Starits baby #3!

At the very end of November I found out that I was pregnant!  Tommy and I were not expecting it to happen as soon as it did as it usually takes a bit of time, but this time things happened quick!  Which just goes to show that nothing quite goes the way you think it will or the way you plan! But we are super excited for baby number three!  Many people have asked if we are leaning more towards a boy or girl, but we honestly would be happy with either one.  We already have our boy and our girl, so we are excited!   Noah really wants a baby brother, "Because he doesn't have one."  Makenna still has no clue what's going on.  She probably won't know or understand until the new baby is actually here.  It is so strange to think that my baby girl will be a big sister! She is really good with baby dolls though so I think we should be ok! :)  Makenna's birthday is August 22nd and this baby is due August 5th.  So Makenna and the new baby will just be under two years apart.  Should be fun!
I had to go and get blood work done last week and I had to bring the kids with me.  My mom was going to meet me there and watch them while I was getting my blood drawn.  Before we left Noah asked where we were going and I explained I had to go to the doctor to check things for the baby.  So he excitedly hopped in the truck and we headed to the lab place.  Well when I was finished and went out to the lobby and said it was time to go.  Noah looked distraught and asked, "But where's the baby?"  When I explained that this was just to check the baby but not have the baby yet he was very sad.  He is ready!  Every day he tells me he thinks my stomach looks bigger and asks if it is big enough yet?  So he is definitely excited for this baby!  I told him the baby would not be coming until he was four years old, so that has helped him realize he will have to wait awhile for this new baby!  The following are the pictures I sent to my family and posted on facebook to announce our good news!  So we have ended 2012 with a bang!  :)  Which was better then how we really ended it, which was in bed on New Year's Eve....because all of us were sick and passed out by midnight!

Christmas 2012

This Christmas was a lot of fun!  To count down the last 12 days until Christmas I did a special little advent with Noah.  I wrapped twelve books about Christmas and included an activity with each book.  Some activities were things like: play a Christmas game, go look at lights, make cookies, write a letter to Santa, etc.  Noah really looked forward to this and we had fun doing the different activities each day.  This was the first Christmas that Noah was actually excited to get presents and understood that Santa was watching him and would bring him presents! So that was a lot of fun.  It was kind of nice using Santa as leverage too.  "Noah you better be a good boy because Santa is watching you." ;)  Definitely worked magic for the month of December!
This was Makenna's second Christmas but she still did not have much of a clue about what was going on!  She opened presents and played with her toys, but for the most part she just played and was content hanging around all of the excitement   We woke up early to open presents and then headed to Tuscon to spend it with Tom's family   We had spent the Saturday before Christmas at my family's house for a super fun Christmas party.  So we had a great time with family and fun!  One of Noah's favorite presents was Disney Cars bath paints and he loves them.  I had to include the picture of him crying because it cracks me up.  This was after I told him that it was time to get out of the bath.  After he had been in there for almost an hour! ha ha
We had a wonderful Christmas for sure! :)

My Grandpa

So on December 4th my Grandpa Morgan passed away.  This is my mom's dad and the first grandparent (and person) that I have ever truly loved and actually known well, who has died.  He was getting older and his health had been deteriorating for years.  I was able to drive to Colorado with my brother and his wife for a very short visit for the funeral and a viewing which were held on Friday and Saturday December 7 - 8th.  Nothing can prepare you for seeing someone you have known and loved your entire life, lying lifeless in their coffin.  It was hard and many tears were shed.  However I am so thankful for the testimony that I have that this life is not the end.  I will see my grandpa again one day and he will be healthy and strong.  I think this knowledge is the only thing that makes this situation better.
I have many fond memories of visiting and staying with this grandpa every summer and Christmas until I was married...and then even a few Summers and Christmas's after I was married. :)
Also, each time my parents separated when I was younger it was with this grandpa that my mom and my brothers would go and live.  He was an amazing replacement dad during those times and helped us feel loved and happy despite difficult times.
My grandpa had a very strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and would often share this testimony with his children and grandchildren in many different ways.  He would often encourage us to get a strong testimony for ourselves.  Church was very important to him and when it came to church matters...you did not want to disappoint grandpa!  I have many memories of him kneeling with my grandma in prayer.  What amazing examples!
He had no problem reprimanding you if you had been bad.  Or letting you know if something was bad or if he did not find something appropriate or in line with the Gospel.  Also if he asked you do do something, you had better do it right away!  Ha ha I think I learned this more than other grandkids quite simply because I had the pleasure of living with the man. I am sure I pushed his buttons more than I should have. :)
He encouraged my piano playing (even at its screeching beginnings) and if he knew a song I was playing he would often join in singing along.  My grandpa loved to watch Jeopardy and other game shows and I enjoyed watching them with him.  He was hard to wrestle the remote away from...even when he had fallen asleep in his chair watching TV.  ha ha  I remember him taking me out to lunch and for ice cream.  I have memories of being with him as he took care of his pigs and cows.  I also remembering irrigating with him.  He was a good grandpa.
Also as he sat in his chair you could not walk past him very often without him reaching out and grabbing your hand to give it a loving squeeze and tell you that he loved you.
Often when I would come into the same room as him he would see me and he would sing, "There she is, Miss America."  He would often tell me that, "I sure was a pretty girl."  I know this was something he told his daughters and other granddaughters as well.
After I had my own children, my grandpa would even look at them with love in his eyes and he told me, "You know you love your great grandkids and grandkids just as much as you love your own kids."
He was full of compliments for his children and grandchildren.  I never doubted the love that my grandpa had for me.  Not only because he told me often, but he had a way of genuinely having you feel his love by the way he could look at you with pure love in his eyes and a loving smile.
When he passed away my mom texted me, "The greatest man I have ever known just passed from this life."  That definitely sums him up.  I sure love that man and he will be greatly missed until we can be together again!

Grandpa reading to me when I was 3 or 4 years old

Days before he passed away

Talking to his brother and good friend

Program for his Funeral services