What My Sister Did....

This is an odd Christmas for Ryan and I because he is working on the slope and won't be home till Tuesday. Adelle and I are patiently waiting to celebrate our Christmas when Ryan gets home. It has been hard, but I know it will be worth it.

In our family my parents started a tradition where each child picked out a cushion on Christmas eve and draped their stocking over it. Christmas morning we would go to our individual cushions and see what Santa left out on them. They would usually be smaller gifts like soda, munchies, a few pieces of clothes and a toy or two. This made it easier for Santa, not having to wrap so much. As kids it was so magical to see how Santa had decorated our cushion.

As we've grown up and matured to our glorious selves, we've tried to keep this tradition going. In the past we've drawn names for "cushions", and had fun decorating them as siblings. This year it got a bit confusing as were not all together Christmas morning.

This morning I was welcomed by a rather shocking cushion display on my front porch, Santa'd by my dear sister Vanessa. She left me ALL sorts of goodies, knowing that I had no husband to do cushions with. This was a Christmas present x 10! She wanted to make my Non-Christmas still Christmasy. How sweet is that? Even sweeter, she sent Ryan up to the slope with a stash of wrapped goodies for him to open Christmas morning.

Could I have asked for a more thoughtful Sister? NOW it feels like Christmas!

Ernie & Berterific! (Mom you can read this!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9AAJvQnUTQ

I was just having my nightly chat with my hubby, when I remembered this clip (which I haven't seen in a whole month), and realized I needed my fix.

If I am ever having a down day, this will pick me RIGHT up! How can you not walk away from it with a big smile?

Mom's Gift....DON'T PEEK MOM!!!!!

This is a day to celebrate! I have been working on these two little Raggedy's for quite awhile, and I am just ecstatic that I was able to finish them before Christmas. They are for my Mom in Arizona, because her original dolls that her Mom made her got eaten by mice while in storage. I have told her not to look :o).

I just had to post it because my excitement is through the roof, when your excitement gets that high, well you MUST blog about it! :o)

Is everyone else ready for Christmas???

How Beautiful is McDonalds...

These two beautiful trees are what greeted Ryan and I in the McDonald's drive through. I felt funny wanting to take a picture, but then I thought, why not! It has snowed up here between 1 1/2 and 2 feet, and it has been beautiful!

My favorite thing about driving around in the winter is seeing all the beautiful Ravens that scavage the city. They add such character to Alaska, I can't help but laugh at them. This tree with the ravens in it was especially funny to me because through all the black and white there was an orange/red spot. Look closely and you could see a McDonald's to-go back they had brought up there. (probably won't see it in this picture) Bad Ravens!

For Christmas, which we gave Adelle early because she really needed it, we got her A little push/activity cart. She LOVES it! She has learned how to pull herself up on it, which is really funny because she can't even crawl yet. But she's quite good at standing! She stands up and plays with the blocks and the weight. (which is there to keep the cart from tumbling on her). Then today I noticed she is now moving around the cart. Very exciting considering she's still not crawling.

She's getting a lot more brave at exploring her surroundings, and has also tried a few times to pick up stuff she's dropped on the ground.

She has also started clapping, which I don't have a picture of yet but I will. So keep in touch.

It's A.....

...and we are SO excited! It was funny because I have felt like this baby is an "it", with really no gender. It has been weird for me to picture this baby as one or the other, so when the lady said it was a girl so matter of factly, I just started laughing. I don't know why, I guess it was funny that we were having another girl, funny that this whole time it has been a girl. And funny that I could hear Ryan's thoughts that second...."oh great". It was very much a shock, but it would have been either way. (Ryan has accepted it and is determined to prove that he has a male sperm in him somewhere.)

We are going to call her Lydia, but we are still discussing middle names. Actually we haven't even discussed it yet. I was sick all day yesterday (which is why there was no post) so I barely had time to celebrate the gender. Today I am feeling better and getting really exited.

Thanks for all your support!

