Maxwell Adams Tesch

On Monday April 27th 2009 our little Maxwell was born. We have all been anticipating his arrival with excitement, and are so grateful that everything went so smoothly. He was 6 lbs 6 ounces and 18 inches long. Probably the most memorable thing that we witnessed was when Dad brought Davis into meet little Max. He climbed up on the bed and, without saying a word, leaned over and kissed his new little brother and gave him the most tender hug; it was very touching! Welcome to the world Max! We love you!

Blessed Beyond Measure

A story to promote faith:
About three weeks ago, for family night, Jake and I decided to take an hour and evaluate our lives and make goals for the year, and also to see what needed changing, etc. Jake had been talking about maybe getting a new job that would make more money for us to be able to buy our house, and we didn't have any leads, or any idea of what else he could do. But we both knew that something would come up if it was right.

I said to him, "We have been so blessed this last year, it's like I want to do everything right to keep them coming!" We then decided that the only commandment in our lives that we aren't that great at keeping is the law of the fast. Since I can't fast during pregnancy, I decided that I would "fast" by giving up watching TV for a week, like a "TV fast", and then the following Sunday, Jake would fast for the both of us. Jake decided to TV fast with me, which was really nice of him because our nightly ritual is to watch Seinfeld and Leno. :) So we played games instead (which was really much more fun than watching TV).

That Thursday, only three days later, a friend of Jake's randomly contacted him at Toyota, asked him if he was happy there, and offered him a job at his dealership where he would have the immediate potential to make double what he was making at Toyota. Needless to say, we knew that this came straight from heaven, and Jake started his new job the following Monday, one week from the day we had our family night, and one day after our special fast. Not only will Jake be blessed materially with this new job, but his new boss is a really great LDS guy, and so are all of his co-workers. He's not surrounded by all of the dirty talk and cursing like he was at Toyota. After his first week there, he told me that he felt freer, like his spirit could finally breathe! We feel blessed beyond measure, and because of our efforts in 2008 to take our spirituality to another level by reading, praying, and studying more, I know that all of these things are coming to us from a loving Heavenly Father, who desires to reward us for our faithful efforts.

I just want all of you to know that I know that whatever good happens to us in our lives is not a product of anything that WE have done. God is just waiting to pour down blessings, but he can't do it until we show him that we will reward HIM by our faithfulness. This gospel means everything to me, and without it, I would be left to my own strength and my own meagre knowledge, such dull and lightless tools when compared the strength and knowledge of the Father. I am just grateful that I have the gospel and can daily reap the rewards of life, because I know WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT -- and that knowledge is the only reason why I can be happy and grateful, even though I don't nearly have everything that I want :) Anyway, I just wanted to share that story with you, which really sheds some light on what's going on in our lives. We are just so grateful. And this year is going to bring so many wonderful things to our family. I am so excited!

Davis' New Bed

Our second priority with Davis before the baby comes was getting him to sleep in a toddler bed. I was gearing up for failure, and night after night of having to tell him to go back to his bed. To my pleasant surprise, Davis has slept in his bed for almost two weeks and hasn't tried to get out even once. He loves his ABC quilt and new dots pillow, and he has made the change so easy for us. He is such a little angel. Really, every night I lay him down I realize, "I didn't even have to get mad at him for one thing today." He is so pleasant, and so afraid of punishment of any kind, that he just submits like a champ! I feel so blessed and lucky to have him.

Here's our little angel asleep in his new bed:

Happy New Year 2009

As some of you may know, my family, the Adams side, has our biggest party of the year on New Years' Eve. We have a fabulous dinner with prime rib, crab, shrimp, and appetizers galore. This year was no different. My mom makes up different games each year, and it's always a boys against girls competition. This year we played pass the orange, but with girls against boys, it added a hilarious twist! Here are Jack and Jake getting a little too close for comfort . . .

My dad and Kevin in an awkward hug . . .

And my niece Jessica and I just couldn't get the orange passed! It kept falling down! We lost this game because of it.

We win some and lose some, but every year we lose the "Fear Factor" game. My mom and dad put out paper plates with hard-to-eat foods underneath paper bowls to conceal the food, and we line up and see who can get through their plates the fastest. With bigger mouths and little need for chewing, the brothers-in-law always dominate. In this one, Ashlee is scarfing down pork rinds -- no hands allowed.

THe second to last plate, which was my sister Amy's had Kipper snacks, which are like sardines. Here is a shot of the plate after she jumped back away from it. My sister Alli is in the pink, and Amy is nowhere in sight.Alli came to the rescue though, and tried to scarf down the nasty things, but she ended up gagging and spitting them out. The boys won yet another year. I caught a picture of Amy just as she said, "There is no way I was going to eat that."My brother in law Greg also puts together a slideshow of all the family's pictures of the entire year. Each family submits 75-100 pictures and he puts them all to music. It is such a fun tradition, especially when we don't get to see April, Alli and Angie very often.

Emily and Jessica are so cute with Davis. They spend a lot of time with him when we're together as family. It is so neat that they love him and he loves them so much.

So, that was our party. We had so much fun. The holidays disappeared from us so quickly! I wasn't ready for them to be over! But I guess they will come again, as they always do. We love you, our friends and family!