Did I really miss Macy's birthday?

Macy is 3 now! Brynn really wanted to help decorate these cupcakes and she had a great time doing it. Macy wanted to help too, maybe next year...

I LOVE these faces

Kids are so easy to please. I love the family parties with just the five of us. They played and played until way past their bedtime.

Why we love Macy:

-She is funny and entertaining (she often sneaks into Brynn's bed and eats her candy. I still haven't figured out why Brynn doesn't choose a different spot to "hide" her stuff. Macy always finds it. It's like she can smell it or something.)

-She is sweet and says "I love you" more times in a day than you can count.

We are so happy and blessed to have this special girl in our family!

"Now Let Us Rejoice"

For Easter we bought ourselves the book "Our Latter-Day Hymns," by Karen Lynn Davidson.
Since our kids are young and we wanted at least Brynn to remember this trip, I felt the need to keep talking about our experiences with the Church History sites and our testimonies of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I decided to give our Family Home Evening lesson on "Now Let Us Rejoice", Hymn no. 3 in LDS Hymnbook. This song was written by W.W, Phelps. I'm going to share a little history provided from the above book. I hope I'm not infringing on copyright laws.
The author quotes from the Comprehensive history of the Church: "In, 1833, a mob, plentifully armed and numbering between four and five hundred, came upon the settlement at Independence. They tore down the two story brick building in which the press was housed and in the lower par of which the Phelps family lived; they destroyed the press, burned the books and papers, drove Mrs. Phelps and her baby out upon the street;...and they served warning on all the Saints living in the county not to do any more work or build or buy or sell in their settlements." The Saints were soon after driven from their homes in the dead of winter.
Here is a link to the words of this hymn:
http://www.lds.org/churchmusic/detailmusicPlayer/index.html?searchlanguage=1&searchcollection=1&searchseqstart=3&searchsubseqstart=%20&searchseqend=3&searchsubseqend=ZZZ

This song is powerful evidence of the testimonies of the early Saints. I have always liked this song but it has taken on a deeper meaning to me now. After witnessing the strength of the parents of our nephew who just passed away, I know they believe this too. It is because of the Savior's atonement that we still can rejoice when really hard things come our way.

Salt Lake

We left Thursday, March 25, after work and traveled 5 hours to Lethbridge.
Friday morning we met up with family to caravan down to Logan, UT. It was great fun. Maybe because they took my two oldest kids and Macy slept for a big chunk of the afternoon. =)
The beginning of the 2 + weeks road trip. Click this link to see our route and note the kilometers and days traveled. I feel triumphant in accomplishing this adventure! We all still love each other and had a wonderful time!
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=beaumont,+alberta&daddr=Pleasant+Grove,+ut+to:broomfield,+colorado+to:nauvoo,+illinois+to:Sioux+Falls,+Minnehaha,+South+Dakota,+United+States+to:keystone,+south+dakota+to:great+falls,+montana+to:beaumont,+alberta&hl=en&geocode=Fd0XLgMdb2s9-SnhkO3NwRygUzHFHVGccsDFcw%3BFVboZwIdVAFX-Snnx5tBH4RNhzEeLL208h-9pg%3BFZ0jYQIdRoG8-Sk7-IhbzIprhzGwQryQ6JcFBw%3BFZq-agId1ZON-im3UcGO4SXnhzFJYMOFT3_S4A%3BFReFmAIdWXg8-inXrL3gmLSOhzHP_LKoOv-V3g%3BFfjKnQIdevbV-Sm7AKUYFjZ9hzGgi8c_-4kZLg%3BFcvL1AIdOK9d-Sk7uIxljTdCUzGoRVmOsVbe1g%3BFd0XLgMdb2s9-SnhkO3NwRygUzHFHVGccsDFcw&mra=pe&mrcr=3,4&sll=46.591631,-102.398471&sspn=14.466076,43.198242&ie=UTF8&ll=46.589069,-102.392578&spn=14.466076,43.198242&z=5

Interesting sign. Joel lost his first tooth in Logan!

