Merry Christmas!

This year we had an awesome Christmas. The Browns and the Snapps were able to come from Montana and the weather wasn't as nice as we wanted. Now that they are gone, we should hit 70 today!!

Here are some pictures from Christmas!

Joss and Jackson got to see Santa. Jackson didn't care, but Joss was excited when she figured out that you get to tell him what you want. She asked for some pink makeup. She loves lip gloss and nail polish!!



Christmas morning Jackson got a bunch of cars. Every time he opened one, he took it over to this seat and would drive them.



Joss was very excited with every present she opened. It was so fun to watch her! This was one of her favorites from her Grandparents in Butte. She loves this dog!


This was one of many outfits Joss wore Christmas morning.



Joss and Jackson got a basketball hoop from Great Gramma and Grampa Brown. They love it!




We are looking forward to all that 2009 will bring. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Sugar Cookie Houses

My mom sent the pattern for a sugar cookie house so Gramma and Grampa Little came over and we made some delicious houses. I tried to have Joss help Gramma as much as possible so her house wouldn't be too much better than mine, but when the sides of my roof started falling off, it didn't matter anyway.




You can't tell from this picture, but Joss did have a lot of fun decorating. She wanted to take the picture instead of be in it, (plus it was past her bedtime at this point) so she is sporting quite the sad face.

New Family Pictures

My good friend Natalie is a budding photographer and I offered her the service of using my babies to pad her photography portfolio. Here are some of the goods...













How can we not have more after these 2 turned out so cute?! We are expecting Baby Girl O'Leary April 19, 2009 - The countdown is on!

Technical Difficulties

I am trying to get a new background and I'm messing up the whole blog. I'm going to take a break and see if my mind and my blog clear up so I can fix it...
It's probably not the best idea to attempt this after a midnight movie last night!!

One in a Million

It is the way wrong time of night to be posting on my blog, but for whatever reason, I am up thinking about my sister, Paige. It was this time of the year, 4 years ago - We were decorating for Brandon and Jessica's wedding reception and I got my daily call from Paige, only it wasn't my daily call from Paige - a lump had been found in her breast. Of course it was going to be nothing, the odds were on her side. She was only 28, but they had to do a biopsy and take the proper precautions to be safe.
On October 15, 2004, I was still at work when I got my daily phone call from Paige - I knew it was going to be the relief we had been looking for. She was supposed to get her results from her biopsy that day. I remember answering the phone with a very optimistic "Heeeey!" when I got her call - but it was not the relief we had been expecting, instead it was the beginning of a long and difficult road to recovery.



I can't remember every detail of her treatment, and I'm glad for that. I wasn't there as much as I would have liked, but I went for some of her treatments, and all the while she and James were amazingly stong. After months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, she was cancer free... until this year. Once again, the odds were in her favor - 98% that she would continue her life cancer free, but life took another twist and her cancer returned to the bones in her back. It is not curable, but it is treatable and not terminal.

Tonight I am also thinking about our 2 sweet babies that are sleeping so peacefully, and there is nothing in the world I wouldn't do for them. I am so blessed that I get to be the mother of these perfect babies. There is also nothing in the world I wouldn't do for my sister and James to have their babies. And right now, the only thing I can do is to pray for them every day with every prayer to have their family.
They came to visit this April and I was reminded that James is going through nearly every bit that Paige is. I am indebted to him for his strength and his support to her and our family. It is not easy to have someone else be the one to be the number one for her while she goes through her trials, but if it has to be someone besides me, I'm glad it's James.


(this picture is not because they are sad - it's because they are cute and don't want to get too wet on rides~)

Every trial has a purpose and every trial is significant. I don't know what my goal is with this post at 2 AM, except to say, I am so grateful that families are forever. I love my forever family and my wonderful husband Shawn and my beautiful babies. I am grateful for the knowledge I have of our Heavenly Father's perfect plan. I have faith that everything happens for a reason and Paige and James will have their family. If you remember during your prayers, maybe throw in a little something for Paige and James. They are going through the adoption process right now and I know there is a perfect little one out there for them.

Paige is my hero - not because she has cancer, but because she is thoughtful, sweet, kind, determined and has strength beyond anything I can comprehend. How did I get so lucky that she is my big sister?

Hooray for Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Hooray for pink ribbons!

Beck in Concert!

Last night Shawn and I went to a Beck concert - it was fun to see Beck live and even more fun to have a Monday night date night. They were awesome. They don't dance around and have ton of pyrotechnics or anything - they just did their thing - I've added some songs to the playlist. I had a few people would say "Who's Beck?"
Who's Beck?! Here's Beck!

