Tag...

So I was tagged a while ago by my friend Brianna and I am just now getting around to doing it (sorry Brianna, it is quite a process to get old photos from my home computer onto Nate's laptop). Anyway, I am supposed to post the 4th photo in the 4th file of my photos. So here it is. This is Preston at 6 months. This picture is so cute of him but it makes me feel so sad to think about how big he is now. And I wish I had rotated this picture so it's right side up but it's too late now.

Merry Christmas!

Santa came to our house and brought lots of fun things!

Ahhh the magic and anticipation...

Yay for Christmas!!!

Spencer got a big boy bike and a green dragon (who he has since named "Dragon the green dragon").



Preston got a kitchen (yes, he's a boy, but he's going to be the next Iron Chef which is fine with me).

And this kitchen, by the way, is our pride and joy! Nate and I designed, built, and painted this kitchen for Preston (I mean we helped Santa build it). We did buy the microwave and toaster, but the rest is a Nate and Beth original. We could start a company called "Beth and Nate" kind of like "Melissa and Doug". I bet we'll make millions. Watch out world! No but it was really fun to make. A little frustrating at times but totally worth it. After looking at the fairly flimsy plastic kitchens at the store for $180 ON SALE, we decided it might be worth it to just build one. Besides, every 2 year old needs a mini kitchen complete with stainless steel appliances and a gas range.(and isn't that stainless steel sink adorable?) Anyway, Preston loves it and so does Spencer. Not bad for $75.

We had a great Christmas and Spencer is already counting down to next year...it's going to be a long 11 months.

Some white lies are necessary...

So this morning the boys were watching Clifford and a little boy on the show was sick. So Spencer said,"Mom, why is that little boy sick?"
And I said, "I don't know?"
And Spencer said, "Is it because he ate his boogies?"
And I said, "Yeah it might be."

I have told Spencer in the past that we don't EVER eat our boogies (bugger's) because they will make us sick (and he doesn't ever eat them). Which isn't a lie because just the thought of eating boogies makes me physically nauseated. And apparently, Spencer is taking me very serious, which I appreciate. I think about his thought process and as soon as he heard that the little boy was sick, he thought "Well, my mom told me that eating your boogies makes you sick so that must me what happened." It is so fulfilling as a mother to know that sometimes he does in fact listen to me AND he accepts what I tell him to be the truth. It makes me smile to think that I have such an impact on his learning and the way he views the world just by the things I tell him. It can be a little overwhelming to think of it that way, but I guess that is the job description of a Mom:)

Looking back one year ago...

Today is the one year anniversary of when we moved into our new house.

Before...

a little later...(nice dumpster huh?)

After!

We have come a long way since all we had was 2X4s! And we have loved living in our new house. It was a little crazy moving in just before Christmas last year, but it was worth it. We really enjoyed the building process (although stressful). And we have had a great time living here so far. It has been a lot of hard work putting in a yard and decorating; but it's also very fulfilling to work on your home and see the results. We look forward to many more years in this house and a lot more fun times!

The Christmas Box Angel

If any of you have read The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans (if you haven't, I strongly recommend it), you have probably heard of the Christmas Box Angel statue. Every year on December 6th, there is a candlelight ceremony held in honor of children who have passed away. Nate and I went to our first ceremony last night. Everyone there was given a lit candle to hold throughout the ceremony. The program consisted of few words spoken by Richard Paul Evans, some parents who have lost children, a musical number, and a moment of silence to remember those lost. Then everyone there was invited to place a white flower at the base of the angel statue in honor of their child. It was very touching, heartbreaking, and hard to endure. But I think events like this help me to heal. So today after church we took Spencer and Preston to the cemetary and the four of us each put a white flower on Addelyn's grave to honor her this Christmas. The past couple of weeks have been really hard knowing that my "due date" is fast approaching. I should be 8 1/2 months pregnant right now, but I'm not. We should have a new baby girl to bring home right around Christmas, but we won't. It's really hard to think of all the things we won't get to do with our daughter. But we are so grateful for her and for a Father in Heaven who gave His child, knowing that he would be crucified, because he loves us that much. And that gift of love is so close to my heart this Christmas and will be for every Christmas for the rest of my life. But I am grateful to have a better understanding of how much our Father in Heaven loves us.


Merry Christmas Addelyn. We love you. "Sleep In Heavenly Peace."

The Christmas Tree Hunt...

Every year, the day after Thanksgiving, my family drives up to the mountains near Vernal and we cut down our Christmas trees. We have been doing it since I was five. It is so much fun. We take 4 wheelers and make a fire and roast hot dogs, play in the snow, and just have fun on the mountain all afternoon. The kids love helping find that special tree, sawing it down, and taking it home to decorate. And there is nothing in the world like the smell of a fresh cut pine tree! Ahhhhhhh...


