We had a very fantastic Christmas morning, day, and evening.  We didn't change out of our Christmas jammies until 5:30 pm, we had to go out into public to visit family so thought we should actually dress for the day. 

Mason loved all of his cars and balls, Melia could barely pull herself away from her Hanna Montana make-up box.  Mat and I enjoyed some rice pudding, broccoli soup, and homemade bread.

Melia really enjoys gymnastics, I love the fact that she is good at something that she loves.  I was so proud of her, not only for the skills she could perform, but because she is so sweet, shy, and loving.  Grandma and Grandpa T, Grandma Galvez, brother Mason, mom and dad were all there.  Melia bought everybody a cold stone ice cream when she was done and was so proud to pay by herself with her own gift cards.

When would I ever have considered a "Sharpie" to be almost as dangerous as a knife when decorating pumpkins? I never thought I would ever find myself saying things like "don't eat the snail", "get the dog's tail out of your mouth", "stop eating your boogers"?  I never imagined I could feel good about sitting in front of the TV  for almost 48 straight hours----granted I was comforting and holding my sick baby boy and that is all he could and would do.  I never imagined I could love my life as much as I do------I haven't competed in a bike race, tennis match, triathlon, volleyball tournament or anything that used to be so much of who I was.  Melia and Mason are absolutely and positively the best of me, how can I be so lucky to be a part of their wonderful little lives?  It almost (ALMOST) makes me want to have another one.

Blake Powell, Lara Ross and ME----we are in the Garden of Gethsemane, need I say more?

I am standing in front of the most famous site in Jordan/ in Petra. I am posing with Donna Colson who is the couple missionary in Northern Jordan, she and her husband picked us up and drove us the 3 hours to Petra, hiked with us 3 hours and drove us 3 hours back to the Amman airport. They were wonderful to us, they provided us water, sun screen, and fabulous company.

This is me and my assembly partner in Jerusalem. We are at the church of the nativity. You can see the woman behind us with the alter behind her. That is the exact spot (supposedly) where Mary gave birth to the baby Jesus. The column on the right is where Joseph and Mary supposedly layed the baby Jesus to sleep in the Manger. This tiny area is where the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Armenians all share and worship.

Here is day one of our Disneyland trip.  We pulled Mason out of the car seat at 5:00 am after driving all night.  His entire face, neck, back and chest was nothing but rash.  This was why he spent the first day at CHOC (Children's Hospital).  They never will know for sure what it was, my pediatrician seems to believe it was a reaction to his MMR vaccine.  He was worse on day 2, but better on day 3, 4, and 5.  It was amazing to see how his little personality changed once he started to feel better.

I had to chose bright matching clothes for Disneyland so when they wondered off I wouldn't lose them forever.  Melia was so tough and brave, her favorite ride was Tower of Terror, she rode it 4 times.  Mason had a bought with some illness that made us spend the first day in Childrens Hospital of Orange County.  Every vacation has to have some glitch, right?!  We had a wonderful trip anyway.

I am officially finished with school AGAIN.  I  watched my father cry his eyes out all through the ceremony.  My in-laws were just as moved.  Poor Mat had to walk the halls outside the ceremony with a screaming baby.  I watched Melia climb over both sets of grandparents, stand on her head on the chair, and sing Briar Roses' song at the top of her lungs.  I am officially Dr. Timpson-----what will my next challenge be?

When I brought Mason home from the hospital Melia was pretty jealous for the first several months, I guess I assumed she still was or hadn't even thought about it for a while. The other day I took Melia skiing to give her a little "Mom and Me" time. When we went back to my sister-in-laws to pick up Mason, Melia replied, "I can't wait to get Mason, I miss him." Looking at this picture, reminds me that Melia really does love and take care of her baby brother, even if that often includes tackling him, dumping him on his head, stealing his toys, etc. They are the two cutest kids in the world and I'm certain that I'm the luckiest person ever!!!

Melia surprises me every single day. She never appears to be paying attention, I say that because she is usually talking, jumping/falling off her chair, turning circles in her chair, applying make-up, etc. The other day we had a family home evening lesson about Jesus on the cross, why we celebrate Easter, etc., she was able to recall pieces that her primary teacher had told her, all very accurately. How does she listen, pick her nose, and dance in her chair at the same time? Anway, Easter was a fantastic day, we were able to spend most of the day with family and at church.

I haven't decided if this is a fun bonding activity to do together or if this is spoiling and ruining my daughter.  When I was growing up we had enough money to go school shopping once a year and  get 4 pants and 5-6 shirts.  I don't want her to feel privileged, but I love to spend time with her.  I want her to know how to work for her things, to appreciate the small things, to not have expectations that are not going to be met.  Kate Wing (her best friend) is in the back ground, then Melia, and then giant me.  

Notice the giant tears? Melia had a string of green beeds but also wanted a string of pink beeds. Mat told her that she absolutely couldn't wear them. Why can't she wear them? He just doesn't recognize that young little girls can be set off at the drop of a hat. For some reason his idea is how it HAS to be. In Melia's mind, her idea is how it HAS to be. They fight and Melia always, always, always ends up crying. How can you fight and argue with a 3 year old, will you EVER win with a 3 year old? I have to remind him that she IS acting her age, but so is he acting HER age. So, this is the best picture we got of our family on St. Patty's day, thank you Mat.

New Toy

Who really needs toys. Melia and Mason discovered the washer and dryer. They literally spent hours the first day and have gone back multiple times to play in the washer and dryer. Remember when life was so easy and fun? What happened to those days?

Cool kids!!! you can't tell at all that they are loved a little bit, can you? I've learned that as much as you love them you can't keep them fully safe and never let bad things happen. The last 2-3 weeks we have been a sick household. Mason started it out with an ear infection, Melia soon developed double eye infections, then I got a whole collection of illnesses, all at once. Luckily Mat never gets sick and had to take care of all of us. When I've been sick I've watched some TV series, each one of them makes me cry my eyes out, stories of kids kidnapped, beaten, ignored, etc. Life is cruel, hopefully my kids never know that that world exists. I LOVE YOU!!!

We stayed up until midnight on new years eve, which sounded fun at the time. Everybody made it but Mason, who made it until 11:30, but then was awaken as 12:01 by all the fireworks in the neighborhood. Today was rough, there were lots of tears, fighting, arguing, wild play, etc. Melia almost fell asleep for the night at 6:00, I made her stay awake to get her teeth brushed and PJ's on, it is now 7:30 and she seems to have found her second wind. Maybe sleeping in her clothes wouldn't have been that bad. 2009 will hopefully be equally as good as 2008, finally speaking I hope it is a lot better.