Christmas anyone?

Blessing #4- I don't know about you, but anytime I think of the holidays it just gets me so excited! The feeling I get when I think of traditions, food, games, family, friends, and my savior is one that almost nothing can spoil. And believe me, the devil has tried to spoil my holiday spirit! But there really is so much to be grateful for!

I am so grateful for this time of year that everyone, even those you least expect it from, is giving and thoughtful. If only the holidays were year round, I think we would see so much change in this world. If everyone acted and thought as selflessly as they do around Christmas time and Thanksgiving, it would be so much happier! But alas, it doesn't happen that way, so I must enjoy this time while it lasts!

I get to see ALL my family this year for Christmas! I haven't been with my entire family in 3 years. We get to do all the old traditions, and make new ones.

We get to bake!!! O how I've missed baking with my sisters and mom!

We get to have our "mall" night together, where we play our traditional game, eat, and shop.

We get to hear the Christmas Story about Christ being born.

We get to see the joy on others faces when we share our gifts with them. Big, small, and even homemade ones!

We get to sing joyful christmas songs together! We may not sound pretty, but this is one of my favorites!

The holidays bring so much joy into my life. Not only because it is a fun joyful time to spend with family and friends or because I get to bake, and eat yummy food, and sing beautiful songs, and play lots of games. But because it humbles me to think of my savior Jesus Christ coming to this earth as a little baby. So willing to BE our savior and follow our Heavenly Fathers plan. Everything I do it meaningful all because of this action, of the sacrifice he made for us. I am so grateful to be reminded of that every year. I should remember it EVERY SECOND of every day, but being the selfish human that I am, I don't. But I trully am grateful for this.

We love you ALL!

Gentle Giants

Blessing #3 - Our beautiful Great Danes Alabama and Crimson Tide

Alabama... our big boy Crimson, our baby girl (when she was small)



Our babies now... so full of mischief

I have been very blessed with the awesome dogs which we have. They have their little annoyances about them but over all I couldn't have asked for a better pair for our family. I often compare Crimson's personality to a teenage cheerleader. She is SO peppy and happy about EVERYTHING! She is in your face at the slightest hint of attention and she is just joyful and excited about anything and everything. She can be a bit of a ditz, like running into the wall for no reason, or sliding into the door. But she is so amazing with our boys. She lets Braxton crawl all over her and pull her cheeks and ears without moving or getting up. It amazes me how much patience they have! Braxton hasn't done anything yet that has made them upset enough to move from their chair.

Alabama has such a different personality, but one that we quite enjoy! We like to compare him to a surfer dude! He is so chill and relaxed, and nothing worries him! If he's getting attention he doesn't even get too excited like Crimson, he just lets you pet him. He does tend to do the "Dane Lean" when he's getting pet (they lean against your body pretty much making you almost fall over). If we get upset at him and yell or swat his butt, he just waves it off and slowly does what we want him to. In his own slow time. Better than not listening at all! He is also our watch dog, he has saved me from a few scary door salesmen that didn't feel quite right opening the door, but he was right there to scare them away. As you can imagine just the sight of him scares people off, so he doesn't even have to growl or bark. He too is just as amazing with our boys. Doesn't move a muscle when Braxton is climbing on him. He does like to lick the leftovers off of Nixons fingers and face.. but who wouldn't?

I've been especially more grateful and appreciative of these gentle beasts lately because of our circumstances. Alabama has a skin problem and we are going back and forth with having to give him up. His treatments are too expensive and he needs to be neutered as well (the extra hormones make his condition worse I guess, us girls should know about that!). He is so much a part of our family that it is breaking my heart! But we want whats best for him and if he doesn't get treated it could cause permanent damage or infection.

I know God wants us to be happy and I know he has a plan for each of us that doesn't always go with what we want, but if this is a test of our faith I hope I'm doing the right thing because if I give him up it will be the hardest thing I have EVER had to do in my life, hands down.

I'm not trying to be pessimistic. I really have been so blessed having these creatures from God in our home. I love them, and am grateful for their spirits.

Just to get an idea of their size :)

My Angel

Blessing #2- Nixon.

