Blessing Day

Jacob was blessed in church today. It was really beautiful. One of the men standing in the circle said he usually keeps his eyes open to make sure the baby is doing ok, and apparently Jacob was looking up at Jon through the entire blessing, with this sweet trusting look on his face. He said it was almost as if Jacob understood what was happening. I'm so grateful to have a worthy and faithful husband to perform that sared ordinance. I'm also grateful to have the most amazing family ever! My mom (who has been to all 4 blessings) and my little brother drove 8 hours Saturday morning, and drove home (another 8 hours) right after Sacrament meeting just to be there to witness the blessing! Talk about loyalty! Plus, with the prices of gas these days... wow... they're just amazing.

Anyway, so we got baby Jacob all dressed up in his handsome white outfit this morning for the occasion. As I was getting him ready, I changed his diaper and noticed that he hadn't gone number 2 for over a day. So I knew something was coming and that it wouldn't be pretty... I even mentioned to Jon, that we had better not forget another diaper. So as predicted, right in the middle of church (gospel doctrine class) he had a HUGE blow-out! I had to hurry and go change him because I knew it was going to get all over his outfit if I didn't. But I was too late. His white blessing outfit that I was going to save forever and pass down through the generations was completely ruined. It now has a nasty poop stain all the way up the back. Isn't that just life?? Anyway, so we had to wrap him up in his blanket for the rest of the meetings, so no one would see it, (or smell it). I was going to take a picture, but I didn't want to gross everybody out. I'm just glad it didn't happen during the blessing when the microphone was close by! Anyway, we just had to laugh. I guess it made the occasion even more memorable. ;)

I was reflecting today about how fast these kids are growing up so I thought I'd make sure to document the blessings of days gone by...

Celeste Elizabeth 8/03 (2 months)

Benjamin Joseph 11/04 (1 month)

Charity Lynn 9/06 (2 months)

Blessings indeed!!!

Happy Easter!

I'm just overflowing with gratitude right now for my family and for the blessings in my life. This has been such a wonderful weekend. For our date night on friday, Jon and I did some cleaning/purging/organizing around the house. Not the most romantic date ever, but I can't believe how much better I feel when the house is orderly. It's been such a challenge lately to keep it that way. I heard a quote once that is so true... "cleaning the house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing". So we watied until they were in bed, and took advantage of the opportunity. :)

Then on Saturday we went to an easter eggstravaganza in Piqua, and had a great time, despite the fact that it snowed again this year! Here's Celeste trying to fake a smile through her frozen lips...

Ironically enough, the kids got coupons for free ice cream cones from DQ which we had to redeem because they were only good at the Piqua store! But the kids were thrilled, they didn't seem to care that it was 30 degrees outside!
The best part of the weekend of course, was going to church as a family and celebrating the real meaning of Easter. I am so grateful for the resurrection of Jesus Christ which makes it possible for us to live again after this life, and to have eternal families. I KNOW that Jesus Christ lives, and I am forever grateful for this knowlege which has brought such indescribable joy to my life. Happy Easter!

A must-have...

So a huge package arrives the other day, and I wonder what it is. Jon starts laughing, says it's a necessary addition to our home, and asks me to close my eyes. So I'm thinking maybe it's a pretty floral arrangment or a framed picture or something, but no. It was a gong. Yes, that's right... my husband bought a gong. This is NOT a joke. I think he was tired of me screaming at the top of my lungs, "Come and eat!!! at dinner-time." But instead of summoning my family to meals with the traditional dinner bell, or a triangle, we now have a GONG!!! He was too thrilled with it to even think about trying to convince him to return it, (plus it was on sale!) What am I going to do with this man??? He certainly keeps me laughing. ;) So it hangs right there in our dining room. The modern gong- a must have addition to any classy home.

Winter Adventures

As spring is quickly approaching, I thought I'd document some of the adventures we've had this winter...


This is a picture from our family Christmas concert at the Washington D.C. visitor's center.



Here's Charity, all bundled up for our first snow day in December. I swear, it took me a half an hour just to get her ready.

When we finally got her outside, she was completely miserable... (all that work for nothing!) But a little hot cocoa made everything better... she's definitely her momma's girl ;)

The frigid temps couldn't keep us from geocaching and playing at the park together!






