Finding Joy in the Journey

Monday, January 5, 2009

Christmas Eve 2008

Christmas is a particularly busy time of the year with most of our family living within an hour of driving.

We spent Christmas Eve lunchtime with Josh's maternal grandmother and all his cousins,etc. After that we headed up to his parent's house for some snacks, presents and gun-shooting. That evening we were at his paternal grandparent's house for some more yummy food, presents and lots of laughs. We always say we're too busy- but we really do feel blessed to have our family close by.

Here are our children and their first cousins at Josh's parent's house.

Josh's granny and her great-grandkids

Josh's granny, her two kids, their spouses, six grandkids, their spouses and all the great-grandkids. It's amazing to me how a family can grow!

Utah or BUST!

On the plane......Josh didn't love this. I think he thought I was dumb to have the camera out on the plane- but I was bored. Yes, you heard me right- BORED on an airplane with all the kids. It's because they were incredibly well behaved. No fits, sat still, ate peanuts. (Jack was watching a show I downloaded onto my IPOD. He liked that.)

It was COLD and snowy the day Meggie and Mike got married. Here is Raelyn waiting outside for them to come out of the temple.

Mr. and Mrs. Stohl!!

And to show Gracen and I were really there. MY uncle Mark took this picture.

And one Mark took while the photographer was getting everyone set up for group pics.

Have you ever flown cross country with four kids just to turn around and fly back home two days later?

We totally did!

My little sis Megan got married in SLC, Utah RIGHT before Christmas so we trucked out there on a Wednesday, she got married on a Thursday and we flew back on a Friday. Didn't Megan make a beautiful bride?? And don't her and Mike make the cutest couple?? I feel so blessed to have been able to make the trip. I love my sister Meggie- she's such a good example for our family.

More pictures can be found on her photographer's blog HERE. Of course there were even more, those are just a sampling.

They used Simplicity Photography in SLC and she was amazing! I wish we could've stayed longer and had her take indvidual pics of my kiddos.

And she wanted to do a pretty dance....

Raelyn's dance studio does a Nutcracker performance every year. We had already been to the 'real' Nutcracker by the time her performance rolled around so she was VERY pumped. She wasn't pumped about being a mouse. She wanted to do a 'pretty' dance. (I thought her dance was very pretty!)

Megan and my mom went to the dress rehearsal

Raelyn and a few of her mouse buddies

7 and 4

Yes, I now have a seven year old. And a four year old. I feel old.

I was sitting and thinking about Morgan and it struck me- She thinks on her own!! Everything that she thinks is no longer shared with me- my opinion isn't the only opinion anymore. I guess that's why our church considers age 8 the age of accountability. By the time she's eight I can't even imagine how thoughtful she'll be! It's getting pretty fun to be able to converse with her about books and other thought-provoking subjects.

Raelyn is 4. And wants to be 40. At least twice a day she'll ask if she looks like a mom doing whatever she is doing. On the airplane to UT she told my mom that she wanted to be the mom of a little baby on our flight so she could take care of her and change her diaper. Raelyn has one goal in life- to be a mom. That makes me very happy! :)

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The Rundown of our Race

(no pun intended)

As most of you know, my friend Melissa and I had been training for a 5K. As the day got closer the excitement built. Until the day before. Melissa little boy aspirated some peanuts and was admitted to the hospital. Poor little man had to stay overnight. This didn't stop my hardcore race partner. She let her (supportive) husband stay with their son that morning and met me across the street from the hospital (at a Hardees with tacky decorations for the holidays) to carpool over. We thought we were going to be pretty good on time until we pulled up. There were cars EVERYWHERE. This was not only a 5k, but also a half marathon (we had three close friends running the half- YEAH Kim, Stacie and Marcia!!!) We finally found a parking spot a little ways from the start line and were ready to go. It was COLD. The above picture is after our finish near our car- so I'd already taken off my toboggan. We didn't win (duh) but we did meet our goals........to finish, to finish without having to walk because we couldn't run anymore and the goal to finish in less than 45 minutes. We actually finished closer to 30 minutes than 45 minutes. Not bad! I know I wouldn't have been able to train without having Melissa there every step of the way. While I used to love running, I've been out of the loop for a while and so had NO motivation. So I really needed Melissa for all those training mornings.......

So, I know you're wondering if we're going to keep it up......yes, you'll be seeing more of team Melissa and Cortney in 2009.

Morgan's 7th Birthday Party

Even though her birthday isn't until tommorow (the 11th), due to scheduling issues we needed to have her birthday party last Friday. She made the choice to have a 'SPA' bithday party and the invites we sent out were little pink sleep/relaxation masks with a bit of cardstock attached with the info. We had planned (and did) pedicures, manicures, face masks, dinner, presents and 'hanging out'. Thanks to Megan, my mom and my friend Rachael for helping with the party and my friend Kim for watching my two youngest. Morgan wanted to invite everyone she knew but I put the limit at seven. (This was our first real 'friend' birthday party.) All the girls had tons of energy. And yes, I got the pictures on here out of order. I know people keep telling me how to do it- but I always forget in the moment.

oh yeah- Morgan planned the ENTIRE thing- down to every last detail

Rae with her face mask and cucumber eyes