Black & White Photos

Here are the black and white photos as well. It took so long to get the colored ones posted that the black and white just had to wait.

New Family Pictures

Well we had the great opportunity to have Peggy Woolsey take our family photos this year. It had been a while and we were so excited to go outside in the fall. Here are a few of our favorites. Family and friends will need to weigh in so we knew which ones to send out to everyone. Check out the new pictures in our blog background as well. My favorites are kind of ordered from bottom to top. (Sorry still trying to figure out to post pictures how I want.)

The Pumpkin Patch

Right after we were married, we discovered that Holiday decorating was a passion we both shared. So we started watching for sales and pining and saving for a few years for some specific items. We love holidays! (Especially Brydon) It was so much fun this year to pull out the Halloween decorations and have our son enjoy them as much as we have. So I had to post some pictures of the very happy Halloween boy.

Check out the cool Haunted House!

I just can't leave it alone. It is so cool! If you come to my house I will turn off all the lights and make you listen to it.

Look out for the little Devil dog!

I also really love these pumpkins. We spend a lot of time in the dark looking at glowing pumpkins and Haunted houses.

I just had to try on my costume from last year!

Last week we also had a chance to visit the Linvilla pumpkin patch. Last year we had not fully discovered the potential of this place and so we were so excited to take Caleb this year. It was a tradition in Utah and now we have a fun place to go here. Caleb had a blast trying to pick out the very best pumpkin. We haven't painted or carved it yet but just wait, I am sure it will be a masterpiece!

We made it! I had to have a picture with these huge pumpkins. We didn't see the "Do not take Pictures" sign until it was too late! Ooops...

I am having a blast and am the master pumpkin picker outer!


Ahhhh...these pumpkins look great! How do I look?

I found my pumpkin and I can even carry it....sort of!!

Yep I'm a poser! We make quite the match.

Beware of the crazy Witch....oops...that is just my mom!

What a perfect end to the day!

A Testimony of Prayer

So last night my son's prayer went like this:

"Heavenly Father, Bless those babies. Bless Caleb, Mommy, Daddy, and Cooper to have a baby. Bless those babies to come to my house. Bless that there no webs and no spiders. Name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

The past few nights Caleb has woken up early and been very whining, cranky, and extra tired. We haven't been able to figure out what was going on until the other night when he yelled out in his sleep and woke up at 3 in the morning. When I went to check on him, he told me a very vivid story about how a spider was in our house and how he tried to touch the spider web but he got stuck and then the spider came to get him. He was very concerned that the spider was now in our living room. I stayed with him until he could fall back asleep, and began to wonder if bad dreams were the reason Caleb has been so extra tired and cranky lately.

Last night we talked to Caleb about dreams and how the spider wasn't real but was just a bad dream. He was still very concerned about the spider. Then we told him that he could say a prayer and ask Heavenly Father to help the spider go away and help him have good dreams. Lately Caleb has been struggling saying prayers. He has prayed for months to have a baby come to our family to no avail. He has begun to refuse to pray and has been very sad and agitated whenever we see a baby or talk about someone else having a baby. Last night it was so wonderful to hear his sweet, faithful prayer to ask his Heavenly Father to help him with his two greatest problems: a baby and bad spider dreams. This morning when he woke up at his regular time with a smile on his face, he informed me that he slept good. Heavenly Father had answered his prayer.

It was such a blessing to me to see my son get an answer to his sweet prayer. It has been discouraging to all of us that a baby has not come to our family but a night without out bad dreams was a testimony that Heavenly Father still does love and answer our prayers. We just don't always know when or how, that's the hard part. How grateful I am that Caleb got to receive an instant answer to his prayers so that his testimony of the power of prayer could be strengthened.

This weekend during General Conference we were again reminded of how much our Heavenly Father loves us and wants the best for each of us. Elder Packer's wonderful talk about prayer and the story of the sick cow was again another testimony of the power of prayer. You just never know when the Lord may save your cow because of a simple prayer from a dear little one.

A Day of Compliments

So today was just one of those good days for super cute compliments from my sweet little boy. I just had to record the moments.
While on the couch watching a movie this afternoon with Caleb, he grabbed and squeezed my arm and said, “Mom, I love so much. You’re my best friend.” Then burrowed in and snuggled me good through the movie.

Brydon and Caleb had a little father/son outing to run a couple errands and get Rita’s Water Ice (pronounced “wadda ice” here in Philly). On the way home, Brydon mentioned how fun it would be to finally slurp down their water ice. Caleb said, “I’m going to slurp your cheekies, because I love Daddy!”

