Want to build a...snowman?

We've been fortunate (eye roll) to have more snow this year than we've had the last couple of years. While it's beautiful and beneficial in building up our water supply for the summer, I would rather it stay in the mountains so I don't have to drive in it. 😳 

But alas, it makes it way down here and covers our lawn with a beautiful layer of white. Bubba always gets so excited about the snow. Yesterday, as soon as he got home from school he dressed up warm, so that as soon as Sam came home from work, they could go play. We got Little Man ready (he looked like a marshmallow, haha!) and off they went. 

They were going to build a snowman, but ended up building a Tuscan raider instead. Haha. At least they had fun. 😆 

On Christmas, Santa had brought both boys a goldfish. They were so excited. Bubba picked out which fish was his, and a week later, it was dead. SOOO, off we went and bought him a new fish. This one was a pleco. Again, he was so excited! And here we are, 3 days later and his fish is dead again. Little Man's fish must be a bully. 😕

Disneyland Day 1

I want to make sure I document this since this was one of the highlights of our year last year! 

In April, I had the honor of photographing a wedding in California. It was close to Los Angeles and not far from Disneyland! So, I took my sister Tanielle, and Bubba and we surprised Bubba with a few days in Disneyland. <3 nbsp="" p="">

We luckily have AMAZING friends who were able to help us with tickets. So I'm going to try and break it down into a couple of days at a time. :) 

The first day was a Thursday and we drove part of the way to Las Vegas. We made a stop in St George for these amazing cookies. Swig cookies are seriously heaven on earth. Ha! 

We ate our cookies walking around the gorgeous St George Temple grounds. It was nice and warm! 

Vegas Baby! 

We woke up Friday and drove the rest of the way to California. We stayed in a hotel less than 5 minutes away from Disneyland, but we decided to hit the beach first! On our way to Newport Beach. 

We saw this seal and we thought it was dead. We came back by, and it was moving all around. Bubba thought that was so cool. He STILL had no idea that we were going to Disneyland.

We loved the beach. :) 

Saturday I spend the day photographing a wedding and had an amazing time! The wedding was gorgeous and I loved spending time with my bride and groom! Came back and ordered pizza and ate it late into the night. I could barely sleep I was so excited to surprise Bubba! 

Sunday we went and saw the Newport Beach Temple, and we spend more time at a beach. We went and saw tide pools and looked for shells. 

We finally went back and were RIGHT across the street from California Adventure and he STILL didn't know. We were waiting to meet up with Patty and Brian who spent time with us the next few days. 

We checked into the hotel and he kept point out little things about it being Disney themed (We stayed in one of the Disney Hotels) When I finally surprised him with the tickets, he giggled and was so happy and wanted to head right over! So, off we went! 

That smile made it completely worth it. :) 

Tanielle is having so much fun! 

A Bugs Life ride. He loved it. 

One last ride before we head back to the hotel. 

Tomorrow I will post about the rest of the trip. Gosh, this makes me want to go back! Who wants to go with me?

Doctors

Today was a day spent at doctor offices. 

Back story, over a year and a half ago, Bubba started complaining about stomach pains. We chalked it up to indigestion or something like that. Well, back in February of 2015, it was hurting him so bad he couldn't stand up, and was throwing up. We saw a doctor out here. After a buttload of blood tests, He recommended seeing a gastroenterologist up at Primary Children's.  We called to set an appt with them, but couldn't get in for MONTHS. But we needed help now! Bubba was hurting so bad. So we headed up to Primary Children's ER. We spent a few hours doig tests, and everything came back fine. They couldn't find anything. So back to waiting for his appointment. 

Well, his appointment was this morning and we are so excited to finally be getting some answers. 

His doctor was fantastic and really listened and talked to bubba to figure things out. He's been diagnosed with Dyspepsia (too much stomach acid) and we are treating it for the next 4-6 weeks. If it doesn't help, we will look at other options, but it's so nice to finally have a game plan! 

After that, we ventured up and check in on my mom who had her gall bladder taken out yesterday. Luckily she is recovering ok, although she still has some pain. 

Then off to my doctor to check on a cyst that had been nothing me. Turns out I need some more testing, and that will be done over the next few days. 

I am done with sicknesses and tests. Being poked and prodded aren't my favorite things in the world (I'd rate it right up there with eating bugs or something similar...) but I'm thankful for modern medicine to help us understand and help our bodies. Here's to a healthier 2016. :) 

Ice Skating and Life Lessons

We surprised the boys with ice skating on Saturday. 

First time in our married life that we have ever gone ice skating. 

Bubba was excited. Little man threw a fit when we tried to put skates on (he didn't want to sit still) and we seriously started to wonder if we should just quit. 

