Easter Morning

I have given a lot of thought this week to the power that comes into my life because of faith in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and a firm belief in a Heavenly Father who loves each one of us beyond our capacity to understand.  I learned of several difficult trials that have come to people around our neighborhood and area and I have pondered how the power of peace can come to those who it seems have every right to despair. 

I know, no matter the trial, Our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ are completely aware of all that is happening.  The timing and duration of any trial is an unknown.   No matter those things we are sustained through trials and our fears are quieted through the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  Having experienced all the pain and suffering the world would know, he has the power to calm our hearts and whisper peace and comfort to our souls through the Holy Ghost. 

I have experienced it.  Moments when I feel like my heart is failing...I am breaking...I am afraid...I pray.  My thoughts are quieted and replaced with feeling of power.  Power that only comes because I know Heavenly Father is watching.  My Savior Jesus Christ is walking with me.  There is no reason to be afraid because I trust that whatever is happening...it is being allowed because I will come out the other side closer to them.  Better, more compassionate, loving, full of power in the atonement of Jesus Christ.  Confident. Trusting.

I know my Savior lives.  I love him.  I love my Heavenly Father. I can't speak of one without the other because I feel they are one in purpose and love for me.  Some people are of the opinion that to rely on a "God" is weakness.  The only thing I have ever gained from it is power...power over sin...power over pain...power over disappointment...anger...fear...frustration.  My faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father has saved me. 

Dave's Birthday 2 years old

Our cuti pie David turned two this weekend.   He is all boy and loves being wild, trains, cars, and planes...and then he loves the My Little Ponies Movie "Rainbow Rocks".  Not sure how that one got in there.  For his second birthday he finally got brave enough to climb out of his crib...and now I have lost that control.  Each little step takes me to one more thing I don't get to control...the crib it just number. one.  HAHA.

We had a very quiet and easy birthday for Dave.  A couple of presents, some cupcakes and ice cream and a quick trip to the Curiousity Museum.  :)  It was the Perfect amount of work for mom and Dave had a good time.  Let's face it...at two...they really don't care as long as they get to run around free and stick their hands in frosting and make a good mess.

Really, Dave is just a joy in our home.  He keeps us all busy and keeps us all positive with his contagious smile.  So glad he is ours. :)

Time with My Man!

 It's been a while...too long...since Nate and I took an entire 24 hours away from our kids.  I was so very happy to spend a day in SLC with him.  We got a little room at Anniversary Inn.  The only down side was that it was in the basement.  I will watch that next time.  We ignored that though and still had so much fun. 

 Many years ago Nate took me to the ROOF at the top of the Joseph Smith building for prom.  We thought it was about time to go back.  And can I just say, it was so nice.  We had a perfect seat and got there just in time to watch the sun set and see the beautiful lights of the temple come on.  The food was good...but the atmosphere was really wonderful. 

There are many things I am grateful for in this life...but the greatest blessing I recieved here is my husband.  He is truly my soul mate.  I couldn't make it a day without him.

A Day at the Beach...ummm...well, close enough

You know how sometimes you just got to have some fun.  As spring set in we decided we needed on of those fun days.  So, we planned a day trip and made the most of it.

 Since you can't stay too close to home on a fun day, we readied our picnic and headed to liberty park.  Spring weather..check...it was perfect.  The kids played on the playground, fed ducks and we took a nice stroll...not to mention eating a fun lunch.  It was such a relief after winter. I am always grateful when the sun returns and I can tolerate the weather again.

 These girls are just too cute.  A moment frozen in time.  Can't believe we are going to add another one.  HAHAH

 The fun day continues at fashion place mall where amazing lego creations were on display.  I do believe this was the highlight of the day for the kids.  It was pretty dang cool. 

You know what really made this day great.  The kids got a long.  Fighting was at it's very minimum...which is a blessing if you live within the walls of our home.  HAHA.  I am so thankful for times that we are reminded how much we enjoy being together.  So grateful for our  big family. 

February Highlights

 Just horsin' around.  Some day Nate is going to suffer serious injury. 

 Ben's Valentines Day box.  He wanted a shark so we all combined efforts for this finished project.  It turned out pretty well but he didn't win the prize. ;(

 Sarah loves lip gloss, lip stick and makeup.  While we have been buying her lip gloss she still uses marker for lipstick.  Yikes!

 

What can I say.  Aren't these boys so cute.  Dave loves learning how to play ball. 

And the vacuum.  It's become a problem.  Dave insists on doing the vacuuming by himself. That means 1 inch of square space gets vacuumed.  HAHAHa

Ice Skating...Boy, that's a lot of work!

 We have to make it ice skating at least once a year.  This year we tried out the Olympic Oval.  It was super fun. 

 Thank goodness for the walkers.  They are so helpful and make the chore of going around the oval with a kiddo mildly less back breaking.  :)

Dave was a little young for ice skating so he and I just wandered.  Maybe not as fun...and he really wanted to go skating but he'll just have to wait.  Maybe next time.

Staying Home Sick

Emily stayed home sick today.  I don't know about other moms...but for me...a lot of times, the kids are sick until about 10am.  Then suddenly, they are ready to play.  :)  Well, I can't say I complained too much when Emily stayed home.  She kept Sarah happily entertained making a nice comfy bed right on the kitchen table.  Comfortable?  Probably not.  Happy.  Absolutely. 

Lego Mania

Legos have become very popular at our house and the girls are great as using them as another creative outlet.  This is a house they built recently including all sorts of rooms and specially designed furniture.  They really do amaze me. 

A new closet organizer for me. :)

Nathan is very multi talented.  So, when I decided the week before Christmas all I wanted was a nice closet organizing system, he took it to heart.  He built me this awesome center piece with shelves and drawers.  It works like a dream.  So glad this hot handy man is mine.  :)

Sledding

 Good Times can always be had when we hit the hills for sledding.  For some reason I wasn't very big on pics this day...but we did have fun.  The babies got cold...it was a bit windy, so we spent some time watching movies in the van.  But, the strong stayed strong. 

Ben did venture off a more dangerous spot.  Nate said that in his mind he knew it was trouble before Ben even went off toward the jump.  Ben did get a minor injury but he survived.  We were still glad we went.