We looked forward to our phone calls with our missionary and for the opportunity to spending some time with my family. This has been a very special year with new babies being born. Shayne and Kerry welcomed a beautiful little girl on November 30th named Sariah and Shalum and Candice FINALLY... finally had their dream of a baby come true. They adopted a beautiful little boy they named Jared Axel Decklan... AKA Jax! He is truly a blessing and the strangest part, he looks like he could be their biological son. Candice's mom said that even through adoption our family genes are strong! :) It is AMAZING to see them with this little boy! The joy they have on their faces is so wonderful. I think we had tears in our eyes every few minutes just looking at Shalum with this little boy. It was such a wonderful day, knowing that soon we would be welcoming two more baby boys, and loving the moments we get to spend together. The kids love to hang out with their cousins and I think that my goal next year will be to work hard to find more opportunities to spend more time together.
Our Christmas eve was nice, laid back and fun. It started with lunch with my family, and ended with the sibling exchange,and oh, we can't foget about the phone calls with Tallin!!! He sounds AMAZING! It is crazy to hear him speak. He had to think about words in English. He is so happy, so upbeat and loves serving his mission! We even got to get to bed at a half way decent hour...
Shalum and Candice and their sweet little boy Jax!
Santa's helper... Jax! 
Gabriel is talking to Uncle Tallin... he can point Tallin out in family pictures so Tallin can be happy that we haven't let him forget who he is! 
Sweet Sariah... 
Shalum is a daddy!!! I can't tell you how wonderful that is to say that!!!!! 
Cereta and Kalli are such good little mommies... except Noah isn't sure if he likes being a life sized doll for them! 
Cereta sure loves Noah... 
Kalli, like the rest of her sisters, is a baby freak! There just never seems to be enough babies to go around! 
Sariah and Jax, so excited for their first Christmas... :) 
Shayne and Tiffany are hogging the babies! 
We told Candice that she looked good with twins! Her sister recently had twins and she said that she is content to have them one at a time! 
Gabe opening his cool present that Grandma and Grandpa got him!!! 
When in doubt... buy Matchbox Cars for Nate... nothing makes him quite as happy! 
Kami got the really cute boots she wanted! 
Bummy got his DS game he wanted! 
Kalli was so happy to get the Easy Bake over she has talked about nonstop! 
Because you know.. the boy needs more weapons! Yay Hayden! 
Matt knows Wyatt well... 
I guess Jace knew Willie desperately wanted new shoes after he borrowed his a few times!
Clothes are always a hit... 
Cute shoes and jewelry... what more does a girl want? Kassi says they are perfect! 
Kailee gets..... 
ANOTHER purse!
Kinzee knows Tanner well too... a new pair of shoes!
Gabe isn't worried about his mom opening her present... he just wants his dad to put together his cool toy grandpa and grandma got him! 
And they're off... Nate said he would push Gabe
Awesome! And it makes noises too! 
Tanner... just because he hates his picture taken so bad that I get them every chance I get! 
Little boys love hanging with their sisters! 
Can I just say that there is NEVER a dull moment with these girls around. We laugh constantly and I love that they are so fun, and so happy! 
And after the craziness of the day... all is calm, all is bright! 
This is the time when you let go of the worry and sit back and enjoy the reason that we celebrate Christmas. It seems like this year the days just slipped away from me and I didn't take a lot of time to reflect on the birth of the Savior. And this night... after the crazy of the day, as fun as it was, I looked around and remembered that none of this really mattered... what truly matters is the gift we were given so long ago. The Savior was born, a tiny baby, who grew to be Everything for everyone. And I am grateful! 
Noah didn't care who was holding him... just that he was being held!!!
