Christmas and Miracles

For Christmas this year, my family came here to Bern and we all had Christmas with Jesse's parents. We had a great time with only one downside. On Christmas Eve, we all sat down to dinner and during the prayer, Wyatt fell backwards off his stool, hit his head, passed out and stopped breathing. We were all so scared. I am so thankful for Jesse and his medical training. He worked with Wyatt and stayed pretty calm most of the time and after about 2 minutes (that is, 2 incredibly long minutes)Wyatt started breathing again. The ambulance came and took him to the hospital where he had a CT scan done and everything looked alright. We are all so grateful that it didn't turn out worse and I know our Heavenly Father was watching over Wyatt that night. Incidents like this remind you how precious life is and just how much you really love your family.

Thank goodness that was the only drama we had and on Christmas morning, Wyatt was back to his normal self. We got up and went to church and then up to Grandma and Grandpa's for Santa and gifts. Atreyu was so excited about his tractor. I really don't think we could have gotten a better gift for him.




We then ate breakfast and opened all our gifts. I really didn't think Atreyu would be too into opening them but he had a blast and opened them as quickly as he could. It was so much fun watching him and the other kids open their gifts and be filled with so much excitement. It reminded me of when I was little and how exciting Christmas was then.







Christmas is definitely my favorite holiday. We always spend time with family which is one of the greatest gifts we have in life. And also, we are able to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that His life and death were for us and I am so thankful that we all have a big brother who loves us so much.

Playing and Sewing

Atreyu has recently developed a great like for the barstools. He drags them around all over whether he is just playing or trying to climb on one to reach something. He likes to "hide" anywhere he can and he thinks that if he covers his eyes, we can't see him. It is so stinkin' cute.

I also finally made the valances for my kitchen wondows. I have had the fabric cut and pinned for months so I finally sat down and sewed them all together. Considering I haven't sewn anything for years, I think they turned out pretty darn good.

Fun with Friends!!

This past weekend we were able to go down to Clinton, UT and spend time with the Rowes at their home along with the Olsons and Josh and Kim. It was fun getting together and I would love to do it more often. While we were down there, we went to this place in Ogden called The Treehouse where the kids were able to play and have a great time. It was a really neat place and Atreyu loved the fire truck and the trains.

Atreyu was also able to do some horse and bull riding which he only sort of liked. We had a fun time there and a great weekend hanging out with friends.

Thanksgiving, Colds and Phones

We had a good Thanksgiving with Jesse's family and Angela and Eli. It is always nice to spend time with family, even though we end up sharing germs and colds every time. We got a cold from the family which is still in full force. I can't believe it is lasting this long. On Thanksgiving night, Atreyu threw up and did so two other days. We would think that he was getting better and then it would happen again. Jesse and I also got that bug but not nearly as bad as our little Atreyu boy. We are done with that illness now, thank goodness, and we are hoping this other passes soon.
Atreyu had so much fun with his cousins. Like I have said many times before, I am a horrible picture taker but I did get one of Atreyu loving on JoJo.

I found one of those Fisher Price phones for Atreyu at the Thrift Store a while ago and he recently pulled it out and started playing with it again. He holds it up to his ear and repeatedly says, "hi". It is so fun watching him learn and grow.

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

I was reading an article the other day and it stated that children around Atreyu's age should be able to say about 15 words. At first I thought that he must be behind but then Jesse and I started writing down all the words he could say and it was like 17 or something. I can't believe how much he is learning so quickly right now. He learns something new everyday and it is kind of fascinating to watch him figure out new things. He still likes playing with (and in) the bucket and he recently decided that my shoes made a wonderful toy.

Like any child, Atreyu has also found the joy of sweets! He loves them! I usually have a little candy dish on my counter but I had to put it away because that's all he wanted to eat. We do let him indulge occasionally (more so when Grandpa is around). Here he is enjoying a Winter Oreo.

We are all doing well. Jesse is almost 3/4 of the way done with his first semester back in school and he's doing pretty good keeping up his grades. In exciting news (for me at least) I got a Dyson vacuum and I LOVE it! It kind of grossed me out to see how much stuff it picked up out of the carpet on it's first go. It is a wonderdul vacuum and I would definitely recommend it to a friend.
We are all looking forward to seeing family next week for Thanksgiving. We would like to give a shout out to Jenny and tell her we hope she is starting to feel better so that they will for sure join us all for Thanksgiving! We love you Jenny!

Our Little Builder

As Jesse was putting together a night stand, our little Atreyu was watching and decided that he should help too. As soon as Jesse put down the screwdriver, Atreyu picked it up and went to work. It was so cute! We eventually gave him his little toy hammer to help with the rest of the project. He is so much fun and learning all the time. It's bittersweet watching him grow up. I love that little boy!

Happy Halloween!!

We got back from our cruise on Halloween so I had to get unpacked, do laundry and get ready for Halloween all in one afternoon. Jesse stayed home and did homework and answered the door and Atreyu and I went trick-r-treating. He was Baby Mario and I was Princess Peach. It was fun going out with him even though we didn't go to many houses. He knew that he needed to hold out his bucket and people would give him candy. As soon as he had it, he was ready to leave. I had a great time going out with him. I love Halloween and I think, like all kids, he is going to love it too.

Caribbean Cruise 2011

We had the opportunity to go on another cruise about a week ago with my mom and Jesse's parents. We had such a great time even though our itinerary got changed a bit due to a hurricane. We left Tampa on Sunday and we were supposed to go to Cozumel on Tuesday, Belize on Wednesday, Isla Roatan on Thursday, and then Grand Cayman on Friday. Because of the hurricane, however, we went to Belize, then Cozumel and completely missed out on Isla Roatan and Grand Cayman. We went to Progreso instead but that was our only other stop. We were lucky that we went to Progreso though because that is how we got to Chichen Itza, the Mayan capital. It was so awesome being there and also a little bit eerie.

I feel so lucky that we have had so many opportunities to go on cruises and see different parts of the world. Atreyu was good the whole time and I loved having our enitre little family there instead of leaving him behind. We sailed on the Carnival Legend.

In Belize, we went snorkeling at the world's second largest barrier reef and in Cozumel, everyone else went zip-lining while I stayed with Atreyu. Jesse also bought me a beautiful Tanzanite necklace and then we also got one free. I am pretty spoiled and it really makes me feel special that Jesse does stuff like that for me.

Here are a few pictures we took at the airport in Tampa while we waited for our flight. Atreyu loved this play area.