In the Words of Porter, Merry Chrisix!

For the entire month of December, Porter has enjoyed what he calls "Chrisix." Which to him is the decorated front room of my mom's house. At the mention of the word Christmas, he whispers "Chrisix" and toddles to the door and bangs on it until someone takes him out. He gasps every time and could stare at the decorations for hours. Christmas has come and gone and it was wonderful! I didn't think Porter would really understand Christmas this year, but we had so much fun with him. On Monday we took him to "Candle Light Christmas" which was freezing cold but he loves Christmas lights and we got to see Santa and his reindeer as well as a Nativity Scene. Porter loved the pygmy goats and found the reindeer quite interesting.
The next couple days were so busy it left us all, especially Porter, exhausted. On Christmas Eve, we had dinner at my mom's house. Miko felt a little left out and hoped to catch part of the action through the window.

Porter was able to participate in the Christmas Pageant. We thought the wise man was a fitting role so that he could wander. Mainly he just wanted his bottle.

On Christmas Eve, we each get to open one gift of our choice. Justin gave Porter this darling drum set. He loves music!

A tradition in my family, which my mom insists we continue is to check to see if the elves came and brought us pajamas. Yes, her youngest is over the age of twenty yet she still plays Santa Claus. But the elves came indeed. Here are the pajamas I made for Porter.

Christmas morning was a fun event with our cheesy little boy who was so excited to make his way downstairs and open presents. He was interested in opening the first present and then lost interest and wanted to play with the tree or the dog.

After opening presents at our house, we went to my parents opened our presents from "Santa" and finally we made our way over to the LeBaron's house to open even more presents. Wow, are we spoiled and exhausted! We have been truly blessed this season and have loved celebrating Christmas with our sweet little boy. It has been quite a year and can't wait to see what next year brings.

Utah Mormons

Although it is Christmas and I have much to catch up on from our various past activities, I first must address what has been on my mind lately when one of my extended family members, who will remain nameless, made a comment about Utah Mormons. Mind you this was not the first time my family has been singled out as being "Utah Mormons", and I am certain it will not be the last. So forgive me for my defensive comments which are probably not in the Christmas spirit of things, but this is the source through which I wish to vent. I am a Utah Mormon, and there is NOTHING wrong with that. Since when did it become okay for Mormons to negatively classify other members of their own faith based upon their geographic location? We are all trying to live and practice the same religion are we not? I will never forget my first Sunday down at BYU when my Sunday School Teacher made negative comments about those "Utah Mormons". Before this time, I had failed to realize the rift between the Mormons in Utah and those outside of Utah. And I have never felt more uncomfortable and unwelcome than I did when I attended my grandparents ward in New Jersey when I announced that I was from Utah. I felt like a pariah and was horrified when the members openly made negative comments about Mormons from Utah right in front of me. And it was very difficult for me not to get up and leave. Now don't get me wrong, I am not trying to criticize them, I am only trying to point out the injustice of this classification. (as a side note allow me to point out that our beloved Prophet is as Utah Mormon as well) Aren't we all in this together? This past year and a half has really opened my eyes and made me so much more compassionate for people and their situations. Life is hard. We all have our own battles to fight and we certainly don't need others criticizing the way we fight them. Especially not those that should be rooting for us to succeed rather than pointing out reasons why we deserve to fail. Sometimes, even when you feel as though you have done everything as best as you could, things don't turn out the way you think they should. That doesn't necessarily mean you did something wrong. I will be the first to admit my guilt in this. When children went wayward or boys came home from their missions, I unrightfully passed judgement and tried to place the blame on someone for this failure. As some of these experiences have hit a little closer to home, I have been very humbled. None of us know the intent of anyone's heart and none of us know the circumstances. Utah Mormon or not, we are all trying to do the best we can. My hope is that I may be more aware of my thoughts and words and try to offer feelings of love and compassion, rather than criticism. And to all of those people that do think differently of "Utah Mormons", I only wish you would realize we are all doing the best we can.

There I am finished and I feel much better.

Porter Turns One

I officially have a one year old! I can't believe that a year has come and gone so fast. It has been amazing to see my sweet little boy learn and grow. And man has he grown, he is a giant! I love watching him discover how to do something new. He is walking up a storm now and is BUSY! He loves to play blocks, play with and bite the dog (yes I said bite, sick huh!), play with the heating vents, open all the cupboards and pull out everything inside, laugh at sneezes and hiccups, race me to the stairs hoping he might get away with doing something naughty, watching My Friends Tigger and Pooh, taking naps with Uncle Justin, throwing balls, riding in the car carts at the grocery store, having story time, taking baths, and now, he loves to do this:

This is his new present from his uncles Justin and Trent. Man he is such a spoiled child!! We celebrated Porter's first birthday Thursday night at his Grandma's House with his aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. He was overwhelmed with all of the guests and especially all of the presents. He ultimately resorted to playing with his old toy because he didn't know how to handle all of the new toys. He is lucky to have such a great family that live close and are very supportive. Here are a few pictures from his Winnie the Pooh Birthday Party: