Monday, November 30, 2009

One Last Hooray for Thanksgiving: )

Chad and I watched this last night. It was really good and a great way to end a month of thankfulness: )

And just so you know.......

I'm thankful for the opportunity of my life and all that I've experienced the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, the simple and the complicated, the funny and the awkward, all of it. I'm thankful that I get to share this experience of life with all of you, that we get to do this together. And I'm thankful to know that I am never alone, that I have a Heavenly Father and Savior who are right there to teach and guide and love me. Life is an incredible experience and I want to make the most of every moment I get to live in it.


I hope everyone had an awesome thanksgiving and stuffed themselves full of good food and good company: )

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Cute huh?

Today I am thankful for......



The giveaway that is up for this week is a pair of cute shoes at Wee Squeak. They're are so many fun little shoes on their site. My favorite would have to be the Brown Tennis shoes with pink trim and the Taylor Brown Baby Shoes pictured up top. If you're chosen for the giveaway, you get to choose a pair of shoes for free from their regular line. How fun is that! So go check it out: ) Just hit the button on the side!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Mass Hysteria at Home + = ???

(read on to find out!) : )


I know, I know.....I'm a little behind on my "Thankful" posts. Which is one of the reasons why I am thankful I'm not being graded on them: ) We had a busy fun weekend which I am also thankful for. But I didn't have much time to even get on the computer. You all know how it goes: ) But today as I've been pondering and thinking I felt like I should share this experience. So take it or leave it....here it is: )

Today I Am Thankful For......God's lessons tailored just for me: )

A couple months ago I came across a blog post in which the lady posed the question, "Why do we say, 'I know when I read my scriptures my day goes so much better' when in reality there are days that we read our scriptures that end up being a terrible day? Does reading our scriptures really make a difference?"

Her question and entire post really got me thinking about it all. Does it really make a difference? Will our day really be blessed and better? Because of my prior experiences with the scriptures and literally seeing the difference they have made throughout my life, I knew that reading our scriptures did make a difference, but I decided to be more observative ( I know....not a word, but you get what I'm saying) for the next few days and see just how my day really went after making the effort to read my scriptures in the morning.

Day One: I woke up, put the girls in the front room with a cartoon to watch and toys to occupy them, then went in my room and spent the next half hour pondering and studying my scriptures. It was a good study too. I felt enlightened and motivated and strengthened and figured the peaceful feelings would linger all day long. But then life happened. And the serenity was quickly chased away by the crazy mayhem of toddler tantrums, a screamy fussy baby, too many dishes to do, clutter, impatience, flustered plans, and a constant frustrated overwhelmed feeling that didn't leave until my exhausted mind, emotions, and body slumped into bed and shut off with sleep.

WHAT THE?! Wasn't my day supposed to "go better". Weren't things supposed to run smoothly? Based on these observations alone I could easily conclude that the "myth was busted", that reading your scripture really doesn't constitute a better day.

But I know Heavenly Father and I know that He keeps His promises. I knew there was something more for me to learn.

When I woke up the next morning I realized I had a choice to make. I could take the results of the previous day and conclude that reading scriptures wasn't worth it. In essence....I could give up and call it quits, after all it took honest effort to get the girls to stay in the front room and play while I put my heart and soul into studying for half an hour, or.......

I could demonstrate my faith and trust in Heavenly Father and say that even though I didn't see the blessings yet, that I trusted Him and knew they were coming in His way and His time. It really struck me that I had before me an opportunity to act in faith. Right there and then I could choose to demonstrate my faith by taking the effort to put Him first and take time to study His words and seek to understand His will and what I should do in my life.

So, I chose faith and decided to tell Heavenly Father by my actions that I trust Him and believe in His promises and blessings. So....

Day Two: I got the toys and cartoons out once again, got the girls situated and happy, and went into my room again for another half hour of scripture study. It was a good scripture study too in which I felt the Spirit, felt more understanding of how to be the mom and wife and person I wanted to be. I was glad I could offer that small effort to Heavenly Father to show Him I cared about Him and loved Him. And I was excited to see how the rest of the day ended up.

Well the day was far from perfect. Things were still frustrating and plans still fell apart. The toddler still threw tantrums and the baby was still fussy....maybe even more fussy than before, but.....then it happened.