It was just a one room Pulled it out himself.

bathroom at a gas station.

We visited Temple Square. It was so much more meaningful

now that the kids are older. We went in '07 and Brynn didn't

remember anything. They loved the "big Jesus statue"

Fun to "touch" the Temple and talk about the pioneers who

built it by hand. Just these doors alone are amazing!

I'll put our trip posts in pieces so I can add the best pictures and some journaling with it. We don't have any from the funeral weekend yet and we had some great family pictures taken, just our crew and all the Torries. Those will come at some point...

Teaser

I have some updating to do. But, my computer is having trouble loading all the pictures from our trip so I'll try again later.
While visiting some great friends in Colorado on our adventure, they introduced us to this FUNNY and clean comedian. Here's a favorite.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bVblNA3drM

We are grateful for blessings of the Temple

We are so thankful to have the gospel in our lives! Our nephew, obituary attached below, was killed in an accident almost two weeks ago. The funeral was amazing. His mom and dad have been comforted by the prayers of many and the knowledge that Wayne is alive and they will be able to be with him again one day. We were able to have all the Torrie family together, which hasn't happened since the summer of 2003.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/hjnews/obituary.aspx?n=wayne-julien-torrie&pid=141131869

Run

So, my friend talked my into running a 1/2 marathon in September. The thought of running again was exciting but scary. It's been a long time since I've done any real running. I thought I was pretty out of shape. I decided to go jogging just before dinner last night and Brynn and Joel really wanted to come. So I told them the loop we were going to make and that we would be doing some walking. I had total confidence that they would be just fine, since I'm really out of shape. I forgot to take into account that they are 5 and 7. Kids seem like they can go forever and ever. After 30 seconds of VERY slow jogging, they stopped to walk. Our loop was just over a mile and we walked most of it. The funny thing was that they kept moaning and asking if we were ever going to be done, all the while knowing that the only way to get home was to keep walking. As we approached the last leg, out of nowhere Joel said, "where's a taxi when we need one?" Random and very funny comment. It also kept them minds busy for a few minutes.

School's out

Stan finished his 2nd class. It was much more difficult but he ended up getting a good grade. It's been nice having a break. We finished reading "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." Great book. Stan's oldest brother Mel and some of his family came for a visit. It was really fun! We missed the boys but I have to admit that it was pretty quiet. The girls had so much fun together. We had lots of fun with other cousins that live here near us. It's fun to have visitors. We are preparing for our big trip at the end of this month to Mt. Rushmore and Nauvoo. Can't wait!

I LOVE THIS!

Here's a You Tube video someone shared with Stan. It is about 6 minutes long but I LOVE IT. It is a good reminder of things we often forget.
Sorry about that video. If you live in the U.S. you can see it on the NBC site. Canadians aren't able to view it from that site.

I love the Olympics

Brynn and Joel made their own Olympic rings.
Here's our big one we all made together with some trivia questions to the left.
We had fun making windsocks to cheer on our countries.
Sorry this is flipped. Picasa isn't working right now and I wanted to get these posted. I have to say I was surprised at how well they turned out! Joel is amazing with scissors. He is great with detail work. Brynn is great at making things look pretty. I was the supervisor who provided the ideas of how to put it all together. Go Canada and U.S.A.!
It was exciting and fun to prepare for the Olympics by seeing the torch pass through Beaumont, really close to our house, decorating, learning and talking about the history of the Olympics. The kids haven't watched too many events but they loved the Women's snowboarding Cross, the Ski Jumping, a little bit of speed skating. I think they would like the figure skating but they are usually in bed by then. It's been good to talk with the kids about how hard the athletes work to get to the Olympics, the goals they set, and sacrifices they make, even if they aren't the world's best. Hopefully they'll remember something from it that's important.

Some of what we love to do at home

Don't they look scrumptious? They always are. I LOVE this recipe.

