I've Recently Been Reminded...

In the Quiet Heart is Hidden Sorrow that the Eye Can't See

On the B Side: I am thankful for the quiet Christlike reminders that come during the seemingly most difficult of times. xoxo

Heard In Our Home...

Says Ellie as she climbed up on my lap while I was working on my laptop "Mom, Why do you smell like Jello?"

I proceeded to ask her if Jello Smelled good or bad she responded, "Good". Whew! She had me concerned.

Last night while we were all drifting off to sleep she quietly asked, "Mom, why do we talk?"

On the B Side: I love the innocence of children!

Holiday Highlights

My favorite will remain the innocent comment that Dayton made while lying in bed Christmas Eve. He innocently and unprompted by anything remarked, "I love the Christmas Spirit." He is such a tender hearted child. Ellie sense my joy at his commentary and hopped out of bed, stomped around and said, "I hate Christmas". Heaven forbid she should not receive some attention albeit negative or not!

The kids were up until 11:30 PM Christmas Eve brimming with a conglomerate of excitement and impatience. At 6:30 Dayton stumbled around due to a bad dream when all of a sudden he noticed the Christmas tree and was struck by remembrance. He started shouting, "Santa's been here, Santa's been here. Wake up everybody!" and he flipped the lights on in the Master bedroom (where all 5 of us were nestled due to the recent move). I saw three squinty eyed faces pop up and the girls raced out of bed!

Christmas music and a plethora of giggles filled our new family room as the children raced to open their gifts. We cut back considerably this year and I'm fairly certain that they did not notice as they all seemed well pleased. Mark was falling asleep while video taping and I'm certain we took few pictures as we were rather enjoying those moments too much to notice much else.

We drove each of the children to their respective parents home to run through the routine and experience their second Christmas for the day. I slept from 11 AM until 3:30 PM Christmas Day and it was delightful!

Mark's Father and his wife Cynthia stopped by in the afternoon and we were pleased to have company. Mark worked all day on cooking a turkey that we took to my Mom's for dinner that evening before picking up the Dayton and Ellie. It truly was a relaxing and enjoyable day!

On the B Side: I am grateful for the humble birth of our Savior. I love that we can commemorate this event each year and reflect upon his life here on this earth. XXOX

Jazzing it Up!

Check out our little man! He's part of a Jr. Jazz Basketball team that his Dad signed him up for and he loves it! After his first practice he called me to tell me that he ran races, played Red Light Green Light and most importantly that he 'waughed and waughed and waughed' because it was so much fun! His Uncle Bryan is his coach and his cousin Neal is also on the team! DD Cakes is #3 in this short clip!



On the B Side: I am grateful to watch me children learn and grow each day! They make my heart smile!!!