Preston and Nate going for a ride!



And here is our winner! (It was SO cold up there!)


The boys loved putting the ornaments on.


We had yet another successful tree hunt. Yay for Christmas! I look forward to putting up the Christmas tree all year. And decorating the house for Christmas. We love Christmas time at our house!



This is Me, my nephew Matt, and my niece Emily. We were being dorks at WalMart in Vernal and we got matching shirts for the tree hunt. I think we look great!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are thankful for...
We had another successful family night. (Brianna, this is for you)- First the boys traced their hands onto a piece a paper. Then we made "feathers" out of colored paper and on each feather we listed something the boys said they were thankful for. Then we glued the feathers onto the turkey and put on a beak and some eyes, and wha-la! A Thanksgiving family night activity. The boys loved it and I think they are starting to understand the meaning of Thanksgiving (a little).

Spencer said he was thankful for his blankey, fire trucks, cars, and his toy elephant.
And Preston is thankful for his polar bear, his hands, blankey, and teddy bear.

I was kind of holding out for one of them to mention....ME...helloooo...their Mother. I did after all give them life... But WHatEveR!

It was a fun and easy activity. I hope I make their "thankful lists" someday:)

Is it just me, or can anyone else believe that November is almost over??? I can't believe that a week from now, we will be into December! November has flown by. But I am excited for Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for. I'm glad that we have a holiday to just focus on all of our blessings. We should have Thanksgiving at least once a month.

This year I am most grateful that I am a mother and that our family is healthy and happy. That my husband and I love each other and are best friends. That Nate has a good job. That we have a warm house and food to eat. And that we can feel the Love of Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven in our home. We are truly blessed!

It's Family Time!

Spencer calls family night "family time". So for family time this week we played a game about things we are thankful for. I didn't realize what a hit it would be but the boys LOVED it. You never know what is going to make their day. I had to beg them to stop playing long enough to eat our family night treat. Family night is so much fun now that they are old enough to understand the point of it and be excited about it (we'll see how long that lasts). We had a great time! (Spencer also calls Mother's day "Mother Time" and Father's day "Father Time".)

Boys are so fun!

We are so cute!

Where's Preston?

Being silly!









Sometimes I just can't get over how cute our boys are! They are so funny and not a day goes by that we don't laugh at them being silly, or saying something funny. I can't imagine life without them! In these pictures they are making funny faces and playing in the "fort" I made for them (I have to get pretty creative when Nate is out of town so the boys and I don't drive each other crazy). But it's times like these that I wonder why I am even making the effort to go Christmas shopping when some couch cushions can occupy their entire afternoon.

Wow... 7 Years!

Nate and I just celebrated our 7th Wedding Anniversary. Nate's dad watched the boys for us and we went out for a night on the town. First we went to the Roof restaurant in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was the first time either one of us had been there. We ate until we could eat no more and then we went and walked around Temple Square for a while. It was fun to reflect on that warm November day 7 years ago when we were at the Salt Lake Temple being sealed for eternity. And the significance of that day is even more priceless to us now knowing that we have a little girl who is sealed to us and waiting for us in the eternities. The decision we made 7 years ago is a decision we made for our entire family forever. And that brings us so much peace. The blessings of a temple marriage are so great and wonderful and we realize that more now than ever.

We have had a wonderful 7 years together. We have been greatly blessed. We love our boys so much and we all have a blast together. We hope for at least another 7 years and maybe another 50 after that. And hopefully after that, we will still both be up for an Eternity together. I guess we'll just take it a day at a time.

Spencer and Preston were playing with Elmo one day and I heard Preston say, "Elmo... you need to do poops?" The boys rushed Elmo into the bathroom and I went to check on them and this is what I saw. Fortunately, Elmo did not have an accident. Whew!

Spencer loves drawing "smiling faces" and he created this masterpiece in our driveway. He was so proud and so cute!

CHEESE!!!

This is Preston painting a pumpkin for Halloween. I told him to smile and boy did he ever!

A Winter's Morning

This was the first snow of the season. As soon as the boys woke up in the morning, they both said "Let's make a snowman!" So Nate went out before church and made their wish come true. The snowman lasted for a solid 3 hours before it turned into nothing but a black hat and carrot laying in the grass.

A Walk to Remember...

As our family and friends know, our baby girl Addelyn was stillborn on August 30th. On October 11th we went to an event for families who have lost babies called "A Walk to Remember". It is an event to remember those babies who have passed away and we take a walk around the park in honor of the steps our babies will never take. After the walk, each person gets a balloon (pink or blue, depending on whether they lost a boy or a girl). Then as each babies' name is read, the family of that baby releases their balloons. This first picture is of some of the group walking around the park. And the second picture is of some of those balloons being released.