The Nativity

This is the talk I'm giving in church today. It really helped me get into the mood for Christmas and calm down my diva behavior! I hope you don't mind me sharing!

The Nativity

1. This is the season beloved of the year.
Sing a rhyme; Christmastime soon will be here.
Tell the true story of Jesus’ birth,
When, as a baby, he came to the earth.

2. This is the new star, shining so bright,
Lighting the world on that first Christmas night.
This is the angel proclaiming the birth,
Singing “Hosanna!” and “Peace on the earth!”

3. This is the stable, shelter so bare;
Cattle and oxen first welcomed him there.
This is the manger, sweet hay for a bed,
Waiting for Jesus to cradle his head.

4. These are the shepherds, humble and mild,
Hast’ning to worship the heavenly child.
These are the wise men who followed the star,
Frankincense, gold, and myrrh brought from afar.

5. See the sweet mother, Mary so fair,
Joseph, who guided the donkey with care.
See the dear baby of Bethlehem,
Little Lord Jesus, the Savior of men.

(“The Nativity Song,” Children’s Songbook of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 52–53)

I would like to share with you a few thoughts about the symbolism found in the traditional story of the Nativity and the “true gifts” that are represented there as well. Two Ensign articles helped me prepare for this talk, “Tasting the Bread of Life” by Sherrie Johnson and “A Christmas with No Presents” by President Faust.

Jesus, “The Bread of Life”, came to Earth and was born in Bethlehem or, “The House of Bread” as it is defined. Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger – a trough used for feeding animals. When animals eat and when we eat, we, after a while, are hungry again, but “He that eateth of this bread shall live for ever” (John 6:35, 58). “The heavenly fare offered in the manger was not only eternal but capable of lifting us to God. How fitting that Mary should cradle her son, the Bread of Life, in a manger.” (“Tasting the Bread of Life”) Jesus came down to Earth and offered Himself to us. He is the perfect example of all of our “true gifts”, but here He is the example of The Gift of Self.

Mary, the Mother of God. Oh, there is so much that can be said of Mary! A symbol of innocence and purity – two characteristics we need to have in order to accept Christ into our lives. How special she must have been to be chosen at such a young age, like Joseph Smith, to take on such responsibility. She must have been a rather sober and brave girl to hear the declarations of the angel and then, with faith, declare herself the “handmaid of the Lord” (Luke 2:38). Twice in Luke were read of her pondering events in her heart (Luke 2:19, 51). She bravely gave birth in a stable that was actually a cave, wrapped her baby in swaddling clothes and lovingly set him in the manger. I’m sure she marveled, like most of us, over her new child. She probably graciously welcomed the worshippers that came to visit her child and accepted the gifts, with gratitude, that were left for Him. Sherrie Johnson writes, “As Mary beheld Him in the manger, did her heart race with premonitions of a time when she would see Him wrapped in linen and laid in another cave, called a sepulchre? In a stable-cave Mary gave Jesus mortal life, and from a sepulchre-cave Jesus came forth to give Mary and all mankind immortal life. Both caves are mortal reminders of Jesus’ condescension, or of His descending ‘below all things’” (see 1 Ne. 11:16; D&C 88:6). Mary embodies The Gifts of Love and Faith.

I can imagine that Joseph would be the perfect adoptive father for Jesus on Earth. He, like Mary, must have been full of love. Upon discovering that his wife-to-be was expecting a child, he did not want to make a public example of her, and, after the angel appeared to him in a dream, he took Mary as his wife. He and Mary plainly are both examples of bravery and faith, though I can imagine that he must have been nervous and a little frustrated that he could not find a place for Mary to give birth. He must have relied on the Spirit heavily to guide his steps. He was a good man, a gentle man – standing back and watching over his little family, not calling attention to himself. He taught Jesus his trade as He grew into manhood. What lessons did he teach the Son of God as a child? Joseph, a teacher, teaches us of The Gifts of Gentleness and Goodness.

Jesus, being laid in a manger, was surrounded by animals or “beasts of burden” during His first moments of life. These animals were put on Earth to serve man. Jesus, the Greatest of All, also came down to Earth to serve us and to help us carry our burdens. President Hinkley stated that, “Because He was God—even the Son of God—He could carry the weight and burden of other men’s sins on Himself. Isaiah prophesied our Savior’s willingness to do this in these words: ‘Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: … he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.’” (Isa. 53:4–5.) These animals represent The Gifts of Longsuffering and Service.