Joel likes to take pictures of everything, including our work in progress.
Macy couldn't resist helping herself onto the counter and having some dough.
Happy Groundhog Day.
I wish I was a better photographer. The light is so bright in most of these. You get the point anyway, even if the pictures aren't great. Any ideas on how to solve this problem? Do I need to close all the blinds when I'm taking pictures?

Grateful

We have had a VERY mild January and February. What a blessing it has been for us. I had to update my blog background to welcome the thought of spring. We are still covered in snow here and I expect we'll have a few more snow storms and some cold weather but the days are getting LONGER. I can't believe what this does to me. Waking up to sunshine pouring through the windows makes it so easy to get out of bed. Eating dinner while it is still light out is so fun. The joy in small things.
Macy is done with pull-ups! She started her potty-training adventure about 6 weeks ago and she really didn't like the pull-ups at night. We made her wear them for our sanity, in case she had an accident in the middle of the night. As with all of my kids, she never had a wet pull-up and we let her sleep without one a few nights ago and she has been doing great! We are so proud of her. It really has been all her, and not us.

Inspire

I believe inspiration is going to be a HUGE part of our homeschool experience. This example might seem silly, but it rang true for me.
As most of you readers know, I was born and raised in the U.S. I'm proud of it and I'm trying to pass along traditions to our children that are important to me, as well as things that are important to Stan. For the last couple of years, we thought it would be fun to sing 'O, Canada' when we cross the border into Canada and 'The Star Spangled Banner' when we enter the U.S.A. The kids are fine to sing O Canada because they know it and sang it at school. I struggled to teach them the Star Spangled Banner. It's longer and less familiar because nobody here sings it, obviously. It frustrated me that they would whine and complain when we "made" them sing it. I finally let it go and thought that at one point they would appreciate it. The day came already!
I sat down one day last week and started playing and singing it. After I got done, I sat down and decided to tell them why I like the song and why it is important to me. End of discussion.
Later that night, Brynn asked if I would play the Star Spangled Banner so she could sing it. This was her exact words, "I've decided I like this song now, Mom." We have since sung it at least 15 times in the last 4 or 5 days. A silent cheer from me, for the kids!

Fun pictures

Brynn lost her first top, front tooth and the new one is coming in already.

Love Brynn's face. This is FUN!

Macy coming out of the igloo. I can't believe how grown up her face looks.

The kids and Stan inside the igloo he/they made. We have a great backyard.

Funny thing

I survived Strep. I always forget how horrible it is. I finally feel like a human being again!

Macy is potty training. I've had her in pull-ups for awhile so we could get out of the diaper mindset and a couple of weeks ago we were planning to start consistently using the toilet. She beat us to it and started herself! She is doing great and we are so proud of her. Just pull-ups at night and they are always dry in the morning. She hardly has any accidents now and she is good about going while we are out. It's never been this easy. She is too big. Yeah for Macy! First time without diapers for over 7 years! Wow, that is big...

Brynn lost one of her front teeth. She looks cute and I'll post a picture when I get around to it. It was right in the middle of my bedridden illness, see previous post. The tooth fairy forgot to come the first night. Brynn was a little sad so she asked her dad what happened. He told her maybe it was too cold outside. Brynn said "Dad, the tooth fairy doesn't go outside, she's just appears, like magic!" Stan didn't know what to say. The tooth fairy came the next night and all was well.

new weight loss strategy?

It's called Strep Throat.
Why it is effective for weight loss
-decreased appetite
-extremely sore throat (you couldn't eat something yummy even if you wanted to)
-strict diet which probably amounts to about 500 calories a day
-short length of time on the diet=quick results!
Would I recommend this to a friend? NO!
I don't even care if I gain the weight back. I want some real food. Stan was so kind and made some delicious potato soup for dinner.
I'm hoping to recover in the next couple of days. The kids are starting to get crazy. They have done really well without a mom or dad. I'm trying to keep them away from me so they don't get sick but they are running free all day and need some love and attention.
Stan was going to take me to a hockey game for our date night and we had to give away our tickets. =(

The New Year always brings change!

