Joy in the Journey

I have really been struggling lately. I have found myself barely hanging on by a thread. It has been a long time coming...about a year to be exact. I did the best that I could for so long. My husband works a lot and I have 3 small, demanding children. To say that I have been overwhelmed would be an understatement. The day to day dealings with my young family have been a real challenge for me to handle (mostly) alone. However, through it all, I have been offered great support by my extended family and friends. I have found strength that is beyond my own through prayer and spiritual comfort. My husband has also really tried to understand where I was coming from and help me through this time, even when he can't actually be home to help.


As I sat down to write my official "GOALS 2009" list, I realized that all of the ideas that I had were beyond my capacity to work on right now. I would love to set a time frame for working out and loosing those last few pounds... I would love to set goals about meals, scripture/gospel study, family time, keeping a cleaner house, etc. I stopped myself. I don't want to be overwhelmed again by good goals. So I decided on only one goal for 2009.

My goal for 2009 is to Have Joy in the Journey. Along with that, I need to: find something every day that I am thankful for, something that made me laugh, or brought me joy and take a picture of that thing (person).

I figure that if I can do that, my attitude will improve as I constantly seek to have joy in the day-to-day happenings in my life. I won't miss the little things that I love about my children at this age even though I am constantly struggling to keep up with the messes that they make. I hope that by setting this goal for myself, everything else will come with time. I wanted to face the new year with a better attitude and not feel overwhelmed.

These are my first "Joyful" photos for 2009. Just looking at them has made me laugh all over again.

January 1st - Jenna helping me juice some oranges! She loves to help. That is something that I need to appreciate more.



January 2nd - Jadyn requested that I grab my camera and take some pictures of her. She took me outside where she had set up a blanket in the grass. She is at such a fun age.


January 3rd- Jenna playing with the water hose in the backyard. Granted, she got Hyrum and the wall behind her pretty wet, but she laughed the entire time. Simple joys.

January 4th - Oreos and Milk.

January 5th - Jenna is such a beautiful girl - even with her chopped hair.

January 6th - Hyrum sticking his tongue out. He does this all of the time - especially when he is concentrating on something- and I love it.

January 7th - Even with a messy face and messy clothes, I love this little boy! It really isn't important that he stays clean as long as he is happy, right?

January 8th - Cousins. I love that we have Razzie so close and that she plays so well with both of the girls. She and Jenna had a blast driving the car off of the patio. They laughed and did it over and over.

January 9th- Horsee! Jared came home early enough to see the kids before bed. After we do family prayers, he is the Horsee. The kids were so excited to have Daddy home for this family tradition. Since I couldn't choose between the photos, I had to include one of each child.

January 10th - Zoo Lights. Daddy got off work around 8 so that we could go to Zoo Lights this year. Hyrum kept saying, "Wow" and "Whoa" with all of the lights. He was the cutest watching the musical light show. He was dancing in the stroller. Here he is with Daddy on the carousel. He normally doesn't sit on one of the animals, but with Daddy with him, he was brave enough.

January 11th - Jadyn went to a birthday party with her friends/cousins. She saw me taking pictures and blew me a big kiss. Thanks, Jadie!

If you want to add a list to your goals for 2009, this is something I recommend. I am already doing better. I am noticing things throughout the day that I appreciate even more. I am finding that my journey is already becoming more joyful. I appreciate the excitement of my kids. I reach for the camera instead of despairing when things are rough. One photo a day is kind of hard, but I am looking forward to this journey.

Anyone else want to join in?

A Little Christmas

"For we need a little Christmas,

Right this very minute...

We need a little Christ-mas, Now!"

Christmas morning this year was so magical. The kids were so excited to wake up and open some gifts. We had a wonderful Christmas filled with lots of laughter and family time. I know that my sweetheart was so tired, but he really was a trooper for the kids. We had just enough time to open a few gifts at our house before heading to do Christmas with the McClures and the Richardsons. On the 26th we finished opening our gifts at home. It was like an eternal Christmas Morning!

Opening the stockings... Jenna loves anything yellow - even a toothbrush.

Hyrum got cars and trucks and balls. He is such a boy. He LOVES all of them and walked around all day saying, "Vrrrmmmm, vrrrmmmm" (even with toys that are not cars...)

Jadyn was excited about every single gift. She "oohhed and awwwed" with every present, gave big hugs and loved every little thing she was given. Christmas this year was so much more magical. Jadyn spent a lot of time choosing the gifts she gave each member of the family and wrapping them herself.

Sweet little Jenna loved getting big girl toys like her sister. She and Jadyn got a lot of the same gifts and they have been playing ever since.

Christmas was a treat this year. It was so nice to have Jared around. He has been gone so much. Family Traditions are really important to me. He didn't disappoint. Even on almost no sleep, Jared made it a point to make Christmas a memorable holiday.

More importantly, Christmas is a Holy Day. I am so thankful for the birth and life of our Savior. I love that we can give one another gifts and remember what it means to care for one another. As my little children opened the gifts that were carefully chosen for them this year, I saw the excitement and joy in their faces. I felt so grateful that we had the ability to give them those few things that they wanted and that our extended family stepped up and gave generously to our kids as well. I can't thank everyone enough. My heart was very full of thanksgiving this year. Merry Christmas!

