Merry Christmas!

Things have been a bit crazy for the past couple of weeks! I will try not to bore you with too many details, but here are a few highlights from the last week or so. One of the many family traditions during Christmas time is to make my family's famous English Toffee and Caramels. In fact, I'm not quite sure how many generations, but I think the recipes go back to at least a great-great Grandmother. Since this can be a timely process, Taylor decided to cooperate and go down for some 2 hour naps which gave me the span of time needed to make a batch. It just makes me feel a little closer to my mom when I know that she's doing the same thing around the same time.

Then my mom and sister arrived on Saturday. Ashley hadn't met Taylor yet so it was a very special meeting. I decided to leave Taylor at home with Dustin so that I could park and help my mom and sister with all of their luggage since they're staying for two weeks (and I know how they travel). I have never seen them so disappointed to see me when they stepped off the plane. and they didn't see Taylor. I guess I know where I fall in the line of priorities.

On Sunday, Dustin's mom's side of the family had their Christmas party. We had the very special opportunity to be visited by Santa! Apparently our friend Mark is one of Santa's helpers and he graced us as Santa that evening. When Taylor sat on his lap he let us know that he can understand baby talk. According to Santa, Taylor wants her mom to forgo her Sugar Bowl Tickets so that her dad can bring one of his friends (interesting...) and she wanted her daddy to win the League Old School Fantasy Football Championship that weekend. Well Santa made one of those wishes come true, but the second one is definitely not happening! (Maybe next time Mark!)

Taylor on Santa's lap.

On Monday, we decided to do a Service Project. My aunt works at St. Joseph's Villa on the wing for the long care patients who will pretty much stay there until they die. Apparently, some of those people don't get too many visitors so we tied some fleece blankets and got some family and friends together and sang Christmas carols room to room. There were 11 kids and 2 babies and even a dog. I was so impressed with each one of the kids. So many of the people were touched telling us how special it was and for some the very best Christmas ever. One woman was blind and although she couldn't see the kids, she mouthed the words to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as the children sang. Everyone had a great time. I was one that refused to sing seeing as how no one would want to hear my voice, but I was brought to tears so many times, I couldn't help but join in and sing along too.

Taylor was joining in on the caroling and visiting fun.

Dinner at Lugano's on Tuesday with the Tate side of the family.

Bryson and Taylor and Tate and Allie. Taylor may not smile for the camera yet, but at least she is looking up!

Christmas Eve and Christmas were both just great days to spend time with family and eat spectacular food. (There's nothing like Prime Rib with horseradish and sauteed mushrooms, twice baked potatoes, salad and asparagus with Hollandaise sauce... yum!) Grandma spoiled Taylor this year so it will be very interesting once she actually understands what's going on around her.

It was a great past couple of days with family and friends. This is my absolute favorite holiday. I feel so blessed that I could share it with Dustin, Taylor, my mom and sister and Dustin's family as well. This has just been a great time to reflect not only on the birth of our Savior, but the amazing life that he led and the sacrifice that he made for each one of us. We have so much to be grateful for and so many blessings to rejoice in. Below are just two of my many!

Happy Birthday!!!

Of course this is late, but I had to wish my sweet husband a very Happy Birthday! Unfortunately he has been under the weather this weekend so it doesn't make for a very happy birthday, but he's hanging in there. It was a little uneventful, but after the year we've had, I think that uneventful is just great. I was telling Dustin the other day that six months ago, neither one of us would have dreamed that we would have been blessed with a baby before his 32nd birthday.

I just want to say that I love Dustin so much and there is no way that I could have endured the last year without him by my side. He has been so positive and so patient with me through all of the frustrastions and let downs. There is no one in this world that I would have rather made this journey with than him. And now we feel more blessed than we could have ever imagined! Who better to celebrate all of this joy than him!

In addition to the birthday cheers for my hubby, my husband and mother share the same birthday... I'm sure that there is some Freudian meaning behind that, but I'm not going there. I just want to tell my mom that she is the very best mom in the world. I think back to that first week with Taylor and I would have been up a creek if she wasn't there just knowing what to do and how to handle my out of control emotions and complete disorganization that week. She has sacrificed so much for me and for Ashley and she has been the best example for the mother that I want to be with my children.

I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such a wonderful family and I can hardly wait to celebrate this Christmas with some of my very favorite people in the world.

Another Niece

I'm a little behind (as always), but on Tuesday, December 2nd, our niece Allie came into the world around 3pm weighing 7 lbs 6 ounces and measuring at about 21 inches long. She has a head full of black hair, just like her mommy (Dustin's sister). Although when you look at her face there is a little bit of her daddy in there, she just has a lot of her mommy.

We were able to go to the hospital on Tuesday just about an hour or so after she was born and she is just beautiful! We love her so much! So now Taylor has two girl cousins... one that is 2 months older and one that is 3 months younger. Hopefully they all don't get into too much trouble as they get older. Congratulations Lindsay and Tim!!!!

Bryson holding his cousin as we wait for Lindsay to move in to the maternity section of the hospital...

