{ChRiStMaS}

It was so fun to experience Mason's first Christmas this year... granted he had NO idea what was going on he sure made it more special for us! We enjoyed celebrating the birth of our Savior with our own son. Sacrifices in both situations, which we are both deeply grateful for.

I woke up around 8 o'clock, went and got Mason and then we woke up daddy together:) We stayed in our pj's and watch Christmas movies all day. We missed our families terribly but are so excited to fly out tomorrow to be with all of them. Hope the weather lets us get there;)

By the afternoon poor Mase was pooped!

{THANKS FOR ALL THE BEAUTIFUL X-MAS CARDS EVERYONE!}

MOMMIES FAVORITE PRESENT THIS YEAR:)

{ChRiStMaS-EVE}

For Christmas Eve dinner we invited our good friends the Baileys over... We had so much fun with them and are so glad they could be our family for the night:)

{Yes, our husbands were there but they wouldn't take a serious picture}

{Merry Christmas} One and All

We hope you all have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS... We're missing our families like crazy but we're excited to spend our first Christmas as a new family! We can't wait to see you guys {family} on Saturday! Save a little Christmas and SnOw for us:)

{This isn't our actual Christmas Card that we sent out but I don't know how to get that one up here so I made this up real quick}

NEW BABY! NEW BABY!

My best friend hollz had her baby on thursday and he's beyond adorable! I SO wish I could have been there. I hate being so far away. He's SO cute. Mom and Baby are home and doing well. He was 6lbs 2oz 19inches.

Daxton Gregory Tate Lundell

Moving Right Along

Today was such a good day. Every month since the adoption we have had a supervisory visit from our caseworker. It's standard procedure to insure all is going well. We do one a month for 5 months, we just had our third one, so two more and we able to go to court and finalize the adoption... then we're able to bless him and then go to the temple and have him sealed to us. Oh man, I am looking forward to that day:) It's going to be incredible! But something great happened today... Since we received Mason, we have technically been his foster parents, we have to wait for all rights to be terminated before moving past that point. This is where ALOT of adoptions get messy and take forever to move past. Our birth mother's rights were terminated during the first month, however we have had a very unique and sad situation with the birth father. We had to take some extra steps complete the foster care stage and get his rights terminated. Our caseworker surprised me with the paper work today during our visit. They are terminated and we are now officially in the 'adoptive state'! We now have physical custody of our little man. We don't have legal custody just yet (that happens when we go to court) however it still feels awsome... just another step make him more ours:)

Who can resist those eyes?

The stress and intensity from the last 8 months have sort of leaked through this week. I've had some moments... then I pick this little man up and the tears turn into the strength I've tried to hold this past year. last night when I was having a moment he literally snuggled up to my face until he was touching me and just stayed there. How do I deserve such a precious little man? Thanks Mase, Mommy loves you:)

TuMmY tImE....? yeah, he's not in agreement

Almost HERE!

weird i know but as i've gotten older i've gotten more into christmas. i know it's completely the other way around for most people. don't get me wrong i love those shiny unknown sparkly things with my name on it under the tree! but i've always had anxiety when i have to open things up in front of people. i found that giving is much easy and even more fun;) the first yr or two here in So Cal were a little hard to get in the christmas spirit with no snow and well no cold weather, when my christmas's since birth have consisted of freezing cold weather, ice coated windshields, one or two slips on ice, sledding, fingers so cold you almost cuss... almost... so with the sun still out and the beach still a possibility christmas was weird. but we've got the hang of it. I put fake snow on my mantle every yr now just to bring a little of home to us.

I love this time of year. I love the decorations... the smell.. the spirit. everything.

I've had my tree up for over a week but here are some pictures of bits and pieces of our christmas corner. i just love it.

my in-laws gave us this little manger our second christmas and i just love it. along with frosty it's one of my favorite things to put out at christmas. we put it right in front of the tree so we don't get carried away.

