It is the coolest toy ever. You can program the child's name into the dog and it will sings songs about them, say and spell their name...it is so cool!

-She is often found running around without a diaper. She loves the fresh air, I guess.

-She always has a bump or scrape on her face (show me a 2 year old who doesn't)

-Her daddy has nicknamed her "Fluffy" for obvious reasons. It is one of those nicknames that will not be able to continue for too long. She might have serious self-esteem issues if James is calling her that as she is walking out the door for her first date.

-When we hear the cat screeching in pain, we know where to find Malia.

What would we do without her??? Happy Birthday Fluffy!

Please Pretend that Halloween Was Yesterday

Humor me...pretend that I am on the ball and that I woke up early the day after Halloween to post pictures of my babies...

Here they are. I wasn't able to get all the photos that I wanted 'cause my sister has some on her camera and our new phone is being a jerk and wont let me download them. rude. I will add them when I can.

Kylee was a beat up soccer player, Ty was a skeleton pirate, Baily was Tinker belle here, and a kitty on Halloween night, and Malia was a soccer ball. Malia's costume was a hit and we got a lot of comments on it. She kept tripping in it as she would go up stairs (bad things happen when you can't see your feet...trust me, I've been pregnant 4 times =) Cousin Troy was with us and he is the storm trooper. Good times.