Joy In The Journey - Recap

Since I haven't posted in a long time, I decided to do a Recap post with just a few of my favorite Joy in the Journey moments. I love that I have pictures and little memories from every day. This has been such a great goal for me.

February 17th - Hyrum in his car box. This is one of those little things that just makes me laugh.



February 14th - My Valentine's Day in VEGAS! How cool is that?!? I got to spend a great holiday with my Sweetheart and my Best Friend from High School! We had a yummy Italian dinner and Cheesecake!!!

February 5th - Jadyn Lost Her 1st Tooth!!! I know - she isn't even 5 yet! She was at Nana's house and she was so excited to show it to me when I came to pick her up.

January 28th - Jadyn's first written music... She floored me when she showed me this "song" that she wrote and started singing it for me. It was about a Princess that loves to dance. I really need to get this girl in piano lessons...

January 18th - Daddy Time! Sunday is a great day because we get to spend it with Daddy.

January 19th - Hyrum sliding all by himself. He was having a great time just going down the slide like his big sisters. He laughed so hard, that I came outside to see what was going on. There was Hyrum, hanging on to the slide and showing off that little belly. Too Cute! I had to get a picture.

January 29th - Even when she is sulking, Jenna is very cute. (She was sad that she couldn't have all of the sand toys and had to spend a few minutes sitting with Mom until her attitude improved...which it did.)

January 30th - A Boy and A Puddle (enough said)

I love my life!

Jared Turns 30!

It is hard to believe, but Jared just hit 30 years old. Wow! Where did the time go??? Here were a few of the things that we did to celebrate Daddy's big day:

The girls got up early to "help" mom fix breakfast.

Daddy got to open his gifts from the kids that were each picked out just for him. Great job kids!!!

The big surprise came when we all went to Daddy's office for lunch. Soly provided lunch for everyone and we brought cake, ice cream, and balloons. The kids decorated Daddy's desk with a Batman table cloth and yellow paper products. Jared was such a good sport and wore the birthday hat.

We brought him a special gift: 30 Things We Love About You.

If was full of little things that the kids have said about their Daddy. Some were journal entries, some were recent statements. Jared loved it.

We had such a fun time celebrating with the Birthday Boy! The kids were great and never let the 'cat out of the bag' as we planned his birthday party.

I know that I am biased, but I am married to the most wonderful man in the world. He is my perfect match and I am grateful every day that we are married. He is an amazing father and his kids absolutely adore him. He gets a "Rock Star" greeting every time he comes home. I can't think of anyone that deserves it more. 30 years... here's to many more wonderful birthday celebrations!

Happy Birthday, Jared! We love you so much!

When Mommy is Sick...

When Mommy is sick...call Jadyn.

Yep. Jared had to work yesterday. I was sick and Jadyn (at 4 years old) took charge of the household and everyone in it. She:

• Got bottles, drinks, and snacks for Hyrum and Jenna
• Changed out Movies so that Mommy could rest
• Got herself and Jenna dressed and ready for the day
• Fed the kids Breakfast
• Made PB & J for the kids for lunch
• Took care of Jenna's injury (scratch) with a kiss and a band-aid
• Helped pick up
• Reported to Mommy about every 5 to 10 mins.

This is what the house looked like around 3 p.m. Not bad for me being out of it all day.

I think the kids ate too many Popsicles, from what I could tell, but they seemed pretty happy about it.

Jadyn tried to take care of me. She made sure I always had a full water bottle. She would come and rub my back or my shoulders and say,

"You'll feel better soon, I just know it."

But the best line of the day from my little Miss Mommy was,

"Don't worry, Mom, I've got it all under control."

And she did.

Thanks, Jadie! You were a huge helper yesterday.

Joy in the Journey Week 2

This week has been a good week and it all started with Sunday... I love the 2nd Sunday because it is my day to teach. I LOVE my calling. I LOVE my relief society sisters. I LOVE the chance that I have to really study a gospel topic every month.



January 11th - Teaching Sunday. The lesson was really wonderful. We had such a fantastic discussion, I was sad when it had to end. I felt like we were really touching on some great things as we discussed leadership.





January 12th - After being up most of the night with a sick girl, it was so sweet to watch her sleep the next morning. It reminded me of when I used to watch her sleep as a tiny infant almost mesmerized by her breathing. Sweet girl!

January 13th - Hyrum and the fridge. He loves to empty the fridge. Any chance he gets, he is in there and "rearranging" things for me. Thanks Buddy! Oh... did you see the shoes that he put on himself???

A close up of the shoes... This boy really likes playing with shoes.

January 14th - The girls had some friends come over and they dressed up and played, laughing for almost an hour straight.

January 15th - After Jenna "helped" Hyrum take off his clothes and his diaper, this is where I found him - naked except for his socks, playing with his cars, and watching Barney.

January 16th - The perfect moment: arms outstretched, running down a hill with your face in the sun!!!

January 17th - Jenna offering to "share" her yummy Popsicle. Thanks for being so nice, Sweetie!

As you can see, I had so much to be thankful for this week.

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!