The Nativity

Here are some photos from our nativity program on Christmas Eve. We had a good time dressing up and reading the Christmas story from the scriptures. The kids enjoyed getting to be a part of the program as key characters. A reluctant baby Jesus! Guess we underestimated Gavin's size! Shepherds and a baby sheep with red fleece!
A posing Joseph!

A very excited Mary!

Samuel the Lamanite
and
Gabriel
Three wise men

I am an Aunt on Christmas Eve!

My sister Natalie had her baby this morning! Little Savannah Thornton was 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long. I am so excited for those two! We are so relieved that everything went well. Maya has been really stressed about Natalie's baby dying, so we are extremely grateful that all is well! We will be going down there tomorrow to see her so I will post some pics later! *Update!* Here are some cute pictures of her! Look at all that cute hair!

Special Children on Christmas Eve

When we got up this morning, the kids asked me what we were doing today. One of the things on our list was going up to the cemetary and taking a tree to Dylan's grave. On Sunday the primary had the kids make a little treat of hershey kisses to give to someone they love this week. While at breakfast Maya asked, "Mom, would it be ok if I gave my treat to Dylan?" I of course told her that that would be very nice. I was really touched that she would think of her brother as a member of people that she loves. Kaitlyn asked a few questions about heaven so we talked a little about where Dylan was. Maya the said, "Don't worry mom, Jeus is there too and he loves Dylan, he will take care of him. And if he is too busy President Hinckley is there too, and I know he loves Dylan too." I have to thank God for children. They know so much more than we do about so many things. They just get it! I don't know what I would do without my Maya. She is so special. She will definitely be a rock that this family can lean on.
Since we have been talking more about Dylan and including him in things, the kids have been doing a lot better. The fears have started to fade. The other day I was talking to my mom about being worn out and she said it was because I had three children. Maya came in to the room and said, "No Lola, she has four children!" I am happy that she knows she and all the other children will always be loved and will always be a part of this family.
This picture of my "sitting" Gavin is sooooo precious!

A Huge Relief!

Brian's sister Shalee got married on Thursday. That means that everyone on my side of the family and Brian's side are married! If you have small children you totally get that an all day wedding is like a nightmare! Plus, I was really sick the day before and I still wasn't feeling very good the day of. We barely made it there because we drove up from Utah the morning of the wedding. The kids were quite well behaved and they all looked adorable in their red clothing. Gavin didn't like taking pictures as can be seen by his bottom lip stuck out. Everything worked out nicely though and we survived the day.
Daddy and Gavin!
It just makes things really nice all around now that everyone is married because no one is left out when we try to do couple things. We only have two other siblings with kids at the moment, so lots of kids still to come. Natalie is due any day now with her first, and my sister Lindsay is pregnant with her second. Things are moving along pretty nicely!
While we were there we got to spend time with family again. This picture is of Gavin and his second cousin Porter.
Porter is 3 days older than Gavin! Hopefully we continue to live close so they can be buds! Maya, Kaitlyn, and Porter's sister Macy are already good friends so it is fun for them to visit.

Happy Anniversary!

Wow! I can't believe Brian and I have been married for seven years! It definitely does not seem that long. I have known him for ten. When I think of all the things that we have been through together, I am reminded of how grateful I am for Brian. I don't think there is anyone else on this planet that could have been there for me like he has been, especially this year.
I look at our wedding pictures and think of how nieve we were. If I knew all the things that were going to happen to us as a couple and family would I still have said,'yes'? I definitely would have. I wouldn't trade all the incredibly wonderful times we have had together. I love that our anniversary is around Christmas. I just love Christmas! My Christmas wish is that everyone be as lucky in love as I have been. I found that perfect person for me. I am grateful everyday that I chose to go to USU against everyone's wishes, otherwise I may not have met him. It's weird to think back on those years and how simple we lived. Life used to be so easy! Sometimes I wish that my eyes were not so open to the reality of mortality. But, there is no other person that I would rather spend mortality and eternity with. I hope there are many more anniversarys to come!

Like Father Like Daughter?

