Family Home Evening

It is so fun having FHE with a little toddler. Amber gets so excited to learn about Jesus. She asks me several times during the week to teach her about Jesus. Each time, of course I do, but a formal sit down with prayer, song, lesson, and treat is saved for Monday nights. Tonight we talked about the meaning of Christmas. She is so cute and loves talking about baby Jesus. We sang some Christmas songs before we started and Amber's favorite was Jingle Bells. "Again, Again!" she kept saying. After we talked a little about Christmas we made snowflakes. Amber would tell Billy what shapes to cut out and she colored them when they were done. After the snowflake making Billy and Amber made a Christmas chain. We told Amber she can pull one off each day all the way until Christmas. I plan on telling her a little story each time before she takes off a ring. We then hung up the snowflakes and chain. Amber wanted to hang the snowflakes on the front door. Here are some pictures of our fun FHE!! I love my family and the simple things (like FHE) that keep us close.

Temple Lights

We had a blast at the Temple looking at Christmas lights. Logan and Amber were so cute together. Like every year it was beautiful and I love being on the Temple grounds with my family. It reminds me of why we are here on earth; to return home to Heavenly Father as one big happy family!





Billy made hot chocolate and I made cookies that we brought and ate while watching a group sing Christmas songs. YUMMY YUMMY


Merry Christmas!! 17 more days :)

It's been a while

I haven't posted for a while so I figured I would make an update. Ok. That was it. Nothing much going on in my life. Seriously now, there have been some fun things. First CHRISTOPHER IS GETTING MARRIED!! I am SO EXCITED. The girl is Brittney and she is SOOO BEAUTIFUL. She has a son named Logan that I can't get enough of. He makes me laugh so much and everyone can use more laughter in their lives. Chris and Brittney are so sweet together. The date they picked is March 21st and they asked me to be a bridesmaid, Billy to be a groomsman, and Amber to be the flower girl. I really feel so honored, Amber will make the cutest flower girl ever. Brittney picked out the most beautiful wedding gown. I really LOVE it, she will look stunning. If you can't tell... I am really excited for them!! Not only do I get another sister, which is BIG for me because I don't have any blood sisters, but I get a new nefew. It can't get much better than that.
Second, one of my best friends had the baby yesterday. Mindy had baby Brody on 12-4-08, he was 8p3oz, and has a FULL HEAD of black hair. He was so little and it was crazy to think he is a pound bigger than mine when they were born. YOU GO GIRL!!
And thirdly, It is the Christmas season. I love this time of year. There is really a differsnt feeling than the rest of the year. I have really enjoyed teaching Amber what CHRISTmas is really about. I am so greatful for Christ's birth and his life. I am thankful for my knowledge of his Church. I love the peace I feel when I know I'm doing what he wants me to be doing. What a blessing the Gosple is, The Church is TRUE. I KNOW it, I FEEL it, and I do my best to LIVE it. The greatest gift ever given was the gift of Jesus Christ. He gave his life so that we can live again.

Halloween 2008

Halloween was a busy, fun day. We got up early and went down to vote early. It was the last day for early voting. I was so GLAD we did it because the line was only about 20 mins. It felt good knowing I did my part for my Country and State both of which I love.
Then we went down to the United Food Bank and got a lot of food for only $16. When we were there we saw another early voting line that looked like the wait was well over an hour. People were sitting in lawn chairs, I'm so glad we didn't have to wait like that.
When we got home that afternoon we let Amber paint two little pumpkins we got at the food bank. She had a lot of fun.


Then we got the kids dressed for Trick or Treating at Talan's house. Amber was a little Devil and she looked so adorable in all red. Brigham was our bumble bee.

Painting Pumpkins

We had Nani, Uncle Ernest, Aunt Alysha, Talan, and Kamden over last night to paint pumpkins. It was seriously SOOO MUCH FUN. I enjoyed it so much more than carving pumpkins. Amber and Talan were able to paint their own pumpkins and spend as much time on them as they wanted. They seriously painted them for like an hour. Verses if we carved pumpkins the kids couldn't have really done anything but watch... Thank you Mom for bringing all the art supplies and pizza. I can't believe it's already Halloween. I am so excited for the holiday's this year. I think Amber is going to understand more what it's all about. This year has gone by so fast. Were going to blink and it's going to be 2009 YIKES!!!

What did we see at the Zoo?

Our trip to the Zoo was wonderful. Amber loved every minute of it. We got some AWESOME pictures and laughed a lot.

