Holidays Part 2

We went to the beach before we headed for the airport, where we watched dolphins, chased each other and drew in the sand. I love it.






My sister took us to the labyrinth at Brookgreen Gardens as part of our Christmas presents. It was surprisingly amazing. Here's a little description of labyrinths from lessons4living.com:

Labyrinths and mazes have often been confused. When most people hear of a labyrinth they think of a maze. A labyrinth is not a maze. A maze is like a puzzle to be solved. It has twists, turns, and blind alleys. It is a left brain task that requires logical, sequential, analytical activity to find the correct path into the maze and out.

A labyrinth has only one path. It is unicursal. The way in is the way out. There are no blind alleys. The path leads you on a circuitous path to the center and out again.

A labyrinth is a right brain task. It involves intuition, creativity, and imagery. With a maze many choices must be made and an active mind is needed to solve the problem of finding the center. With a labyrinth there is only one choice to be made. The choice is to enter or not. A more passive, receptive mindset is needed. The choice is whether or not to walk a spiritual path.

At its most basic level the labyrinth is a metaphor for the journey to the center of your deepest self and back out into the world with a broadened understanding of who you are.

I was a little skeptical at first, but it was a really calming, introspective experience. It was a rare moment of quiet and calmness, which I need more of. I think we all need more times of quietness and contemplation. I am on the lookout for other places in nature that I can be still and turn my thoughts inward.

Clara and her cousin running through the labyrinth. (Not doing too much contemplating, I would think...)


The beautiful old oak trees at Brookgreen.

Holidays

For the holidays we visited my family and welcomed my sister Allison home from her mission to Indonesia. It was so fun to have her home! We went caroling, had a Christmas eve party at Mauri's new house and went to the beach. We also went to see the lights at Brookgreen Gardens, an old rice plantation that has been converted into gardens, sculpture gardens and a little zoo with local animals. I took pictures, but it's been really time-consuming to download pictures, so they will come soon (hopefully).

The Sunday that Allison was supposed to give her homecoming talk in church there was a little flurry of snowflakes, so church was canceled. We were all ready to leave for church, so we took some family pictures and Allison shared her talk with us. It was a really nice Sunday morning. It was funny to hear how everyone was nervous about driving in the snow. :)


(Allison, Ashley, me, Mauri)

Savannah has been smiling and cooing at us, which has been so delightful! I never expected to receive so much joy from my sweet girls. It feels like they've been in our family forever.


Now we're back to the snow, and Jason is back at school. This semester he'll be studying for the first part of his boards, which will require lots of studying. So, hopefully we make it through unscathed. :) We're happy to be home!

I Am a Lioness

"Women are like lionesses at the gate of the home. Whatever happens in that home and family happens because she cares about it and it matters to her. She guards that gate, and things matter to that family if they matter to her."
(Julie B Beck, 2010 BYU Women's Conference)

Smiles!

We need naps

A family of four!

Savannah Jean was born October 11 at 8:02am. She weighed 7lb 6oz and was 19 inches long. She had been breech for a while, so she was born by a scheduled cesarean section. She is so tiny and has a sweet, happy temperament. It's so wonderful to have her in our family.

My labor with Clara was so long, so this was a welcome change, to be able to hold and get to know Savannah right after she was born. We gave her the middle name Jean, after my sister Angela Jean who passed away last year.


Clara wore her new "Big Sister" shirt to the hospital and is so thrilled that "Baby Savannah" is here. Clara always wants to kiss, hug and "check on" her. I'm glad she's here a week before her due date, too!



I couldn't get this picture to turn, but I think it's so sweet.

Almost three months later...

Wow it's been a long time! Here's the update:

Jason has started his second year of medical school, which has been quite an adjustment after 10 weeks of vacation. He's also playing soccer with people from school, as a goalie. Last Monday he got kneed in the back extremely hard and has a really deep bruise. Now neither of us can bend over or do any heaving lifting. He's healing, though.

I am 37 weeks pregnant with our second little girl. I think she'll be born sometime during the week of the 11th. I'm enjoying the fall weather, and hope it stays fall until March. Let's just skip the terrible winter weather.

Clara will be 3 1/2 in November and is lots of fun. She is in a "little preschool" (kind of like a joy school) with some kids in our ward. The moms rotate teaching it twice a week, which is fun. It's also nice to have a couple hours to myself each week! She just got her first bike with training wheels, which she is ecstatic about. She feels so fancy with her helmet and water bottle.

Clara is super excited about her sister coming and knows she's coming next month. She has also started enjoying dressing up in her leotard, tutu and ballet slippers. She is going to be a ballerina for Halloween, unless she changes her mind again and is a firefighter or one of the seven dwarfs.