Holy Snow Batman!

Wow, the snow here in Rexburg and Idaho Falls has been relentless! I truthfully have not seen this much snow since I was a little guy. Of course I must admit, I was a bit shorter then. It's so wonderful to have had a white Christmas, and one where the whiteness averages around 9 inches.

Bita, William, and I spent the holiday with our families in Idaho Falls(Cutlers) and Ammon(Halls). It was quite enjoyable to see family and eat good food. Over the holiday Bita had the idea to read some of the books by Madeleine L'Engle. It is hard to find any time to do this when either of us has been in school. We are a good portion of the way through A Wrinkle in Time. When I was younger my mom would often encourage me to read these books, but I was not about to sit still and read during those years. However, I am very grateful for a wife that to this day encourages me to do the same thing, because they are quite fun to read. At least this first book we are reading is neat.

Speaking of reading together, this is one of the things that we have enjoyed since even before we married, and it continues to be something we enjoy doing together. Here I have to admit that we are quite slow when trying to get through some books. We've read The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, and we are only half way into Two Towers. Reading this series has spanned about two years. What can I say, we get side-tracked. We also read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe before we were married. I suppose the whole reason I bring it up is because if you are not reading with someone, you are missing out. Anyhow, Christmas has been good.

We came back to our own apartment today to continue packing. We are moving tomorrow to some less expensive apartments. We will dearly miss our current apartment. It has been our first home as a newly formed family unit. It's exciting moving to a new place. We will have new experiences and a whole new ward. It is often sad to leave a particular stage in live and this is especially true when that stage has been a pleasant one. Well I must get back to packing. I am sure Bita will write a better post with more details later. At least I hope she does. :) Happy Holidays :)

Hallelujah

You know, it's funny, this is the first semester that I haven't been in school in almost 3 years, and the first one of our marriage in which Chris has been going to school and I haven't and I think I am more relieved to have this semester over with than any previous semester. It's strange that I stress out for my husband but what else is a wife for?

I've been thinking back as to why this semester has been so crazy, and this is what I came up with:

1-We had a baby!! William was born on Sept. 30, just a little over 2 weeks after the beginning of the semester. He was born on a Sunday, and that week Chris had 2 tests, a paper due, and a presentation in his classes, on top of regular homework and quizzes. He had also had to work a 12 hour shift on Saturday, which got interrupted when my water broke and I went into labor. Needless to say, Chris did NOT get everything done that he needed to do that week, and even though teachers were very understanding its hard to catch up once you get behind.

2-We have the cutest baby in the world!! For those of you who don't have kids, I don't know if you can possibly imagine how much of a distraction a baby can be. (For those of you who have kids-I'm sure you can relate). I am so grateful that I am able to stay home with my baby because I cannot imagine missing even one of his smiles or coos or toe wiggles or anything. The last thing Chris wanted to do was to go back to school and work because he loves being with his son so much. But once again, the distraction of a baby makes it very hard to get things done!
-Because Chris had a very full load this semester with some tough classes, and had gotten behind at the beginning I used to freak out inside my head every time he would stop and play with the baby, help me bathe him, change his diaper, etc. until one day it hit me like a ton of bricks that it makes me so happy that he wants to spend time with his son and that we are his first priority. I came to the realization that he is an absolutely fantastic husband and father and that I would take that any day over him being a straight A student. And now it just brings me joy and satisfaction to see how much he wants to be a part of Williams life and to participate in all the little things that he does. I sure am one lucky girl!!

Anyway, I could go on and on about the things that made this semester stressful-like the fact that Chris got a job teaching seminary part time that started 2 weeks before the end of the semester, or me being in charge of putting together a primary program with 1 primary child-but as I think about it a lot of the things that made the semester crazy and stressful were also blessings in very real ways.

And even though I think Chris and I are both grateful for the semester to be over and for Chris to have an off-track, I can honestly say that we have been blessed beyond measure in these last few months and that I have learned a lot about what is really important in life. So here I say--Hallelujah for blessings and for trials and for learning and for growing, and Hallelujah for my most precious family, and most of all Hallelujah for a season where we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ!

Will's 4th, 1st roll

This is probably not too exciting to anyone else but we two new proud parents. All the same, we still enjoy sharing our excitement with others. William had rolled over from his front to his back three times before this. Unfortunately, he was not as happy when we tried to catch the fourth one on tape. He's still a cute little guy, even when he's sad. Enjoy.