He Is Risen

We had a wonderful Easter. This year, more than others I really tried to focus on the last week of the Saviors life and think each day what was happening. I knew he atoned on Friday, but on Thursday I was overwhelmed with love for my Savior. He has done so much for me. The atonement has blessed my life in numerous ways. As I sat reading the Ensign, tears streamed down my cheeks with such comfort that the atonement was real. That the Savior lived. And that I could return to him. What a lovely message. This made such a difference in my Easter this year.

We celebrated with the kids before we headed to Idaho for more Easter festivities.

Mollie caught on really quick how to hunt for eggs. She had to because Carter would plow her over to get to any egg he could!

 Then we hopped in the car and headed to our annual egg hunt in Blackfoot with my family. This is no small egg hunt and its so fun for all the cousins to be together.
The kids ran straight for the big trees to climb.

 Carter colored one egg and was done, but Mol would have sat there all day if i would have let her coloring eggs. Did I mention I hate coloring eggs?!

 Mollie loves babies and thinks she always needs to hold them even though she isn't that much bigger than this little guy, she thought she needed to try.

 This hunt is always a little chilly, but we had a beautiful day compared to ones in the past. A little jacket and the kids were good to go!

 And as always, Grandma and her siblings didn't disappoint!

 Carter was so excited on Sunday after his class. He came running to me and said "Mom, Mom, look what I have!" As I bent down to see, he clutched an Easter egg in his tiny hands and opened it and said " Look Mom its empty. Like the tomb!"

It never ceases to amaze me what he can understand at such a young age. But at just 4 years old, he taught me a lesson about how exciting it is that the tomb was empty and what it means for all man kind. Thanks Carter for making my Easter more meaningful.

Random picture catch up

Tooele is really growing on us. We have been happy here and have made friends in our ward. Through this move, I think our family has grown closer to eachother though because most of the time, all we have are eachother.

I have been blessed to fall into a group of really great friends. We play bunco once a month, have Twilight parties, yoga three times a week and between Carter and Mollies preschool groups we have it 3 times a week. So I get to see friends every single day of the week! Not to mention one of my closest friends here is right accross the street from me! Here is Carter's Joy School group.

 Carter and Mollie have become really great buddies and love to play together. They both have met really good friends through church and school and it makes me so happy to see them making new friends. Mollie has been dubbed as a bit of a bullie. She loves to hug and kiss and hold hands and most kids her age aren't down with that which sends them screaming and crying to their moms. Whoops.

 Mollie has developed quite the little mind of her own. If she doesnt want to do something there is usually nothing that can make her do it. This is how I found dad one day after multiple trys to get her socks on.

 And she of course LOVES make up and polish. She really keeps me on my toes!

And just recently she started pooping in the potty!! I can't even tell you how this simplifies my life and makes me soooo happy! She has been pee trained for quite a while but has been having #2 accidents about twice every day! I was going crazy!

I'm so proud of this little stinker!

And here are some random pictures I thought I'd throw in.

Chad's candyland cake for the Blue & Gold Banquet

 Matching pink pedicures for spring! (It snowed 6 in. the next day)

 And one extra large donut for a happy little man.

What would life be with out friends and family to bless it. Sure love my little family.

SUPER fun filled weekend

Last weekend was a blast. My parents came to Tooele to play with us for a few days and watch our kids while we went on an over night date. The kids loved havin gwamma and papa and Adam here to entertain them. Grandpa did play-dough.

 Grandma and Mollie played dress up.

 And grandpa pulled the kids on the sled in the back yard. Who knew you didnt need snow to sled?! The weather was perfect and me and Chad were ready to head off on our hot date!

 We ate at Rodizios for the first time. OH. MY. GOSH. AMAZING!! The food just kept coming and coming and i didnt even feel guilty.
Im not a huge meat person, but this meat was divine. Bacon wrapped turkey and grilled pineapple were my favs.


 Then we did some shopping and headed to our room at the Armstrong mansion in down town SLC. It was really nice!

 Somebody ALWAYS gets carried away with the bubble baths and the jetted tub. What can I say, I like bubbles....just not that much! (he may kill me for this picture!)
 We watched Cinderella Man to fall asleep to and enjoyed a wonderful nights sleep and got to sleep in! The breakfast was really good too.

We returned home to find all well and our kids happy as ever. Carter even told us that we could leave again if we wanted to. It was tempting! ;)

That evening my brother Justin and wife Carrie with their 3 kids came in to town too. We babysat their kids while they had a night out. Even later, my younger brother Jordan decided he was bored and wanted to come too. It was a FULL house but I loved it!

The next day Adam had to go do some missoinary shopping so we decided to take off and have some fun with cousins!

We went to Hoggle Zoo and out to lunch. Mollie loved it all, but Carter was very timid.

 Love this picture of my little monkey.

 Me and my brother have pictures similar to these next few when we went to Hoggle Zoo and we were about the same ages.

 This is the best I could do at getting a picture of them.

 Mollie LOVED the monkeys. She talked about them all day. I think she could have stayed in the money exhibit all day and been happy. (same with her dad)

 Loved having everyone here even though it was a bit scrunched. Im so blessed to have an incredible family that loves to get together even when they have to drive clear out in the tooeles to see us! I hope it is always like that. Thanks for the fun weekend fam! Love you!

