Susan came home and Brian got Married!

In March of this year Carson's mother, whose home we were "house-sitting", returned from her mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. She was in Bayonne, New Jersey. It was so much fun to have her back. Now, I forgot my camera that night so I didn't get pictures of the airport scene. I will have to use my sister-in-law's pictures. It says "Welcome home grandma Lee!" Each letter held by a grandchild. It was so cute!



Susan was a saint to let us be in her home right when she got home. For those who have served a mission, you'll remember that it is a weird time of life, adjusting back to the way everyday life is when you're not teaching the gospel every second! She made the "transition" just beautifully. She came to the same questions we all faced and got through it! The feelings of: "What do I do with myself now?" I feel like I should be serving and helping people and all I have to do is think about myself and what I want. That's not right!" So she decided she wasn't really off her mission yet. Maybe not consciously, but she talked to everyone within earshot about the gospel and made a difference in the lives of some unexpectant phone and cable hook up guys! I was very impressed.

She and Madison had a standing date, every morning when Madison woke up, to color in the den. That or play horses! Some days she would wake up earlier than usual and instead of crawling in bed with me to fall back asleep she would go and find grandma to color!



Every Lee grandchild can remember a time when grandma has taken them on "an adventure". And Madison went on one while we lived together. Grandma took her wherever Maddi wanted to go. They went to the pet store, the mall toys and to get ice cream.





























Susan caught this really funny sequence of Maddi eating ice cream.





















































She didn't have much time to adjust because she had a wedding to get ready for! The youngest Lee was about to get married. There are 7 boys in their family. So now they have "7 Brides for 7 brothers!" (It's a musical) Brian and Michelle got married in Sacramento, California.

















Carson's brother Justin and his wife Rachel decided to go with us to San Francisco. It was only an hour and a half from Sacramento. It was so fun! We went across the golden gate bridge. It is HUGE! We went to the fisherman's wharf and walked along all of shops and restaurants. There was a bakery that had a gigantic bread crocodile. I had to take a picture! We ate at the Rainforrest Cafe. It was so fun. Madison stayed with my parents for a couple of days while we were at the wedding. Thanks again mom and dad! They all had a blast so I was told. Between getting to feed their fish and bunny, hot tubbing, jumping on the trampoline and in general letting her do almost anything she wanted, she loved it with them!
As a personal victory, Carson and I went running there one morning and I ran 3 miles. It was the first time that I was able to run since my surgery, yea for me!






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Christmas 2007 Lets' keep catching you up!

Well for Christmas we were able to go to Seattle. This may sound selfish on my part, Seattle for our birthdays and for Christmas, but it was all Carson's idea. In fact he arranged for part of my birthday present to stay with my family for 2 weeks from our birthday till Thanksgiving. Then he would come over for Thanksgiving. Either he is incredibly sweet and thoughtful or he wanted to get rid of us!! Just kidding. :)

We began the season with a
"Winter Wonderland."









Carson was used to this because he grew up here, but this was so amazing to Maddi and I. The snowflakes were HUGE and it coated everything around us for 80 acres. Winter wonderland is where we were living.


Before we left for Christmas we continued our family tradition of dipping chocolates. But all of our family (Kandi's side with whom the tradition began) were all in Utah. It was the 1st time in 7 years we weren't there. :( But we dipped Pretzels and we did a fine job I must say. We gave them to our neighbors and friends. We had so much fun, YUM YUM!

On our way to Seattle for Christmas we stopped at my cousin Heidi's house. Madison and Heidi's kids were so excited because they got to have a sleepover!! It gets better because they slept in their big closet! Heidi and kids we miss you guys so much! Oh and you too Russell! We were especially excited because Dan and Marci were there this year too. We hadn't seen them since we moved from Utah. Madison and Braden were elated to be together again. Can you tell? These are their guitars and they were jumping up and down singing Jingle Bells! And when they were done they turned the rolls vertically and into their tubes (I mean microphones....) yelled, "Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen!"

We also had someone new to meet. Dan and Marci had a new baby boy and we hadn't seen him yet. His name is Brock and he's adorable and looks exactly like Braden did when he was a baby! Maddi andi I were so happy to play with that baby!

On Christmas Eve Grandpa read the Christmas story, Luke 2. Maddi was Mary, Braden was Joseph and Brock was, of course, the baby Jesus. My brother Kevin was the donkey. They were all so cute and surprisingly reverent! They were so patient as we took a million pictures too!

Dad and I sang a beautiful song together. After the program the kids got to open a present. Yep, you guessed it, pajamas!
Right after that we heard JINGLING BELLS! The kids were so excited and amazed! We went outside and heard the sound coming from the sky. They looked up forever. They could only hear the bells and then they heard..... "Ho Ho Ho....Ho Ho Ho" We all thought that both of them were going to wet their pants! Seriously. They jumped and their eyes popped out of their heads. They started squealing and couldn't hold still! We got some fun video

It took them forever to go to sleep. After all, they heard Santa Clause that night! They're so cute.
The next morning Santa had in fact come! And he spoiled them rotten and they had relatives who contributed to the spoiling.









We were so blessed this Christmas especially for the opportunity to be surrounded by those that we love.