Feeling the Christmas spirit!




Jon and I celebrate our anniversary every year by going to a temple we've never been to. We're starting to run out of temples in the area, so we went all the way to Chicago this year. We take turns surprising each other with the accomodations. This year was especially amazing.







I'd have to say the greatest adventure (and I mean adventure) of the winter was welcoming our newest bundle, baby Jacob, into our home. He has already been such a blessing to our family.





My little man's first day as a sunbeam. I bawled my eyes out that day :( .





The last snow of the winter was a doozy! We were hit with a blizzard and a whopping 13 inches of snow. We definitely took advantage of it though!

Here's the snowman the kids made (with Daddy's help)...

and here's the snowman the kids made (without Daddy's help) ;)

Whew!!! What a winter! Here's hoping spring will bring just as much fun!

7 random things...

I've been asked to write 7 random things about myself, so here goes... (and they are totally random):

1. My husband and I were neighbors for 5 months before we met. And it's kind of a cool story... We were both in college at the time, and I was feeling very reflective one night, so I sat on my windowsill and wrote a poem about my future hubby. Here's the last few lines of it...
You're out there somewhere,
Perhaps far far away,
Or maybe even next door,
When you find me, will you stay?
Well it turned out that I could actually see his window from mine that night! Well, I couldn't actually see him though... that would be creepy. But he really was next door, in the same apartment complex! We officially met in a theatre class, and then we recognized each other at a backyard barbeque and we've been best friends ever since.

2. I rode on a camel in the Sahara desert during a study abroad program in college. That was an amazing life experience.

3. My dad has Tourette's syndrome. We had no idea he had it until around 10 years ago. He was taking some medication (Zoloft) for depression, and the doctor increased the dosage dramatically. The symptoms of Tourette's were unmasked overnight, including vocal and physical tics. It was pretty devastating to all of us because at the time he was a middle-school teacher and he couldn't continue employment there obviously, so we moved to Utah (my senior year in high school) so he could work for my uncle. He still suffers from the disorder. Fortunately, there's a happy ending... after years of struggle, he went back to school for his Master's degree, and then his Ph.D., and he's now a school psychologist, helping young children with disorders like his own. He has been an amazing example to me of triumph over tremendous odds. I'm so proud of him.

4. I am thoroughly addicted to sugar. I read a book last year called, "Sugar Shock" and decided to take the author's recommendation to give up all refined flour and sugar for 21 days. Well I did it, but, I determined that it was a miserable way to live. So now I'm back to "moderation in all things".

5. I have a secret dream to be a "Turbo-kick" (kickboxing/dance) instructor someday. I love almost all forms of exercise- especially aerobics classes and I always feel so happy when I'm active. Plus, it would help me burn off the extra calories from all the sugar I consume.

6. I had a unibrow as a kid... up until 7th grade when I discovered tweezers. I still remember being teased about it. But I'm grateful, because now I'm super passionate about helping the underdog. When I see someone being teased or picked on or hurt in any way I stand up for them. I think I feel more empathy for people since I wasn't the most attractive girl.

7. We don't watch tv. Ever. Well, I take that back. We own some rabbit ears that Jon insists on taking out for the world series and the basketball finals. We also have a huge movie collection. Most people think we're crazy but I try to explain that it was one of the best things we did for our family and that we have more time for reading, playing games, and getting outdoors... and now blogging. :)

Send in the Clowns

Every morning the kids wake up and the first thing they do is pile on our king-sized bed and geronimo Daddy (They all yell "GERONIMO!" at the top of their lungs and jump on him). I know... it's definitely a rude awakening. We then attempt to have scripture time together. So anyway, last night I was listening to Barbra Streisand: The Broadway Album (one of my favorite CD's) and the song "Send in the Clowns" came on. So I hear my ever-amusing husband mutter, "That should be our morning theme song." He cracks me up. :)

Hudson Headlines

Woo-hoo! I'm finally starting a blog! We've had a family website since Celeste was born, but every time I updated it, my past entries and pictures would be deleted. So I'm excited to have a forum to keep in touch with loved ones and to keep up on my journaling. So let the adventures begin!