A Blessed New Year

We kicked off 2012 with some of the best things in life: family, friends, and food!

New Year's Eve was spent catching up with old friends and laughing at the comparison between our get togethers then and now.

Busy toddlers and screaming babies make our nights a little less relaxing then they used to be, but we still love any opportunity to talk sports, mommyhood, and the future with these fine people.

We didn't even get close to making it until midnight at the party, so instead Ryan and I shared a New Year's kiss in the car as we drove back to Logan with our two sleeping beauties in the back seat.

 

 

We spent the first day of 2012 celebrating the birth of our sweet Eliza as we listened to the amazing blessing she was given by her daddy.

Ryan, Jeff, Greg, Taylor, John, Grandpa Marv, Sam, and Paul stood together and blessed Eliza with health, happiness, and a desire for righteous things as she grows up in this unpredictable world.

It was a bittersweet moment as I felt the absence of two very important men in my life, but also felt the comfort and reassurance that they are both happy and busy doing the work in front of them.

 

My  little snowball looked so pure and perfect in her white and slept peacefully as the words of the blessing were spoken.

I had a vision of her wearing a furry sweater since she was being blessed in the winter and could not find something that I liked anywhere.  Finally, a week before her blessing, I found the perfect little sweater at a boutique in Logan.  The fur boots, eyelet dress, and matching blanket were the perfect touches for her special day.

After the blessing we had a big lunch at the "Golden Toaster" church in Logan.

It is the same church that housed the student ward where Ryan and I met, and I love that we were able to use it to celebrate one of the special babies that came as a result of the two of us falling in love so many years ago. 

I am so grateful to my amazing mother-in-law and everyone who helped make the luncheon a success.  We are blessed to have so many selfless people in our lives.  My heart was so full of love the entire day and I couldn't stop expressing to Ryan how blessed we are to have such special friends and family.

We definitely started what looks to be a great year off right.

If I could sum up 2012 in one word it would be change.

But then I would want to throw in another and it would be busy!

We have multiple weddings, multiple graduations, multiple moves, and lots of fun stuff  like cruises and welcoming home missionaries mixed in to look forward to.

It is hard to believe we only have 5 short months left here in Columbus before we are off on our next adventure.  I feel anxious about being back from our break, because I know that while it is all very exciting it will be so hard to leave.  Ryan has just begun the interview process and we feel blessed at the opportunities we are seeing for the future.  I will be excited when things are finalized and we have a more concrete idea where we might be and what we might be doing come June, but I am going to try my best to be happy and enjoy the moments until we get there.

Our family continues to grow and change each year, and the coming year is going to bring even more people to love.

My mom will be getting married this spring and as a result my girls will gain another grandpa and lots of new cousins; and my siblings and I will gain three new sisters (poor Jace!).

In all honesty the situation is nearly as ideal as it could be, but it is still hard.  I pray that time will help make this new life a little easier and that the peace I have felt about the situation will continue.

Ryan's sister is also getting married this spring to a great guy who we are happy to have join the family.  That means we will be home in March for my mom's wedding, head out on our cruise the next weekend, and make our way back to Utah a little over two weeks later for Ashlie and John's big day.  Between all that we will be busy finishing requirements for graduation, finding a job, planning a move, and taking it all one day at a time.  Remember how I said 2012 was going to be busy?

Besides trying to stay sane and love each other like crazy we will do our best to meet some of the more common New Year resolutions.

We, along with the rest of the world, will be doing our best to be healthier.  As if we didn't need the extra motivation with all the weddings and swimsuit wearing vacations, Ryan joined a Hansen Family Biggest Loser Competition.  The fact that the first week of competition coincided with 16 hours of driving to Montana, birthday dinners at Maddox, and airport food is not working in his favor, but you better believe we will be whipping ourselves into shape in no time.

Good thing we have Stella's example to follow.  She decided she needed to help herself to a little fruit from Grandma's fruit tray one morning.  We walked into the kitchen to find a half eaten apple and orange in her possession.  I think the giant bite of orange peel put her off a little, because there was a lot less apple left when we found her.

Our spiritual health will also be top priority this year.

My immediate family has made a goal to read the Book of Mormon before Jace returns from Bolivia in September, and we hope to attend the temple more frequently then we have in the past.

There are so many areas of the Gospel in which I need to improve, but I am grateful that although I say I am going to many times I still always have the chance to try again to be better.

Change can be hard and as I have mentioned we have a lot of change going on around these parts starting very soon.  I know that I am going to need all the help I can get as we tackle the many adventures ahead of us.  Hopefully I can do the small things that will allow that peace and guidance to be present in my life this year and for all the years to come.