Christmas PJs 2008

Since Christmas Eve was kinda crazy, we put off taking our PJ photos until the following Sunday. Jared was able to be there, but we were still missing BJ. My camera was not doing too well with the low light, but this is what I managed to get. I really loved the PJs this year. The boys all looked so good and Grinchy. The little girls loved being Tinker Bell Fairies. Hyrum and Tytan looked awesome as Little Cars, and all of the Moms looked good in festive jammies. It was great. Thanks, Nana and Papa!

The girls had been playing Leap Frog. It was fun to watch them jump over each other. Once Papa joined in the fun, it was hilarious! Even if they helped, jumped, and pushed, it was still pretty tricky to jump over Papa.

"Cuddly as a cactus" or "Charming as an Eel" don't apply to these Grinchy Guys!

Father and son... how sweet! I am so glad that Hyrum has such a wonderful example as his father.

Big and small...all of the boys in the family (minus BJ who was absent and Elder Chas in Canada). You are so good lookin'!

The Photoshop version of the family photo. Since I was taking the pictures, I had to add myself in after the fact. Don't look too closely. I am getting better at Photoshop, but I have a long way to go.

All of the Grand Kids with Nana and Papa. Aren't they precious? I love the mix of red and green. Adorable!

I know that this is post holiday posting, but I love Christmas. Getting PJs on Christmas Eve is one of my favorite traditions. It sure makes for great photos!

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve the McClure Family all gets dressed up for a nice Holiday Dinner. Nana gave the girls beautiful matching dresses to wear. After dinner we spend time as a family, open our PJs, get dressed and take photos, pile into the truck and go Christmas Caroling. Our schedule was a little different because we were able to call Elder Chas McClure after dinner, but here are some of the highlights of the evening:

Jenna was being a stinker and kept pretending she was asleep. Here are my adorable munchkins all dressed up for dinner.

Here are the 4 little girls all dressed up. They look so sweet!

Addison kept hugging and kissing Hyrum. He was OK for awhile and then he had enough with all the smooching.

I was in charge of the yummy stuff! I brought Oreo Truffles, Costco Cream Puffs, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, White Fudge with Oreos, Cherry Chocolate Cake, and my Toffee. Mmmmmm... I tend to bake when I am trying not to worry about other things. Since I was worried that Jared wouldn't make it to dinner, I kept making more and more sweets.

Tytan looking all cute!

Dinner time! Jenna and Razzie were so excited to sit together at a special table.

John and Jadyn enjoying the ham, potatoes, and every good thing.

The Phone Call... We all got to chat with Chas for a bit. He is doing well and loving the snow in Canada! (well, maybe not loving it...)

Opening our Christmas PJs. The girls are old enough to really enjoy this tradition.

Hyrum and Tytan - the cutest little Cars ever!

I kept trying to get all of the girls for a photo. It was late and they were not too cooperative. Josh jumped in and we at least got all of our little Tinker Bells in one shot!

My theme for the last days before Christmas was, "Come what may and love it." It was hard - Jared worked so many hours and couldn't participate in any of our family traditions. I kept telling myself that I would still be happy - no matter what. It was not an easy thing to do - mostly because I missed my sweetheart so much, but I was able to stay happy. He did an amazing job finishing up all of the work.

I took these next few photos at 11:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve when we stopped at Daddy's office to deliver some dinner and his Christmas PJ's.

When Jared arrived home just before 6 a.m. Christmas morning (after working almost 3 days without sleep - on top of months with less than 5 hours a night) this is what he saw... Santa had already been to our house. He had eaten the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies that Jadyn left out (with her adorable note) and Christmas was all ready.

I missed my hubby on Christmas Eve. I know that he wanted to be with us more than anything. We still tried to make the most of the occasion.

Temple Lights on a Cold Night

We went to go see the Temple Lights on one of the coldest nights in December. Hyrum got to stay snuggled at Grandma's house and Jared and I took the girls. It was a wonderful experience. We had to warm up in the visitors center where we listened to a presentation on Christ and saw Nativity scenes from around the world.



Star of wonder, star of light... Jadyn told us that the star helped lead the wise men to the baby Jesus and we should follow the star, too. She is pretty wise for only being 4 years old.

I loved this shot of the temple. It is so bright and beautiful. I really enjoyed taking my girls to see the lights, talk about Christ, and enjoy a special holiday tradition.

After the temple we drove around looking for a place to get good hot chocolate. We settled on Starbucks and got some funny looks when we walked in with 2 little girls in PJs. The carmel apple drink was so yummy and the girls enjoyed their hot chocolate (after a few ice cubes were added). I was so glad that Jared made the time to go to the temple with us.

The Nativity

Acting out the Nativity as the scriptures are read is a wonderful family tradition. Jadyn was so excited this year to participate that she spent the week before assigning and reassigning parts to everyone. She always wanted to be the angel (because the angel had a great speaking part) and she was really funny as she decided what everyone else could be.

The night finally arrived and she and Jenna were angels. Don't they look beautiful?


The Greats were Mary and Joseph. The Jareds' and Hyrum were wisemen. I ended up being a shepard and Grandma was a great sport as one of the sheep. Grandpa filmed and Jared narrated. It was a memorable night.

As Christmas (and the entire month of December) are filled with all other Holiday Traditions, food, parties, gifts, etc., it was nice to take some time to reflect on the first Christmas and the birth of our Savior. Thanks family for making this a tradition!