Our Christmas Card

Since this month has been crazy we will not be sending out Christmas cards this year. However, this is what I would have sent had I sent one:)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

What a year the Pehrsons have had! We have been blessed beyond belief and have witnessed first hand the miracles that the Lord can do. This year our Christmas arrived a bit early. Lawson was born November 20th. It has indeed been a wonderful Christmas season. How wonderful to bring a baby into your home this time of year. It has helped us all contemplate the birth of our Savior a little deeper. Abby is an angel sent from above. I am still amazed that she would do this for our family. Ben- Ben has had a great year at work and continues to learn and grow with his job. We are so blessed to have him work so close to home for a great company that really takes care of their employees. He is such a proud little daddy and finally has the son he has always hoped for. He is such an amazing father and husband. He is definitely the fun parent:) Emilee- What a year it has been for me. I went in the hospital last February and miraculously have had one of the best years in a very long time. It has been 9 years since I was able to stay out of the hospital this long. We know that the Lord has blessed us tremendously and pray that I can stay out for a while longer since we have a newborn at home. I am so thrilled to have our boy here and in our home. He has been along time coming. In February of 2008 I knew we were supposed to have a baby and that is was going to be a boy. I have been doing everything I could think of to be able to get him here. It is amazing the plan the Lord has for us if we submit to His will. The peace I have knowing my family is all together at last is something that is unexplainable. Cambree- Cambree started first grade this year and has done really well. Waking up that early has been a challenge but I think we are finally getting the hang of it. She loves to read and is becoming such a good little reader. She is doing great in school and we are so proud of her. Cambree is so excited to have a little brother and so far has been an exceptional big sister. I was a little worried about the transition but she has really surprised us. Lawson- What a sweet little boy. He reminds me so much of Cambree with his expressions and mannerisms. Im excited to get to see his little personality come out, but Im thinking he is going to be a lot like his dad which is obviously a good thing. I'm pretty sure he loves the elephants in his room and is so happy about the football lamp his dad picked out for him. He told me that he would like bottles, diapers, and formula for Christmas so we will see how the big guy does with that. I am so grateful for this amazing Christmas season and the peace that can come with it. I pray that we can all have our hearts open with love and joy as we remember why we celebrate Christmas. I hope you all know of our gratitude and love for each of you for your love and support through our journey this year. We have certainly felt it. Merry Christmas! Love, Ben, Emilee, Cambree and Lawson

He's Here!

I cant believe that my beautiful baby boy is finally here! What an amazing experience we have all been through. I am so blessed beyond belief. I often wonder why me? Why am I so blessed, what did I do to deserve so much? I literally have had all my dreams and prayers come true and it is overwhelming and humbling. Words will never express the love and gratitude that I have for Abby for having enough faith to take this journey with me. I know I will never be worthy of all I have received but will live my life trying. Lawson was born on November 20, 2010 at 8:38 pm. He weighed 4lbs 10 oz and was 17 1/2inches long. He is such a sweet boy and looks so much like his sister did. I feel like I am having deja vu sometimes when I see him. He has been in the NICU for 2 weeks now. He was 7 weeks and 2 days early. I pray we will be able to bring him home soon and get a little bit of normalacy in our lives. What an amazing gift to bring home during this Christmas season.

Meeting his angel for the first time.

Cambree meeting her brother for the first time. Priceless...

Proud mommy!

Lawson was getting ready to sneeze. I think he looks like ET here:)

This pic is one of my favorites. Daddy finally got his boy.

So sweet! His first sponge bath. He was ticked.

Ironic

Definition: incongruity between what is expected to be and what actually is, or a situation or result showing such incongruity. Today was ironic. Why, you ask? Well seeing as how I planned a shower a few weeks ago for this exact day only to find that within 10 min. of the shower starting we get a call to come to the hospital Abby is in active labor. Yes, I find that ironic. The best part of it all was while on the way deciding to turn on the radio only to find Alanis' hit ironic blaring through the speakers. Oh yes, I see irony. I actually started laughing. I really do think God is a comedian sometimes. Im glad he has a sense of humor. It makes me happy to know he gets me:) So I am sitting in the hospital looking at my beautiful sister in law and wondering how we got to this point. My gratitude is beyond anything I can ever express. I cry every time I talk about it. This is an amazing experience and although I thought I knew what I was gettin into I dont hink there is anything that could have prepared me for this and what I would be feeling. I feel horrible knowing that she is going through this for me but beyond grateful that she would. The only thing I can compare it too is the Atonement. I know I will never fully understand either, but I pray that I will spend my life showing my love and gratitude through my actions. My cup runneth over.