Gingerbread Houses

This is going to be an interesting post because it is in NO way in order. We jump around a lot, so please stay with me on this journey.

Ever since my family was young it was a tradition to do family gingerbread houses with the WHOLE Alaskan family. Since growing up we've continued this tradition, and this year we even had Wayne and Peggy drive out for the occasion. Just like old times.

The grand finalee of the night was a great game of Mafia. THAT was fun! Again, completely out of order.

After the houses were done we cleaned up and watched Shrek the Halls, which everyone seems to love. (I am not a Shrek fan)

This is my simple house. Ryan and I didn't have the greatest crops this year so the small amount of money we did have has gone to pay the mortgage. And the Campbell's home had a leaky roof so they stayed with us for a few months. Our little home will have to wait till next year to be more splenderiffic.

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This post is also a bit late, we did gingerbread houses over a week ago. But even though life has been crazy I still feel it deserved a post. It was a pretty great event.

Finally Proffesional Pictures

My friend Nicki Mullin, who did Ryan and I's wonderful engagement and wedding pictures offered to take some pictures of Adelle and I yesterday. She is an amazing photographer who is self-taught.

Adelle and I have no real nice photos of us, nor of us as a family. I've been wanting to get some before baby #2 comes along and we miss our chance. She did an AMAZING job!

CLICK HERE to see some!

(You'd never guess that Adelle was sick with a bad cold)

The Verdict will be in on...

December 11th, less than two weeks!!!! So hopefully we have a baby with no shame that opens their legs wide letting us see the gender. After that we'll teach them modesty :o) Feel free to vote on what YOU think the gender will be. ----> What do I think? Honestly I have no clue. I am getting no gender vibes and honestly I really don't care. I am a LOT more nervous to have a boy, but I want it to happen at some point so why not now. But I really am on the fence. This pregnancy has been so different than the first. With Adelle I knew she was a girl, knew it from the moment I was 12, that my first would be a girl. If the technician had told me it was a boy I wouldn't have believed them and would have waited for them to see their mistake. With this one I am so up in the air I am actually more excited because I feel like either way it's going to be a total surprise. And its just around the corner! OK...so vote!

Giving Thanks

I know I've had three posts in the last three days. But tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I really wanted to be true to this season by sharing my gratitude with those I love. The reality of my life is that I have too much to be thankful for. It scares me sometimes. When I go to bed and say my prayers I feel like any minute Heavenly Fathers going to look down on me and go "Oh crud-I forgot about Ariane." and ZAP----a new trial.

Every day that I end and give thanks, I am able to look back and see that no major trial has reared it's ugly head. I was blessed to marry my best friend Ryan, in the Temple. We are stuck together forever, and I wouldn't have it any other way. After all the years and trials we've been through I can honestly say I love him more than ever. And I am so grateful for this. We were blessed with wonderful family that lives near. We were blessed with a home that has: heat, running water, a roof overhead and a garage along with many other things. We were also blessed with fertility, and with that came the most precious little girl a couple could have asked for. Little Adelle has been my pride and joy, and I can honestly say barely even a trial. Taking care of her is so easy it should be illegal. Now we have another little one coming into our family, and I have been blessed with yet another easy pregnancy.

We have pets, food, Ryan is employed, good health. We know why were on this earth. We are surrounded by wonderful and inspiring people. We live in this great state of Alaska, in a great country.

When I look at the little things that get me down, I have to just laugh at myself and be grateful I have yet to suffer the death of a child or the loss of a major limb. How blessed am I?

Please Heavenly Father, keep forgetting about me. I am loving my life right now.

Loving Yourself is Grand...

Today is Adelle's 10 month birthday, and she started her morning by kissing herself happy birthday! This is her new trick, giving kisses. But this is her first kiss to the birthday girl. It was very cute. Now were working on giving hugs on command. This little girl WILL love us dang it!

It appears she's even got the pucker. Stay away you little boys!

I can see my Mama loves me!