Aslynn, How Old Are You?

TWO YEARS OLD! 

At the beginning of January, we had a little shindig in Oregon.  Aslynn didn't judge my wax candle and matchstick display and she loved the frosting.

In California, on her birthday weekend, Aslynn chose to wear her princess jammies all day.  She got some new, singing shoes and lots of other cool things.  Aunt Stefanie and Barbie painted her nails a lovely blood red and applied a cute stamp to make each fingernail special. 

One Hot Mama

I know you probably don't care, but I am going to tell you anyway... I am going to tell you about my strange pregnancy craving. 

Spicy food, COME TO MAMA!  I want spicy food all the time! 

What I want the most is: jalapenos cut in half, stuffed with a mixture of cream cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, and green onions.  Wrap each little piece of heaven in bacon and slather it in BBQ sauce. Bake on a broiler pan (grease run-off) in an 300 degree oven for over an hour until the bacon is crispy.  I love these things!  I crave them like crazy!

Lately the fatty parts of the bacon have been grossing me out so tomorrow, when I make at least 20 more of the lil' beauties, I will be mixing cooked, crumbled bacon and some BBQ sauce into the cream cheese mixture. I'll let you know how it turns out.

P.S. I also make myself some kickin' cajun alfredo pasta at least twice a week. 

December in Oregon

Even though it was a couple of months ago, I figured I would post about our holiday.

Aslynn and I spent most of December in Oregon visiting my family.  Luke had to work but he was able to join us Christmas eve and came home with us after New Years. 

These are some pictures of all our adventures! 

 Papa helped Aslynn make bread...or was it the other way around?

We took Santiago (the Argentinian exchange student) to Portland, Oregon and introduced him to all that is Portland - including VooDoo Doughnuts and OMSI.  Santi and I sat through an IMAX movie with our eyes closed because the camera work and the big screen made us nauseated.  

We went to Fort Clatsop and took a rainy, candid picture with Sacagawea. 

We went to the ocean and even though it was freezing cold, Z fell in love with it.  She cried and begged for the "OCEAN!" for hours after we left.   

Christmas was wonderful.  *Please note:  Aslynn's bulging cheek.  Probably packed with some kind of candy at 8 o'clock in the morning.

On the drive to Christmas dinner, Aslynn fell asleep with a sucker in her mouth.  It was loads of fun to get out without waking her up - the girl has got a strong bite. 

Z spoiled everyone around her by giving them lots of attention.  Grandma Sherry loved spoiling her right back.  Z loves reading books and everyone in the family was a designated reader at some point in time.

We took casual family pictures (minus Alex, who is on his mission) in the freezing cold. 

Things got interesting when Aslynn saw the dogs playing the park and was told that she couldn't go visit them until after the pictures were done.

  

Don't be fooled by the tears; we had a GREAT holiday season!

 

Heavenly Father Loves Us

A couple nights ago, I couldn't go to sleep and I was cold.  So, (sinner that I am) instead of getting up, like I know I should, I decided that I would say my prayers while in bed. 

(Like I said, I was cold and so I didn't say them before I jumped into bed and curled up with a already asleep Luke.)

I figured that I would go to sleep halfway through my prayer, like I usually do.  (I know; I am horrible.  But I am sure that you do it sometimes, too...right?  This is where you say, "Yes," to make me feel better.)

Good news and bad news: I did not go to sleep while I said my prayers.

I told myself that Heavenly Father likes to hear from His children, even if they are just trying to put themselves to sleep, so I decided that I would say a "Thanks" prayer, too. I would talk to my Father in Heaven, not ask for anything, but just tell Him "Thank You/Thee" for all of my blessings.

Some of the things I thanked Him for were of a more serious nature: For a body that can conceive, carry and give birth to a healthy baby.  (I am praying that this applies to baby number two as well and all babies after her.)

Other things were, well, not so serious, but still important: Carpet that is light enough to make my house look neat and clean, but has enough color specks in it to hide dirt and whatever else gets dumped on it.

45 minutes later, I was still thanking Him.  I am not telling you this to brag about my praying skills (because they are nothing to brag about).  I am telling you this because I was overwhelmed with all the LOVE that our Heavenly Father has for me! 

I am sure that if you took the time to really focus and recognize all your blessings, you would know, without a doubt, that He loves you, too!  I know He loves you.

We are SO blessed!  We aren't perfect and still Heavenly Father gives us so many blessings!  I feel like I don't deserve a majority of the blessings He gives me. 

Even when life is hard, and we feel like everything is going wrong, our Father in Heaven is blessing us in ways that we don't even acknowledge. 

He wants us to be happy!  How anyone doubt that when all of the blessings are taken into account?!

I am so blessed.  You are, too!  I can't stop thinking about it.

This isn't the first time I have realized how much my Heavenly Father loves me and how many blessings He has given me.  I've always known it.  It's just that, right now, for no reason in particular, it seems to be what I needed to be reminded of most.

There is a song that goes along with what I am talking about.  You can listen to it.  It is more eloquent than I am.

I just had to tell someone.  (Besides Luke.  He's heard about it a lot lately.)