Griffin packing for Florida

Tomorrow we leave for Florida! 2 whole weeks as a family with no work, nice weather, Disneyworld, Universal Studios, the new Harry Potter world, and the beaches. I can't wait! I have a new swimsuit, that I actually think I look fabulous in, and can't wait to go have some fun in the sun with my cute family. The kids are excited too. They each have their own bag packed for the plane and are probably not going to be able to focus much at school tomorrow. Griffin doesn't really know we are going yet (after all, he is only 1), but he has definitely enjoyed the packing part. For over an hour on Saturday he put his clothes in one suitcase, and then another. It was so cute!

Halloween

We had a wonderful Halloween. The kids all had a blast! Faith let me make her a fabulous tutu for her witch costume, Gavin was a Ninja, Brayden went old school and was Dracula, Landon was Spiderman (of course) and Griffin was Superbaby!
Doug had to fly out on Halloween, so he missed the actual trick or treating, but he was able to rearrange his flight to leave later and he volunteered to help at Gavin's class party while I went to help at Brayden's. Doug was also able to come to the kids school parade that morning, which was great. Brayden and Gavin were very excited to see us and show off their costumes. It was really fun to see all the kids in the ward dressed up too (especially since we didn't have a ward Halloween Party).
The kids and I went Trick or Treating for 3 1/2 hours and had a lot of fun together. Faith was going to go with her friends, but decided to invite her friend to come with us, which was really nice. We met up with more of our friends and finished the night trick or treating with them. Griffin was so cute. It was his first time trick or treating and he LOVED it. He loved getting things in his bucket, and he fell in love with licorice and dum dums.
Did I mention I love Halloween (tell me you didn't know that already).

I Must Be Crazy

So, I started running back in July. I ran my first 5k race on July 23rd in 30 minutes, which I thought was pretty good. I have my first 10k race this Saturday (I really hope it's not too cold)!
Well, here comes the crazy part. After achieving 7 miles, now I think I could actually run a marathon. It would be almost a year away, and even if I am not running consistantly in the winter, I will have 5-6 months to be able to train. So, we will see, but I am very excited at the thought of doing this.
If only I didn't know so many fantastic people who ran the St George Marathon this year. Blast you all, you inspire me!

Tie Day at school

Today is tie day at school! I am so grateful for video chat! My husband helped me learn to tie a tie by walking me through it on video chat. That's right, I tied all these ties myself. woot woot! Also, a big thanks to my brother David for letting us borrow the ones that sing!

Can the Holy Ghost put me to Bed?

Tonight's family home evening was about the Holy Ghost, and I thought I would share a few of Landon's thoughts on the holy ghost that were shared throughout the evening.

I had Landon help me out by banging pots and pans while I whispered a message about the Holy Ghost to the family. I asked the kids what kinds of things got in the way of us hearing the promptings of the holy ghost. Landon said, "pots and pans."
I asked Landon if the Holy Ghost was loud or soft, he whispered soft. I asked him if we needed to be quiet to hear the Holy Ghost, he said, "Maybe the Holy Ghost can talk to me at bedtime, because that is when I am quiet."
Then, I blindfolded each of the kids and had them try to find a picture of the Savior after being turned around several times. It was difficult, and they ran into things, until they got some help and listened to the whisperings of the "holy ghost" who told them which way to go.

We talked about different ways the Holy Ghost helps us, guides us, and comforts us. All of a sudden Landon turns to me and says, "Maybe next time I am on the trampoline, the Holy Ghost can help me go higher!"

I talked to the kids about how we always want the Holy Ghost with us and what we need to do to always be worthy of his companionship. Landon says, "I hope the Holy Ghost can come to Faith's soccer game with us and watch her play."

Then, after prayers and scriptures Landon was ready for bed and asked me, "Mommy, can the Holy Ghost put me to bed?"

I am not sure if Landon knows exactly what the Holy Ghost is, but he knows that he is someone who helps us and someone he wants around. If all he knows is that the Holy Ghost is a good friend, well, I will take it. I love Family Home Evening!

