To My Darling Girls

 A Mother's Prayer

writer unknown

(5) Cecilia & Elsie (6mos.)

I hold you in my arms

And together we softly sway

As I rock you to sleep

And this is what I pray:

I pray for your safety

Your health and happiness, too

I ask God to wrap you in his love

In Everything You do

I pray you’ll never know

A single ounce of pain

That you carry no burden

And that you smile through the rain

I pray you have the will

To make all your dreams come true

And that you find success

In all you set out to do

I pray for your future

One that I hope is bright

And if you have the choice

To always do what’s right

I pray you have peace

And love inside your heart

Not just for yourself

But for those less fortunate than you are

I pray you grow into a person

Who values those you love

And that loyalty and honesty

Are not just things you speak of

I pray so many things for you

Because I love you so

Because you are a little piece of me

My heart and my soul

With All My Love

Mommy

A White Christmas

Winter in Alaska can be a difficult time of year.  The sun rises at 8:30 AM and sets at 3:00 PM.  It can be dark and dreary but around christmas time Juneau Alaska turns on the charm ;)  The once pitch black rainy evenings are suddenly illuminated by the arrival of christmas lights and freshly fallen snow extending the time we have to play outdoors.

After snow cuddles are the coziest

        Cheery decorated storefronts line the streets of downtown, and the local Nickelodeon hosts a family matinee showing beloved christmas classics like "Frosty The Snowman" and "How The Grinch Stole Christmas".  I hope my girls will look back on our time here and cherish the memories we made.  After all you really cannot beat a white christmas.

Christmas Morning she woke and asked "Is it Jesus' Birthday today?" I'm so happy she knows what the holiday is truly about.

My Little Jelly Belly

 "When I'm worried and I can't sleep

I count my blessings instead of sheep

And I fall asleep counting my blessings"

-Bing Crosby

White Christmas

Another Snow Day

Nothing like some cozy cuddles to warm you up

I don't know about me, but you're turning 33

Okay so maybe i did kinda quote T. Swift but there is no other way to Celebrate my accomplice.  He just turned 33; we were 23 when we met, and I can honestly say he is the best thing that has ever happened to me.  Not to say that our daughters aren't as well; it's just my life wouldn't be what it is without him, the love we share, and the life that has grown from it.

Here's to many more birthdays to come.

xoxo

Baby It's Cold Outside

We went to the Glacier with some friends. We arrived just in time to watch the snow clouds roll in.  When we returned home this is what we found:

Then I asked Cecilia if she wanted "to build a snowman"…. Yes I really did!

This years Olaf was so much better than the first one we ever built.  Check it out HERE

Up to Eagle Crest for some family sledding

Home Again Home Again; Jiggity Jig

We miss our little farm down the street back home in Vancouver WA.  I feel so fortunate to have been able to visit it again, even if it was only for a little while.  Cecilia and I would stop in at the market to purchase some veggies and spend our afternoon enjoying the sunshine feeding the animals.  Farms are a wonderful place to play and Bi-Zi farms never fails to impress.

 "Life starts all over again

When it gets crisp in the fall."

- F. Scott Fitzgerald 

The Autumn (Alaska)

It would seem as though Autumn came and went.  As we began to settle into our new family dynamic;  we celebrated Cecilia's 5th birthday, watched the leaves change, and enjoyed playing outside in what warmth was left before winter arrived.  

Lena Point

Out the road

The Autumn 

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1833)

Go, sit upon the lofty hill,

And turn your eyes around,

Where waving woods and waters wild

Do hymn an autumn sound.

The summer sun is faint on them 

The summer flowers depart 

Sit still, as all transform’d to stone,

Except your musing heart.