Blessed

My heart is full of gratitude today. As I was reading my scriptures this morning I came across this one in particular. Isn't it funny how the perfect things come to you when you need them most. I know that the Lord has a hand in everything that happens in my life day by day and today I am grateful that he has given me inspiration and understanding. I love my Heavenly Father and his beautiful work and glory. I love my family and I love each one of you.
D&C 46:32 "And ye must give thanks unto God in the Spirit for whatsoever blessing ye are blessed with."

Our family is back together again. Me and the children returned to San Antonio at the end of January. It was bittersweet coming back. I hated to leave Utah since that is truly our home and everyone whom we love is there, but Sean was here and we needed to get back to him. Me and the kids missed Daddy. He is doing well with his BMet training. He just hit the 5 month mark so only 7 more months to go then he will graduate and we will embark on our next journey. Whatever that may be. The kids are doing well and are right back into the swing of things. Porter is now a Sunbeam holy cow, I know!!! Where in the world did time go? He will be turning 4 soon. This year me, Sean, and Lois will be the only ones here to celebrate both her 1st birthday and Porter's 4th but we are starting the planning now so that we can make sure we make their days extra special for each of them. Lo is growing like a weed. She has kind of lost interest in her binky. Yay for me! It will only be that much easier to take it away when I feel like the time is right. We give her a sippy cup once a day just to introduce her to it, I am hoping to have her off of her bottle as close to 12 months as possible. She is getting strong enough to stand up by herself and balance for 5 or so seconds before falling over. She walks well with the help of other's holding her hands so we went and bought her a baby walker. We will see how long until she is up and walking all by herself. I feel like there are times where I am trying to make her grow up too fast, but she seems ready for it all so I am just enjoying watching her progress so well. No matter what she will always be my Baby Lo. I may be calling her that clear into her teenage years cuz I think it is so darling and fits her so well. We love you all and hope that everything is going as great for you as it is for us.

A night to remember

Tonight was a special night. We were sad that Sean was not able to be here with us in person, but over the telephone to celebrate the wonderful and inspirational life his Grandma Jackson has lived. We love her soo much. She and Bill are such examples to us all and I pray that I may possess the kind of strength, light, faith and joy that she fills the world with each day. WE LOVE YOU GRANDMA AUDREY!!!

Porter and Lois

Here are a few pictures that I took of the kids on a bright and cheery Sunday afternoon.
Enjoy!!!

Grandma Jackson

I just want to let you know
You mean the world to me

Only a heart as dear as yours
Would give so unselfishly

The many things you've done
All the times you were there
Help me know deep down inside
How much you really care

Even though I might not say
I appreciate all you do
Richly blessed is how I feel
Having a grandmother just like you

Everything my grandma does
is something special made with love.
She takes time to add the extra touch
that says, "I love you very much."

She fixes hurts with a kiss and smile
and tells good stories grandma-style.
It's warm and cozy on her lap
for secret telling or a nap.

And when I say my prayers at night
I ask God to bless and hold her tight.
Cause when it comes to giving hugs
my grandma's arms are filled with love!

Grandmas are for stories
about things of long ago.

Grandmas are for caring
about all this things you know.

Grandmas are for rocking you
and singing you to sleep.

Grandmas are for giving you
nice memories to keep.

Grandmas are for knowing
all the things you're dreaming of...
But, the most important thing of all,

Grandmas are for love.

There's simply no one else on earth
Who's as fortunate as me
For, I have the most special grandma
That this world shall ever see!

HOME is where MY HEART IS

This Christmas was a lot of fun. Being able to travel back to Utah was such a blessing. The drive took us about 23 hours. There were a few moments where I thought I might open the door and jump out. The thought of being stranded on the side of the road, rather than in the car with a teething ornery baby and an obnoxious 3 year old was kind of a pretty picture that popped into my head a few times. Although when we entered Utah I realized just how worth it that drive was. I miss the mountains soo much, Texas is FLAT. The kids were lots of fun with all of the holiday activities we did. Here they are on Christmas Eve in thier jammies from Daddy and Mommy.

We went caroling with Sean's family. Laura had these funny little hats for Porter and Lo to wear. Porter has learned a few jingles and continues to sing them to this day. His favorite songs are "Rudolph the reindeer nose", "Frosty the snowman was a jolly frosty snow", and the one that he seems to sing all day long is " Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way oh one to slide one to sleigh." Totally wrong words, but it is so cute how he belts them out at the most random times.

She loved caroling she was bouncing and kicking her legs the entire night.

Porter had a blast this Christmas and got way too spoiled. But he appreciates everything he got. Everytime he would open up a gift he would say "Oh baby what is it?!?!" Santa brought him a lot. Some of it being Superhero squad figurines and a Leapster2. He now has no need to constantly drain the batteries on mine and Sean's phones by playing games. His Leapster keeps him plenty occupied. Lo of course loved the wrapping paper and ribbons more than anything she got, but it was so fun watching her look around in such amusement at all of her presents. Sean unfortunetely had to leave on the 30th to drive back to Texas. Me and the kids are staying in Utah for an extra month. Here is Porter and Lo on New Years Eve. A night spent with the family, always a good way to say good bye to the past year and hello to what may come.

I love my baby girl. She has gotten 6 new teeth since we left Texas. A big whopping total of 8. It is no wonder why she has been such a fuss for the past little while. She is pulling herself up to furniture and walking from couch to couch. She loves to wave and clap. What a happy baby girl we have, and she fills our lives with light.

What a difference a day makes

Literally the day after I did my latest post Lo started crawling and has her two top teeth coming through now. She is actually crawling around the house instead of dragging herself. Man oh man how these past few days have been a bummer at the Reay household. She has been so fussy and miserable this time around. When her first two teeth came through we had no idea that she was even teething cuz she acted normal and as happy as always. Now she can't quit rubbing her tongue against her gums, she is producing enough drool to fill a vat, has had on and off fevers, always wants to be held, and she is NOT sleeping. Poor little baby, I hope that they make their way through fast so that she will get back to her happy little self. Good thing we have Porter around though, she lights up everytime she see's him. He is such a good big brother to her, maybe a little to rough at times, but she still loves him all the same.



These are Porter's frosted mini wheat people. The top one is a girl with her hair on the side of her head :) The other one is a boy and the little ones are dogs. Man he cracks me up.


The other morning I was sleeping soundly, but was woken up to this rustling sound. When I went into the kitchen to see what was making the sound I found Porter sitting on the floor sneaking the bag of doughnuts that Sean had made. Nice to know that he eats I guess... I used to think we was developing an eating disorder.

This is our rendition of a Christmas tree this year. We call it our Christmas bush! Since we knew we would be heading back to Utah for the holidays we didn't pack any of our decorations, which I am now regretting, but whatever life goes on. Sean and Porter went and got the bush and lastnight we all made homemade ornaments. Popcorn garland, cheerio garland, and saltdough ornaments. If anything it is a sweet memory of knowing that we can make anything work given the situation.

Lastly, here she is crawling!!!