2012 Year In Review

It is hard to believe the girls have grown up so much this past year but when I look back at pictures from months ago it is evident that they have. I lately have felt a real urgency to be grateful and righteous and happy. With so much tragedy and sadness around us all of the time, be it on the evening news or with loved ones we pray for, I am reminded how blessed we are and how fragile life is. It is a strange sensation to understand that time is ticking by at a rapid speed and that I need to stop everything and enjoy my 2 year old, however still pray the time passes quickly in the same moment for different reasons. I do my best to try to be in the moment and love the time spent best when we are all together doing the things that we love most as a family.

So, here is to a fabulous 2012 and the Cosby Family's Top 10 events of the year:
* Olivia finally potty training.
* Isabelle finishing Kindergarten top of her class.
* A Disneyland adventure with Tara in April.
* Isabelle getting confident on her bike and taking off at lightning speed.
* Visiting a different park most Saturday mornings in the summer with a donut.
* Grandpa buying the girls Livi-Bell and spending the summer in Montana.
* Ben buying his first ever company...in his own name.
* Olivia only wearing princess costumes daily and changing 100X a day.
* Running multiple races as a family.
* Mom keeping up the blog.


Cheers to a healthy, happy and equally successful 2013.

Silent Night, Holy Night

For some reason Christmas seemed to sneak up on me this year.  I knew it would be December 25th just like every other year and I had my Christmas cards printed by Thanksgiving, but for some reason I just never felt ready this year...and now it is over and done.


Our trip to Dallas helped us get into the festive spirit and after a good nights rest it was time for Christmas Eve.  We had a fun day of tennis and bike rides outside since the weather was so nice and enjoyed a Christmas Eve pajama party that evening with my folks and Tara.  We ate our traditional "Holiday Nachos" as well as little smokies, shrimp, cheeseballs and lots of sweets.  Soon it was time to read our On This Special Night book and get snuggled in our bed for a long winter's nap.

Sugar plums must have been dancing in the girls heads because we didn't hear a peep from them until almost 7:00am.  We were all surprised with Santa's generous gifts and found a few crumbs and his leftover lime he had eaten.  (Isabelle left him a sugar cookie and lime??  I guess to go with his Diet Coke?)  The highlights of this year's gifts were the American Girl Dolls that the girls received, a Lego table and lots of legos, a Houston Zoo Membership and Olivia's red sparkly Dorthy shoes.  Grammie, Grandpa and Tara came over again to see all of our loot and to play with some of our new toys and before we knew it the day was drawing near and it was time for a yummy Christmas dinner made by Grammie.

The girls were thrilled and exhausted after a magical Christmas day and once again we found ourselves tucked into our beds and this time being grateful for all that we have been blessed with.  I am not sure what I could have done differently this year to be more "prepared" or to feel more of the "Christmas spirit" but the holidays came and went regardless of my feelings.  I am so grateful for the Savior and for Mary's brave soul. Now that I am a mother I can't help but feel extra reverence for Mary and Joseph and the feelings they must have felt on that Holy Night.

All is calm, all is bright. 

Round yon virgin, mother and child.

Holy infant so tender and mild.

Sleep in Heavenly peace, sleep in Heavenly peace.

Pre-Christmas, Cosby style in DFW

With several of the brothers making a stop home at the Cosby Homestead this holiday season we knew we needed to plan a trip north too, so we decided to skip the last two days of 1st grade for the year and packed our bags for some holiday fun.


And fun it was indeed. We played games, danced, visited ICE at the Gaylord Texas, danced some more, opened Christmas presents, performed the Nativity play, went tubing on man-made snow and danced a little more. The girls loved all of the action and busyness of a full house and Ben and I loved seeing lots of our Cosby family who we don't get to see nearly enough.


Grandma and Grandpa gave the girls Disney's Rapunzel dress-up costumes for Christmas and they loved not only dressing themselves up but all of their uncles as well. Thankfully Jacob, Seth, Joe and Gordon were all good sports and took turns being the Prince.

Quickly the time passed and we were packing our bags yet again but this time to head home as a foursome instead. We were all sad to say our goodbyes but grateful that we could spend a few days with (most of) our family in Dallas. Thankfully the thought of it being Christmas Eve-Eve and Mr. Clause filling his sleigh made the trip home a bit more exciting that usual and soon we were tucked into our own beds at home. What a blessing this time of year is and also the feasibility we have to travel and visit loved ones often.

I wish it could be Christmas all year long.