There was a moment in the day when I was at a point of breaking. It was after a string of resistance and struggle and time outs with the toddler and I could feel myself getting to the point of a melt down when suddenly I felt a small strength and power beyond my own that calmed me and enabled me to take a breath. Suddenly I had the perspective I needed in that moment and I sat down and quietly said told emyri that I needed a minute to think. After a quiet second emyri and I sat down and had a good heart to heart talk in which I asked her for forgiveness for being so grumpy and she told me she was sorry for screaming and throwing a fit. I explained to her how hard it is sometimes to be a mommy. She probably didn't understand much, but there was a completely different spirit in the room. One I know she felt and one I was so thankful for.

I can recall three other times throughout the day when I felt strengthened and received help beyond my own ability to be the mom I wanted to be rather than the mom I was being. More patience while trying to calm the fussy baby, more strength and endurance for the task of cleaning, cooking, and laundry that felt so completely overwhelming moments before, more wisdom of how to handle and understand emyri's emotions and be able to see what she needed in the moment, etc.

I just wanted to share this simple little story, because it's the little tender mercies or experiences like this that let me know Heavenly Father is right there in my life, that He knows me perfectly, knows what I'm struggling with, and knows how to help.

I also share this story because I want you to know that Heavenly Father blesses us when we make the effort to bring Him into our lives and when we make the effort to come to know Him more. I also know that as we really study the scriptures, not just quickly read over the pages, but when we really study them and ponder them and pray for understanding of them that we truly can come to know our Heavenly Father and Savior in a way that makes a difference in our lives. I'm so grateful for the scriptures and the power I receive from them. It's not always an immediate blessing, it doesn't always make my day perfect, but I know it makes a difference.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

HaLlOwEeN!!!

I know I'm posting like crazy right now....but I just wanted to share these pics from our fun halloween party. We definitely partied it up this halloween with about a total of 5 halloween parties between the lot of us: ) Let's just say it was a SUPER fun halloween! : )

All the couples: )
The entire Justice Confederation in one rad apartment turned cave (aka Mt. Super)...

-plus a tiny baby super hero named brinley who cried for 45 minutes straight when left with the baby sitter so we ran home and got her. Sorry again Chels: ) Brin just knew she didn't want to miss out on all the fun: )


The awesome cake Kristen made....
It was tons of fun!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009


Today I Am Thankful For.....

-a phone call from a good friend (good for the soul: )
-The awesome Browns bringing over their razzle berry pie to share.
-headphones
-recipes from mom ( thanks again mom)
-time to play volleyball together outside with a bouncy plastic super hero ball.
-the way Brinley poked her head around the corner to look at me then came panting like a little puupy when I called her: )
-and these little conversations sprinkled throughout the day...

Me: "Emyri, do you know how much I love you?"
Emyri: "Ummm....like a thousand?"
Me: "Like a thousand times infinity!"
Dada:"Emyri, how much do you love daddy?"
Emyri:"Ummm....like five....no four!"

Today while driving in town Chad said to Emyri: "Look at the Grandpa." and when Emyri saw him she said, "No, i think he's a skeleton."

Then while in the store this cute little old man in a wheel chair stopped to talk to brinley. He said something like, "Hey little cutie!" We talked briefly and upon leaving his side, Emyri giggled and said very loudly, "He talks like a duck!" Oh brother!

And just now I heard Emyri talking to Chad while he's laying by her in bed...
Emyri: "Dad, I don't love mama."
Dad chuckling: "Yes you do."
Emyri: "I don't love her because I just love you." : )

Tuesday, November 3, 2009



Today I am Thankful For....
-a much better day than yesterday: )
-a body that can run.
-that the fire I started in our microwave wasn't any bigger.....my bad. Twisty ties, microwave, burning plastic frozen fruit bag.....not good. At least I was able to blow it out: )
-shaycarl and his funny little family and all their hilariousness (new find...kinda fun...check it out)
-infant tylenol
-cold cereal
-this picture taken with my heart of my two little girls and their daddy bundled up and playing outside our back door.
-bedtime

Emyri's Thankful Fors...
-a daddy who teaches her how to play soccer and cast her princess fishing pole.
-her uncle dylan (she talked to him on the phone tonight)
-being able to talk to Grandma Nette
-the cookies mommy brought home for her
-sleep overs (this consists of us putting blankets on her floor by her bed and laying by her ALL NIGHT! She loves it and gets very excited for sleep overs: )
-playing outside

Brinley's Thankful Fors...
-infant tylenol : )
-her favorite little piglet toy (she kept carrying it around with her all morning: )
-playing outside too
-being held in mommy and daddy's arms
-oatmeal (finally! she likes baby food: )


(this is yesterday's entry)

Today I Am Thankful For.......

