Life...it's gotta make you smile

Just a small blurb on some recent stuff. David is finally DONE with his first semester of BYU. Finals were brutal and consisted of one dedicated man waking up at 5 or 6 am every morning to study, and not returning home until dinner time or later. Test scores turned out fairly well though! Mostly A's and B's, so a happy satisfied husband equals a happy RELIEVED wife, and couldn't be more proud.

David was originally planning on attending the University of Utah, but since they denied him Utah residency with other complications, it was a last minute decision to attend BYU. Although the U would have been much more convenient from a transportation standpoint (we currently live in Sandy), both of us felt that BYU would offer a much more spiritual and uplifting environment. My husband would wake up early mornings (sometimes as early as 5:30 am) to drive to the bus stop and take the 45 minute bus ride to and from BYU campus almost EVERY morning. Talk about dedication! Especially when the first few weeks with a newborn kept waking us both up every 3 hours or so. Adapting to BYU student life was certainly different for David at first, especially when coming from the generals program from LDSBC. David was required to study for hours everyday and it seemed like it was no end to his Chemistry homework. He quickly learned discipline and time management to say the least, and now can finally say he has survived the first semester at BYU, a commendable achievement indeed! So proud of you honey!

On a different note, David, Peyton, and I have been visiting my aunt and uncle Heather and Mark Horstmeier and their family more and more. We have come to love and adore their family and especially their funny and rambunctious kids! Their youngest, Declan who just recently turned 3, manages to always keep us entertained. You always have to laugh at this kid's witty remarks. One Sunday night when came to visit, Season asked Declan if he wanted to kiss Peyton's cheek real soft. His reply was simply hilarious:

"Oh no, not these cheeks. They're too soft."

What a cutie! We love Dec and know there's always a good laugh in store when this little guy is around.

Peyton's Blessing Day

A little late (it's nearly Christmas now) but here is my post on Peyton's blessing. We were very blessed to have nearly all our immediate family attend (missed you Marci, Kaedon, Daxton, Alex, and both Joshs!). Okay, so I guess we were missing a lot of the Mason side, but still EVER so grateful that we could have the family members that came.

 David's parents took the daring 20 hour drive from Oklahoma to Salt Lake with a short stop at Hurricane to visit Grandma and Grandpa Mason and other family. Grandpa seems to be hanging in there!  We all pray for his health and happiness. Despite all his medical problems, I believe it has been his dedication, numerous prayers from family members, and his plain zest for life has kept him with us for so long. Although I have only known him for a short while, he has actually been a huge inspiration to me. All throughout his life (including his aging years) Grandpa has been dedicated to long distance running to keep up with his health and fitness. One of my husband's fondest memories has been running multiple 10 Ks with Grandpa. He has ran many prestigious races, but his most memorable running moment being the 2002 Winter Olympic torch runner! If there is one word to describe Grandpa, it would be diligence. His passion for exercise has remained prominent even in his elder years. As  running became more difficult, Grandpa would wake up early every morning, ride his little tricycle down to open the town's gym, and walk on the treadmill. Not only would he exercise his body, but his mind too! Grandpa hired a young lady to come every morning to teach him Spanish as he walked. He utilizes every minute of his day. As a running-lover myself, his dedication to exercise (especially at his age) has taught me that anything is possible if you set your heart to it. We LOVE you Grandpa Mason! You truly are amazing. We pray for your health and happiness.



Grandma and Grandpa Mason at our wedding. Grandpa was quite happy to be close to the bride I think :)



Sorry for veering off a bit, I just had to put Grandpa in the spotlight for a bit.

Peyton was blessed on December 5, 2010; a truly beautiful day. We had a large amount of support come and share this special day with us.

Peyton Noelle just before we left for the church...nice and asleep :)

 As sacrament meeting began, I started to feed Peyton her bottle so she would still be nice and sleepy for the blessing. But of course, she was fully awake and fidgety as soon as I took her out of the carseat. The only thing keeping her calm...was her bottle. When the time came for her to be blessed, she began to wimper as I took the bottle away and handed her to David. Of course the thought going through my mind was, "Oh no...our child is going to be one of those babies that cries all during the blessing!" But as soon as all the men held her and bouced her up and down, she didn't make one peep. In fact, she was awake for the entire blessing, which I felt was even more special that she could hear her daddy's voice and see him while she was blessed that morning. The blessing was beautifully worded by my husband. I couldn't have been a more proud mother at that moment.

Thanks to my 2 wonder women (my sister Lanelle and Mom) who took off early from sacrament meeting to go set up the food in the clubhouse, the brunch was scrumptious and stress-free! Luckily I have wonderful family who all helped with food and pictures (thanks to both moms, Dad, Lanelle, Kirsten, and Donna). Here are a few pictures: