Lanamia

A few weeks ago, Chad and I were looking over a cd that his uncle had sent him over Christmas. It had the Nelson genealogy and also some stories about the Nelson ancestors. As we were reading through it, we noticed the name Lanamia. What? How had I never seen this name? We continued reading and found out that Mia is short for Marie!!! No joke. It amazed us both!

We read further down and found a history of Lanamia. She was Chad's third great grandma. Originally from Sweden, she was one of the first in her family to hear the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and migrate to Utah. Tooele, Utah to be exact. Which is right where my Dad's family (the Brown's) settled after they heard the gospel. Crazy!

 When I was thinking about names for Lana I knew I wanted an "L" name. Randomly Chad talked about the name Lana. I first associated it with Superman, of course:) He did too but had also known a Lana in Arizona. Marie partially came from an ex of Chad's. Surprise. Surprise. And it just sounded good with Lana.
I always look through the family charts when trying to pick a middle name. Kelsie's middle name, Sophia, is from Chad's side and Lana's middle name, Marie, is similar to the Maria's I found from his family.

Just another testament to me of how very close our ancestors are to us. I know that this is no coincidence that there names are so similar. I feel certain we were lead to this name and that there is a special connection to those who came before us.

Valentine's Craft

I made 4 of these Valentine's boxes for V Day this year. They took a little time but I want to make some more next year too. I really enjoy making simple things like this. You start with flat pieces of paper and end up with a pretty box. Cool.

I found the tutorial on Mel's Kitchen. I love this blog anyways for recipes and such. My favorite is her tut on making Lion House Rolls. The best rolls ever!

DIY Valentine Chocolate Boxes

Lana at 6 1/2 Months

Oh Lana Lou! I seriously love this girl! If I all the babies I have are just like this one I will have many babies! I AM NOT KIDDING! She is such a sweet and relaxed baby. The only times she really cries is when she is hungry or tired. I still think she looks a lot like my side of the fam. Mostly the eyes. Babies are just so great. They are so pure with every emotion and action. I love seeing her trying to understand how things work. She loves all types of food and has yet to refuse anything. I even ground up some salmon and broccoli together the other night and she ate it. The first bite she did do a little cough but kept going. What a trooper! She's been rolling from her belly to her back since about 4 months now. Sits up like a champ. Loves her sister like crazy. She is always trying to see what Kels is doing. Kels is always ready to entertain and be my little helper. Love these girls!

6 month stats:

Weight: 17.11 lbs 90%

Length: 27 in 90%

Head: 17 75%

Tucson Christmas Trip 2012

The only picture that was taken of this trip and of course who has there tongue sticking out? My child. By the way, she has never even done that in pic before. What a goof ball! Actually, that's probably not completely accurate. Kels did get a play camera for Christmas and took a plethora of random, blurry pictures. Many of the dog, Cody.

The twelve hour drive was broken up on the way down with a stop at my friend Trish's house in Vegas. It was seriously so nice of her to let us stay with her and so good to see my old roomy. Definitely need another girls trip with her.

I also met up with another one of my old Dixie roommates in Phoenix the next day. We stopped for lunch and were able to meet her husband.  Taking my family back in time with many younger Beth stories:)

We were able to stay in Tucson for about a week. Mostly, we just enjoyed each others company, worked on a 1000 piece puzzle and ate Cherry Coconut Bars like they were going out of style. We did venture back up to Phoenix for a Christmas Eve party with the fam. That is where this pic is from. It's times like those that I wish we lived a little closer so we could hang out a little more often. We also went to the Arizona-Senora Desert Museum. The best part was the bird show. They had all sorts of birds flying over us. It was pretty neat.  Next time, we are going to Biosphere 2. A bit pricey but I think it looks fascinating!

On the trek back to Utah, we stopped in Hurricane to stay there for the night. Both girls actually did really well the whole car ride. Kels really enjoyed seeing her Arizona family. She loved playing in the warmth outside. Ahh. Makes me want to move.....

Just kidding...found a pic on my phone from our stay at the Days Inn in Hurricane!