The Best Gift That I've Ever Known . . .

. . . I'd always wanted most to own.

Yet in my dreams of sugar and spice,

I never thought it could be so nice.

The best gift of the year to me,

The one I hold most dear to me,

The gift that simply drove me wild

Was a tiny, newborn child.

Seven years ago, Heavenly Father blessed our growing family with its fourth member -- the singular sensation we call Bradley was born. This morning I'm remembering what was probably the best Christmas of our lives, a time that included all the usual joy and gladness that comes at this time of year that was amplified by the gift of our own son.

My pregnancy that time around was the hardest of the four of our kids. I always get incredibly sick, but that experience was worse than the usual. I ended up getting so dehydrated that my doctor ordered a picc line (peripherally inserted central catheter) so I could get some I.V. fluids at home for the next two months. Boy was that fun! (Actually the phenergan that went into the fluids was a lot of fun . . .)

As hard as it was, and always is, it never matters once that tiny, perfect baby is placed into my arms for the first time. Even the fourteen hours of labor, the throwing up all night long, and the pain of giving birth faded quickly from my memory the first time I saw Bradley's face. He was so beautiful.

Later, after Bradley's first bath, the nurse brought him to me in a stocking -- it was the cutest thing ever. I was madly in love at first sight, as all mothers are, with my new little one.

I've been looking through his baby book, enjoying the chance to go back and read my thoughts during the first few months of his life:

I kept thinking about being overrun with boys, but I didn't mind a bit! I just loved being with my guys, and it was so cool to watch them together. Bradley did not make a sound for the first 24 hours of his life -- it was the strangest thing. He didn't even show much interest in eating. He was just the most mellow kid I'd ever seen . . . his doctors and nurses commented on it again and again. He just hung out with his dad and his brother and seemed absolutely content.

We were all absolutely content. We got to bring him home on Christmas Eve and spend a

wonderful holiday together, cloaked in the warmth of the Spirit of our Savior's birth and the knowledge that our family could be bound together through the eternities.

I'm so happy my husband ended up being the world's greatest father. He is so tender with our children -- I love to watch them together.

Nathaniel is thrilled to be a big brother and loves to help out with Bradley as much as he can. And Bradley loves him! If Nathaniel is in the room, Bradley's attention is fixed on him . . . and they each think the other is absolutely hilarious all the time.

We couldn't be more thankful for our wonderful son, Bradley. He is off-the-charts smart, he's incredibly sweet and thoughtful, and he's a great big brother. His tender heart and gentle spirit amaze me as he demonstrates daily how much he loves his family. Today and every day, we celebrate him and his special place in our family.

A Little Birthday Fun

Bradley's birthday is next week, but he wanted to have a little party today, so we invited a few of his friends over to play.

He had a small cake, and we sang "Happy Birthday."



He opened a few gifts, which really thrilled him -- he got some really fun toys and was quite excited. (He's wearing the In-N-Out hat because Chris took him out for a special father/son lunch right before the party.)

He got a cool Mario Bros. chess set, which he really loved. Cute little Toad is the rook.

We took everyone over to Baskin Robbins for ice cream -- everyone had a great time.

More to come on my baby boy Bradley's birthday next week, when the actual day arrives.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like . . .

. . . CHRISTMAS!!!! Hooray! Each year as the holiday season approaches, I am always amazed that so much time has passed so quickly. But it doesn't take long before I'm in the Christmas spirit, so excited to celebrate this joyful time with those I love.

As December approached, we discussed at Family Home Evening some of the things we wanted to do as a family to keep Jesus Christ at the center of our Christmas celebration. My heart melted as I listened to the kids cheerfully suggesting things they wanted to do to serve others, and we decided that there were several little "projects" we wanted to participate in. We also chose to put a picture of Jesus next to the tree so that each time we look at it we will think of Him. In addition, we decided that each night, after scripture study, we would read a Christmas-related story or additional scriptures about Christ's birth. We'll continue the traditions of using the Nativity sets we have to tell the story to the children and also of reading the Luke account on Christmas Eve.

We put up the tree and decorated the house, which always brings a wonderful feeling to our home. The kids get so excited about everything, and I especially loved seeing Joseph's reaction to the tree and the lights. I love being with them and seeing the wonder in their eyes.










Merry Christmas, from our family to yours.

Scouts and Other Stuff

Nathaniel has been working really hard in Scouts, as always. Recently he and Chris were working on a requirement that had him building at shelter in our living room -- tying knots in a blanket strung between several pieces of furniture.

Pack Meeting is always lots of fun. All the kids took on Brother Bell in tug-of-war, and they played a hilarious game of Win, Lose, or Draw.

That night Nathaniel earned his Citizenship and Outdoorsman pins. We're always so proud of him for his efforts and for working so hard and being such a wonderful Scout. We're also thankful to his awesome leaders.

Other happenings: Here are the kids lined up for questioning . . . not sure what that was about.

Here's a series of funny (and cute) shots of my baby boy. We laugh at his antics all day long, and he adores the attention.

Rockin' out on Guitar Hero.

Chowing down!

Providing a little hoe down music. (It looks like he only wears those overalls and no shirt, but these were all taken the same day.)

He discovered he LOVES sweet potato pie. He devoured almost a whole pie on his own -- took it out of the fridge, grabbed a fork, and started walking around the house eating.

Catching Up

Finally getting around to posting a few photos -- actually, I'm finally feeling good enough to do so. If any of you hadn't heard (which I'm sure you have), I've been sick for quite some time, and it's only recently that I've come through it and have started getting back to normal.

So here are some updates.

Lindsey is my beautiful princess, always.



Chris took the kids on one last camping trip a couple of months ago. They absolutely love going.



A princess is a princess, even in the woods.



A cute little Bradley monkey in a tree.

Mel always handles the kids' Halloween costumes because she loves to and because she's so good at it. That was especially important this year as I never would have been able to get anything together for them. And to complicate matters, the boys had to have separate costumes for school. Each grade level had a theme, and costumes had to match the theme -- 1st grade was Egypt, and Bradley wanted to be a mummy. 6th grade was Greek gods and goddesses, and Nathaniel went as Atlas. (Thanks to Uncle Matt Cox for the drawings on the globe.) I thought they looked great!

Of course their REAL costumes were all Harry Potter themed. Lindsey made the world's cutest Hermione, complete with "Hogwarts: A History" and Crookshanks.

Nathaniel is the perfect Harry.

And Bradley is an adorable Ron Weasley. (Not pictured: Scabbers, courtesy of Kirsten.)

Joseph made a cute and cuddly Voldemort. He was so darn cute, walking around casting spells wth his wand, looking so proud in his robe. I have to check the other camera for more photos of him -- I know Chris took some of him in action.

We also recently celebrated Lindsey's 5th birthday -- my baby girl is growing up. We had, what else, another Princess Party.

Modeling some new jewelry.

She got a cute little set of hair care stuff -- dryer, flat iron, etc. The boys were thrilled to try them out! It was too funny! (And a little disconcerting.)

Her cake was Tinkerbell themed. Mel did a great job, as always. (Thank goodness for Mel.)

Happy Birthday, baby. I love you more than I can say. Every day you make me proud to be your mom. You are funny, adorable, kind, and the sweetest girl ever. I couldn't love you more.

Random shots -- Joseph likes to do housework in just a diaper!

(Mom, don't kill me.) When mom visited, she and Joseph had fun reading together. Look how happy he is to have his Marmee read to him!

Some of my cuties. I love this family. Life is good.