The giggles

Last night, we sat together on the couch. I held you to look at me, and you smiled. My natural reaction was to smile back. We kept this on a few seconds until your eyes made me laugh. I laughed out loud, and you laughed back. It was so cute to hear your giggle! These are rare sounds we hear from you, so we try to take it all in when we can. You made me laugh SO HARD! We sat there giggleing at each other for about 5 minutes, my tummy hurt! You kept egging me on, and I kept you laughing. We did this off an on. This is a moment I will always remember. You are one silly kid!
I will always love you, Porter boy!

Porter with Uncle Ryan

Evan,

We've been through a lot in 2 years: Surgery, commuting, boards, graduation, miscarriage, pregnancy, baby, purchasing, traveling, conferences, remodeling, landing a job, and we've moved 3 times!

You bring so much joy to my life. You are my best friend, my listener, my sunshine, my everything. Every night before I sleep I say to myself how lucky I am to have you in my life. You are very near perfect. You make me laugh everyday. I thank you for giving me a chance at life with you, and I think we're a pretty good team. There are so many dreams I have, and you're in every one of them. You work hard, and I love that. You've seen me in every light, and still rush home to me everyday, and I can't tell you how much that means to me. Thanks for your honor to God and to yourself. I want you to know I watch you doing that, and it gives me strength. You keep me in line, you effortlessly support me, and you share in all my hopes, dreams, and dissappointments. You are the reason I wake up in the morning and get things done. Every day I thank God for the wait I had to go through. You're so worth it. Thanks for taking me to the temple and saying YES. We've had a pretty good 2 years, and I guarantee the years to come will be even better!

Happy Anniversary! 12.26.08

We've been married for 2 years! Believe it or not, we planned the 26th with a lot in mind. Yes, it would be hard to leave for a getaway, yes it would never be convenient to celebrate, and yes, everything is more expensive this time of year. So, we decided to celebrate our anniversaries in June. Thus far, it hasn't happened yet.

It was my year to plan. The fun part is that we keep it a surprise until Christmas, then celebrate the next day. Last year Evan took me snowmobiling up Logan canyon. This year I took him skiing. We haven't been since our honeymoon, and anything else with child care would have been difficult. I took Evan to a quaint little B&B the 26th, then we went up to the Canyons for an awesome day of skiing. We got a lot more than we bargained for, but had a good time.

Christmas

This Christmas was the best yet. The best part was spending time with family. Tea and I got together with mom on Christmas Eve and made goodies. We ended the evening with a candle-lit dinner and a program. The only thing missing was Travis with his family. We went up to spend one last Christmas day with Evan's family. I will miss them terribly. Though the weather outside was frightfull, we kept ourselves busy playing games and chatting, and resolving disputes with the "little ones".

There's a certain magic at Christmas with a little baby. My mind often reflected to Mary and her obvious love for the Christ Child. I wonder how she could have loved him so much knowing she had to give him away. I feel that I understood much more this year what Christmas is all about. I think of starting the traditions that will carry through the years as my children grow. I think of the stories that soften my heart. I loved having my family close.

Thanks for the memories, mom and dad.

Our gifts to each other: Evan- stuff for his bike

Toni- a new stove!

Porter- sleeping through the night!

borrowed Christmas!

We finally got a Christmas tree! We put it up the 23rd. Evan's parents are on their mission, and didn't put theirs up this year, which spawned the question, "Do you want to borrow it?" Followed by, "Yes please!" We took it home and all the decorations. Yes! We can put off buying a tree for another 2 seasons! (sense the excitement!)

The nap

How could you not love that face! As I write, my sweet little guy is still asleep! Evan has been out of town this week, and I promised him while he was gone, that our little man was gonna be crying it out. The purpose of this was so Evan could get some quality sleep from now on. He has been getting up with little P every night the past few weeks to put him back down, cause he's not hungry, he just fusses and wakes himself up.

Night 1: P gets up at 2:10 and cries for 1 1/2 hours. Falls asleep. Wakes up again at 4:50 and cries for 1 hour 15 mins. I wake him up at 6:30 to feed him, and we sleep until 9. I know this will be a long 3 days.

Night 2: Bracing myself for the worst, and knowing I can't go through with it another night, I put him down at 8:30. After his 10:30 feeding, he sleeps until 7:45. What!?????! He slept the whole night! Could it possibly be that he learned I'm not coming in to get him in just one night? He is very smart, but really?

Night 3: I'm not counting on a blissful sleep. Again, he proves himself conquerer of dream world! I rejoice in the morning, and smile all day.

Last night Evan came home, and lo and behold? Little P got up 4 times. WHAT?!!!?!!! Of course Evan took over. Really? Really? Is this how it'll be? Dad spoiles him, mom lets him cry.

Thus, after a long night for all of us, Little P is fast asleep in his car seat. Let me emphasize that he never does this. He'll sleep in the stores, in the car even when he's not tired, but the second we walk through the front door he's awake. Thus, we're relishing in the long nap in the car seat in the front room. He is unpredictable, this we've learned, and we still love him!

The Call...

The Call finally came! My in-laws have been waiting for their mission call for awhile, and THEY GOT IT! They told us they wouldn't be around for Thanksgiving, but to our excitement, they leave after Christmas! They're going to the Guam/Micronesia Mission! Serving in the Family History Center, as this was a little joke in the family. My sister-in-law teased they would serve a family history mission, to which my mother-in-law replied, "Well, we'll have to learn all about it then!" Their previous mission was in Thailand as Humanitarian missionaries, to which, I'm proud to say they are VERY good at. We all expected the same type. God has a sense of humor though, and we're very excited for them! I hear Guam is nice in September...

Can you belive these 2 have this much posterity already? It blows my mind to think that all these people came from them alone. (with a little help). My in-laws are two of the best people I have ever known. They are like steam engines without a station. I marvel at how much service mom gives. She is always mindful of everyone's needs, and I've never known her to overlook anything or anyone. If you compliment them they say, "Oh, we're common as rocks." That may be true, but to me, they're heros. They raised 9 children. 9! And they're all wonderful! How did I get so lucky to join this family? I know they will touch many lives in Guam. It's hard to forget a tall farmer and his on-the-go wife.

We love you. We love what you've taught us. And we will miss you more than you'll know.