The new star, shining so bright. As I thought about the symbolism of the Star, I was struck by the thought of how dark it must have been in that time when Jesus was born. No street lights, flash lights or headlights to guide your way. At night the stars must have been a familiar and welcome sight to those shepherds and travelers. Can you imagine how brightly the new star must have shone? “Piercing the darkness, it stood above all nations, far above and untouched by anything worldly. Christ, the Life and Light of the World, is like that star. His light, the light of Christ, still guides wise men and wise women to their promised land, where they can behold for themselves the greatest star, the Son.” ("Tasting the Bread of Life") The star brought another gift to those waiting for the sign: The Gift of Hope.

There are so many symbols that could be associated with the shepherds and the sheep – some obvious and familiar to us. Jesus was born in the spring – many new lambs were being born at the same time. Those shepherds, though lowly in station, were everything to those sheep and their lambs. The angel Gabriel appeared in the fields to these humble men and brought them tidings of Joy. Were some of those shepherds who heard the declarations of the angel responsible for the Temple flock that offered the sacrificial lamb? ("Tasting the Bread of Life")They followed the new star and sought out their Savior and rejoiced in Who they found. The angel brings us The Gift of Joy and the Shepherds reveal The Gift of Meekness.

Lastly, the Wise Men. They saw the Star in the East and made the long journey to Judea. Are we wise? Do we recognize the signs given and follow them to our Savior even though our journey may be long? They sought out, they had patience, and they took the long journey in order to give their gifts to their King. Sherrie Johnson writes, “We don’t really know how many Wise Men came, but tradition claims three because there were three gifts: gold, the metal of kings and symbol of a celestial world because of its refined purity; frankincense, used in making incense that was burned on the temple altar as a symbol of prayers arising and connecting God and man; and myrrh, an aromatic gum used to make incense, perfume, and ointment for embalming. I remembered a picture of a myrrh plant and was startled anew by its spike-like thorns. Even at the Christ child’s tender age, the gifts given Him bore testimony of who He was and what He would do. Gold for the King of Kings, frankincense for the Mediator between God and man, myrrh for the body that would be buried for us.”

I imagine these wise men to not only be patient, but they must have been willing to refrain from many things in order to stay focused and reach their goal. To me, they represent The Gift of Temperance.

Regarding the gifts of the Spirit, the apostle Paul wrote that they are “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:22–23). I hope that this Christmas we can focus on the “true gifts” and give of them freely to those around us and to our Savior. I hope we can seek out those “true gifts” that our Savior has bestowed upon each of us.

President Hinkley stated the following of Jesus, “We honor His birth. But without His death that birth would have been but one more birth. It was the redemption which He worked out in the Garden of Gethsemane and upon the cross of Calvary which made His gift immortal, universal, and everlasting. His was a great Atonement for the sins of all mankind. He was the resurrection and the life, “the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Cor. 15:20). Because of Him all men will be raised from the grave.”

“Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is love. It is the love of the Son of God for all mankind. It reaches out beyond our power to comprehend. It is magnificent and beautiful.”

Jesus’ birth symbolizes all “true gifts” and through our individual faith in Him, He presents us with the final gift: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

