Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! It's is so hard to believe that another year has come and gone. I am so glad that it is this year though and not last. We have had a little LESS stress this year, which has been very, very nice.

I thought it would be fun to give you all a glimpse of our year through photos, so here we go:

January 3rd: the day Elli came home from the hospital. The next couple of months were mostly spent lying in the living room (the center of the house) because it was kind of a pain to move her oxygen tubing and apnea monitor from room to room. She was either in the living room during the day, or her bedroom at night.

Just a couple of days after Elli came home Bradley's pet lizard, Lizzie, died. She was Bradley's first answered prayer. He prayed for a couple of months to get a lizard for Christmas 4 years ago and when Santa didn't bring him a lizard he was a little disappointed. A couple of days later at his Grandpa's house he found Lizzie keeping warm among the presents. He said, "Santa didn't bring the lizard to my house, he brought it to Grandma's!!" It was hard for him to say good bye.

In February Elli was one of the featured babies at the Chocolate Extravaganza, which is a fundraiser for the NICU. This photo was made up into a poster about 6' tall. The hospital staff took a few photos of Elli and have used them for posters in several hospitals, as well as various mailers that have been sent out this last year. She's famous!

Bradley loves to sing. This is his school choir. I was at home with Elli, but Wayne said that Bradley was so into the music. He was rocking back and forth which made him stick out a little because the other kids stood very still. He loves music his music! (Sorry about the creepy eyes)

This was the last photo I took of Elli before she came off oxygen, right before Easter.

We were finally able to bless Elli in May (after RSV season was over). She was a little more spunky because of her age, but she behaved herself. It was a beautiful day, and it was the beginning of me getting my life back. It was wonderful to be able to get out of the house!!

At the end of May we held a birthday open house for my Grandpa who turned 90. We are so happy to have him in our lives, he is an incredible man!

Better than Disneyland!! This is the fort at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Bradley would happily live there if I would let him. He spends much of his time planning for things that would go great in the fort, what food he can put in his backpack to eat of the fort, and what things would make good toy weapons to use down there. All the cousins get together and play a game Bradley made up called the Western Game. They all have names to go with the game: Bradley is Feather Hike Climb. Don't ask me where that came from, I'm just glad he has such a terrific imagination.

In August we celebrated Elli's first birthday. She was a little confused about what we were all doing around her, and she couldn't eat solid food yet so she didn't even have any cake. We are going to be celebrating her adjusted one birthday this week because she can finally eat food. Hooray!!

Bradley was very excited to go to 2nd grade. I'm not sure if it was because he has a great teacher and lots of friends in his class, or that he now gets to be on the big kids playground. I suspect it is the play ground.

So far this is Bradley's favorite birthday cake ever. He is obsessed with 2 things: crocodiles, and Star Wars. I will have to think of some kind of star Wars cake next year I guess.

Bradley wanted to go to the zoo all summer, but I kept telling him we had to wait until it cooled down. That didn't happen until Oct. We were sad that we missed the white alligator, but we saw the wolf for the first time. Elli wasn't very impressed with the animals, she slept soundly in her stroller for most of the afternoon.

Costumes were easy this year. Bradley wanted to be a mountain man, and so we found things around the house: old camo pants, a rope for a belt, a canteen etc. We ordered the vest and hat. He was thrilled with his costume, and I was thrilled with the trick or treat weather. It was so warm we didn't need jackets.

Elli used a dress that Aunt Sharmi gave her. I made her the little princess hat to go with it. She looked so cute, but sadley got sick with a stomach bug and she didn't enjoy the day at all. Luckily it only lasted about 12 hours. She was back to normal the next day.

This was a big year for Bradley. He turned 8 in October, so in November he was baptized. He was so happy that day. He was also the most recent baptism to the primary sacrament program, so they asked him to give a little talk about his baptism. He did a great job! He is such a good boy!

This is the greatest place to be next to Grandma's house. This is the gully by Aunt Kristi's house.

This was actually Elli's very first vacation, and though I was nervous about the whole thing, she did really well. Bradley had so much fun with his cousins. They worked tirelessly on their fort in the gully. Bradley now makes plans for both forts in his spare time.

As part of our little vacation we spent an afternoon in Zion's. It was a lovely day. Wayne took Elli for a long walk in the stroller (she slept nearly the whole time) while I hiked with Bradley. We had a lot of fun.

This year hasn't been packed with trips and sports and all those things we would normally have done. We have had to adapt our life a little more to Elli's needs, but we wouldn't have changed a thing. We have spent some wonderful days at home as a family, and we couldn't get the same memories or feelings anywhere else. We are looking forward to what next holds in store for us.

We hope that you all know how much we love and appreciate you. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and the very best for this next year!!