Cardinal Cuties

As most know I have never been a Cardinals Fan....until now. True, I have never in my lifetime supported or cheered this team. Except when watching Jerry McGuire. I also never really thought I would see this team make it to the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl! However, we now live in Arizona and have felt the excitement of having our "home team" make it to the biggest game of the year. So for now we will happily jump on the bandwagon to cheer on our Arizona Cardinals. Plus, I know all too well what it's like to have my team go in as the underdog.

So, today the kids were supposed to dress up in Cardinals gear for school. I did not want to buy a bunch of Cardinals shirts that would never again be used so I bought some $3 red and black shirts and some fabric paint and we made our own. I did the lettering and James painted on the Cardinals. I think they turned out pretty cute. Here's hoping the Cardinals make history!

I LOVE L.A.

Lakers that is. As you read before we were able to score some great tickets for the Lakres/Jazz game which I gave to my dad for Christmas. With the one stipulation that I HAD to be one of the 3 people he took with him. So on January second my dad, two brothers and I met in L.A. We had such an amazing time. There is nothing like a live NBA game. ESPECIALLY when it's the Lakers. Not to mention I quite enjoy watching the games with those 3. To make it even better we got to watch them play the Utah Jazz. There are few teams we enjoy watching the Lakers beat more than the Jazz. We spent the early afternoon at the Team LA store, stocked up on goods for the game and then headed back over to Staples to watch the game. I love spending time with my family any chance I get. This was no exception. I want to give a big thanks to my AMAZING HUSBAND for taking the day off work to be with the kids and letting me enjoy this time with my family. You are the best ever!!

John, Bud and Dad in front of Staples
Me -N- My Dad just before tip-off.
Me -N- My little brothers.

It was a great game, especially with the 2 Jazz fans directly in front of us. We were courteous of course, I just made sure the one sitting closest to me wouldn't be able to hear anything but my voice in his head for at least a week. To top it off while in the airport getting ready to head home I just happened to strike up a conversation with a sweet woman that turned out to be Derek Fisher's mother. She was a sweetheart and gave my dad an autographed picture. Great end to a great weekend. Oh, I do have to post one picture of the Jazz, especially for you Charity.

Christmas in Paradise

This is my overdue Christmas post. Christmas was different for us this year. This is the first year I did not spend Christmas with my children. It was, to say the least, bittersweet. I was very excited for them to spend Christmas with their dad and mom. I realize these memories for them are essential and will never be forgotten. Yet I was also sad, but for selfish reasons. I love this time of year. For me it is truly a magical, sweet time. The magic that is Chrismas, for me, revolves soley around my children. To see the excitement and joy at the wonderment of the season in their eyes makes me a believer once again. I don't just speak of the belief in Santa and elves, flying reindeer and magic top hats, but of the belief in the great plan of salvation. The greatest sacrifice given to mankind. I love to read the Christmas story to our children, to bear testimony of the love their Savior has for each of them individually. To share with them the love that their Father in Heaven also has, so much so that he gave his Son that we may all once again have the opportunity not just to live with him but to have provided a way back, especially when we stumble. I truly love Christmas. Now knowing that this would be a bit difficult for me, my sweet husband decided that he would take me out of town. He planned a trip to a beach house in Newport for Christmas, but not just that, he was able to get some amazing tickets for the Christmas day game between my Lakers and the Celtics (boooo). We had such a great time!! I couldn't have asked for a better gift. James could barely contain the surprise himself. In fact I'm surprised he did!! We thoroughly enjoyed our time together in California and decided that every other year we will take a trip. Home for the holidays without the kiddos isn't much fun so we figured this would be a great opportunity to spend time together.

ME opening our Lakers tickets!!
Here we are at the game. We had fantastic seats (thanks Steve)! We even got to sit next to several Celtics fans which made the win even more rewarding!!
Bynum with a sweet dunk...so good to have him back.
My boy Kobe. Best player in the league.
I can't say it enough...great, great game! Even Santa took time off to see the game...
We took the opportunity to take some pictures out by the beach. We did, however, freeze our booties off. It was freezing! Which would explain why we were the only people on the beach!
This was taken in the beach house. I know you don't see any of the actual house but it was such a beautiful place. The beach was right outside the back door.
Like I said, Santa made sure not to disappoint. I made the kids wait until James got home from work to open their gifts. I think they just about keeled over with excitement. Having to walk by all those presents and not be able to touch them!! I of course enjoyed every moment. We hope that your holiday season was as sweet as ours.
Our babies!

