It's A . . .

Lydia came with us to the Ultrasound this morning and wanted to be the first to announce that her Baby Brother is due June 21, 2008 and we can hardly wait! Now the adventure of picking a name begins. Submit your favorite entries by June!

Sweep'n the Snow!

Today Lydia woke from her nap to find that Snow had actually fallen in St. George! After singing Once There Was a Snowman ten times, she insisted on "Sweep'n Snow" "Sweep'n Snow!" At first I couldn't understand what she was saying but a minute later she had run to her play room and come back with her little broom in hand and an even more enthusiastic "Sweep'n Snow!" You have to give her credit for being so smart. Seeing as how it almost never snows here we don't even own a snow shovel, thus sweeping up the snow makes perfect sense. I think Grandpa Bush will have to teach Lydia how they shovel snow in Logan! Let's just say it made for a fun afternoon and I couldn't resist taking a couple photos.

We Thank Thee O God For A Prophet

Last night our dear and beloved Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley passed on from this life to be reunited with his precious wife and our Father in Heaven. We have loved and revered him as the President and Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The news of his passing was hard for us as a family to hear. He has been the prophet for the past 12 plus years of our lives and was very influential in my life as a youth, wife and young mother. I still vividly recall being a freshman in college and hearing him give A Prophet's Counsel and Prayer for the Youth. This talk greatly impacted me as he gave us 6 ways to Be:

1.Be Grateful 2.Be Smart 3.Be Clean 4.Be True 5.Be Humble 6.Be Prayerful

Not only did this talk motivate reform in me, but I recall the strongest testimony formed that President Gordon B. Hinckley was truly a Prophet of God and that he truly loved each of us as he closed his talk with a special prayer for the youth. Never had I directly heard a Prophet pray for me. The spirit testified truth to me which I will never forget and never deny. Since that time I have again and again been uplifted and inspired by his counsels. I believe in Christ, I know my Savior Lives and I know that President Gordon B. Hinckley is a Prophet of God. Although it is hard to imagine he is no longer with us on this earth I feel peace overcome sadness at knowing he is reunited with his wife whom he so dearly loved and cherished. What a glorious reunion they must be having together in the arms of our Father. May this peace bring happiness to all of you!

Cutie Patootie!

Lydia is our little Cutie Patootie!

It's no wonder we stay up at night talking about how wonderful she is long after she's gone to bed! Just like her smile lights up her entire face, having her in our family lights up our lives!

She will be two years old in a few weeks and I'm shocked at how quickly the time has gone by. Every day I tell Dan I wish I could freeze time because she is just so much fun and so perfect how she is right now. So, seeing as how she'll change again in a week, or has probably changed a lot since many of you last saw her, I've decided to make a "Lydia Today Top 10!" Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do.

Lydia Today Top Ten

10. Baby my Baby: Watching Lydia baby her baby doll is a riot! She really treats it like it is real. Of course she wraps it up, rocks it and feeds it a bottle, but she also makes it feel textured books we read, points things out to it, sits it on the potty and makes hillarious pushing noises, and my favorite is when she brings it to the window and makes it wave good-bye and blow kisses to daddy with us as he leaves for work in the morning!

9. Naked Baby: Lydia has discovered the ability to undress herself, run around and away from you giggling "Nakey Baby!" Need I say more!

8. If it's Broken, Use TAPE: in Lydia's little mind tape fixes everything. In the past when a page in a book has torn or her paper hat from toddler time is broken, we've used tape to fix it. Thus last week when the toilet had been disassembled so Dan could fix a leak she told me it was broken and ran to the drawer asking for Tape so we could fix it!

7. Hide & Go Seek: Lydia loves to count to 10 and play Hide & Go Seek. Only thing is she gets so excited that she often comes running out of her hiding place before you get to find her!

6. The Number 9: Lydia loves to count and 9 seems to be her favorite number. When she was real little she would say "1,2,3,4,5,9,9,9,9!" She now counts rather well but her 1 to 10 includes two 9's and no number 5. It sounds like this, "1,2,3,4,9,6,7,8,9,10!"

5. Stalling: Lydia has mastered the art of Stalling! As soon as she senses it is time to get ready for bed she is suddenly starving and needs to "eat, eat, eat." Then she needs to brush her teeth, go to the bathroom, get a drink, read 20 books, and tries to start all over. Needless to say we have begun to get ready for bed earlier!

4. C is for Cookie, or is that "Tookie": Recently Lydia's C's sound more like T's. It might confuse some but I think it's rather cute to hear her say, "Tome here Daddy," or "Towboy Hat," or when she's playing with her kitchen set, "I'm just Tooking!"

3. Lydia's Lullabies: Up to now Lydia has always enjoyed rocking before bed while we sing her a couple lullabies. She usually picks one of the classics, but lately she won't go to bed until we sing . . . "O Christmas Tree," or "I like to Eat Apples and Bananas!" Since when were these classified as lullabies? It's a little challenging to make the second one sound like a nice lullaby when you're singing, "I like to Eat Epples and Benenes, Opples and Banonos . . ."

2. Daddy Help!: Dan, Dan the super Dad, if he can't do it no one can! In Lydia's eyes Daddy can fix everything and make any problem right. Last week Lydia kept asking for ice cream and I told her that she could have some that weekend when Daddy took her on their Daddy, Daughter Date. Sure enough they had ice-cream, a fun time and when I asked her what flavor she had she said "White!" She has since decided that any time she wants ice cream and I tell her we don't have any she wants to call dad because, "Daddy Help, Ice Cream, Daddy Help!" This applies not only to ice cream, but when it was raining and we couldn't go to the park she said, "Daddy help, go park, Daddy help!"

1. Spontaneous Hugs & Kisses: We have been the recipients of lots of cherished spontaneous love lately. Although Lydia will at times be very stingy with who and when she'll give her hugs and kisses, recently we've been sitting in a room and she'll run up to give us hugs and kisses. Earlier this week she was standing on the stairs when Dan came home to which she greeted him with, "Hi Daddy" then while raising up her arms she said, "HOLD" and as he picked her up she proceeded with squeezable hugs and sweet soft kisses!

Two words for you: Cutie Patootie!

A Happy Holiday Indeed!

December was the perfect month wrapping up 2007 with more fun than we could handle and many memories we never want to forget. We enjoyed hosting our first Christmas Karaoke Party which involved everyone wearing ugly sweaters, bringing mugs, playing games and of course entertaining eachother with karaoke! More fun than that was having our sister-in-law Marinda and her two boys visit from Virginia for a week. The holidays always lift our spirit's with the cherished music, the stunning lights, the nativity and especially joining with family. Indeed, the highlight of our Holiday was spending a week in Logan with the entire Bush Bunch! It's been a few years since everyone was together and it proved to be a fabulous and unforgettable Christmas! We've posted some pictures from the holiday in a slide show for your amusement and our entertainment!