Tiny Cute Giggly Irresistably Squishy Human

What kind of person can get five grown adults sitting on a hard kitchen floor at 7 in the morning?

The tiny, cute, giggly, irresistibly squishy kind.

Now, my siblings know that I love them all equally. But by now they also know that whoever gives me more nieces and nephews to love gets bonus points. Rob and Diane are pretty high on the board with bonus points right now (don't worry Kevin and Carli, in March you'll have the lead!) My summer cuddle buddy Amelia Mae moved to Nashville where she grew up and learned how to crawl and smile and laugh and pull herself up on things and pick up too many puffs and stuff them all in her mouth at once. While spending time with her over this Christmas break, she stole my heart all over again. She let me hold her. And she played with me. And she actually thought I was funny. I take that where I can get it. She gave me sweet baby kisses and looked cute without even trying. Its amazing what these tiny cute giggly irresistibly squishy little humans can do. 

I am SO grateful Rob and Diane and Amelia made it up to Seattle this Christmas.

While on a morning jog a few days ago, Diane and I had a discussion about how we feel special connections with our nieces/nephew who we bonded with when they were brand new babies. Hours, days, and weeks old, they are helpless new little humans who don't have much of an idea of what this whole earth thing is all about yet. I was right there when Amelia came into this world! And I was blessed to spend lots of time with her up until they moved. She doesn't remember falling asleep on my chest. She doesn't remember that I danced with her around the kitchen to Frank Sinatra until she decided she didn't need to scream anymore. She doesn't remember that I changed a super gross diaper or that I wasn't mad when she spit up all over my shorts. But I sure do. And somehow, i'm so connected to this tiny person. So much love! 

Throwback to this summer. Obviously bonded, she and I.

Also I was really tan and I miss that.

Staring out the window on our mini snow day last week!

Baby's first Christmas! She's not just a little sleeping blob anymore... but she's still not quite old enough to know whats up with all the shiny stuff under the tree that she isn't allowed to put her mouth all over.

I cannot watch when this happens. Which is several times a day. This routine is her "tired and ready for a nap?" or "i'm so happy I don't even care that I can almost touch outer space!" test. It works out pretty well actually. I pried my hands from over my eyes long enough to catch it in slow-mo.

Real time.                                                                   Slow motion.

   

There is no little girl in the world that smiles more than this little girl. She is a real life ray of sunshine, brightening up every place she goes and every person who sees her. Well, at least it worked on me every time.

Baby kisses from heaven.

Yup. She has my heart. She's so cute she might even have me looking for jobs in Nashville pretty soon.

Wait what who said that?

The Best Thing I Do All Year

This year I had someone ask me to tell them about the nicest thing I have ever done for somebody else. I began to feel ashamed as my mind went blank. I've never helped an old lady cross a busy street. I've never organized a fund raiser for a family in need. I've never given up my seat on an over-booked plane so that somebody else could make it home before me. I've never paid for a stranger's meal. Now, I know i'm not an awful human being. I know that I contribute to the goodness of society at least occasionally in small and simple ways... but during the moment of that conversation I honestly couldn't think of any one big great story to share with him - and certainly not one that could even begin to compare to his significant acts of generous service he had done for others over the course of his life. I felt disappointed in myself.

It is a constant goal of mine to be more charitable. To continue to serve others in the small and simple everyday ways while also really looking for opportunities to make a more significant impact in the lives of others around me, whether I know them well or not. Not for the recognition or the ability to tell a good story or to one-up someone else, but for the peaceful feeling that comes from doing good. For the knowledge that I am treating others as the Savior would.

ANYWAY... I have finally identified probably one of the nicest things I do for others. And it happens every year at Christmastime. I don't share this with y'all to toot my own horn, but rather to let you know about one of my favorite Christmas traditions that brings me so much happiness every year. When I was a young teenager, my family heard about the Forgotten Children's Fund from a friend. It is an organization that puts together Christmas morning packages for less fortunate families. We volunteered, got hooked, and we haven't missed a year since.

Every year they find a huge warehouse to rent, and then the volunteers and the goods come rooooollin' in. This is my favorite part. There are SO many toys. And not just lame little toys. Awesome nerf guns and bracelet making kits and remote control cars that I would have loved to get for Christmas as a kid. We are assigned a family and are given their general info: age, gender, coat size, occasionally something they really like to do. We each choose one family member to focus on, then get to work on picking out gifts. Every member of the family gets their own stocking, books, toys, a jacket, and more. It is incredible. And its so much fun shopping through the gifts, picking out what you think your little boy or girl would like, and then wrapping it all up. Every year as I pick out the cutest wrapping papers and write names on the gifts, I try to think about the moment that these gifts will be opened. I picture the faces of the kids who didn't expect to get much, if anything at all, for Christmas this year. I think of the sweet feelings relief and joy the parents have when gifts are given to their children who would have otherwise gone without. I don't buy the gifts. I don't deliver the gifts. I never even meet the families i'm making Christmas for. But still. This is the highlight of my Christmas season as I take a few hours to turn the focus from my own life to the lives of others.

We have been going to do this for probably 7-8 years, but I only have pictures from the last four years. We always get the same token pictures: with the wrapped presents for our assigned family, with the rows and rows of black trash bags filled with gifts Santa will deliver, and don't forget to pose with the many bikes that will very soon be wheeled into the lives of excited little kiddos. 

