A difficult day and a wonderful loving family.

As life goes by day after day, it is easy to fail to notice the little sweet things that are going on around us. Today gave me the reminder about how precious life really is, and how vulnerable we all are. This morning at 7am Chrysi brought Clare to the hospital for her appointment to have an MRI to check up on her clogged sinuses. 10 hours later we received a phone call from the doctor diagnosing Clare with Cystic Fibrosis. We are not unfamiliar with the disease, since Clare's cousin who is 3 weeks older than her also suffers from the disease. It is wonderful to know that we have such wonderful support from family and friends. We love our little Clare Bear.

Whirlwind trip to China!

Well the last ten days have been both amazing and difficult. I had the opportunity to travel to China for a business trip, but I wasn't able to bring my two favorite girls with me. Traveling for 20+ hours on an airplane can get very annoying very quick. Unfortunately there was little time to do sight seeing, but I did enjoy the few opportunities that I was given to enjoy the experiences of a foreign land. Instead of explaining every detail of the trip, I have attached the following slide show of my adventures. I spent 2 nights in Shanghai and 5 nights in Kunming, which is in the south central part of China above Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. It has made me realize how much we take for granted everything that we have. People work so hard over there just to get by. What an amazing experience.

Adventures in Moma Land

Has anybody else ever hid snacks so that their cute child would stop asking for them every time they see them? Clare doesn't talk yet. If she wants something, she reaches for it opening and closing her little fist and begins to hyperventilate. It's actually both cute and not cute at the same time. I got her some freeze dried yogurt snacks and was giving them to her in the computer room yesterday. I hid the bag when I felt like she'd had enough. Now I can't find the bag. I'm hoping I can remember in a couple hours or days rather than a few months or longer.

I always like to put a picture with my blog so, here she is! Clare began doing this on her own this morning. Putting the hat on and off and pulling it over her face.

January? Your kidding!

Alright, so yes I did know it's January but it didn't look like it with all the rain we were getting. It sure is nice to have some new fresh snow!
What a year it's been already. I'm (Chrysi) older, Rick's brother is leaving for the MTC in no time at all, Clare is growing out of her old nap schedule, and Rick may get an opportunity to travel for work. I'm acctually tired because I shoveled about 6 inches of snow and slush out of our 35 foot drivway yesterday.
Anyway, January has been good to us! Here's some pictures.




It's important to remember to let her feed herself or she won't be very happy and she just won't eat. Which means it's even more important to remember to get out the bib.




















She wanted to play with the keys when I was unlocking the door so I showed her what they are for. Now she wants to play with them and stick them in all the little cracks she can find. Smart blue eyed girl!







Of course keys aren't the only item to be figured out. So, if it can be pushed hoisted or moved, it is.

It's DECEMBER!?!

It's been December for 11 days now but it has only felt like it since the latest snow fall. I also just realized that there's a little less than 14 days until Christmas. Wow!
Here's a little recap on November to cover all those posts we would have put up if we had used our time that way.

Thanksgiving weekend. We had so much fun spending the weekend with family down near Capitol Reef. We also got to chop our own Christmas tree.

Walking like a champ! This girl is off to a running start in her new coat.

Utah Football. We all loved the Utah vs BYU game. Especially the final score!


1 year old. Can you believe it's been a year. I took this picture of her on her birthday. She has grown up so much ans she's still the most beautiful baby to me.

The Giant Stuffed Hippo she got for Christmas last year is one of the most fun toys you can tackle.

Clare's First Steps