The Face of Evil

As most of you know, Obama made an announcement that he is going to sign the Freedom Of Choice Act. This will allow all types of abortions including partial birth abortion, also allowing babies who are born alive due to botched up late term abortions to be set aside without any medical care or nourishment and left to die. Most of these babies have no medical problems and the ones that do have conditions such as cleft palate, club feet, things that are correctable. Still, they are murdered in the most inhuman way. These babies feel everything that is happening to them. There is more mercy for dogs who are put to sleep. This bill will also make it mandatory for doctors and nurses to perform these murderous acts even if they do not wish to do so. It will eradicate state and federal abortion laws that the majority of Americans support and prevent states from enacting similar protective measures in the future. This act will also allow underage teens to have an abortion, even partial birth abortion, without parental consent OR knowledge.

Please take a moment to go to this website http://www.fightfoca.com/
Sign the petition and let Obama know that most people in this country still have great love and respect for the sanctity of life. There are many more implications to this horrific bill than just infanticide. To read more visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Choice_Act
and you can read the actual bill here:http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:S.2020:

The Catholic church has stated that should this bill be passed they would be forced to shut down all of their hospitals as they could not take part in performing abortions. This is a very honorable and bold move by the church. May we also be willing to do what is necessary to fight this evil act. Regardless of the cost. Every human life is sacred and worth fighting for.

Happy Birthday Walker!!

Yes, this post is as late as the others. With the craziness of the holidays and the fact that we have 4, yes 4, birthdays in December I've been running a little behind. Nonetheless I want to wish my little man a very Happy 6th Birthday. Walker was born on December 30th at 2:17 in the afternoon. He weighed 8lbs. 10 oz. and was 21 in long....he also had a massive cranium, or should I say has. Walker is such a tenderhearted little boy. He has always loved to hug, kiss and snuggle which I have taken full advantage of the last 6 years. It seems odd to me that he is so big. I still see him as the cute little toe head toddler who could brighten my day with just a smile. He's a bit of a momma's boy which isn't always a great thing and I have been doing my best to loosen the apron strings. Walker is a great little brother. He loves his sisters and his brother. Walker is very meticulous in everything he does. He started Kindergarten this year and I swear the boy has better handwriting than I do. He is a perfectionist to the core. I love this sweet boy and am grateful for his little smile that still can melt my heart.

This picture was taken just after I found out I was pregnant with Walker. We were visiting Disneyworld and were so thrilled....we'd done a lot to get him here.

Uh, yes I know that looking at the difference in our skin tone one might wonder if he was mine but indeed he was. Walker had this crazy hair that stood straight up. So eventually I just started throwing some gel in it....good thing the "spiky" hair look was in.
Here's my sweet little squeeker!!
Walker was a toe head for a couple years. I loved it and was sad to see it go!!
Walker was a very, very happy little boy. He found enjoyment from even the simplest things and he loved to be outside like he is here in American Fork Canyon.

Walker loved his trains!! He also loved to change out the batteries all by himself.

For a short time I decided to grow out his hair and he had the traditional "bowl cut". I thought it was pretty cute but eventually I went back to the spiky hair after some persuasion.

Walker at the beach 2 years ago. He loves playing in the sand.

Like I said in his little blurb, Walker has a stoic look which you can clearly see in this picture of him and his kite. Walker didn't want anyone to help him fly it.

One thing we have found is that this little boy is extremely accident prone. I have strongly contemplated putting him in a bubble (not sure I've completely abandoned the idea just yet!) When he had just learned to crawl down our stairs he would constantly miss the last step and tumble head first to the tile floor below. It seemed that as soon as his head healed it would happen all over again. He had a perpetual goose egg on his head. At age 2 he was attacked by a swarm of yellow jackets who, fortunately for him bit and didn't sting. However, it was still very painful. At age 3 he was bit in the face by a dog. At age 4 he was in the hospital because he had a lymph node that got infected and ended up requiring a small surgery to drain it. At age 5 he first went camping with his grandma and while roasting marshmallows somehow managed to drop a flaming marshmallow on his eye and then just a couple months ago split his head open on a bed post. Never a dull moment with this boy! Here is a picture of him in the hospital last year. Still happy as can be.

Walker started Kindergarten this year as well. He loves school and absolutely adores his teacher Mrs. Encarnacion. She tells me that he is such a tender-hearted little boy and just loves his hugs....which he always has for her! The teachers aid while in James' office one day said that Walker was a model student. Here's to hoping that never changes!
We love our sweet Walker and wish you a very Happy Birthday!