Our Life

A lot of FUN things

Well, first I would just like to ask... wasn't conference WONDERFUL?? Billy and I totally enjoyed the spirit. We are so blessed to have such spiritual giants lead our Church. The talk that had the biggest impact on me was David Bednar's about prayer and being thankful. I am so thankful for all God has given me. I know I don't show that gratitude enough. So the challenge to say prayers every so often and only thank Heavenly Father is one I am taking on. And lets not forget to give credit where credit is due. Thank you Debbie for giving that exact challenge at Sunday dinner the week before Conference. You are so inspired by the Lord of what our family should be doing. If anyone missed the talk please listen to it at lds.org.
Next and just as wonderful is that Amber is potty trained!! Yes, it is true. After a lot of hard work and cleaning up after messes.... HAHA, not even close. She took to it so naturally I hardly had to do anything at all. I started with her on Monday and by today she is doing it all without even being asked or reminded. I shouldn't be surprised, every thing that I hear other parents say is a hard adjustment for children, Amber has taken to like it's nothing. I had no problems taking away the bottle or pacifier. I had no issues transferring her from her crib to a bed. She is making my life so easy as a mom.
Brigham is 4 months and an absolute joy. He got rice cereal two days ago. He actually liked it, didn't make any weird faces or anything. He also stayed relatively clean compared to how Amber was the first time she got rice cereal. Even though he did well, I'm not going to give it to him again for about another month. I want him to sit up better before I start giving him it all the time.
The last thing I wanted to talk about was our family garden. We started our garden in September and just finished planting last Saturday. This season we have broccoli, sugar snap peas, carrots, lettuce, and spinach. The best part of the garden is seeing Amber 'working' with daddy in the garden. I will keep everyone posted on how our crops turn out. And those of you who live here in Arizona, we will share ;)

Praise to the Man

I just watched a very inspiring movie last night called Praise to the Man. It was about Joseph Smith, his life, teachings, visions, blessings, trials, and death. What a wonderful man and Prophet Joseph was. The devotion he had to Heavenly Father is humbling. It made me feel the will to do more to build up the Kingdom of God on earth. Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God. He truly saw God our Father and Jesus in person. They chose him to be the instrument in restoring the true Gospel to the earth. This movie taught me things I didn't know and reminded me of things I already knew. The sacrifices of the early saints were incredible. I kept asking myself, could I have stayed true in the midst of such adversity? I like to think I could. What a man and what joy I feel to be a benefactor of his sacrifices and devotion to God. I love this Gospel. I love Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. I am grateful for the Atonement and it's role in my life. I know I can be forgiven if I truly repent of my sins and short comings. I believe in Eternal Families. I have hope in a brighter tomorrow and a happy today. We live in a world that is getting increasingly evil. But, I can't help but be thankful to live at this time. Because while things are getting worse in some cases, things are also getting much better in others. Just look at our children. Their spirits are strong and unwavering. We are raising a righteous generation who will be able to stand up to the storms of Satan. Look at the Church and it's growth. Look at the Temples and how they dot the world, which is a fulfillment of a prophecy. I am grateful. I am happy. There is much to be thankful for. And there is still much to be done to build the Kingdom. I hope I do my part and make my Father in Heaven proud.

Rolling Over

Brigham is exactly 4 months today. The time is passing so fast. He had a mile stone today; he finally rolled over. It was really neat because I caught him in time to be able to video tape it happen. It was also special because Billy got home in just enough time to see the final push onto his belly. Most of the time Dads miss out on things like that. The only set back is Brigham didn't totally get his arm out from under his belly. Other than that he was all the way rolled over. And just like Amber he learned from his back to his belly first. My understanding is most babies learn from belly to back because they don't like doing tummy time. Well, neither of my kids have followed that rule.
Brigham is so fun and lovable. I can't get enough of him with those big blue eyes and flirtatious looks he gives. He is finally starting to fill out. And really starting to look like Amber when she was a baby. I know every mom thinks this but, I really do have the most wonderful kids. Every moment is a treasure and adventure.

Rachael's 4th B-day

Amber's First Picnic

Amber has asked a couple of times to go on a picnic. I have always planned on taking her but, just hadn’t yet. So this morning I figured today is as good as any. When I told her we were going to have a picnic today she started running around the house asking for her shoes and saying "Get ready Mommy!" You really can't imagine how excited she was unless you were here to see her. I told her we had to wait till lunch time but she could help me pack for the picnic until it was time to go. So there we sat on the kitchen floor making sandwiches. Around 11 I couldn't make her wait any longer. We loaded up the car and went to the park. She didn't even want to play first. All she wanted to do was sit on the blanket and have the picnic. It was so cute and fun. We will have a lot more picnics when it starts getting cooler out side.

