All About Joshua...

I wanted to write up about Joshua and his first year so that I have it recorded. His one year of life has been a long one (and short as well). He has been through so much and so have we.


Currently Joshua loves cars, dogs, balls, walking--trying to run, pulling hair, tickling others, being outside, playing peek-a-boo, dancing to music, food (anything), and climbing on everything.

He can throw a ball, wave bye-bye, find his own eyes/nose/toes, play pat-a-cake, and will shake his head when we tell him "no".

Joshua's words are: mama, dada, dah (dog), "mmm" after just about every bite he takes, "hi", and "ah, ah, don" (up, up, down).

Our little comic relief:
He will throw himself on the ground to "crash" and will do it over and over until we are done laughing. He makes the silliest faces and loves the giggles he gets when he does it. Also, he loves to tickle. All it takes it telling him "to get" whoever is the target for a tickle and he will take off after them wiggling his fingers and just giggles as he tickles his victim.

Our little love bug:
Joshua gives the best hugs and even includes a little "ah" when giving them. He also loves to give lovely open-mouth, slobbery kisses. He really is such a sweet boy and I love getting his hugs before he goes down for bed.

Our little sleeper:
By this I really mean "little" sleeper. Joshua has given me 5...yes, 5 full nights of sleep since he was born. It is getting better, but he does not just whimper and fall back asleep. He screams at the top of his lungs! Thankfully, someday it will all pass and I am sure I will have plenty of other things to lose sleep over with this little guy.

Our curious explorer:
Joshua quickly learns about the world. He definitely just wants to make sure he understands everything around him. He loves the toilet, trash, stairs and anything else that makes me go crazy. I caught him plunging the toilet one day. It literally takes him one time of watching something to be able to perform it himself. He is constantly climbing on things and his head often is black and blue from his adventures.


Going way back, I think about the hour of screaming Joshua did when he was born. He definitely will let us know when he is mad, hurt, uncomfortable...but he also is a very loving child. He was so precious in those first moments just like he is now.


1 week:


1 month:


2 months:



3 months:


4 months:


5 months:


6 months:


7 months:


8 months:



9 months:


10 months:


11 months:



1 year:


We love you Joshua! You are truly a blessing to this family.

Happy Birthday, Chippy Chippy!

It was a very happy birthday for Joshua. He was cheesing it up all day and just loved being the center of attention.


Aliyah woke up not so happy realizing the Joshua's birthday meant it wasn't all about her as well. She had been so exciting for Joshua to turn one, but when it really came down to it she was not thrilled that he got the presents.


Thankfully, I brought out smiles from her while she helped me ice and decorate Joshua's cake. It turned out interesting, but he didn't care one bit.


All he cared about was shoving it in his mouth. He loved it all--and ate it all! The ice cream froze his little fingers but he wouldn't let go of it.



He was spoiled with presents. He especially loved his new phone. He can't get enough phone time in, and always says "hi" when he opens it.

(love the three teeth grin)

It was a great celebration for Joshua and we just love this little man. He is such a blessing to us and we are so grateful for the chance to be his parents.

Just a side note...Aliyah had a great first day of primary. She is growing so much as well.

(I will take credit for the beautiful face pulling for the camera.)

Home for Christmas

This year at Christmas we tried to make sure and focus on the Savior and the many beautiful things that come at this time of year. We did many fun things, but were so excited to keep it simple and enjoy being together as family.

Aliyah loved decorating the Christmas tree and because we had to keep things out of reach from little Joshua hands, it was only partially decorated. Because of this just about every prayer Aliyah said included, "Bless the Christmas tree to be beautiful". She had previously told me it wasn't beautiful because it was half decorated. She is sweet to hope for it to be beautiful.


Joshua loved taking in all the exciting new things that came with Christmas. He is such a goofy kid and would get as close as he could to touching the Christmas tree without really touching it. He loves to tease! But he is one handsome tease wouldn't you say!?


These two are such a pair. They love each other so much.