Passing along the information

I was at Shawn's cousin's blog and she had a great post about the importance of preventing gay marriage. It's one of those things that can easily be written off as it doesn't effect me, what do I care what they do, why not - I really like Ellen DeGeneres...
The truth is, it does effect us and we have the ability to help keep the sanctity of marriage as Heavenly Father intended, between a man and a woman. Arizona has this issue on the ballot this election- Proposition 102 - Voting yes says we want marriage in Arizona to be recognized only as union of one man and one woman.
I am including the link on Whitney's blog to the Divine Institution of Marriage from the Newsroom at lds.org.
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-divine-institution-of-marriage
I encourage you to read it and pass it along. It may help open your eyes on how this issue really can effect us.

Where have we been?

It has been way too long since my last blog - especially since we've had so much going on!


First Shawn turned the big 3-0!
WHAT?!?!
We are way too young to be that old (lucky me, I still have time)!




Then, Joss, Jackson and I went to Montana to visit family and crash the O'Leary Family Reunion. Jackson is a Man's Man - he loved being with the guys - Pat Fleming couldn't put him down if he wanted to!



Poor Grampa Bear hurt his knee, but that didn't stop him from teaching Joss some soccer.



Then in Seattle, we had so much fun. Paige, aka Ampy Paige, was able to spend more time with us than we thought, so we made the most of it. We tried to do everything Seattle could offer, the zoo, the market, picking fresh blueberries:

8 Amazing Years

July 15, 2000 was the beginning of forever - and it's been a wonderful ride ever since. Girls Camp was near Payson, so Shawn suprised me and had the babies stay with Gramma and Grampa while we went to Payson and Girls Camp at Camp Lo Mia. On the way back we stopped at the Natural Bridge and hiked through it. It was spontaneous, beautiful, tricky, natural, exciting, and WAY FUN - just like the last 8 years!







I'm so lucky to have my Shawn. He is a huge supporter of me and our family and I'm so lucky to have found him and that he loves me too.
I'm also so glad he had the foresight to celebrate early because our anniversary was spent taking care of pink eye, ear infection, and bronchitis...
Happy Anniversary, Babe! I love you!

Happy Birthday, Jackson!

WHAT!?!? It's been a year already? What a wonderful day that was! Little gramma met us at the hospital and took Joss home to take care of her while daddy, Jackson and I got to work to get him here. Right this minute he is a bit tired and snuggly and it reminds me what a sweet little guy he is.

The Childrens Museum in Phoenix just opened and charge for kids ages 1 and up, so the day before Jackson's birthday we went - Thanks for the frugal gene, Mom, I saved $9.


Joss and Jackson playing with the sand.


They had a bunch of huge shoes the kids could try on:



Joss got to help paint this house! She loved it!




Here are some of the birthday highlights:



Jackson's first taste of cake - I think he likes it!



Not to be overshadowed by a simple birthday, Joss was showing how big she is by getting herself undressed.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACKSON!!

Vacation in Phoenix

We decided to get out of the heat and we went to a resort about 5 miles away for the night! It was so much fun and it wiped the kids out!

Jackson fell asleep on the lazy river - and didn't wake up during the transfer!


This is Joss's tired face - not to be confused with her grouchy face...


My friend Natalie edited these pics for me. How sweet are our babies!?





The best part is we didn't have to spend a ton on gas! Viva Phoenix!

Sod and Gomorrah

... destroyed by brimstone and fire.

After 2 delays in getting our sod, it finally came, but it came a day early, which meant we had to lay it ourselves. My very good friend, Melissa, watched the babies while we layed the sod. It turned out great, but we are both sunburned and sore! It sure felt like we were being destroyed by fire!







IT WAS WORTH IT! Our backyard is now green!

Cool in the Pool!

It is getting much warmer and Gramma and Grampa's pool is getting NICE! I'm sure we will be very wet the next few months.


Joss got a new suit and we had to test it out!

Jackson loves the water.


Joss had to be sure the flowers have plenty of water.


Jackson and his Little Grampa!

Hoppy Easter!

Hoppy Easter from the O'Learys!

We had a beautiful Easter Sunday at Little Gramma and Grampa's house. Joss and Jackson were both sporting new hair-dos and got to wear their Easter best. Joss got to hunt for eggs and Jackson got to get his eggs taken away by Joss!


This dress was actually a Christmas dress from her O'Leary grandparents in Butte. She was so pretty in it!


Joss and Daddy splashing by the pool - not quite warm enough to get in much further!


Hmm - I don't think Jackson is crazy about grass.


Here is a quick pic before Joss realized he had all her eggs!

Mom and Dad in AZ!

We love having visitors and just said goodbye to some of our favorites this morning :0(
Here are some pictures of the hightlights when Gramma and Grampa Stovall came to visit...


Mom and Dad on the jetskis - a little different background than what you find in MT!


Grampa always has to fish - this time he has a helper!




Don't fall asleep when we're having fun, or you will get your picture posted online!


Here is cutie Jackson in his cutie swim suit his Gramma and Grampa got him!


We also played a ton of golf, but for some reason didn't get any pics! Joss and Jackson want Buh Buh and Buh Buh to come back and visit soon!!