A Spiritual night

Tonight for Mutual we had a Bishops Fireside and the Bishop strongly encouraged the Youth (and their leaders) to write down the feelings they had in their journal. Well since I am horrible at a journal and this blog is basically my journal I hope you guys don't mind if I share. There is a girl in our ward who is a year younger than me. She had been going to a singles ward and just barely became a part of our ward. She has a great personality and is friendly to everyone. Well tonight she told us her story. I had heard a little about it, but boy was it impactful coming from her mouth. She met and married her husband at 21 years old. He was the love of her life and shortly thereafter they got pregnant and had a little girl named Sage. When Sage was 5 months old, they were driving home from a concert one of her nieces was in, they were hit by a drunk driver. Her husband and Sage died immediately. Natalie, this girl, was thought to also be dead by the first officer on the scene but they were able to revive her and after a traumatic brain injury with weeks in a coma and months in the hospital, she is now 100% better. It is a miracle that she is alive. Imagine becoming a widow and losing your first baby at 23 years old. She shared a DVD with us that was a tribute they put together for her husband and baby. They had taken a ton of home videos and it was so heartwrenching to see her and him on their wedding day, kissing and hugging, in the hospital having their baby and her husband playing with the baby. It made them so real to me and it broke my heart. I also couldn't help but relate to these amazing experiences she had with her husband and child. It broke my heart to think about losing my family. It made me realize that I need to cherish every day and look at every moment as a gift, because it could be gone in a second. The most amazing thing about this experience is Natalie's faith and testimony. She has been through the unimaginable and yet her faith is stronger than ever. It's been almost 5 years since they were killed and she got up there after that touching DVD was shown and testified of her knowledge that she will be with her family again with no tears, just joy in her face. She talked about how thankful she was for the decisions she made so that she was able to marry the love of her life in the temple and the peace it has given her to know that one day she will be able to live with them again and raise the daughter that was taken from her so young. The Spirit in the chapel was so palpable. I knew just by listening to her that she was right and that she would be able to see her family again. It made me so very thankful that the Lord was so kind to guide me onto the right path, even though I made so many mistakes, and help me to see that I needed to live worthily to marry in His house. I think back at all the stupid decisions I made when I was young, and how easily my life could have gone in a completely different direction, and I am just so thankful that I am where I am at today with the wonderful, loving, caring husband I have and the entertaining, precious kids we get to raise. I came home and hugged Mark and sat down with Rex, who then climbed into my lap and proceeded to love and hug on me for awhile. If anyone knows Rex, this is not normal, I can't help but wonder if his little innocent Spirit could feel the impact the night had on me. I love my family and am grateful for every moment I have with them. I am most thankful that I was able to marry in this beautiful temple and that I have the promises that are associated with keeping my covenants.

Constructive Criticism????

So I am taking a poll. My brother informed me tonight that my blog is really hard to read and tough on the eyes. Is he being an annoying, over-critical little brother ;) or is this really true? So what do you all think? Does it bother you? Should I put a solid background behind the words? I really do want constructive criticism, just not from the same person who constantly reminds me of the terrible things I did to him as a child!!

A Thanksgiving Wedding

We flew to Denver for Thanksgiving and also for my dad's wedding. It was a great trip, Rex loved the airplane ride. He's been on them before but he didn't remember before, he was enthralled the whole time, it was great! We immediately went up to my dad's fiance, Liz's house when we got there Thursday morning for a yummy Thanksgiving dinner. It was fun to spend time with those who would be our family the next day. Dad and Liz have been dating for over 2 years but since they live in Denver we haven't gotten to know her kids well at all so it was nice to spend some time with them. Friday was a freezing, snowy day but it was beautiful inside the temple. The sealing was great and it's always nice to have a refresher about the covenants Mark and I made. We both had some great insights on our lives while there, which is always nice. They had a yummy luncheon at Buca Di Bepo and a reception at Liz's with yummy, yummy food! Saturday we went to an indoor amusement park, which Rex absolutely loved! Then we enjoyed the LONG nap he took afterward! Sunday was spent going to church with Jeff and Sally, taking naps and visiting family. Overall we had a great time and enjoyed seeing our family we rarely see. I wish all of our 3 families lived closer!

The first snow of the season!

We woke up to snow this morning, it barely stuck, and had melted in an hour, but it was still pretty. Rex was so excited that as soon as he woke up he ran upstairs, grabbed his hat and sweatshirt and was ready to go! He and Boykin had a great time! I had to force him to come inside after 15 minutes because he was sopping wet and looked freezing. It was cute



Sam on the other hand would rather eat than play in the snow. Again, just like his daddy!

BTW, what is up with the Bachelor finale? That was so random and lame.

Do you like my blog?

So what do you guys think of the new look! Thanks to Stefanie (I LOVE YOU!!!) I was able to figure out how to add cute paper onto my blog!! Yay, I love it so here is my Christmas themed blog. Any suggestions for improvement or what do you guys think???

