More Pictures of AJ's special day!

Pictures Teresa took on AJ's special day. He's so dang cute!

He's OURS!

AJ is now officially ours according to the laws on earth and in Heaven! We had a glorious day! The day before we went to Kiddie Kandids and got AJ's pictures taken in his blessing outfit. My best girlfriend's Mom (Linnea's) made it out of my wedding dress. I was VERY pleased how it turned out. Then that night the Malmstrom family helped us set up tables and chairs and decorate for the next day. The stage was set for the next day.

The morning of the 31st Kurt, Jill, AJ and Opa left for the courthouse about 8:20. We were the first ones there, our lawyer came just a few minutes later. The guards at the door commented on AJ's attire, they were quite impressed with his shiny shoes! We had a great support group for the proceedings, the Judge even commented on how many were there to support us! Grandma and Grandpa Hislop, Teresa and Grace, Aunt Linda and Uncle Don, Barry and Joey, Jim and of course our Social Worker Cristina and our Lawyer Travis. Everything went pretty smooth. AJ jibber jabbered throughout the whole thing. It was pretty dang cute! Afterwards our attorney asked the judge if we could take pictures. So we did! Even though I knew AJ was ours from the moment the birth mother signed the papers, it was a RELIEF to have everything finalized.

We then had enough time to come home for a few minutes and eat and then we went to the temple. We had MANY more friends and family come with us to the temple. It is hard to express the feeling I had there. I feel so blessed.

After the temple we met back at the church and Kurt gave AJ a wonderful blessing. We then had lunch which consisted of soup, bread bowls, veggies and cookies. It was a GREAT day! AJ is now ours in every way!

Family

We spent Christmas Eve with Derek and Opa we had a great meal and watched Christmas Story... I get a kick out of the tongue on the pole scene; every year we have a child try that at school. (Side note... down by Grandma & Grandpa Hislop's someone has one of those leg lamps in their window! Kurt and I got quite a kick out of that!) On Christmas Day we made the rounds to all of the Utah cousins and also visited Oma and Grandma and Grandpa Hislop.

We had a great Christmas!

Rice Cereal...mmm mmm good!

AJ ate from a bowl with a spoon today. His face looked as though we were poisoning him, but then he would open his mouth for more!

Kurt video taped and took pictures while I fed him! Oh, what fun!

A few more Chrstmas Pictures

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to one and all! AJ must have been a VERY GOOD boy because he got A LOT of presents! The thing he liked the most was the wrapping paper! Babies are so much fun! Here are pictures of him with all of his gifts from this morning (gifts from others on different days before Christmas didn't make it in the photo...Mom & Dad were just a bit excited too!) Notice he did get baby food...he ate with a spoon for the first time today! That will be the next blog entry! :)

Reason for the Season

I love to put out our nativity sets, it helps me keep in mind the real reason for the season!

Our Christmas Tree

Kurt and I bought a Christmas tree this year! We haven't had one since we've been married, but this year...we want to give AJ the full Christmas experience! AJ loves colored lights so we bought one at K-Mart that is full of colored lights, it also spins around which is an added bonus! He is quite content (for as long as a 5 month old can be) to sit in his Bumbo chair or his saucer and watch the tree spin around with all of the colored lights!

For many years I have purchased Christmas ornaments when I have gone on trips. It's fun to reminisce as we decorate the tree. This picture has a few... a cow bell from Switzerland, a bunny from a friend before I left on my mission, one from the Atlanta Olympics and the SLC Winter Games, an I Love You (ILY) hand an investigator took off their tree and gave me when I was transferred on my mission, one from WSU when I graduated with my masters degree, a glass Christmas tree from Venice, Italy and one from our honeymoon!

May your Christmas be filled with memories!

A Favorite

Do you have a special treat that you can only get certain times of the year that you look forward to? I do...Brach's Christmas Nougats. I love these things! They are fresh, soft, chewy just plain scrumptious! If you haven't tried them I would encourage you to go buy a bag, they are a true treat...that you can only get at Christmas time. (They make a similar product for Valentines, but its just not the same!)

