Happiness

Isn't this beary kindergartener so cute? All the kindergarteners wore their bear shirts and sang Christmas songs. Asher had been practicing them all by himself all week. So cute! We wish you a Beary Christmas from all of us here in Arizona! This is my blog. My name is Megan Abbott.

At the lights at the Mesa Temple. They were gorgeous! I can't get Ethan to smile for the world! The star above this Nativity was amazing! Half of us at the Lights. The boys were exploring nearby. A Lladro Nativity set from Spain. My favorite! Merry Christmas, everyone! This is my blog. My name is Megan Abbott.

is my TWO front teeth! This is my blog. My name is Megan Abbott.

Shawni, at 71 toes.blogspot.com , shared a neat thought about Christmas. She talked about 3 different levels of experiencing Christmas. It really put things into perspective for me. I thought I would share it with you. Here you go. Merry Christmas! From me to you! This is my blog. My name is Megan Abbott.

Me, 34, and the kids! I only have ten minutes- make that eight- until I help do Christmas Rotations at Asher's Kindergarten but I wanted to write about my birthday. Josh was so sweet and made us all waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. Jonah came down and said "Is it General Conference today?" (that's our usual Conference tradition. I went and built Gingerbread houses (we hot glued them together) for Ethan's Christmas Party today. When I came home I found that someone ( my sweet Visiting Teachers) had hearted my door. Since Josh was home the whole time I thought it was him. So sweet! We went out to lunch at Joe's Farm Grill that gives you a free meal if it's your birthday. They were featured at Diners, Drive-ins and Dives so there were quite a few Asian tourists there, taking pictures of everything. I took 1 picture and it wasn't very good. The burgers were amazing and for the first time ever I wasn't able to finish it. After that we went t...

My sweet, sweet sister met us at the beach near Santa Barbara Zoo and took our family pictures. They turned out great! Thanks, Lariss!!! (I still owe a few people these pictures- they are coming in the mail!) The whole family! Elizabeth The boys- Jonah, Ethan and Asher. I took them to the Mall on Saturday and got 2 comments asking if they were triplets. They sure are getting to be close in size! The boys measured small at their last Dr. visit and we're planning to do an x-ray on their bones to see what size they are. We'll see! Don't you just love this shot? I thought about choosing this one! This is my blog. My name is Megan Abbott. ps. I am 34 today! How cool is that? More on that later!

Josh has a job!!! This is something that has been in the works for a little while now, but Josh had a full day of interviews on Monday and yesterday morning he got the call offering him the job. As of January 3rd, he will be the Director for the Center for Law, Science and Innovation at ASU law school . Hooray!!! We are thrilled! There cannot be a better job suited for Josh than this one. It involves working with students and faculty, research, fund raising, administration, teaching and grant writing to name a few. When we left Maryland, we didn't know what kind of job we would end up with. Josh's law experience was all in a type of law they don't really do in Arizona. We figured that a law degree and 5 years experience would be on our side. And we found something better than we even hoped for. Isn't that how it works? God leads us by the hand, taking us through the unknown and new and different and brings us to something we never even knew was out there. Now, if we can...

You can read more about Michelle Duggar's Pregnancy Loss here . If you want to. This is my blog. My name is Megan Abbott. -warning: sometimes my links work, sometimes they don't. Now you know!

Josh shaved off his beard. But first, he had to do this. Hee Hee! I really wanted to post Elizabeth's Santa letter, but since she told me to not write personl things about her on my blog, I won't. Here is Jonah's letter to Santa for 2011. "Dear santa I been good all year. I want A teloscope that I can look in space. And a little sister so my big sister could play with her. And 25 dollers. and a game any game. and A remote-control dirt bike. and a Jingle bell and a flashlight and a pack of buble gum. And scooby Doo the movie. From Jonah to santa" The part about the little sister made me cry. He'll be getting one or two of the things on his list this year. Oh, and Asher wrote that he wants a puppy. Even though we now have a dog. He still wants a puppy. Santa will not be bringing him what's on his list this year. But he will get a cool new something that starts with B. And ends in ike. And he will love it! This is my blog. My name is Megan Abbott.

Before Christmas starts in Full Swing, here are some more pics of our Thanksgiving. Highlights included freshly grilled lobster and rib roast, going tide pooling, going to the Santa Barbara Zoo and touring Downtown Santa Barbara on the Trolley. We love Santa Barbara. Always have, always will. And Doug and Sheelah were the perfect hosts! They even babysat for us one night while we went out to dinner and movie. It was all very wonderful! Us at the Santa Barbara Asher surfing at the Santa Barbara Zoo. A Flamingo at the Zoo- love that pink! My Parents Uncle Doug and Aunt Sheelah Cousins playing in the back yard! Lobster ready to be par-broiled and grilled!

Hope here I can feel the hope oozing from this message. Sometimes people go through hard times so that others can learn from them. Sometimes I feel like our hard times are so that others can learn as well. I have learned a lot from Stephenie's accident. Her love for her family, for life, for her Father in Heaven and for Motherhood amazes me. And as I am amazed, I learn and grow. This is my blog. My name is Megan Abbott.

