Snowboarding for the first time!

Tiffany's family was going snowboarding yesterday and Kassi had mentioned to her that she wanted to learn. So they invited Kassi to go with them. Kassi had a blast. Although she is very sore today! :) Tiffany said Kassi was an excellent snowboarder and did a great job for her first time. She said she picked it up quickly. Kassi really loved it and can't wait to do it again! She called me while I was in town today and asked if Ibuprofen would help her sore neck! :) I told her she must need to exercise more! She thinks the head over board flip was the cause, but I'm sticking with the need to get more exercise story!!!

Thanks Tiffany for letting her go with you, she had a great time!

Kassi on the ski lift...

Kassi going down the hill

Kassi taking a break (she sat down, she didn't fall... lol)

Announcements should be here today!

Yes... wedding announcements... for the JANUARY 16th wedding and they are to be delivered today! We never do anything the common way, or the easy way. No, we decide somebody is going to get married, and they do!!! :) I am so excited for Garrett and Tiffany! Tiff is just about as perfect as could be for a wife for Garrett and I am excited for them to begin their lives together! I'm not getting a daughter in law... I'm getting another daughter! Now the madness begins, getting everything ready for the reception! I hope they have as wonderful of a marriage as Thayne and I have had and that their love continues to grow and become stronger and stronger in the coming years. I love being married to Thayne.... and I hope that they find the same happiness in their marriage!!! And hey... I have heard all of the mother in law jokes and I promised to NEVER be one of those!!! :)

Holding Ella....

On Christmas eve I was holding sweet little Ella. Her little mouth makes a perfect O and she was so sweet and cuddly. Thayne was sitting next to me and I couldn't help but think of a year ago at the same time with Nathaniel. I remember the constant fear I had over him. It didn't go away, I had it all day, and all night. I was constantly afraid of losing him and he always looked so 'sick' though I could never put a finger on it. There was such a distinct difference between the way Ella looked that day and the way that Nate looked exactly one year ago. I told Thayne that I had forgotten how truly ill Nate looked until I sat holding Ella and looked at her healthy sweet face. I remember how we had always just went on with life as usual when we had our babies. We went out, went to church as soon as the babies were born, went to the store, do everything as normal. We all went to the movie yesterday. Thayne kept asking if Kerry and Shayne were coming. I couldn't figure out why he kept asking. He finally asked if they were bringing the baby. I told him of course they were, she's a newborn, why???? He acted a little weird and protective about her... then it hit me and I laughed and told him that they would bring the baby just like we used to take our babies everywhere pre-Nate!!! Now we are so protective, and Nate rarely goes outside because the cold makes his breathing so much worse and while in the past we never even batted an eye about taking them out, we now avoid it as much as possible and are even careful about others coming in with illnesses... him getting sick could put him in the hospital and put his life at risk again. Before we just went...now he gets the Synagis shot to prevent RSV and other respitory illnessesand we watch constantly for any sniffles! Oh how our lives have changed in a year!!!

But Ella is a sweetie and holding her made me so baby hungry I can barely stand it!

Paid Actors!!! haha

I got a cute Christmas card and letter from a good friend that I met on the internet. My kids tease me that I warn them against people on the internet and then I had good friends that I met 'on the internet'....Veronica has told me that her husband tells her that I am her imaginary friend and that I am not real. Let's not mention that more than once Veronica came to the hospital and took me to the Ronald McDonald house, and brought us lunch while we were there...whatever it takes to get out of the house I suppose!!! But back to her card and letter. At the bottom of her family letter she told me that her husband told her that our address sounds made up and our family picture is just paid actors!!! hahahahahaha :0)

I just have one thing to say.... THEY SURE DON'T PAY US VERY MUCH!!!

Christmas day!!!

What a wonderful Christmas day! I am so grateful for my family, for all of the blessings we have been given this year, for miracles, for friendships, for family and for the gift of the atonement that was given to the world which is why we celebrate the Christmas season anyway! Thayne and I were talking about how full our hearts felt right now. We feel our blessings are overflowing and it is such a great feeling to see all of our children in our home today. This is the end of an era so to speak. This was Garrett's first Christmas home from his mission, but next year it will no longer be 'our' family, because he will have 'his' family. Which is wonderful! Tiffany is such a wonderful addition to our family and I am so grateful to know that I will have a daughter like her. And Tanner is supposed to leave for boot camp on Tuesday, and he will be in the army for the next 3 years and no matter what, it will never be the same as it is today. It started right before 5am... not because the kids weren't up at a ridiculously early hour, but because Thayne told them that Aunt Candice and Uncle Shalum were coming out to open gifts with them and he wouldn't be here until 5am so there was no reason to get up any earlier! Sadly that probably won't work again next year!!! At 5:10am they said, "Do we HAVE to wait for them???" haha... nope!!! We gave up trying to do one gift at a time so basically Thayne and I sit back and watch the craziness! It's a great thrill to watch their faces.

This year I was spoiled by my kids. They gave me a huge marbel Christus statue and a huge, beautiful frame for family pictures and a massage seat that works so well! Plus beautiful jewelry and perfume. It was a great day in every way!

This is the typical 'after' mess that has become a family tradition to take pictures of! My camera died before I got all of the pictures taken. Tiffany and Garrett were excited for the basket full of towels and laundry soap that they will be able to use with their BRAND NEW WASHER AND DRYER!!! :) And Hyrum was thrilled with his real jeep! Everyone seemed happy with their stuff from Santa!!!

This picture does the mess no justice... if we stood Nate up in the middle of the mess, you would not be able to see his fluffy hair standing up!!!!

Christmas Eve

It's been such a great day!!! It's hard to believe that it was the first Christmas with Garrett home in two years. We had a great day with family and friends and the kids had a ball sledding. Family came out and the kids got to open their gift from grandma and grandpa and then they got to open their sibling gifts. They exchange names every year and it's always fun to see what they come up with for each other. We finally got everyone settled in for the night and Santa was able to come and we got to bed way too late... but it was a wonderful day with lots of memories made!! And thanks Uncle Shalum and Aunt Candice for the Xbox 360! You are the greatest!!!

We were having issues with all of the cameras in the house so we didn't get many sledding pictures!

Nate's birthday!

We had a great party! The house was busting at the seams with people but it was great! I have been a little bit emotional today, more so than on his birthday. I think the reason why is because THIS is what I thought about on one of the very darkest nights with Nate in the hospital. I kept telling myself that when he turned 1 we would celebrate his birthday with the ones that were there for us, helping us through... just the thought of seeing him at one kept me going on a night that didn't look like he would even make it through the night. And here it is! He had over 50 people celebrating the past year! It was amazing! I am so grateful for everyone that was here for us, in thought, in prayer or in action... we have so many blessings! So the party is over, but the fun is just beginning!!!

And thank you Karen for coming to visit teach and giving me the message that this is the season of hope. That the Savior gives us hope and that Nate was born at the right season to celebrate the hope that carried us through all of this past year!