Christmas 09 and all that fun stuff

Merry Christmas Ya'll.  Please check your spam folders for our Christmas letter!

Happy Birthday, Ali!

Today our little girl turned 2!

Fresh newborn

First birthday

Two years old

Happy Birthday, Ali!!

Belly Bump

I realized I haven't posted any pictures of my growing belly yet this pregnancy.  Probably because we've been so busy we didn't even take any until a week and a half ago.  So, for my friends and family far away, here's my HUGE belly.  I am now 25 weeks.  And not having twins, thank you.

Also, my grandma came to visit after Thanksgiving and we had a lot of fun.  Thanks for coming, Mems!  After she left, we decorated the tree for Christmas.

And a sweet little holiday kiss...

Thanksgiving Trip... and some other things

Every year Tyler's parents rent a beach house somewhere and we all go down and spend the week of Thanksgiving together.  It's always a lot of fun -- especially for kids who get to stay up WAY past their bedtime and play in the freezing cold water and sand at the beach.

This year we went to St. Augustine, FL.  Even though Ali was sick with some kind of sinus infection most of the time we were there, we all still had a blast.  All 22 of us... and when Tyler finally came on Thanksgiving day, 23 of us...

(Ali showing me her seashells she collected.)

Too Much Information Alert:

(If you look closely, you can see poor Ali's nose dripping like a faucet)

This was their first time flying a kite.  Cade did really well.  Ali did, too until she discovered how much fun it was to let go of the string and watch how fast the other kids ran to catch the kite.

Seeing us all lined up like this, I realized that there really are a LOT of us.  Tyler's parents have had a grandchild born every year since 1997, so the ages of the kids are: 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and as soon as Ali has her birthday in 2 weeks, 2.  (She's the one who's out of line)

On another note...

For those who didn't know, we have been raising chickens in our backyard.  We recently decided to try incubating some of the eggs to see if we could get any to hatch.  Of the 10 we tried, 3 of them hatched!  We were so excited!  It was a lot of fun and the kids loved watching the whole process.

So here is what a brand-new-born baby chick looks like:

This was the next day after it was dried off.

On another completely different note -

Being in a military ward, most of our friends will come and go.  We are lucky enough to have some that will stay, but that wasn't the case with the Johnsons.  They are probably the best people we have ever met.

I've never known anyone to be more selfless, giving or Christ-like.  Anything we ever needed, there they were.  I truly learned the meaning of serving, of charity and especially of love from these wonderful people.

Thank you, Johnsons, for everything you have done for us.  Our lives have been changed - definitely for the better - because of your example of what it means to try and truly become more like our Savior.

We miss you and hope you enjoy life and everything new you get to experience!!