Our One-Year-Old Miracle

Wow. I still plan on posting a TON of pictures from all the holidays, but I wanted to share something. My twin sister, Adrienne, wrote a BEAUTIFUL entry about Mercydez. I don't think I could say things any better. I attached a link and I would be honored to have you read it. Just click on the words "Beautiful Entry" above. I hope this helps you know us better, and also know our sweet, beautiful, little one-year-old miracle. She is such a joy.

PS I'm second-guessing my decision to go private. I want to, but I want to keep intouch with those who care so much for us. Let me know your opinions. By the way, thanks to the many, many, MANY who have emailed us asking to be invited to view our blog once it's private. If and when we go private, you will definitely receive an invite.

A Big One Is-A Comin'!

It's been a while since I've done a blog-journal entry. Just know that a HUGE entry full of pic's is-a comin'! Things have just been so busy (and wonderful) that I truly haven't had time to sit down and type an entry! I know some have been concerned that maybe something is wrong. I wanted to put your mind at ease and let you know that Christmas was beautiful! New Years was so fun! We had a HUGE birthday party for our miracle, little Mercydez! Tomorrow is her first birthday and we are humbled and in great awe by her. She is such a strong little girl. We are grateful to you for your prayers and we are most grateful to our loving Heavenly Father who truly answers prayers!

Better Safe than Sorry

So, my mind has constantly been on the craziness of the world and the crazies IN the world. I don't think you can ever be too safe. So, with that in mind, I have decided that it's time to make my blog private. I am doing this mainly to protect my li'l sweetie pie. So, I'm planning on "locking" my blog. I still want you to be part of our life, so please email me your email address and then I can "invite" you to check out our blog whenever you'd like. It's pretty simple. All you will need to do is click on the link that will be in your email from me. Then create a username and password to login. You will need to login every time you wanna check our blog. I know, it's kinda a pain, but again, better safe than sorry. This will make it so that I will know who is reading about our family. You can never be too safe in a world full of crazies. :) So, please email me if you are wanting to continue keeping up on our family. I know there are so many wonderful people who care so deeply about our little princess, so, if I don't know you personally, please include a little blurb about yourself.

nicandashleyhaws@gmail.com
Merry Christmas!

Concert Tonight: December 11th

Just wanted to let you know there is a "Messiah" concert at Utah Valley University. It's in the Ragan Theater which is by the bookstore. Come at 7:00pm... all tickets are "general admission" so, it's first come, first serve with seats. Anyway, my awesome twin sister is participating in this concert! Tickets cost $3.00 per person, or $15.00 for a family of five or less... in which case, if you have fewer than five in your family then I would just do the $3.00 per person. It'd be cheaper. (The concert is raising money to put toward a Fine Arts Building, which UVU doesn't currently have).

There is RUMOR (NOT GUARANTEED) that they will let people in for free if the seats don't fill up.... but, bring your wallet just in case.

Come and enjoy a beautiful masterpiece! This is a great Christmas experience!

Family Pics

We took family pictures on Saturday... the Saturday after Thanksgiving and Black Friday... so it was a busy weekend. But, it was great fun! Here are some of the pics. And yes, Nic and I took them. We are both working on developing our talent of photography. Nic is better than I am, but we both enjoy it. So, here's some of the pics...

Thanksgiving and such...

Our Thanksgiving with our little Sweet Pea was wonderful! I decided I wanted to MAKE everything FROM SCRATCH (well, not everything... just what I signed up for). So, it took me a total of about five days to do the stuffing, which totally ROCKED. And I made homemade cranberry sauce, which is so easy and yummy. And I also made a delicious frozen fruit dish. It doesn't sound like a big undertaking, but it was a lot of work. I'm really glad I did it though. Homemade stuffing/dressing is SO much better than the stuff from the box. And this recipe was fabulous!

Mercydez wore the CUTEST little dress! She was all dressed up and adorable! But then again, she's always adorable! We had dinner with Nic's family first. That was fun, as always! There were kids everywhere, which I love (Mercydez is number 18 of 20 grandkids)! The tween girls wrestled... it was so funny! They had wedgie wars and pulled each others hair. It was funny! We all sat and watched... and laughed. It was so funny!!!! These girls are always doing something interesting. Then, we came back to my parents and we had a very elegant dinner. My mom had out her many beautiful and fragile dishes out. It was so pretty! We ate by candlelight. I was so glad because my Grandma LOVED my stuffing/dressing! Wahoo! We had our awesome nurse, Moira, over for dinner too. I love Moira. She's an amazing nurse, but also a great friend. And we had some family over too. It was really nice! Kade came down from Idaho and it was so good to see him. He's working hard up there. We sure miss him.

Then we cleaned up and looked through the adds so we could, of course, go SHOPPING!!! I planned everything. Crystal, Sam, and I went out early on Friday morning... okay, early as in 6:00am. Not too bad! Nic's mom watched little Mercy pretty much ALL day. I owe her so much! But, we found a lot of good deals AND there weren't as many people out as I thought there would be. So, that was great too. I got Mercydez ALL the Signing Times for HALF OFF! I'm so excited!

Anyway, I can't believe it's already December... and here we are getting ready for Christmas! Wahoo! My FAVORITE! So, with that in mind, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Mr. Kody

My little brother, Kody had his birthday. I wanted to make a tribute to him. Kody has always been a sensitive and caring person. He's a sweet kid who respects women. He's very considerate. I have seen his love for Mercydez... I see it in his eyes. Kody has a good heart. Some times he is too much of a "tough guy" to let it show through, but his heart is sweet.

Kody, we love you. We hope you had a good birthday. I wish we could have been at your birthday lunch. Happy late birthday.