Just before Christmas, Jason and I were spoiled to have family take care of the kids while we went out on a date. We were able to see Celtic Women in concert for their Christmas tour. It was beautiful and we loved being able to spend some much needed time together. It turned out to be a very snowy night, and we even took a long walk in the falling snow (since kids were already in bed.)


Christmas Eve we were in charge of our ward's Christmas Eve Devotional where we gather to sing hymns and share in Christmas treats and stories. It is always nice to refocus ourselves on why we celebrate this time of year. Despite the crazy night it became with a sleepy Aliyah, we enjoyed the time spent on remembering our Savior, Jesus Christ and the perfect love He gives to each of us.

That night we let the kids get into their new pjs and read the Christmas story.


I loved having Christmas Day on Sunday. It made things calm and spread out throughout the day. I woke up early to talk with my brother, Caleb, who is serving a mission in Romania. It was neat to hear from him as I listened in while my family Skyped with him. He sounded so happy!

We also got to hear a little from Luke, Jason's brother serving in Brazil. He has been out for just a little while and is loving his mission as well.

We later had wide-eyes come down to find their Christmas presents. Most of the morning was video recorded, but we continued with gifts when we got back from church. We got a couple of pictures then.


Our Christmas angels all ready for church.


It turned out to be a quiet Christmas Dinner since everyone we had invited had other plans. It was nice though to be just us and enjoy being together.


The next few days included playing with new toys, talking with family, playing in the snow and eating lots of leftovers.


Aliyah was so excited to go play in the deep snow. We made a huge snowman this time and the following day it had been knocked over by neighborhood kids. Aliyah was sad, but said, "They were being naughty, but it is okay. I will just make a new one and build that one again so they can have a family." If only I was as kind-hearted as she is. I hope to try and be as a child more to enjoy things in a more simple way and be a little more forgiving.


I always want to hold on to the holidays, but it is also nice to start anew and try harder during a new year to be better. I am grateful for the time I was able to spend with all our family. We are truly blessed with such loving families. Thank you for all you do for our little family. May you all be well this coming new year and find peace and joy.

I am Thankful!

Even though it is so far past, I am making sure to post Thanksgiving. We had such a great time with family in Utah and loved being able to see everyone but Caleb. He was missed! Our family is just growing and growing and it will be harder to get photos like this.


I stayed for a little while before Thanksgiving and Jason so lovingly drove out alone to be with us for Thanksgiving. He is a good man. While we were in Utah, the kids got to do fun things with the aunts, uncles, cousins and Grandpa and Grandma. They were spoiled with attention. The only downside was not having Daddy around and also kids getting sick.

Joshua loved being with everyone. He is a performer, so he loves having lots of attention. He looks so handsome with Grandma's sunglasses on. She was an angel for taking the kids so often so I could work, get some Christmas shopping done, or just relax.


Since the other kids were still in school for a while, these three were the three amigos for most of the time. They had so much fun and Aliyah really misses Macey. The two girls got to attend a library class together singing songs, playing games and making crafts. They had a blast together!


Grandma taught Aliyah how to make applesauce and we were able to take some home. I think Joshua could have lived off applesauce in Utah. It is a prized treasure in our home and Aliyah was proud to help make it.


Joshua's new talent found in Utah was standing. It took a sword to do it, but he was so proud of himself. He took it seriously, as you can tell.


The kids at actual Thanksgiving dinner. As always, I love Thanksgiving...mostly because it means family and food (the best two things to enjoy in life).


This year I have been so grateful for so many things, but especially this year I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who is ever so mindful of His children. We were in need of an increase of salary but since Jason's company was unable to meet that, we weren't sure what to do. We prayed hard for the right thing to happen and we were blessed with my old company calling me to see if I wanted to work from home for as many hours as I could. Even though this was not at all what I expected, I am grateful for the blessing that it is. I am tired many days and would love to sleep in rather than work early in the morning. Yet it has made me appreciate what Jason does for this family and I am grateful for such a perfect opportunity.

We have been very blessed and I am thankful for such a loving Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ.