Happy New Year

A few months ago I won a blog giveaway for a free family photo session by Brittany LeSueur complete with hair/makeup by The Beauty Mark Girls. I was thrilled. I am always signing up for all these blog giveaways and nothing happens. But this time, I won. The pictures turned out beautiful and I considered for a second sending a Christmas/New Years card, but postage is expensive. I thought about doing some sort of E-card instead, but could never get motivated to actually put it together. So, pretend this post is a Christmas/New Years card from the Cardon's. Here's some of my favorite pics from the shoot, along with a short recap of 2013.

2013 was life-changing. On April 14^th, London was born and time has been flying by ever since. I just know I’m going to wake up one day and he’ll be graduating high school, and I’ll be wondering where the days went. Every day I’m just trying my best to catch up.

Once London was born, I quit my job at Brycon and started working from home, part-time, doing insurance billing for my dad’s chiropractic business. I also started babysitting two cute little girls (6 and 1½ years old) once a week. Our ward released me from my calling as ward pianist and primary teacher and instead called me as the primary pianist. (Bestcallingever!) Some big events for us this year included moving to a slightly bigger home across the parking lot from our old home, London’s first vacation (6 weeks old) to California for my grandparents’ wedding anniversary celebration, a trip to Utah in October for Scott’s sister’s wedding, London’s first Halloween, first Thanksgiving, first Christmas, and first NYE.

I’ve been on-the-job training for the past 8.5 months trying to figure out this “mom” thing. It has been pretty rigorous, exhausting, confusing, and frustrating, but it’s also been incredible, wonderful, amazing, and blissful. It’s this crazy whirlwind of ups and downs, but it’s also this constant feeling of gratitude, love, amazement, and happiness. There’s been a lot of growing in the Cardon house. London takes the cake for most physical growth. But Scott and I have also done our share of growing…growing into our new roles as parents and figuring out what that means for our relationship-how to be parents and partners too. There’s also been some spiritual growth as we begin to see God’s love for us with new eyes…the eyes of a parent. Heavenly Father must really love us to send His beloved son to earth to die for us. That point’s been reiterated over and over again in my life the past eight months. Truly, God loves us, His children.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

With Love,

The Cardon’s