Happy Birthday, Mr. B!

Photos taken by Leisha Kelsey Photography

Happy Birthday Bryson!

My cute boy.

Yesterday I said, "I can't believe my baby is going to be turning 4 years old tomorrow."

Bryson quickly responded by saying, "I'm not a baby!"

It made me laugh.

And a little sad at the same time.

He's right.

He's not a baby. At least not to anyone else.

But as any mom will attest, he'll always be my baby.

Happy New Year's Eve!

10 years ago tonight, Scott and I were with some friends celebrating New Year's Eve. After several years of trying, we still didn't have any children. The toast that night went something like this:

"To baby 2000! Yes, to baby 2000!"

That phrase became a kind of mantra to me. Any time I felt sad or discouraged I would think, "baby 2000." It was in June of 2000 that Gracie was born. It was the most wonderful event, ever. The absolute answer to so many, countless really, prayers. And now, 10 years later, Heavenly Father has blessed us with the family I wondered if we would ever have. We are so truly blessed. I am so thankful for the plan Heavenly Father had in store for us. At the time, I didn't understand how wonderful, how perfect for us, it would be. I am grateful He sustained us through those difficult times and I feel so much gratitude for all the tremendous blessings He has poured out upon us since then. "Baby 2000" is still a mantra to me. It reminds me to have hope and faith in the future. It reminds me that Heavenly Father is aware of me and that He loves me. It reminds me how blessed I am.

December 30, 2009

Today was a lot of fun.

I must admit, when I think of getting 4 kids in snow clothes, boots, mittens...you know the drill...it makes me want to reconsider. But we told the kids we were going sledding and once you make a declaration like that to 4 kids there's no turning back! I'm so glad we went. Although we were there for just over an hour, we had a blast together. It makes my heart so happy to see my kids with such huge, genuine smiles on their faces. Racing down a hill on a sled with my kiddos made me laugh harder than I have in a long time. We only had one wipeout with minimal consequences.

It was a great afternoon.

I love days like this!

So I'm really going to try.

No, I mean really.

I have not been good at keeping my blog, but I've recommitted to doing it better. It's so funny how so many days have the same routines in them. Like school, homework, dinner, reading, bath time, bed time. Day after day without much deviation. It's hard to see the time passing or things changing while I'm in the middle of those days. Then I'll see a picture of us, or bump into a friend who hasn't seen us for a while, and it becomes all too clear how fast time is going by. Today I cleaned out the boy's drawers to make room for the new clothes they got for Christmas. I ended up with a HUGE bag full of clothes that were too small, even for Bryson. If I let myself think about it I can get a little emotional. It's a reminder to

"Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

(Or something like that. I think that's close!)

I've been thinking about beginning a new year and some things that I'd like to do better. Keeping a record of our family and my feelings is one of them.

So here I am.

Beginning.

Again.

This time I'm really going to try harder.

I really mean it.

Snowmobiling in January!

Wow! January has gone by in a blurr! (Well, mostly!) The kids have been off-track since Christmas, so they've been out of school for 5 weeks. They start back on Wednesday. The past couple of weeks have been hard to keep them busy. To break things up a bit, we went to Idaho to my parents cabin. It was so beautiful. There was nobody around, and the snowmobiling was wonderful. It was the first time that all the kiddos were old enough to ride with us, and we had a great time. We even pulled a sled behind the snowmobile, and the kids loved that, too! We're so blessed to have such a wonderful place to go as a family and have such fun! Thanks mom and dad! This week we built a snowman and made sugar cookies. They are a lot of work! (Even with, I mean ESPECIALLY with, 4 helpers! But they sure taste great! Looking forward to a couple more lazy days, then back to our regular routine.