A Few Weeks Ago, I Laughed

I was with the kids. They did something funny. Or, maybe it was only funny to me. And, I laughed out loud. It was the kind of laugh that starts in your toes and shakes your whole body. My kids lit up. It felt awesome. I said to myself, "I definitely need to do that more often."

A few days later, we took the family snowshoeing. That provided lots of laugh-out-loud moments.
Katie Jane rode in this backpack and never made one peep. I love her.
The whole family off on a snowshoe adventure.
A lady in the neighborhood made matching stocking caps for our family. Then, I found out she made matching sets for every family on the block! Sophie and Ian model their new duds. I love those two. When did they get to be so grown up?
Isaac made us laugh out loud the entire time by accidentally-on-purpose falling into the snow in the most dramatic way, over and over. I love him. All of the kids were real troopers which made for a great family day. It was nice to remember that it's okay to be outdoors in the winter. We had so much fun, that Brian and I are taking the older two on a moonlight hike with snowshoes tomorrow night. Thanks Weber Pathways for the free family fun.

What a beautiful place to live.

The Unwrapping of Gifts

Brian and I are celebrating eleven years of marriage later this month and lately I've been thinking about all of the ways that our lives together were like a big present waiting to be unwrapped all those years ago on our wedding day. There were so many questions waiting for answers. Now, I feel like several of the big questions have been answered, such as:

How many children will we have? Four.

Boys or girls? You will have two and two and they will be unique and wonderful beyond your wildest imagination.

Will I enjoy being a mom? Too much to express in words.

Where will we live? Ogden.

Ogden? Yes, Ogden.

Will I like it then? Strangely, you will love it because: Ogden is Awesome (Bill says so)Will we ever live overseas together? Yes, you will have crazy adventures in China when you have three of your four kids.

Will Brian ever be one of those photographers whose work is featured in art galleries? Yes, but not because he followed you on an adventure to document Bedouins in the Middle East in your early years of marriage.

Will one of us be published? Yes, Brian.

Will Brian abandon his ambitions to be an artist sans "starving" and return to school to be a smooth talking lawyer? No.

What will Brian do for his career? He will be a photojournalist. He will be awesome. In fact, you will receive the Best Christmas Present Ever in 2009 when he is hired full time by the Deseret News.

Congrats on the new job babe! I'm so proud of you.

Here's to the beginning of the rest of our lives.