Cornelius Chronicles

 Rub a dub dub, fresh from the tub.  Baby Diana is so fun!

When winter arrives one does what one must with the hammocks.  You move them into the basement so you can enjoy them all winter long in front of the fireplace!   The hammock has become Loyd's favorite spot to relax and enjoy his two gerbil friends.  They bring him such peace and he loves them so much.  It is tender to see his gentle nature come out with his little furry friends.  I am grateful for the little creatures God gives us to fill our hearts with love and peace.  Here are a few precious moments captured of Loyd and his little Grant.   Jay was busy running around his feet.    

With seven kids there is never a lack of things to get done.  It's good to be busy and it's better to see the happy smiles from the people I love when they notice I made their favorite dinner that night or they can wear their favorite shirt for the 3rd time that week since I get plenty of laundry to keep my washing machine busy every day.  Here are a few projects I worked on and the beautiful smiles that came with them.   Diana sneakily got rid of the baby chair and play mat I so carefully saved for everyone else.  I'm not sure how she did it before she arrived.  Okay, maybe I gave them away in a fit of decluttering ecstasy.  I do love a good decluttering day.   Anyway, it gave John and I a chance to have fun putting together a new baby play mat and chair.  John is an amazing helper. I just love how the big kids can't resist playing on the play mat with the baby.  They just love their baby sister so much! Check out our assembly skills!

 My beautiful nice got married this December and in the midst of all the celebrations we were able to snag a fun photo of my brother Royal, my cute sister Liz, my cousins Zoie and Station, and myself.  I just love my family!  I have the best siblings ever!

 Most mornings come around far too early for my taste as kids get off to school, but sometimes I snag a moment to notice how beautiful the predawn hours are and I get to enjoy a slow breath and drink in nature's beauty around me.  

Who knew there was so much fun to be had at East Canyon Reservoir in the middle of January!     We headed to check out all the chilly fun at East Canyon's annual Winter Fest.  We had a blast sledding down awesome hills and out over the frozen lake, checking out the ins and outs of ice fishing, looking at the sun spots using solar filtered telescopes, and learning a little bit about winter bird watching opportunities in our area.  Next year we might be brave enough to check out the snowmobiles and the cross country skiing.  Everyone had a great time, even if some of the sledding runs ended in epic wipe outs.  :)  The all important hot cocoa break!  Yum!

Minds are busily working around here.  Rebekah and Xavier are participating in Morgan's first Science Fair and have been working hard on their science project.  Rebekah is testing the effectiveness of malware modifications to bypass antivirus software.  Xavier is using a raspberry pie computer to test the best method for cooling down an overclocked computer system.  Dustin has been busy being computer science moral support. Owen and John have been busy little builders with everything from train tracks to magnatiles. Maeve is busy developing her imaginative artistic skills with lots and lots of pictures of dragons. Loyd is working on his interpersonal skills and computer programming skills with lots of fun game time with this friends from Texas.  Thank goodness for the internet and cell phones to help us keep connected with dear friends even when distances are too far away. I'm keeping busy watching all the busy creativity happening around me.  I love to see these awesome kids g

So far we have had a glorious snowfall this year!  We are so thankful for the water it brings and all the fun we can have in it until it melts.  Here's some action shots of Cousin Day at Grandma P's house on her big snow mountain created curtesy of the snow plows in her circle cul-de-sac and a few pictures from our own frosty front yard. On New Year's day we got so much snow it knocked the power out in Morgan City so Church meetings got canceled.  It felt like a day better than Christmas for Owen because he ended up not having to go to church and getting to play in 8 inches of fresh snow powder!  Best Sunday Snow Day Ever!   John solved the dilemma of where to store your carrot nose for your snowman in progress until it is needed.  

Over Christmas break we had fun checking out the local indoor sea life at the Seaquest Aquarium in Layton.  It's always fun to reconnect to our aquatic selves, even if we do live so far from the Ocean.    

I thought I would share pictures of Diana's Blessing Dress.  I crocheted the lace and Grandma Phillips sewed the slip.  It was a labor of love for or sweet little girl.   Diana isn't sure she enjoys being a model.  I think she prefers being held.  :)   

 John was super excited to go on a personal tour of the Coalville Fire Station.  This VIP tour was given by no other than our favorite firefighter, Jon!  He is Cousin Olivia's then fiancé and now husband.  He is the nicest guy and a wonderful roll model for our little John.  I guess nice guys go by the name of John...even if they do forget to spell it with an H.  :) 

Diana has wiggled her adorable self into all of hour hearts.  When we can bear to put her down we are still near by taking lots of adorable pictures of our favorite little baby.  Even Bunny CiCi is smitten.  She can nearly always be found hanging out with Diana, sleeping under the baby swing or snuggled up to her on the floor for tummy time.  We just can't help but fall in love with this sweet little girl and her adorable chubby baby cheeks! Sleeping Beauty Can you spot the baby guardian bunny? I wonder what she is thinking about? Diana loves her brothers so much!