Welcome, Welcome Sabbath Morning

Most of my November posts have mentioned the fact that the weather here in Pocatello is pretty nasty. Sunday morning we woke up to lots of snow and wind. My mom text me and told me her church had been cancelled and so had 3 other people's that she knew. I wondered if mine would be cancelled and hoped that it would be as I stared out my front window at the blizzard outside. I imagined toting Creighton around and was beginning to dread it. Cason's dad, who is in our stake, reminded us that morning that our stake had fasted for moisture on November 7th and it would be inappropriate to cancel the meetings that would allow us to express our gratitude for granting us the moisture we had fasted for.

I swallowed my negative attitude and took Creighton to church in the ugly snowy weather. Some Sundays I wonder why I even stick around for sacrament meeting. I hardly ever sit in the chapel, but sit in the foyer or walk the halls. Don't let that cute little face fool you- he can be quite the handful. But I often remember that talk given by Elder Bednar a few conferences ago where he talks about the importance of consistency. Elder Bednar mentioned that with three young boys him and his wife were often very frustrated during Family Home Evening and he wondered if their sons were learning anything at all. But he remarked that the importance was the consistency. And to CONTINUE even when something seems a failure. So every Sunday Creighton and I go to church even though some Sundays it is extremely difficult. As I was inching my way to my car afterwards, snow filling my shoes and blowing in my face and as I tried to keep Creighton bundled I had a positive thought, "At least it is not 150 years ago and I don't have to travel to the Salt Lake Valley in this weather." I did experience a tender mercy of the Lord yesterday, however. Creighton was well-behaved in sacrament meeting and him and I were able to stay in the chapel the whole meeting. It was a blessing.

A Radford Visit

Last Tuesday we had an unexpected, but very fun visit with our friends, the Radfords! They were driving from Boise area to Utah, but because of the bad weather and road closures they stopped overnight at our home.

Kylee and I met in dental hygiene school at ISU so the husbands were bored all night long as we talked dental hygiene. They have a little girl, Jayda, 2 months older than Creighton and Creighton enjoyed having someone to play with. He even tried convicing her to knock over the guard on our stairs. He is a bad influence, sorry Kylee.

They sort of enjoyed taking a bath together. Creighton likes to splash and Jayda was concerned about getting her hair wet.

They even played a game of Skip-Bo, but we're not sure who won. We were sad the Radford's were delayed on their way to Utah, but we were so happy that we got to spend time with them. Come back soon Kylee, Seth, and Jayda!

Red-Headed Grandbabies

For your viewing enjoyment, here is a picture of one of the most beautiful red-heads I know, and one of Creighton's favorite aunts. My sister Sidnie.

November 13th at 2:30 pm we welcomed Jarah Haven Giraud into the Chambers family! She is the third grandchild and second granddaughter. She was 6 lb and 11 oz and simply oh so sweet!

Marie, my sister-in-law (Cason's sister), said that someone once told her that soon red-heads will become "extinct" and lost in the gene pool. We both laughed and the ridiculousness of it. Plus, didn't you know that the Chambers are supplying enough red-heads to keep the world going? Here is their cute red-headed family: Kellen, Marie, Eliza, and baby Jarah. Right now Jarah's hair is brownish-red. And boy does she have lots! Creighton is super jealous. The Chambers get their red hair from (Great) Grandpa Darold Chambers. Creighton ended up with it too because HIS grandpa, Grandpa Sanders, is a red-head too.

This afternoon Cason and I got a surprising phone call from his brother, Tom. He called to tell us that he is engaged! As of this afternoon, him and Miss Tasha Maya Henderson are engaged. We are so thrilled. We love Tasha so much. And we will love all their red-headed children too. Tom's hair has some red in it and there's no denying the beautiful shade of Tasha's hair! Here they are sleeping in the back of my car, 2 1/2 years ago coming back from Island Park. Tom came home from his mission almost 2 months ago and Tasha denied the hundreds of boys vieing for her attention to give Tom a chance when he got home. We are so glad!
Here is Miss Tasha holding Creighton soon after he was born. We just had to laugh when she left because of how Creighton was acting with her. He was so alert and happy with her... more than he was with most people. Cason and I figured it was because he knew it was his "Aunt" Tasha. We've been calling her Aunt Tasha ever since, but just not in front of her of course. Look at this adorable gal. Tom is the luckiest guy in the whole world today. And with 3 out of 3 grandchildren being red-headed, plus the addition of Tasha's genes in our family, it's a good bet Cason's parents will get plenty more red-headed grandbabies!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

Christmas? No. Just Idaho in November! I have decided I am an Arkansas-girl through and through because this snow and cold weather is too much for me to handle! I have been lucky so far because this is the first big snow fall. Usually it snows near Halloween. Here is a picture of my backyard from this afternoon.

It's pretty bad out there. There have been a lot of school closures and 4 highways have been closed. There is even an advisory not to travel tomorrow. So I wonder how many of my patients won't be coming tomorrow? I need to get a snow suit for Creighton because even though I'm not a huge fan of the snow, I'm pretty sure he will love it. And we need to build his first snowman!
Cannolli is the best-behaved dog I have ever known. She was smelling like "wet-dog" so Cason gave her a bath (in the downstairs bathroom, thank goodness) and she was awesome through the whole thing. She just let him clean her all up and now she smells like Herbal Essences! Too bad she has to go back outside...

Eating Like A King

And while I'm in this "state of reflection", I think I'll add... Creighton probably eats better than Cason and I do. He is one lucky guy. As I was feeding him Friday afternoon I thought, "Spring Greens with rice? Banana Peach Granola? Yummy! I think I'll have some too!" The cupboard is also full of, "Bluberry Pear Oats, Banana Raspberry Oatmeal, Butternut Squash and Corn, Sweet Potato Apple, and Banana Mango." This sure is fancy food for an 8 month old. But he sure appreciates it and scarfs it down! I should probably eat what he's eating instead of those frozen pizzas and burritos...

Fall Fun

I am so glad that Creighton has changed his mind about being outside. Now, he loves it and gets very excited to be outdoors. There is so much more to look at! We have started playing on the swing set.

Creighton loves to play, but he was also probably smiling because he could sit and relax while daddy did all the hard work. Fall season sure does make a big mess!

I took this picture a few weeks ago after a really nasty wind storm. Yuck.

Cason loves to go on walks around the neighborhood, so we bundle Creighton up and have family time. Creighton is enjoying his stroller now but he still does not enjoy blankets. Momma loves to snuggle him in a blanket-especially outside! But Creighton usually succeeds in kicking it off. He's like his dad. I think his thermostat is about 10 degrees warmer than mine. Whenever I'm freezing those two are just right!