Five things that are making me happy this week

1. Paige got in to BYU. A whoot! That's my girl.
2. Ginny Bug has begun consistently going to bed by 7:00pm and sleeping until sometime between 1:00 and 2:00am.  Now what she does from there on out isn't as consistent. But baby steps, right?
3. This weekend was stake conference. Hooray for spiritual rejuvination.
4. Tasha had a birthday this week. Seriously love that girl. I've been thinking about her and excited for her ALL WEEK LONG. Birthdays are so happy!
5. Today I made a whole batch of Grandma Torgerson's famous and delicious molasses cookies. Those of you who have had them, know why this is so happy. Still not sure how I'm going to get rid of the four dozen cookies on my counter. If you need a pick-me-up and living in close proximity, consider yourself invited.

 (And this photo. In honor or Paige (who rocks).  Photo by Stanford, Christmas day 2010)

Linkedy link link

So slow. That's me at getting my blog posts together these days. I'm in the middle of about three.  Slowly taking my time.

In the meantime, feast your eyes on THESE beautiful pictures Stanford took (and THESE fun ones too!). I know I am as biased as they come, but really, I think my little ones are just adorable.

Seriously when I am hanging onto my sanity for all it's worth during one of Raymond's screaming tantrums... I just have to look at his sweet little face. One look at how darling he is and my patience resurfaces. So darling.

Enjoy!

never before published...

For his birthday this year, Sara and Stanford gave Jeremy a CD with hundreds of pictures that Stanford has taken in the past few years.  Goodness gracious it's been fun. There are so many jewels and gems in there, I hardly know what to do with them all.

So here is a first post of hopefully many to come with some never-before-seen Stanford masterpieces.

Since the gift was to Jeremy, I thought I would start with a few that feature him.

Getting him to smile is pictures is always like pulling teeth. This was at Blake and Whitney's wedding, May 2010.

And yet here is it, that beautiful smile captured by Stanford. (Chad's homecoming weekend, July 2010)

 

Do those eyes get any bluer?

Let's see, I was about 20 weeks here. Jeremy was showing off the inevitable weight he gains at family gatherings.

 

Raymond adores him. It's not hard to see why. (Paige's soccer game, Christmas 2010)

(Christmas morning 2010)

I love this picture with my whole heart. (Christmas day, 2010)

More to come.

Decisions decisions

Well. It's been a while since I've mentioned law schools applications or decisions, hasn't it? Sorry about that. It's not for a lack of excitement in that department of our lives. I tell you what, it feels like the law school plot thickens more and more every day.

Since I last made mention of law school, we have been accepted into eleven schools, seven of which have offered some form or another in the way of scholarships. Near and far, cold and hot. We've got options.

While we're still waiting to hear back from five (six?) schools, pretty much the time has arrived to think seriously about the cards on the table.

(Have I mentioned before that big life decisions are not my favorite? Not so much.)

I honestly have put off thinking about this for months. Every time Jeremy would bring it up, I pointed out that it did no good to speculate since we really didn't know what all our options were yet. For a long time we didn't have scholarship information back from most of the schools we had been accepted to. The Utah schools (among others) have been (and still are) slow to send out decisions.  And pretty much I didn't want to think about any of it it more than I had to.

I wish there was a school or a place that hands down was where we wanted to go. I wish, basically, that this was a no-brainer kind of decision that everyone could be happy with.

But honestly I still feel so torn. We have narrowed it down to two or three schools. And every day, during a quiet moment, I try to envision us in each of those places. What it would be like for me to live there. Raising our kids there. What it would be like for Jeremy to go to school there. Possibly start his career there.

But every school (and the associated location of the school) has pros and cons. And I am having the hardest time deciding which pros outweigh which cons. I am having the hardest time figuring out what it is I really want. What will be best for our family. For Jeremy. For me.

It's times like these that makes me miss the mission field. Its so much easier letting your mission president decide where you will be transferred to next. Alas.



When the official decision is made, don't worry, I'll keep you posted. And hopefully at that point I will no longer have any reservations about whatever place we choose! Wish me luck.

A busy, bustling, blessing weekend

We have been lucky the last two and half years to be living along the I-15 in Utah. It means we catch all the comings and goings of family in and out of Utah. But getting a whole weekend of everyone coming specifically to us (and not just to use our bathrooms) is rare.

This was one of those weekends. I loved every minute of it.

It started out Friday night with Mark and Debbie (my in laws) stopping in before heading to Hotel Parson (my sister-in-law's where the Christiansen clan mostly congregated for the weekend). And then the whole Donovan clan showing up to spend the night. We don't have the biggest apartment... so it meant their family of five in on our living room floor. Good times had by all :). I loved getting to wake up to Donovans everywere though!

Raymond loved having playmates...

And Ginny loved having an adoring aunt to hold her and take pictures of her...

Saturday afternoon more of both families rolled into town and we had a dinner at the church in honor of Miss Ginny's blessing to come the next day.

Raymond liked the cheetos...

 Brayden liked the cookies...

 Everyone liked Miss Virginia

Sunday was a tender day for me seeing my sweet girl all in white and being reminded just how pure and special she is. Almost all of both our families were there... making such a beautiful circle of love and support for this sweet girl. My mom made her dress, and honestly it's breathtakingly beautiful. All my future little ladies will be blessed in it. I love the detail and design (the smocking was designed by my mom just for Ginny Ruth), the simplicity and elegance.

All photos taken by my sister Tasha. Can you believe I didn't take a single picture all weekend? That's because I knew that between Tasha and Stanford I would have a gold mine of pictures. So far, so good, huh?