Love is in the Air...

4 years ago, I realized how much I needed Jacob in my life, he's just too wonderful! It's been nice reminiscing those days. Anyway it reminded me that I still haven't posted about Alex and Sarah's wedding. They were married in Mesa, AZ at the end of December. We love Sarah and are thrilled she joined the family (we really are lucky we love all our in-laws.) It was also the first sealing I've been to since ours, so I was extra excited! I was also very excited to finally be able to go into the Mesa temple, where I went plenty of times growing up to see cousins married.

Did I mention my sister watched the boys, so we were on a long amazing date?
As always, it was fun to just be with family.

I love these next two pictures, they were like this pretty much for all the pictures. So much fun!

We also got to see my good friend Holly while in Mesa.

And of course stop off at a few D.I.'s along the way. Jacob found these treasures at the Mesa D.I. (my red jacket, and his yellow vest). I'm sorry but seeing him in this vest just makes me giggle.
We went home through Vegas and stopped at some more D.I. (we went to 6 total), and here is our loot! (plus our jacket and vest we wore to the reception) I believe we spent around $25.

Thanks Alex and Sarah for getting married, so we could have a wonderful vacation.
We love you!

We Tried

We tried to get a cute picture of the boys in their Christmas pajamas, but all we got were these.







At least they made us laugh.

Christmas in Idaho

We had a wonderful Christmas, besides the quick trip to the ER for my sister (she's fine now).
It was Christopher's first Christmas; he loved it!

Steven wanted to help anyone open their presents and kept the ball rolling by asking whose turn it was to open those presents.

Steven's first Christmas my brother, Matt, crocheted him a cute hat that he has loved since then. Matt liked the way it looked and made one for himself. Meanwhile Christopher needs to wear it, and Steven insists it's his, so Matt crocheted a bigger one for Steven. Here's the handsome trio.

It seems each year we get more excited about the giving and less about the getting. This year was no less, and with these faces, we know we did good.This Christmas was especially touching to me, I had a lot of thoughts of my Savior and his role in our lives this past year. I cannot put into words how grateful I am of his life and love in our lives. I thought a lot of Mary and the woman she must have been to be the mother of the Son of God. How much of an honor it is to be the mother of my boys. This year has been quite a difficult one, a lot of faith stretching experiences that have brought our family closer together and closer to our Savior. It's because of Him that we're where we are today, and my what a place it is. This Christmas was a lot more than presents, it was about the birth of a baby that would eventually redeem the world of their sins. I hope it's that way for many years to come.

Sledding

On Christmas Eve in Idaho we went sledding, it was Steven's first time and he LOVED it!He went down with Daddy.

cousins,

and mommy.

But when all was said and done he just wanted to go by himself, this kid was fearless!

Santa...maybe

We visited Santa at our ward party last week and the verdict...
Christopher didn't mind him one bit!

Steven did. Even after I tried to get him excited about seeing our jolly friend, this was as close as he came.

He did tell us the reason: "That boy (pointing at our friend's son) sat on his lap and cried." There's no fooling this kid.

My baby's growing up!

He only does it occasionally, but it's a start!

And life as we know it will never be the same...

Image

I've been thinking about my image for a while; how I see myself and how others see me. Like most women I was/am concerned with how I look. Mostly am I skinny enough? Then I stopped and thought about it. Why do I want to be skinny? My answer was mostly so those who saw me would think, "She has two kids? She looks great." Also, I wanted those who knew Jacob well to think, "Wow, he really picked a winner!" I thought some more about why skinny was so desirable. What makes women go to great lengths to be skinny?

The answer I think is at the core: To appeal to men's desires. Yes, women want to look good for their friend's comments and such, but society is that way because someone decided that you were only desirable if you are skinny. You know what I have to say about that? Who cares; I don't want to be an object. I have a husband who loves me for ME and not because of my weight. Which lead to me think about some friends that I have who are amazing. Why are they amazing? It's not how they look, it's how they act. It's who they are. Their funny, smart, and make people feel good. That's how I want to be remembered. I told Jacob my theory and he agreed, "You don't think of (our friend) and think, she'd be so much nicer if she were skinnier. No, you think she's a fun person to be around."

I figure if I stop worrying about how others think of me and stop putting myself down because I'm heavier than all the women in the room, I can be myself. And when I'm myself I'll be happier and I'll be able to truly get to know and love more people. I feel this is how my Heavenly Father would have me think of myself. Instead of, "Hi I'm Cassanda, I'm a size 15." I'm going to try and think, "Hi, I'm Cassanda, I'm a wife, mother, craft and cook wannabe. I like to read children books and watch chick flicks. I love laughter to fill my home, and can usually relate to everyone on some level."

I can't tell you how much peace this has brought into my life and home. When I don't spend so much energy worrying about my image, I can keep the house cleaner, be a better mom, a more thoughtful wife. And that's what I really want to my image to be.