For some reason in the past year, when things change, they REALLY change. I've learned to adapt to and welcome change. Readers of my blog who have known me for several years, can attest to the fact that I've always despised change. I guess maybe I'm learning a lesson in life that I really need. I believe most of my adaptablity has come from the building of my testimony. Because I know personally that Heavenly Father loves ME and I know He is very much directing me in my life, I can move ahead with faith and trust. This doesn't mean that change is easy or that it doesn't require a crazy amount of work on my part, because it usually does, but I know I am blessed when I'm doing what I know I should be doing.
Some of the things we have done that has required my adaptablity: (and I have to add that I didn't always handle it the best)
-decided to not go on a mission, which led to marrying Stan!
-starting our family, before I finished College, but I finished after
-moved to Canada
-moved in with parents-in-law with a 5 month old baby and lived with them for 6 months
-moving to Edmonton before Stan had a job
-2009(becoming pregnant with #4, moving to a new house, town, ward, losing #4, and beginning research on homeschool)
-2010- Starting homeschool. Yes you read that right. I know many of you are shocked! As was I when I repeatedly felt the impression from the Spirit. I knew better than to question the Lord. After the shock and unbelief wore off, I dove in to finding out more about it and the direction we needed to go as a family. It has been very stressful, exciting, and, at times, exhilarating.
So, that is our new adventure for this year and life maybe.
The kids LOVE it. I'm actually loving it more than I thought. I really thought I wouldn't be able to handle my kids all the time. But, just as with other other things, the Lord is providing a way and it is fun.
If you have negative comments, please don't share them. I am new to the idea and I need encouragement. I'm just trying to do what is right for my family and I know we are!

Christmas

This is from Christmas morning. The kids were so excited to have tic tacs in their stocking. I LOVE how easy they are to please. I hope that lasts for a long time.

New Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve.

Our friend Tibi, from Romania, decided to be the donkey for a minute. Mary wouldn't ride, so Joseph thought it was better than walking.
The annual Christmas Eve Nativity. Macy got to be Mary.
My cute Christmas kiddos. Sometimes I look at them and still can't believe they are mine.
Nice, full REAL Christmas tree from IKEA. Fully decorated by the kids. I'd like to have a say but it's not worth all the fuss. They took pride in it and that's just fine with me.

Birthdays are special

My first attempt at homemade caramel was enjoyed by all these cute kids. The caramel was amazing. Thanks to April, my sister-in-law, for sharing. You could eat it straight from the pan plain, and that is what we did, and we dipped pretzels.
Brynn figured me out. I'm not a party mom, at least I haven't been. I'm not into party games and having 10 kids the same age over and trying to keep them all happy. Since we've been in this house, we've had lots of people over. Brynn realized if we invited the whole family, fed them dinner, etc. and made it less of a birthday party, I would go for it. And I did. I enjoy having the parents too so we can visit and the kids can play. We had 13 kids and 6 adults for Brynn's "party". It was really fun.
The kids were so excited to give Brynn her gifts.
Brynn LOVES to have dinner by candlelight. This was my attempt. It was a little dark. We could barely see our food. I need to get a few more candles.
This is Stan's sister Whitney. We had a b-day party for her. She turned 21 in November!


Brynn is now 7. It's hard to believe. We are grateful for her and we are so happy to have her in our family. When she was born, we borrowed a digital camera. We never did get the pictures digitally though. We printed them out and they are in her scrapbook. Maybe some year for her birthday, I'll scan them. She was a cute baby, still is cute.

Assorted catch-up

Brynn taking a spin.
We have an awesome back yard sledding hill! Stan built a berm because the kids kept crashing into our shed. It's just perfect.
Somehow Joel managed to get powdered sugar on his eye lash. Look at all the syrup on his plate. I'm glad his tummy can handle that much sugar.
Macy has always loved books but she is "growing up". She can often be found with the Friend magazine or book on the couch 'reading' out loud to herself or to us.
I love this picture of Brynn. The kids have been good about helping shovel. We've had to do a lot of it this winter already!

Baptism!

