Sandwiched between two girls . . .

Sweet David, I hope you remain a good sport with your sisters. We love you so much. Vivian always giggles when she watches you play and she gets ecstatic when you come talk to her. You and Lucy crack me up as you re-enact scenes from Dorah and have your own adventures. You are such a good boy and I know you are the perfect little man for your sisters. We love you!

Once there was a snowman

Lucy and her friend were such big girls as they rolled the middle part of the snowman.

David decided to construct his own middle part.

The children were very pleased with their creation

Evidence that Marc and I really were there. Marc did the majority of the construction while I worked on the fashion and make-up side of things.

Swinging . . .

We have had an unusually mild winter this year and I have been trying to enjoy every moment of it. We have been going on walks, playing at the park and in our backyard. Some people have been quick to comment, "Oh but we're going to be feeling it in the spring when we don't have enough water." To them I say, "Well we can't change that today. So today I am going to have a lovely day at the park with my children."

Vivian loves to go swinging. Her smile cracks me up.

Three happy little children all in a row.

Such a big girl on the swing. Lucy and David just giggled as they watched her swinging. I was giggling too. Such a great memory.

No excuses . . .

This is how I've been getting my workouts in lately. I just had to document this for posterity's sake.

Happy New Year!

We have kept the tradition I brought back from Taiwan of receiving red envelopes with a prize inside for the new year.

After we opened our red envelopes, we started a new tradition that I am very excited about. We made a time capsule to be opened next New Years. The time capsule included: something small from each of us, a paper with all of our hand prints traced on it,  a paper with answers from each of us about the same 10 questions, a flash drive holding copies of video Marc took as I interviewed the children, and a photo of all of us on New Years Eve.

Happy 2012 Everyone!

Christmas Day 2011

Our house was all ready for the little ones to wake up

As you can see, Vivian was very excited for her first Christmas!

She thought everything she got was just magical.

It was so fun to watch the innocence of Christmas through Lucy's eyes.

Is that one happy Diva or what

David LOVED his dog. It is the animatronic kind and I think it took him an hour or so to realize it wasn't real.

Marc REALLY surprised me a replica of Nativity by Brian Kershisnik

Our handsome Jack all ready for church

The lovely lady

I love this picture and I love that I am this Mom.

What a lucky lady I am

After church, Marc tested out his new tripod as we attempted to get a lovely family picture with everyone in it.

Our beautiful Vivian

Then Grandma & Grandpa Sampson came with Great Grandma and the excitement started all over again.

Lucy was waiting all season to decorate cookies with her Grandma

What a fun filled Christmas day can do to you

It was so nice to have my Grandma come. She is such a wonderful woman. I treasure this photo.

Homemade gifts 2011

This was our 6th annual homemade gift exchange. This year I made Marc a cell phone holder that hooks to the wall and holds your cell phone and cords while your phone is charging.

And he made me our favorite drink: Mexican hot chocolate! He even went to The Mexican Market to get the supplies and to learn how to make it. It was very sweet (in more ways than one). I love this tradition.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve Traditions:

We all go over to Grandma Kay's

Make homemade pizzas

Act out The Nativity (new this year)

Each family unit performs a talent. Lucy danced her star dance on behalf of our family.

Then David didn't want to be left out

Jane and Vivian enjoyed their First Christmas together

Then we end the night with a white elephant and gift exchange. I love traditions.

Our sweetest Christmas gift

Our dear friend Julie gave us a true gift from the heart this year. She made each of our children a precious whale crafted from old outfits of Jonah's. Then she gave Marc and me a whale ornament from his clothes and she gave our family a book about Jonah. It is the most tender gift I have ever received. But the sweetest part of all was when Julie said to me after we opened our gifts, "You got everything everyone else in my family got because you are family." How grateful I am for the blessing of this dear sister in my life.

Vivian loves her Jonah whale

David needed to eat lunch with his Jonah whale

My Mom always had a few select ornaments that were reserved to go towards the top of our tree and as we would hang them up she would share with us their story. Our sweet Jonah whale ornament will always have a spot reserved towards the top of our tree and I look forward to telling his story every Christmas.

Our Nativity

I thought it would be so sweet to dress Lucy and David up as Mary and Joseph and then have Vivian be Baby Jesus since we actually have a baby this year and a boy and a girl  . . .  (you get the idea). Well, my sweet husband entertained my request and below is the "best of" from the photo shoot. They may not be exactly what I had in mind and David may look a bit more like a character from Star Wars than Joseph, but I guess sometimes all you get is the idea. And the idea is still very sweet.