3 months old!

I can't believe our little man is already 3 months old! It's crazy to think how much this little boy has blessed our lives in such a short time. The other day Boston and I were out running errands and everything kept going wrong ... I was so overwhelmed and frustrated and I looked down at Boston and he just looked up at me with a big smile and started laughing for no aparent reason but it completely changed the way I felt. I was focusing on all the things that were going wrong that day and he made me realize everything that is so right in life! I'm so grateful for him and his cheerful countenance.



I also wanted to share this incredible story about a little boy named Elliot ... he only lived 3 months but touched so many lives. He is a miracle, a gift from God to remind the world about what life is really about. Watch this short clip about him on Oprah.com but make sure you have tissues nearby first.


Sweet little Elliot.
http://www.oprah.com/media/20081001_tows_99balloons

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!

Thanks for getting me my new highchair! Even though I don't eat in it yet I love sitting in it and watching mommy cook dinner. As long as I can see what's going on I'm totally content and I love being so high! I'm looking forward to making a mess and smashing food in my face.
Love, Boston

Reflections of Christ

There is an exhibit at the JSMB in Salt Lake right now called "Reflections of Christ" and below is a link to a short clip highlighting some of the images ... they're absolutely incredible!

http://mabrystudios.typepad.com/reflections_of_christ/




You can also buy the book, cd or dvd at Deseret Book ... I want all three!!

http://deseretbook.com/store/view_list/1607

Ward Party

I was little red ridding hood and mark was the wolf disguised as grandma and Boston was my hero the woodcutter. Thanks to Mark's mom for letting us borrow the costumes!

Summer was a bowling ball, James was a bolling pin and Kennedy was a little bear ... another Toni Simonsen creation!

Our little man as an Old Man!

Getting ready for Halloween

The hat grandpa bought him ... we were going out to look for Halloween costumes.

Boston has two costumes this year. He was a woodcutter last night at our ward party which will make more sense when you see Mark and I's costumes and he'll be an old man tonight and on Halloween. Here are just some pieces from his costumes ... I will post the finished product later.

My little self-soother

Boston has gotten so great at soothing himself. Most days we can lay him down while he's still wide awake and he'll go to sleep with little or no crying and this is why... He found his fist! Ever since he's started sucking on his fist he doesn't like his pacifier anymore.

Lunch at BYU

Most Thursdays Boston and I go to BYU to have lunch with mark and his siblings Brandon and Faith. It's been so much fun to hear about how their classes are going ... or most of all how their dating lives are going. I have to say the more I hear the more I realize I don't miss dating one bit. This week I snaped a few pictures.

9 HOURS!!

Boston has always been such a great sleeper since the day he was born but last night he slept nine hours without waking up to eat! That's a record. Until then his longest stretch was 6-7 hours which he's been doing pretty consistently every night for the past few weeks. But last night he went to bed at 9pm finally woke up at 6am and I almost had a heart attack when I realized how long he slept but he just ate and then went right back to sleep until 9:30am... it was amazing!! Tonight I put him down again a little after nine so I'm anxious to see if he repeats the miracle. Cross your fingers.

Conference Weekend

In association with General Conference ever fall the church holds a Chaplains Conference for all the LDS Military Chaplains and their spouses (there are about 60 worldwide). We got to go this year and it was such a great opportunity to be able to rub shoulders with some really amazing people. The work they are doing is so incredible and the things they see and deal with is just unimaginable to me. I really felt like I was standing on holy ground when I was in their presence. These people have lifted our soldiers and brought hope to parts of the world where there is none.

The Conference started with a dinner on Friday night then on Saturday Mark and I got to attend the afternoon session of conference at the conference center while Aunt Faith watched Boston... well sort of. He was asleep when we dropped him off at noon and still asleep at 5:30 when we picked him up so there wasn't really much "watching" but we really appreciated it. On Sunday we watched the afternoon session with Mark's family and then had dinner with them. Boston wore this cute vest that my friend Jazmine and her sister Nichole got him so I had to post a picture so they could see it. He looks like such a little man.


Then the Chaplains Conference continued all day Monday and Tuesday. We heard from some amazing people including M. Russell Ballard, Sister Nelson (Russel M. Nelson's wife), some of the 70 including Elder Wood, Elder Oaks and Elder Hafen (who by the way wrote Elder Maxwells biography so he shared some great expereinces from Elder Maxwells military service). I got to have lunch with Julie B. Beck and let me tell you it was incredible just being in her presence. She spoke to all the wives and then just opened it up for questions which was fun. But my favorite part was probably just hearing the experiences of the Chaplains and their wives themselves. I'm so glad I have so many great role models to look to for advice and guidance as I try to learn how to fill the calling of being a Chaplains wife and I'm so glad that we will have this conference to look forward to every year!

What our furture holds in store...

Even though we won't get much say in where we are stationed I wanted to see what the possibilites were. I was so excited to find out they have a Navy base in Okinawa Japan because I'm so obsessed with this place. The people who live there have the longest life expectancy of any group of people in the world ... they are practically immortal! I've studied their lifestyles and am completely fascinated and would love the chance to live among them. I've also been wanting to go back to Italy since visiting there last summer so I was happy to learn they have a few bases there as well. The really great thing about Navy bases is that they are almost all along the coast!!

Navy bases overseas:

o Bahrain
o British Indian Ocean Territory
o Egypt
o Cuba
o Djibouti
o Greece
o Italy
o Japan
o Kuwait
o Oman
o Qatar
o Korea
o Saudi Arabia
o Singapore
o Spain
o United Arab Emirates
o United Kingdom

The good thing is that I would be excited to live in any of those places!