Because Brian has Muscular Dystrophy he has a hard time bending over and then trying to get back up, so he usually picks things up off the floor with his feet. He also opens drawers that are closer to the floor with his feet as well. Then he doesn't have to figure out a way to get back up. If he does bend over he usually has one hand on something solid that can bare his weight so he can push himself back up. Today I was helping Kaitlyn get dressed and she put her foot on the bottom drawer and opened the drawer with her foot! Then proceeded to grab a pair of pants while holding the top of the dresser to support herself! I wish I would have had a camera. We always talk about the fact that the kids don't know any different because Brian has always been this way, but it never occurred to me that they would think it was normal behavior! I guess if that's all they pick up from Brian, maybe we are doing good.

Just to let you know

Just letting you know that I set up a blog for Dylan. You can read more about him and what happened there. The link is on the side below the twins' picture titled "Dylan's Story."

An Eventful Day

Yesterday was crazy busy. It seems like everything is always scheduled on the exact same day! In the morning we went to a Christmas party put on by the MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association) in Utah. We haven't been able to go in the past. Many of you know that Brian has Muscular Dystrophy. People always think he has MS, that is not the same thing. It was interesting to go to this event and see all the different tolls it takes on families. It definitely made me feel really blessed in my life because some of the children there with Muscular Dystrophy will not live to be adults. Brian's form is relatively mild and he will not ever die from it. Santa came so the girls got to sit on his lap. Of course they were ecstatic about that. Gavin slept through his first encounter with Santa!

Then we went to Walmart so the girls could buy gifts for their angel tree picks. We decided as a family to use the money we would have spent buying gifts for Dylan and we bought toys for kids in need. Maya and Kaitlyn both got to pick a child off the angel tree. It made all of us feel really good to be giving back, especially in Dylan's name.
Then we went to the Mortuary that helped us with Dylan's funeral because they put up a memorial tree in their front room, and you can hang an ornament for your loved one that has passed away. We picked out an ornament for Dylan to hang on the tree. It is a silver angel that says,"Each man's life touches so many others." which is perfect for our family.
Dylan definitely touched our lives and the lives of so many around us. It was a nice tribute.
Brian got tickets from work to go to the USU vs. BYU game. We had second row seats at the Energy Solutions Arena. Many of you know that we went to Utah State University, and that we are anti-BYU. So we got dressed up in our Aggie gear and went to the game. We were surrounded by BYU fans of course, but the Aggie fans greatly outnumbered BYU even though it was a much further drive for them. That's one of the things I love about USU. There are no fans like Aggie fans. Even the ESPN people covering the game will tell you that. So I was a maniac at the game. The people behind me were diehard BYU so they were pissed off at me! It was pretty awesome. I just ignored them and yelled all kinds of crap! Then when I stand up, I am taller than them all so they can't see! It was awesome! They talked lots of smack, but didn't confront me directly. I think that was because of Gavin. Whatever they yelled, I yelled the opposite. USU lost, but it was a good game. The fact that USU can keep up with BYU is kind of embarrassing for BYU since BYU is 3 times the size of USU, but we have had a good team for many years. It was fun to get to go to the game. GO AGGIES! I made my Aggies proud! Gavin in his cute Aggie gear!

Look Familiar?

So Gavin looks identical to Kaitlyn. It is a little creepy actually! They look so much alike. Even Kaitlyn mistakes pictures of her for Gavin. It's a good thing that they are different genders because I would probably get their pictures mixed up! These pictures are both taken at six months. Obviously, Kaitlyn is a little more advanced than Gavin since she is sitting in the picture and Gavin barely sits up in my lap!

Halle-freakin-lujah!!!

Gavin finally slept through the night! I am sure it is a farce and it will not keep happening, but it was a very pleasant surprise this weekend! He only gets up once at night anyways, but to go the whole night was awesome. I don't even remember the last time I got a full night of sleep. It was a very thankful Thanksgiving!
We took down our thankful leaves to put up Christmas. It was nice to be reminded that there are still things to be thankful for in the wake of unhappy times. Plus, it gave the girls a chance to think of new things to be thankful for in their prayers!
We had two Thanksgivings this weekend. We had one at my parents and then we drove up to Idaho and spent one with his family. It was nice since it had been almost 6 years since we had been at either family's for Thanksgiving. We did both because Brian's sister had a bridal shower over the weekend, otherwise I would not venture to try and do both!!! We had a good time, but we are all worn out! Here is us at Leo's place hanging out!
Classic Kaitlyn face!