Of course I didn't pull the camera out when we were with Allie because apparently I was just too excited to see her and hold her so we went back to the hospital on Friday night so I made sure to pull out the camera. When we got there, the lady at the hospital who does the newborn pictures was taking pictures of Allie. For any of you that know Lindsay, it was no surprise that she Allie had to do a few outfit changes for the newborn pictures. It made me think back to Taylor's first couple of days in the hospital, and t is so funny for me to think of how different my mindset was. Taylor's her birth mom got newborn pictures taken at the hospital, but to be honest I don't think I ever saw the pictures nor thought twice about them. I had to make sure just to get an outfit to take her home in so that she didn't have to go home in the hospital's white long-sleeved shirt and swaddled in a hospital blanket. :)

The second meeting of Allie and Taylor

Aunt Jamie holding her precious new niece

One of these days Taylor will ham it up for the camera, but apparently she still has no interest in doing so. What's crazy to me is that Allie is even bigger than what Taylor was when we brought her home. This was the very first time when I actually thought that Taylor looked big!

So on a totally unrelated note since I am actually on the computer, I wanted to make sure to capture Taylor at her very first Jazz Game. Unfortunately her good luck from the Utah football games wore off and the Jazz lost to Miami but she was an angel through the entire game. I think she really loves the lights and she's already become a people watcher at her early age!

Goooooo Jazz!

Happy Thanksgiving (a few days late)

I always seem to be a day late and a dollar short, but I just wanted to recap my Thanksgiving and just highlight a few of the many things that I am grateful for. This weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to go up to Dustin's Family Cabin in Fairview which is just 2 hours away. We went up Thursday morning and came back Saturday. Even though it was short, it was nice to get away and spend some time with family. I made up my Praline Sweet Potatoes and headed up. Although it's amazing how an almost 3 month baby triples the amount of things that you can't leave home without. This is a very new experience for both Dustin and I.

Taylor with her cousin Mia whom she finally got to meet. (Only two months apart, can you believe it?)

The cutest nephews in the whole world (Bo, Bryson and Tate) making their scary faces for Uncle Dustin.

On Friday night we went to a light parade near the temple in Manti... so cute and so fun! The kids got excited to Santa on top of the fire truck!

Quique was very mad that we went four wheeling without her so we had to be sure to take her on a ride of the souped up golf cart. She loves having the wind blow in her face, no matter how cold it is.

Dustin and I had some time to talk on the way home from the cabin and we are just amazed at what 2008 has brought us. It started out to be a really rough year, not only with the miscarriage, but other things we were going through at the time and despite it all, it ended up being the very best year and made us realize just how much we had been blessed with.

I am grateful for:

Dustin - I can't believe this is our 7th Thanksgiving as a married couple. The holiday season definitely brought us some stress the first couple of years, but I look at how much both of us have grown over these years and that I love him so much more every day (well almost everyday.. love you honey). He constantly makes me want to be a better person and I have seen such a sweet and sensitive side come out with Taylor in our lives.

Taylor - As I have said before, she is our gift from God. She is smiling all of the time and I love her so much. My life has made a 180 since she came to us three months ago and I wouldn't want it any other way. My mom always told me that the love for your children will be different than anything else and I am seeing that more and more every day! But I can't be grateful for Taylor without being grateful for her birth mom Jami. Without her, we wouldn't have been given the most amazing blessing in our life. She sacrificed so much and did one of the most Christ-like things that anyone on this earth can do. She is in our prayers every night and she deserves to blessed with all that she desires.

Quique - I know that she's a dog, but she is full of love and fun and I just love her like she is my child. She was my baby when I didn't have one and she cuddles with me and loves everybody, especially dogs and little kids. She has the cutest personality of any dog I have ever met and she fills my life in so many ways.

My family - My mom and sister are coming in a couple of weeks and I am like a giddy child waiting to open her gifts for Christmas. It's so hard that they don't live near me, but I love them so much. My mom is my greatest example of sacrifice and love. She is a role model for me as to the mother I can only hope to be. My sister is my very best friend. She is so much of what I am not. She is courageous and carefree, yet she has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. I'm sad that I only see my Dad maybe once a year or so, but I love hearing about all of the new recipes he has come up with. My dad can fix anything and he is one of the most creative people that I know. I always had the best when it came to my dad, whether it was a synchro stage or swim-suit or a graduation all nighter. He always got involved in all that I did. Thanksgiving just isn't the same when I don't have my family to share it with. But I am so grateful to them for all of the memories they have given me to treasure year after year.

My in laws - It's nice to have some of my family close and I am so grateful that they have just taken me in as their own and love me so much. I am so blessed to be so loved and to be given so much from my in laws. My life wouldn't be full if I didn't have my nephews and now my niece and soon to be nieces. I was laughing all weekend at everything that they were doing. I am sure it will come back to bite me one of these days, but sometimes I can't help but laugh!

My friends - They are my rocks. I could never have gotten through these past two years without them. I have been lacking in the friends department since I moved out to Utah, but I am grateful for my friends that have moved away from UT (Autumn) or that I have moved away from (my swimming and high school friends) and I am grateful for my neighbors who have become some of my very best friends.

My faith - The gospel has gotten me through so much in my life and it has given me the opportunity to work with some amazing people that have impacted my life forever. I am grateful for the teachings as to how to live my life and for all of the many ways that it blesses my life and gives me the faith and strength I need to constantly move forward and progress.

The list could go on and on, but these are the staples of my life. I am who I am because of the list above, well at least the good parts. I am fully responsible for the not so good parts...