This is our friend Sarah and her son Carter.
Two years ago at Christmastime, the missionaries asked us to do some caroling with them. Sarah was one of the people we sang to. We were both very impressed with her. She is a very happy and beautiful person. She has a glow about her. She is very easy to get along with. A few months later she began the discussions. I was asked to sit in on one. We had two later at our house. She was progressing and gaining a testimony but she had some personal struggles. I don't know how many times she had the discussions or how many baptismal dates were set, but on December 12, 2009, she did it! It was such a special day. Stan had the opportunity to baptize them both. She asked me to speak about the Holy Ghost. It strengthened my testimony to witness and participate in this event. We are so happy for her and know that living the Gospel will bless her life.

What would we do without Macy?

I helped Macy get dressed this morning. After we were finished I asked if she would please put her dirty clothes in the laundry basket. This is what she said,
"Mom, you can do it, you are a good helper!"

Do we have room?

The missionaries came over yesterday and we talked about having room for the Savior in our lives. I've thought about this subject a lot recently. I loved this video, especially the song. We often wonder what we would have done if we lived on the earth the same time as the Savior, or Joseph Smith. Would we have the testimony that Jesus is the son of God or that Joseph Smith was the prophet the Lord selected to restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Earth in this dispensation? We all hope we would have followed them. We are here now because we were chosen to be here now and what can and should we be doing to make room for the Savior? Something to really ponder, regularly. Thinking about this can help us to understand what to share with our friends about the importance of the Savior in our lives.
Visit her website to here the music. The Youtube video isn't available anymore.
http://songsbyshawna.com/Site/Home.html

My friend Sarah was baptized on Saturday!!! I first met her 2 Christmas' ago. She began taking the discussions a few months later. She has had the discussions a few times and had some things to work out in her life. I'm so grateful and happy that she was able to take this first step in the gospel and I know she'll be blessed. What a happy day for her and for us. We are so glad we have been able to share and help her in her journey. I'll post some pictures when I get them from the missionaries.

Passed!

I have to brag about Stan for a minute. He started and finished his first 8 week course just in time to celebrate the Christmas season with us! He did very well and was excited about the things he learned. It was crazy but the breaks in between the courses will save us all from going insane. I do believe we were blessed with miracles. Stan was able to accomplish way more in his studies with the short amount of time he had. Everyone in the program is still working and has families but most don't have Church resposibilities. His group mates used Sundays to study as well. Another instance...we decided to go to the Temple and his final project was due that day. He was worried about not getting it done. He chose to go to the Temple and was able to complete his project in much less time. He knows it was because he made the right choice to put the most important things first. Way to go babe! One course down...lots to go but it's OK.

I really liked this

This is a great video about the true meaning of Christmas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcPSGJZwHA4&feature=player_embedded

To be a kid again

I have to share a couple of things Macy has said recently.
While at Grandma's house last week, Macy enjoyed playing with a tea set. One day as we were getting ready to go to the store,
Macy said, "I want to buy a tea set."
Mom replied, "But you don't have any money."
Macy pointed to grandma and said "I use she's money."

This morning Macy was talking about the wise men. We set up some of our Christmas things yesterday so I thought she was talking about the Wise men who gave gifts to the baby Jesus.
She picked up a play phone and started talking.
Mom, "Who's on the phone?"
Macy, "The wise man."
Mom, "Who are the wise men?"
She said something about nursery so I asked her if the wise men were in her nursery.
Macy said, "probably...the wise men built his house upon a rock." Then she wanted to sing the song.
Never assume you know what your kids are talking about until you hear the whole story. I realize this with the older kids too. They are learning to communicate and think and it is so fun to watch the process but I must be patient, and get the whole story!