While I was making dinner, Caleb informed me that he was so hungry and just couldn’t wait for the soup to be done. It took some convincing but finally he was able to eat the potato soup and salad I had made. After a few bites he said, “Thanks mom, this is so yummy.” After finishing his first bowl of soup and while eating his second he said, “Thanks for dinner mom. I love you!”

You know it is no wonder my son is so good at complimenting his mom. Brydon is constantly complimenting me. There is not a day that goes by that my husband doesn’t tell me I’m beautiful. He is so wonderful and such a good example to Caleb. Caleb has learned well from his father. A few weeks ago as Caleb and I were rushing to make it to church on time, I opened Caleb’s door and asked him to crawl in. Instead he ran around the back of the car to the other side. I was not happy and began to get after him to get himself in the car, NOW. However, he ran over opened my car door and came back with a cute grin and told me, “Mom, I opened your door for you.” Well I had to apologize and thank my sweet son for his kindness. The same kindness he sees his dad do for me all the time. How did I get so lucky to have two amazing men in my life? Caleb is so lucky to get to follow in his father’s footsteps.

I'm Gonna Miss This

So the last few months have been some of the longest months of my life. Only last summer beats this summer. Last summer was hell, this summer is just close. So as I have been pining for a better life and an explanation for why everything can go wrong at the same time, the song “You’re Gonna Miss This” has been coming to mind. We have been swamped with Medical School Applications (You know doctors deserve to be paid a lot just for having to fill out those absolute awful applications. You think I am joking but nothing compares to Med school apps for pure torture. If your marriage can survive the application process then you have earned Celestial Glory). And worried about how we might answer our little boy’s prayers to have another baby when the Lord’s answer just seems to be a big NO. Or how to keep up with church, a busy 3 year old, and all the other adult responsibilities that just have to be taken care of. So today I started to think about what was I going to miss? Was I enjoying the moments I have now or just pining for a future that I have little control over? I don’t want to look back and say that I missed out on living for today, so I have been making a list of all the things I would miss about my life just how it is right now.

1. My husband’s hair. The last year has been hard on his head of hair and I am afraid in a few years there will be nothing left. I am going to miss the full head of hair, even though I will love him no matter what.
2. A 3 year old. Quite frankly I love 3. It is way better than 2 and Caleb is too darn cute. 3 is fun because they can talk, reason, dress themselves, but still think mom can fix anything. I get cuddles and kisses and independence. It is a great combo and by there are far less tantrums.
3. Only having to clean 1 toilet. The advantage to small apartment living is that there is only 1 toilet in the house for my son to completely spray with pee. I do not look forward to having to clean multiple toilets.
4. Running. I am really going to miss the day that my body cannot run anymore. I truly love the product of running. It can make my day that much better to just go for a run.
5. The Student Life. I don’t like the living on loans that don’t pay for much, but I sure like the social life. There is something about hanging out with other couples that are in the schooling process. You have so much in common and understand so much about each other just because you are far from home and going through school. I will miss that easy connection.
6. Philadelphia. There is no place in the US that can disgust you and fascinate you in the ways Philly can. It truly is a unique city with so much to teach me.
7. West Africans. They may smell like fish, have cockroaches running across their tables, and be so poor and uneducated I don’t know how to help them, but they are so loving and giving. I have learned so much from them and cannot believe that I can truly call some of them Friend.
8. My 29 year old body. Already I can tell that a 30 year old body is just not going to be the same as the 29 year old one. It is going to be harder to lose weight, stay fit, and keep the skin looking quite as youthful. The day for actually having to count calories is near or here already.
9. “Mommy, I woke up with the sun.” There is no better way to wake up in the morning, than to a little boy with a big smile that says “Mommy, I woke up with the sun.” Then he tells me his big plans for the day.
10. 8:30 PM Adult Time. I love being able to put Caleb to bed and having just adult time until we go to bed. There are no teenagers to wait up for or late big kid bed times. Just a quiet peaceful night like this one, with a cute little boy all tucked in bed and safe.
11. The Age of Twilight, Harry Potter, High School Musical,& Hannah Montana. I almost forgot this one. Yep I am not a very orginal groupy. I love the Twilight Series and Harry Potter and find Disney movies like High School Musical, Hannah Montana, and Camp Rock way too fun and cute. What can I say, I'm a sucker.

So maybe life isn’t all bad and there are lots of things I would miss about life just how it is.

Taylor Swift is too cute!

Taylor Swift - New Music - More Music Videos

So with all the controversy with Taylor Swift earning an award because of this video, I just had to watch it. Boy it is cute and totally deserving of the best female video. I wish more people were as clean with their music and presentation. I am so glad she stayed true to her age. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.