Whooo's the cutest?

My friend is a master knitter/crochet-er. She crocheted some ADORABLE hats for her kids for a character parade they had at school--just whipped up a dog and a caterpillar (for the very hungry caterpillar costume) in a day. I couldn't get over how cute they were and so she made one for Emery. I basically try to convince Emery to wear it every second of the day because it is the cutest thing EVAH!!! My friend asked if Emery wanted a cat or an owl and Emery said she wanted a "Hooo hoooo". The next day we show up to pick Bella up from school and it was done!



Look at this hat! She is so cute in it! I can't get over how cute she is.

Emery LOVES her Hooo Hooo hat. She won't wear it all day long like I want her to, but wears it whenever we leave the house and puts it on randomly throughout the day. It was the first thing she had to show Gavin when he got home, and one of the first things she tells people about when they come over.




She outgrew her other warm hat so my friend making this one was good timing. It is seriously FREEZING here. It's been in the 30s, but it's a humid 30s and and the cold seeps in your clothes and chills you to the bone. I am getting ready for it to warm up but can take the cold for a bit longer if I have Emery's hat to make me smile and laugh. :)

Sledding with Poppa

I was looking through my posts and realized I had never published this one from New Years! We enjoyed the snow in Idaho and Emery got to try sledding again. My dad pulled her down the little hill then ran her back up at least a dozen times. She would laugh at the bottom and shout, "Again! Again!" It never got old.

Of course she rarely smiles in pictures so you have to take my word that she was having a good time.
I like that she calls her grandpas "Poppa". She started that on her own and she knows they are grandpa, but still calls them Poppa. I think it's cute. Here she is, posing with Poppa, who got a good workout.

Natalie and Olivia joined the fun too and had a blast.

This sled was my favorite, and I think Emery's too, because you can steer it. There were some grassy patches and sticks around so it was nice to be able to avoid them.

Emery was so cute in her snowsuit. Natalie had the snowsuit from Olivia last year and thankfully kept it and let us use it this year. I really didn't want to buy a snowsuit for one hour in the snow, but if there is snow you HAVE to go sledding, so hooray for hand-me-downs!

Choosing faith

I recently re-read a General Conference talk by Elder Neil Andersen entitled, "You Know Enough", from October 2008. It was one that stuck with me then and the remembered words have continued to refresh me over the last few weeks of setbacks.

I recently had surgery looking for causes of our difficulty conceiving. It wasn't major surgery, in and out in 4ish hours with a few days recovery, but it turned up nothing in our quest for answers. Add to that the recent bill I received and the procedure was five times the cost we thought it was going to be (which won't put us in the poor house but it's still very discouraging) and you end up with a frustrated and disheartened couple. It's my nature to be positive and look at the bright side of things, but in this situation I think I'm just trying to ignore the ache. I think I'm afraid that if I open up my heart and admit how badly we want another child that the grief might overwhelm me. So I push it away and try to stifle the bitter questions that sometimes arise out of my heart asking God "why".

In those tough moments I think about Elder Andersen's words:

 Brothers and sisters, we each have moments of spiritual power, moments of inspiration and revelation. We must sink them deep into the chambers of our souls. As we do, we prepare our spiritual home storage for moments of personal difficulty. Jesus said, “Settle this in your hearts, that ye will do the things which I shall teach, and command you.” 

Several years ago a friend of mine had a young daughter die in a tragic accident. Hopes and dreams were shattered. My friend felt unbearable sorrow. He began to question what he had been taught and what he had taught as a missionary. The mother of my friend wrote me a letter and asked if I would give him a blessing. As I laid my hands upon his head, I felt to tell him something that I had not thought about in exactly the same way before. The impression that came to me was: Faith is not only a feeling; it is a decision. He would need to choose faith.

My friend did not know everything, but he knew enough. He chose the road of faith and obedience. He got on his knees. His spiritual balance returned.

It has been several years since that event. A short time ago I received a letter from his son who is now serving a mission. It was full of conviction and testimony. As I read his beautiful letter, I saw how a father’s choice of faith in a very difficult time had deeply blessed the next generation.

Challenges, difficulties, questions, doubts—these are part of our mortality. But we are not alone. As disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have enormous spiritual reservoirs of light and truth available to us. Fear and faith cannot coexist in our hearts at the same time. In our days of difficulty, we choose the road of faith. Jesus said, “Be not afraid, only believe.” ⁴

I have had those moments of spiritual power, of knowledge that there is a God in Heaven, that He knows me and cares about and will help me with my struggles. I may not know everything, but I do know enough. And I am choosing faith.