Glimpse of the future

Rex will be 3 in a month as many of you know. This means that he will be going into Sunbeams in January. He will literally be the youngest kid in Primary. I have been worried about it, just because he is so young and because he loves Nursery so much. They have been taking the kids that are going to be Sunbeams into Primary for singing time for awhile now to get them used to being in there. Today, right before Young Women's, I walked past the Primary room and noticed that all the kids were in a big group singing. The little ones were on the floor and Rex was in the front row. They were videotaping them singing Christmas songs for the parents or something. Anyway so I peek in and Rex is turned around looking at all the kids behind him, or so I thought.... He turns a bit to the side and I notice that he isn't just looking at the kids behind him, he is making faces at the kids behind him!!! I about died! He turns around, sees me, and says "Hi Mommy!" super loud and then proceeds to make faces at me while they are videotaping. Oh boy, is this the type of thing that I am going to be called in to talk to his teachers about? I seriously had a major glimpse of the future with this one. January should be very interesting. Here are examples of Rex's "silly" faces he was making today.



Sam was really sick with a cold and fever this week but today he seemed good as new, except for some stray boogies. He was extra happy today, probably cause he is so happy to feel good! He loves pulling himself up on the furniture so I caught a picture of him doing it today. He is such a sweet baby, he literally melts my heart on a daily basis.

Tagged

Well, I was tagged twice this week so I guess I better do this. I am supposed to list 7 things about myself. I am trying to think of not obvious things like that I do hair or something, so here we go.

1. I love reading! I will read anything (as long as it isn't pornographic). I especially like historical fiction. I love history so to become a part of history through a novel, is so exhilarating for me. I must read before I go to bed or I have a hard time sleeping.


2. The mountains are amazingly cathartic for me. There is nothing better to me than driving through mountain roads looking at the beauty of God's creations. I love hiking, camping, fishing and white water rafting. Living in Idaho is perfect for all these activities.

3. I love taking baths. I take a bath literally every day, even if I have already taken a shower. It's so relaxing. I even spent a large part of my labor with Sam in the bathtub. Thank goodness we have a large bathtub! One rental we lived in had a tiny bathtub and a low amount of hot water. I hated it because I could never take a relaxing bath.


4. I love having a calling in the Church. I know most people dread it, but I get excited when I have an appointment with the Bishop and know I am getting a new calling. I guess I like a challenge and like to serve others. Outside of church I am often too shy to put myself out there but when I have a calling and it is expected of me I can do it. I am in Young Women's now and although it is a lot of work, I absolutely love it.

5. I like to cross stitch. There aren't a ton of cute things to do with cross stitching, but I still enjoy it. It is really relaxing for me and I love creating things. Right now I am working on Sam's stocking to complete our family right now. Oh scratch that, Mark wants me to do one for the dog, he feels like he is left out!


6. I love nice jeans. I will spend a ridiculous amount of money on them, much to Mark's chagrin. I get excited when I spend $5 on a shirt, but a pair of jeans has to be good quality, expensive, and make me look like I have a rear end. Not an easy feat!

7. I am often obsessive about tweezing. I can't stand any stray hairs so I typically tweeze every day. I don't think it hurts, I actually enjoy it! That is so weird I know but I sometimes even tweeze armpit hairs, if I don't have any eyebrows to tweeze.

These are some quirky things about me! I have to 7 people so I tag Jessica Carney, Jessica Webster, Chanell Reichner, Janece Mendoza, Kindra Cherry, Katherine Murdoch and Kelli Hessing. Can't wait to learn more about you guys!!!!!

Screaming and Thank you's

Sam has learned a new skill over the last 2 days that I am not sure I like, screaming! When he is frustrated, wants attention, is hungry, or bored, he literally screams at the top of his lungs. I am not quite sure where he learned this from because Rex is loud but he has never been a screamer. It has never been cute, just really annoying. But I guess I love him anyway! ;) This is a picture of a face he is doing lately, it cracks me up and it is usually followed by a scream. And also just a cute picture.


He also has learned how to pull himself up on stuff. He is even more curious, although it makes me nervous because he has taken some nasty spills. I don't think he will be hanging out in the bathroom while I shower anymore, too many hard surfaces. Here is Sam in action on our bed.

Rex is so sweet sometimes. He tells me every night, thank you for making dinner. We didn't teach him this so I am assuming he has just heard Mark say it and so he copied him. I love it, it makes me feel so good! Tonight I made some mixed veggies with our meal and Rex says, "Thanks for making begtables for dinner, mommy!" It was so sweet, I just loved it! Here's a pic of him waiting for daddy to walk in the door after work today.

