When in situations of stress we wonder if there is anymore to give. We can be comforted to know that God, who knows our capacity perfectly, placed us here to succeed. No one was foreordained to fail. Let us remember that we were measured before and were found equal to our tasks. When we feel overwhelmed, let us recall the assurance that God will not over-program us; he will not press upon us more than we can bear.
the perfect bath picture! They love their baths and it's fun to give them!
Cheese! My orphan child who will never let me do her hair!
FHE on monday, we were playing around with Daddy's phone and got some fun picture! It's hard to get a good family picture now a days
Reese eating a cake pop... yeah it was everywhere!
Lily playing with the drum!
Our life has been pretty simple lately. A lot of family time and doing silly things. It's been nice not to travel everywhere and have our own time. I have been focusing on making myself a better mom and a better wife, and our relationships have gotten so much better! Lily is constantly asking me to play with her kitchen or doll house and when I'm not doing some housework or other important matters, I join in. It's funny to hear her say things and share her ideas. She's so smart and loves to help out. Reese is starting to walk along things and will take her little push cart to walk around our TV room. It's coming and I'm not sure if I'm ready for another walker yet... This week I start training for my triathlon in April and I am pretty nervous and super excited! It's going to be a lot of work and time, but it's something I am willing to work towards! HERE WE GO!
I have had a few people ask for some picture, so here ya go! I am feeling SO good and I am SO excited! I am loving life and love that I am teaching my girls to be healthy! LIFE IS SO GOOD!
Todd and the girls on Christmas Eve in their new pjs!
The Christmas Story on Christmas Eve, Lily wanted to be Mary too, so she was "the understudy" lol
Reese with Auntie April
This was the family room after all the presents were opened....yeah a big mess
Lily's new kitchen! she LOVES it! that santa sure is awesome!
Lily and Reese in their new wagon... a little small
Lily showing her playdoh creation!
This year for Christmas we were with Todd's family! It was so much fun! The week before Christmas, Todd's whole family was here. There was a sickness that passed through everyone pretty much but luckily it didn't put too much of a damper on the festivities!
I love this picture! It was like she knew they were for her! The boys getting their dance on!
We had Reese's birthday party early this so Todd's family who usually aren't around could participate and party with us. It was a lot of fun! She totally just devoured her cupcake! She had a blast and it was good to have some fun time with the family! Lots of yummy food and plenty of Just Dance 3! :)
I pulled this toy out for Reese today, and Lily wanted a part of it too! It was pretty cute! I finally got a cute picture of Reese close up! If you look close, you can see her tooth! I just love her bright eyes!
Lily loved Santa, Reese on the other hand, wasn't very fond of him... Lily was helping put up Christmas Decorations on Friday I ran a 5k with some friends, it was great! It felt great! Trevor with the Turkey! Yes, that 40 lb turkey took 12 hours to cook... but it was delicious! The fam with our Christmas Tree that we put up on Sunday! Lily was an awesome helper!
So yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to attend Time Out For Women in St. George with some awesome friends and sister-in-law. Some of the speakers included Hilary Weeks, Brad Wilcox, Wendy Ulrich and Emily Freeman. It was so refreshing and wonderful to just sit and partake of the spirit without any distractions!
I got a lot of insights throughout the day, but one that really had some power on me, was something that Hilary Weeks said. She talked about eating lunch with her nine-year-old daughter and listening to a silly story that she was telling her and watching mac and cheese dribble out of her mouth. As she was spending that time with her daughter, something hit her. She is going to have eternity knowing her children as adults, this is the only time she will ever have knowing her children, as children. I had never really thought about that before. It had a profound effect on me. I have spent my life saying, oh when these kids grow up it will be better... or I can't wait until they are old enough to take care of themselves... and so on and so forth. At that moment, it was just like... stop wishing your life away! It was time to really enjoy these days and appreciate my kids for the stages they are in. I hope that I can stop complaining and more enjoying what I have and appreciate the silliness, messes, and the fact that I can just hold my girls to make it better!
Ready to go trick-or-treating! (if you can't tell, Reese is a parrot eating a cracker) Lily with her pumpkin The traditional pumpkin... Todd with his "death star" Lily as tinkerbell!
We had a fun halloween this year! We went to a kid party, trunk-or-treat and other festivities. By the time halloween came, I think we were ready to be done with the costumes but it was still fun. Lily had a good time going in the neighborhood with a couple friends. Reese didn't really care what was going on. We got rid of a lot of candy, which made me VERY happy! hehe. Last week we carved pumpkins so that helped get us in the mood.
