Jimmy Turns 9

Jimmy turned 9 yesterday!  Can't believe how old he's getting.  He'll always be my itty-bitty baby boy, my five-pounder.  When I brought him home from the hospital, he was 4 lbs. 14 oz., and I was so scared to take him home.  He practically fit in the palm of my hand. 

 

Jason had a derm conference at Big Sky this weekend, an amazing ski resort about 45 minutes from here.  So we joined him, celebrated Jimmy's birthday, and skied.  The boys snowboarded.  We even got Christie into some skis.  It was a lot of fun.  But did we ever freeze or what?  We are babies.  I quit by lunchtime.  I was so cold.  But it was great fun anyway.

 

Happy Birthday, Jimmy.  We love you.

 

Last Week and Weekend

It's Monday morning.  Time to report on all that happened last week and weekend.  It was kind of a lot, which is weird, because seriously our lives are sooooo boring.

 

Pinewood Derby for Jimmy.  We used Jacob's winning car from a few years ago.  Dad didn't have the time to put one together this year.  I don't know what happened.  But Jimmy was happy to oblige because he thought for sure the winning car would win again.  Wasn't the case.  But it's not the car, we determined.  It was the track.  Ha ha.

Christiana has the cutest little friends in this ward.  This is just one of them.  She's a doll.

All the Cub Scouts with their cars and awards.

Christie got a haircut and a new pink ball.  Happiness!

This is a picture Christie took of me.

At the haircut place ... sorry, these are kind of out of order.  Who cares.

We went to Billings for the weekend to take Jacob on his first temple trip to do baptisms for the dead.  Such an amazing day, I cannot even tell you.  Even better, he performed baptisms for family names.  I stood right at the font and watched and felt the spirit.  He did, too.  I could tell.  It was awesome.

We stayed with our friends, the Grahams.  We love their family so much.  They are family.  They're more than friends.  I tried on these nerdy glasses and Christie took another picture of me.

Then Jana and I had a girls night.  I got my haircut from her #1 trusted stylist who fit me in last-minute.  Yep, I got my bangs back.  We then went shopping and out to dinner.  Perfect evening.  I love this Jana-banana of mine.

 

Great week.  Great weekend.  Fun times.

Lately

Lately, we've just been hangin' around, enjoying some warmer weather.  Still cold but not deathly. 

Christiana made this little gem of a bouquet at preschool today.  The moment I saw it, I loved it.  I told her I loved it so much, I wanted her to place it on my nightstand next to my bed.  So there it rests now.  It's too darling.  I can tell she worked hard putting it together, too. 

Jimmy turns 9 in a few weeks.  Hard to believe.  He is the most adorable boy.  He is never unkind in any way toward any person.  Being the middle child, he gets "beat up" by both Jacob and Christie and he just takes it with a kind heart.  He has never been hurtful or mean.  An absolute angel in every way.

Jacob spoke in sacrament meeting yesterday -- his first time as the newest priesthood holder in our ward.  He did remarkably well.  Jason and I were astonished at his confidence and in his delivery.  We received many compliments afterwards.  Definitely another one of those proud-mom moments for me.  I've been having a lot of those lately.

A Sunbeam! A Sunbeam!

This little girlie-pie started Primary today.  She's in the Sunbeams-A class.  Since there are two dozen or so Sunbeams, they had to make an A and a B class.  Jimmy reported back to us that during opening exercises and sharing time, Christiana sat perfectly still with her arms folded.  He said she even knew some of the songs.  And that when she walked to class, she folded her arms and walked reverently.  I was so happy for the good report and happy that Jimmy was keeping his eyes on his little sister.

 

And today was also Jacob's first day of passing the sacrament as a deacon.  He did a great job and even passed to our row!  So we got to wink at him.  I could tell he was feeling grown-up and confident and proud.  Not a bad thing to be.  Yesterday I bought him a new white shirt and a navy/red striped tie.  He looked very handsome and "old."  I had such righteous pride for him.

So blessed to have the family I have.  So happy to be a mother to these little darling dears.

P.S. This pink dress Christie is wearing was purchased by her Grandma Joan.  We love it.

Christmas

Such a fun Christmas and, yes, we went to St. George again.  We have the most boring vacation plans but being with Grandma and Grandpa is Priority #1 at this point in our lives.  The kids love it and Jason and I get to really relax.

 

On Christmas Eve, we toured the temple grounds and took in all the sights and sounds.

 Here are all the presents under the tree, after Santa made his delivery!

 Christmas morning was a two-hour-long present-opening-fest.  We took our time.  Every year we get way too much from Santa.  He just needs to cool it next year.

 Even Scout got a present this year!  (Doggie biscuits!)

 Jimmy's "pile."

 This is actually my favorite picture.  Grandpa and Christie both got new slippers.  Hee hee!

 And Christie got butterfly wings.  Grandpa didn't get any of those.

 But I think my most favorite memory of all -- out of all the GREAT times we had -- was hiking with my boys.  These pictures were taken when we were all together as a family, but the following day, Jason and I took Jacob and Jimmy and just climbed and hiked for a few hours.  It was amazing.  Gorgeous weather, scenery, and big, red rocks everywhere to climb.  Loved that the most, I think.

There's Jason and the boys way up at the top.

We had a great visit and a wonderful Christmas.  New Year's was horrid.  I spent some time in the ER from food poisoning so I was half-dead for about two days.  But we drove home safely and now I'm feeling a lot better.  Still not 100% but better than I was.

We're happy to be home but we are definitely missing our time in St. George with family and all the fun we had.  Happy New Year!  2014!

My First Baby

  This picture was taken about a month after Jacob was born.  My first baby.  I was 25 and it really feels like a long time ago.  We were living in El Paso.  Jason was in the Army working as a pathologist.  We'd been married only a year and four months.  I had had a baby!  I didn't know what I was doing.  I was happy and scared and nervous and in love and worried and overjoyed all the same. 

   Today Jacob, my first baby, turns 12.  He's receiving the Aaronic Priesthood and becoming a young man.  It makes my heart happy to see him grow up into a wonderful person.  He truly is special in so many remarkable ways.  It also makes me a tiny-bit sad to see this little newborn in my arms and wonder why it went so fast.  And where did the time go?  And why must he grow up at all? 

  But I'm so proud of who he is and so proud that he's my little son.