We stuck through it, and ended up on the ice. Sam took off with little man, and bubba looked nervous. We took a step out on the ice and bubba.came.unglued. 

We worked our way to the outside edge where there was padding he could hold on to and proceeded to work our way around the track. In tears. Bawling, death grip on the mats and yelling at me that he wanted to go home. 

We were so excited to go and now seriously regretting it. After 20 minutes and barely making it 1/4 way around the track, he held on to me and I asked what he was scared of. 

"Falling" said through tear stained cheeks. 

After a LOT of encouragement, holding and pushing. He fell. 

I got down by him and asked. "Did it hurt?" 

And he looked up at me surprised. "No! It didn't hurt at all" 

And then the game changed. We couldn't keep him off of the ice! 

He kept trying to do tricks and skate faster. 

3 hours later, we left with sore feet and smiles on our faces. 

"Mom, that was the best day EVER!!" 

What a lesson to learn! What is holding us back? We all have dreams. There are so many things that I want to accomplish. What's stopping me? Fear of falling. 

But take that leap, and fall flat on your butt. See that it's not as scary as you thought, and then....

Fly.  

Baptism Preview

Tonight we had the chance to go to Bubba's Baptism preview.  I'm pretty sure it seems like yesterday that I was writing on here that he was born and we were welcoming him to our family. And now here we are going to a preview for him to be baptized this year.  :)

He was so excited to learn about what will happen, and how he can prepare for it.  He keeps asking what he can do, and giggling, saying that he's so excited. "I just want to be baptized NOW, Mom!"  We have such a big ward (seriously, over 100 kids in Senior Primary alone...) that there will be 4 kids baptized the same month that he is.

Watching him experience all of this has definitely got my mind thinking. I'm reviewing some of the basic truths that I haven't focused a lot on, and seeing the importance in them again. Basic, simple truths, that I've taken for granted.  Lots of prayers and studying to help him understand better, has definitely helped increase my testimony. By a LOT. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to help him prepare for it. I growing opportunity for him and our family together as we help get ready for it.

Winter break is officially over. School starts tomorrow, and everything goes back to normal. Which makes me both happy and sad. I just need the cold to go away. I'm definitely not a winter girl. I really really like my sun and warmth. And we are just starting into January, meaning I'm going to have a long couple of months. Oye. Hopefully I can bundle up and get out still and try to ward off the winter blues.

Anywhoo, time to sign off and go watch a movie with the lover. I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Christmas TeePee

Since Little Man has Native American heritage, we thought it would be cool to build him a teepee for Christmas! So I found a tutorial on Pacemade.com and made him one. 

Materials used: 

5 1x2x8 boards 

1 canvas paint cloth

Rope 

Acrylic Paint 

Strips of fabric 

A Staple Gun with staples 

First we cut the boards to 7 feet in length. Then we drilled a whole just bigger than the size of the rope, 12 inches down from the top of each board. 

With the canvas, I created a stencil arrow out of cardboard and stenciled the drop cloth with light blue acrylic paint. 

We then put the rope through the holes, positioned the legs where we wanted them and tied it together. We draped the cloth around it, and stapled the cloth to each leg of the teepee. 

Since Sam bought me yellow rope, we tied fabric cloth around the top to hide it and add some character. 

Little man loves it and loves to hide and play in it! Such a fun addition to his room! 

I love doing projects like this. I think it will be fun to post more that I do! I also made the white table you see in the background of that last photo! So fun! 

New Year, New Goals

So, it looks like I do this every year. 

I think to myself that I'm going to get better at blogging. 

I'm going to document better. 

I'm going to blog better. 

I'm going to take more photos. 

I'm going to be happier. 

I'm going to BE BETTER. 

And it lasts maybe a week. 

Ha!! 

Well, hopefully I've got the right systems in play to actually do it this year. 

I doubt anyone out there still reads this blog. Buuuuut, even if it's just got myself, I'm going to try. 

And that's the best anyone can go, right? 

Well, the new year finds is still in our house we built. We still love it, and love our neighborhood. We have built some amazing friendships here and absolutely love it. 

Bubba is in 2nd Grade and loving it. He reads extremely well, and loves to read Percy Jackson and anything Star Wars.

He's getting so tall and growing up so fast. We are excited for this next year  to spend time with his birthmother! 

Little Man is 18 months and growing so fast!! He has 1 speed, which is RUN. He jabbers away and tries to copy everything you say. Life is sure an adventure with these two! 

Sam is still enjoying work with Wells Fargo Advisors. We hope to see him grow in the company this year, and can't wait to see what happens. 

Life has been crazy and hectic, and I don't see it slowing down. At.All. So we will find the miracles in the mess and keep moving forward. :) 

We hope the new year finds you well. And may this not be the last time you hear from me this year. ❤️