One of those mornings

I had one of those mornings you just want to crawl back in bed and throw the covers over your head. This is what happened... (Preface Kurt had an automatic car starter installed in our car so I could get it heated up and the windows defrosted before I bring AJ out in the morning. I also had committed to stop at the cookie outlet and pick up gingerbread man cookies)

I woke up a little after 6am, fed AJ, did the dishes and got ready for work. All was going well then... I went to start the car to defrost our windows. Pushed the little red button and it would start and then turn off. I tried this about 3 times until I figured it was not going to work so I better get a move on so I have time to sit in the driveway with AJ while it warms up. I went to put AJ in the car seat and could smell he left a surprise for me, so I changed his poopy diaper then put him in his car seat but when I went to tighten his buckles he spit up all over his PJ's and car seat. The poor kid,I just looked at him and said sorry but I don't have time to change you. I wiped him off the best I could grabbed a new set of PJ's and we were out the door. We sat in the driveway waiting so I could see out the front window and then we were off. Only to go down the street a few blocks and get stuck at a RR crossing.

When the train finally cleared we were off to the cookie outlet. I pulled in and found out they had moved locations. After asking where building 5 was we were off again. I found the new location and we purchased a box of 120 cookies for $5! Great deal by the way! I put the box of cookies on the front seat and we were back on the road a few blocks down the street a guy cut me off I had to slam on the brakes and of course the cookies went flying off the seat. I guess the kids at school will have broken gingerbread men!

We finally arrived at my parents, I brought in AJ, his bottle and the new PJ's wished my mom a Happy Birthday and was back in the car. By this time it is about 8:10, I am suppose to be at work at 8:10. I called my colleague and asked her to open my door and let the kids in because I would be late. As I was approaching the freeway entrance my low fuel light came on! UGH! This being a new car for us I didn't know how much farther I could go so I flipped a U-turn and went to the gas station. As I was filling up it dawned on me this is probably the reason the car starter didn't work.

After I filled up I quickly got back on the road. About 2 blocks away from work it dawned on me I didn't bring the diaper bag in to Mom and Dad's! I checked the back seat and sure enough there it was! Luckily though I had dropped off clean PJ's and I keep diapers and wipes at their house so it meant AJ would be in PJ's all day, but nothing to bad.

I finally arrived at school. It is now 8:35. I quickly grabbed everything I needed to take in and closed the door. As I closed the door everything I had in my hands fell to the ground! I wanted to just go back home!

The day did go better! May you have a limited amount of "one of those mornings!"

This I Believe

My cousin JL wrote on her blog... "This I believe" I think it is SO TRUE, I BELIEVE THIS TOO! So with her permission I am adding this to our blog... This I Believe...evil’s favorite color is gray. There seems to be fewer and fewer things that our society views as black and white or right and wrong issues. It is becoming too easy to get trapped in the shades of gray. We live in a time where good is called evil and evil is called good. (2Ne. 15:20)

How blessed we are to have a prophet that can see through the spectrum of colors...then guides us to the light.

RIP Ryker Rose

Kurt and I both shed tears today. About 2 weeks ago, we took Ryker into the Vet because she has been falling and her leg has been slipping out from under her. He gave us some RX and told us we should see a marked improvement within 3 days. We didn't see an improvement.

She has continued to get worse. In the past few days her leg/hip has been slipping more and more and she had even started to drag her leg sometimes. It was getting very difficult for her to go to the bathroom. Every time her leg would slip to the side you could see she was in pain. After much thought and prayer we decided the humane thing to do would be to let her go.

Last night I laid by her bed and cried and talked to her. I wanted to make sure she knew how much I loved her. She has been a great dog...a great friend. She has been there for me through good times and bad. I will miss my friend.