Thoughts on women

I re-read Sister Allred's talk from the General Relief Society meeting and wanted to share what I liked.
She quoted President Kimball saying this: "Among the real heroines in the world who will come into the Church are women who are more conerned with being righteous than with being selfish. These real heroines have true humility, which places a higher value on integrity than on visibility.... Thus it will be that female exemplars of the Church will be a significant force in both the numerical and the spiritual growth of the Church in the last days."
I loved this! What a great reminder of the work that can and need to be doing. Women need women. Let us reach out to all of our friends and neighbors. Christmas time is a great time to share with people our beliefs, our service, and our love for Jesus Christ. I challenge you to do something... I will too and I'll try to remember to share it on my blog.

Travel

The kids and I took a road trip to Gma and Gpa Wright's house last week. We had an excellent time. The kids were in heaven playing with their cousins. I was happy to spend time with my family, do some sewing, and not have to worry about cleaning my house. It's always easier to help others, although I didn't clean much there either. My sister-in-law and mom did most of the work for the girls' Christmas dresses. They turned out really cute. I'll post pictures after they put them on and get all fixed up for Church. They are VERY excited to wear them.
After visiting family, we always wished we lived closer but it isn't to be.

November 8

This post is in honor of what would have been my official due date for this last pregnancy.
A handful of friends and family members have given birth to beautiful and healthy babies in the last couple of months and I'm so happy and excited for them! So naturally I was thinking about what I would be feeling like as I anticipated the arrival of my baby. I can honestly say that I'm not too sad. I really think I've been blessed with a miracle. The blessings and lessons I've learned from the whole experience far outweigh the sadness of it all. It's OK to feel sad and cry and sometimes I do. But I really thought it would be so much harder. Here's a little of what I've learned:
-You can't go through an experience like this alone!
-So many women have lost babies! My new circle of friends includes a few of them. I have had constant support of these women who have lost and it really makes a difference.
-gratitude for amazing and supportive friends and family.
-My love and appreciation for the Book of Mormon has increased. It's really come alive more to me this year.
-I have a greater desire to be worthy of the Holy Ghost's constant companionship and can more easily recognize when it is not present.
-Love for my 3 kids in my home has greatly increased. I have appreciated them so much more and really enjoyed spending time with them and trying to make fun memories with them.
-I have been able to more easily recognize blessings in my life. I've learned that the spiritual blessings seem to be the most common and the ones that I need the most. This is probably true for others too.
-I've learned to trust in the Lord more and especially His timing. I wish I knew what He knows but I can't handle it all at once and so I must be patient as I learn line upon line...
-I have felt God's love for me way more than I have before and my relationship with Him and with the Savior has been strengthened.
And so, do I sometimes wish I was hugely pregnant and about to give birth to a precious little spirit of Heavenly Father? Of course, but I know it's all for the best. I have faith in the promises I have received through priesthood blessings and I'll strive to enjoy my 3 healthy and growing kiddos! (They are finally feeling better from their illness).

A few pictures

Our family doesn't really enjoy eating the traditional birthday cake. So instead of wasting my time and energy to make a cute cake, that I'll eat for the next week, the birthday person chooses a dessert. Sometimes it's tricky for blowing out candles. This was my choice, caramel apples. I've always wanted to make them. They were so yummy!

I had to post this one because of Brynn's face. She is a happy and and energetic girl but recently we see this face more. Almost every time we ask her to do something we get this face and "do I have to?" I do believe we've hit a new phase. But we'll love her anyway. I'm sure I was way worse!

Here's the kiddos on their way out the door to trick-or-treat. I didn't get a very good shot. They were in a hurry. Joel only lasted 30 minutes. (The kids were still sick). He went in our little culdesac and wanted Stan to bring him home after that. He went straight to bed while the girls were out for almost another hour.

Lifting Burdens

Lifting Burdens (Click on this link to see the video)

I really needed this video right now. I feel burdened down with sick kids. It seems like such a small thing. We have been stuck at home for 4 days now and it's getting on all our nerves. The Savior can lift that burden for me and give me the strength to continue on.

Totally redeemed himself...

