Christmas Card

And last but not least on my catch-up-posts... We didn't send out Christmas Cards this year but if you wanted one... here it is!

Happy Holidays!

We donated a tree to the Festival of Trees this year in behalf of Lincoln. It was so fun to pick out the decorations, treats, books, etc that we put with our tree. It was so exciting to go set up the tree and go see it later during the festival. What a wonderful tradition the Festival of Trees is and what a big support it is to Primary Children's Medical Center. I hope we can continue to take part in the Festival of Trees for years to come.


For Christmas, we had an extended Beck Family party in Idaho about a week before Christmas. It was so exciting to be with all our family and to play BECK BINGO! We spent Christmas Eve with my Mom's family and had a Swedish Christmas dinner. We had Christmas morning at my mom's and Link got the present thing down pretty fast. He had a couple presents already opened by the time I woke up (thanks Uncle Brandon!) Then we went out to Russ' grandmas house for dinner. I love these pictures of Lincoln and his cousin Charlie!

Then more Cousins showed up and of course all the 'babies' had to run around in their diapers. We loved spending so much time with COUSINS!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was fun this year. We went to a pumpkin walk with my family and Link loved looking at all the different pumpkins. On Halloween night it took a little coaxing to get Link to go to the first house but it didn't take him long to figure out that if he dresses up like Elmo and carries around a big pumpkin, people will give him candy! He was so excited to go from house to house!

Just pics

Of course I have to post a bunch of pics of Link. We kinda like him...

I don't know when this pic was taken but I found it while I was looking through pics and thought it was blog worthy.


Here's Link just being his goofy self. He has SO much personality!
Like father like son... Lincoln LOVES to read... just like his daddy! (and I guess his mommy too)
Just Link.
Family pic on Russ' birthday!

California

Sorry I have been such a blog slacker! Since it has been such a long time since I have posted, I won't be able to fill you in on all the little daily happenings in our life but I can at least post some of the highlights...

We went to CALIFORNIA in October with Russ' Family. This was the first vacation we have gone on as a family. It was Link's first time on a plane and his first time out of the state. We stayed in a beach house a couple blocks from the beach. It was pretty cold but the kids still had fun playing in the sand all day. Since pictures are worth a thousand words I'll just let you see our vaca for yourself...

Link lounging on the beach!
Link did NOT like his helmet when we went biking but he LOVED to ring the bell! Sorry Charlie!
Since it was almost Halloween we dressed the kids up and they went Trick or Treating to the different rooms in the beach house.

One day we went to La Jolla Beach and hung out with the stinky seals!One night we played "minute to win it" games. So fun!
We loved being able to spend almost an entire week with Russ! Link LOVES his daddy!

Like I said... he LOVES his daddy!Link and Russ hanging out in the airport. I got the flu the last night (no bueno!) but when vouchers were offered to wait all day until the next flight, Russ jumped at the chance and we hung out all day in the airport. It was a horrible ending but a great vacation!

Whole lot a' Link

Since Russ has been home the last couple days, he insisted that I update the blog with pictures of Link instead of him. So here is a whole bunch of pictures of our summer adventures!

Link sporting some shades...
Link loves to be a big boy and feed himself! Mommy loves it too!!

For three years I haven't been able to celebrate my birthday because I've been at school ALL day long for my Master's program. So this year I made sure we CELEBRATED! Russ and I went to Color Me Mine and made bowls for each other.
Russ loved Color Me Mine!!! He made me a cookie bowl! :)Link loves hanging out at grandma's house!
Link's first Popsicle! He loved holding it all by himself!
Link LOVES dogs! At the Fourth of July parade he followed this dog around the entire time!
He has spent a lot of time with mommy this summer! This is Link and I on my Anniversary. He was a good substitute! :)
He will stop and smile for the camera. That's when you know we take too many pictures of him!
He loves CARS and anything with WHEELS! He loves to be a big boy and drive things like this lawnmower at Grandma Ferry's.
I've been working summer school so Link gets to spend some days with daddy and they like to go on walks and get chicken nuggets!
Here's Link sporting his CAR pajamas. He LOVES his pajamas and always says "car car" and points to the cars on his tummy.