A Wonderful Weekend

Conference weekend is always a special weekend. I make a special breakfast on Sunday morning, the kids play Conference Bingo, we spend the weekend as a family, and we are all spiritually uplifted.
Something really special happened this Conference. When Landon, my little three year old saw President Monsen on TV yesterday he started singing a Primary song we recently learned, "Our Prophet has some words for you, and these are his words, be true, be true. At work or at play, in darkness or light, be true be true, and stand for the right." The spirit touched my heart as I realized that he knows who the prophet is. I hope he knows how wonderful it is to have a prophet on the earth. I know I am grateful for a prophet on the earth. It was wonderful to hear him talk of temples and what a blessing they are.
There were so many beautiful and wonderful talks. I loved President Uchtdorf's talk and his analogy of the puzzle of the Savior, and how the Lord gives us a piece to the puzzle at a time, not always all at once. That kind of went along with Elder Bednar's analogy of the lightbulb vs the rising sun, and how usually it's a little knowledge or experience at a time, helping our testimony grow, line upon line and precept upon precept. I also loved President Uchtdorf talking about the knobs and tuning out the world to tune into the Holy Ghost. I also very much enjoyed M Russell Ballard's talk and how the "little flecks of gold", when compiled together amount to a lot. Thus, by small and simple means great things come to pass. I also loved this quote from his talk. "Unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives."
And finally, I really loved the question posed, "To Be or Not to Be, is actually a really good question." I think it is safe to say that I am taking a lot from Conference and I will be trying a little harder to be a little better each and every day.

Being a Single Mother

It's true, when we moved here and Doug started working for MasterControl, we knew that travel was involved. However, in the three years we have been here, Doug has never been gone this much! It came out of nowhere, and at a really inconvienient time (although I don't know that there would have been a convienient time to basically become a single mother).
Doug was home for one week in March, he should be home a couple weeks in April and then one week in May, and one week in June. He flys in on weekends for a day or two, just long enough to remind me that I actually do have a husband, and then he's gone again. In May/June he will be going to Thailand, so he will be gone for three weeks straight, and for my birthday too!
Thanks to my wonderful friends, I have still been able to coach soccer, which I love! I suppose I have learned that I can survive without my husband, although that doesn't mean that I like it. I really do miss him. There really is a lot to be said for marriage, having a partner to be there for you to support you and be there help out with things.
I do have to say that it is nice to be able to talk, text, and video chat while he is gone! Gotta love technology!
The hardest thing is to find a balance sometimes when he is home. There is so much we want to squeeze into a weekend, or a day, or even a week. We want to have family time, one on one time with the kids, time for us as a couple and then we have so many fantastic friends that we would like to hang out with, but it is really hard to find a balance with all those things.
I am sure we will get the hang of it......someday. I just have to focus on the benefits and hope that they are worth it. San Diego in June and Florida in November! Maybe someday the bonus checks will go towards something other than debts too! Fingers crossed!

My Chunky Monkey

Today Griffin fell over and Landon went to help him up. Well, Griffin is a heavy boy and Landon looked right at him and very sincerely said, "Griffin, I can't help you, you are too fat!"
Having kids can be so entertaining!

Missionary Madness

Back in December, my brother Jeff opened his mission call. Three weeks later he was off to the MTC. We had a wonderfully crazy few weeks, including a beautiful day where we went to the temple with Jeff when he went for the first time.

His setting apart was the night before he left, and it was an amazing and powerful night, where we all felt so strongly that Jeff was doing what the Lord wants him to do and going exactly where the Lord needs him.
He has been on my mind a lot lately, since he just flew to New York on the 14th of March, and he is currently serving in Queens. We are so proud of him.


Jeff flew out just one day before my brother David came home. Everyone was so excited to see David again! Check out the welcoming committee. My kids had so much fun making posters to welcome their Uncle David home. It's been great to have him home, and he looks great.
What a good example my brother's are to my kids, and myself! It is an amazing blessing to have brother's serving the Lord. I love being able to share spiritual experiences with them and hear the ones they are having as they strive to do the Lord's work!

