Merry Christmas - 2012

Here's to wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas!  

May Christ fill your hearts with love.

We've had such a special year with the addition of our little Evie.  We hope you find and enjoy memorable moments with the ones you love!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Card - 2012

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Ladybug Cheer

Oh my!  Brace yourself because this little ladybug is C.U.T.E!

While it's fun to dress up my little girl, I have to admit that I might love PJ's even more.  It's just so fun to snuggle and cuddle with my Evie doll while she's all cozy in her jammies.  There are TOTALLY days when she gets to wear her jammies all day long and those are typically the days when we don't go anywhere.  If I looked this cute in my jammies, I would wear them all day long too!

All I know, is this little ladybug can bring cheer to anyone!

Evie - 7 Months

Another month has flown by and Evie just keeps on a-growin'.  She's healthy and happy.  What more can parents ask for?

What is she doing now?

• She still LOVES her baths.  Maybe she loves them a little bit more. . . thus, the bath picture.  This was from her actual bath on December 11.  She's all smiles when it comes to bath time (and, she loves to sing while she soaks too).  
• She started eating baby food (Nov. 18th).  She's liked everything she's tried.  I just started making my own baby food and I'm glad she likes it because it tastes WAY better than that bottled stuff (trust me, I've tried it all because I care that my baby eats food that is edible).  
• She figured out the "da" sound and loves to practice it constantly (Nov. 25th).  "Da, Da, Da," is constant in her vocabulary right now.  Beau was pretty pleased about this.  
• She babbles like crazy.  She'll just sit and jibber-jabber while she plays and it's absolutely adorable!
• She loves to learn.  She's constantly listening to every word we say and watching every move we make.  It's obvious that she's trying to figure things out.  Sometimes it seems as if she just wishes she could just tell us stuff.  It's like she'll go to talk but then she realizes she doesn't quite know how to put the words together.   
• I think because she loves to learn, she really loves books.  She loves to look at the pictures and colors as we read.  I started reading to her a while back and she loved it then, but she continues to get more passionate about reading as she grows.  She's already recognizing the stories I read because sometimes when she's a bit fussy I will start quoting books I've read to her and she quiets down and listens intently.
• She's rolling like crazy!  She can roll, roll, roll . . . all over the room.  She loves to play on the floor and move her way around.  She's learning to scoot a little too. 
• She is a little giggler.  Her giggles are beyond contagious and we'll find moments where she just wants to laugh.  We eat those moments up like they'll never happen again.  Beau and I both agree that her giggle is the happiest sound in the world.  Click on the video and then try to tell me you don't agree!  There's no way! (This video was taken about a week and a half ago.)  

Evie & Santa

Evie had the chance to meet Santa for the first time.  The first question everyone asks us is, "Did she cry?"  No, no, no!  She did not cry.  She looked at him in wonder and was a bit curious about that big white beard, but she did not cry!

I think Evie's been exceptionally good this year, so I have NO doubt that Santa will make it to our house with some holiday cheer.

Together Forever - Special Beyond Words

We've had a very special past couple of weeks!  Among all of the fun that has come with the holidays, we've also had our adoption of Evie finalized.  That meant we could finally take her to the temple with us to be sealed as a forever family as well as give her a baby blessing.

Business came first.  We had to show up to court (November 16), have our case worker verify that we are good and fit parents for Evie and that bonding has taken place.  We passed on all accounts.  We were asked a few questions as well and it all went smoothly.  Our parents accompanied us on this adventure and it was fun to have them there with us.

We celebrated with a little breakfast outing at Kneaders.  I must document the fact that when Evie was placed in our arms, that was final to us.  So, going to court was more-or-less a formality due to State Law.  However, it was a beautiful day to reflect on how grateful we are to have Evie in our family!   We can't celebrate that fact enough, so we'll take any excuse to celebrate!!

Next on the agenda was the sealing.  Without getting too mushy and emotional (because words really cannot describe the way we felt and still feel regarding this special day), Beau and I both said this was one of the most special events of our entire lives!

It is impossible to put into words how much we love our baby girl.  It's kind of surprising that our hearts haven't burst!!  To know that she is sealed to us for eternity brings the biggest amount of joy to our hearts . . . more than we thought was possible.  We were sealed together on Wednesday, November 21, the day before Thanksgiving.  This event made this year's Thanksgiving my most memorable yet!  We were fortunate to have most of our family members there . . . even my sister and her husband came into town for this special event.  It meant a lot to have our family there to witness and celebrate such a  memorable day.