The Temple

Amber is so adorable. At Grandma Debbie's house, Amber was playing with blocks while I was cleaning. She came running up to me saying Mommy look, Temple. I figured she saw a picture of the Temple in the house or something. I followed her and she pointed to what she had just built with the blocks. It was so cute to see how proud she was of herself for building the Temple with the blocks. It also made me very proud of her. It's amazing how Amber already understands the Temple is special. She has such a strong spirit and she blows me away every day at how close she is with Heavenly Father. When we drive in the car she points out the window and says look Mommy, Jesus is hiding in the clouds. She loves saying the prayers and can almost say them without help. She just turned TWO!! She is so smart. I could go on and on about things she does that just melt my heart. I love her so much and I know she brings joy to all those she is around.

Proud to be an American

I am proud to be an American. I love my country and am thankful for my freedoms. Both my grandfathers served in the armed forces. And my dad always taught me to be proud of our Country. I am thankful for my knowledge of the Gospel and knowing that Heavenly Father had a direct hand in helping our Founding Fathers set up our government and laws. Reflecting on what today means... I thought of times in my life when I have felt the power of my patriotism. One time that really sticks in my mind was on a vacation. Billy, Debbie, Don, my Mom, and I all went to New York in May of 2007. We went to ground Zero and the fire Station across the street. We saw the memorials; on top of the Empire State building we saw the Twin Tower Memorial lights. We saw the damage and we also saw the rebuilding in that area. There is a very interesting story my Father in Law told me was of the church directly across from the Twin towers. As we all know MANY buildings were damaged and destroyed on that day, not just the Twin Towers. Well there is a church DIRECTLLY across the street that didn't get any damage... WOW!! Bet you can't guess why... Well President Washington prayed in that church and prayed for our Country's protection. Coincident... probably not. When the chaos of 9/11 was happening fire fighters, police officers, volinteers went to that church for refuge and to pray. What a blessing.
On that same trip I felt the spirit and deep love for my Country when we were leaving New York for the start of our Cruise. The Ship played very loud one of my absolute favorite songs. It is the song that reminds me of my Papa. We played this song at his funeral... I am proud to be and American. As the song played we passed by the Statue of Liberty. I was deeply touched by the spirit and even thinking of it now brings tears to my eyes. I am truly Proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free. And I won’t forget the men who died and gave that right to me... There is no doubt I love this land. GOD BLESS THE USA!!!

Sleeping Babies

I found my kids both sleeping soundly. Aren't they soooo cute?

My daughter the sponge

I have a rule that each day Amber goes out side to play. During the summer months this is a little more difficult to keep up with. I usually like to get up and take her down to the park at like 6am. But, when I'm to tired or it just doesn't happen we play in our back yard. So anyways, that's what we did today. We were having a good time playing with bubbles and the football. I had Brigham out there in his bouncer chair. He was sliding down a little bit so I turned my back from Amber to sit him back up. In those few seconds Amber decided to put her face in Bridget's face (our cat). Not a good idea Amber... Bridget got spooked and clawed her face. My poor baby girl. She screamed and cried "Bridget got me Mommy!" I swooped Amber up to comfort her and I was a little upset with Bridget. Now I know, I know, Bridget was doing what was natural for her. But when your child has claw marks on her beautiful face and is crying probably from fear and pain you can't help but feel a little upset. So, without thinking I said loudly... "Stupid Bridget!" And without missing a beat Amber started saying "stupid Bridget" over and over again. I brought the kids back inside and cleaned Amber up. The whole time she is saying stupid Bridget, stupid Bridget. I laughed because it was funny hearing her sweet little voice say something so ugly. I then told her I was sorry for saying those mean words and that she shouldn't say them either. She seems to have understood because she repeated we don't say ugly words and hasn't said stupid Bridget since. Instead she is just saying "My scratch, Bridget." Or in other words here are my scratches from Bridget. It is so true that our children are listening and watching our actions all the time. We really have to think about what we are subjecting them to.

Brigham's Baby blessing

Billy blessed Brigham
yesterday and did a
wonderful job. The spirit was really strong. I could tell he was feeling what he should say through the Holy Ghost and not just talking. He blessed Brigham with a strong body, to be a light unto those he will come to know, to help spread the gospel. Brigham was blessed to find refuge in the holy scriptures, to study them. Then he was blessed to find a worthy companion to be sealed to in the temple. There was a lot of family there to support us and others who wanted to be there but couldn't. I feel really blessed to have a husband who is worthy to use the priesthood to bless our family and others in need. The priesthood is truly the power of God on earth. Through it all things good come to past. I am happy to have this knowledge and to have it's power leading and directing my family every day.

(side note) - I wish I would have written down what was said at Amber's blessing. I can remember some things but, not them all. I am glad to have a way to share the special event with those who couldn't make it. And also this gives me something to look back on to remember.