Camping (11/15/16)

Because David is the best dad ever, he wanted to take Porter camping one last time before it got too cold.  So Porter was thrilled when David came home army and asked him if he wanted to go camping.  They packed up and headed out.  Jonas was so sad because he knew he was missing out.  Jonas cane with me to the RS activity and when we got home David and Porter were in the backyard making a fire.  Jonas was now thrilled.  Those boys roasted marshmallows and slept in the tent.  If you want to see pure joy, it was these two boys tonight.  I loved to see it.  The gratitude and love was overflowing from all of them.  What a special thing for them to get to do with their dad.  I am beyond grateful for David and the father he is.

Jonas unfortunately didn't make it all night.  He almost didn't make it long at all because David said he was out of control wild, but he got a second chance and got to stay.  Sometime in the middle of the night David brought him in because he's kind of crazy sleeper.  There is a lot of rocking and rolling going on.  But, at least he got to spend the fun part with the boys.  The best thing was when David sent me a video of the boys singing "Praise to the Man".  Precious.

Clean up after a fun night.

Update (12/4/16)

I am so far behind documenting and it's only going to get worse once the baby comes.  So in an attempt to kind of update things, here are a few pictures from this month.

Porter said the people at the gym did not care what he wore, so he showed up in pj's with church socks.

Story time at the library.  I love taking the boys here.  They have so much fun and it something to get us out of the house.

Me 38 weeks!  What?!  Last week I seriously thought I was going into labor and I kind of panicked.  I was not prepared.  No bag packed, no plans for who would come watch the kids, no baby name picked out....  With both boys, I did not have contractions until I was in labor, but I was definitely having contractions that lasted a few hours.  They weren't painful, but definitely things are getting ready.

Dad and his boys.  Bedtime story time.

35+ weeks pregnant (11/13/16)

Thought I better document the growing bump.  It's been awhile and I only have a month left.  Life is going to drastically change again.  3 kids 3 and under... at least for two months.

#lighttheworld

The church has started a #lighttheworld challenge for December.  We have enjoyed doing something each day.  We've learned about an ancestor, Grandpa Tommy, read a story about Christ healing the blind in the New Testament and we've lightened the burden of someone else by inviting friend's over to play.  One friend has a new baby brother and a dad in residency, so we knew his mom could use a break.

I am grateful for this Christmas season.  It really does bring out the best in people.  When I watched the #lighttheworld video, I was incredibly touched at the point where it quoted two scriptures.  First, "I am the light of the world" and then it says, "Ye are the light of the world".  When I reflected on that second phrase, it reminded me that as I share my light and as I help others see the light and bear testimony of Christ through my acts of service, I can be part of Christ's mission to be a light to the world.

Christmas Season in full swing 912/4/16)

Today we really got into the Christmas spirit.  We started out the day with a 5k Jingle Bell run for arthritis.  Our great friends, the Murdock's, have a daughter with juvenile arthritis.  We went to support her.  David ran and Porter joined him for about 2 miles of the run with intermittent breaks in the stroller.  Jonas and I hung back and visited Santa and Rudolph.  Jonas was really sad when Unicorn Santa, Dan, took off running in the race and Jonas wasn't going with him.  He was fascinated by "the unicorn".

For the race, Porter was adamant that he wanted to dress up as the abominable snowman. So while the rest of us were getting dressed this morning, Porter got out the paints, put blue and white paint on a plate and went to work painting his face.  He was pretty proud of the final product.

Tonight we headed to Thanksgiving Point with Gayle to see Luminaria and The Light of the World exhibit.  We got all bundled up and really enjoyed it.  The lights were fun with Christmas music playing in the background.  And the Light of the World exhibit was incredible.  You felt the spirit as we walked through and viewed the sculptures depicting events from the Savior's life.  It was so kind of Gayle to bring us.

The boys enjoyed the whole thing and we finished with some games and s'mores.