lucky girl!

she found the gold and silver eggs . . . and we thought we had hidden them so well, they were going to be looking for months.

next year will be much more of a challenge!!

April Goal

Make Time for Teaching and Learning

A mother's life is often focused on the temporal aspects of family life and taking care of the home. It requires extra care to make time to teach and learn in the home. President Ezra Taft Benson said: "Mothers, teach your children the gospel in your own home, at your own fireside. This is the most effective teaching that your children will ever receive. This is the Lord's way of teaching."

part of my world . . .

and i am so lucky:)

3 1\2 weeks

A dream is a wish your heart makes

When you're fast asleep.

baby dear

A babe in a house is a well-spring of pleasure,

A messenger of peace and love,

A resting place for innocence on earth;

A link between angels and men.

four and six

We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.

But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully

wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

March Goal

Embrace the day-to-day. Live in the present. Have joy in the journey.

lydia

we are so blessed to have a new healthy baby girl in our home. lydia was born monday february 22, 2010 at 2:14 pm. she weighed in at 7 lb. 10 oz. and measured 2o inches in length.

we had our first little photo outing on saturday. my sweet friend laura is an amazingly talented newborn photographer. it was a real treat to spend the afternoon with her and watch her work her baby magic with little lydia. these are just a few of the poses i took with my camera after laura did all the hard work of posing. it definitely takes plenty of patience and an eye for perfection. . . i can't wait to see what she came up with!!

on the road

gracie is headed to idaho falls this weekend for a gymnastics competition and next weekend to park city. i will not be able to accompany her to these meets because of the coming due date of our new baby. i hate not being able to be there . . . good luck gracie, can't wait to hear all about it!

38 weeks!!

We are all excited to meet this sweet little baby.

What do you think?

Boy or Girl?

My Boys

I need my mom to write a poem about these sweet faces. Love these boys!

"frogs and snails

and puppy dog tails"

my little boys

are this

and more

hugs and kisses

freeze framed faces

of youth

innocence

and dreams

can they ever know

the devotion i hold

watching

with hope

so true

as time makes men

i'll remember when

peach fuzzed faces

clean buzzed heads

kind eyes

earnest smiles

held me the center

of love

so blessed to mother boys

My mother has an amazing talent of putting so perfectly into words what is in my heart. I want to cry when I read this sweet verse she put together . . . I am truly blessed. Thanks Mom!

February Goal

Every day take a minute to record in my journal . . . "how I have seen the Lord's hand in my life today" and any other impressions I may have. This does not need to be lengthy, but a habit I would like to be more consistent at. I am finding more and more that the days and years are starting to blend together. These are special and sweet years as a mother with my children all home and in my care. I want to be able to embrace each moment, the good and the not so good . . . and remember always.

O Remember, Remember

President Henry B. Eyring

When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property.

He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.”

I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.

I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.

More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened.

a lost battle

the hole in the wall was patched once. before long i could tell it was a battle i didn't want to fight. we'll wait until the time is right!

i ♥ faces "best face photo"

this week at i ♥ faces the photo challenge is "best face photo". it was my privilege to take pictures of this amazing family while i was in salt lake a couple of weeks ago! i just love the sweet look on little sami's face in this picture . . . those big brown eyes and dimple are enough to melt any mother's heart.

take time to smell the roses

To truly reverence the Creator, we must appreciate His creations. We need to plan to take time to observe the marvels of nature. Today, we can easily become surrounded by brick buildings and asphalt surfaces that shelter us from real life around us. Plan to share with your family the miracle of buds changing to fragrant blossoms. Take time to sit on a hillside and feel the tranquility of the evening, when the sun casts its last golden glow over the horizon. Take time to smell the roses. All the marvels of nature are glimpses of the Lord's divine power and expressions of His love.

-Elder M. Russell Ballard

my cowboy

Most of us rather like our cats to have a streak of wickedness. I should not feel quite easy in the company of any cat that walked about the house with a saintly expression.

~Beverly Nichols

happy birthday dear nathan

nathan has been looking forward to this day for months. he has been talking about his birthday buffet for weeks - anytime he sees something he likes, he says he's going to have that at his birthday buffet . . . but, we are celebrating traditional brasher style. nate decided on chicken pillows for dinner with a darn good chocolate cake for dessert ( it was a toss up between that and dirt cake). we love birthday's at our house!

nathan's favorite's at age six

food: chicken pillow's

dessert: darn good chocolate cake & dirt cake

candy bar: chocolate

color: red and orange and blue

movie: star wars

activity: playing star wars on wii

subject in school: recess and seeing friends

best friend: kade & harrison

toy: nerf gun and legos

job: sweep floor

primary song: i am a child of God

when i grow up i want to be a doctor

way to go bronco's!!!

fiesta bowl champions!!