Our Beautiful Family

The happy parents with their happy child.

I think what warmed our hearts the VERY most was the fact that Evie could not stop smiling.  She had a constant grin on her face.  During the actual sealing she was ALL smiles.  The sealer said he'd never witnessed such a thing (I think they expect the babies to be relatively fussy).  She was absolutely peaceful, beautiful, sweet, and happy.  The spirit was strong and sweet and I know that Evie knew exactly what was happening.  She is still SO close to heaven and I have no doubt that she knew and felt the significance of this ordinance.  Her happiness, in turn, made me and Beau that much happier (as if we thought that was even possible!).

Evie has the most beautiful smile!

I can only imagine the faith that it took before Evie came to Earth to know that she was to trust her Birth Mother to get her to our home.  Her Birth Mother is strong, brave, and courageous.  And, she found us!  All three of us are so happy because of it!  We can now be together forever.

Today was her beautiful blessing day!  And, beautiful it was.  Beau blessed her with such a nice blessing that was filled with the spirit as well as with so much love.  I know I am biased, but my heart was so touched by this event as I have so much love for both Beau and Evie.  I am so proud to have them in my life and to call them my family!  Again, we found ourselves surrounded by our loved ones and it was a blessing to have them at church with us and then again in our home for brunch.

Everyone helped to bring food for our brunch and it was delicious!

I love these kiddos!  I also love that the weather was kind enough
to allow us to hang outside without jackets. 

Me, my beautiful mom, and Evie.

Us and my parents.

Us and Beau's Mom & Norm-Dad.

We were so happy that some of Evie's Birth Family could make
it to the blessing!  They obviously play a special role in our family
and we were glad to have them in our company on this special day.

Beau, Evie, and Grandma Grover.
For the record, Grandma is 98 years old and we're glad she could make it!

We're constantly told how we have such a happy baby.  It's true; we do have a happy baby.  But, she's seriously been even happier as of lately (my brother asked, "How many smiles can one baby have!?").  Her smiles are EVEN bigger than usual.  I know she knows how special and beautiful she is and that she has been sealed and blessed . . . making her the happiest baby in the world.

We could not be any happier that Evie is part of our family.  
All three of us have perma-grins!!

A Fresh Cut Tree

I absolutely LOVE Christmas trees!  I always have.  Christmas is simply not Christmas without the tree (well, I'm sure it still is Christmas but certainly not the same).  Beau and I started a tradition several years ago where we actually go and cut our own tree.  We usually go down to Sanpete County and head up Spring City Canyon to find the perfect tree.

This year was no different, except for the fact that this family tradition now included one more special person!  And that made the event super special and memorable!

I suppose it was also a little different because we did a little Pheasant Hunting before we actually headed up the canyon.

Beau was so excited to take Evie hunting.  Well, I guess she REALLY didn't hunt, but he was sure happy to have his girls with him while he did a little hunting himself.  Evie and I mostly just hung out near the truck.  The weather was AWESOME so we sang and giggled in the sun while we waited for Beau to return . . . which wasn't all that long.

This is Beau with his VERY good friend, Joe.  Joe and Beau are kindred spirits and Joe's family has become our family.  We love them dearly and stopping to "pheasant hunt" was probably more about stopping to see Joe and his boys than actually hunting birds.

But, since we were there, the boys did do a little hunting and they had a blast doing it.

Then . . . it was time to go do a different kind of hunting!  Tree hunting!  We headed up the canyon to see what we could find.

Gorgeous scenery, right?  It was kind of a weird year, because usually this road is snow packed by now.  We were super thankful for the pleasant conditions because we knew it could get too cold for our little Evie if we had to hike too far in the snow.

We spotted a pretty good group of trees from the road and we hopped out to see if one might work.  Well, this tree seemed perfect for us this year!  Despite the slightly chilly weather, I think Evie loved being out in the canyon and agrees that this tree will work perfectly.

Evie and I let Beau do all the hard work.  He cut the tree and then hauled it back to the truck.  What a good man!  Evie and I did our job of adoring the tree and cheering daddy on.

