California

The weekend before Christmas, we were back in California. It was a long travel day! We woke up at 3:30 AM and landed in Sacramento just before noon.

I noticed that as soon as our plane touched down in Sacramento, I immediately felt like I was at home. I was pretty sure though that I would experience the same feeling when we would land in Austin.

That first night, my dad was given a few tickets to see the new Star Wars movie from work. We went with Ryan, Tyler, and Mom. Thankfully we took a nap that afternoon or else I probably would have slept through most of the movie!

I had some Christmas shopping to do and Charlotte was nice enough to go to the mall with me. We almost were knocked over by the wind as we walked there, but it was great.

A big part of the trip was sharing one of my favorite Christmas memories with Jonathan. Going to the Nutcracker. This is Ron Cunningham's final year as the artistic director and for me it will always be the real Nutcracker ballet. I don't know how many times I've seen it, but the first time was when I was 4. Thankfully, Jonathan enjoys going to the ballet. We've already seen A Midsummer Night's Dream and Clara in Coppelia.

On Sunday, we went to church with my parents and got to see my mom give a talk in Sacrament Meeting. Afterwards, we went to Andy's house. I'm sure that the next time I see Ryan, he will be taller than me! We took turns playing the piano. Luckily I still have a few songs memorized from when I was Ty's age. Tyler plays really well especially since he hasn't been playing for very long. Lyla made up a song and it sounded surprisingly good! It was nice relaxing evening hanging out with the family. Before we left, we gave the kids Texas Ranger badges. Within 5 minutes, Kyle lost his badge. Lyla was sweet enough to give him her badge.

The next day we headed back home. It was a really quick trip, but a really good one.

Merry Christmas

May the spirit of Christmas
bring joy to your heart
and happiness to your home.

Love,

BJ and Jonathan

More Exploring

We've been exploring our neighborhood a bit more. We found a nice little park with sand volleyball courts. It's funny seeing cacti without any spines on them.

We once again found ourselves at the Shake Shack! I always get the salted caramel shake. I might branch out and try something different one day, but not yet!

I love the festive cup!

We found a place that has real vintage arcade style video games.

I seriously love this green tile wall! It is gorgeous and the background for our Christmas card this year.

Naturally, the cupcake shop is bright and colorful!

There are still quite a few empty shops and some of them have awesome signs like this one!

We went for a walk on a really misty, humid, foggy morning. Our apartment is in the building on the left in this picture.

This building is so happy and colorful! They've been working on it since we've moved here and I can't wait to see what's inside.

I still need to explore more because I still get turned around in certain places.

Our Longest Tradition

This is our 7th married Christmas and I thought about how we don't have the most traditional taste when it comes to our decorations. I realized that our longest tradition is having non-traditional decorations!

2011

We were so excited for our first Christmas on our own that we did get a traditional Christmas tree and Ryan and Tyler helped decorate it.

2012

I wanted to try something very different. A 3-D cardboard Christmas tree. It was a bit of a pain assembling it, but it's still one of my favorite trees we've had over the years!

2013

We were living with my parents this Christmas and I was in no mood to decorate. I lost baby E a few months before and was still figuring out life without our sweet angel baby.

2014

I loved our paper tree! I still have the paper garland and paper ornaments from that tree.

2015

I reused some of the paper tree to decorate our mantle. The pixel fire kept us toasty that winter!

2016

I didn't get a good picture of our little sparkly blue tree, but I still have it.

2017

Thanks to all the big cardboard boxes from Ikea, we were able to make a colorful forest of Christmas trees! Some days I leave the lights on all day and when Jonathan comes home from work, they are the only light on. Jonathan made my Christmas tree dreams come true once again!

Wake Up Call

There are times in life where goals, though important, are placed on the back burner because there are other more pressing things to take care of. In time, life changes so slowly that those goals just stay in the background. Well, I walked right into that trap.

Thankfully, we got a wake up call earlier this month. While nothing is changing directly, those goals that were quietly simmering are now remembered and we now can give them the attention they deserve. I don't know how things will turn out, but I know we are heading on the right track.

San Antonio

Last month, Jonathan and I went to the San Antonio temple and then explored the city.

We planned on going down to the river walk and stumbled across the Alamo. We should have realized we were close because we were drove on Crocket Street and Bowie Street...

It was lovely walking down by the river. It reminded me of walking along the waterfront in Disneyland, minus the crowds and rides and plus a bit of humidity.

While we were eating dinner, a boat passed by with a wedding party.

My favorite part was seeing Davey Crocket with his rifle in front of a vending machine.

We can't wait to have more adventures in San Antonio!

Crazy Cars

While driving around here in Austin, we have seen some very interesting cars.

Now we know what upgrades we need to do so our car can fit in better!

Light the World

Last night, the missionaries in our ward came over and shared this Christmas video with us.

