Uncle Buck took our first family picture.

Our daisy dog is a funny girl.

Christmas was awesome this year. Bryant and I kept it simple with gifts for each other and Santa brought Harley clothes, books and of course, toys. That's all for now!

Love At Home

We've started to create a bedtime routine for Harley. So far it's bath, bottle, book, bed. She loves to look at the pictures and reach for the pages while we read to her. I love that she's so animated and noticeably interested in things. I can't believe how big she's getting. I completely understand the saying, "Don't blink or you'll miss it", and that's exactly how I feel.








Lately we've been coming home to an open door and a dog on the couch. Our sweet, and too-smart for-her-own-good Daisy has learned to let herself in when no one's home to do it for her. The day I took this picture I yelled pretty good at her. She was crushed and very sad and sorry. She walked up to Bryant with her head down and tail between her legs and when I came back this is how I found them. She really is a good girl.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas!

I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year. Having a family of my own definitely puts a new spin on the meaning of Christmas for me. Heavenly Father was completely aware long before Christ was born that one day his son, a humble babe in Bethlehem ,would be mocked and scorned. Bruised, beaten and finally suffer and die for His other children. How scared The Lord must have been. How proud and how sad to know He must watch and stand idly by when he could easily intervene. I can't fathom or even begin to wrap my head around it. I'm so grateful for this time to reflect and celebrate my Lord and his son, my brother my savior. Last Sunday we got to sing my favorite hymn, 'Abide with me.' Reading it definitely doesn't move me the way singing it does and it reaffirms to me the power the spirit has through song and the ability to give praise and celebrate this Holiday season through songs and carols.

Bryant, Harley and I had a lot of fun tree hunting. We had a hard time keeping track of the ones we liked so after at least a half an hour of finding and losing trees we thought were possibilities, we started pulling dead ferns and putting them on top! After our exhausting search we found a tree that was, as Mary Poppins would say, "practically perfect in every way." I told Bryant I really wanted to cut it down so got in the dirt and got busy. I'm pretty sure last years tree came down in less than two seconds so after sawing away in the freezing cold for about three minutes I didn't really want to cut it down any more! Bryant saved the day and after less than a minute (I'm sure because I got such a good start on it for him) TIIIMBERRRR!

Here are some random pictures since my last post. Harley's started laughing and giggling and squealing! She's becoming so animated. When Bryant plays with her she puts her hands all over his face. Sometimes she pushes him away but mostly she pulls him closer!

Thank you for Thanksgiving

I'm so excited for Thanksgiving this year, I have so many things to be thankful for. As a teenager I was a nice girl but definitely opinionated. My Mom would say much of that can be credited to my 3rd-6th grade teacher, Mr. Downey. He wore salmon pink polo shirts and jeans, with a short ponytail and glasses. He played Queen during reading time and threw starbursts at us when we answered questions correctly. When we had sore throats he let us suck on hard candy and he always let us decorate our room like a jungle or rain forest. I adopted a lot of his mannerisms being around him 7 hrs a day 5 days a week and to this day I write my eights using two circles instead of the traditional figure eight, like he did. I can only imagine how hard it was for my parents not to slap me silly for talking back so much. I'm thankful that growing up I was allowed to wear my jean skirt, hooded sweater and skater shoes to church. (I'm thankful that they curbed me but didn't completely shut me down.) I'm thankful for sisters that let me sleep in their beds, brought me home subway sandwiches to share after work, who on my birthday, away at a basketball tournament, bought me a stuffed animal so I new she didn't forget. I'm thankful to have been told to "go play outside" a time or to that developed my love for tree climbing and pine cone throwing and spear fern fighting. I'm thankful for brothers who let me ride their scooters, play legos and paint models. For tying my barbies to plastic garbage bags and throwing them off the sky bridge or balcony(convincing me the whole time it was a parachute and she'd be fine). I'm thankful for memories and laughter. For family, for fun. For Husband and daughters. For fast cars and the color brown. Mostly I'm thankful for a Heavenly Father who placed me in a family that I fit in perfectly. For a Savior who forgives me for all my imperfections and for the Spirit that helps me understand my feelings and untangles the questions in my mind. So mostly this post was a rambling of thoughts and thanks! And in the end I'm just Thankful for Thanksgiving !