I don't even have words for to describe how I feel about my youngest son Nixon. He is 9 months now, and just an amazing spirit. When I was pregnant with him I was so worried that I couldn't love any child more or the same as I love my first born Braxton. But God knew just what I needed. This sweet intuitive boy who is independant enough to play by himself nearly all day long, but when I need it he is a love bug and snuggler. He loves EVERYONE. I thought he might grow out of that as he got older but I think his love for everyone just grew as he did. I swear he can read my emotions like he was my twin or something. If I need extra sleep one morning he will play in his playpen for nearly an hour without making much noise. If I have lots to do that day he will take extra long naps and play around me when he's awake. If I need someone to lift me up, he snuggles with me on the couch ALL day long (thats what we did yesterday) when he wasn't even tired or anything. He just KNOWS when I need something. He is amazing and I couldn't love another child more. The rest of our family may favor Braxton because he is loud and needy and can walk and talk and play. But Nixon is my jewel, he sits in the background quietly waiting his turn for attention, and I try to give him as much as I can because to me, he deserves every bit of it! Don't get me wrong, I love Braxton just as much, in different ways of course. But Nixon is my special blessing from our Heavenly Father.

Mr. Smiley... his personality EXACTLY

Thank you for the amazing child! He has saved me from my own insanity many times!

Starting New

It's time for me to start new, refresh myself, and refocus.

I have been trying really hard to focus on the things we are blessed with and the things we have. But it seems like no matter how hard I try those selfish thoughts like 'How are we going to get out of this?' and 'Why is this happening to us' keep coming back again and again into my head. It seems like the theme in church lately has been Gratitude. And not just because of Thanksgiving, it started a few months back. I know everyone is struggling, we all are in our own ways. I feel so selfish feeling this way because I know we aren't alone in this.

Today was one of those days. I haven't been this unproductive in a long time. When I have a lot of stress on my mind I tend to shut down and in order to not think about whatever is happening I sleep. Yes I know it's lazy and cowardly but I sleep as much as I can to keep the stress from my mind.

So this is me trying to reboot myself and get going again. I'm going to start again by COUNTING MY BLESSINGS. I KNOW I have many to be thankful for but I am going to do this every day that I can remember, so I don't allow myself to FORGET and have days like today.

Blessing 1. I am SO grateful for the best husband in the world. He loves me. He is a worthy priesthood holder. He is a great dad. He provides for us the best he can. He is patient with me. He ALWAYS apologizes even if he didn't do something wrong. We are perfect for eachother in everyway. He is my eternal companion.

New Adventure

So I'm starting a new adventure with something called ASEA. I've only been taking it a few days but O MAN what a difference!! PLEASE follow my blog on this new adventure and learn about it too!

http://www.myaseajd.blogspot.com/

Life is still going great! We still have our ups and downs but that's just how life is sometimes I guess... well now that I think about it, that's just how life is all the time!

Love to you all!!

God Works In Mysterious Ways

So as of 1 1/2 weeks ago Josh got his job back!! By some miracle his boss convinced the big bosses to hire him back. There are lots of little details but all that matters now is he is again a working man! And thank goodness! We had kept our faith going pretty strong until that last week we both nearly broke to pieces (mostly me) from the stress of not paying any bills for a month. We didn't know what would happen and were still trying to stay positive and trust the Lord. And he came through just as we knew he would. I don't really know what the Lord was trying to teach us those 4 weeks of unemployment but I do know that we have grown stronger as a family and as individuals. We saw first hand the power of charity and selflessness as so many helped us in so many ways. President Monson's talk this last weekend on Gratitude hit the mark for us. For our hearts have been filled to the brim with gratitude. I am so grateful to know that our Heavenly Father loves us and would never let us handle more than he knows we can. I love you all and thank you for your prayers and love!


Braxton is in this phase of closing his eyes every time I want to take his pictures. Frustrating! But still cute :)

I just LOVE this picture of my 3 handsome boys!

Braxton Loves his hats!

He was trying to ride his Handy Manny motorcycle. It was quite commical!!

He loves spaghetti!

The Month of Bad News

So I don't really know how to start this. I guess I will start with the day that I backed our truck into my friends brand new car. Yes that was one fun day. I have never been in an accident before and for some reason it just really got to me that day. We were on our way out to the grocery store, and my friend had parked right behind the truck on the other side of the street. I was busy talking and making sure I didnt hit my brothers car next to the truck that I didnt even remember her car was behind ours. (The truck is so tall I couldn't see it in the rearview mirror) So I drilled a nice big dent into the back side of her car. She had just got it the week before, brand new. I was a wreck. I was crying and just completely beside myself. I was so embarrassed and upset with myself. We had no extra money and I was afraid it would make our insurance go up. Luckily I have accident forgivness so it made no difference on our insurance. When Josh got home from work he took me out to dinner to get my mind off of it. Thankfully it worked and by the time we went to bed my mind was car crash free.

