Christmastime 2014

 

Sam ready to meet Santa for the first time
at the Taylor family party :)

One of my favorite pictures ever.
During bathtime, I caught Sam just staring at this picture
of his sister. Swoon!

Chloe and Rudolph understand:
the things that make you different
make you amazing!

I mean.... does it get any cuter?!

The Sunday before Christmas, we were planning on making it to church,
but the kids had different plans. Chloe was having a meltdown and Sam
was needing a nap and being extra fussy. The combination was too much
and none of us made it. Then an hour or so later, both kids were happier
than ever, smiling and laughing! I decided okay we may have missed church,
but I better get some pix in their Christmas best I bought for this year!
And I'm so glad I got them dressed even though we were just staying at home
because seriously how cute are these pictures!

Move over Anna and Elsa, there's a new ice princess in town ;)

The dapper-est little dude I've ever known.
But he will not keep hats on, no matter how cute they are!

 

This picture pretty much sums up
how Chloe felt about Christmastime
AND how Sam felt about it! Oh my!

There's just something about this picture.
I don't know exactly what it is,
but it makes my heart swell.
It's simple, but it's the details that get me.
So grateful for this life.

 

A few days before Christmas, Chloe was being extra fussy.
Oby decided perhaps she was just bored
and decided she needed Santa to bring one of her presents
a little early. So we told her how Santa sent an elf just to her
a few days before Christmas because he heard she wasn't feeling well.
She got this iCraze iPad stand and was able to watch Barney
on Netflix while she was laid up from her hip surgery.
She thought the elf, Santa's special treatment, the stand, and Barney
were all THE COOLEST things ever! She was happy...
for at least an hour! LOL! But seriously, I'll take it! ;)

Happy girl!

The iCraze was a hit!

Christmas Eve at my mom's. I am IN LOVE with Sam's face in this pic!

Oby and I on Christmas Eve.

This cutie patootie did pretty good on Christmas Eve for about an hour
(that seemed to be her max during the hip surgery recovery period).
She sure looked cute during that hour, though! But wouldn't look at me for a picture! Haha!

 

Is there anything better than Christmas Eve as a parent?
All that work comes down to this moment when you stand back
and see the gifts under the tree and anticipate the next morning.
Magic!

When we went to bed on Christmas Eve, there was no snow.
When I woke up early Christmas morning, it was a white Christmas!
We had been envisioning our home at Christmastime since the moment
we saw it and here it was. It was every bit as beautiful as I had dreamed.
Life is good!

Christmas morning was perfection!
Chloe did relatively well and Sam was crazy excited!
My parents came over for breakfast and we decided
that should be a new tradition.

One of Chloe's favorite Christmas gifts was this
"Awesome Book of Awesome Faces" that I made with Chatbooks.
You can see it here:
http://chatbooks.com/share/volume/IzOny6TbK9BiONAKIi7u8pdmtmVlDNksZBv5SZ0V

The day after Christmas, we took Sam out to play in the snow.
His first time in snow was a hit! He loved it!
Me too, Sam. Me too.

Celebrating

The past week has been one of non-stop celebration!
Just my style!

We celebrated our Chloe and the unique -- and spectacular, I might add -- perspective she gives to our lives.



We wore green to spread awareness for Cerebral Palsy.



We wore purple to spread awareness for epilepsy.



We celebrated the color yellow.
This was my friend, Bree's, idea!
It was so much fun, and I'm glad I participated!
I tried to feel joy and spread joy as much as possible.
It's amazing what a dramatic effect it can have when there is even a small change in your thoughts and actions.
I sprinkled my weekend with:

random acts of kindness
(daffodils to a long-term care facility and other small things),

simple acts of service
(flowers to our parents, a smiley-face balloon for Chloe, and a service project for third-world countries),

and taking the time to do things I enjoy!
(spring cleaning, family visits, scrap booking, and playing the ukulele)

Nothing major happened, but I gotta tell ya - it felt good.
And it's good to feel good!!!!!!!!!!!





We also celebrated that the playground got some special recognition.
A local newspaper article featured our story,
and it touched a lot of lives.
I've received more emails, calls, and words of support than ever before!
I was shocked how many people who I thought knew about this project, actually had no idea. I'm so grateful the article helped us get the word out to our community! I feel more and more confident that this big idea will continue to be supported, funded, and become a reality. What a gift, to feel supported. I consider myself a very blessed individual.

One last quick thing:
I'd like to recommend this book that Bree recommended to me.
It happens to be about living a life of celebration every single day.
One might say it's about living an endless jubilee!
I thought I already understood and lived this concept,
but I learned so much more!



I think it's pretty safe to say that this book changed my life,
and I think it will most likely continue to have a significant influence for years and years to come! I've read it once and am reading it for a second time to make notes. In all sincerity, I wish that every single person in the world would read this book and start to live its principles to the fullest. I think the world would quickly become a drastically different place!

My Pot o' Gold

I really like St. Patrick's Day.... any reason to celebrate, right?!?! But I actually don't believe in luck.


I do, however, believe in magic, rainbows, and pots o' gold. I found MY pot o' gold at Nana's house, and it was these two little lasses, waiting to eat corned beef and cabbage! Yummy!!! (Thanks, Nana!)



Holy cuteness!!!!! Love those girls.

I also believe in green -- in making things green and lush and lovely for yourself! I guess you could call it luck, but it's something YOU create, not something that randomly lands with people. Just my opinion, I guess.


Chloe seemed to like St. Patrick's Day. I asked if she did anything fun at school, and she smiled and squealed. I'm guessing that was a yes? I'm sure her fabulous teachers had something fun planned. Chloe also loves the tradition of corned beef and cabbage, mostly because it's another reason to see her cousins! Here she is with Tonio reading her favorite book, Just Because. Chloe LOVES this book because it's about a little girl with big blue eyes and curly hair who is in a wheelchair. She loves to point at the pictures of Clemmie in her red chair. It is such a sweet, sweet book. I actually think it's a must-have for all children, special needs or not. It teaches a special lesson and it's just very sweet, almost as sweet as this picture of Tonio being such a good cousin. Love him!


Let's try to look past the chocolate chip cookie remnants that are smeared all over Chloe's white shirt, shall we? ;)

I hope you had a lovely St. Paddy's day yourself!

BL

This weekend we went to BL (Bear Lake). Not to be confused with BM (Battle Mountain) where my MIL and SIL went. They said there was an actual "BM" on the mountain! Too funny!

This was a "last hurrah" of sorts for the summer. Chloe starts school soon (yikes!) and I start working full time tomorrow (double yikes!). I have a heavy heart about it all, but I'm sure it will all work out. In the meantime, it's nice to enjoy blue skies and sand between our toes while we can!....

Good thing I took all those pictures. Otherwise I wouldn't remember a thing about what went on or who was there because I was completely immersed in the 2nd book of the Hunger Games trilogy. If you haven't already read it, you have to -- you just have to!