Happy moment---

If ANYONE needs a good, genuine, feel great smile please go to this blog http://tylerandkristen.blogspot.com/

and watch the video's of our little neice. She just turned one, and she is bright, and happy and hopefully she'll make you feel good.

A few weeks ago Ben, Archie and I went to the Draper Temple open house with my dad. We got to walk through the temple, go through all of the rooms, read a little bit about what each room is for and finally we sat in a sealing room, where couples are married, and families are sealed for time and all eternity, and two volunteers talked about eternal families. Getting married in the temple, for me, was never a hard choice to make, but it was a difficult step to take, knowing that I wouldn't be able to have my family with me. I am really glad that I was able to go through a temple with my dad, to show him the rooms that Ben and I were in when we were married, and to share with him the special moments that I had getting ready, putting my dress on, walking down the hall to meet Ben before the ceremony started. Even if my dad had been in the temple with us that day, I don't know that I would have been able to express some of those specific moments to him the way I did as we walked through the Draper temple.
I love the temple. Each temple is a little different in design and size, but they are all equal purpose and significance. They all do the same things around the world, no temple is better or worse than another, and all temples perform the same covenant making ceremonies, so whether you are in New York or Hong Kong, going to the temple will be a familiar experience, except of course for the language! I am writing this because I want to share as much as I can with anyone that is curious about what I believe, what our little family believes. I just want to convey a message of clarity, not secrecy about the LDS church, but most of all I want to express with a deep conviction that we believe in Jesus Christ, we believe that he is the Messiah, the Savior, and that there is only one Christ and that he lives.
In the link that goes to mormon.org there are several tabs on the bottom of the page, the first one is simply, Jesus Christ. If you click on that, then click on the video of Jeffery R. Holland, he articulates much better than I, what mormons believe about Jesus Christ. If you want to check it out; I felt like it was important for me to share a little more about what I believe. I love God, I love Jesus Christ, I love my husband and I love my son, I love my family. These are the most important people to me. Boohya. (Which is another way of shouting out an 'amen'...I picked it up from my Brothers:)

in love with hand-me-downs

We just got four boxes full of boys clothes from a neighbor- Archie's wardrobe is loaded. He is sporting Osh Kosh B'gosh striped overalls, a horizontal blue, yellow and red striped shortsleeve shirt over a long sleeved white onsie and running socks. I am thankful for kind people, and their generosity- and that some of the outfits that he got are semi-vintage, I mean from the early 90's, it wasn't really that long ago, but in baby clothes time, it is. He even now has a Cabbage Patch outfit, I love it!

Happy Birthday Natalie!

(This picture has an "N" on the cake, but we decided you couldn't see it very well, so we put chocolate chips over it, my pictures are out of order...)

We hope you love chocolate cake becuase we had a whole lot of it in your honor. Happy belated birthday from the Brady's in Utah! We love you!

books

So I think I read Brown Bear, Brown Bear every other day- oh and The Hungry Caterpillar, they are terrific books, I just need some variety. And at night we read My Bazoople Friends and The Going To Bed Book, just the same, very good books. I think I am craving time to read more grown up books- it took me a month to finish The Five People You Meet in Heaven, I would read it for five or ten minutes at a time. I could read longer, at night when Archie goes to sleep I have some time, but then I am so sleepy that I can't keep my eyes open- and during his naps I feel like I have to do other things... but at least I find the five or ten minutes, I am happy for that.
I also started reading 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn', I love it so far. It is a story about a little girl growing up in Brooklyn in 1905 or so, she comes from a poor family- and it is about their life, about the complexities of her family and the everyday struggles and simplicities about growing up- about being a family, having jobs, going to school.
I love reading about what people do, how they do it, why they do it, and the lessons they learn or refuse to learn. It is about people, the relationships they cultivate with others, with ideas or with places, there is so much significance in knowing how someone relates to the piano they have in their home, or the river that flows by their grandma's barn, what are the stories behind these lives? I think that is part of the reason why I like reading my friend's and family's blogs so much, it isn't just to catch up on what is going on for you all in your lives, although I love that, but I like to know what you think about, what is important to you, how you relate to your everyday, it fascinates me. When Ben (Manker) wrote about the proper way to make a bed, I loved it, I could just imagine the demonstration that happened that day and the conversation, and the impatience that Ben felt at every fold of another blanket, wondering "why can't the pillows go on yet?"
So I guess this is a glimpse into my relationship with reading- I love the feeling of not being able to wait another second to open a book, find my place, read a few sentences back and be engulfed in someone elses ideas, thoughts, dreams, stories, tales, history, everything.
Arch is waking up, so it is time to go- we are going to buy some salt water taffy today, I can't wait!

I almost forgot...

Not that this needed to be posted, but I just wanted to celebrate. Archie successfully ate his first helping of rice cereal this morning. I can't believe he is four months old! Time has done this weird fast/slow simultaneous warp-- we are here four months later and I think "holy cow he is getting so big and life has just flown by", then I think of all the nights we've been up and the dazed-going-through-the-motions afternoons I've had and think "shouldn't he be at least four years old by now?" Either way, no complaints here, at least not on the blog! I love Arch-face and I love Ben, and being a mom is one of the hardest and best things I have ever done.

Archie-Oso-Bear

So Arch has this little bear snow suit, and he is getting heavier by the hour, so I have started to attache 'bear' to the end of every little cutey name I call him. Like my little sleeping bear, my squirmy bear, fussy bear, just everything. He is a bear.
Well we went to the doctor yesterday and the bear bear weighs 17 pounds, he is 24 and 1/2 inches long and his head is 41 cm-- we didn't ask and they didn't offer what percentile this makes him, but that is okay we just know he is a growing, healthy boy.
We got a little excited taking video of him today, I won't post them all, but here is another one.

He loves to play, and is starting to sleep pretty well. We had two nights in a row where he slept for more than 8 hours straight! It is a glimpse of wonderfully sleep filled nights to come, hopefully. As we were putting on Archie's Omani shirt this morning we realized how much we missed Uncle Zach, and all of Archie's Aunts and Uncles and cousins- we wish we could see your faces everyday. I hope everyone is well, and that everyone is happy! We love you all and you are in our prayers. Happy Saturday.

Dear Uncle Zach,

I just wanted to say hello and thank you very much for my red t-shirt from Oman. I miss you. Love,

Archie

Mister visited us!

So we joke with my Dad that we are going to get his grandkids to call him 'Mister' instead of Grandpa--- I don't think Archie gets it....

It was so wonderful to have my dad here for a couple of days. We talked and played games, went out to Cafe Rio AND La Carreta, both supremely delicious, we went on a couple of walks, and went to the Draper Temple open house, oh and we watched the Bachelor final episode while eating ice cream, what is better than that? (by the way I couldn't believe that Jason chose Melissa, but he thought about it and changed his mind, choosing our girl Molly from Grand Rapids- now they are living happily ever after, isn't that how it works?). It felt rejuvinating to have him here, thanks dad so much for coming. Archie loved it too, they had a lot of fun together. I think I also impressed my dad, which was what I was going for, with the dutch oven bread that I made- I will send you the recipe, or just post it.