A shout out to Gavin's birthday

Yes, I know that it was two months ago, but it's still worth writing about.
For Gavin's birthday he invited some friend's to go play lasertag. They had such a great time! It was such a fun day!









The night before, we had gone bowling as a family, with my parents, my brothers, and my niece and nephew. The kids were so cute and had such a great time!






Gavin is thrilled to be 9!

Sledding Fun!

With Spring coming (hopefully) I was reflecting on the winter fun we had. It would have been nice to have a little more. If it is going to be so cold, it would have been nice to have some of the nice snow to sled on or build snowmen with. We didn't get enough of that this winter for me. I know, usually I am saying we got way too much snow and can't wait for it to go away, but I guess that is how it goes. It's either too much or too little. I love to see my kids having fun, and sledding at Silverlake Ampitheater is always fun.




While I was busy taking these fun pictures I actually had a kid run into me and knock me on my butt. I wish I could have got a picture of that. I couldn't help but laugh, although I had a sore bottom for a week.
Well anyway, I am hoping that winter is over now, because I am ready for spring now!

Ringing in the New Year!!

We have a long standing tradition of staying up until midnight on New Years Eve, playing games and eating treats as a family, and we always have fun! Last year was made even better by sharing that with our good friends and we were excited to do that again this year.....until their car died and they were stuck in West Valley with relatives (I shouldn't say stuck, I am sure they had a lovely time, I know we always enjoy being with family).
Anyway, we had just gotten games out and treats arranged when we got a text (no one calls anymore, I guess it is easier to possibly be rejected by text as opposed to actually talking to someone, or else we have all just gotten lazy). We were invited to come over and play with some fantastic friends that we have been meaning to get together with (I have fantastic intentions, I suppose I just need help putting these intentions into actions sometimes).
So, we went over and had an absolute blast! It was a great way to begin a new year, reminding me of all the people I have had on a list thinking I need to get together with and then never do. I realized that I need to take more time to laugh and enjoy time with good friend's more and that has become on of my New Year's Resolutions this Year....I think my next post should be dedicated to those.... (Have you noticed all my little sidetracks tonight, apparantly I have ADD right now.)
Well, we played games, laughed and enjoyed treats with the Minson's and the Wilding's. The kids had a great time too, three of them were still awake and buzzing at 2:30 in the morning. Brayden has since asked me "When can we play with the "wild things" again?" It took me a minute to realize that he was talking about the Wildings!
I have to add that the first thing out of Faith's mouth when the clock struck 12 was...."I'm going to be 13 next year!!" She has tormented her parents all year saying, "I am going to be 12 next year you know." Seriously, why does she have to skip a year and focus on the age she will turn AFTER her next birthday. I wish she would slow down and enjoy being a kid, but I guess that is life, you can't wait to get older for the longest time and then eventually you wish that you could be younger. Personally I am at a point where I am just enjoying my life now. 2011 will be wonderful I am sure!

The kind hearts of the children

I thought this was also worth a mention. I love it when my kids use their own money to buy presents for each other. It is very sweet and I love that they occasionally think of each other more than of themselves. It brings a smile to me and warms my heart to see them so excited about giving than about recieving. It makes Christmas so much better! Of course the gifts I truly love are the ones they make themselves and try so hard to make them perfect. This year Gavin's class at school didnt make presents for the parents and he was so sad, so he made his own card and asked to go shopping for us. Again, it's just nice to see them want to GIVE more than worry about what they are going to GET.

The treasure hunt

Yet another Christmas tradition for us is the final present for each child they first have to find by going on a treasure hunt. This year we did a huge combined treasure hunt and at the end there was a box inside a box inside a box (so each child still unwrapped something), and the present was two Kinect games for the XBOX. It's really so much fun to watch the kids figure out the clues and search for their last present (usually the best present). We did scale back this year a bit. Last year Faith's was a Barbie House, Gavin's was a Basketball Hoop, Brayden's was a pony that moves and Landon's was a jeep he could ride in. That year we went crazy, it's usually somewhere in the middle! Another year they found our trampoline(that was a combined one too)! Anyway, I thank my parents for this tradition, it has always been a lot of fun!