A couple of days ago David was reading a forum online discussing Christmas. The people talking were absorbed with gifts, not buying gifts, buying gifts, where to get the money, not getting any gifts so as not to send a loved one into a guilt trip on not being able to afford anything, opinions on how Christmas was just for kids but they enjoyed getting together with family and having pie anyway, opinions on how Christmas was nothing more than commercialism at its biggest etc.

Last week we got a call from David's friend, Robert. He and his wife, Hailey, are going to be here in December. We'll have friends for Christmas! Hurray!

The last couple of days Jonathan and I have been a little under the weather. David has been so sweet taking Jonathan and letting me sleep, cuddling us and showing us lots of love despite the fact that I feel ucky and am completely unattractive right now. David really is great. I have such a wonderful husband!

Things are finally beginning to cool of here in Cyprus. The mornings have suddenly grown cold and the tile floors get chilly. In the mornings I'll change Jonathan's diaper, take off his pajamas to change him and go wash up. When I leave, Jonathan generally follows me out the door to go off exploring; in doing so, his bare skin comes in contact with the icy floor. Not liking the cold against his small warm belly, he'll try to balance himself on his hands and knees. It's really fun to watch.

For General Conference this year, we got to see it all at the church. That comes to five hours of church for the last two Sundays; that's a lot, and when you've got a small child who makes noise and needs to get down and play it's way too much. I look forward to being able to watch it at home again one day instead.

Today in church we viewed and partook of all four hours of the Saturday sessions of the 178th Semiannual General Conference. Watching them while knowing we were a day ahead yet a day behind in the conference is strange to think on.

David and I hug and squeeze Jonathan a lot. He loves squeezes. He'll put his little arms around our necks; he's so cuddly. Every now and again he'll lay his head on our shoulder and give us a hug all by himself. Those little squeezes melt my heart.

Jonathan has many faces. His smiles are the greatest. Today, however, I've seen a new one. For some reason, he keeps crinkling up his nose on the left side of his face. It's really cute, but I have no idea where he got that from.

This morning was absolutely wonderful.

For the first time in quite a while, I woke up at 6:30 with Jonathan and was awake! Early morning is my favorite time of day and due to lack of sleep and a constant state of fatigue I have dozed and slept through all of my mornings for months.

It was like coming out of a fog. I had energy and the world had color and everything seemed bright and cheery again - even though clouds covered the sky promising rain.

Good morning. Oh, what a blessing it was!

Well, just for a quick update. Jonathan crawled up his first step last Thursday, September 18. We were at the church to play the piano and he crawled up the step onto the small platform to get to me. He crawls around on my feet trying to figure out what my feet are doing. It makes pedaling difficult but it's fun to watch him explore.