A couple of sweet gifts

I wanted to quickly post about a package I received in the mail yesterday. It really touched me deeply. My sweet niece Susie sent me one of the kindest most amazing letter. It will definitely be something I will always cherish. I'm not going to share what she wrote but I have to say it was some of the sweetest and most kind things anyone could say. Her letter will definitely be kept in a safe place and read many more times. She also sent me a few things with the letter. Some pictures of what she had done along with an ornament she had made for Wyatt's tree.

She told me about how she had given a talk about me and Wyatt for her Young women's and excellence night. She talked about faith and told about Wyatt and me. I don't even know how to express how much that meant to me that she would do this. She enclosed in her letter some of the sweet things she had said in her talk. Something I will always cherish. So, Susie. thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will be forever grateful to you for the kindness you have shown.

For me one of the greatest things someone can do is to remember my son. To hear about how what we have been through has helped someone else in some way is such a tender mercy for me. It always does my heart good when I hear how our story has affected someone for good. As a mother I also feel like I need to keep his memory alive so when someone else does that for me it's one of the greatest gifts I can be given.

After the Young women's and excellence night she wrote on a balloon and sent it up into the "starry night sky" in memory of Wyatt. What a sweet tender mercy for me. Here are a couple of the pictures she sent me. She also made an ornament for Wyatt's tree. On the package that had Wyatt's ornament on it she had attached a cute little butterfly that I put on his tree as well. They will be a sweet reminder of the kindness shown to me by a 14 year old young lady. An amazingly mature and sensitive young lady. Thanks again Susie. I think YOUR amazing and I'm so grateful that I get to be your Aunt. I continue to marvel at this new generation that is coming up. They seem to be more sensitive and understanding than most. I have other nieces and nephews and young women in my ward that have shown such kindnesses and sensitivity towards me. There is something extra special about this rising generation. I truly believe they have been saved for these last days because of the incredible valiant spirits that they are. I'm so blessed to have them in my life. What a tender mercy they have been to me. I have much to be grateful for. Thanks again Susie...I will always remember what you have done for me. I LOVE the ornament you made for his tree. It's just perfect!

Another tender mercy that I received this last week was the 12 days of Christmas from my kindred spirit. She sent me cards this week with the kindest most amazing words in them. They will also be something I will cherish all my life. I'm so grateful for my kindred spirit and all she has done for me. I don't know what I would have done without having someone that truly understood me, my heart and the ache that I feel. Thank you Jen!!

Merry Christmas!

(Not the best quality...a picture of a picture isn't the greatest)

Merry Christmas to everyone from us. Here is our Christmas card this year. We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. We as a family continue to be beyond grateful to our Savior Jesus Christ. We are so grateful for the HOPE he gives us that we will be with our Wyatt someday and that we will get to hold and love him again. He truly is the reason for the season!

I have sooooo much to blog about but haven't had a chance because of a few factors. We have been busy enjoying the season and doing our bags. The kids have been extra busy with concerts, performances etc. Also, Tyler is working on a Christmas present for me of putting all our home videos on DVD including all the home video we have of Wyatt. I can't even express how grateful I am to him for doing this for me. We have spent a lot of time the past few days watching videos and laughing and crying. I can't watch any video of Wyatt without crying. We continue to miss him. I'm grateful for the memories I did capture on film and they will be cherished all our lives. So, needless to say the computer has been occupied with burning all these videos. Hopefully after Christmas I can catch up with my bogging. Until then I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

This is something I added to our Christmas decor and gave to a few friends this year.

You can download a copy here. All you do is print it up and put it in a frame. Love it! Merry Christmas!

Wyatt's tree..butterflies

Yesterday these two beautiful butterflies come in the mail from D's Mom and Dad. Love them. So grateful for each and every ornament for Wyatt's tree. These fit in so well with all the other amazing butterflies on Wyatt's tree. They are perfect. Thanks!!
I love how glittery and shiny they are.
Love his tree and what it means to each of us. Thank you again everyone!

Wyatt's tree

As I've said before Wyatt's tree is truly a tree of love and that love has come from so many of you. Every year now when we put up his tree we think of each person that has given us an ornament. It's always a very emotional thing for me. My heart is ALWAYS full of deep gratitude for so many wonderful people in our life. Some I have never even met in person but their kindness and thoughtfulness will always have a place in my heart.

This year was extra emotional for me. The tears start to flow as soon as his little hat was put on top of the tree. Oh, how we miss him. I had Em and Hay help me with each and every ornament. I explained each ornament to them and where they came from. I cried through the whole thing.

I asked Hay if she knew why I had bought all the little stars for the tree and she didn't know. I told her about our shooting star moments especially this one that gave me the idea to do this tree in memory of Wyatt. We talked about how merciful Heavenly Father is to us if we are willing to look for those tender mercies in our lives. We talked about all our butterfly moments and how Wyatt loves us and is aware of our family. It was a very special morning with me and my girls. Next year I'm going to make sure D and Ty are there to help so they can enjoy the spirit of this tree a little bit more. It will definitely be a new family tradition we do together. Thank you to everyone that has given us ornaments for his tree. They will truly be cherished for the rest of our lives.

Here is the newest addition to his tree from a sweet neighbor. Love it...everything about it. Love that it's blue and that you can see a rainbow in it. Perfect! Thanks to everyone!

25 bags

I love surprising my kids. The other night after our nightly ritual of reading a Christmas book and prayer I said "go get in the car" instead of the usual "go get in bed." The look on their faces was priceless. They said "are you serious mom?" Yes, I am. So, we went and enjoyed the Christmas lights around our neighborhood. Love the house that has put their lights to music. It's like a firework show. LOVE IT!!

I started something new this year and I'm recording it here so I remember it for next year. I found this idea on the internet and thought I would give it a try. It's the count down to Christmas bags. You are suppose to open one bag a day until Christmas but since our life can be extra crazy on certain days, I decided that we will do the bags when we can and if it means we do 3 on a day that is fine. Most of them are things we already do at Christmas time like watch a movie together or make cookies but this has but a fun twist on it and I think the kids have enjoyed it. I decided to wait to put the bag together right before I give it to the kids so that it fits with the moment and time frame we have. I printed up all the ideas and bought the items for certain activities and just quickly slip them into the bag. Some of the things we have already done are making these cookies together.
They were delish!! We ended up taking some to a few friends.
Decorating a gingerbread house that our home teacher gave to Hayley for her birthday.
That was lots of fun. We also went and decorated Wyatt's grave with Christmas decorations. That is always a hard reality check. Wish so badly we were not doing that and that he was here with us enjoying all the things we do at this time of year. Wish we were thinking of what to get our 3 year old. Again reality is hard sometimes. Forgot my camera to take a picture but his grave is very decorated!

We have watched one of our favorite movies "The Muppet Christmas story." Such a fun movie! Some days it's just a small little treat or dinner by candle light with our Christmas drink. Just little things to create some memorable moments as a family. For me it has to be simple or it won't get done. The tags were on the internet and I just had to print them up and cut them out. Then I brainstormed for a minute and printed up the different activities. At the end of the season we will see if this is something the kids want to continue for next year or not. I think so far it's been a hit. They have asked each day when they can open a bag. Thought I would share this idea in case someone else out there wants to try it out. Click here for the 25 cards to print up. :) I also decided if we didn't get to all 25 things then that's ok. At least we have tried and have done some fun things together.