Happy Turkey Day!

This year's Thanksgiving has been different. Since Kris and I have been married we always had Thanksgiving with my family because Kris's family doesn't get together for the holiday. Because of my mom's surgery, we decided to postpone Thanksgiving and we'll be celebrating on December 13th this year so my mom can participate.

Because we weren't having a formal dinner with my family, Kris and I decided to have a small dinner at home and invite Carol and Errol, Kris's parents. They accepted the invitation and we were tickled. It was such a wonderful day. We had a simple turkey dinner, visited, and watched Up! I think Carol and Errol really enjoyed having some quiet time with their grand-children, well as quiet as it can get with a 2-year-old.

This wasn't planned, but we bought a new table just in time for Thanksgiving. I stumbled onto the table at Sam's Club last weekend when I was shopping for Kodi's blessing. It was a great deal so I bought it. I think it looks a lot better than the table we had before and it seats 8, which is double what we could seat before. No, that doesn't mean we're going to have a bigger family, it's so we can invite people over and have a place for them to sit. The thing that is the best, that I didn't think of when I bought it, Franni can't reach Kyson because it's a cafe style table so it's high.

Before

After

Mom's Surgery

On Monday, my mom went in for a hip replacement. She's already had a knee and her other hip replaced, so we joke and refer to her as Bionic Woman. She was extremely nervous about going in for this surgery because the last hip replacement was so miserable. On Sunday after Kodi's blessing, she had Kris give her a blessing and I know she's had many prayers in her behalf. In the hospital she was doing phenomenally. When I talked to her on the phone that evening she sounded great and she had already been able to get up to go to the bathroom. She was having little pain and everything just sounded superb. She was doing so well with her recovery that she was released today.

Unfortunately, since she's been home she has taken a turn for the worse. The pain level has kicked up and she doesn't have the 24-hour care that she received in the hospital. Her bed isn't a recliner kind of bed like they have in the hospital and there is no bar above the bed to help her get up. Without that bar, she has to use upper body muscles and that irritates her wound. It's a struggle, and I hope she improves quickly.

Our prayers are with you Mom.

What a Blessing

Yesterday, we had the privilege of blessing our baby girl. It's so stressful to prepare for an event like that especially when you need to fit many people into a small space. I was really worried about getting everyone to fit, but it worked out well. Luckily we had the living room, the family room, and the dining room for people to mingle.

Kodi was a hit. She looked so beautiful in her blessing dress even though she's not feeling well. I think people really liked her and it was the first time 90% of the family had seen her. The only ones who had met her before yesterday was our immediate family. Yesterday my aunts and uncles, and Kris step brothers and sisters met her.

I wasn't sure how many priesthood holders we'd have in the circle, but we had a great size. There were 7 men plus the bishopric representative. It was perfect. Kris had mentioned that he was nervous to give the blessing in front of so many people, some of which he didn't know in our ward, but he said as soon as he got up there and was surrounded by his family, he felt at peace. I don't remember everything said in the blessing, but I remember one thing very clearly: "Your uncle is honored to have you take his name." That phrase brought tears to my eyes. Kris said that he felt Jason so close to him during that blessing, and I don't doubt it. I'm so grateful my husband honors his priesthood and was able to do that for our daughter.

One thing that I found to be ironic was our neighbor and friend has a son younger than Kyson so I've been giving her all of Kyson's clothes. There was one sweater that my mom kept of Jason's becuase he looked so good in it. I couldn't wait for Kyson to be big enough to wear it, but by the time he was, it didn't fit him right because his torso is too long. We gave the sweater to our friend in hopes that it would have a good home. Well my friend's little boy was wearing Jason's sweater yesterday in church. It was such a coincidence, but a wonderful chance of fate.

I'm so grateful we had so many people come to support our family. We're so lucky to have all of these people in our lives.

The Weather Outside is Frightful, but the Camping is Delightful

This last weekend the weather was terribly cold. It felt especially cold after such nice temperatures. We got a few inches and it was caked onto the roads making them pure ice. We decided to put up Kyson's tent so we could play inside. Kyson loved it. In fact he got so excited he kept hitting the tent and went to time-out 3 times before we took it down. He kept taking Franni back into the tent every time she left as well. He loves that dog. I just wish they didn't play so rough with one another.

What the. . . Garrit's Engaged?

I recently found out that my cousin Garrit is engaged. He served his mission in Peru and has been home for a year, maybe more. He's getting married on January 9 and she is a return missionary too. I guess she's very outgoing and perfect for Garrit. Congratulations Garrit!
I took these photos off the photographers website who did their photos: http://www.heathermagliarditiphotography.com/blog/?p=656

Siblings? What Do You Think?

I've heard many people say that Kyson and Kodi look so much alike and it's obvious that they are siblings. But I've also heard comments that Kodi looks much more like Kris than Kyson does. I don't know. I was able to capture Kodi in the same pose that we had a picture of Kyson doing when he was a month old. When I took the picture, Kodi wasn't quite a month yet, but I think it gives you a good idea of how much they look alike. I think they're related, what do you think?

Kodi

Kyson

Bonding Time

While being on maternity leave, I've had all these grand ideas to take Kyson to reading time at the library, the movies, the aquarium, and more trips to the park. Surprisingly, not all of those things have happened, but we did get him to one reading time at the library, a movie one time, and many trips to the park. It's so wonderful to have extra bonding time with my family. While I adore Kodi, she just stares at you or sleeps so it's not very fun to play. I will be sad to go back to the long hours at work because I won't be able to take Kyson to the park or play with him as much. That will change some day though.

Holy Shed!

For some time now, we've been trying to get a shed in a backyard. To give us some motivation we bought one in June or July, hoping that if the box was in our backyard, we'd get it put up. It took several more months to finish the project. In fact, we finished after Kodi was born. It's an 8'x10' shed and we're so happy to start de-cluttering our house and garage. I can't wait! I took some pictures to show how the project progressed, but I don't have any pictures when Kris, my dad, and our friends did the concrete. I was at parent-teacher conferences.