Christmas 2009

This post is out of order, but life has been a little crazy the last couple of weeks so this is mixed up like everything else. We have been so blessed this Christmas to have our beautiful baby girl with us and for her to be healthy. This was a very scary pregnancy when we were made aware the whole time that they could not find anything "wrong" with our baby, but the ultrasounds do not always tell the whole story. Even throughout the delivery the doctors were warning us that they really did not know what to expect and that it could take her a while to start breathing etc. It was a huge relief to hear that first cry immediately and then to hold her for a minute and see how perfect she was before they whisked her away to the NICU where she spend the next 12 days.
There were some especially hard days and Christmas Eve was one of them. As a parent, and especially at Christmas, you want to spend the time with your kids. I so wanted to be at home with my 3, but I also knew that I needed to be with Journey at the hospital. That on top of exhaustion and hormones made for a really hard day. Luckily I have Ben who was so great through all of the trials and really tried to make things normal for the kids. One of the nurses found this cute Christmas hat for Journey. (You can not dress the babies in the NICU so I had a different hat or bow for Journey every day. The nurses liked it and joined in on the fun.)


We had a great Christmas thoughout our trials and we were really able to remember what Christmas is all about and all the wonderful blessings that we have in our lives.

McKinna and Colten Then and Now

We lived by Colten Powell in Hawaii and became very good friends with the Powells. After leaving Hawaii though we came to AZ and the Powells went to Idaho. McKinna and Colten have never stopped missing each other and will periodically send a letter to one another. We love to look at pictures of Colten on his blog. For Christmas the Powells were able to come and visit with us. It was so great to see them again. McKinna and Colten played and played and now Bodin was able to join in on the fun. This is for remembering the great times...

Blessing Day

We blessed Journey today and even though it was could have been crazy our family and friends pulled together to make it a cake walk for us. I have to thank Natalie for the beatiful blessing dress and all of the accessories to go with it. Journey looked like a little princess. Sarah and Danielle then went way above and beyond by doing the breakfast over at Sarah's and getting all the food together. It was a wonderful day with a wonderful blessing and we know how blessed we are to have such wonderful people as part of our lives!