March for Lily

This May our family will be marching in the annual March for Babies, a fundraising and awareness event sponsored by March of Dimes. We've formed Team Lily Jane and want to invite anyone who can to walk with us on May 15th in Salt Lake City in memory of Lily. March of Dimes is an amazing organization with so many helpful resources and research opportunities. We hope that our little efforts done in Lily's name will help some other family bring their baby home to stay.

If you won't be able to walk with us, you can still help us reach our fundraising goal by donating on our team page. We're hoping to reach $500 before the day of the walk. Thanks, everyone!

La Jolla, CA

In January our family took a road trip down to La Jolla, CA to hang out with some friends for a weekend. It was so fun! Going to the beach in the middle of winter is always a good idea. Even better when you can go with friends you haven't seen in months.



We pretty much hung out at the beach all day long. Wouldn't you?

We also did a murder mystery dinner where Craig and I were famous rock stars. We dressed for the occasion and won best costume. But somehow, we didn't get a photo of it. How that happened, I don't know. I did get a few really good shots of the ocean, though. And we've made a plan to visit the ocean once every year. 2010: check. Wonder where we'll go in 2011...

Christmas Recap

I know we've all put our Christmas decorations away already. Nevertheless, here's a little recap of our Christmas season.

We visited Temple Square to see the lights. The outdoor nativity totally captivated Brady. He loved seeing all the people "light up" as the spotlights changed.

We spent Christmas day (and the few days sandwiching it) in Washington with Craig's family. There was the traditional family Nativity reenactment in which Brady was a shepherd and Craig and I were Joseph and Mary. Brady loved his shepherd's crook...he was kind of a ninja shepherd.


There was also football played. And me experimenting with my new camera (still learning, but it's so nice!...isn't my husband the best?).
And Brady's first trip to the dentist (who happens to be his Papa)! This is him giving a thumbs up. He hasn't quite mastered the use of his thumb yet...but he's confident in what he can do. And he was unbelievably well behaved. He loved the suction thing they use to suck out the toothpaste and water. Each time they used it he was hesitant to let them take it back again because he enjoyed it so much. Funny, huh?

And this photo is just because I like it. Brady's half naked because he was waiting for his Christmas PJs to be opened. He didn't seem to mind one bit.

All He Wants for Christmas...

is a dinosaur.

And maybe for Santa to quit looking at him.

Thanksgiving 2009

On the third Thursday in November I took up residence in the kitchen. Because in the early afternoon 11 hungry people were due to come knocking on our door, forks in hand. To some this may sound like a prison sentence, but to me it was wonderful. When else do I have the opportunity to stay in the warmest room in the house, cook whatever I want, and have the little one completely entertained elsewhere? I loved it. Thankfully, I managed not to burn anything either. Plus, we scrounged up enough folding chairs to seat everyone and turned the otherwise useless (for now) washer and dryer into a buffet. All in all, I'd say Thanksgiving was a success! Especially thanks to the wonderful company and the countless blessings we have.



Thanks to Karen for the pictures. I apologize that they're so small...if you want a close-up try clicking them to make them larger.