Being Thankful

First of all, I would like to say a very large THANK-YOU to all who have sent encouraging words lately. I read so many of your blogs and it helps me to know that there are so many of us just trying to get through this life in one piece and that God put us all here to uplift one another. I've read recently about anxiety attacks, dear friends lost tragically, a child's funny antics, sacrificing one's self to save a child from harm, concern over an ill child, family traditions and happy memories.
I sat here tonight wrapped tightly in my own suffocating blanket of panic and anxiety. I've been treading in very unfamiliar waters and felt the brick of my own self-absorption pulling me down. I've been a Scrooge this Christmas and I've had no desire to decorate and the thought of going out and trying to finish shopping for my very simple Christmas list made me want to crawl back into bed and hide.
HOWEVER, today that all changed. I went to church today with my anxiety radar beeping loudly because we had to be there early . . . etc. I got to church and practiced with the choir for the first time in months. For those of you who know me you know that singing is one thing that I can do well and it brings joy to my heart. So even though I was wrestling with my two girls today at practice, the joy of singing songs about the birth of the Savior had a wonderful affect. A little spark of the Season lit in my heart.
After church we arrived home and let our two tired girls nap/rest while we finished dinner preparations. Charley was really tired and grumpy but after a little bit of coaxing, decided she did like mashed potatoes and roast after all! After some good progress in clearing her plate, Charley suddenly stopped and gagged. Alarmed, Ameri and I turned our attention to her. A stream of throw-up exploded from her mouth. I grabbed her as she continued to struggle to get her breath and we realized she was choking. She was strangely calm, I'm assuming from shock, as all of this was going on. I turned her on her stomach and put my finger in her mouth to get whatever was in there OUT. Once it was dislodged, she continued to throw-up everywhere which made it difficult for her to catch her breath. Instinctively, I just held her and let her throw-up all over me in an attempt to help her. When we finally made it to the shower to clean her off, the reality of the situation hit both of us and we cried together. It was the first time I had really cried in months. I thank Heavenly Father for saving my little girl.
After we got the girls to bed I sat down at my computer to continue my search for someone to watch my kids while I work my 6 hours a week. That old demon named ANXIETY reared his ugly head so I decided to take a break and check out my friends' blogs. I was touched by the words of encouragement people left for me and especially touched by my friend Cheryl's blog. She just lost someone dear to her family and she so eloquently writes about her emotions. I'm not sure what to write to you Cheryl - I'm not nearly so eloquent, but I must give you my thanks and let you know that you will be in my prayers.
You've all read these last few posts as I purge my soul a little. Again, THANK-YOU.



Oh, and yes. I do have a camera now. It's lovely and simple and I'll post new pictures soon.

BLUH!

Well, after my little outburst in the last post I seem to have just lost my mind (even more!). It's been a crazy few weeks and I feel like I've been on the edge for a while now. I told Equinox that I was quitting and started looking for a place to train a few clients. It's been an adventure to say the least! I finally found a studio to train at, but now I have to make sure my certifications are in order, get a business license, personal liability insurance and find someone to watch my girls for a couple of days each week. I will be a private contractor and thus have to pay self employment taxes on top of it all. At Equinox I was an employee, had free childcare and didn't have to bother with the city of Pasadena except to pay my parking every month!

Why am I leaving you might ask? (Ameri has been asking that often lately) I must. Equinox and I have outgrown each other. My schedule - should I figure it out - will be much better and I'm my own boss. I can work the hours I want to without having a corporation breathing down my back to train more than is physically possible for me right now. They also take over 2/3 of what they charge my client.

Anyway, with all of that going on, trying to figure out Christmas, not having Ameri around much, blah, blah, blah . . . I've been a wee bit overwhelmed. My house is a disaster, my paperwork is scattered hither and thither and I'm lucky if my kids get fed. I guess I just needed to post not only to vent a little, but to let you all know that someone else out there goes through it too, or, if your life is running smoothly right now, to help you be thankful for the smooth roads in life's journey. Here's to bumpy roads making the smooth ones sweet!

I'm dyin' here!

Ameri ordered our new camera about 10 days ago and at about day 7 we were wondering where in the heck it was. He called the company we ordered it from and they said it was on backorder. Of course there was no notification from them AND their website said that it was in stock.

Ameri dropped the bomb on me and told me that it could be a couple more weeks before we get it. AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!! Doesn't he realize that a 11 month old changes daily? That my 3 year old has a Thanksgiving feast at school that needs to be documented? That Thanksgiving is here and so is my family? THAT I'M GOING TO UTAH FOR A WEEK WITH MY SISTERS AND THEIR KIDS AND I HAVE NO CAMERA????? How can he just give me the news so calmly? My blog is suffering here.

So, today I went to the feast and brought a disposable camera and prayed I got a few good shots. Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I leave for Utah this weekend. I'm going to try to find my old film camera and I'll probably have to get a battery for it. PLUS, the girls and I all have colds and we're all grumpy.

Fester, fester, fester. Whine, whine, whine.