2009

2010

Attending college away from home doesn't stop this tradition from living on. For the last four years, we have gone straight from the SeaTac airport to the Forgotten Children's warehouse.

2011

2012

2013

Diane is here in Seattle so she joined us this year! Rob stayed home with baby so that she could have the experience :) It didn't take us long to convince her that this is one of the best/coolest/funnest things we do all year.

What would I do without another sister to make funny faces with me? :)

Diane is making the face that the little girl who gets this bike will make on Christmas morning :)

And then this happened.

And this. Dad has fun with video.

Christmas sweaters and coming home and goofing around with dad.

'Tis the season!

Shamelessly Gloating

Usually on finals week i'm putting off real work by blogging things like this: click here

And this: click here

And this: okay but seriously, click here

I spend my time moanin' and groanin' and stressin' about how dumb and unfair and overwhelming and life-consuming and stupid and manipulative and hateful and horrible and useless final exams are. But not this time, folks. My first final was for my online Humanities class, and I took it before Thanksgiving break: CHECK. My second and third finals were scheduled last week: CHECK and CHECK. I had two more finals to take. I could have spaced them out and studied real hard until my brains started to leak out of my ears (believe it or not, otorrhea is a real thing), but instead I decided to just hurry up and get those suckers done and over with. I was done before noon on the first day of finals week: CHEEEEEECK. So instead of moanin' and groanin' and stressin', i'm packing to go home tomorrow and going on a nice quick little morning jog and doing some online Christmas shopping and enjoying the relaxing life of an anti-procrastinator. I'll admit, it feels pretty dang good. For those of you suffering from the wrath of final exams, I still suggest you to seek a few moments of sweet distraction and relief from those links above.

I will be sitting on a homebound plane in 24 hours! I can't wait!

PNW

Welcome to the Pacific Northwest, where everything is luscious and green and gorgeous 100% of the year. I am so glad I get to claim this place as home.

During Thanksgiving break, Jules and Kevin and I decided to just take a little outdoor hiking adventure. A rainy drive and one looooong pot-holed dirt road later, we found ourselves outside marveling at the beauty of the earth and feeling so grateful for our chance to visit Washington for a few days.

Since graduating from high school, the pictures of Julia and I have decreased by about 5000%... so we decided to fix that up a bit! :)

Could she be any cuter? The answer is NO. 

See the rich colors of nature. Hear the birds and the river. Smell the trees. Feel the cool, refreshing air.

You're in heaven.

DO YOU SEE WHY I LOVE THE PNW?!

All picture cred goes to Jules because i'm still lacking in the camera department. But hopefully that issue will be resolved in some way or another very soon! 

Oh Christmas Tree!

IIIIIIIIIT's Christmas tree season!

Since the beginning of time, my family has had a real Christmas tree. Not one of the ones you run over to Home Depot or Safeway to pick up, though. We chop the sucker down ourselves. It is quite the process, really. We pile into the car, sing along with Karen Carpenter, and settle in for the drive. We go out of our way to find the good tree farms, but it is always worth it. Some years it takes a lot of searching, marching through the rows and rows of trees with a meticulous eye, searching for just the right one thats not too big but not too small, not too fat but not too naked. It has to be the right kind of green, with healthy and yummy smelling needles. Other years, before we are even out of the car mom shouts, "There! There it is! I found my tree!" Mom is always our tree expert. She bustles around through the maze of trees more quickly than the rest of us (we are usually distracted by trying not to  spill our free, watered down, scalding hot chocolate) and dad shouts out the occasional "Marco!" and then we wait for her "Polo!" so we know where to find her.

Once mamma has picked out her tree, her job is done. Then its up to us to cut it down, haul it to the car, wrap it up, hoist it on top, and tie it down. Admittedly, dad does the bulk of this work... But ya better believe I cut that baby down all by myself this year :) 

This is the first time in four years i've been home to participate in this favorite tradition of mine, and I realized how much I have missed it! So much family fun. It doesn't get much better!

The ghost of Christmas tree hunting past has come to visit.

Is it even possible that i'm the same girl in these pictures? Yes. It is. I went through a lot of... well, phases. Can you guess which one of these successfully captures my "look as boyish and baggy as possible with ugly glasses and grandpa's old vest and a bright orange cast on my broken wrist" phase?

The past couple of years, Aunt Pam and Uncle Bill have joined in on our tradition. Having Kevin and Carli living in Washington means they and the girls get to join in as well! Little miss Paige is going through a phase of her own that requires no cameras pointing at her and never addressing her directly. Thus... this is the only picture I got of her that day. But we love her! 

Anya, on the other hand, was such a trooper! She was passed from person to person all day, enduring the rain and wind like a champ. She is just too cute.

 Except that I don't think she likes being squished between us :)

 I'm so thankful I was home for Thanksgiving this year. I'm thankful that even though my parents have transitioned to empty nesters, they keep our family traditions going. Things like this help make coming home such a joy! I'm thankful for the long drives and the cold search and the traditional post-tree going out to lunch. I'm thankful for a real, fresh Christmas tree that fills our home with delicious smells and incredible beauty. I am so thankful for the Savior, the real reason for this holiday season and celebration! It's after Thanksgiving now, and it is currently snowing buckets in Provo, so now I am justified in saying this...

Merry Christmas everyone!