Good Ol' V Day

Started out my Valentines Day with lots of grocery shopping and I found this all made of Dr. Pepper (a staple for my husband) and Diet Dr. Pepper cherry (a new fav for me). And I knew it would be a great day.

The kids woke up and I surprised them with red juice, jello a few treats and gifts.

My surprise was sitting on the table for an over night stay to the Armstrong Mansion Bed & Breakfast and $50 to Rodizios! (and of course flowers and chocolate!) Love that man!!

 Then we had a Joy School Valentines party but didn't get any pictures. Because I was slightly busy...they next few hours went like this....

Right in the middle of painting our hand prints on a card for the kids parents Mollie announces she pooped her pants. I tell the kids not to touch anything and run up and clean up Mollie, sanitize the bathroom and myself.

Then a boy had to use the bathroom and peed ALL over my bathroom. Sanitized bathroom again..and myself.

Kids left, and I tried to make a cute valentine lunch.

I was feeling pretty good after I cleaned up lunch and was just sittin down for some mom time while the kids napped and I heard Carter say he didnt feel well. I bolted up the stairs and ran to the bathroom just in time for him to throw up in the toilet.

AGAIN...I cleaned up him and then sanitized the toilet, floor, sink and myself. UGH.

I was feeling pretty exhausted by now but still wanted to make some our fav V day tradition of chocolate covered strawberries. So I whipped some out (meanwhile Mollie has changed her clothes into her swim dress - a normal occurance) and was helping me eat them.

And make a nice meal in time for dinner! WHEW!

I got it all done and was very tired by the time Chad got home. I took a small power nap and the rest of the evening was spent relaxing, eating, and cuddling. Love my little family so much. I appreciated my mom so much on this holiday because she always went out of her way to make every holiday very special. A tradition I want to carry on with my family. I can only imagine how wiped out she was at the end of every holiday (and every other day for that matter!) but we never knew it. We just knew she loved us.

And I hope my children know how much I love them each and my amazing husband too. We are all working right now on SHOWING love to each other rather than just saying it and I can honestly say I appreciate each person in my family more for showing me love.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

It's Potty Time!

This little girl amazed me at how quick she potty trained! Within a few days she was trained to go pee, we sadly are still working on #2 but I'm hoping she will catch on quick.

As I was compiling last years blog book, I notice that Carter was finally potty trained by Jan 2012 and here we are 1 year later with both kids potty trained in Jan 2013!

She loves wearing her "pannies" and I think they are so cute too! She is really small for her age and with her out of diapers now none of her pants fit. They are all to big and she looks even tinier! Another down side is we often find her naked! This girl hates wearing clothes!

Mollie is...TWO....this pretty much sums it up right now. She is very strong willed and she loves candy. Her sleeping habits are horrible and so are her eating habits. She's a fighter most of the time and not a lover. BUT I love her like crazy. She reminds me of what love is and is teaching more about patience than I ever would learn without her. Her smile and laugh can melt anyone. And those big brown eyes....lets just say she has her daddy wrapped around her finger (and mom too!)

I sometimes hate that girls are supposed to love dress up and babies and play with kitchens and pretend clean up toys. It's engrained in them. Does it teach our girls that all there is to life is cooking, cleaning, looking beautiful and caring for babies? I hope it teaches them service and love. I hope I can teach you the things you need to know and especially how loved you are. LOVE YOU MOL!

Home

One of my dear friends often posts on her blog things that I think were meant exactly for me! She recently shrared this song on her blog.

Settle down, It'll all be clear. Don't pay no mind to the deamons they fill you with fear.

The trouble it might drag you down. If you get lost you can always be found.
Just know you're not alone, cuz I'm gonna make this place your home
~Phillip Phillips "Home"

With moving comes many changes! Friends, routines, schedules...and on and on. I first must say I really hate January and February...(until Valentines day) they are just BLAH! And to have all this change durring the "blah months" can be hard some days. When I read this chorus it spoke to me. Just settle down and make this place your home.

I have been complaing lately in my head alot about this or that...things that dont really matter...like the silverware drawer being too small, the lack of cleaning that was done before we moved in, the tower of boxes in the garage. And then I literaly force myself to snap out of that and change my thinking.  And I really have to FORCE myself to realize my irrational thoughts and change them. Before I didnt think it was possible, but with prayer and help from an amazing husband, I have decided to change my outlook on life here in Tooele. All that forcing of my thoughts has become much more natural and I can easily (most days) change a grumpy mood into a better one.

Dont pay no mind to the deamons they fill you with fear. The trouble it might drag you down. Satan wants me to feel down and find things to complain about and drag me down.

While the first few weeks were challenging, I have to say that now I am in a good place. The people here are amazing. I have never met more kind people who would do anything for you. Truly Christlike people. And that has made me want to be better. One thing about being LDS is that you are never lost. You belong somewhere and have a ward that will support you and strengthen you. Im so glad for that, especially in times of change.

And no Im not alone, and with the cognitive thinking exercises I CAN make this place my own. I recently had an opportunity to learn about Lot's wife who was turned to salt. One thing about what I read struck me. It said - Lots wife never imagined that her future could possibly be any better than her past. She was hanging on to the past so tight that she had to look back and it was the detrement of her.

So while I had a wonderful past in Twin Falls. I am looking to the future. I trust that my future can be just as good if not better than my past. Dear friends will always be dear friends no matter where you are. And I have an opportunity to make more dear friends. So with that all being said.....HERES TO HAPPY THINKING IN 2013.