I scanned in some pictures from my scrapbook and then we took some today before we took her to the Vet.

Rest in Peace Ryker Rose

We love you! You will be missed!

Hislop in the Hall

My Dad was inducted into the "Utah Sports Hall of Fame" on November 18th. It is quite a prestigious honor. The dinner was held at the Energy Solutions Arena. It was fun to see lot's of my Dad's old athletes there to support him as well as family. My sister Elynn even flew in for the event!

This was his bio in the program:
Chick graduated from Ben Lomond High School (1955) and earned degrees from Weber State and Utah State. He coached Ben Lomond High to two state wrestling titles. As Weber State track and cross country coach from 1968-2006, he had 52 NCAA All-Americans. He was the 1991 NCAA "Cross Country Coach of the Year." Chick was the 1996 U.S. Olympic Games Distance Coach, the first Utah native selected as coach for any Olympic sport.

THAT'S MY DAD!

Fabulous Fall

My two favorite seasons are Spring & Fall. I love the cool crisp air, I love to see the trees change colors, I love listening to General Conference, I love Thanksgiving and taking some time to express my gratitude and spend time with family, I love hot cider and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, I love the extra hour of sleep you get (although its not quite the same when you have a baby :)) For these reasons and more... I think fall is fabulous! (Spring edition will be out in April.)

Trick or Treat

Halloween is more fun when you have a child...even if he can't trick or treat yet! We had a great time dressing him up and showing him off! We went to a ward Halloween party...Kurt and I didn't have any costumes, but the day of the party a friend gave me a coupon for 20% off at Shopko so I decided to stop by and look. Costumes where 60% off so I figured if I could get costumes for 80% off it was worth it! So Kurt and I went as mustard and ketchup bottles. At the party someone suggested I be mayo and AJ could be fry sauce! I loved that idea... maybe next year, this year, AJ looked darling as our little Tigger!

Halloween we spent at my parent's home. We teased Mom that she may not have enough candy so she added some Fiber One and granola bars to the bowl...we teased her even more about that! AJ would get dressed and undressed in his costume as his cousins came to visit. We all had a great time!

Picture Perfect

We have had fun taking pictures... I just wanted to post a few!

Have a Spooktacular week!

Pumpkin Patch Party

Halloween time is so much more fun with AJ! Thursday we went with the Meikle crew to a pumpkin patch, AJ had his first hayride and sat on his first pumpkin in a field. Wakely and Drew were right there with him making sure he was seeing the sights and having a good time. We all enjoyed ourselves.

AJ's Crib

AJ is officially 3 months old and he has out grown the bassinet. For about the past two weeks he has been hitting and kicking the sides, but I haven't wanted to move him into his own room. Well, last night we decided to give it a try. We moved him over to his own room. He was just fine, I think his mom had to adjust more than he did! I had the baby monitor up loud enough so I could hear him breathing and would wake up every little while and listen just to make sure he was okay. Kurt thought I was a bit crazy, but I assured him I was just having a mother moment. AJ did just fine and so did I, so I think AJ now has a new place to sleep.

Luke 2:40

I need to thank the amazing Meikle family! Kim & Andy were gracious enough to host the 16th ward Relief Society Social at their home...it was an overnighter! My girls (the University girls) had a great time visiting, eating, learning and socializing. The Meikle girls also had a great time...Wakely loved getting a facial she thought she was just one of the girls.

Sister Page gave a great fireside on Luke 2:40 "And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him." She reminded us of the different areas we need to develop in our lives ...Physical ...Spiritual ...Knowledge/Education ...Social. We need to cultivate these areas just like our Savior did. She did a great job, it really gave me something to ponder on and think about what areas I want to work on.

Give this kid a hand!

AJ has discovered his hands, it's so fun to watch! He looks at them like...Where did these things come from? I love being a mom!

He also has begun to laugh out loud. He and I play a little game where I sing a little song and clap his hands together, he will just giggle! I LOVE IT!