Merry Christmas!

I really love this time of year! I love all the excitement of Christmas--the decorations, the treats, Christmas songs, Santa, and presents. My favorite thing about Christmas though is that it gives me a chance, when I really try, to think about my relationship with my Savior. Yesterday in church, our stake president, who is a member of our ward, talked about one of my favorite verses of song--the third verse of "O Little Town of Bethlehem."

The song says:

How silently, how silently, the wonderous gift is given
While God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his Heaven.
No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.

I love this verse because it causes me to think about how meek my soul is and whether or not I'm ready to receive Christ. It also reminds me, in the clamour and hustle and bustle of this holiday season, to slow down a bit because this gift comes silently. Yesterday, when President Smith was talking about this very thing, he talked about how all the inns in Bethlehem were full. I thought about how often my mind and life are full of so many things that I often do not let the Christ child into my life either. It is my prayer that in this week that I can be meek and open my heart and mind to receive this precious gift--the life and sacrifice of my Savior Jesus Christ. I don't think I have any idea of all that he's done for me. I do know that his life has eternal consequences on mine and hope that I can not only open my heart to receive him but teach my children to do the same.

I hope that you'll have a very Merry Christmas and will feel of the peace that comes when we truly let Christ into our lives.

To view our Christmas greeting, click here:

Our 2008 Monday Family Christmas Greeting

Introducing TICKLE MONDAY!!!

I have been meaning to write on my blog for quite sometime now, but unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, I've had a rough couple of months. As of today, I'm 12 weeks and 2 days pregnant and can say at this point that this is by far the sickest I've been. With all three boys, I felt pretty horrible from 8 weeks along to about 16 weeks. With this pregnancy, I've been sick, really sick, since I was only 5 weeks. I don't remember being this sick with the boys, although my memory may be selective. Surprisingly though, at this point, I am feeling functional on most days (I only have one or two dibilitated days a week at this point), so maybe I'll be feeling back to normal soon--hopefully. By the way, a vitamin B6 and a Pepcid AC two times a day along with a Unisom at night is a great help for morning sickness!

The boys are thrilled about the news. They are sure that it will be a sister for them because as Thobe often says, "I have zero sisters." They are so sure that it will be a girl that they've even gone as far to name the little darling. Both Alden and Thobe call her (assuming it is a her) Tickle, Tickle Monday. I'm sure as most of you can guess, that if I could choose, I would probably ask Heavenly Father to send me a girl. I turned 34 years old a couple days ago and judging from this pregnancy, I'm not so sure how many pregnancies I have left, so I would really love to have a girl; however, you can safely bet if this baby is in fact a girl that her given name will not be Tickle (I do worry that it might be a nickname though--both Michael and I refer to the baby as Tickle now thanks to the boys). I also want to mention that if there is a little boy growing inside of me that we will gladly take him. We are learning boys and are comfortable with them--girls seem pretty foreign to us at this point.

Anyway, I just wanted to share our family's good news. I'm hoping that I will also make a post soon about my parents' recent visit and our Thanksgiving. The boys have also been incredibly cute. I need to keep up on my blog better!!! Oh well, now that I'm functional, for the most part, maybe I can get to important things such as this.

Announcing Joseph Allen Humphries

On November 25, 2008, my newest nephew was born. My little brother, John, and his amazing wife, Lindsay, had their first baby. Poor Lindsay was in labor for over 12 hours (I'm sure she can give you the exact number of hours and minutes) and did it all naturally without any drugs. I think she's awesome! The coolest thing is that she and my brother now have a beautiful baby boy that I can't wait to hug and hold and see. My brother vowed he would never change a diaper, but if your read Lindsay's blog, he's already changed many. I talked to John (my brother) the day his new little guy was born. It was such an emotional experience. I am so happy for him and Lindsay and love their entire little family so much. Not being able to be part of these special moments is most definitely the worst part about living so far away.