Stocking bliss... and YES i love that there's finally THREE

My favorite ornament

Mason's face as mommy decorated and took pictures... he thought I was one big weirdo:)

OUR TREE

Gotta love frosty... my sister made this for me a couple yrs ago and he has now become our favorite holiday decoration. I pulled him out this year, went to plug him in and he didn't light up... i almost had a heart attack. I insisted seth stopped whatever he was doing and fix frosty immediately.. really did I think it was going to die on me or what... but I really was panicking. Needless to say he saved him and got me breathing again. all is well

my. new. favorite. scent.

i have discovered there's nothing that smells better than a clean baby. i love the fresh baby smell, the baby lotion.... everything. i love Mason's scent. mmm, i think i'll keep him;)

So SoRrY;(

It was brought to my attention that my lovely photog blog photo's are cut off on most people's screens and you can barely see half the picture... Oops! I know most of you are devastated:) hee hee jk. Anyway for those of you who do care I've re-posted the last two shoots so hopefully you can see them in their entirety now. When I get the time I'll re-load the other shoots. So sorry for this inconvenience. Let me know if their still too big for your screen. Thanks:)

Jon & Austin: One Incredible Sealing

This was such a cool day to be apart of. Over thanksgiving my cousin Jon and his sweet wife Austin got sealed in the St. George Temple. It was truly one of the most spiritual endowment session and sealings I've ever been too. I was so honored to able to go. They couldn't stop smiling after. Seriously. Grins from ear to ear. It was so neat to see. It really warmed my heart to see the spirit so present among my family. Now little Maddox will have an eternal family:) They worked hard to get there. I'm so happy for you two. We love you Jon & Austin:)

Thanksgiving in Toquerville:)

So Many Things To Be GrAtEfUl For...

Driving HOME! Gotta LOVE the desert:)

Yes... this is a few days late but we went home for thanksgiving last Tuesday and just got home two days ago. So yeah, I tend to not blog when I'm home. I have to soak up all the time I have with my fam:) This year's thanksgiving was SO fun. I did miss my family, I was the only kid that was there for thanksgiving out of my family so I missed them all like crazy. There was a ton of cousins there this year to make up for the lack of siblings though. It was all really fun. Then Jam and Mya came down with Joe and Tai on Friday so she got to spend the weekend with us. The whole time was fun and filled with photo shoots, an amazing temple sealing, turkey, football, games, movies, card games, a baby shower, and lunch with friends and family!

This year is probably our most amazing year yet and the one we are the most grateful for. This year we added to our family (FINALLY) and Mason joined us for this Thanksgiving. For that, I am one thankful woman. We've just had so much fun with him and everyone in the family has been so good to him. For that we are very thankful too...
Hmm I'm thankful for many things:
-An amazing family
-My son
-My incredible husband
-True friends
-Safe traveling
-My growing photography business and everyone who has believed in me and given me confidence.
-White chocolate
-Melissa
-The gospel

Soon-to-be-Mommy:)

This is my best friend Holly Jo, we got to go out to lunch with her and John while we were in town:) She is looking WONDERFUL! She's dialating and progressing so she could go at anytime. I just wish little Dax would have come while his favorite Aunt was in town:) Love you Hollz!

The Caldwell's Meeting Mase

Mason had yet to meet some of his cousins on my side: Faithers, Ky and Jax. They stopped by on Sunday (while we were in Utah) and it was SO good to see them. They were so cute with Mase. I thought Ky had met his new Best Friend. He kept wanting him to wake up, hold him and he would keep asking me if Mason would play tractors with him:)

ThE WiLsOn FaM

I did a last minute shoot for my cousin and her beautiful fam while I was home for thanksgiving.
The lighting wasn't the best but I hope some of them work for you Jen:)

-Go to my photog blog for the rest-

You Love it or You Hate it

I was walking through the supermarket the other day when I spotted it...EGG NOG!!! The holiday's can officially begin. (Just to clear up any confusion you might be experiencing right now, this isn't Lacey posting this) Lacey won't let me breathe near her for 15 minutes after I have a tall glass of egg nog. It seems to me that egg nog "lovers" are a dying bunch. Are you a lover or a hater?