Merry Christmas 2015

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! It is an especially exciting Christmas for us this year. First Christmas in our new house. First Christmas for baby Weston. We have had many blessings in the past year and are so grateful for our greatest blessing of all, our Savior, Jesus Christ. He brings us joy and heals our sorrows. He brings us peace and gives us strength. He brings us comfort and fills us with love.

Our second greatest blessing is our family! In early Fall, we were privileged with being photographed by Davina Fear (www.davinafear.com). Our good friends, the Dawson's, entered us into a contest and we WON! Davina came and spent two hours with us documenting "normal" life. Below are some of my favorite shots. I told Davina, after sobbing through my slide show, that I didn't have the words to thank her for this gift. I spent most of the last year feeling inadequate in my roles of mother and wife.   These photos showed me that I am doing better than I think I am! 

Enjoy a day in the life of Krause Haus!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I think 2016 is going to be fabulous!

TEN YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll admit, I have very little energy to write a decent post commemorating our tenth year of marriage. A two week old baby can zap the energy right out of you. I do want to say that I'm so glad Jared and I married for time and all eternity ten years ago. 

He is my person. He is my second chance. He is making all of my dreams come true. He is my best friend. He makes me laugh every day. He inspires me with his faith and diligence. 

I am a lucky girl. I am so grateful for the last decade. I am looking forward to what the next decade will bring. I am truly blessed.

We were so young and happy and in love.

We are not as young, but we're still happy and even more in love! Our hearts are truly full!

9 Years!!!!!!!!!!!

Jared and I have spent nine wonderful years together as husband and wife. We are perfect for one another and we love driving each other crazy. : ) Not too crazy, just enough to make life fun. Jared really went all out this year to make our anniversary special. My parents were willing to take our four children for the weekend so we could get a real vacation. They are such troopers and I am so grateful for them. Without them, this wouldn't have even been possible.

 

 

We spent our anniversary at Clearwater Beach, Florida! I've been wanting to go there for some time and Jared made it happen. We stayed in a hotel right on the beach and ate at fabulous restaurants.

On our first night, we took in the town and ate at Salt and Pepper Bistro. It was a quaint French restaurant owned by a darling French family. We spoke to the chef ourselves to complement him on our extraordinary meals. Jared's duck was divine and the crepe we had for dessert was seriously one of the best things I've ever eaten in my life! The ambience was so romantic. I loved every minute of it.

Unfortunately, most of the weekend was rainy which isn't really conducive to the beach activities we'd planned. So, we slept in, read, napped, ate more delicious food at local restaurants, caught up on the NBA playoffs, and talked one another's ears off. Breakfast at the Wildflower Café is a must for anyone headed to Clearwater. The baked French Toast was amazing.

Rainy Clearwater views.

 Lunch at Crabby Bills! The Fish Tacos were so yummy. I am regretting that I didn't buy the tie-die t-shirt. Oh well, maybe next time.

 View from our hotel's private beach. I miss living near the ocean. I love all the bridges that actually go over water.

 The sun finally came out on Saturday afternoon, but it was still cold. 60 degrees in May to this Florida girl is freezing!

 The sun came out long enough for us to enjoy the beautiful sunset! The pictures don't do it justice.

Beach Selfie!

 

We had a great time and loved having some time off from non-glamorous parenting duties. I can't tell you how fun it was to sleep in and eat six entire meals without having to get up or the meal going cold. I also can't tell you how fun it was to see our sweet little babies again. I love the life Jared and I are building together. I am truly blessed.

My heart melts... (Musings from an adoring mom)

Ethan has this smile that just makes my heart melt.  He is awesome.  Today I was so proud of him as he participated in the special Primary Presentation the children do each year at our church. He sang the songs and had a little line to say.  They don't let you video it, which is too bad because all of the children were so wonderful.  I even teared up watching my little man.  He will be four in less than two weeks and I can hardly believe it.  He is so sweet and brings our family so much joy.  Ethan is always looking out for his younger brothers and is so helpful. 

This morning we participated in our traditional Sunday morning snuggle.  It is seriously the highlight of my week.  Ethan and Grayson pile into our bed and we just talk and laugh and, of course, snuggle!  I hope they don't outgrow it for a long time.

Grayson also has a smile that makes my heart melt.  His smile usually means he is up to something.  He is also awesome and a fabulous member of our family.  Today, Grayson got to see his Papa (my dad), with whom he has a special bond.  Grayson has a limited vocabulary, but Papa is one of the words he knows.  When my parents walked in Grayson shouted Papa and ran into his arms.  He stayed by his side all day.  Tonight he was walking around in just his diaper because I just love to see his little body move.  He is our snuggle bug and is so sweet. 

Landon has a smile that makes my heart melt too!  His even comes with a huge dimple in his left cheek.  I love when his paci is in his mouth and he begins to smile, but doesn't want to lose the paci.  It's just so cute.  Landon loves to laugh.  He especially loves to laugh at the sillyness of his brothers.  Landon's smile will be changing soon because one tooth has arrived and another is not far behind it.  I think it will be awesome when Landon joins us for our weekly snuggle experience, but I don't want to rush it too much. 

I just love my kids.  I'm a pretty lucky lady.