Snow Day

On the 24th of February, we woke up to snow. Everything looked so lovely, somehow clean and perfect. Matthew was working away from home during that week, so it was my job to get Amelia to daycare. Since we don't get too much snow, I decided to take full advantage of it and dressed her in full snowbibs. She looked adorable, and very much enjoyed experiencing the crisp, white stuff under her feet, even if it was for just a few minutes in the morning...I would like to get more snow so that we can build a snowman or make snow angels, unfortunately, this snow had all but melted by the early afternoon!

It was fun while it lasted!

Bedtime Fun

Amelia usually goes to bed pretty easily. Of course, like any parent, my goal is to have her start to wind down and enjoy some quiet, snuggle time with her daddy and I before bed. In reality, she can occasionally get quite boisterous, and excitable. On this particular night, she decided it was time for a pillow fight. I have to say, it was lovely to hear her giggle, as she swung the pillow round at her daddy. She was also very excited to wear her new nightie, and loved spinning round and round in it.

A Very Special Family...and a Very Special Man!

When my husband Matthew and I got together, it was like finally becoming part of a family that I already knew and loved. I didn't need to "meet the parents", his father, Rickie, was my bishop and had helped support me through difficult moments, I'd served with his mum, Janice, on the Relief Society board at church, had walked with his Aunt Belinda and Uncle Randy during early morning walks, and had even been to his grandmother's home for Sunday lunch. You could say, the only Rawe I didn't really know, was the one that would make me an official "numbered" member of the Rawe clan (although he did teach one of my classes at church when I first moved there).

Let me explain what I mean by being "numbered" - as a form of keeping a family record, each member of the Rawe family was given a number, starting with Matthew's grandparents, who both shared number 1, following them, each of their children were numbered, in the order of birth, then spouses were given a number as they married into the family. The numbering continues as grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are born and so forth. It's quite a fun system, and I can tell you that today the numbers exceed 110.

Anyway, the real reason for this post is to celebrate the life of a wonderful man. Last week, Matthew's grandfather, (number 1) passed away.

He was a great man, and welcomed me into the family with open arms, I still remember the first Thanksgiving dinner I shared with Matthew's family, just before we were married. Grandpa was there and told me how happy he was that I was going to be a part of the family (after all, his wife Beverly had also been from English descent). He told me that I should let him know if Matthew ever gave me any trouble. When passing down words of wisdom, grandpa always referred to Matthew and other boys in the family as "big-son", a memory that will be treasured by my husband.

The first photo in this post was taken when Amelia was about 6 months old, the first time she met her great-grandpa. The other photo's were taken in July of last year (2010), when we visited California for a few days, the last time Amelia and I saw him.

I am so grateful for the knowledge of the Gospel, and that I know that families are indeed eternal. I am especially thankful to have been adopted into such a fabulous one. How blessed I am.

We love you Grandpa Rawe, 'til we meet again!

"Sing Me A Song Mr. Piano Man..."

This is what I saw from my kitchen one evening last week. As I cleaned up the dishes after dinner , I glanced over to the "music room" and noticed that Amelia had climbed up on the piano bench and was happily "plinking" the keys and singing out loud to her favorite songs found in the children's songbook.

The photo below is actually taken of Amelia's reflection in the piano...I love trying different angles with the camera and really liked how this pic turned out.

Although I sometimes miss being able to play piano without the interruption of little hands (and even though I could spend hours cleaning the tiny smudgy handprints on the black lacquered finish), I am excited to share my love of music with my daughter. Music is one of the most important things in my life, it is calming, uplifting and inspiring. I may not be anything close to a concert pianist, but I am grateful for this talent that brings me so much happiness, and also allows me to share something special with Amelia and my family.

Another reason this was such a special sight for me, is because I have many memories of my Nana sitting with me at the piano as I learned to play the songs out of the "Sing With Me" children's songbook. Of course I was older than Amelia at the time, but I can't help wondering if she was as happy watching me as I am watching my girl!

Thank you mum for always working hard so that I could develop this talent - I love you!

Amelia graduates to Primary

On the first Sunday in January the children in our church ward between ages 3-11 years old all shuffle up into another class. This year Amelia moved up from Nursery into the Sunbeam class (the 3 year olds). We have two Sunbeam classes in our ward, one of which I teach. Amelia just happens to be in my class. She was so very excited to be moving up from nursery (which she loved), into her momma's class.

I was a little nervous as to how it would be having her in my class, since I'm her mum and all, but so far, it has been going pretty well (a few pouty moments but nothing too challenging). I have six cute little Sunbeams in all, and am excited to be able to teach them throughout the next year.

Of course, I had to take photo's of Amelia on the day she moved up into Primary, it was so funny to see her with all of the bigger kids, although a little scary to think about how fast she is growing up!