Happy New Year

instead of a new year's resolution, i am going to make a "new month's" resolution! research shows three to four weeks is all the time you need to make a habit automatic. i am going to take this year to work on something new each month . . . and hopefully, by the end of the year i will have improved my life a month at a time!

so . . . my january goal is to spend time in the scriptures every day.

let this new year be the beginning of a new life in each of us where in "old things are passed away." let all blessed old things stay, but let the clutter of our heads and hearts be removed, that new inspiration and new affections may come in to gladden our lives.

-chester emerson

catching up . . .

i have really put blogging on the back burner the last few months. life has been full and productive. here is a small taste of how our family wrapped up 2009.

November:

we traveled to salt lake for thanksgiving and had a wonderful feast with the carter family. my mom prepared a fabulous dinner; my favorite dish being the stuffing!

"fly away jack, fly away jill

come back jack, come back jill"

highlights of the trip: visiting late at night with family - getting to know dave's wife kelli - dad's sunday school lesson on becoming as a little child - going to "new moon" with abi, lizzie, and mom - early morning walk with mom and sis - byu\utah game with mom, dad, & sis - citris grill with mom after the game - gingerbread houses and pizza with doug's cute sisters and families - going to see "a christmas carol" in 3D with kids, sam, melissa and family, laurel, dad, & mom - training table after the movie - late night movie "the blind side" with sam, melissa, doug, ed, val, laurel, dave, kelli, joe, & lynda - having doug be with us for the whole weekend - thanksgiving dinner and visiting around the table.

I am so thankful for my family, for the time we are able to spend together building memories, sharing, loving and growing. I love seeing the sweet interaction between my kids and my parents. I am always grateful to my parents for opening their home to us and taking such good care of us.

December:

always such a busy, festive, exciting, fun month. i love december. i love anticipating with my children, i love decorating the house, listening to christmas music, planning, reading christmas books with my kids and serving as a family. how blessed we are as a family and truly humbled as we focus on the gift of our Savior to the world.

here are a few pictures or our christmas house:

mr. peeps came to check up on the kids again this year. we are glad he is around to make sure everyone is behaving:)

one of my favorite's of the season is receiving greeting cards from friends and family. i love seeing how families are growing and changing!

December 16-20 i flew to salt lake for my brother joe's wedding on the 17th. besides my brother getting married, the highlight of this trip was spending time with my sister who lives in chicago. we were both traveling without our children whom we missed, but it was so nice to be able to spend that time together without the business of having the kids with us.

joseph & lynda

when i returned from utah, the kids had finished their las week of school and were out for the winter break. i love having my kids home from school! we celebrated mitchie's birthday batman style on the 21st. what a darling birthday boy he was!

on christmas eve we had our traditional feast. doug prepared prime rib, shrimp and cocktail sauce, funeral potatoes, and pumpkin pies for desert. we spent the day baking and watching christmas movies - my favorite being "it's a wonderful life"

the kids opened their christmas jammies and the gifts they had gotten for each other. before going to bed for the night, we watched "joy to the world" a christmas devotional which closed the evening with such a nice spirit.

we headed back to utah again to bring in the new year. one of our family traditions on new year's eve is to record and share a family memory. this is the tenth year of this tradition and we have quite a collection. it is always kind of a hassle to take the time to think of what to record and to actually do it - but we are always so glad. there is such a neat feeling listening to everyone's memory and a great way to bring in the new year.

another family tradition is bratzlie making. i used to help my dad with bratzlies and i was able to capture gracie and her grandpa making his third batch of the season. bratzlie making is an art (maybe because i can't do it quite right:) grandpa is a pro!

we are back home now . . . almost. doug and carter headed to arizona to cheer on the bronco's in the fiesta bowl. go bronco's!! kids started school and it's time to get back to a routine and a schedule. 2009 was an amazing year. we are blessed to be healthy and to have the gospel in our lives. welcome 2010.

Our Christmas Card

the story behind the card versed by my mother:

it all started splendid

oldest...pride and joy hair

fixed just so

all ready for the Christmas

family photo

then splat

a dastardly pigeon

let go

overhead

one amused

some concerned

a day not to be forgotten

for the wrong reason

little boys smile

perfect cooperation

hat girl sees the joke

but, oldest

just a poopy day

abi had spent an hour working on her hair for our photo shoot. what kind of luck to have a pigeon poop on your head . . . it took me a little while to see the humor in it, i was frustrated that the girl i usually don't have to worry about looking great in a picture had lost it!