Blessings From Above

Blessings From Above

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Christmas Celebration

We had an amazing and magical Christmas celebrating our Savior’s birth. It was truly one of the greatest Christmas holidays this year as being parents and watching Laylie enjoy the reason for why we celebrate Christmas and all the festivities it brings.
We celebrated Christmas Eve with my family. Every year we all get together at my parents for a wonderful night going to an amazing church service at the Movement Church, a delicious lasagna dinner, singing Happy Birthday to Jesus several times during the night, and even once with a cake, gifts, and being together as a family. Laylie had a blast and I must say Jason and I really felt so overwhelmed with joy by all the love when we left my parents’ house Christmas Eve. We are so grateful and thankful!






Christmas morning we woke up at 6:30am ready to get our Christmas morning started. Our Sweet Laylie was so tired from Christmas Eve the night before, that she did not wake up till 9am. While we waited for our little girl to wake up, Jason and I had a special time sitting on the couch, drinking hot coco, and reading the Bible together. The morning was perfect from the start! Laylie woke up and was so thrilled it was Christmas morning. We did our annual picture taking on the stairs and then we gathered around our Christmas tree and opened gifts…Laylie thinks that all of her gifts came from Jesus since it is his birthday and he is so loving to share gifts with her. We ate a yummy French toast breakfast and got ready for the super fun day ahead of us.
Good Morning...Merry Christmas Laylie J!

Our annual picture taking on the stairs

Last years picture on the stairs...she looks so little.

A picture by our tree

Christmas Day we headed to Jason’s family’s house and had a wonderful Christmas with the White family. We gathered around the table to eat a delightful lunch made Jason’s sister, Chef Jillian. All the cousins played together and ran around the house enjoying each other. We had a wonderful time and truly must say that, even though Christmas has already come and gone, it was one of the best yet - and I am sure the years get better and better.


Jason had the blessing of taking off 5 whole days of work. What did we do with all of this time? Well, Jason and I went on a little get-away to Laguna Beach for the night without Laylie. We had a wonderful time soaking up each other and enjoying complete relaxation. Laylie had the greatest time being with my sweet friend Kalli while we were away. We feel so blessed to have Kalli in our lives, and are so thankful that she completely enjoys Laylie and was willing to watch her for the night while we went on our get-away.






After we arrived home, the next morning we headed to Downtown Disney so Laylie could meet all of her favorite Disney Characters at a buffet breakfast. She had a blast and it was so fun to watch her eyes light up when the characters would come over to our table to give her a big hug and kiss and spend some time with her. We also got some great photos and video of the whole experience. What a fun vacation!








Saturday, December 17, 2011

10 Year Celebration

Last Saturday we had a wonderful party celebrating Jason and his father Jim. December 7th marked the 10 year anniversary of their living donor liver transplant and it was such a glorious thing to celebrate. We surprised Jason and Jim with a big party in their honor at the Old Spaghetti Factory with tons of family members. We are so thankful for such a wonderful healthy father and Jason's amazing giving heart. Only by the grace of our Heavenly Father was this amazing gift made possible and we are so grateful.









My Dancing Girl

Laylie is taking ballet and tap every Tuesday morning and she is loving it. She gets to dance with her best friend Therese and her other close friends Audra and Mia. It is a joy to watch Laylie grasp new things such as shuffling her feet with her tap shoes, gliding across the dance floor, using the ballet bar and tons more. I love having a little girl where I get to dress her in tutus and tights. Oh, and already at 2 years old she has better coordination than her mama...I think she gets most of it from her daddy. Here are some cute photos of her dancing away with her friends and her teacher Mrs. Tiffany.








Friday, December 2, 2011

Getting Ready for our Saviors Birth

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, celebrating with both families, with lots of fun, food, and traditions. We have so much to be thankful and grateful for this year. We are truly so blessed!
After Thanksgiving, we got ready for my most favorite holiday, CHRISTMAS!! We got the house completely decorated and picked out the perfect Christmas tree at the local Christmas tree lot down the street. That night, we decorated the tree, drank hot chocolate, and ate powdered doughnuts. This year was so much fun with Laylie helping decorating everything and understanding so much. If you ask her about Christmas, she will tell you all about Jesus’ birthday. We are so thankful to celebrate this time of year, our Savior's birth, and our hearts are overwhelmed by how truly wonderful this season is turning out to be. Perfect Savior, wonderful family and friends, a fully decorated house, and a baby on the way. We wish you all a happy December!

A fun story –
As we decorated the house for Christmas, we kept telling Laylie that it was Jesus’ birthday, reminding her that he died on the cross for us and saved us. The next day we were in the car driving and she asks me “where are we go?” I reply, “Trader Joe's.” Laylie starts to cry and says, “No, we have to go to Jesus’ birthday party.” Both Jason and I look at each other with big smiles and say that his birthday will be here soon and we can celebrate his birthday with cake, some gifts, and church. Hurry December 25th..Laylie can’t wait to celebrate Jesus’ birth.

Making a gingerbread house -





Picking out our Christmas tree -





Merry Christmas!!!!