Monday, December 19, 2011

Christmas Traditions

As Christmas gets closer it is easy to get caught up in all the hoopla and business that is the Christmas season. We often forget about the real reason for the season, the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I have noticed that I too have been guilty of focusing on the wrong part of this holiday and have wanted to change that. Last night Erik and I had a family home evening where we read a story by C.S. Lewis that talks about the silly traditions of x-mas versus celebrating Christmas. Some of the stressful traditions including buying gifts for everyone at the value you think they will give you, regardless if you can afford it or not, sending out tons of Christmas cards to everyone in your address book regardless if you have talked to them in years or not, tons of holiday parties, and all the other business that takes up all of our time so we have none left to focus on what really matters about Christmas, Christ.

 Our Savior is the healer of all mankind, his birth, life and death made it possible for all of us to live again with our heavenly father and make right the things we could not otherwise. He descended below all things and because of this he knows how to succor his people and to help us through whatever trial we are going through. He is the only one who understands the pain we feel, and the only one who can take it away. He taught us how to live more perfectly, and how to be truly happy. His teachings help us to live a joyous and fruitful life full of meaning. It is his spirit that brings us peace in a world full of confusion. It is because of him that we can find meaning and joy. I am so grateful for a Savior who loves us, and I am grateful for a chance to celebrate his birth and life this holiday season.

 Erik and I decided that we wanted to focus more on Christ, and create Christmas traditions that will help us teach Eli and our future children about the Savior during this season. His birth is central to all mankind and the most important event in history. We want them to understand the importance of learning about and focusing on this, So we brainstormed a few traditions that we are going to implement, some this year and the rest next. Here they are in no particular order.

 1. Read Christ Centered stories the week leading up to Christmas, and a Christ centered scriptural thought every day from Thanksgiving to Christmas.
 2. Buy a Christmas movie at Deseret Book every year that focuses on the Savior or his teachings.
 3. Set up our manger scene in stages over the course of a week and read about each part that we set up with our children. Ie the wise men and who they were, etc.
 4. Pick a gift to give to Christ every year.
 5. Attend the Temple at least once during the Christmas season.

 Well that is a good start anyway. I am sure we will add more as the years go on. If any of our friends reading this blog have any good suggestions about Christ centered traditions, feel free to leave them in the comment section of this post.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Happy Birthday Heather!

Heather is my sweet sweet sister who is turning 30 today. I made a few digital scrapbook pages of our witches night out for a birthday present. I hope you enjoy them Heather. You are the greatest sister a girl could ask for. I love you! On your 30th birthday I wanted to write 30 things I love about you. Here they are in no particular order.
 1. You have a heart of gold.
2. You are so easy to forgive when others have offended you.
 3. So creative
4. Easy going
5. Always thinking of others
6. The sweet notes you post on my facebook page
7. You have a great sense of humor
8. You are compassionate and kind.
9. You make great birthday cards. I always love getting them.
 10. You often give me random thoughtful gifts.
 11. You are a great Nintendo player. Especially bugs bunny's birthday blowout.
 12. You are great with the computer. I know I can always find you online.
 13. You are fun to go to concerts with.
14. You are a great aunt to Eli. He loves his aunt Heather!
15. You can think of music lyrics for every occasion. You are a music-a-holic.
 16. I can always count on you for the latest entertainment update.
17. You once gave me $5 for my birthday. It was the only money you had and you had been saving it for a long time to buy something nice for yourself with. It meant a lot to me.
 18. You have a great CD collection
19. You are fun to hang out with.
 20. You help me with Eli when I need it.
 21. You are always a friend to those who need one.
 22. You are outgoing and happy.
 23. You always say nice things about others.
 24. You cheer me up when I feel sad.
 25. You know how to keep a conversation going.
 26. You are always interested in how I am doing.
 27. You love animals and enjoy volunteering at the animal shelter.
28. You are very crafty and make great jewelry. I still have the bracelets you made me.
 29. You are beautiful and look so cute when you get dressed up.
 30. You are the greatest sister on the face of the planet! I am super lucky to have you in my life. I love you!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Eli Weeks 14 and 15

Eli Weeks 12 and 13

Here are the pictures for 12 and 13 weeks. the 12 and 13 week layouts are together right now, but I am going to separate them. They obviously don't look right side to side since the 13 week hiking layout is way different from the 12 week layout. But here they are

Stay Tuned...

More posts are coming in the next couple of days. Eli is 21 weeks old now so I have 10 or so more posts to catch everyone up.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Eli 11 Weeks

Eli 10 weeks

Eli and I had a playdate with Clarice and Sophia and went swimming at our condo complex. It was so fun and Eli looked so cute in his new swimsuit. Here are the pictures and scrapbook page I made.
Eli at the drive in with dad and Alex. We went to see Captain America with Alex and his family .
Mom and Eli

Eli Week 9

This week Eli and I went on a hike with my friend Candace and her baby Evie who live in one of the Condo's upstairs. We went up part of the Mt. Timpanogos Trail and it was beautiful. Eli loves the baby carrier cause it feels like he is curled up in my womb when he is in it. He fell asleep the minute I put him in it.
Eli's favorite Toys: His bouncer and swing The swing has been a life saver because when we can't comfort him, we put him in the swing and he calms down. We are trying to get him to sleep longer at night and the swing really helps. Dad will put Eli in the swing and let it rock him to sleep. He will then sleep next to it to make sure he can help Eli when he wakes up. He doesn't love his bouncer nearly as much as the swing.
This week Lark and I got together to make Eli a carseat canopy to protect him from the outside world and help him to stay asleep when we are out in public. Lark pretty much did all of it since I haven't sewed in a really long time. She did a fantastic job! It ended up taking us till 3am to finish so we were pretty tired. We ended up getting more complicated than we needed to on the connectors, but it turned out really nice.

Eli week 8

Here are the pictures from Eli's baby blessing and getting ready for it a few days before at Grandma and Grandpa Cambridges. The blessing was a huge success and had a large turnout. All of our friends and family came from far and wide. It was so fun to see everyone.

Eli Week 7 4th of July and Tummy Time