That next morning I woke up and instatly remembered what had happened the day before and starting stressing again.... at least until I saw that I had 4 missed calls from Josh. I called him back and got his answer right away. He had just been laid off of work. Needless to say the car crash was the LAST thing on my mind anymore. I couldn't believe it. We had been worried off and on the last year about him losing his job due to the slow economy. But this was the one time we were pretty confident that his job wasn't in danger. Boy were we wrong! I didn't really know what to think. Thankfully I have a next door neighbor that was there to keep me sane and rational. I couldn't understand why it happened now. I know that the Lord has his own reasons and I'm not questioning his judgement. But we were finally back to going to the temple every month after 2 pregnancies and getting better and better at the daily things like reading our scriptures and saying family and personal prayers. And we were doing our VT and Home Teaching for the first time ever! I thought that we would be blessed more. But after talking to my Dad I realised that it wasn't a matter of if Josh was going to get laid off his job or not, it was a matter of when he got laid off. And I knew that if he would've been laid off any earlier we would not have been spiritually prepared for it. I don't think we would have fallen from the church or anything drastic like that. But I think the Lord waited until we were strong enough to get through it with a positive attitude and could make decisions with the Lord instead of irrational and desparate actions. We have been so blessed ever since his unemployment. And even though it is stressful to think about and to worry where the money for our bills will be coming from... if it comes... we also have a calm reassuring feeling that everything will work out and is happening to test our trust and faith in the Lord.

Josh has enjoyed every minute he has had home with us these last few weeks and the boys are loving it! We have really become much closer and been able to do a lot of things in the meantime while he looks for work. I don't know what the future holds for us. I'm not even certain any of our bills will get paid this month, but I am certain that we will survive this and I am certain that we have never had more faith in the Lord our whole marriage as we do now.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us and been here for us already! We love you all and will NOT forget all the help we've received.

What Do You Think?

I decided to copy Kimberly and put of pics of Braxton and Nixon at the same age and see if you see what everyone else aparently sees...

People tell me that they look so much a like. And while they have some similarities I think they look almost nothing alike! They are so different, and yet I get the same comments all the time.

So what do you think?

Braxton Nixon

Bragging Rights!

So, thanks to my awesome neighbor we now have the internet! I don't know for how long but I am taking FULL advantage of this luxury and will be blogging LOTS.

First off I think I should have the right to brag about my AMAZING and ADORABLE little boys! (as should all moms) Braxton is 19 months now and just taking full advantage of his independance and maturity! He is still a mamas boys, but he sure has a mind of his own. He thinks that if there's anything I don't want him to do, he should see how many times he can do it before he gets in trouble. He loves to problem solve things like how do I get the baseball on top of the tv.... maybe I should throw something else up there to knock it down! (and everything else on the tv comes down with it!) He is such a joy to have in our family even with his mischievous ways! His favorite things to do these days are to find as many hats as he can and wear them. He most specifically likes to take off his shorts and put them on his head, and then proceed to play as if there's nothing out of the norm! And just yesterday he started taking off his shirt as well. What a goof! He is the BEST big brother a little brother could ask for. He rarely causes any harm to Nixon and smothers him with hugs and kisses anytime he sees him. We just love Braxton so much! He has been such a joy in our family.

Braxton was excited to learn that we were going to Mama and Papa D's House.

Nixon is now 5 months and growing like a weed! He is such a big boy... well compared to what Braxton was. And I thought Braxton was a good baby... but Nixon makes him look like an awful baby! He is the happiest sweetest baby ever! Anyone could make him smile in a second! Even Uncle Justin! (it took Braxton a whole Year to like him) He is so mellow and I never have to hold him. He was caulicy at first until I realized what he wanted.... He had to go to sleep on his own. Wierd huh? But it was sooo nice! He wouldn't nurse to sleep, or be rocked to sleep. He just wanted to be laid down in his crib to fall asleep on his own, and he doesn't even hardly cry. Best baby ever right?!!! I must confess I do miss him falling asleep in my arms and snuggling with him, but luckily he likes to snuggle when he's awake as well. Anyway, he's my little angel and anyone who meets him can't help but fall in love with him and his adorable smile!

Close up!

The boys in their first matching outfits. Love it!

Braxton LOVES kissing his brother! And Nixon takes his slobber and poking quite well.

Braxton was trying soo hard to do the puffy cheeks... and did pretty well!

Loves any hat he can get his hands on... but if you try to put it on yourself he has to throw it off!