Lastly it was time to get our precious little Evie back in the warm truck.  Her little nose was turning pink.  Isn't she the cutest little winter baby you've ever seen?  Like most children, she doesn't usually care if she's cold as long as she's outside.  Regardless, we scurried back into the truck and drove our Christmas tree home to decorate.

Let the Holidays Begin!  

Thanksgiving - Round 2

We always get a Thanksgiving, Round 2 (as of a couple of years ago).  As mentioned in a previous post, we have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner the Saturday before Thanksgiving with Beau's family.  Then, depending on the year and what family we're scheduled to see on the actual Thanksgiving day (we switch back and forth between Beau's family and mine), that's where we go.  If it's the year for my family, we go to my mom and dad's house.  If it's the year for Beau's family, we take it easy and go out to dinner!

We started this going-out-to-dinner tradition the last time we were schedule with Beau's family (so, two years ago).  Since half of the family goes with the in-laws on the year that we're with Beau's family, we think it's fun to take the few of us and make it a low-key day.  No need to make a big Thanksgiving dinner for the few of us.  We absolutely love this tradition because it is so relaxing and we feel spoiled without doing all the work.

This year we went to the Daniel's Summit Lodge (just a little bit beyond Heber).  The food was absolutely delicious and the low-key style was just what we had hoped.

Daddy was nice to sit with Evie while the rest of us loaded up our plates.  Then we switched and Evie went with me to grab a little extra food.  As you can see, she is such a good little helper.  My plate was definitely lighter thanks to her help.

Amber, Don, and James were so much fun to have with us.  They got a little Evie lovin' in too!

Mom and Norm were a delight, as usual!  We got to ride up to the Lodge together, and we love spending extra time with these two.  We love our mom & dad!

And, there's no denying that they love Evie too!  

From our little family to yours . . . 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I Want a Pony, Daddy!

After Evie's lovely dinner of peas, it seems as if Beau and Evie were in the mood to do a little shopping.  What for, you ask? A pony!  Beau has been DYING to get Evie her own little pony and so they jumped on KSL to see what there was to offer.

Beau asks Evie, "How about this one?"  

I think she agrees!  What do you think!?

Let's get this girl on a horse!

Peas, Please!

Evie just started eating "baby food."  Here she is with her first attempt at it.  She threw us a few funny faces, but overall, she actually really liked her peas and we loved feeding them to her.

Thanksgiving - Round 1

The Thanksgiving Holiday started a little early for us.  Beau and I switch back and forth between families every-other-year and this year we were with his side of the family.  The sad part about this fact is that it is also the year that Beau's brothers go with their in-laws.  So, Beau's mom is super smart and decided to have our family Thanksgiving the Saturday before the actual Thanksgiving date so that we can all be together.

We have VERY good cooks in the family so it works out well to have everyone bring something so that it isn't too overwhelming for mom.  The food was FANTASTIC!

I love my Sisters-in-Law.  Here's Jody & Jamie (and Evie) looking cute as ever.

 

Me & Evie.  Isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen!?

Every year we go around the table and say what we are thankful for.  To no surprise, I mentioned how thankful I was for the addition of Evie to our family.  She is so sweet and brings so much joy into our lives.  I don't know if I've ever been more thankful for anything else in my entire life!

Being thankful for Evie DEFINITELY means being thankful to her Birth Mother, Savannah.  She was (and still is) a vital part to our family plan and words cannot express how incredibly thankful we are for her.  We just happened to be graced by Savy's presence this weekend and were SO glad when she accepted our invitation to join us for Thanksgiving dinner.  

Uncle Chance holding Evie and Grandpa Norm kissing her toes.  The family
absolutely adores Evie.  How can they not?

The neighbor's dog wanted to join us for dinner.  It was the funniest thing!  He would
run to the back window and practically beg to be let in.

Oh man!  HaLee is at such a fun stage right now.  She knows to fold her
arms during the prayer.  I couldn't help but snap a picture of her.  What a doll!

The table was decorated beautifully.  Here's Beau's place setting.

 Here's the entire family during dinner.  It was so nice to have us all together.  We have such a nice family and I love that we are also friends who enjoy spending time with each other.

Last, but not least . . . Here is Beau with his baby blue eyes.  He loves her and it's so sweet to watch how he loves her.  He'll do anything for his sweet baby!  I'm SO incredibly thankful for him in my life and so grateful that he is a good father.  Evie and I are lucky ducks!