It's Been a Long Time

Life had been getting pretty comfortable around our house.  All the kids are in school.  It's been years since I've regularly gotten up with children in the middle of the night or changed diapers.  I have been finding more time for myself and even rediscovering I have a few hobbies.  (Okay, one slightly insane and very time consuming hobby but a hobby nonetheless.)  However, there are times when I look at my kids and my heart aches missing how they were when they were little.  I don't know how I can watch Andrew pass the sacrament and be so proud and sad at the same time that he is growing up.  Christmas is one of those times that bring back so many memories of fun little toddler boys running around  thrilled about a new toy train or puzzle.  Every day I give Kaitlyn a hug and wish I could freeze her because I think kindergarten is the perfect age!  But as much as I don't like it, there is absolutely nothing I can do about time marching on and everyone getting older, including myself.

So with all these feelings we are excited and nervous to welcome a new baby to our family in June!  Six years is a long time to forget.  In a way I feel like when we were expecting Andrew and everything was new and surprising.  Six years is long enough to forget how miserable morning sickness is and how much I really hate being pregnant and not feeling like myself.  It's enough to forget the emotional roller coaster that comes along with it and Jason's perplexed looks of "how can you be crying when you were so happy just a few minutes ago?"  I've forgotten how long forty weeks can really be.  How come it seems to go so fast for everyone else?  I watch all the serious runners out working hard on their new years resolutions while I have had to accept the role of a jogger just trying to get a little exercise.  Some days I simply wonder if I am going to live to see the end of this because like I said, I'm not as young as I used to be!  Mostly I have to try to remember that in a few months when I hold my baby I won't care anymore and it will all be worth it because right now that is really hard to believe.

Keep posted because next week is my ultrasound.  Jason has been trying to convince me to not find out what this is but I really believe he doesn't have as much of a say as I do and I want to find out.

Christmas 2011

This picture was actually taken as the kids were coming down the stairs to see what Santa brought.  Jason insisted they stop and pose for a picture.  Can you tell by the look on Kaitlyn's face that she is really just dying to rip around the corner and see what's in the other room?  I guess I should have followed Jason's example and made them pose a few more times because at the end of the day I realized the camera sat on top of the piano unused most of the day.  Oh well... It was a fabulous Christmas and everyone was very spoiled.

Holiday Fun

It's been a busy month with lots of fun Christmas activities.  Here are some recent pictures.

Kaitlyn was my best helper in the kitchen.

Having fun making sugar cookies.

The Salt Lake Temple

Enjoying the lights at Temple Square.

Andrew and Jared had their first piano recital the week before Christmas.  They were really nervous but did a great job!  It was amazing to see how far they have both come in only six months!  Their recital was at the Eccles Community Art Center.  It is a beautiful house that has been restored in downtown Ogden and it was all decorated for Christmas.  They even got to perform on a concert size Steinway piano!

At the family Christmas party Kaitlyn was thrilled to see Santa.  The boys weren't quite so excited until they realized he was giving Lego's to all the boys.

Thanksgiving

When I was starting to recover from the jet lag a few days after we arrived home I was a little panicked to realize that Thanksgiving was only a week away and I had offered to host Jason's family a few months before.  Thanks to everyone's help bringing food I was able to pull it off.  As always it was a day of too much wonderful food and lots of good company.

Construction Finally Done!

We arrived home from the airport just in time to see our finished construction project in the backyard and shoot the first hoops with the kids.

Brazil: Day 9

Sunday, Nov. 13th was our last day in Brazil and although I loved being there it was time to go home.  I missed the kids so much!  Before we got on the plane though we had a full day.  Moises picked us up and we went with his family in Ipiranga where Moises was living when he was baptized.  Things had changed a lot but Jason enjoyed seeing some of the people he knew.

Some of the members in Iparanga

Joao Cicero, his wife Marta and their daughter Carolina.

The church in Ipiranga

Moises, Eliane, Natalia and Pamela.  A wonderful family we were privileged to spend the week with!

Dinner at Moises and Eliane's.  She made us Brazilian pancakes (more like an enchilada than our pancakes.)

One more stop before the airport.  Alvaro Alves, Josilma, Vivian, Renan, Rogerio, Lehi, and Gustavo.

Jason baptized Omar and after all week trying to meet up with him we were finally able to see him at the airport before we left.

Brazil: Day 8

The day before we flew home we spent the day with Bira and his family.  First we went to their home and ate lunch.  Here's a picture of Bira, his wife, Marlene, and their daughter.

Bira and his wife took us to Campas do Jordao.  It is a mountain town settled by the Swiss.  It was high up in the mountains and we were surprised by how cool it was.  After spending all week in shorts and t-shirts we had to bundle up in jackets there.  The town was beautiful and very different from the rest of Brazil.  It seemed like we had left Brazil and walked into a European city.  First we went to a palace at the top of the town that had been built as a resort home for the governor of Sao Paulo.

With a guard in front of the palace.

A view of the palace from the outside.

On the grounds of the palace.

Here are some other pictures of the town.  It was a beautiful town all decorated for Christmas!