Congrats Nick!!!!!!!!!

We are so proud to say that Nick graduated from UVU with his Bachelors Degree!
 

I think about the journey that school has been for us since we got married. We have been through a lot of great things and also a lot of hard things during this time. I can say without a doubt that there is absolutely no other person in the world that I would have rather gone through all of this with than Nick! He is my hero! He always told me before we got married that he would put me and our family first. Since I had been through a lot of crappy stuff in the past it was really hard to take his word but luckily I did. He has proven that statement he made to me like 5 years ago to be sooo TRUE. He worked very hard in school, work, church and everything else he had going but he always made me first priority. I will never be able to thank him enough for being such a great friend and husband. When we got Mya he so easily slid into the role of BEST FATHER too as if he wasn't already wearing enough hats. I know we still have graduate school in our near future but for the time being Mya and I are so happy to have Nick home with us more often. We will be blessed as a family for his hard work in school. We are also lucky to have family that has supported us 100% in everything the last 41/2 years, we never would have been able to make it without them. 

Congrats to the grad!

Love this time of year!

Britt and I took Cooper and Mya to the Festival of Trees. We had to get a picture of the kids in front of the Coca Cola tree since my dad is an avid coke collector! And well I love coke myself....so does Mya she even knows how to say "coke". :)

Here are the kids in front of our favorite tree...a mustache one! Of course Mya has food, she's like me we love to eat, eat, eat!

Mya meeting Santa at our ward Hawaiian Christmas party. Lets just say she's not a fan this year!

She was okay as long as she was on my lap and Santa was not talking to her! Poor thing I assume this will change when she understands what Santa is all about. Jody got her a cute book about Santa and we have been reading it to her every night trying to help her know that he is really awesome!

Being at this Hawaiian Christmas party sure did make me wish we were going to be in Maui again this Christmas!

This is Mya and her friend Jack. She really likes him and even knows how to say his name.

Here is Mya's common reaction to Santa......this is even my Dad in the Santa suit!

It was breaking my mom's heart! My dad (aka Santa) gave her a candy cane and she just kept saying "bye bye" I think hoping that he would leave!

Mr Cooper had the same reaction, but baby Kyson really liked him.

My mom gave Mya a little nativity set, she has been so excited about this! She kisses all the people and animals and will play with it for hours. We've watched the nativity video several times as well and she loves seeing baby Jesus.

We have all taken our turns being sick and lounged around the house watching Christmas movies! Nick has been so busy trying to finish school. Mya and I have been busy getting Christmas stuff done. We've had countless meetings designing our house and been busy gathering stuff for our next adoption. Mya is talking more, walking, running, singing and pretty much just growing up right before our eyes. It seems like things have been moving faster than we know how to keep up with them. It's been a fun, busy time filled with lots of exciting new things. It's been fun to pause for a moment or two and think about just how blessed we are. I have been memorizing "The Living Christ" and I feel like it has helped me to keep the Savior in my mind and heart throughout this season. We are so thankful for what we have and our hearts go out to those who are grieving, lost, homeless, hungry, sick or in any other way afflicted. We have some friends who could use a little help this year so we've done something special for them along with my family. We always want Mya to see us giving of our time, talents and anything else that we've been blessed with. We want her to understand the importance of helping and serving those around her. She may be too young this year to understand but I know my parents helped me to understand this very thing from the time that I was little and I'm thankful for that. I am thankful for the birth of my Savior Jesus Christ and everything that he has done for me and my family. I am so grateful that we have this time of year to reflect on Him. I pray that the true spirit of Christmas will be with you this year, we are so thankful for you! We love you so much! Can't wait to see you when ya come home!!

Merry Christmas!

Pretty red Christmas dress

This is a little dress I got thinking it would be cute for Christmas card pics. The minute she saw it she kept telling me "on, on" so cute! I honestly don't think she could be much more of a girly girl! When I did put it on she pats it and twirls in a circle with a big smile! She's cute and she knows it! We never did pictures in it for the cards, but she had fun wearing it to our ward Christmas party!

Silly little thing!

This is a fireman hat my little brother Codie gave her....she's such a goofball!

I had to laugh when I saw this.....it took her a long time to stuff all these animals in here, then she was giving them a ride all over the house!!

She loves eating cereal in the morning!

This blanket is still her very favorite! Oh yeah and the binky I said I would rid her of by the end of October....yeah she still has it.

Usually she loves putting shoes on, but the tears in this picture are because she did not want her shoes on.

We babysat Sami and Mya loved it, she wanted to sit on Sami's lap the entire time!

Wearing Dad's hat!

Ok so this was so cute! She wanted her toy chest open one morning and I got it open for her, walked out of the room to put something away. A few minutes later here she comes from her room bracelets on her arm and sunglasses on her face! It was one of those moments when I looked at her and she just looked so big! I am so glad I got a picture of this one!

She is very into Ariel, she does that singing part the "aaaaaaaaa" ya know! These jammies are new and a little big but Mya loves them.

This is hilarious too, she loves sliding into the splits on the floor when we put these boots on. She is one silly little thing!

So much to be thankful for!

This is Cooper's hat and Mya fell in love with it, she likes hats like me!

Little Cooper and Britt came to hang out with us!

She loves eating the ends of our french bread.

Sharing her bread bowl with Louie!

Mya and I made Nick a countdown chain for school to end, it's getting close!!! Nick has worked so hard in school the last 4 1/2 years we are very proud of him!

Thanksgiving Day!

We got to see both families! It was so much fun! We have so much to be thankful for it feels overwhelming...

This girl LOVES candy!

Mya playing with Wookie before eating.....again! We had lots of yummy food from both families!

Playing with cousins Kaylee, Keegan and Paislee :)

This is after a long Thanksgiving Day and lots of visiting family members! Her I need to go to bed meltdown!

Getting all prettied up! She's so funny she doesn't mind me doing her hair at all. She loves looking in the mirror when we are done.

Mya's first encounter with a Christmas tree this year! We put it up the day after Thanksgiving! She loves the lights!

This is our lot in Lehi!!!! They should start building our new house in January!! I can't even tell you how excited we are!