It Snows in Utah

Snow is COLD.

I live where it is warm most of the year and very HOT the rest. This whole snow and ice thing was a shock to my poor body. But it was worth it.

Friday was Jaime’s 30th (I mean, 29 again) birthday. As a surprise, I flew to Utah to help her celebrate. It was fun. We went to Park City for some shopping at the outlets (by the way—the outlets are outside…and it was snowing!). We kept Jaime busy until 5:00 when she could go home for her surprise party. Two surprise in one day! And I managed to keep both a secret!

It was so good to visit with her and see her boys—including her husband who was so good and shopped with us yesterday and made us breakfast this morning. Despite the cold, seeing a good friend who lives far away warmed my heart.

Add to that the fact that my little brother through his connections managed to get me a first class seat on the flight out there and I was totally happy. There is nothing wrong with a cocktail at 9:00am is there?


Hope everyone’s Christmas was good. We had a great day. Cade still has a few presents under the tree. Apparently unwrapping presents is only fun if you are not supposed to be doing it?! He will get to them eventually!

Ornaments on Our Tree

Our tree is currently being held captive.

Well, it is behind a baby playard fence. I prefer to think of our tree being protected instead of jailed. But, as I said in a previous post, even with the baby gate, Cade can reach the tree. I think at this point the fence is mainly protecting the presents that are beneath the branches of the tree from being attacked by Cade. I am sure that the lure of the shiny paper would be just to much for Cade to ignore.

Of course, Cade probably won't want to open any presents on Christmas...just when he is not supposed to. Ahhhh...the inner workings of the mind of a one-year-old.

Cade loves to look at the tree. Early in the morning when we go downstairs for breakfast, the only lights on are the Christmas tree lights. We walk over to the tree and point to the different ornaments. Cade will point to the Santa ornament and say, "Ho Ho Ho!". He will point to the penguin ornament and tilt his head to the side because I like the baby penguin ornament and apparently say, "Awwww" and tilt my head to the side. Cade will find the Elmo ornament and smile big. But, his favorite is the hippo ornament. Every time we see that one I sing, "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas". Cade will point to the ornament and bob his head back and forth to tell me to sing. Enjoy this website and sing along! I Want a Hippopotamus

Tomorrow will be a busy day...so I probably will not be back to post until after Christmas. I would like to wish everyone a blessed Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Silent Night...

Silent night, holy night

All is calm, all is bright

Round yon Virgin Mother and Child

Holy Infant so tender and mild

Sleep in heavenly peace

Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night!

Shepherds quake at the sight

Glories stream from heaven afar

Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!

Christ, the Saviour is born

Christ, the Saviour is born

Silent night, holy night

Son of God, love's pure light

Radiant beams from Thy holy face

With the dawn of redeeming grace

Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

Silent Night is one of my favorite Christmas songs. Really makes the meaning of Christmas shine for me. I love to sing it at church on Christmas Eve when the only light surrounding us is candles. Brings tears to my eyes every year.

Last year at Christmastime Cade had a shirt that said, "Never a Silent Night With Me". I thought it was funny--and at just four months old it was somewhat true. We have come along way in the last year and Cade usually will sleep through the night without fussing for at least 11 hours. It is wonderful. I owe a lot of his good sleep habits to Dr. M. Weissbluth and his book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and to my friend, Amy, who gave me that book when Cade was born. I am very spoiled by Cade's sleeping habits and in this last week I have learned not to take them for granted. With Cade being sick he was having a hard time sleeping. The medication he was on was keeping him up--as well as his difficulty breathing. Add to that the fact that we are quickly transitioning from two naps to one and it has been a rough week.

BUT, last night, we returned to our regular sleep patterns. Which means Cade got a really good night sleep--and so did his Mama. We both really needed it. So, in addition to loving the song Silent Night, I have learned to really appreciate a truly silent night.

Where Do You Read Your Paper?

I have a sick child. And a sick husband.

Therefore, I have not had a lot of time to blog. Besides that, unless you want to hear me complain about having a sick child (and a sick husband) I don't really have a lot to say. So, here are some pictures to keep you entertained since I won't have the usual story full of my humor and wit. (See, that was funny!)


Because Kim demanded it, here are pictures of my "Hope" tree:






Then, to explain the title of the post, here are pictures of Cade sitting in the front yard "reading" the paper. We had just gone outside. He picked up the paper, walked around for a little bit, found a good spot in the middle of the grass and opened the paper. It was funny!