Thanksgiving and Bagley Christmas Party

LAST CALL FOR BEING ADDED TO THE EMAIL LIST! I AM GOING PRIVATE WITH MY BLOG SOON! EMAIL ME YOUR ADDRESS AT julieLbagley@gmail.com. or leave a comment here!! 

We had an awesome Thanksgiving! It was so neat spending so much time off of work and with my family. I love spending as much time as possible with Autumn as I can. I feel like we really bond when I am able to be with her all day long. Today I had a bad headache when I cam home from work so I couldn't be with her when I really wanted to. Luckily though I was able to spend some great quality time with her later in the evening. She is such a fun baby! Tonight Spencer said that he can't help but just look at Autumn and smile. She LOVES attention from us. And she lets us know if we are not giving her enough. I gave her a bath and she got too cold and I felt soooo bad! I snuggled her up as quick as I could. Just those moments when you think you are a great mom and then you do something like make your baby too cold that she shakes in the tub! I guess I am still learning. I just want so badly to be a great mother and raise an amazing child. She has so much to learn and such important work to do that I want her to become the BEST person she can be without taking after my mistakes and errors I make along the way. I feel like she has a fresh start. I want to teach her correct habits and the best way to do that is to lead by example. That means I need to be a perfect example, which is not always easy! I love Autumn so much. I never knew how much I could love my daughter. It is the most incredible gift to be a mother. And what makes it that much more special is that my baby has an amazing personality. She just lights up my whole world and makes everything seem not so grey. 

I went to see my internal medicine doctor and a homeopath on Monday. I am going to be getting some blood work done to make sure everything comes back normal. The homeopath is Mark Johnson and was referred to me by some very close friends. He gave me some drops to help raise my adrenal levels. He thinks that my body never quite fully recovered from pregnancy, labor, and delivery. It's like all the wires are there, but they aren't in the right order. His goal is to boost my levels in hopes that things will start working right again. I really hope and pray that they will! My family did a fast for myself and my step dad Smokey who has been in the hospital for a blood infection and pneumonia. I really felt the power of prayer this past Sunday. My mom sent me a text the other day and it really struck me! She said the Heavenly Father does want me to get better. I never really thought of it that way. I always thought, throughout this whole experience, that he wanted me to feel this way so I could learn certain things about myself. While I think this is partly true, I also know that Heavenly Father wants me to be happy and live a long, fulfilled life. I am grateful for the blessings I have received from my loving husband. Each time I have received a blessing he has said that I would be healed. I have held on to that so tightly and done everything I can to be worthy of that. 

This whole experience has truly taught me what it means to have PATIENCE, LONG SUFFERING, COMPASSION, and LOVE FOR OTHERS. I recently read a blog about love. www.ablogaboutlove.com. Love can heal our hearts. I always had a problem that I would be kind of snappy when I was in a lot of pain. That if something I was asking for wasn't getting done right away, I would get impatient. After all, I was suffering and the other person wasn't! I have been taught that even in the worst of circumstances, no matter how bad I am feeling or how little control of my environment I feel, it is never ok to be mean to those around me. I need to be loving, kind, patient, and courteous. After all, what gives me the right to be that way anyway? So Heavenly Father has a great plan for all of us. He knows exactly the kind of trials that will purify us. I know that many people have more difficult things they dealing with than what I have been given. In a blessing recently I was told that I need to look for the things in my life to be grateful for. I have been trying to do that every day since. Today I am grateful for a healthy baby who is happy, beautiful, and my own. I am also grateful for my job, my wonderful fun and caring husband who takes amazing care of me when I am sick, and a great job. I also am grateful for my family, friends, and our cars. 

I will keep y'all updated on how the drops work! I am truly motivated to get better and I feel like I will be better by Christmas. That is my prayer and hope anyway!

Autumn was a trooper the whole way up to Richmond. She slept most of the way and did not cry or fuss at all! I hope she is this good when we drive to Oregon for Christmas!

I love this corduroy Winnie the Pooh overall outfit. She is nearly too big for it already!

The boys were in charge of hanging up all of the Christmas lights for Grandpa Bagley. There were a lot!

Autumn and her new jacket from Kid to Kid. She loves to crawl around outside. 

And she does not take a binkie anymore!

Grandma and Grandpa with their great grand daughter

Thanksgiving meal was delicious! The rolls and gravy were to die for. All of Spencer's extended family on the Bagley side were there except for one child did not make it. It was really fun to get together with all of Spencer's cousins. A lot of them are girls and most of them are in their 20s!

After eating pie we headed home. A couple days later was the Bagley Family Christmas Party 2012. Each year a new child is in charge of planning the reunion. This year Kirk and Janis planned it. We started off by eating a lasagna dinner and yummy desserts! Autumn started off in one outfit and a few hours later was in her third! She got sick the day after Thanksgiving and was still recovering. Poor girl!

They played the newlywed game with a few of the couples. Spencer's parents are second from the right. They got 2nd place...surprisingly! Not my words :)

Spencer as Santa Claus! He told Kirk that Kirk was his least favorite uncle as a joke. Kirk later said later that he could make it up to him by being Santa Claus! He did a fantastic job. Love my red man!

Above: Brandon

Below: Bella (a cousin)

Richard

Great story here! Autumn was asleep in my arms when they started to hand out gifts. When they called her name I walked her up to her daddy. She woke up for a few seconds, and then suddenly fell asleep! I was lucky enough to get it on camera!

Autumn's First Christmas on Santa's lap! 

2012

Everyone told me to kiss santa. His beard was so soft!

Ben

Michael

Christie--due in a few weeks!

Grandpa Bagley holding his precious grand daughter

All the Bagley girls! 

Cindy, Sarah, Christie, Michelle, Nan, Monica, Camille, Crystal, Ruby, Julie, Autumn, Janis, Bella, Amanda, Nan, Celeste, Billy Lu, Criane, Diane, Teri

Bagley Boys

Michael, James, Brandon, Bronzen, Taylor, Kirk, Grant, Brad, Frank, Craig, Ben, Hayden, Tyler, Spencer, Craig, Grant, Nate, Josh, Tanner, Richard

If you were to ask me a couple years ago to name everyone I would have been SO LOST!

Spencer has a great family. They are all very fun and loving people. I feel like I fit right in and have known these people my entire life! I love them. I cherish these memories while the grandparents are still alive. I know it won't always be this way. I think extended family is so important to know and love. I only wish I was closer to my dad's side of the family. They are all spread apart and non LDS so it is hard to stay connected. Facebook helps though! 

After the party we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and took our BYU vs. Utah State photos. I hope you all had a wonderful, delightful Thanksgiving!