I have a few questions for you- 1. Do you have all your Christmas shopping done? (It's the 9th. Just so you know!) 2. Have you heard of hueandhum.com? There is a free Christmas download on their blog. He is a singer in the band The Fictionist in Utah and she is an artist. Love, love their sound and I love new Christmas tunes each year. 3. What is your all time favorite Christmas song? 4. Did you know that it is great fun to have a dog? Who knew? 5. Have you seen Downton Abbey ? It's a BBC series on Netflix. My Dad recommended it to us and I love it- it's brilliant! 6. Did you know you can watch shows on amazon.com? You can and it was awesome! Some are even free if you are an amazon prime member, although if you get netflix, it may be the same. 7. Did you know that it takes 3-4 hrs to bath, dry, cut and comb a Cocker Spaniel/Border Collie type Dog? I thought it took 30 minutes. Yeah, I'm a novice! 8. Did you know that we currently have 4 types of advent calendars in our ...

1. The ice cream man comes around in December playing Christmas Music. 2. The palm trees get decorated in Christmas Lights. 3. There is no grass in the front yards (just rocks) for your dog to go potty on, so he goes in your own back yard. 4. There are 2 shaved ice stores where you can buy shaved ice year round- Heaven! 5. People get lizards and turtles for their pets for Christmas. 6. Everyone decorates their rock yards with inflatable Christmas figures for Christmas. 7. At special events there is fake "snow" for the kids to play in. 8. The kids have 'sleds' complete with wheels and everything. 9. There are no storm drains- just drains that lead to the local park. 10. You have 2 air conditioners- 1 for the main floor and 1 for the second floor. This is my blog. My name is Megan Abbott.

Today I was driving and feeling a little sorry for myself. For a few big reasons. And then I drove by a Christmas Decoration and my thoughts turned to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. I could just imagine her, nine months pregnant and in LABOR. She is sitting on a donkey, in a strange city- crowded and smelly and loud. If I were Mary, all I would want would be a clean room, my good husband and a sweet maid to attend to the birth.Simple.Basic. But Mary and Joseph kept getting turned away. Again and again. I'm sure Mary had a moment of doubt- "Every room is full? Really?" And then, I'm sure, there were angels comforting her, strengthening her. I feel that same way sometimes. As though every door is being closed in my face. I have moments of doubt, of fear- when my faith is being tested. And then a solution is found- a clean stable. A healthy husband and someone to help out. And the best part of it all? A healthy baby boy- the Savior of All mankind. Born this night in the city...

Last week I got an e-mail about an ad for a dog that I had posted on Craigslist earlier. I asked for a picture and when I saw her, I wasn't sure so we wanted her. When we had first decided that our family needed a dog (it all started with a trip to the Puppy Store at the Mall) I had wanted a small, blonde and brown dog. A purebred. A dog that would sit on my lap and that I could cuddle and coddle. The dog we went to see on Saturday was not that kind of dog. It was black and white, a mix of a cocker spaniel (which I adore) and border collie. She was not a puppy- she was almost 4 years old. We had to take all the kids with us to see her and at the sight of so many of us, she peed her pants. Literally. Not a good sign for me. She was running all around- super excited to see new people. Again, not what I was expecting. At all. I kept my distance and let the kids pet her and Josh get to know her. We'll have to look again, I thought. And then 15 minutes passed and I saw how happy Jo...

When I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder almost 3 years ago, I didn't know what to do or what to expect. What would my future be like? Would I be able to realize all of my dreams, my hopes, my aspirations? Now, almost 3 years later, here I am. I am healthy and I am happy. It has been tough. Really tough. But if I could go back and change things I wouldn't. I wouldn't do it for the world. Hilary Weeks has come out with a new song- Beautiful Heartbreak . It has touched my heart and I hope it will touch yours as well. We all have a sign we could wear. You never know what someone is struggling with. How am I doing- you ask? I am doing okay. Mostly, I am grateful for the Tender Mercies that Heavenly Father sends. A sweet woman at Church today, coming up and giving me a squeeze and chatting about losing a baby for a while. Finding the Perfect Dog and bringing her home (more on that later!) after putting an ad on Craigslist 3 weeks ago. Seeing the sun burst from the clouds on ...

Entering California a week ago! 1. I love Banana Chips. 2. We get a Christmas ornament each year with the year on it. Sometimes it has our picture in it and sometimes not. 3. I love watching Frasier on Neflix. I thought I would get tired of it. I haven't! 4. I LOVE circus peanuts (you know- that orange peanut candy that tastes like Bananas). 5. I love baking cinnamon rolls, banana bread and homemade pizza and wish I did it a lot more often! 6. I love Stephens Hot Chocolate. I was really cold for the first time in 4 months yesterday and had a cup of it- Heaven! 7. I love Sees Candy, Lindt (the red, plain kind but anything will do!) and Godiva. 8. I love getting mail and will sometimes send letters just to get letters back. 9. I had a black and white kitten once named mittens since it paws were white when I was little. 10. I thought Breaking Dawn was too scary but I am going to see it again tonight! 11. I love Halloween, Valentines Day and Christmas, not necessarily in that order. ...

Hello, Handsome Man who takes me on dates to eat yummy food and watch romantic movies! Nice to see you! Doug and Josh on the Harley, ready for a ride! The kids thought the bike was noisy in the garage! Riding away!!! Hello, boots on sale for $10 at Target! Thank you end rack clearance! This is my blog. My name is Megan Abbott. p.s. I subbed today and put in my first whole day of work after 9 years! It was interesting and unique and fun and slightly boring. It was for resource and the teacher had forgotten to leave half of her lesson plans. Plus, all the other aides were sick and the kids were sick and told me they hoped I didn't get sick. What? I realized that while working is hard, being a Mom is harder. On many levels.