On a positive note though: It rained in SoCal!! Buckets of beautiful rain!

We say "Oh my goodness" right?

You may have noticed the lack of pictures lately. We still have not received our new camera yet and since putting non-digital pictures takes more work to put on the blog, Halloween pics are slow in coming :)

In the meantime, Another random blog entry! Charley heard someone say, "Oh my G . . " on T.V. the other day and, of course, had to say it. I told her that we don't say that phrase. There are a lot of people out there who use it, but we believe that it's disrespectful (a big word for a 3 year old!) to our Heavenly Father if we say it. Instead we should use the phrase, "Oh my goodness."

Little Charley must think about this a lot because she's asked me about it 5 or 6 times a day since our conversation. This could indicate a couple of things:

1. She's still trying to wrap her little head around it
or
2. People really take God's name in vain A LOT.

Probably a little bit of both, but I'm thinkin' it's more the 2nd than the first. So sad. People don't really think about what's coming out of their mouths these days. Even my religious clients take God and Jesus' names in vain on a regular basis.

So, I love that Charley thinks about it often. She keeps saying, "We don't say THAT we say 'Oh my goodness' right Mommy? We don't want to hurt Heavenly Father's feelings do we Mommy?"

It's a good reminder to watch what we say around our little ones!

From Michele's blog

A few more Charleyisms

Yes, we all know that kids say the darndest things, and Charley is no different. Here are a couple of her recent pronouncements:


Me: "Charley! Stop that! That's very naughty!"
(Of course I can't remember what she was doing at the time!)

Charley: "Mom. I'm not being naughty, I'm being difficult!"

Oh, the political correctness that preschool teaches :)


When Charley gets in trouble she will never look into my eyes so that we can, shall we say, have a "heart to heart". I often say to her before we have our little chats, "Look at my eyes Charley . . ."
Yesterday she must have seen me do something she felt I needed some discipline on and she said the following:

"Mom! Look at my blue eyes! They're very dangerous eyes!"

I guess that's all she has to say because aren't "dangerous eyes" enough to get the point across?


P.S. Our sweet Madeleine is not to be out-done! She can now emphatically say, "Momma", "Daddy" and "Hi".

Tag - You're It!

I never do these tags because I'm WAY too lazy, but I can do this one because no pictures are involved!

1. Where is your cell phone? On the counter - it's an old crappy one because my new one died a watery death . . .
2. Where is your significant other? At work downtown.
3. Your hair color? Fading blonde, waiting for a highlight from my stylist on maternity leave
4. Your mother? in Orem, UT
5. Your father? Same as Mom.
6. Your favorite thing? A good book
7. Your dream last night? A weird one . . . can't remember the details
8. Your dream/goal? all kids married in the temple and active - ditto Cheryl! And a house of course!
9. The room you're in? Living room/office/dining room - still in an apartment!
10. Your hobby? Reading, working out, blogging
11. Your fear? Too many - I just don't want to realize that I will NEVER catch up.
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? In a house and "settled".
13. Where were you last night? Home watching "Eli Stone"
14. What you're not? Skinny
15. One of your wish-list items? Real Estate!
16. Where you grew up? Montana
17. The last thing you ate? PB&J
18. What are you wearing? Workout/work clothes. The usual black Equinox shirt.
19. Your TV? Love it, Ameri hates it.
20. Your pet? Don't have one, probably never will - Ameri's not a fan. I'm workin' on it!
21. Your computer? Dell
22. Your mood? So/so. I gotta clean up.
23. Missing someone? Family
24. Your car? In the garage downstairs.
25. Something you're not wearing? Shoes
26. Favorite store? Target and Pottery Barn Kids
27. Your summer? Short and busy.
28. Love someone? Family, always family.
29. Your favorite color? Lagoon blue. Makes me relax.
30. When was the last time you laughed? Today - Madie was being hilarious
31. Last time you cried? A while ago
I tag anyone who wants to play...it's kinda fun!!

