Happiness

 My Sweet Ride- a birthday/Christmas gift from J!   My birthday day- turning 36 ! I had a great day and I've decided age is just a number! I feel like I'm still 18 or 21 just with more life experiences!   Asher- getting ready to see the Temple Lights!   Ethan and Asher at the Mesa Temple Lights   The kids at the Nativity Scene  And with Aunt Rachel- who is visiting for Christmas! O n the Sunday before Christmas! Merry Christmas!

  Elizabeth, at her first Clarinet concert. She did amazing!   Asher- at our Church "Polar Express" Christmas Party! The adults were invited to wear ugly sweaters and ours were just to ugly to display on this blog (actually we just pinned things onto our sweaters and that's about it!).   Some of Elizabeth's  5th Grade Band Concert.   Things are going well lately- I spoke in Church yesterday on Hope and it went pretty well. I also taught the Beehives in Young Women at Church, sang in the Choir, played the piano for some of Choir Practice and then sang at the Stake Christmas Concert. Phew! I was in bed by 8 pm. Exhausted!   Our "Little Man"- new nickname since he won't probably be named until we see him- is doing well. He loves to kick and was really kicking during the Handel's Messiah Sing-a-long last night. He must want to be named Handel (or Frederick). I am finally showing (note- I am 23 weeks along!)!   The kids are gear...

The kids with their before-dinner craft. We ate outside this year- the weather was perfect! Ethan and Jonah did a 4th Grade Thanksgiving Program. They did an awesome job on their speaking and singing parts! (Jonah is on the left and Ethan is on the right- Ethan snuck the red shirt out of the house- maybe he thought I wouldn't let him wear it?)  Our big Smalley Cousins- Andrew, Daniel, Tim and Allison (missing Sabrina)- they have seen 2 Episodes of Studio C (a hilarious comedy troupe on BYUtv) live and we love their great taste in TV shows! They also like Dr. Who-which my kids like (when I let them watch it).  Josh prepping the turkey- he does the turkey whenever we make one and I am thankful I don't have to mess with that large, slippery thing! We soaked it in a brine and it turned out delicious! The Smalleys at the Riparian Preserve  For Thanksgiving this year, our family stayed at home and Josh's sister Emily and her husband and five kids ...

Maximilliano? Declan? Antony? I am thrilled to be on the hunt for a baby boy name but for the life of us, we cannot settle on just one name. We are at a loss for a good, strong, meaningful baby boy name. Let me emphasize WE- I have quite a few that I really like (Brigham, Ephraim, Bennett, James) and would use in a heartbeat. Josh, on the other hand, hasn't been able to persuaded in any direction.  And this is a team process. Me and Him.  With Elizabeth, we went through just a handful of names, and when I said "Elizabeth"- my Grandmother's name- we both agreed and felt that it was to be HER name. In fact, when we found out it was a girl, we called people and told them "We are having an Elizabeth!" It has been a perfect name for her (Elizabeth Renee- Renee after her Grandmother on Josh's side) and fits her perfectly (don't all babies names fit that perfectly after awhile? Well, most of them!) Ethan and Jonah were going to be 'Nathaniel...