Mini Va-Kay!

Oh the joys of a buttermilk bubble bath paired with a bit of Lindt dark chocolate and sea salt then topped off with some PBS Downton Abbey. Rinse and repeat until you have finished season 2 and are talking to your kids with a British accent.

Thank you, Cody for the hot tip.

Valentine Festivities

I feel like we have been celebrating for a whole week! Parties, junk, pink and red, more junk.

Treats keep disappearing off the counter and magically appearing in the trash. Weird:).

We ended up going to Qdoba and kissing so that we all could have dinner BOGO. Whoot Whoot! It was pretty fun, the kids thought it was crazy that you could do that.

Then off to decorate homemade sugar cookies. More junk.

Kendall gave us a Valentine puppet show before bed and Nathan turned into Napoleon and did his usual of making us laugh.

The boys spent the night with my mom. I wish I could say Justin and I were off for a romantic get-a-way but quite the contrary. I had to go run a few more tests at the hospital. All is well.

I cracked open the current book I'm reading and found a letter from Justin. He wrote it in red ink for the occasion. I love this holiday.

Snow Day!

The snow came and school was officially cancelled. We stayed warm and cozy in our jammies until Jenn called. Off to make the most out of our beautiful blanket of soft white that covered our "little town."

The kids played and danced to Elena's jams and then decorated their boxes for Valentines day.

A New Chapter

Some weeks ago I received a new calling. I had been serving in the primary for the last 12 years. It was time to say goodbye to the kids (I was 2nd counselor) which was harder than I had imagined.

I was extremely emotional and so was Nathan. Ever since I have been married, primary is all that I have known. I loved walking down the hall and into those primary rooms singing the roof off the church. I have loved those twinkling little eyes and feeling the spirit so strong every week. This was etched in my heart and I knew it would be hard to leave. Primary is my comfort zone. Those children, including my own are familiar and good and pure. I love them.

I was asked to be the first counselor in Young Women's. I felt overwhelmed and inadequate. It felt uncomfortable and I wasn't sure if I could do it. I didn't feel good physically and that made me full of doubt and uneasiness.

I was really struggling one morning and decided to look over my lesson that I was going to be teaching in the upcoming weeks. I flipped to the page and it was titled, "Courage To Try."

Peace filled my body and I felt warm and strengthened. I felt tears weld up in my eyes and I let out a little laugh. It was perfect. I felt loved and knew that my Savior cares about, little ole me.

I will try and try the best I can.

M'love

"Every love story is beautiful, but ours is my favorite."

I love that I still get the butterflies when I know Justin is coming home from work.

I love that we constantly work to get on the "same page", and have the same goal at the finish line.

I love how we have grown together through struggles and trials and that he knows actions speak louder than words.

I love that Justin makes up silly songs and dances with me every. single. day. just to make me laugh.

I love that I can just look at him and know what he is thinking and before he opens his mouth to say it, I say it first.

I love how selfless he has been these last 3 years and has taken care of me and the boys during my illness and he has done it so cheerfully.

I love how he thinks he has the best life.

I love that he has the most contiguous positive attitude.

I love his never ending supply of foot massages and neck rubs he gives me.

I love his encouragement and abundant amount of hope he pours into me everyday.

I love how he spends time with the boys and totally fills in for me when I'm not able too.

I love that he has developed the talent of singing.

I loves how he lightens my burdens and offers massive amounts of support.

I love that he has been exactly everything I've needed.

I love that he still copies me when he thinks I have a good idea.

I love that he makes me feel safe and provides security.

I love that he is a homebody and at the same time, is up for an outing.

I love that he truly understands my relationship with my mom....and dad.

I love that he knows a sense of humor is essential and healing.

I love his testimony of the gospel and how he anchors our family.

I love the comfort he provides for me and the boys.

I love that he sometimes gets emotional during our conversations, movies, books, or in his thoughts.

I love that he always says sorry first and tries to make each day better than the last.

I love that he tells the boys I'm a princess and how to treat me.

I love that he is loyal.

I love that he thinks of others first and finds great joy in serving.

I love the way I feel when I'm with him.

I read this on Nie Nie's blog a while back and thought, YES! I loved it:

Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.

Louis De Bernieres

Pink Flamingo Sky

Faith in God
includes faith in
His timing
-Neal A Maxwell

I love stepping outside to these scenes. I feel like I'm in a movie, at least until it melts away.

No Way!?

Nathan came running in so excited to tell me that on Friday, the whole class was invited to bring a stuffed animal to school during quiet reading time.

He asked me if he could bring in his dog, his favorite stuffed animal that he had gotten from his Aunt and Uncle when he was little.

His dog is HUGE. Pretty much the size of Kendall.

I told him no and repeated Mrs. Abrams rule of, "If it doesn't fit in your backpack, you may not bring it to school."

He looked at me with determined eyes and asked, "If I can fit it into my backpack, zip it, and have my lunch box in there, can I bring it?"

I told him sure.

I was for certain that there was no way his dog would fit, let alone with his lunch box in there, and didn't give it another thought.

He came running in hooting and hollering that he was going to take his giant dog to school.

I about died!

I'm still not quite sure how he managed it but I knew I had to keep my word. I emailed the teacher to give her a heads up and to let her know what happened.

Mrs. Abrams loved that he was so determined and told me as Nathan was pulling his dog out for quiet reading, that all the kids eyes were huge as they watched and everyone wanted to sit by him.

Pick Up Sticks

We had recently finished up having FHE all about working hard.

The boys had been invited to Mammy's backyard and struck up a deal.

For every stick they picked up, she would pay them a penny.

I sat in the back yard and watched Nathan tally up his total and then helped Kendall figure out his.

After about an hour, here is how many sticks they ended up with:

NATHAN: 487
KENDALL:68