Uncle Thonus, I'll see you in 3 days. Do you feel lucky?

Bye bye Baby Gray

After scouring the internet for some really sappy country song I decided I just don't listen to country enough and I need to update my cell phone with Brad's number(blasted 3 cell phones in a month). The point being, my baby boy is all grown-up. Earlier today I was going to post a triumphant post under the heading I saw the sign (can't let my creative genius go unnoted). In it I was going to laud Gray's latest accomplishments. Just this weekend he's started signing "more" "all done" and "please". In addition, he's started nodding yes (not just shaking no) and performing all kinds of tricks that he thinks are hilarious.

It all changed tonight. It all started out innocently enough, just a haircut. Next thing my eyes welled up with tears as my baby boy disapeared before my eyes. In his place was a little man, complete with scrapes and chocolate smears. To add insult to injury we discovered that Gray has a crazy cowlick and has inherited the infamous Jones(Grandma Candi) forehead. Reed's been teasing me all night. But, there's a good chance Gray may be our last little one and I just want him to stay little and sweet and cuddly. In his honor (and to even the screentime score) here's a slideshow documenting Gray's transformation.

BEFORE

AFTER

Check out my Slide Show!

Our new prophet

By way of background, two weeks ago President Monson spoke in our stake conference via satellite. He told some great stories, including some from his time with the Navy. It went in history as the first talk Matts has listened too in Sacrement. Today...

Me: Mattson, President Monson is our new prophet
Matts: YESSSSS!
Me: slightly confused look
Matts: He's the navy guy, this is awesome!!!! I need to call Grandma Candi, Grandma Diane, Grandpa Greg, Grandpa Don, Great-Grandma and Grandpa and Dad (in that order).

Later while talking to Reed "Dad, he's our prophet, I just know it"

Apparently, brainwashing is successful and little kids do know more than we think.

Trooper

Meet our good friend, Trooper. Actually, his full name is Emporer Trooper Mattson. Trooper is a fireman who lives in London by the London tower bridge and across from Buckingham Palace. Trooper has had a TRAGIC life. His mommy and his daddy died when their stove caught fire and their house burnt down. Luckily, Trooper was able to save all his pet snakes and meerkats. Trooper likes to appear randomly, such as when we are meeting people. When we saw Great-Grandma Newell over Christmas he introduced himself and said "I just got back from London" before walking off. On that same note, Trooper is quite the world traveler. He has been to New York, San Francisco and, of course, London (eerily similar to Reed's travel schedule).

EMPORER TROOPER MATTSON

After the tragic house fire we decided to adopt Trooper. But, he still gets "just so sad because he doesn't have a mommy or a daddy or uncles or brothers"
Just to clarify, Trooper is NOT an imaginary friend. He's more like an alter ego.

SNOW!!!

Here are some pictures I never thought I'd post: The boys playing in the snow at our house in Atlanta. It was the craziest thing. We'd just dropped some cookies by a friends house when small, microscopic flakes began to fall. It threw the car in reverse and booked it back to our friend's house. As I was ringing her doorbell, my cell phone started ringing as she called to tell me it was snowing. We proceeded to jump, laugh and yell as the tiniest flakes fell to the ground. Our kids just looked at us like we were crazy.

When we got home I bundled up the boys and drug them out into the flurries. Gray loved it. Matts was shivering and had a "you've got to be kidding me" look on his face the entire time. Soon it turned into a full on storm! We got about 2 inches total, so all the schools are closed!

It's SNOWING

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?

This is Great!

A very late Merry Christmas from our house to yours :)

Blessings

I know, I know, I'm horribly behind on blogging and I'm still waiting on pictures from Christmas to post (my brother is sending out a complete CD). But, in my defense we saw many dear and not usually near ones while we were in Utah over Christmas. Tonight we've been home one week and I'm filled with mixed emotions. On one hand I miss our families and friends terribly and am thrilled to be returning in just over a month. On the other hand, I am happy to be home. Yes, Atlanta has finally edged out Utah as "home". I love our neighbors, friends and little life we have here. I've been doing President Eyring's challenge to see the hand of the Lord in our lives and it is truly amazing. Most days I feel silly recording the "evidences". But silly or not, these are the things that matter and shape our life.

Case in point. We have a great ward, but it's stretched pretty thin. So, you can imagine my anxiety over Mattson and 17 other 3 year olds starting primary. Especially since Matts is our "spirited" child. I came back to find they had called the most amazing lady as a sunbeam teacher and Matts was in her class. Not only is Elizabeth incredibly on top of things, she also has a spirited little guy and loves/understands Matts very well. She even beat me to the punch and called me today after church to let me know that Matts had done just fine. I won't bore you with the rest of our blessings, but let me just say I'm incredibly grateful for our crazy life and a Heavenly Father who knows me, my husband, my boys and watches out for us all.