Sweet Baby Smiles

Some of you may know that Jody and I tried pretty hard to consider our family complete after Kutter was born. We've always been so glad that we decided to go ahead and have another -- Brielle is such a joy. It really hit me today, though, when I was trying to catch this picture of her clapping (her latest discovery) that Heavenly Father must have known that I would need her sweet, joyful smile in my life right now. It's impossible to look at that face and not be reminded that Heavenly Father always has a plan, and it's always the right one!

Trayson's Christmas Wishes

I didn't want to copy Michelle, but I just couldn't resist posting this. Call me a vain mom, but I just can't help thinking my kids are adorable sometimes! Forgive the spelling, but I wanted to copy it verbatim -- you can tell he didn't have any help, because he didn't even ask how to spell one word!

dear Santa, MOM and dad

Santa List Just a fue Little toys, MOM i Just need love from you, dad i Just wont a freae day to play with you

Santa Just 1 more thing from you A transformer pleas

I guess Santa gets off pretty cheap this year!

Random thoughts and Christmas parties

So my last post was a bit of a downer, and it's taken me a few days to be able to imagine posting anything a bit brighter. I've decided to follow my sister's wonderful example and focus on all of the positives around us. Hayley has been such an amazing support through all of this. (Yeah, isn't it supposed to be the other way around?) I have always admired her, but I guess I never realized how truly strong she is. She is just amazing. I know she's had her moments, and there's probably more to come, but she keeps managing to pull it all together and it is truly inspiring to watch her helping us all cope with this devastating news. I can only assume that she can feel the tremendous support and the prayers that have all been shared on her and her family's behalf. Thanks to my friends for being part of that! People are always saying that we learn from our trials. So far I've learned that having friends you can laugh with is a joy, but having friends that you can cry with is truly a great blessing!

Last weekend we were able to go to the Wolfley family Christmas party. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to celebrate, but it turns out that all that Wolfley craziness was a big help. It's difficult to completley wallow when you're surrounded by 2 parents-in-law, 7 brothers-in-law, 7 sisters-in-law, one boyfriend, 12 kids, and one dog ---plus my family! It was pretty chaotic and that is just what I needed. They let me melt down a little bit, and then they did their best to distract me. Thanks, Wolfley clan, for all the crazy fun!

Trayson has been so excited to hang-out with cousins Dristan and Cayden. You can tell they are three of a kind!

Do you think it's possible that the real wise men were anywhere near as cute as my Kutter?

Nothing's sweeter than watching your kids take part in the nativity scene. Some took it so seriously (I'm pretty sure that Aliah BELIEVED that she was Mary there for a minute) some just couldn't stop smiling (Mostly Trayson and Kutter) but even the big kids got into it and we were all touched. It just never gets old!

Blind-sided

Yesterday started just like any other day--calm, kinda boring, nothing happenning--and then it felt like a mac truck came speeding right into us out of nowhere. Some of you may know that my brother-in-law, Travis, had cancer a couple of years ago. Yesterday was his two-and-a-half-year check-up and there wasn't a doubt in my mind that it would be a reason for celebration.

Reality check: His cancer is back in the worst way. I just do not know how to process this information. We love Travis so much and it's impossible to imagine him and his family going through this. At the moment, it is difficult to even write about. I just want to make it all better, and I can't. Hayley's family needs our prayers, so I am writing to ask all of you to please pray for them during this difficult time!

A Few Firsts

We had our first Christmas party of the season this weekend-- a kids' party for Jody's work. that meant Brielle's first-ever time to meet Santa Claus. I was worried. None of my kids have been huge fans of the big guy, but Brielle thought he was marvelous! She just grinned at him and went right for that beard. I wanted to get a better shot, but Santa was kinda lookin worried that he was gonna lose his beard in front of forty small children. !

Brielle loved getting presents, too, but she just loved them for the paper. I don't think there was a kid there more excited to get his gift than Kutter was!

We actually got enough snow for the kids to build a snowman! They were thrilled! The snowman looks pretty happy about it, too! I'm mad that I somehow missed getting pictures of the whole process, but they're pretty proud of their new friend!

