Just Jordan

Boone and Calder playing with the kitchen Santa brought. Our nephew, Pace, sporting Calder's Team Canada jersey Our niece, Harper. Our niece, Madison, and Hugh's brother, Billy.

Our Christmas #1 in photos. 

On Sunday we went to the Mall at Lawson Heights to get the boys' photo with Santa. Unfortunately, Santa from last year was not there. Please send some love to his family . . . we heard he passed away. Read about our great experiences with him HERE . The new Santa was an incredibly kind man and the boys did great. We thought we better get a shot of Calder alone in case Boone didn't cooperate. As you can see, we had no problems with cooperation from Boone. He even snuggled in to Santa for the last shot. He takes after his brother. Here is Calder's first photo shoot with Santa. We were in Rapid City, SD spending Christmas with my brother, Luke.

I had an incredible conversation at a Christmas party last week. There were tears and laughs and I walked away trying to remember all the things we spoke about because it felt like many of them directly touched my heart. The woman I spoke with, like me, has an intimate relationship with grief. Although K. is 25 years ahead of me on her journey and the loss she suffered quite different, I feel like she knows exactly how I feel. I have known of K's loss for a number of years. She reached out to me after Tripp died and has sent me many kind and considerate words over the last 2 years. Even though I knew about her loss, I had never heard her entire story. She shared with me the events leading up to and following the death of her beloved. I found myself repeating, "I would not have been able to do that" over and over in my head. Even as I thought it, I smiled at my own mistake. MANY people have told me that they wouldn't have been able to function, or go on if they los...

If you haven't heard about Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson's anti-gay remarks, then you probably aren't on Facebook and must not have seen the news or read the paper for a few days. Here is exactly what he said from the Huffington Post : “It seems like, to me, a vagina -- as a man -- would be more desirable than a man’s anus," Robertson told GQ. "That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.” “Everything is blurred on what’s right and what’s wrong. Sin becomes fine," he later added. “Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men. Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers -- they won’...

A good friend posted THIS on her Facebook wall stating, "Jordan  this reminded me of some of the great yet terrible ways you have taught me to be a better friend."  How true. Good can come from tragedy if we choose to learn from it.  The article is titled, "6 Mistakes People Make When a Friend's Child Dies", but I think the lessons transfer to a number of situations.  For me #4 really hit home. The first Christmas is hard and seeing pictures of other people's healthy bundles ripped at my soul. I found birth announcements even harder. I know they were never sent with the intention to hurt, but part of me just felt like healthy babies were all around me, yet I didn't have the one I wanted in my arms. The cards were a fast reminder of how unfair things had become in my life and what I had lost. Just over a year after Tripp passed my cousin and his wife sent me a birth announcement and thank-you card for their precious little bundle M. Inside the  envel...

I have a cold. It was not on the To-Do list. Calder got one on Wednesday, but is luckily starting to feel better. I am not sure what's up with Boone. He seemed to have the start of the cold on Saturday with a fever (didn't have a thermometer so couldn't actually check) and then on Sunday he woke up with this pus filled blister: Bad quality of shot, but it was hard to snap our wiggly, screaming child. Both Hugh and I wanted to document it. Have you read THIS story? Actress, Sarah Chalke, saved her son's life by being taking things into her own hands. She ultimately aided doctors' discovery of what was wrong with her son by documenting his symptoms with pictures. I am not saying this blister is the start of some horrific disease. I just feel like it is so easy to snap a picture, it is worth the little fight and few tears to get it. You can see in the shot it is quite red around the blister. The doctor at the walk-in clinic had no idea how he could have gotten in...