They challenged us to participate in the Light the World this month. Each day there is a different scripture about Christ and how we can serve those around us. I am excited to have a way to really prepare for Christmas and focus on the true meaning of the holiday.

You can download the calendar here!

Here is the video for today's scripture.

I would like to invite you to join me in Light the World. I know it will make this Christmas season more meaningful and will bless you and those around you.

You can get ideas for what you can do each day on Mormon.org as well as download the calendar. A website called the Small Seed also has great FREE downloads here with all of the scriptures as well.

New Adventures

I am grateful for all of the new adventures we will have here in Texas.

We already had a few like spending Thanksgiving with some new wonderful friends.

We've spent an evening in San Antonio and plan to go back and see even more.

We're slowly eating our way through the restaurants in our neighborhood and can't wait to try the new Tex-Mex place down the street from us.

I love being here and am so glad that things have worked out the way they did. We hoped for something like this, but with all of the other plans we made failing it seems unreal that it didn't happen this time. We couldn't have done it without all of the support from our friends and family over the years. Just knowing that my siblings and parents were proud of us and the sacrifices we were making helped to reassure us that we were on the right path.

Source

It has been a hard road with many unexpected challenges along with the expected ones, but we made it. I know we are no where near done with challenges, but I'm grateful for the strength we gained over the years so we can face whatever comes our way.

Mega Desk

I am grateful that mega desk is back!

Naturally, Jonathan's side has two monitors and tons of cables while my side has more space for my projects. I really like having our desks together.

Tender Mercies

I am grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord that I have experienced. The phrase "tender mercies of the Lord" comes from the Book of Mormon. In the past few months I have recognized some big ones as well as a few little things most people would consider as a coincidence. I believe that God is in each of our individual lives in a very personal way and tender mercies are evidence of that.

Source

For me, the most obvious one was the smoothness of our move here to Austin. On Wednesday, we got the call that we needed to move and the next day we were on the road. The craziest thing that happened was a bird hit the truck somewhere in the middle of Arizona. We pulled into town without a place to live and within 18 hours we signed our contract. Throughout the experience it was unreal how smooth everything went. I know that it wasn't anything that Jonathan and I did besides being ready and willing to go.

Another one was seeing rainbows as we moved from Utah back to California as well as our move to Austin. When I saw them, they reassured me that we were making the right decision. It's sometimes hard to really know what's best and they confirmed that we were on the right path for us.

Lately, I've been missing our sweet angel babies a bit more than usual. I always miss them, but I'm feeling it more acutely. A few weeks ago, I cleaned my dirty glasses and one of the smudges was a perfectly shaped tiny footprint. It had all 5 toes and I immediately though of J and E. I felt peaceful. I know that they are where they need to be and that they can feel my love for them. I felt like that was their way of showing their love for me.

I know that there are times when it is hard to find tender mercies, but they are there if we look for them.

Team Marriage

I am grateful for our marriage. We have been tremendously blessed by having each other day in and day out. I feel like this quote sums up my feelings.

Primary

I am grateful that Jonathan and I have church callings in Primary. For the past three years we were in Nursery together and now we are in CTR 6. I love being with Jonathan and the kids we teach. The kids honestly become my friends and help me. They are wonderful examples to me.

Remembering J and E

I am grateful that 

When we were in the Rexburg Cemetery in Idaho, Garrett was really confused by one of the headstones there. It said, "Baby Budded on earth to bloom in heaven." 

I explained to him that the baby died and would grow up in heaven instead of on earth. I felt impressed to share with him that I have two babies in heaven. Garrett is a deep thinker and didn't say anything more about it until a few months ago. My parents had just spent the evening swimming with Garrett, Charlotte, and a few of Andy's kids. While driving Garrett and Charlotte back home, my mom was saying how nice it was to spend time with them even though it wasn't all 10 of the grandkids. Garrett pointed out to her that there are more than just the 10 grandkids and she agreed that my two kids are in heaven. This started a sweet conversation about them and who is taking care of them. I love that I'm not the only one wondering where they are, who they are with, and what they are doing. I know that J and E are happy and are loved by their family both here on earth and in heaven.

Holy Ghost

I am grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost and learning how to recognize his promptings. For me, most of them are little ideas, but sometimes are feelings. I can't imagine what life would be like without the additional and personalized guidance of the Holy Ghost.

Photos

I am grateful for photos and how they help bring back memories.

I forgot how often Mercedes would walk around in my shoes.

I love that these three are still great friends.

I miss it when these two were so small. Soon Ryan will be taller than me.

There's nothing like a delicious cupcake to get even the most energetic little Theodore to sit still for a few moments.

Soon after taking the picture, Spencer ate the highlighter. I wasn't attentive enough...

I couldn't believe how long these two sat at the table coloring. Girls are very different from the crazy boys!

Ruby snuggles were heavenly.

I miss Charlotte's extra chubby checks.