On the mend...

Russ is doing good and continuing to heal. On Sunday his entire body was sore/aching. Today his neck and back are feeling better but his knee is feeling worse. He's walking better now but his legs definitely got the brunt of the wreck. We'll have to wait a couple more days to see if he needs to go in for an MRI on his knee. Here's a picture and,as always, the picture does not do justice to how his legs really look.
Neal A Maxwell said: "Trials and tribulation tend to squeeze the artificiality out of us, leaving the essence of what we really are and clarifying what we really yearn for."
Through the trials Russ and I have gone through, I've been so blessed to see more and more the incredible man that Russ is. He continues to worry about and care about others and not himself. He doesn't complain and is always so optimistic. Everyone told me that when the ambulance arrived at the hospital and Russ was wheeled out on a stretcher, he was smiling and waving like a celebrity. He didn't want the parents there to be worried and tried to ease their concern. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to be married to such an incredible man.

We are also very grateful for our bishop and members of our ward. Our bishop stayed at the hospital and waited until everyone was released. The other ward members at the hospital were so concerned for all the individuals involved. We were touched by their selflessness and love.

Russ Russ

This post was going to be an Anniversary post about the last three years and how Russ was at Scout Camp so I spent our Anniversary with Lincoln instead... But it will now be about Russ's drive home from scout camp.

Russ has been at scout camp all week four hours from home. They went rafting and boating and cliff jumping and fishing, etc. etc. I was terrified all week because scout camp is notorious for accidents so I prayed all week long that Russ would come home alive. I know that sounds a little crazy... but my prayers were answered. They were on their way home Saturday afternoon and were ONE exit away from home when they went over a hill. Right over the hill is an on-ramp where a semi was getting on the freeway. Apparently, a truck had cut the semi off so the semi had to slam on its breaks so was almost at a complete stop on the freeway. As the truck Russ was in came over the hill, they saw the semi, slammed on their breaks, and tried to swerve into the other lane but they were too close and smashed into the semi probably going about 60 mph. This was the truck.

Russ was in the passenger side. The dash came down and trapped his legs and he had to pull himself out and one of the young men in the back. All five individuals in the accident walked away from it. For that, we will be FOREVER grateful! They all have scrapes and bruises and had to go to the hospital for x-rays but they are all okay. Lincoln was SO EXCITED to see his daddy! He had no idea what was going on but hung out with daddy in the ER. Russ has a bunch of scrapes and bruises and his neck and back are really sore. The x-ray of his knee looked okay but they don't know if anything was torn. We'll have to wait it out about a week and see.

There were so many tender mercies that happened around this accident. Here are just a few:
-Besides the truck directly behind them after the crash, the next two vehicles were a state trooper and an ER nurse. They just HAPPENED to be the next cars that came by!
-Another truck was supposed to be pulling the trailer but the lights didn't work on his truck so the truck Russ was in was pulling the trailer. The weight of the trailer possibly could have stopped the truck from rolling which would have resulted in more serious injuries.
-All of the individuals in the car were wearing their seat belts (which saved their lives)
-The dash came down and Russ's legs were stuck. Had another car ran into the back of them, Russ would have lost his legs. I am so grateful that the truck behind them was able to pull over to the side of the road before hitting them.
-Russ just happened to have volunteered at an ER for a year during college and all of his training and experience there kicked in and he tried to remain calm, think of other things, and ask others questions so he wouldn't go into shock.
-The state trooper and ambulance workers said in a crash like this they are usually looking at serious injuries and death.
-The state trooper asked Russ if he was in the passengers seat then told him how lucky he was to be alive.

