My Favorite prophet

This is my favorite picture of President Hinkley. Doesn't he look great! I am sad he is gone, but so happy for him. I was thinking about the reunion he must have been having in heaven - I am sure it is a real celebration. He is an incredible man. He became prophet while I was at BYU and has been the one my kids have loved. I was talking to Pete and we were remembering one time at BYU when we were able to go and hear him speak. He gave a devotional and it was amazing to be in the room with the prophet, the feelings there were incredible. He was funny too - I remember him joking into the camera because he knew everyone was watching.
There are many things about him I love. I love his sense of humor. I love his work ethic. I love his love for everyone. I love his sweet love for his wife. I love his love of the Savior. I love his ability to answer any question with eloquence. I love the way his family loved him. I love his relationship with others. I love listening to everything he said. I love that he was a cute old man. I love him!

My Tuna...

I am so proud of S, she had a great and exciting week. Her big news is her part in the school play - she tried out and got the part she wanted - she's a Tuna! Of course, Pete and I have always been very aware of her dramatic abilities. She is so excited and is going to have so much fun, she really loves plays.

I have been thinking a lot about my kids lately and how important it is for our home to be full of encouragement and love. My heart broke a little for S this week. She had some gift certificates to her favorite store( Justice) and was so excited to get some clothes all by herself. She told me all about the shirt she wanted before we went to the store, and was so proud of the shirt and matching earrings she bought with her own money. The night before she wore them, she said "Do you think it is funny I am so excited to wear clothes?" I was so cute and I was so excited for her. She went off to school the next day and looked so stinkin cute! She was so happy. When she came home I asked her how her day went and she told me about how the girls in her class and then some 5th grade girls were talking about her and criticizing her. She was a little deflated & it made me sad.

It wasn't a huge thing, but it really made me think. I tried to tell her how some people criticize others to make themselves feel better and how unfortunately, some girls get jealous and are mean. I tried to tell her how this is a great way to learn about being a good friend, if you can be happy for them when something good happens to them. I wish I had the right answers and knew what to say to her. I am not ready for these things to be happening in 3rd grade! I was telling my mom what happened and she said the best thing. She said home needs to be a loving place because you don't know what they are experiencing and having to deal with all day at school. That really stuck with me. I cant control what my kids deal with at school, but I can do my best to make home a wonderful place. That is the most important thing I can do everyday, and it is my goal.




Here she is in her new shirt & earrings!

Week in Review...

Another week has flown by. I feel like it is always Sunday night! We had a great week, full of activities and celebrations. Here are pics from some of our week.





H has been wanting to play outside so bad lately, and so we go play in the backyard. She loves to be outside, and these are some of the pics I got while she was having fun in the cold!








We went bowling for FHE this week and had a great time. The kids loved it - and so did Pete. He got his best score ever and actually asked me if I was going to post it on my blog! You can tell by his face how happy he is, he did really good though - we kept playing after the first game and he kept getting strikes - he got 8 in a row. It was fun to watch the kids and their bowling style, I especially love S - she looks like a pro!






S was so happy this week because she got picked to be the Coyote of the month! I am so proud of her and the great little girl she is. She is sweet, kind, funny, smart and a wonderful daughter and sister. She loves her teacher Mrs.Boelens and is enjoying 3rd grade. I am constantly amazed by her. She has become quite a fashionista also - don't you love the belt with the t shirt!




T loves basketball!! He is so happy when it is game time. He is so cute, and he does really good! He had his 2nd game this weekend and got in some good shots. He loves it, especially since dad is the coach. It is so fun to watch him play.




We drove up to Reno on Saturday for my niece Macie's birthday party. She turned 3! H was so excited to go to her house and see her, she loves her so much. They are so cute together. My sister, Angie did a great job with the princess party. She had fun games, activities and tons of amazing food. Happy Birthday Macie, we love you!

Studying...

I have been studying and trying new things with my camera. There is so much to learn about lighting, exposure and all the intricate camera functions, but I love it. S was my model today - she is getting tired of looking at the camera, but I had fun. Here are some of my pics...

I love the sun today!!

I can't believe the way it has rained and stormed lately, we are not used to getting extreme weather here! On Friday we had a terrible storm with major winds and lots of rain. We stayed home and watched & listened to the storm beating on the house. At around noon S came down the stairs yelling our names and telling us to come and look out the front window. I went running to see what was going on and saw that our street was completely flooded. The water was past the sidewalks and was creeping up our front yard. We ran outside and our neighbor told us the water had risen about a foot in 10 minutes! The drain in front of our house was actually pushing water up into the street instead of draining. Pete and a bunch of the neighbors went out into the park behind the house and found that the huge drains were grated off and completely full of leaves. They got the leaves out of the way and the water started to drain again, thank goodness. I almost starting hauling things upstairs! The best part was that S had a dream the night before about our house flooding and so when all this was happening, she told me that she knew she had "a vision." She cracks me up.

Here are some of the pictures of our street flooded...





Kids can make anything fun! Check out the lake behind our house, it used to be a soccer field.

Hello Friends!

I haven't totally forgotten about my blog, even though it looks like it! The last 5 months went from crazy to complete chaos and I am just starting to feel like I can breathe again. I have been waiting for things to get easier, to have more of a schedule or to feel like I am on top of things - but I have finally come to the realization that is never going to happen!

My sister gave me a copy of Sister Beck's talk from general conference in October, and I have loved reading it again. It is an amazing talk and I feel like I can learn so much from it, but I especially like the part where she reminds us to do less. That really struck me! It seems like life is getting busier, the days are going by faster and I am not getting to enjoy them as much. I want to slow things down and do less! I want to spend time teaching, playing and making memories together with my children. Thanks Angie for helping me to find another resolution for this year!

We got to go up to the snow and play the other day, it was great! The kids had a blast. It is so funny because I have realized lately that kids (at least mine) dont care if they are hot or cold, as long as they are having fun. I was freezing after a couple hours and they were just as wet as me, but they didn't care. They loved sledding, throwing snowballs and H especially loved eating the snow! She started eating it the minute she got out of the van and didn't stop until we put her back in. Seriously, her glove was frozen stiff because she had gotten it so wet sucking on it, good thing I brought 3 pairs for her! My parents and sister's family met us up there and we all took turns going down the hills - even my mom! I was thinking about posting the video of her going down the hill, but I thought she might get mad...so here are some fun pics from our snow day -







Thanks for your quick responses and your patience with me! I am shocked you guys still check in with me after so long. I am so blessed to have such great friends!