-A husband who noticed
-a three year old who picked up the front room all on her own just to be nice
-the proud fulfilled look on her face when I ooed and awed over the clean front room.
-that out of the 10+ times Brinley got hurt today that only one resulted in a little blood and none resulted in broken bones or emergency room visits. (seriously...today may have been brinley's worst and most accident prone day in her 8 month life! The irony of it all was running thick, but I'll save the happenings of today for another post. Sheesh...poor girl!)
-a somewhat warm fall day.
-neighbor friends to go outside and talk with while the kids play.
-where we're at in our lives.
-leftover halloween candy.
-parental inspiration.
-byubroadcasting.org
-day light saving
-WIC
-that we were able to persevere and have Family Home Evening tonight. (Satan must have really not wanted us to have Family Home Evening because of how much resistance we were met with. It always seems that way, especially when we have something neat planned. Chad said that we should just trick him and have FHE on random nights each week so he won't know: ) Not a bad idea. Even though there were multiple times we both felt like giving up, we kept going and it turned out to be a neat night together: ) So take that! : )
-chad's loving arms
-a warm place to sleep


Emyri's Thankful Fors.....

-that I could go to grandma Robynn's
-that I can go to mommy's chair
-monk-e-mail
-that we have a table
-for elefun from awesome aunt aleesha!
-candy

Brinley's Thankful Fors....
-diaper changes
-bath time splashings
-cuddles after she's been hurt 50 million times
-Daisey (grandma Robynn's dog)
-being able to crawl
-dances with dada

-and we'll all be thankful when her next little tooth finally breaks through and comes in!

Being Thankful


wow! I have been blogger absent because of a lack of time and a decision to be more present with my girls, but there has been so much that's been rolling around in my mind to post about. Sometimes I don't write more out of the feeling of being overwhelmed by all I want to share more than anything: ) But here is my quick attempt to get some thoughts and feelings out there. Sorry if it's choppy, sorry if it's missing detail and pizazz...I just want to finally write something in the small amount of time I have to do so: ) Here it goes....

Sometimes for my scripture study time I'll look up a talk on byubroadcasting.org and listen to it. This works exceptionally well if I'm rocking Brinley to sleep and end up with a sleeping baby in my arms. The other day I came across this talk, "Pressing Forward as Parents" by Scott and Angelle Anderson (which I totally recommend by the way). And after
soaking it all in, we decided to start this little project for the month of November.

Our Thankful November

-Teach the principle of being thankful this month.

-Have all our Family Home Evenings revolve around being thankful.

-Have all of our Family Prayers this month be “Thankful for...” prayers.

-Every evening after dinner write something we’re thankful for on our Thankful Calendar.

-Decorate our Thankful Calendar.

-Write Thankful posts everyday on my blog; as well as an everyday entry on how I

have seen God in my life that day. (mom)

-Everyday “Thankful for…” face book update. (mom and dad)

-Write Thank You cards every Sunday this month to give to someone we want to thank.

-Do some Thanksgiving crafts; teach about the first thanksgiving; have a mock 1st thanksgiving feast with pilgrim and Indian hats,etc.

-Memorize our Thankful Scripture (Alma 34:38 "...live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you."

-Study being thankful from the scriptures and talks throughout the month. (Mom & Dad)

-End the month with a "Being Thankful" final experience. (I have yet to come up with exactly what this will be yet...but probably a service project or an "I'm thankful for... video or something to send to our families. I'll let you know: )

Anway, we started everything yesterday for family home evening and we're pretty excited about it. We taught emyri about the first thanksgiving, what it means to be thankful, ways she can show people she's thankful. We sent a monk-e-mail thankyou note to Grandma Beus (funny), made hand turkey's, and took turns writing what we were thankful for on our Thankful For Calendar. I'm probably just geeky, but I get excited about projects like this and excited about teaching our children these kinds of values and principles. I like to do things to make it fun for them, and I just hope that maybe something will sink in and stick and be meaningful for them. We love our little family so much and want to teach them all we can to help them be the most happy and successful they can be; to help them reach their potential. Hopefully someday they'll look back and realize that despite all their parents geeky goofiness that we were just trying to teach them about life and love and Christ. It's hard to know if the things you do make a difference most of the time (especially when all your big plans don't turn out nearly as smoothly as you'd like them to and you stumble through it all), but then you'll get glimpses of the things you teach coming out in your child and it makes it all worth it: )