I am so grateful that my prayers were answered and that my husband made it home from scout camp. I am also so grateful for all the prayers that have been given in his behalf. I am so humbled for all the prayers that have been given for our family over the past couple years and am so grateful that I have BOTH of my BOYS at home with me today.

Happy Dad's day!

I am so grateful for the Fathers in my life and especially in Lincoln's life. Lincoln has the BEST daddy ever! I have never seen a father love their child more than Russ loves Lincoln. He always asks me to send him pictures of Link when he is at work. He is always so excited to see Link when he gets home. He loves to hang out with Link and always tells me all the adventures him and Link are going to have when Link gets older. He stays up at night looking at pictures of Lincoln or sneaking into his room to watch him sleep. He is such a GREAT husband and father! Lincoln is still a daddy's boy and loves Russ so much! The other day, I saw Russ pull up and I told Link that daddy was home. He ran to the stairs and ran to the door and waited at the door until Russ came in! What a pair these two are! I love my boys!!

This is probably not the best picture of Russ being a loving father but Link loves it when daddy throws him in the air.

Link is so blessed to have the grandfather he does. Russ's dad is an incredible person. Like Russ, he possesses so much love for his family members. He shows it in small ways but those small ways mean so much. All of his family members respect him and trust him. He is a great pillar of spiritual strength as well and allows the spirit to lead his words and actions. Since I'm still working part time, Link gets to spend time at Grandma and Grandpas and loves it when Grandpa comes in for lunch and when he gets to spend time with Grandpa.



I have conflicting emotions on Fathers Day. My father passed away 9 years ago so honestly, until last year the only way I celebrated Fathers day was to skip church (don't judge) and have a barbecue with my family. I was a teenager when my father passed away so I don't have too many memories of him but I will always remember that my father was a hard worker, very smart, loved to laugh, and loved his family. Here are some things that I remember about my father:
-He was a workaholic (like Russ) and when he wasn't at the office for tax season he was building houses (why not build houses in your spare time?!).
-He was always in the garage with his tools building something.
-He always woke us up in the morning in his awesome green and white striped robe (he later change it to navy) and sat in his famous brown chair and read us scriptures every morning without fail.
-He would try to wake us up in his cheery voice with corny jokes that he thought were hilarious.
-He was always telling jokes that he thought were funny.
-He'd fix my baked potatoes for me (that sounds so weird but he would get them out of the peel for all of us).
-He clipped my nails.
-He would get the guts out of my pumpkin.
-He would get the car for us when it was raining
-For holidays I would either get him socks, a tie, or a hammer. (I don't know what he did with all those hammers!)
-I remember asking him on a questionnaire I had for school what his dream job would be and he said a landscaper.
- The week before he passed away we were talking about what we would do if we only had a couple more months to live and he said that he would go to the temple more.
-I called him 'pop' and he called me 'dot'

I am grateful for the memories I have of my 'pop' and for the knowledge I have that families can be together FOREVER. Also, because of a lack of an earthly father, I've been able to grow closer to my Heavenly Father, for which I am eternally grateful.

I love to see the temple

A temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is being built in our small town! We feel so blessed to have this beautiful and sacred building just blocks away from our home! I am able to pass the temple and watch the construction every time I go to the grocery store! What a miracle this building is!

I have pictures from a couple months ago but have not downloaded them yet.

This is what the temple looked like about a month ago...

This is what the temple looks like today... (taken out the car window)

Tulips

The tulips were out so my mom, brother, and I took Link and my nephews to get pictures with the tulips! It was quite the adventure to get 4 boys 4 and under to smile for pictures.

SUMMER!

We are so excited for Summer to finally be here! Link loves visiting his grandmas house because we always go play outside! He was a little apprehensive about the sand at first but now I think he likes it well enough... he definitely loves to eat it! These pictures are from a couple months ago. Hopefully it's warm enough now to go outside without a jacket!