Cute boys

Since we had Stake Conference today we got home from church at 3:00 instead of leaving for church at 3:00. This means we actually had time to have an enjoyable dinner before it was time to put the kids to bed. Our neighbors, the Amadors, invited us over for dinner and also invited another family from the ward, the Spears. The Spears have a little boy named Brandon who is about 7 months older than Rex. They are in the same nursery class and will both be brand new sunbeams next year. They got along great, I don't know why we haven't gotten together with them before. They literally ran around the couch in circles together for 15 minutes, getting that crazy little boy energy out. Finally they collapsed in front of a Christmas show on TV. The cute thing is they sat in the big recliner together and Pete put a blanket over them. It was so adorable I had to get a picture. I love that Rex is getting to an age where he really likes playing with other kids and interacting rather than just playing along side them. He gets so excited about his friends and talks about them all the time. He is so social and loves people, I think when he finally goes to preschool next year, he will absolutely blossom! I love him so much and am grateful that Heavenly Father trusted me enough to send him to me. Watching this little guy learn and grow is just amazing.

Projects

Mark has been bugging me for 4 years to figure out how to use his Grandma Leonard's old sewing machine. The thing intimidated the heck out of me because it was literally made in the 60's. It's the same kind my mom learned how to sew on. Here's what it looks like.

Now I can sew very basic things, but I am definitely not a seamstress, so it freaked me out. He ordered an owner's manual copyright of 1964!!! I have quite a few sewing projects I have been wanting to do and I need to get working on Sam's stocking or else he will be the only one without a stocking on Christmas day. Anyway, I have been wanting to make something to go around Rex's toddler bed that we got for $5 at a garage sale. (I know we are totally cheap) So I finally sat down and read the manual and worked on mastering the machine. I was so pleasantly surprised! It works good and I figured it out with no problem. I was able to get Rex's bed stuff done in just a few days. I was very proud and had to take a picture. Now on to the stocking and quiet book for church. Thanks, Grandma Leonard!

Also, here's a couple of cute pics of Sam yesterday. One in Rex's sunglasses and the other is after I did his hair. He was giving me the funniest look I tried to capture it, this is pretty similar. It looked like he was thinking, "What are you doing to me mommy?" I guess he didn't like the mohawk?!

The more the merrier

One of the things I love about having two kids is that there is always someone else to entertain Sam besides me. When I hear Sam up from his nap, and I am right in the middle of something or need some extra time, I tell Rex to go see Sammy. He loves to do it and I can hear him on the monitor saying, "Hi Sammy! Did you have a nice nap?" Today I decided to capture a picture of it. The funny thing is Rex always climbs into Sam's crib to hang out with him. I tried to catch them without them noticing but they have camera radar.

OBSESSION

So if you have seen any of my blog, you have probably noticed that Sam has an obsession, his binky. That thing is like his best friend! So we were up in Rex's room playing today and his binky was downstairs. Well Sam decided he would improvise. Rex and I were playing with some wooden puzzles that have a big knob on them like this.

I could just see the wheels turning in his little head and next thing I know he had a new binky! It was so funny to see him sucking on this big wooden puzzle piece.

The side view is great too!

And I love this one, as Rex and I are cracking up, he looks at me like, "What?" Such a cutie!

Happy Birthday Mark

It was Mark's birthday yesterday, he turned 32! So I wanted to do a post for him. He looks really hot in these pictures!!!! At least I think so! The picture below also shows what a great father he is, Rex adores him. He had a great birthday. It started off with fly fishing with a friend at 6:30 in the morning. They didn't catch anything but had a great time. Then as a family and with our neighbors we went to the Bee Movie. It was really cute and Rex loved it and Sam was really good during it. Then he and Rex took a nap together and then the neighbors came over and babysat so we could go out. We went to Mai Thai and had the yummiest meal ever! I got this dish called Fish on Fire. It was fried Halibut with veggies and a yummy curry sauce. It came out to me literally on fire! So yummy! Then we went and saw a hilarious movie, Dan in Real Life with Steve Carell. Definitely a must see! It was a great day and a great night! I love you honey.

Please say it is a phase!

Sam has had a really rough time the last couple of days. He doesn't act sick so I don't know what is going on. He isn't sleeping well at night and he refuses to take naps during the day. I have spent 1-2 hours during every nap period trying to get him to sleep. I even have let him scream and it will last forever and no sleep!!!! I am going insane and just praying that he will snap out of it soon. Maybe some new teeth are coming in? I don't know, any ideas folks? Here's a pic of him when he should have been sleeping but he wasn't. Chanell and her girls were over so I could do her hair and so Kate crawled over to investigate Sam, he wasn't sure he liked it! Maybe he won't be a ladies man like his brother.

Trick or Treating

Here is some pics of Rex trick or treating. He had a blast this year. We have never gone door to door, just done Trunk or Treat's but this year since we love our neighborhood and half of our ward is in it, we went door to door! It was SOOOO funny to watch him. He was so giddy, he would come running back from every door with the biggest grin on his face, like this.


Sam just tried to keep warm as he was watching all the crazy people.
Our friends the Reichner's made a dinner and invited everyone who came by to stop in and eat and warm up. It was so nice to have that little break and the food was YUMMY! Thanks Chanell! Here is a picture of Rex with their little girl Annie.

And here is Rex and CJ, another neighbor.

Even though I was tired of Halloween last weekend, we really had a great time last night.