Its about time

As Dave put on Olivia's Christmas dress he told her that in order to wear it on Sunday she needed to start walking. You see, this dress was not cheap. I had to have it. I did NOT want her ruining it by crawling all over the floor in its rich, blue tulle. But she has just not wanted to walk. I kept threatening that if she was not walking in time then it would go back to Janie and Jack.

Sure enough, as soon as we started taking pictures of her standing in it, something she has done for months giving us false hopes, she walked over to me. I was about 7 feet away and she just went for it. It was so exciting. Proof that she has been capable for some time, just wanting to wait for the perfect moment.

See, I told you she was a good, obedient girl!

Biggest, bestest news

Got a call early last week from this hottie with a body... (the one in the pink, not the hottie in the red)

She had some news. It still makes me want to jump out of my skin when I say it....

CANCER FREE PEOPLE!!!!!!

Doesn't that just feel good to read? It feels great to type!!!! And I get to have her and her crew here for a week on the 28th for our Annual New Year's Bash!!! Literally, we all just bash eachother the entire time. That's how you know its love.

Funny stuff

Olivia was laughing at this Happy Meal Baseball toy for over 10 minutes. I though by the time I got the laptop it'd be over. I was wrong. I wonder what it was that she loves so much about this.

14 months

O' how I have loved these past 14 months. This little girl of ours has brought more joy to us than I ever could have imagined. She is smart and funny and cute and sweet.

Olivia loves to give hugs and kisses and will now do so on demand. The kids have loved this new trick and ask her for some love all day long. One of Olivia's favorite tricks is to lure them in with her kissing sound and puckered lips but as soon as they get close she pulls away and laughs. Well, most of the time she slaps them. (We're trying to teach her to be soft but its so hard when she bites or hits and all the kids so is laugh and tell her to do it again)

We have our first Sesame Street lover. The other 2 kids could have cared less about a furry, red monster but this girl thinks that Elmo hangs the moon. She sounds so cute when she says "Elmo" that it makes me love Sesame Street even more than ever. She especially loves, what she call's, "la la, La La" which means "Elms Song" And will ask for it several times a day. She gets the biggest smile on her face when we turn it on for her and will dance and sing along with her new found friend.

There is so much I could say about this fun girl but I will leave it at this. She is perfect, I mean it. And we couldn't all love her more if we tried.

Gratitude

I don't really have a lot to say. Just that I am grateful. So grateful. I have been blessed with an incredible Husband who is everything I need him to be, and more. I have been entrusted with 3 perfect spirits who motivate me to be better everyday. They teach me more than I could ever teach them and I am grateful for that gift. I have some of the best friends in the world and my life is blessed by them daily. I live in this choice Land where we have freedoms that most can only dream of. I was privileged to be born into a sacred covenant, an eternal Family. I have been blessed daily by belonging to the Lords Church here upon the Earth, with the same powers and revelations which existed when Christ himself walked on this Earth. I know this is His Church and I hold it closest to me, for without it nothing else would have near the meaning that it does. Every happiness I have is because of my Membership in it.

I have been blessed beyond belief and I am grateful to my Father in Heaven for all that I have, for all that He has given me.

I have been thinking about this quote a lot, especially today.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.-- Melody Beattie

I know that my life can be blessed, enriched and made more full by practicing gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving.

A perfect day!

This is one of my favorite Sunday's of the entire year, especially since having kids. Especially since becoming the Primary President.

Today was our Wards Primary Program. And it was perfect. This marked Ella's very first program and boy was she ever excited. Each week for the past month she has asked if it was Program day. And today I got to tell her yes!!!


Ella came down with a little cold yesterday, nothing terrible but enough so that I took her temperature late last night before going to bed myself. Imagine my surprise when the readout said 102. I was devastated. Not only to have a sick girl but I knew how excited she was about the next morning. Clothes were picked out. shoes bought, 2 Sunday's of long practice's had. And now, this? I asked her if she wanted Daddy to give her a blessing. She jumped on it right away. Dave came in, gave her a beautiful blessing and then I had a little talk with her.

