Merry Christmas

I woke up early this morning and I had some time before the girls woke ups, so I watched this video. It really touched me and reminded me about sacrifice and our Savior.  We don't just celebrate that a baby was born today, we celebrate a man that lived, sacrifices, atoned for our sins, died for us, and lives again.  He sacrificed everything for us; his life, his spirit, he suffered for every one of our sins.



Christ said, "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." This video really got me thinking. I've felt rather guilty lately that I haven't had the time or the capacity to serve like I wish that I could. But it reminded me of another scripture about walking faster than we have strength. I wish I could go volunteer in orphanages in South America, but right now I'm needed here at home. The people in this video only had one day to give, and that is what they gave. There were other who could volunteer there several days a week, but I know that the Lord accepted these people's sacrifices with joy because it was all they could give. The Lord has said this, "And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost” 3 Nephi 9:20.

This year, I hope that Christ will accept my sacrifice and know that I love Him.  I want to give more, but I hope He will still accept what I have to give. Merry Christmas.

From Idaho to Iraq

Idaho

This is poor Oaklie passed out yesterday after the shots she got for her four month appointment.  12 lbs, 14 oz (31%) and 24 in long (52%). She is such a little shrimp! Pretty amazing considering that Amaya was over 16 lbs at this age! It's so fun to see how different each child is.  She is such a little sweetie pie and we have had so much fun the last 4 months!

We had a fun party over at my parents' neighbors last night and Amaya met Santa Clause. A lot of little kids are scared of Santa but Amaya is a little trooper.  She loves meeting new people and is definately not stranger wary, which is such a blessing!

 After sizing up Santa, she decide he was an okay guy.  She was definately won over by the candy cane!

 Amaya and Uncle Nate. He was just looking for an excuse to sit on Santa's lap,

Can you tell this was an Idaho Santa?

Iraq

 Keeping a strick diet.

 

A really small Palace. Right!!!!

 The classic war picture of soldiers and the sun going down.

 My Platoon with our sweet shades that someone sent to us. They are Nike.

 The Vietnam Vet, Me, and My Mexican. This is my crew, SPC Sutton, myself, and SPC Vargas. They both work really hard and are good guys.

 Another day on the job.

I promise I went to the Water Palace and I didn't just steal the picture of it off the interent. I have the evidence to prove it.



While You Were Away

This post is dedicated to our favorite Dad!

Oaklie 

She is such a sweet little girl and is getting funner by the day! She is so patient when Amaya tries to play little mommy and loves her big sis! Oaklie has just started laughing and giggling.  She has a big jelly belly laugh! It's so cute.  She can roll from her belly to her back which comes in handy since she hates tummy time. And she is one heck of a sleeper.  8:00 pm-8:00 am. I really can't claim any credit here, I think Oaklie was born pre-programmed, she is such a sweetie!

Amaya

She is such a funny little girl! She learns something new everyday and loves to copy her mom and take care of Oaklie.  She is starting to say a lot of new words.  Some of her favorites are "Oh-ee" (Oaklie), "Peas" (Please, she knows she can get almost anything with that word!) "Oh, wow!" "Nose" (she then sticks her fat little finger up my nose!) and "DA!" She loves talking to Dallas on Skype and being a dork. They make silly faces and say hi! Yesterday she was freaking out when I was trying to IM him without her "helping". She thought I was being SO mean! All she wanted to do was talk to her dad! I pulled out a video of Dallas reading a story and she watched it 5 times in a row, totally content. She is such a sweetheart and definately entertaining.

 I gave in and bought my girls some matching outfits. I think they look so cute in them, but I couldn't get a decent picture of them together!  The bottom left one is with family, the baby in the middle is their second cousin, who happened to also be wearing black and pink!

These two girls sure love each other a lot. Oaklie saves her biggest smiles and loudest laughs for Amaya. Amaya loves to take a break from terrorizing the house to come over and give Oaklie hugs and kisses, These were taken this morning while I was getting the girls ready. As you can see, Oaklie was done and I was about to start on Amaya. I can't wait until these two are big enough to play together--I think they'll be best buddies!

Below is a video overload. I can't email Dallas videos because they are too big for email format, so I included them on the blog. 

1. Amaya cooking

2. Amaya's latest and greatest love is Sesame Street! Don't tell, but she is getting a DVD for Christmas!

3. Amaya doing Zumba (if you're only going to watch one, this is the one to see)

4. Some more sisterly love. Oaklie is so patient!

5. Giggly Girls (my favorite of the bunch!)

Also, check out a new feature of the blog at the bottom--one touch comments. Just click on a button and tell us what you think--so fun! Or just leave us a regular ol' comment!

Pictures from Iraq

 my awesome Christmas set up that I got from my wife.

 famous cross sabers. we live around some pretty amazing historical land marks that saddam had built.

 riding in the humvee

hard at work

 As for me I am staying busy and having fun.  Things are a lot different this time than last time.  It is amazing to see how much Iraq has progressed.  It is still very dirty, but the goverment and the army/police seem to have things a little under control.

--Dallas

Updates from Iraq

Yup, it's official, Dallas is in Iraq. Aka: The Giant Sandbox. 

Just a sidenote: Don't google pictures of Iraq unless you want to be tramatized.

After spending a few days in Kuwait, Dallas called me Thanksgiving night to tell me that he arrived safely in-country. YAY! I was excited because the sooner he got to Iraq, the sooner he could come home! Kuwait was a bummer, 10-20 minute phone calls every 2-3 days.  Since he got to Iraq communication has been MUCH better. All I have to say is:

+

=

I LOVE SKYPE! It's awesome.  Talking to Dallas on Skype has been soooo great.  It's so very, very fun.  Skype is about a million times better than phone calls because you can see one anothers faces and expressions, so you don't have as many communication confusions as on the phone and it's a lot more fun to joke around and tease. 

Dallas is doing really well.  He's got a great roommate, he says the rooms are nice, the food is good, and the gym is REALLY good.  If you know Dallas, you know that having a nice gym is a big deal!  Right now he's just learning the ropes from the guys who they're replacing, so he's been pretty busy. Dallas loves being a soldier and he said this in his email the other day, "I am having fun and of course I'm being safe. I want nothing more to take care of the business that we have to here and then bring all the guys back that came with and come home to you guys." I don't want to brag, but I think I have a pretty great husband.

Amaya likes to talk to her dad on the computer.  At first she seemed a little amazed, but after Dallas said her name she pointed at the screen and said, "Da!" I was amazed that she remembered him and was able to recognize him on the computer screen.  They waved back and forth and said "Hi" about a thousand times, but it was really neat that they were able to interact, even though Amaya probably thought it was pretty confusing.  Dallas has been able to see Oaklie on Skype which has been really good too because they were only able to spend about a week together before he left, so it's been fun for him to watch her play!

No pictures from Iraq yet, but here's a couple Dal sent me before he left Mississippi.

Dallas' email address is on the sidebar and if you would like his mailing address, just email me @ carissajclark@gmail.com