Love Fairy

The kids had a fun Valentine's Day. The love fairy always comes in the night and leaves hearts all over the kids rooms and leads them to a small gift. At the crack of dawn in comes Bridger to our room carrying as many paper hearts as possible and gives them to Jaman. "Here Dad this is what the love fairy left you." It was too cute.

Sharing

Taylor is always insiting on getting a picture taken. Of course the days when I go and get our family picures done she wants nothing to do with sitting. We were all ready for church when I took this. Just wanted to document a quick cute story of Taylor. A neighbor friend of hers was playing at our house one evening. When it was time for her to come up stairs and go Delanie was carrying one of Taylor's zuzu pets. Taylor said to us " Delanie doesn't have a zuzu pet. I have two of them I want to give this one to her." I smiled and said ok if you want to that is your choice. She double assured me "Yes that is what I want to do." Delanie left and I told Taylor how nice that was of her. Her reply, "It is good to share like that huh mom and it makes you feel good." I love moments like this when I see our kids being Christlike. I love it when I see their heart. I am thankful for Taylor this night and teaching me to be more unselfish.

Cousin Sleepovers!

It is always so much fun when Jaman's sisters family comes to stay with us. We always have a lot of fun. We lay out all the sleeping bags in the basement. Turn them on a movie and then get a good few hours to chat and have snacks. The kids absolutly love it. I love that they are making memories with their cousins. Family is so important to me and I have so many fun and memorable memories from times with my cousins. Dustin and Bri make for great company. I love that they come and spend a lot of time with us.

Sleepy heads

I couldn't help but snap a picture when I found these two sleepy heads. Grandpa loves it when the grand kids sit on his lap longer than 5 seconds. He got Bridger for over an hour. Of course it helped he was sleeping.

A spiritual weekend

This past weekend was so wonderful. It was our stake conference. We were so blessed to have two special visitors. Brother Anderson of the twelve and Brother Clark of the seventy. On Saturday Jaman was able to attend the priesthood session and he sent me to the adult session. I was so excited to be able to go with no kids and could listen and take notes. I feel like the whole session was just for me. The spirit was so strong and when you heard these two wonderful men speak you could just tell they were the Lord's servants. I jotted down some notes that really hit me and I wanted to document them because they were so wonderful. The first talk was given by a member of our stake presidency

He based his talk on a talk by Pres. Hinckley about Parenting.
-Parenting is one of the hardest and at times the most frustrating things you will do
-Parenting is also one of the most rewarding
-Never Give Up

He talked about how to establish a good family.
A HUSBAND AND A WIFE SHOULD CLEAVE COMPLETELY
- they need to become one
-leave behind the single life
-spouses need to be #1
-no other thing or person should come over the covenants you made together
-kids and grand kids need to know that you love each other

He shared of a cute story of his grandson. One day he came home from work and his grandson was there at the house with grandma. He picked his grandson up and said "I love you" and his grandson of 2 years said "you love grandma"
He taught how important it is for our kids and our grand kids to know how much we love our spouse.

MAKE OUR HOMES A HOLY PLACE
-daily scripture
-daily prayer
-daily FHE
-wholesome activities

HOME IS THE BASE OF A RIGHTEOUS LIFE

The second talk was by another in the stake.

WE NEED TO INVEST TIME FOR OUR FAMILIES
-it will be one of the greatest investments
-love in families is really spelled time
-limit technology (ipod, computer, tv, video games)
-spend more time creating memories
-spend as much time with your families as possible so when you look back you will not regret it
-kids will NEVER remember the 99 times you kept the sabbath day holy but will ALWAYS remember the 1 time you didn't
-start your own family traditions

The third talk by another in our stake

CONTROL OUR THOUGHTS
-be careful what is coming out of our mouths
-do we gossip?
-do we complain?
-do our kids here us complain about our role as a parent or calling?

We need to be positive
-our kids need to hear us say positive things
-love needs to be expressed at home daily
-be positive when things are hard
-always remember your blessings especially during times of trial.


Elder Clark of the seventy was the next speaker. I think this talk was one of my favorite through the whole session. It really opened my eyes more and made me want to really try harder to be a better parent.

He talked of following the Prophet. If we will follow the prophet and do the things he asks us to do we as latter day saints will be increasingly different in this world.

He said that there is a crisis in society of the destruction of young men and also young women. We are sailing against the wind. He talked about how the world portrays what young men and young women should be and it is not right.

He said we cannot rely on society for the upbringing of our children. Our only source is God.
WE HAVE TO RAISE OUR GAME AND GET BETTER

I think the comment that really has stayed with me is when he said " What was sufficient 20 years ago to raise a family, WILL NOT work now. We are going to have to do much much more. We are going to have to be much much stronger."

He talked about a husband and a wife's relationship is the rock. It needs to be strong. The most important thing in a relationship is to forgive and repent. Don't let the natural man pop up when an argument arises.


The last speaker was a member of the twelve Brother Anderson

He is a really big story teller. I couldn't keep up with writing all the stories but jotted down the thoughts that stuck with me.

He talked about how every day evil increases in the world. We can't go through it without the Holy Ghost. He really pushed that we teach our kids of the Holy Ghost and how He is a help through this life.

He talked to the men about sharing more of their everyday spiritual experiences with their wife and children. He said that they will bless the family.

