Veronica's Baby Blessing: A Beautiful Day

On Sunday February 1st our niece, Veronica Mae, was blessed.

Afterwards we held a family get-together in which everyone brought a plate of sandwiches-YUMMY, and we had family favorites such as Clista's baked beans and Aunt Patti's potato salad. The feast concluded with chocolate cake with a chocolate mousse filling-thank you for being born Veronica!

Just kidding. The food was fabulous, but it was a great day because of the special ordinance that took place. Houston and Elizabeth are great parents and we loved being apart of this special day for their growing family.

Our second-cousin Caleb!

Enjoying some sit-down time.

The twins...Sam & his dad, Gary.

Welcome to the family Veronica!

We all love you so much!

All Grown Up!

I am so fortunate to be in touch with my best girlfriends from high school! A few times a year we make it a point to get together to eat, talk, & laugh-usually with our collective kids running around in the background! We always have a great time, and I love the "catching up"!

Thanks for all the memories!

Piggy Tails?

On of the girls favorite hair-styles is the infamous "piggy tails"! Iris, whose hair is cut into a shorter angled bob, wanted a hair-do just like her big sister Bella's. When all was said and done, Ava pronounced they were not "piggy tails", they were "sprinkler tails"!

Letting go is hard to do!

For a bit of background, you should know that my childhood was a little...sheltered. My mom was super-paranoid and so we were never really able to do a lot of kids stuff like riding bikes on the side-walk or playing in the front yard. Now, being a parent myself, I totally get where she was coming from, but still, a part of me wishes we had been able to enjoy just a little more freedom, and I always looked forward to being a little more easy going with my own family.

Now, our new home sits really close to the girl's elementary and middle schools, and we could not be happier! The girl's can actually walk to school! But when push came to shove, it was really, really hard for me to let them go-even though I could literally watch them make their way to the school grounds. Well, a few weeks have passed and I've calmed down, the girls love it-they've even taken up riding their scooters to school too, and Sam's happy with my successfully cutting a few apron strings. Not surprisingly though, my mom shares a different opinion!

Happy Mothering!

Silly Family Home Evening Snacks

This past Christmas we received a really fun book called, "Silly Snacks", and the girls have been so excited to create some simple, tasty, and yes, silly snacks for our Family Home Evening refreshments.
Tonight, we finally had all the ingredients for the cover snack, the Ice Cream Mouse. We had a lot of fun, though the challenge was getting all the sprinkles just so before the ice cream started to melt!
If you'd like to make it at home, the recipe follows.

Ice Cream Mouse

One scoop of vanilla ice cream
Oreo Cookies
M&M's or large circle sprinkles
Small sprinkles

Insert cookies into the ice cream for the "ears".
Place M&M's into the ice cream for the "eyes" and "nose".
And finally, use the sprinkles for the "whiskers".

Enjoy!

Amazing Steelhead!

If you've never visited the Nimbus Fish Hatchery you have to go! They have areas where you can view maturing steel head, and even feed them for 5 cents a pop. They have a wonderful museum with the best movie about the steel heads life cycle (I've seen it twice and would love to watch it again). And they also have a giant fish for the kids to climb, and a spectacular path along the river to enjoy.

True, right now there's not a lot of fish to see that have returned from the Pacific to spawn, but the one's you do see jumping up the ladder take your breath away. They bear the marks of surviving the ocean and look absolutely beat up, but here they return to where they were born for the next generation's sake. It's really incredible.

If you have even just 15 minutes, take the time to check it out.
It's free, informative, and the kids love it EVERYTIME!

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fish/Hatcheries/Nimbus/VisitorInfo_Center.asp

Baptism Preview...already?

A few Sundays ago I had the opportunity to attend a Baptism Preview for Isabella and other primary children her age who will also be turning eight this year. I can hardly believe that this year she will be baptized. It seems as though we've been talking about it forever-but that it was always years and years away! She is growing...so, so fast. And I am so happy to see her bright testimony growing as well. Last night in the scriptures, we read in Alma about what is required to enter the waters of baptism. It reads:

Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism.

And whosoever doeth this, and keepeth the commandments of God from thenceforth, the same will remember that I say unto him, yea, he will remember that I have said unto him, he shall have eternal life, according to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which testifieth in me.

Alma 7: 15-16

She said to me,
"Mom, I'm a little nervous [about the water], but I can do it!"

And inside my heart wrenched.
I'm amazed by her...and her sweet, sweet desire to do what is right.

The Sacramento Temple

Last Saturday we had an early morning appointment in Folsom, and before we headed home we stopped to walk the grounds of the Sacramento Temple. When we pulled into the parking lot I was having second thoughts because of the chilly weather, but as soon as we set out on our walk I was so glad we came. Even on a cold day the temple warms your heart the way no other place on earth can. We saw a newly sealed couple taking photos out front, we saw fat worms wriggling on the path, and the sight of the temple spire though the trees took our breath away. But best of all was hearing the girls exclaim, "I'm going to the temple someday!"

Everyone lost in their own thoughts.

Examining the wildlife!

Samuel and I love to come to the temple as a couple, but it's so wonderful to bring the kids up for a visit too. We all had the best time.

Our Superman

One of my favorite pieces of artwork at the Deseret Bookstore is of a dad walking next to his son whose dressed in a super hero costume. The idea is that the real hero is this wonderful father, whose holding his son's hand as they walk down the street. This picture of Sam and Owen reminded me of that work: Two sons of God, one of whom was sent here 29 years earlier to raise and prepare the other, only 19 months old.

A Father Is Many Things

“Brethren, noble fatherhood gives us a glimpse of the divine attributes of our Father in Heaven. A father should be many things. He should magnify his priesthood and be an example of righteousness. In companionship with his wife, he should be the source of stability and strength for the whole family. He should be the protector and the provider and the champion of the members of his family. Much of his love for his children should flow from his example of love, concern, and fidelity for their mother. By his uncompromising example he should instill character into his children.”

James E. Faust, “ ‘Them That Honour Me I Will Honour,’ ” Ensign, May 2001, 46

My Big Babies!

Something I often tell my kids is that no matter how old they are, they will always be my babies. I even go so far as to try and finangle my 7-year old daughter on my lap so I can try and rock her to sleep. I'll chase Ava and Iris around the house so I can "change their diaper". They think it's wildly funny and run all over the place trying to get away from "crazy mom". I can't do that to Owen though, because odds are he does need a diaper change and then it's not that funny any more! The point is, no matter how old they grow or what size shoe they wear, they will, always and forever, be MY babies. And I will love them as much, if not more, than the first day I knew of their existence.