Happiness

Christmas morning- we always take a pic on the stairs! Elizabeth opening stockings. Ethan got his very own trampoline and after all the festivities had ended, he rolled it up the stairs and into his bedroom. Not the place I was thinking of, but he enjoyed it up there for the day. Jonah got a remote control car- well, all the boys did- and loved it! They were jumping around in excitement! One broke ten minutes later and was super glued fixed! Santa brought Asher some boxing gloves and a punching bag. Oh, and a Star Wars watch with which he proclaimed this Christmas to be the best one ever! ************Picture a picture of Elizabeth with a puzzle and Josh. I need to edit a sleepy parent out of the picture but still have yet to get photo editing software. Maybe next Christmas!************************************************** All Elizabeth asked for for Christmas was a puzzle, to do with Dad. Isn't she a sweetie? It wasn't very big, so they got it done fast- ...

The M. family and us! Going to see a Movie. An Abbott tradition! Elizabeth with baby Jesus. Thank goodness we had a girl or I would have to play Mary every year! All 4 kids doing the nativity scene. Notice the bell on Jonah's neck. He got it from School on Thursday after watching The Polar Express and has been wearing every day- even to bed- until today when it broke! Excited as can be, these kids figured out which presents were probably pajamas and grabbed them as soon as I said that they could! Eliz. Ethan, Jonah and Asher Jonah with his new jammies! This is my blog. My name is Megan A.

via Pioneer Woman Every morning I check my e-mail and blog at the same time. Whatever page loads the fastest, I check first. Today my blog loaded before hotmail and I was happily surprised to see that my youngest brother, David, had already changed the tag line on my header to "finding joy". I asked him last night around 8 pm to do it over e-mail. Granted, he lives in Utah and that was at 6 pm Utah time, but man, did he pull through for me! I want to tell you a little bit about " finding joy " (I never know when to use quotation marks or not, so if I did so wrongly- sorry!). Every year I want to pick out a theme and try to live my life by it. I got this idea from a friend of mine. Last year hers was peace. I think mine was peace as well. I'm not sure. I didn't really do much about it. This year that will change. This year my theme is "Finding Joy." I am going to Micheals today or tomorrow and am going to buy a big blank book, label it and put thing...

In Josh's family- and mine too- we trade presents with one of our siblings. This year Josh's sister Emily and her family had us for Christmas and they sent us the 12 days of Christmas. 3 packages arrived with 4 presents each and the children had fun every night opening a package and seeing what was in it! Often we had friends or family here as well and they enjoyed the presents along with us! Here's a snapshot of almost every day. What a treat! Thanks, guys! 1 Christmas Book 2 Sunday Videos 3 Kinds of Popcorn 4 Christmas Candles 5 Homemade treats! Yummy! 6 Christmas mugs- so cute!! Seven Toppings for a Hot Chocolate Bar- Delicious! :) 8 Christmas Stories 9 Hand painted Ornaments 10 things of Play Dough 11 Christmas songs 12 Christmas Donuts and a book about the 12 days of Christmas. Loved it! This is my blog. My name is Megan A.

Sometimes I think that I can't blog without pictures. It's late at night or early in the morning, on Dec. 26th- the day after Christmas, and I'm awake. I was so tired, I fell into bed right after the kids went down- 8:20 pm-ish- and woke up around 12 am when Asher wanted his blankets put back on and couldn't get back to sleep. Christmas was- what was the word you called it Josh- incredible? amazing? great? I can't remember just now, but you're right- Josh- it was. It was all those things. The kids were somehow very energetic and ecstatic this year. They woke up on and off from 5:30 am on (one of the reasons why I was so tired). I had to tell them it wasn't time yet. Elizabeth slept through it all- she always does. Let me back track- Christmas Eve was wonderful and busy. A family that are friends of ours have been in the process of moving and redoing their house before they leave. We've been helping them out, so their kids spent the night while their Pare...

The Living Christ Memorizing this baby. Check! #34 done. I just finished this week, which I wanted to do before Christmas. As I may have mentioned this before, I put this in a plastic bag around the beginning of October and put it in my shower and began working on it every morning. I didn't work on it every day, since some days are my gym days and I shower there, but little by little I got paragraph after paragraph down. I heard someone mention in a General Conference talk something about memorizing things and something about the Living Christ and that's when I decided to do it. It's been amazing. I seriously have thought about Christ each day for these past few months and have pondered over His mission in life and how it affects each and every one of us. I love Jesus Christ. I know that He lives. He is my Savior. He died to atone for my sins and for the sins of all mankind. "God be thankful for the matchless gift of His divine Son." This is my blog. My name is Me...

