A Happy Baby

Callie snapped this shot of Matthew smiling with the camera on her phone. Matthew is quite the smiley little guy these days. We are having lots of fun with him.

It's Christmas!

We had a fun Christmas this year. We had the added blessing of another baby in the family, our sweet baby Matthew. The biggest gift for our family is that we are all healthy and we have the gospel in our lives. Everything else is fun fluff.


Every year that we have lived here I take the same picture of the kids on Christmas morning. They all have to sit together at the top of the stairs so I can snap a little piece of history before they can come down for the morning fun. This year's picture is my new favorite because of the newest little head in the picture. Many people say 5 kids is a large family. I look at each one of those faces and simply can't imagine any of them not being here. (It makes me wonder if there are any faces missing.)

Matthew could have fit right in his stocking this year.

Ethan seemed pleased with his sugary loot.

Connor is equally pleased with his sock full of sugar.

Callie and Hannah are learning early that See's truly is a girl's best friend.

Amazingly, this is where Matthew stayed for the entire "gift-opening" portion of Christmas Day. He didn't even stir. He stayed asleep the whole time.

You can see Connor's new bike in the background. Now he can take a bike ride and not fall off his seat. I don't think the seat on his old bike had any tightening left in it.

Ethan chose this cute little hippo figurine for Hannah's gift. She loves it and keeps it on her dresser in her room.

I love to see happiness and smiling with all my kids in the same room and the same time. I wish it could be Christmas every day.

Ethan actually wrote on his wish list a Pokemon shirt. He probably knew that was the only way he would ever get one. Smart kid.

Matthew was completely underwhelmed by the excitement of the day. Happily we will have many, many more years of childlike wonder on Christmas Day with Matthew.

This was the other item that Ethan "really" wanted. What 8-year-old boy doesn't dream of owning his own night vision goggles?

Callie got her own camera this year. She really enjoys doing photo editing and posting her creations. She had been using my old camera that was in sad shape. I was glad to see her so happy.

We have been so blessed in our lives. I am thankful every day to my Heavenly Father for his hand in my life. I try to recognize his love for me in everything around me. I am profoundly grateful for the gift he gave to all of us. His Son. Without that ultimate gift there would be no purpose to our lives. I love my Savior for giving me his all. Because of him I can look at my children with an eternal eye. I can see them not only as my children here on this earth but as my dearest friends for eternity.

Christmas Tradition

As with many other families, one tradition we adopted is to make "gingerbread" houses at Christmas time. We use graham crackers so mom can stay "sane". I assemble the structure for them and then give each kid a bag of icing and let them do what they want. Hannah still needs a little help with the squirting of the icing, but she commands where every squirt goes. We always try to make it a fun time. I know the kids always look forward to this tradition, so consequently I do too.




Sorry the picture quality isn't the best. I didn't take as many pictures of the house building as I thought.

Ethan's Christmas Program

This year the third grade at Ethan's school put on a Christmas singing program. All the parents were invited to come at the end of the school day to see them perform the songs they had practiced. I was quite pleased to hear them singing some religious songs like "Silent Night". I thought that would be a big no-no these days.

We all waited for the children to come in to the multi-purpose room for the show. As they filed in I saw Ethan was placed on the top row. This was not a surprise because he is one of the taller kids in the grade. Unfortunately, they placed a girl who was even taller than him right in front of him. I didn't get to "see" him perform most of the show. Luckily, he did have a part to play in one of the songs. He was supposed to toss a ball up in the air when they sang a modified version of "The 12 Days of Christmas". The line was something about 7 playground balls. Everytime they got to the number seven he tossed the ball in the air. If not for the ball I would not have known he was back there.

Connor's First Band Concert

In mid-December we had the privilege of going to Connor's school to watch him participate in his first band concert. He decided to play the trumpet this year. I was actually a little worried because he had a solo part to play. I knew he rarely practiced the trumpet at home. As his turn approached to get up and play his part I crossed my fingers and hoped that he would do ok. Much to my surprise he did a great job. Sorry Connor for doubting. His part was just one line of 4 measures. I am pretty sure his was the LOUDEST solo of the night. He really gave it his ALL.

WONDERFUL NEWS!!

Matthew had his second cardiology appointment this morning. They did a heart echo today. The doctor had me undress him down to his diaper and he did basically an ultrasound of his heart. Matthew was very squirmy for most of the test but he didn't cry.

The results are that the hole he had between the bottom two chambers of his heart is closed. The hole between the top two chambers is still there but it's tiny. The doctor said that 25% of healthy adults have a hole there and it doesn't pose a problem. The best news of all is that the blood pressure in his lungs in NORMAL!! WOOHOO!! I am so thankful and relieved.

Thank you very much to all who have offered prayers and fasted on behalf of Matthew. I have no doubt that his excellent results are a blessing from Heavenly Father.

Candy Day 2008

I love candy day with my good friend Janette. We have made it a tradition to get together every year and make various candies for Christmas. It literally takes us from morning to night and we always end up with quite the caloric haul! Thank you Janette (and Jim) for making another fun candy day memory with me.

Janette, Me (Cynthia), and Callie

Fudge and Snowballs (the fudge goes in the middle of the snowball but we always have some left over, darn it!)

Snowballs (Fudge dipped in caramel and rolled in coconut)

Peanut clusters (Thank you Jim and Callie for making them so HUGE! Maybe a little more instruction next time might help.)
Also, Marshmallows half dipped in chocolate and topped with crushed Chick-o-sticks.

Jim and the kids (so in other words, the kids) made their usual chocolate lollipops.

Oreos dipped in mint-chocolate topped with crushed candy canes.

Christmas candy wouldn't be complete without English Toffee.

These ended up being a big hit with my family. They are rice krispie treats cubed and dipped in chocolate topped with holiday sprinkles.

More Rice Krispie Treats!

Caramel and chocolate dipped pretzel rods are always on our list.

Janette's famous and completely irresistible Swedish nuts. YUMMM!

At the end of the long day we scurry about dividing up the loot. I am always amazed at how much candy we manage to produce.

I look forward to many more years of fun candy making days with Janette. Thank you for being a great friend and game buddy.

YIKES!! TOO MANY POSTS!

I have fallen woefully behind on my blog posts. I have lots of pictures waiting for be loaded into my blog.

I will start with the most recent info to share because it's the easiest to post.

Matthew had his 2 month check-up yesterday. He now weighs a healthy 10 pounds 10 ounces! He is 22 1/2 inches long. He is still just a fabulous baby. He was a little fidgety and fussy yesterday because of his shots, but he is back to his easy going self today.

We got back from Utah late Monday night. We had a nice, albeit cold, time. My whole family had a chance to meet and hopefully fall in love with Matthew. The kids got to play in the snow. We had lots of big parties and ate WAY too much food. It was a fun and successful trip. The drive home was a little tense at times but we finally made it safely back to California. Pictures will be forthcoming.