So a few weeks ago, a friend of mine in my ward started a challenge called the Game on Diet. She sent me the rules, and I was in. I have been working out regularly for the past few months but haven't had much results because it was only half-hearted. I decided it was time to kick my butt in gear and get where I wanted to be in life. So this past week was our first week, and I started working out every morning at 6AM. I have been feeling so good! I am doing things that I never really thought I could do. I was so negative during my workouts and my results showed it. So my new goal for the week was to be more positive during a workout, and when I thought I can't do that, I would replace it with, yes I can, and I will! I accomplished SO much this week and it gets me so excited! I am so tired of sitting on the back burner and just watching life fly by! I am now full of energy and feel SO great! I officially lost 6 lbs and a half an inch on my thighs and a half on my stomach this last week! That is like biggest loser status! Todd has been so supportive and such a wonderful husband! This morning, I did my workout at home (Thank you jillian!) and Lily was doing it with me. It was nice until I started doing floor work and she jumped on top of me... no biggie.. hehe. I have always heard of people talking about how one day a switch just flipped in their mind and it was all good, and I always thought, yeah right... it will never switch for me. But honestly, it truly did! I am competing against 10 other women on the other team and I REALLY want to win! I think I'm on the right track if you ask me!
The Family... Reese was super happy about it.. hehe I told Lily to smile and this is the face I got... Todd with the girls! Reese apparently wanted to get down, and I'm pretty sure Lily didn't want to take a picture... The Pumpkin Patch Christie and the girls waiting to go on our hayride.
There is a pumpkin patch in Paragonah, (just 15 min away) that is so much fun! We went last year just a few days before Halloween and almost all the pumpkins were gone or destroyed, and we were the only people there. So this year we decided to make it a family night and go earlier in the month. There were quite a lot of people there and it was much more fun. The girls loved the hayride and picking out the pumpkins. We had a lot of fun! Plus it was cheaper than buying them at a store, plus we got the whole experience too.
It was cold and rainy, so we decided to get a slushie... well, Lily enjoyed it! They had to stop the show a couple of times because it started to rain too hard, and this is what the audience looked like... luckily it cleared up just enough to finish the show, so we didn't have an angry 3 year old on our hands... Mommy and Lily before the show... she refused to look at the camera and smile! Before the show... WE'RE SO EXCITED! I love this picture... LOL
Last night we took Lily to go see The Little Mermaid for her birthday. She was SO excited and as soon as it started she was riveted. It was an awesome show and so fun! They flooded the stage and used a lot of water throughout the show. It was so much fun! We got very close to getting rained out but luckily the weather finished up. They also announced last night that next year they are doing Aladdin! TOTALLY GOING! And Hairspray! I told Todd he knows what I want for my birthday next year now.. hehe I'm so glad we took Lily because she was in heaven!
I LOVE Reese's smile in this picture! The other day, I put Reese in jeans and she looked so big! So I tried to take a few pictures of the girls, and it's SO hard to get a picture where they are both smiling, but this was the best I could do. Lily was trying to be silly, which she always is so that's fine. I just love her! Reese gets so smiling and giggles all the time. I love it!
So this was my super Saturday project for our relief society this past weekend. It's super easy and super cute, hence super saturday. The only thing is it takes a little time, a lot of hot glue and possibly some blisters... All you do, is go to DI and buy a 50 cent paperback book. Paint the edge of the book whatever color you want to use to match your decor. I picked brown. Buy a Styrofoam wreath at any craft store. Tear out all the pages of the book, (I know it's almost painful to do so) then just roll up the pages and start on the back and start hot gluing. This only cost $5! I did get a blister because I was too busy visiting rather than focusing on not burning my fingers, but that's fine. It was worth it! I love it! Thank you Lisa for introducing the project, because I am so happy with it!
In my leisure moments I have meditated upon the subject, and asked the question, why it is that infants, innocent children, are taken away from us, especially those that seem to be the most intelligent and interesting… The Lord takes many away, even in infancy, that they may escape the envy of man, and the sorrows and evils of this present world; they were too pure, too lovely, to live on earth; therefore, if rightly considered, instead of mourning we have reason to rejoice as they are delivered from evil, and we shall soon have them again.– Joseph Smith