Tree Trimmin'

Decorating the Christmas tree has to be one of my all-time favorite traditions. We usually do it for family home evening and it is often the first night of Christmas music playing in the background, hot chocolate with cool whip, and EVERYBODY getting along for that one sweet moment in time.

I think it's one of those rare Christmas moments that blend the "fun" parts of Christmas -- you know, spending too much money, gobby decorations, long wish lists, etc -- with the true spirit of the season. This year, as I watched the kids' eyes twinkling and listened to their excited laughter while decking our tree, it reminded me of one of my best "mommy moments" ever. Breje was four and Trayson was two, and the big controversy that year was that maybe "good" parents shouldn't emphasize the whole Santa part of Christmas. It was something I thought about a lot. I adore Christmas. Everything about it. I revel in it and had always planned on helping my kids do the same, but the latest mommy buzz was that Christmas as we have come to know it was teaching our kids to believe in something that wasn't real, or at least messing up their priorities some. I wondered if I should scale back a bit -- and then we decorated our tree.

Anyone that has children knows that joyous moments are plentiful, but joy with peace and contentment is a bit more rare. This was one of those nights. Breje just sparkled while Jody helped her place ornaments, and our just-barely-toddling Trayson hadn't yet figured out how to pull the darn thing apart. We giggled and sang Christmas carols and just reveled in holiday spirit. When Jody put the star on top Breje looked up and said, "I just feel so warm and happy inside!"
I had one of those little light-bulb-above-my-head moments and asked, "do you know what that is?"

"It means that I feel the spirit!" she replied. She was just glowing (but not as much as me!)

That's when it hit me that Christ wants us to celebrate His birthday! He wants us to laugh and sing and give gifts and, as long as we remember why we are doing that, we have our priorities in exactly the right place! A huge relief to me, and a wonderful reminder that the greatest gift that we can give our Savior, in memory of His birth, is to share His kindness and love with everyone around us. Merry Christmas!

I know! It's been forever since I blogged! I'm sure you've all missed me desperately! The worst part is that now I am forced to torture you with the longest post ever! I will try not to ramble -- it's mostly full of pictures that I just couldn't choose between. (Imagine that-- me not being able to make a decision!)

Our holiday was just full of so many good things! No one has ever had a better turkey dinner than the one my mom prepared! The turkey could've seriously done a backstroke in it's own juices -- i'm not exaggerating! My brother is the king of mashed potatos and there were more desserts there than people! A dream dinner for yours truly!

The day after was almost better, as my sweet husband agreed to watch most of the kids so that I could revel in my traditional shopping trip with my mom and sister! This is the first year that Breje really wanted to come too -- bad enough to get up at 7:00 to come with us!(no, we do not do 4:00 am!) What a treat! (We are always loads of fun when we have not slept at all and are on a sugar high!)

We were lucky that Heath and Kaycee decided to bless their sweet little girl on Sunday, so we got that in, as well. It's so great to be close enough to catch some of those moments! I forgot to get the camera out while she was still in her dress, but I did get a couple pics on another day!

You can probably tell that my very favorite part is watching all the sweet kids playing together! No pictures of juicy turkey or Hayley's perfect mini-cheesecakes, but I'm gonna have to thrill you all now with pictures of the most beautiful children that have ever existed! It's fun to see how much Simon adores Trayson -- to the point of dragging him around the kitchen by his shirt!

He loves Sienna, too, but it's not always so innocent! This hug is genuine, but the look on Sienna's face says it all!

Ady is 7 years younger than Breje, but they have the sweetest bond ever! I'm pretty sure this is 2:00 am, Thanksgiving morning. Eventually, Breje became the pillow!

Grandma Linda made this dress for Breje when she was about 4, and Ady was absolutely thrilled to try it on! She called it her princess dress and I thought we'd never get it back off of her. You can totally tell that she feels pretty!

Brielle caught a peaceful moment with Great Gram!

This was a fun discovery. Simon will listen to Trayson read for hours! It looks like they're the only two people in the world right now, and you can tell how much they are enjoying it!

A RARE moment when Sienna agreed to snuggle with uncle Jody!

This little guy has more sweetness in him than you would ever believe! His smile just melts my heart!

Jody trying hard to get Ryann to fall asleep. I think she tricked him!

Well, this one pretty much sums it up for me! This is joy!