Cornbellys and Halloween

This year we took Cambree to Cornbellys at Thanksgiving Point. It was a lot of fun. We had a great Halloween. Cornbellys had a few "scary" things you could walk through. Needless to say Cambree was horrified. Cambree and I trying to be scary. Just Ben and I being our goofy selves. Children of the corn

Me and my girl while getting lost.

Finally we made it! Victory it was.

We had such a fun time!

Cambree loves to get her face painted. I think it turned out pretty cute.

This year my brother Spencer and Ben went as Bert and Ernie. It was hilarious.

Cambree was a witch this year. Such a cute little witch.

The annual Ericksen family Halloween bash.

Carving our pumpkins. My brother is pleased:)

The finished project!

The kids and their craziness.

Halloween night I wore the Bert costume. We went to Bens aunt Kathi's and his uncle Kenny showed up in this bear costume. It was pretty funny.

Just before trick or treating. She had a blast not going to the trunk or teat this year. She loved it.

Disney Vacation 2010

We decided to take one final vacation with just the three of us. Cambree was so excited. I have found however, that the only big vacations we have taken Cambree on have involved Disneyland or Disney World. Although we have the best time and I would rank this vacation as one of my top 3 we definitely need to find a new vacation spot for the next few years. We have vowed to wait at least 3 years before coming back. So any advice on where to vacation with a baby and a 6 year old would be greatly appreciated. One of the highlights of our vacation. Seeing Princess Tiana on our last day! Cambree just chilling in the back as we drove into Anaheim. She is so good on these long drives.

Our first ride, Space mountain or during Halloween season, Ghost Galaxy. Lets just say Disney's idea of a ghost actually is what I picture Satan himself to look like while submerged in the depths of hell. Talk about a scary demon. Cambree was not thrilled as shown above.

The infamous tea cups, Ben was not happy as show by his totally fake smile. We were so excited to see Alice and crew. We have never seen them before and Cambree was so happy.

I love Ben and tigger, hilarious! On the tram for another day of fun!

I love the Halloween decorations

Minnie getting ready for take off outside of Soarin over California.

We decided to do something really fun for Cambree so we went to Studio 365 and they turned her into a rock star. She loved how she looked. Sitting patiently. I wish she was this good when I do her hair.

Waiting to see what she looks like. The finished product. Everyone kept telling her how cute she looked. She said to me, "Mom, that lady that did my hair kept calling me a rock star. Do I look like a rock star?" I said, "Yes, you do look like a rockstar."

"I feel like a rock star!"

It was so cute. She also kept saying this was the best day of her life. She is too funny. Melted my heart.

We went on Peter Pans flight for the first time and absolutely loved it. When it was over Cambree said, "That was my first time flying."

Bug eyes! We really wanted to see Goofy, but we settled for his son Max:) I had a great friend that made Cambree the cutest autograph book, people kept asking us where we got it. We had a goofy page but had Max sign it instead. Thanks Heather you are the best!

Woody and the green army man. We saw some characters that we have never seen before. We also saw Jessie. So fun! I thought this was such a cute picture. As soon as we got done some guy came and got in. It was really funny. All the times we have been to California with Cambree this was her first time to see the ocean or be on the beach since she was one, which really doesnt count since she cant remember a bit of it. She loved it. She wanted to surf. We may just need to move here to get a little surfer and I can breath so much easier its so nice!

Isnt she the cutest? I absolutely love this picture! I need to get it blown up. Its so cute!

Good-bye to California for the next few years. I cant wait to bring my baby boy here and have him love it all as much as we do!