Love

Kim here. Matt does not know that I am posting this, but I have decided that I need to. Tomorrow is our 5th anniversary. Matt is currently on his way to a town 3 hours from our home so that he will be there on time tomorrow for his interview. This has been a tough year and a half for our little family. Matt has been through 3 jobs and is currently unemployed. Throughout all our discouragements, disappointments, changes, and moves he has been my rock, my comforter, and my example of patience, forgiveness, and endurance. I think he is amazing for his efforts, when giving up would be so much easier.
     The picture I posted above was taken for our engagement a little over 5 years ago, and when I look back at that day, I realize that in a way he was a stranger to me. We were in love and wanted to be married forever so we must have had some idea that we could tolerate one-another for eternity, but now when I think of our relationship and how our love has developed, and transformed, it is unrecognizable in comparison. I love him wholeheartedly, I am more than blessed to be married to him. I just had to tell you.
   

Christmas Time is Here

Christmas time is my favorite time of the year. Call me a kook, but I usually sneak in a Christmas movie in July and keep the excitement of the upcoming season tucked away inside me, waiting for a more appropriate month to display it. This is the first year that our little family will be spending Christmas away from our childhood homes. The picture above is of Matt and Peter in front of the Washington D.C. Temple. They decorate the grounds with thousands of Christmas lights. It was beautiful.

 Even in the cold, we try to take Peter out to play. There is a nice park nearby that has climbing toys and slides and a creek. Peter especially likes throwing rocks into the water.

 We took Peter to see Santa. The entire time we were in line I was wondering how he would react. It seems that a lot of kids scream and cry at the prospect of being abandoned by their parents to sit on a strange man's lap, but Peter, not knowing what was going on, just looked around and sat there. I have to say that I was surprised.

 Christmas time means Christmas Goodies. I made these pumpkin cream cheese cupcakes above, with fondant decorations. Below are some frosted sugar cookies. I got the recipe from a most talented baker and blogger at bakeat350.blogspot.com.

 Below is a picture of Peter through the video monitor. Today I put him down for his nap and about a half hour later I hear him laughing. I turned on the monitor to see what was going on. He had pulled a book into his crib from a pile of books we have nearby. He was making pig noises because the book has a pig in it, and then he would laugh and turn the pages. Needless to say . . . no nap today.

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year