I'm so thankful for all my blessings.

I've been reminded a lot in the last couple of days how blessed I am and how precious life is. We have seen how quickly your life can be turned upside down and what is truly important. On Thursday, some good friends of ours had a baby. They knew ahead of time of the complications that the baby had and that the prognosis was not very good. When he was born, it seemed like things were going better than expected and that even though things could change quickly, it appeared he would be able to beat the odds. Today the doctors found bleeding on the brain and knew they would not be able to do more for him and the decision was made to take him off life support. I can't imagine how they must be feeling right now. My heart aches for them and the pain they are suffering.

Another good friend just had her (almost) 4yr old nephew diagnosed with Leukemia. Nick and I were talking about how devastated we would be if we got the news one of our children had cancer. Thinking about all of this made me appreciate my boys so much more tonight. I just left the dishes and the rest of the kitchen in a mess and spent the night playing with them. It was good for all of us to just play basketball and read and tickle and laugh and play sleeping beauty and the handsome prince and just appreciate that they are healthy and happy. I hope I will be less likely to complain when they are so active.

On Saturday night we received a call that Nick's dad had a heart attack. When we went and saw him at the hospital, it seemed like it had been a pretty minor one and he would be going home the next day after a few tests. Well today we found out that 5 of his arteries are 90 percent blocked and he will be having major bypass surgery tomorrow.

These last few days have really made me take stock of everything good in my life. I am so blessed!!

A little piece of heaven

For Christmas, Nick gave me a set of fleece sheets. If you like cozy warm beds, I highly recommend getting some. It's like being wrapped up in a combination of hot chocolate, a fireplace, a new sweatshirt, slippers, a new robe...all things comforting!

Not much to look at but she sure could kiss!

We've had a hard couple of days. Last Thursday, we had to put our cat Callie to sleep. We could tell that she was not doing super great--she was even more skinny than normal, but she seemed to be doing okay. Then last Wednesday she just seemed to crash and it was like her body was shutting down. We finally decided it was time to take her in. Even though we knew it was time, it was still so hard. We have had her for about 12 years and she was such a sweet cat--even though most people didn't even know we had her--she was very timid and would hide if anyone was here. I will sure miss her sitting on my lap every night as I stay up way too late playing on the computer.

She loved to lick hair (not so much mine since it was too long)

And when she wanted to lick you, she would stand up and grab you!

Coaching pays off!

A couple of nights ago, Sam made my day when he started saying "mama mama mama" I know he has no idea that he is saying my name, but it still tickles me pink!! I've always heard that kids usually say Dad first, but both of my boys said my name first. I feel loved!

My first New Years resolution shot to hell!!

So yeah, I was really going to try and do a better job of updating the blog more frequently. But we are still in Jan, so there is still hope for a better year!

The holidays were great. We spent almost a week in Parowan which was very relaxing, but not restful by any means. We ended up staying up way too late each night playing games or talking with family. It was great having my brother Kyle and sisters Paige and Chalise there. We were also able to spend some time with friends, but it is never enough time! I think that I am now ready to cut the apron strings a little and we will start celebrating Christmas at our home (it will be the 1st time away from Parowan). I just think I want to start our own family traditions. But I have a whole year to prepare for that moment right???

New Years Eve was a lot of fun. We spent it with 4 other families in our ward and just had a bunch of yummy food and played some games. The best part was bringing the boys home early with a couple of the older kids so we could go back and play. Love the child free time!!!

Things are going alright here. Sam finally got his first tooth on New Years Day and his 2nd is ready to break through any day now. Both boys have been sick for awhile with the runny nose, cough, sneeze thing....oh yeah, they are ornery too!

Nick got a promotion at work and is now heading up a new service at the bank which is sometimes referred to as Premire Banking. Basically he is in charge of taking care of the top customers the bank has. He has been promoted faster than anyone in his department. EVER. I'm so proud of my honey!!

Here are some pictures of the highlights of the last month!

Sam having his first chat with Santa. Notice Sam's long hair?? Let me tell you about the conversation that happened at our house that night after the kids were in bed.....

Nick: "Oh Michelle, you are so observant"

Me: "What, did you get your hair cut today?"

Nick: "No, I didn't"

Me: "Did you cut Sam's hair tonight?" (I had been visiting teaching)

Nick: "Yes, and you didn't even notice, so you can't give me a hard time about not noticing things".

*****Slience******

Me: "So you cut my babies hair for the first time without me. Did you take any pictures?"

Nick: "No"

Me: "Did you save any hair?"

Nick: "Umm....no"

Me: Hmmmm (which was NOT said in a happy tone of voice)

Nick: "I'm so sorry, it is still in the garbage, let me go look for you. I know I can find some under the spaghetti that you threw out. I just know I can find some, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..." grovel grovel :-)

Nick has now learned that you NEVER do any of the firsts without me present with the camera!

Seth decorating his first Gingerbread house.

Giving the Wise Men a ride on the ferris wheel. I'm sure it was a first for them.

We acted out the Nativity scene on Christmas Eve. I was Mary and Sam was a little lamb (we had to improvise with a couple of the costumes....)

Nick was Joseph and my nephew Kimball was baby Jesus.

Seth was a shepherd and my niece Myra was the angel. She loves playing dress-up with all of our old dance costumes and she was so excited to be the angel.

The kids with their new pajamas on Christmas Eve.

Seth was so excited about his new "Big Thomas".

Sam actually had fun unwrapping a few presents.

Our little Jedi Seth-Wan-Kanobi

My gals!!! When I lived in Cedar we had a tradition of making Chinese food on New Years Eve and since we wouldn't be there this year, we had to do it a little early. Great times!

Can you tell who likes Nutella? And really, who doesn't?