Christmas

Christmas was such a blessing this year. It was wonderful being in Idaho surrounded by family. We spent the morning with my parents and the afternoon with Scotts family. We felt so blessed and loved. It's fun watching the boys get so excited about the gifts and ripping the wrapping paper open. 

Thanks everyone for making the day so special and this trip so fun! 

SNOW!

The  boys have looked forward to playing in the snow for weeks now. On Christmas eve, their wish came true! Scotts grandparents have a nice big backyard in Inkom and we took advantage of it by making snow angels, having a snowball fight and riding behind the four wheeler. Tayden and Beckett had more fun than I could have ever imagined. 

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Packard for taking us over to play. We had so so so much fun!

Blessing Cache

Today, we blessed our sweet baby Cache. We had a nice small get together with our immediate families at the Packard home and blessed the babe. Scott did a great job and I liked how intimite it was doing it inside of the home. Sometimes, it can become a production doing it at the church. Making sure the baby looks just perfect, having loads of people there, doing a large dinner after, and so on. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that is a bad thing. We did it with our first two. It was just a nice reminder today what the blessing is about. Cache was in a simple white collared onsie with no pants and it didn't matter. He was blessed just the same. He was given a name and I could feel our Saviors love for him. He was a pure, sweet little child that we presented to him in gratitude and in turn, Heavenly Father filled our hearts with the spirit. It's a memory I will cherish.

This pregnancy was full of question, doubt and fear. When the health of Cache was in question, my sister organized a family fast. My grandma put our names in every temple in Utah. I could feel the power of Heaven pouring down on my family. Thank you. Thank you so much for your prayers, for your faith and for your fasting. I have never been on the receiving end of such a powerful movement and even being hundreds of miles away from family, I could feel your love and support. I will never be able to put into words the love and appreciation I have for you because of that. I know that Heavenly Father answers prayers and listening to our every want or care. I was blessed with the spirit of assurance more than once as I pled on my knees to keep my baby safe. I didn't know how things would turn out, but I knew they would be okay because I had the Lord on my side. I am grateful I was raised to have such great faith. I am grateful to have such an amazing family on both sides that love and support us. We would not have made it to this point without you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

We are so priveldged to have Cache in our family.
I'm grateful he is part of our eternity.

Early Christmas

Because we are traveling home for Christmas this year and have limited space in our car, we opted to do our family Christmas early. We let the boys open their gifts last night and boy oh boy did they have fun. We did a combined Christmas between T and B and got them an Imaginext set. They had so much fun...

... and so did their dad!
He's the best.

We are headed to Utah tomorrow and Idaho on Saturday.
Its going to be awesome.
I cannot wait.

Santa Baby

Tonight was our ward Christmas party. It was different considering our ward was split a few months ago and our friends were all moved to another ward. We still know people and feel loved, but we definitely noticed their absence. 

The food was great and the kids had fun running around. But the best part for Tayden was Santa, of course.

All the children sitting at Santa's feet, waiting their turn.

 Sweet baby Cache. He is (almost) always so chill.

 Waiting for Taydens turn. Love his double chin.

Beckett yelling at Santa. There were so many kids and we were pressed for time, so Beckett didn't get to sit on his lap. He was perfectly fine yelling at him from a distance and getting a prize from the helpers.

Tayden is continually surprising me with his bravery. Last year he didn't have the chance to sit on Santas lap, but this year he just hopped right up there without any hesitation. He told Santa he wanted a 'spider man plastic web shooter' and also slipped in that he has been really extra good.

It was a fun night. 

More Christmas Fun

Tonight, we headed to the Bellagio and Ethel M's for some more Christmas magic. I'll say it once and I'll say it again, we have some of the best friends in the world. We went with a group of them and had a blast hanging out. The parents chatted while the kids played. Couldn't have asked for a better evening. 

We practiced smiling with Tayden in the car while we waited for our friends. This shaggy hair boy sure melts my heart with his sweet grin.

Handsome Beckett. 

Tayden and Hannah sure love each other. Most of the time. Tonight was a good night for these two. 

 T, H and Jackson.

 The Christmas tree was huge and breath taking. I could have stared at it for hours.

 Anyone want to tell me when this boy got so big? Beckett, not my husband. :)

 The Gage family.

 The Turney Family

 The first picture of all 5 of us without Cache in a car seat. Tayden obviously forgot his nice smile. I wonder when we'll get an actual nice family picture with everyone looking and smiling? 

 Bahaha! Funny face, Cache.

We met up with 2 more families at the Ethel M's Chocolate Factory, but I didn't get their pictures! I didn't get many pictures in fact, I was packing around Cache and too busy keeping track of my kids among the crowd in the dark.

 I love this picture of Scott. He is so handsome.

 Me and the babe.

Some of the lights. It was spectacular.

What a great evening. I hate that there isn't snow for Christmas around these parts, but these awesome events kind of make up for it.