The Ripple Effect

I'm not really sure what the pebble was that got the ripple going today, but whatever it was caused a nice little wave of chaos for me this morning.
My day was supposed to start at 4:30am so that I could train a client at 5am. Ameri rolled over in a panic this morning at 5:30 informing me that I had slept in. I had accidentally hit my 7:30 alarm instead of the 4:30 one. Not a great way to start my day, but I didn't think it would start what it did!
I had another client at 9:30am so I got the girls ready and got to the gym about 9:25 only to discover that my client wasn't there. I soon remembered that she had rescheduled for 8:30 tomorrow morning. I did a short workout and waited for my 10:30 client.
Yesterday I set up an appointment for my visiting teachers to come over at 11am today. I don't know why it didn't sink in during my down time at 9:30 that I wouldn't be home at 11am, but I just kept thinking that I would be home in time.
At 11:30 I was putting the girls into the car to go home and meet my VTs all the while promising Charley that she was going to be able to play with her BF Hadley who is the daughter of one of my visiting teachers. My blunder still had not caught up with me. It wasn't until I walked up to my door at noon and saw the note that my idiot brain caught on. So not only had I stood up the visiting teachers but I had to go back on my promise to Charley that she would play with Hadley today. She was quite cross with me!
In the end, I just had to laugh about it. Isn't it amazing how one small mistake can cause such chaos?

San Jose del Cabo - The Sea of Cortez

The beach in front of our hotel was quite beautiful. The sand was clean and the waves were huge! The thunder they made was oddly relaxing. It was not safe to go swimming in the surf right in front of the hotel, but thanks to Steve and Vicki we got to go out on a catamaran and sail a bit.

WAVES! Charley was NOT a fan!

Ameri's shots of "El Arco" at the tip of Baja were the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific meet.

All of us enjoying the Sea. I, of course, was the only one that got, shall we say . . . woozy.

Madeleine was an angel on the whole trip and Charley was brave and went with her daddy into the water. She was so proud of herself afterward! She kept saying, "I saw Nemo and Dory Mom!"

San Jose del Cabo - Our Stay at "Cabo Azul"

MEXICO! We had a great time in San Jose del Cabo at the beginning of October! Ameri and I invited my parents and my brother Steve and his wife Vicki to go with us. It proved to be very relaxing . . . well, as relaxing as it can get when you take two young children along! I KNOW, there are a lot of pictures, but I just couldn't help myself!

When we first arrived Charley saw the bathtub in our room and said, "Is that our cool (pool)?!"
She just had to try it out right away! When she saw the real "cool" she was in it every day for hours! Below are pictures of us enjoying the sun. We also have a view of the pool from our room and a view of our room from the pool!

Our rooms were absolutely gorgeous! We did have a few visitors of the winged variety. The moths down there are HUGE! The picture below does not do it justice!

Every night there were fires lit in the pools. Mmmmm . . . ambiance!

My Two Cents

I must tell you that I rarely write about anything political and I usually tend to be a turtle when things get ugly. I am not a Republican and I am not a Democrat. I tend to declare myself as an Independent because I don't think you should ever vote for something based on a word. It's like finding an answer to prayer. You have to STUDY every aspect of the thing and then make your decision and take it to God. I did not vote for Senator Obama for president, but I must say that I feel OK with the results of the election. I have many friends and some family who feel very angry/sad/scared about what we witnessed last night. I feel peaceful about it. I am not one to think that he is going to lead us to doom and gloom. You may disagree with me and I respect your opinion.

I think what our country needs right now is unity. I feel we can find it and we DO need to try. We need to give President-elect Obama a chance. There it is and that's how I feel. God Bless America!

I also voted "yes" on Prop. 8. Ameri and I have many dear friends who are gay. We love them and we respect them. Many people view a "yes" vote as racist or intolerant. I do not feel that way. I am a religious person and I feel strongly about God's Law. I would hope that many would respect my beliefs. I am not a bigot, I am not racist. I have to be on God's side and I believe that God defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. That is my belief.

That is all I am going to write about politics.

When it rains it pours.

