christmas card, by abe

this is a card abe made for his cousin gift.  i thought it needed to be documented.  

so many things about it make me smile.

christmas card

happy holidays!!!! 

 i hope it's been lovely.

christmas dinner 2012

one of the family traditions we started in flagstaff, was a christmas eve dinner.  this year it had to be on christmas eve, eve since the 24th was to be with dave's family.

the kids insist the menu includes ham, so dave can make the leftovers into ham and potato soup (aka "christmas soup").  

this year, abe and kai were giving their friends fake mustaches for christmas.  they had a few extras that became christmas dinner attire.

"merry christmas-tache!!!"

 on our anniversary get-awaty, i found these cute plates on clearance at west elm.  i loved them so much, mainly because our kids have a penguin fetish.
dave bought them for me for our happy anniversary.

 we got the goblets for our wedding and the plates for our 16th anniversay.

abe did the honors of lighting the candles, since this is always a candle light dinner.
abe wore his mustache the whole dinner...it made his napoleon dynamite quotes so much more entertaining.

ready to eat!!!

vivian's first christmas eve dinner ever!
 i love this picture.
the one of the kids, not the roast beast:)

sixteen years

today was the day, sixteen years ago, that dave and i were married in the salt lake temple.

 it was the coldest day of the year.  i remember because while we were taking pictures, dave knelt down, took off my white satin shoe and rubbed my foot warm.  dave is celebrating our anniversary by finishing up a 30 hour shift at the hospital.  i have a mini cake buffet waiting for him when he gets home.  we will spend the evening at our eleven year old son's cello performance and helping our daughter write a debate case about why spending cuts are better than tax increases.  real life, but oh so good!  i am extremely grateful we have made a life together.  we will sneak away tomorrow night and spend a whole 24 hours together in salt lake.  it's my favorite get away.  dave is planning so it should be good.  the last year has been eventful.  pregnancy, moving, building a house, new baby, a baptism, high schooler, coaching soccer, more soccer, basketball, callings, homework, laundry, and so the list continues.  the other day, i called dave at work feeling behind and a little discouraged.  he said to me, "don't worry, we've got this."  and i know we do because we're a team.  i look at the little world we have created and i love it.  this has been an investment year for us. it's been really busy with not much down time, and we were joking around that this next year will be our "blissful" year, but really there are blissful things all around.  here's my list of sixteen blissful things i love about dave:

1-he fixes food and places it in front of me often. 

2-he scoots over and makes a spot for me next to him in church, even if the meeting has started and there are five kids in between us. 

3- he takes my call at work.

4- he waits for me to go to bed.

5- he listens to me.

6- it's important to him that we have time together.

7- he works extremely hard.

8- he lets me be in charge.

9-he makes an effort to make sure i can feel that he loves me.

10- he is genuine.

11- he gives people the benefit of the doubt, always.

12-he isn't critical to me or anyone.

13-he helps our kids with tough homework and projects.

14-he wants to make sure the kids and i have what we need. 

15- he makes our bed.

16-he is hopeful.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DAVE! 

we must be doing something right if our fourteen year old daughter listens to taylor swift's song, "stay, stay, stay" and says, "this song reminds me of you and dad."  i love it!  and you! 

eight months

 vivian is eight months old today!

 sitting up...

 crawling...

 and so

 super 

cute!!!

flash from the past

i can't believe how time flies.  

this is a photo from our christmas card a few years ago.  at the time this photo was taken, we were in the middle of trying to figure out what to do with our little family.  bear lake just blew up in our face, samoa wasn't working out, dave had dengue fever and even though we had much to be grateful for, we were living at my parents' house, jobless, and a lot of life seemed like a question mark.   

this year we have pondered the christmas star and for family night, we talked about this quote by elder maxwell (whom max is named after.  i told the kids that elder maxwell was known for being really smart and max immediately said, "and i'm super smart too!") 

"The same God that placed that star in a precise orbit millennia before it appeared over Bethlehem in celebration of the birth of the Babe has given at least equal attention to placement of each of us in precise human orbits so that we may, if we will, illuminate the landscape of our individual lives, so that our light may not only lead others but warm them as well."

i like the thought that we each have our own orbit and plan. 

 i can look back and see heavenly father's hand in my little family's orbit.  i'm so grateful for those experiences that taught me and gave me that knowledge!!  i also love the principle that we can illuminate our lives if we WILL.  choose light.  just like our family theme, "so it continued both day and night."  i want to help my kids realize that we can choose, with heavenly father's help, to illuminate our landscape even when things are hard.  this little family photo reminds me that things got better.  we had heaven's help for our little family.  i always tell my kids, you do what's right.  we do our part and then heavenly father can do his.  i really believe that!

and that is my soapbox for the day:)

big bro abe

vivi loves abe. 

she gets so excited to see him after school.

he is so sweet to her. 

she sits really still when she watches him play basketball and soccer.

she loves when he talks to her and especially when he lip syncs in the car...ok, really i like when he does that too.

he is an incredibly patient, loving, and kind big brother.

could time PLEASE slow down.  i want to enjoy this phase a little longer!