My smiley guy! Uncle Bobby calls him baby Yoda, and I guess his ears do make him look kind of like it!

Braxton and Nixon getting ready for the pool!

Again, happiest baby I know! Love him!

O ya, on a side note... Braxton got into my brand new bottle of lotion the other day. He was covered from head to toe in it.. and it was all over our bed! I don't know how I stayed so calm but I did. I took a picture but it was on my phone so I can't put it up. But man this boy sure can drive me crazy sometimes!

Anyway I hope you enjoy and we will definately be updating much more often!

Nixon James Darnell

Nixon James on his blessing day. It was so cool to have my dad there that weekend for it! I was lucky.

Laura Troy and the kids came to visit after he was born for their spring break. It was so fun having them there!

Braxton especially enjoyed having Jared there to follow around.

Such handsome boys! Nixon wasn't too happy.

Braxton loves helping mommy with his brother!

Nixon and his cousin Hank... just 6 weeks apart

Ok ok finally here are the pictures of my new little one!

Nixon was born February 26 at 12:01 PM (exactly 2 weeks early). And isn't Laura just so lucky to share her birthday with my son?! :) He weighed 8lbs 1oz 20 1/2 in long. It's a good thing I didn't go full term holy moly! I had such an easy labor compared to Braxtons! I had him out 30 minutes after I started pushing. Yay! He had troubles breathing because he still had fetal lung fluid stuck in his lungs. So he spent the first day in the nursery to be watched. He also had a little jaundice. But he got to go home with me when i left the hospital so it all worked out.

He is a handful I must say. He is pretty fussy compared to Braxton. But he's already gotten much better. He is starting to sleep through the night so that's all that matters! He is such a chunky boy! He's growing much faster than Braxton did...he loves his food!

Braxton and My friend Erika on Nixon blessing day. He likes to throw gang signs apartently!



Braxton, Nixon and Grandma Darnell

Braxton LOVES kissing his brother! Thats all he wants to do, especially when he's crying.



This is by FAR my favorite picture of Nixon! He was doing a half smile. He's just so loveable!



Happy Birthday to the puppies! They were One year old on Feb 23rd, and March 2nd. Granted they don't look like babies still but they aren't done growing yet! Next time i'll get a pic of them standing next to Braxton... then you'll really get the picture :) WE love them!!

Who do you think won.. Braxton or the Food?

Braxton licking the left over beater. (He gets this from me!)




Braxton's first PBand J (it was awhile ago)



Spaghetti... it's on his forhead. And what you don't see is the clump in his hair that I had to scrape off in the bath!


And last but not least... Ravioli... It's the winner by far!

Catching Up

Ok, So I guess i need to catch up... ALOT! First of all we had a great end to 2009. Nothing special but we enjoyed our Thanksgiving and Christmas and Braxton's Birthday. This year has been a little rough so far, but we are getting through it with hopes that it will continue to get better.

Josh and I are still cub scout leaders and enjoy teaching our 8 year olds what little knowledge we know! Work is going pretty good for Josh. You know the elevator business... it has it's ups and downs. :) We are just so thankful he still has a job in this rough economy right now. He is just finishing up his 3rd year of school and will be starting his 4th and final year in the fall... YAY!!! Besides that Josh is just enjoying his new truck. We finally got rid of the 4 seater Element and traded it in for a much smarter choice for our family of 2 kids and 2 VERY large dogs. It's a Dodge Ram Mega Cam. And it is Josh's new baby (and hobby).

I am just trying to get back into a routine after having Nixon James Darnell about 7 weeks ago. He is a more difficult child then Braxton was. But he's getting much less fussy the older he gets and we are enjoying his sweet spirit in our home! Braxton is such a great big brother. He loves giving him kisses and holding him (only for a second before he pushes him away). He does have his moments though, mostly when he's mad at me, that he will throw things at Nixon or smack him. He even pulled him off the couch the other day when I was trying to make myself some lunch. But i think he mostly just wanted to hold him. He thinks he can do everything by himself!
Braxton is such a crazy boy these days... you can tell he is just gearing up for those terrible 2's! He is almost 16 months now, and even more energetic and talkitive as ever! He doesn't make much sense to us, but he still tries to have full on conversations with us. It's quite hilarious and entertaining! We just love him to death.. he brings so much character into our family!

We are trying to enjoy life and do the best we can these days and hope you all are doing well!





Braxton's first halloween



Unfortunately he LOVES motorcycles like his daddy.



Braxton and his Grandma Parks in Texas

Dogpile!