Mark & Lisa's Wedding Day!

We were thrilled, ecstatic, I'd even say, exuberant for this day! Ryan's brother, Mark, married beautiful Lisa Lewis, on December 30th in the Draper Temple. For one thing, we all had to admit we were worried about Mark finding his other half, so we were sure happy he did. And also, after our 'year of the funerals' it was truly wonderful for the whole family to end 2010 on a happy note of celebration!

Here are a few of my favorite pics from the big day....
The happy couple!


Seriously, they were stunning! I was just loving watching them and I'm so loving these pics I got, I'm really thinking I have got to actually learn something about photography and what my camera can do!

The 30th was not only the best day of Mark's life, but also his 30th birthday! Talk about the best birthday gift ever! They will always have lots to celebrate!

The Nieces and Nephews...We wanted to get a pic of Uncle Mark and Aunt Lisa with the whole crew of nieces and nephews. There are only 27!
This picture makes me laugh...don't be overwhelmed Lisa, it will be ok. You can handle it, I promise!

I think she was ok after a deep breath there!

Cute Cousins- Madi and Brooke

Ok, here it is, the 1st belly shot of the pregnancy! I'm pretty sure I've doubled in size in the last 2 weeks, it's not so small anymore!

Beautiful cake, delicious food, and Jeff enjoying it all!

Cake Time!

Robison Brothers - Gregg, Ryan, Mark, J.D. and Steve

Mom & all her kids! Carolyn, Crystal, DeAnna, JoAnn, Lisa & Mark, Gregg, Ryan, Steve, J.D. What an amazing family!

Dancing Cousins - Harrison & Graci, Danielle & Matthew

Brother & Sister dancing away!

It was a completely wonderful day! The spirit of the temple was so sweet and strong. We sorely missed Cal's smile and laughter, but we knew he was there. It was a beautiful sealing and we were so happy to be there to share with Mark and Lisa. Seriously, we love her, she is a gem. We could not have picked a better sis in law! Congratulations you guys, we are so happy for you! Thank you for a beautiful day of celebration to end the year! Now get busy would you, this baby's going to need a cousin to play with!

Pregnancy

Well, I figured I'd better write down a few things about this pregnancy and also fill in a few of you who might be wondering - what the heck, I thought you were done?! Oh believe me, I did! It has been a long emotional journey for me to get here, and I still wake up a lot of days and think "I can not believe I am doing this again!"

October could have pretty much been summed up with one word- misery. I was sick and miserable all month and pretty much laid in bed all day, only getting up or getting ready when absolutely necessary.

After some medication in November I started feeling a bit better, good enough that I started laying on the couch, reading all day instead of just feeling sorry for myself and wanting to sleep in bed all day. Quite an improvement! I read A LOT and enjoyed quite a few new books which I would definitely recommend...The Host which I enjoyed for the second time, and well, since I was reading so much I had to through in another round of Breaking Dawn, you know, because I hadn't read that one as many times as the others, and then of course I had to read Twilight again. Don't worry I stopped there. I got into the new stuff - The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, then Austenland, and The Declaration. All good reads!

By the week of Christmas (week 17) I was finally feeling well! I am now 21 weeks along, feeling good, and happy that food tastes good again. Except for when I get on the scale, then I maybe wish a little bit that the food wasn't tasting so good again. But then I figure, hey I'm getting fat anyway, pregnancy is miserable enough, if it sounds good, I'm eating it! So, aside from having to try extremely hard not to pee my pants every time I sneeze, and not always succeeding, I'm doing well. Oh, and it's a BOY!

Our Merry Christmas

Of course the kids were ecstatic for Christmas to come this year, eagerly turning on the tree lights and opening a door on the Advent Calendar each day, counting down the days! I don't think any of us could believe it was Christmas Eve when the day finally came! We had a wonderful Christmas starting with fun at Grandma's house on Christmas Eve. We enjoyed a delicious dinner and the kids put on the Nativity with the cousins, we surely missed Grandpa this night and his reading of the Christmas Story from the scriptures. We enjoyed our cousin time and then we were off to watch the "dancing Christmas lights"! (Thank you Stapley Family for this great tradition our kids love!) Then it was home to get ready for bed and have our traditional Christmas Eve stories read by the fire.
After our stories, and of course a few tears, the kids set out milk and cookies and notes for Santa. I wish they were always this excited to go to bed.

Christmas morning was a delight for Ryan and me to watch their excitement! Here are a few highlights-

How To Train Your Dragon in Pierce's stocking, WOW! He was surprised!

The Star Wars ships he had been wishing for for months! Santa got it just right!

Madi changed her mind on Christmas wishes a lot this year, so I'm sure it was a gamble for Santa- she was thrilled with the doll house he brought for her!

Super Excited! Tangled Chapstick in Madi's stocking, and Pierce's puzzles from Madi

Pet Shops! Madi was so excited about her gift from Mom and Dad! I think she has plenty now. Yes, pretty sure we don't need any more Pet Shops. Her favorite thing now is playing with her Pet Shops in the new doll house.

Super Cool Transformers game from Sister!

Thrilled with his gift from Mom and Dad! Episode 5 along with Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker! (I have to say I am a little sad that he now says Darth Vader and Light Saber correctly.)

After a fun morning as a family we headed over to Jeff & Crystal's to play in the snow! Yes, they were the only ones in town with snow in their yard. Uncle Jeff likes to drive up to the mountains and bring home a truck load of snow for his kids on Christmas morning. I was so sad I didn't have my camera, I think we had the funnest snowball fight ever!

That evening we were able to have some special time with Jeff, Crystal and their kids. They came to our house for Christmas dinner (I cooked for the first time in 3 months! Yay!) And we were able to spend some tender moments with them when we gave them a special gift. It will have to have it's own post, to come soon.

Brooke, Pierson,
Madi, Harrison & Matthew

This was definitely an emotional and tender Christmas after loosing Grandpa and Todd this year, one we will always remember. Though it was such a difficult year, we have been greatly blessed and have much to be thankful for. I was very thankful this Christmas Season for my beautiful, sweet children, my loving husband and our wonderful family, and for the knowledge of our Savior's great love for us!