"Ella, do you know who blessing's come from?"

"Heavenly Father."

"Do you have Faith that He can help you to feel better so that you can be in the Primary Program?"

"YES!!!"

"I do too honey, I know that you will be okay in the morning."

"I know it too Mommy."

I loved how much faith she had. And I too knew that Heavenly Father could heal her, if only for an hour.

Sure enough I took her temperature in the morning. 98. Perfect. I asked her if she felt okay, she said she felt really good. So we got ready and went to Church. She was darling, so happy to be there with her Primary, singing the songs she worked so hard on. She loved waving to her Aunt Charity and she loved looking back and flashing me smiles. At one point I reached up from my seat behinds her (yes, I sang too) and held her hand. She looked back at me, smiled sweetly, and politely put my hand back on my own lap.

Right after the program Dave took Ella home. I heard a few cough's here and there but my hand always met a cool forehead. I thought I'd play it safe. As soon as Dave got her home she started her fever again, almost immediately. 102.

I knew that Heavenly Father blessed her little body to be able to be healed, if only for those few hours. I know he could feel of her Faith and her righteous desire to be a part of such a special Sunday. It was a great day that I hope that she'll remember for a very long time, I know I will.

Luke was a star. He had some pretty awesome hand movements in the front row as he sang. Raising a high fist during each, "scripture Power" and other such things. He even sang in a quartet. It was beautiful. We had probably over 400 people there, the back of the Cultural Hall ended up being standing room only. I was so proud of my boy. He sang loud and strong and didn't seem a bit nervous.


Luke in his dapper suit. What a Handsome boy I have!

Poor Olivia was in need of a picture too. I cant believe that one day soon I will have 3 kids up there. She was such a good girl during the entire program today, she loves music more than almost any little girl I know. This was her day!

Music

I love music. I am extremely sentimental and my favorite thing about a song is how it can bring you right back. I can track some of the most important moments of my life with my ears and a melody. Spending time with some of my best friends, dancing with my little Sister, my first heart break, road trips to Utah and Vegas, the first night alone in my own apartments 2 states away from home, Holidays, first kisses, dancing with my wonderful Husband, stages in my Children's lives. Even as I write this and link those moments to specific tunes and melodies I am right back to them.

Last night I got into my Husbands car to head to the gym. As soon as turned the key I heard it. The song that almost always puts me in tears. Its a song I have always loved. I use to imagine singing it to my kids when I was a teenager. Its beautiful. It's one we all know. Its "Baby Mine"

This song took on an entirely new meaning to me about this time last year. My baby was 6 weeks old and a patient at Sky Ridge Hospital. She was hooked up to an array of machinery and she was not sleeping well. I remember that I too had a small hospital bed to sleep in that week, only I was rarely ever in it. Instead I spent most of my evenings sitting in a tan rocker or pacing the room with my tiny, restless baby. Holding her and pushing around a monster of a machine that followed us every couple of feet was a feat.

The second night of our 5 day stay I asked Dave to bring the laptop. I made a playlist, which is still in existence, called "Olivia Hospital" Each night I would push play on that playlist and sing to my Daughter as she looked up at me with her huge. blue eyes. The first song on there, and her favorite, was "Baby Mine." It was usually put on repeat a few times each night (and into the early morning) While the other Ped's patients and Parents were getting some shut-eye I was singing to my Olivia amidst beeps and darkness. And wondering what in the world we were doing there.

But we were there. And, for some strange reason, I hold those days and memories very close to my heart. I think because it taught me so much. And it gave me an insight on my Children that I don't think I could have ever otherwise had. But mostly I think its because I have never felt so close to my Heavenly Father and his love for his Children.

Yes, I love the way that memories flood back each time I hear a familiar song. And especially this song. I could listen to it all day long.

(this is not a video...just a song disguised as a video)