What a surprise I received for my birthday! Stan put together a Google docs presentation including notes and pictures from family members and friends. It was so fun to read and see and realize how many people really love and care about me. I don't feel alone too often in my daily life, even if I don't get out much around here. It's because I'm blessed to have so many amazing people in my life from Canada all the way down to Arizona, from Washington State all the way to North Carolina. Stan was so great to plan ahead and prepare for this big day. He knew if he messed this one up it would take something drastic to make up for it, like a surprise trip to someplace warm, or something like that. Since the CFO(me) would have vetoed that he did it right and it was awesome. No monetary gift would have been as good. Way to go sweetie!
(I think it is hilarious that he got my birthday mixed up in the email he sent out) He didn't forget yesterday.
Thanks everyone for emails, contributions to the slideshow that I'll get to keep forever, phone calls, and other notes. It was a great birthday! Love to all!

Who says birthdays are about gifts?

So, this morning after Stan left for work, Joel said "aren't we supposed to go to the store and buy you some presents?" He was concerned for me. I then explained to him that I already bought my gifts and they were in the closet waiting to be wrapped. (Don't judge my poor husband, he is working on it and we agreed on this method for this year). Joel then said, "that's not very fun. You don't get to have a surprise." I agree with my 5 year old. Surprises are fun and I love them but there are other things I love about birthdays. It's the only day for me. I do share this day with others but not in my immediate family. I've had so much fun being with the kids and not worrying about what I'm not doing around the house. I took the day off. Brynn made me a PB & J sandwich for lunch. It was great. Stan is cooking me dinner. I'm not doing laundry, vacuuming, or sweeping. I'm currently listening to great music and sitting in the window where the sun is shining through. I am warm and happy! Who could ask for more. Hooray for birthdays!

Missionary fireside

I've posted a few entries today so make sure you check them all.

On Sunday our ward hosted a missionary fireside. An amazingly talented lady in our ward arranged the program. It was mostly musical. Our Bishop and his wife did some readings from the scriptures. The theme was "We testify of Jesus Christ."
-The song "One-by-One" was song by a small chorus. It was amazing! The Spirit testified to me again how we are loved and watched over individually. Heavenly Father and Jesus know who we are. We are children of God. What a blessing to have that knowledge!
-The other thing that really hit me strong this time was how humble the Savior was, is. He went about doing good. His whole life was about service and teaching. What a great example for us to follow. It's so easy to be selfish but that isn't why we are here on earth. We are here to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." This was a good reminder for me to look around, to view service as the great blessing that it is for others and ourselves. Also the Lord provides a way for us to do the things that He wants us to do. This includes sharing the gospel. We can and must be praying for help to find people to be ready and to have courage to share what the spirit prompts us to share.

HOUSE

Ta-Da! Here's the laminate that covers the whole main floor. It is wonderfully low maintenance.

Here's the Master bedroom, new carpet and paint. I'm still not loving the color but I need to decorate. Any ideas?

Here's the bonus room above the garage. We LOVE the green. It matches our couch perfectly. Some day after we decorate we will post more pictures.

Carpet up the stairs. Straight up to the bonus room. The other way goes up to the bedrooms. We are so pleased with how it all turned out and we feel so spoiled to live in a practically brand-new house.

I'm 30!

I made it through a monumental decade! I say monumental because so many life changing things have happened in my life over the past 10 years. Here's a recap:
-graduated from BYU with a Bachelor's degree
-married in the Logan Temple to the most amazing man for me!
-gave birth to 3 adorable and wonderful children (I was blessed to have them one at a time)
-Moved to Canada
-supported Stan in just about every ward leadership calling, not the Bishop though.
-tried to encourage and help Stan start his career
-began the interesting adventure with Stan in part-time MBA school, full time job, and YM's president
-experienced what I thought was a REAL trial (losing a baby). I have now come to realize that the day to day trials and how we deal with them are just as helpful in our spiritual growth as having the BIG, heart wrenching ones. But I am grateful to have had a big one to help me remember what is most important. This experience really helped me remember that relying on the Lord is the only way to live life. It can be easy to forget that and try to do everything ourselves. My testimony has grown so much over the past decade but especially this last year. I have no doubt that God is in charge of my life and when I choose to accept his will, I am happy, eternally happy!