Well, I've decided that Ameri and I are technologically cursed this week! The morning of Halloween I got up and got my girls dressed in Halloween atire and ready to go. My camera seemed to be having trouble focusing but I didn't think too much of it because I was in a hurry. I went to pick up Charley from pre-school after work, hoping to get lots of fun picks with her and her classmates, and wouldn't you know it? My camera gave up the ghost just then. Grrr . . . and right before trick-or-treating too!
I was supposed to pick Ameri up from the train and head to a nearby neighborhood for the festivities so I ran to Target to get some disposable cameras. After being spoiled with digital you remember how careful you had to be with EVERY shot - you don't want to waste film after all! Which we did of course!
Still feeling sad, though slightly elated (new one!) that my camera died, we went out to do some little errands today. We were quite excited because it was actually overcast here! It so rarely happens in SoCal that we were even taking the girls out shopping in the rain!
As we tried to get the girls into the stroller and under the rain cover in a torrent of rain I had forgotten that I left my cell phone in the top cup of the stroller while we were at Target (again!).
We went into another store and picked out a few things and as we were checking out I had my hand on the handle of the stroller. I said to Ameri, "Hey, put your hand on here. The stroller is buzzing!"
Ameri felt the buzzing too so I knew I wasn't going crazy. Finally we looked into the covered container in the top of the stroller . . . UH-OH! My phone was sitting in about an inch of water, buzzing away as it fried itself. Death by drowning.
What are the odds?? It never rains in this town, let alone a downpour! I rarely put my phone in that container but did today since Ameri and I needed to get in contact with each other at the store. It only rained for about 30 minutes and we just happened to be exposed in those 30 minutes. The heavens were aligned against us. Maybe it's a sign - of what I dare not think!

Rides, Games, and Winning!

After quite a few rounds on the bumper cars, a trip to the giant slide and one round of being a pirate, Steve and Ameri thought that they would use the left-over tickets at one of the game booths. We were skeptical as to what the outcome would be, but we were pleasantly surprised!

Charley and Emily take over the ship. They were very intent and much too busy to give us a smile full-on!

Madeleine's thoughts on the fair!

Steve and Ameri working strategy.

Darts in hand . . . wait, DARTS??

Look - we won!! Josh is behind the turtle!

Old MacDonald Had a Farm!

In September we went to the L.A. County Fair on my brother Steve's birthday. We had a great time with Steve, Vicki, Josh and Emily. It was, shall we say, different from my dear old memories of the Ravalli County Fair in Hamilton, MT! BUT, fair's are about food, animals, rides and pressing your luck at the game booths! Those elements were in L.A. just as they were in Hamilton. Here's a peak at our good time . . .

Madie's Movin'!

We're back! I know it's been a long while, but as blogging is my hobby, I had other things to focus on and my blog got the raw end of the deal! I've got some time tonight so I thought I'd share some pictures.

Madeleine is on the move. She is the cutest little crawler and she's started to pull herself up onto the furniture. A few weeks ago she was inching along the side of the sofa and she found Charley's dollhouse in her way. Rather than throw a fit she used it to her advantage!! She just turned her little bum around and sat down on the house! It was a great moment and I'm glad I caught it on film!

What?

When you only have concrete you have to improvise!

We spent a lot of time at the Arboretum and Huntington Gardens this summer because . . . we don't have a yard!

This is one of my favorites. Charley and her BFF Hadley at the Arboretum.

Random shots

Madeleine is 9 months old!

My Madeleine is 9 months old as of the 29th of September. Can you believe it? Time flies.

Free handbags

Hey, go check out handbagplanet.com they're giving away free handbags every hour on the hour on the 15th of October. It's worth a shot!! Yeah for free stuff!

Sand and Surf

As the girls and I had traveled so much at the beginning of the summer we kept life pretty simple when we got back. Sadly, we were only able to go to the beach twice. Yes, TWICE. Sad but true!

Ameri's brother Regis and his wife Emily came down to visit us in August and it gave us an excuse to go to the beach. We went to Huntington and it was a perfect day! I don't think I've enjoyed the beach that much in a long, long time!

Charley sitting on top of a buried Tatie Emily. You're a good sport Emily!

Ameri and Regis helped Charley dig some very big holes! We also got to enjoy the colorful sight of surf sails on a breezy day.

Ameri's company had their annual party at the beach in Long Beach. It was a lot of fun and Madie enjoyed her first visit ever. We took the girls on a bike ride and just enjoyed a great family day.

So far, this has got to be one of my favorite pictures of Madeleine! It just lets her little personality shine through. Bright eyes and a beautiful soul.