Bowling tradition

As per tradition, we went bowling with the Hudson clan this year while in Pocatello. It was so fun. I told Emery what we were going to do and she said, "Bowling?! I so excited!!!" Haha, she totally didn't even know what bowling was, but she was excited to do it. What a happy girl.

These are all just phone pictures so they are a bit blurry but I like them so I wanted to share.

Emery cheering for me because I just got my fourth strike in a row. Just kidding. I don't even think I got one strike this year.

Emery really did have fun. She loved to push the ball down. My cousin and her son in the other lane. 

My grandparents, the hosts of the yearly bowling party.

Natalie and Olivia bowling.

I love family traditions. Now that I have a family of my own I'm starting to realize what a challenge it can be to keep up yearly traditions and it makes me even more grateful for my mom and grandparents and others in my life who struggled, planned, and sacrificed to keep those traditions going.

Baby Tyler

Matt, Kim, Kylee, and new baby Tyler came over to my parent's house shortly after Emery and I arrived in Idaho. I was so grateful they came when we did because later on Emery and I got sick and we wouldn't have been able to see Tyler. He is so tiny and oh so cute! He makes these little grunting sounds that melt my heart. He's growing well and is as sweet as can be. I was sad not to see him more than once but the thought of him getting the stomach bug Emery and I had was enough to keep me away.

Isn't he tiny? I look exhausted in this picture because I was. We were up at 4:30 am to fly to Idaho and Emery doesn't sleep on planes. Plus flying just makes me really tired. 

And here's his little face! Isn't it sweet? I was glad he was awake for us!

Happy New Year!

My mom's side of the family always has a big New Year's Eve party in Idaho. It was one of the best times of my Christmas vacation growing up and I still look forward to going every year. Gavin couldn't come along, but Emery and I had a wonderful time celebrating with my family. We had a hilarious white elephant gift exchange (where I scored a huge bag of chocolate gold coins which is PERFECT because I want to use them in my treasure box for primary!), lots of delicious food and fun games, and a New Year's countdown around 9:00 pm. :) It was a wonderful time to catch up with my cousins and aunts and to see all the little kids run around playing.

This girl would NOT let me get a picture of her with any party stuff on! I had to sneak up on her to get this one.

Here's Tobin, ringing in the New Year!

Olivia found the best seat in the house and just honked her horn at passer-bys. 

At one point I went to check on Emery and she was just running around through all the rooms upstairs, laughing and playing with all her cousin-friends. It brought me so much happiness to see her because it was like looking straight into my past and re-living New Year's Eves gone by. I have so many happy memories of our New Year's parties, and now here is my daughter, getting a chance to make her own memories. I was so grateful to be there with her. There's so much about her childhood that will be different than mine because the world that we live in has changed so much. Sometimes that makes me really sad. I feel like her childhood will be more complex than mine--the simple joys of running around my grandpa's orchard, or turning his old pigpen in to a fort (that smelled terrible but we didn't care), will be replaced by tablets, cell phones, organized uber competitive teams, and having to deal with society with crumbling morals. I know there is still so much goodness and happiness in the world and that Emery will have a wonderful childhood, but that doesn't mean I don't still yearn for simpler days of the past. I feel like I'm not properly communicating how my heart felt at that moment when I saw Emery, I just can't seem to transfer the feeling into words. Maybe you've had similar experiences with the children in your life and you can understand what I'm trying to say. I guess it felt like a bridge--connecting my past to my future. And it felt wonderful. 

Princess lessons

My mom has an entire chest full of princess dresses, capes, purses, shoes, hats, and other sparkly things. Emery has two older girl cousins who love to play princesses so while we were in Idaho Emery got an education in the art of playing dress up. This one was her favorite, and mine too because I think it makes her look like a little cupcake.

Here she is, the courageous princess on her noble steed, that had to be right by grandma at all times. 

It's so poofy!

Being a princess is a very serious job. It's not all sparkles and tea parties. 

Furry hat and shiny purse, this girl is looking good!

My one niece, Olivia, takes dress up very seriously. When she puts on that little Cinderella dress you are no longer allowed to call her Olivia. She won't answer to it. She will say in a very princess-y voice, "My name is not Olivia. I am a princess." This doesn't just happen for the first few minutes she has on the dress. It will continue for HOURS. Even when she changes back in to her "Olivia clothes" she will sometimes say, "I put on her clothes, but I'm not Olivia, I'm still a princess." It is HILARIOUS; I got such a kick out of her! Her princess voice is so cute, it makes me laugh just remembering it. 

Emery had so much fun playing with her cousins. It was fun to see her live similar things as my childhood. Playing dress-up with my cousins used to be one of my favorite things too!