I'm sure there is more but these are the ones that stand out in my mind as really having an impact on my life in the long run.
Here's to another great decade!

Family

We had our sister-in-law do a very quick photo session so we could have a more recent family picture. It was FREEZING cold that day. We were outside for maybe 20 minutes. You can tell how thrilled Macy was about having pictures taken. I think they turned out great.

Nevermind the chunk of hair that is sticking up on my head in the main picture at the top of my blog and another one. I haven't taken the time to edit it.

What a week!

For those of you who check and read this blog, this is a follow-up to last week's entry. Stan was called to serve as Young Men's President in our ward. It will be a new experience for him, he`s never served in Young Men`s. But he will do well, as he always does. Pray for him. It will take a miracle to be able to balance full time work, part-time MBA program that starts tomorrow, family, and his new calling. We aren`t sure how it will work out but we know the Lord will bless us with what we need. I knew as soon as he was called that last Sunday was a good preparation for me. I needed that spiritual boost to give me the strength to say that I would support Stan in his new endeavor. It won`t be easy but sacrificing isn`t supposed to be easy. If it was, we wouldn`t learn and it wouldn`t help us to grow. So, here`s to a crazy 3 years at least! (The MBA program will take 3 years, the calling will most likely be longer, as long as we don`t move.)
I`m really grateful for the past 4 months I`ve had to have Stan around. It has blessed our marriage greatly. I`m so glad that we had a little breather, to have so much family time, be able to renovate our house (we`re almost done with the last of the flooring and it looks awesome), and give me the support I needed as we lost our little boy.


Stan`s birthday is tomorrow! He prefers to keep things simple so we are having Whitney and his cousin Marlene over for dinner, SKOR cake and ice cream. I`m so grateful to be married to him. He is everything that I need in a husband and has really helped me to be a better person. That was a big reason why I married him. I knew he would help me in the ways that I needed to be strengthened but couldn`t do on my own. He is a fantastic father, the kids are so blessed to have him. I`m grateful to his parents who raised him in a wonderful, loving, and gospel-centered home. They were and continue to be great examples in our lives.

Refining

I've not been blogging since my pictures are on my computer that I don't have hooked up. And we have been painting and getting new flooring. It's taking all of my energy to keep up with that, get back in the school routine, and do other daily tasks that are necessary.
The purpose of this post is to share some thoughts.
We were blessed to have Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi preside at our stake conference this weekend. I feel like the Lord is teaching me so much this year!
I felt the spirit so strong throughout the whole meeting today. I sang in the choir so I was able to have one of the best seats. It also meant I wasn't wrestling with kids and so I got to take notes and pay attention and receive answers to my prayers. It felt similar to attending the Temple. It was a very special experience for me. Member missionary work is huge in our stake. As a family or as a couple, Stan and I have committed to set goals regarding missionary work and be more bold to share and more in tune with the spirit so we'll know who is ready.
Some things I learned today:
-pray to have the spirit with you as you say a prayer- i.e. similar to when someone is about to give a blessing to someone else, a prayer is said so the person giving the blessing will say what Heavenly Father wants them to know. I'm so excited to implement this. It will bring me that much closer to my Heavenly Father.
-The Lord REQUIRES a willing heart and mind in ALL things, not just the things I choose to do. I need to pay tithing with my whole heart, it's not about the money.
I need to serve with all my heart, not just when it's convenient
I need to share the gospel with my whole heart, not just when I get the chance or someone asks me about the Church.
I need to serve my family, even when I'm tired
I need to visit teach, even if the sisters don't need me or want me to come. I can still do something.
I need to strengthen my marriage with my whole heart, not just when Stan is being extra sweet or when I'm feeling good.
I need to sacrifice with my whole heart, even when it hurts and it is hard and you have to be creative with your time.
The Bishop just called and is meeting with us tonight. Interesting. I wonder if today I was being prepared for something.
I received impressions today in regards to missionary work and what I need to do with specific people I've been praying for. I'll share what comes...