I feel like I have neglected Christmas on this blog. I was going to put some fun Christmas photos I found online, but I just remembered that we did go see the Christmas decor at the National Arboretum so those will work just as well! It's really neat because they make small replicas of the Nations Capital's monuments using plants. First we went and saw the Christmas tree outside of the Capital (which was bitter cold btw- I have had to buy fleece lined gloves and ditch my flimsy $2 ones) and then we went to the National Arboretum- now a new family favorite! Josh and Asher in front of the Capital The family in front of the Capital- brrr! The Justice Building- am I right, Josh? They had a cool train that went all around and famous buildings from around the world. Cool! Abraham Lincoln Memorial The capital, made out of vegetation, and all four kids! What an awesome place! We had to stand in line and I said "What's the big deal? Why is everyone standing in line to get in he...

My birthday was wonderful. I had no issues with turning 33- unlike turning 30 when I went to the temple and did a lot of soul searching, etc. I am mostly solid in all my wants and dreams now. I enjoy being a Mom, even though some days are harried and crazy. I love being married to Josh. I enjoy serving others and love teaching piano and doing my various Church callings! On Saturday Josh brought me home some flowers and sparkling grape juice and that was so sweet. Sunday he and the kids brought me breakfast in bed and he bathed them all as well- so nice! I sang with the Choir for Christmas at Church and people wished me a happy birthday and I felt loved! Josh's brother Aaron was in town on a business trip and brought his 5 yr old son along as well. It was so nice to have them here and the kids got along great! They brought me a 4 lb can of Stephens Hot Chocolate from Utah- my favorite! (Thanks, Marrisse!) For dinner we had Hawaiian Haystacks and had some friends over as well, with ...

2010 2009 2008 2007 This is my blog. My name is Megan A.

Dear Santa, I would like a dozen of these, please- in any flavor you choose. Love, Megan p.s. #18. Visit Baked & Wired. Check. It was very Hip. More hip than I thought and really cool. Not really a place to take 4 young children- so I'm glad Josh stayed in the car with them while I dashed in grabbed their Chocolate Peppermint Pattie and Strawberry cupcakes! Soooo good! The strawberry was the best- which surprised me as a chocolate lover!

Ethan couldn't remember what he wanted for Christmas so he asked Santa to surprise him. That would be easy for me- except I know what he really wants- a small trampoline! Jonah realized that Santa's beard was fake and I had to explain that he is really Santa's helper, as Santa cannot be everywhere as once. A close one! Asher loves getting dressed up- he insisted on wearing a tie! He doesn't get this from his Father or his Mother! You don't see Elizabeth here because this was the year we broke down and told her everything. I suggest not doing it. It ruins the fun. I think some kids can handle it but she won't have anything to do with him now. She can help fill the stockings, so we'll see how that goes. I'm not telling the boys. They can figure it out when they are older! Happy Twins!!! Some sweet family members of ours are doing the 12 days of Christmas for us. On the first day of Christmas- we got a Christmas book. On the 2nd day, we got 2 Sunday videos ...

I made these for our Ward Christmas Party last Saturday- aren't they fun? I got the idea from martawrites.com. More pictures to come- I got a new camera and I LOVE it- now I just need to get it insured! Busy times- all 4 kids have dentist appointments this afternoon, then we're singing carols with the girls from Church and tomorrow is piano lessons and MOMS Night In. Josh's brother Aaron and his son are coming to stay with us on Thursday night until Sunday- which will be fun! We love having visitors. My birthday is Sunday- I love the Holidays! This is my blog. My name is Megan.

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via facebook It's snowing!!! It's been so freezing here- as in I woke up early this morning to go to the bathroom and our bathroom clock/thermometer said 58 degrees. Inside! Josh was gone on a business trip and was not there to warm up the bed for me either! Luckily we have an electric blanket. I gotta run- so many things to do before Christmas (15 days left!) and so little time, but I just wanted to say that I love this season. This season of giving. A neighbor came up to me while I was taking a walk in the freshly fallen good stuff and asked to borrow some boy toys for two boys who just lost their Mother to Lukemia. Of course, I said yes. And had just recently cleaned our basement so all the toddler boy toys were together anyway. And as I drank my hot chocolate with mini marshmallows and reflected on the day, I remembered the prayer I offered earlier to have a chance to serve someone today. Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. I know it. May we look for chances to h...

and I have one ordered and on it's way from Amazon.com (the Nikon Coolpix I spontaneously bought on Tues, fretting that I would be camera-less for a long time, proclaimed only good pics in bright light with non-moving objects and as I shoot often inside fast moving children, it was not my camera to be). A very expensive lesson has been learned: always keep your camera in it's case so it won't be stepped on and ruined- I am moving on and upward. And because my camera is dead (both digital cameras that I have ever owned, in fact, bit the dust within two weeks of each other), I will splash out a few of my favorite pics taken over the years- well, the years where I have owned a digital camera (circa 2004) and since then. Enjoy. Megan.