He talked a lot about our Savior and how important it is to teach our children of Him. His love for them and the importance of Faith.

He talked about the Priesthood and that we need to use it more in our homes with blessings. He said that we don't have to wait for something significant in our lives to have a blessing.

On the drive home it was so wonderful to ponder the words that were said. It definitely made me want to step it up and do things better. I really loved how they talked about time being one of the greatest investments. I know that is true. Right now my time needs to be about my family and kids. I may not have time to do everything I want to do but my kids will be grown and gone before I know it. It I don't take the time right now and teach them it will be too late and society will do it for me. This world gets scarier and scarier. I really don't look forward to my kids going to school for fear of what they will learn. These talks were a reminder to me of how important it is to teach them and love them.
My parents have always been a great example of love. They are over fifty and I know without a doubt they are in love. Yes they have their quarrels but they are like they are dating. Kissing, hugging, always by each other and will take every chance they can get to be together.
I want my kids to know how much I love their dad. I hope someday they will be able to write the same about us.
All in all I love the gospel. I am so thankful I am a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I know without a doubt that it is true. I am thankful for wonderful men who take time and share their wonderful spirit. It is always great to get a boost. Get some guidence on how to be a better parents. I am always in need of this.

It was such a great 2 hours. The next day we were able to hear them again. They were also wonderful. I did have two kids to entertain and chase around so not much note taking.

Wrapping up 2010

I can't believe another year has came to an end. Most days I wish time could freeze and my kids would stop growing. It is fun to sit back and reflect on the year 2010. It has been a fun and exciting year. We have had happy, funny, sad, and frustrating days. But through all those days I feel like we have become stronger. I am so excited to print my blog into a book. I wanted to have it printed at the first of the year but didn't I will get it done this week. I am so glad that our family will have this as a journal. I am terrible at writing things down so this will be a way for our family to remeber all our special memories.

A glimpse or our everyday

This is how lots of our days are. Having fun with such simple things. I don't know what it is about laundry baskets but they seem to be a hit at our house. One day it is a boat and the next it is a car. My favorite is when it gets pushed around and all the toys get loaded up to take downstairs. This particular day the luvs box became a favorite for Bridger too. He called it his "house". I love these pictures because they show us. It is a memory of what an ordinary day is like at our house. It seems like on these days when we just stay home and have no plans that is when the funnest memories are created.

Winter Fun

Living in the country and in Idaho brings lots of snow. We had to find a way to keep our driveway plowed and Jaman to work so we got a four wheeler. That way we could have some fun too. It has been put to good use this winter. The kids have loved every bit of it. It is also nice having lots of land and space to enjoy it on. Oh how we love the country.

Christmas

So this Christmas I so get the worst mom's award. I got my camera out Christmas morning and my battery was dead. Ya I know you would think I would prepare. My camera doesn't take normal batteries but I have to charge my battery. My charger was at home and hour and a half away. So these are the few pictures I got. My kids will have to read this entry to remember this Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve and Day at my parents. The kids love being with grandparents and cousins. I must admit I sure love it too. I love being with family. That is what matters a lot in my life. Taylor really wanted Santa to bring her a real dog. I don't know if Santa was fully convinced about bringing a dog in the winter so Mrs. Claus opted for a pretend walking one. She did promise the kids a puppy in the spring. Bridger was so excited to have tractors. We went and spend a few days after Christmas with Jaman's family. It was so nice to have a 5 day vacation as a family. Those are really rare these days with owning a buisness. So I think that was my best Christmas present to have Jaman and my kids all to myself for 5 days in a row. We had a wonderful Christmas and a wonderful New Year. Jaman's sister's family and his brother's family came to our house to celebrate it with us. We all had a big sleepover. It was a lot of fun. We actually stayed up way past the new year and finally all decided to crash at 3:00 am. What can I say it is easy to stay awake that long when you have such fun people to spend it with.

Christmas Nativity Tradition

We always have a Nativity at my parents house. My mom is the best for doing this. She is so patient with getting the kids dressed and helping them do the Nativity for all the other adults. I love doing this before Christmas. It invites the true meaning of Christmas. Although I must record the big funny on this day. We have taught the kids the whole month of December why we celebrate Christmas. We did our own little family nativiy. We read books. Had multiple family home evenings on the birth of the Savior. Just as the kids finished the nativity at my parents my mom says " So who do we remember at Christmas?" Not a second passes and Taylor shouts "SANTA." We all had to laugh.

Christmas Gift from Dad and Mom

We were leaving for the holidays and knew we did not want to take our present for the kids all the way to both grandparents and back so we gave it to them the morning we left. Taylor and Bridger love to play kitchen and food. They always come up with the best dinners for me. My favorite gift growing up was my play kitchen so I wanted to give that to them. I sewed up two aprons and two bags. The bags have officially became church bags. I let them take a few things to do during church.

Adjustment Nights

Some of our favorite nights at our house are adjustment nights. Jaman takes time and always gives the kids and I adjustments. Can I just say how much I love these night. I always feel like a million bucks when he is done. I am so thankful for his knowledge and education in this area. The kids also love it. Many times during the week Bridger will want daddy to help his neck feel better. After our turn is over the kids love to have their turn fixing their dad or should I say climbing on dad!