Baby's First Christmas!

I have pictured my baby's first Christmas in my dreams, how fun it would be and how much Joy I would feel as a mom on Christmas with a beautiful, happy family. My dreams fell short of the wonder of the real experience. The best thing was watching my son interact with the special people in his life. He was spoiled by his grandparents and many of his family members and even though at this age he was more interested in the shiny bows atop the actual gifts, I know he felt the love and the spirit of giving that makes this holiday his mom's favorite.


Christmas Eve at Grammy and Grampa's...










A magical Christmas morning... In my excitement I awoke early and impatiently waited for over an HOUR for Harrison to wake up. I had showered, dressed and made Harrison a hot bowl of apple, cinnamon oatmeal before he woke and it took all my will power to refrain from knocking on his door exclaiming, "HO HO HO" and shrieking, "Harrison, SANTA CAME, SANTA CAME!!"









Christmas Day at Grandma Coco's...

We all celebrated our early GIFT this year, precious Sawyer. Also, Happy Birthday to our sweet Addelaide! Chels, Cam, Ben, Lauren and Ethan...you were dearly missed, it is never the same without your presence.












I am so grateful for this holiday in which I can reflect on my Savior's birth, life and the gift of his Atonement. I love the power of this holiday to brighten spirits, strengthen relationships, and create unforgettable memories. I will treasure the Christmas of 2007 forever as this was a miraculous year for our family and Harrison's first Christmas! We were so blessed to share this holiday with our loved ones, near and far.

Vegas Baby...Vegas!

We decided to take a spur of the moment trip to Vegas before Christmas to rendezvous with some of our favorite people!!

Lee generously treated us to a delicious dinner at the Bellagio, after which we watched the fountains light up and dance to joyous Christmas Carols. It was so fun and festive and I was instantly glad we came!



The next day brought a competitive Bowling competition where the sexes battled it out down the lanes... I'm afraid I wasn't much help for the women, my ball just loved that dang gutter. Here's our team with Grandma as our mascot!



While the family cheered on BYU in the bitter cold, we opted for a warm night at the Forum shops in Ceasars Palace. Harrison made lots of furry friends at FAO Shwarts...





Unfortunately, little Jackson wasn't feeling well but it was still so fun for Harrison to see his little buddy. Here's Jackson with his adoring Uncles.




Thank you Snarrs for such a fun trip, it was so fun to see you all. We also were grateful to see Grandma and Grandpa, Bob, Nathan and Kitch. We missed the rest of you...

Christmas came early this year!!

Welcome to our family little angel...



Sawyer Michael Ross was born on December 18th. He weighed an even 8 pounds and was 19 inches long. He is healthy and absolutely beautiful. Kelli is a star and makes it look so easy : ) She is such a wonderful mom and I have always looked up to her and aspired to follow in her footsteps. Thank you Kelli, for your sacrifice in bringing Sawyer to us! Our family is so blessed to have another special little spirit with us... he is a new vibrant splash of color and life in our beautiful rainbow!




We are so grateful for the abundance of blessings being poured out upon our family!

And then there were FOUR!

We've been unconnected these last few weeks as we watched Dax and Sanam's kids while they enjoyed a Caribbean Cruise! It was quite an adventure with a 6 year old, a 2 year old, a 1 year old and Harrison. Although we are very tired, it was so special to get that bonding time with Soph, Beck Beck and sweet Kaya. We already miss them dearly since we've been home! Harrison misses them too and I'm afraid he's extremely bored with just Ryan and I to entertain him around here : )

Some of the Highlights:

Beckett started every morning by saying, "I help Shawlie Bweakfast?" Then he would help me make my Nutrimeal and hand each pill to me individually, commenting on every one. "Oval!" "This one gwoss?" "Help get you better!" I had to watch and make sure he didn't squish the Biomegas and the Vitamin E all over himself as I know he was very tempted to!

Listening to Sophie talk... she is a talker! I love how her mind works and I find pretty much everything she says so adorable. She is so smart and funny. One of my favorite memories is of both of us just laying on Dax and Sanam's bed together while I did my breathing treatments. We both just read and it felt like I was laying there with my own daughter. I feel so blessed to have been able to watch Sophie grow up and be so close to her. She was such a great helper!

Bathing and Smelling Kaya. Her forehead is the sweetest smelling thing and every time I picked her up I would lightly brush my nose across her forehead back and forth and breathe in the scent, it was so fresh and innocent. I also loved bathing her as she would just sit straight up in the bath and let me lather her up...so cute! Not so cute when she leaned over in the bath and pooped amid squeals from Sophie and Beckett!! Thanks to Ryan's quick hands she didn't succeed in playing with it although she tried!

Watching Harrison interact with the kids was so fun. It was a constant Diaper Dearby. Anytime Kaya started crawling, Harrison would take off after her! He loves his cousins so much!

Thank you Dax and Sanam for having such adorable children and letting us bond with them and love them. We're game for another go whenever you need to get away : )


Kaya's Favorite Activity... playing with the Tupperware!



No mistaking who's dror this is!



Brave Sophie with her stylish sling after her fall from the Monkey Bars...



Our only break was when they were all sleeping or...



Harrison polishing the floor with spilled milk : )