Snowflakes

When I think of January all I can think of is snow, snow, snow. Remember the hanging ornaments I posted in december, well now that the holidays are over, I needed something to replace them. What better thing than snowflakes. So here are the snowflakes hanging over the island in our kitchen. It's so fun to have something new each season. Tyler especially likes them, but luckily enough I put them high enough that he can't reach them even when he's standing on the counter.

December Birthday's

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

What is with the sad face?

Just when you think things will calm down now that Christmas is over..yeah right! Not in our family, we have 2 birthdays following Christmas. Tyler turned 3 on December 29 we had a little family party at our house the day before. Every year I let Ty pick out a theme for his party and this year we did Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It was fun, we made a Mickey Mouse cake and had a pinata. Then on his birthday we took him and Aria to Build A Bear. I think they had fun even thought it was crazy busy that day. After changing his mind about 5 times we finally ended up with a Jazz Bear and his name is Jazz Bear. He plays with him all the time, and he now wants a Jazz jersey like his bear.

Then 2 days later we celebrated Daddy's Birthday. Every year I feel bad for Kevin because his birthday is on New Year's Eve and it's so hard to get people together to do something. In the 5 years we have been married I think we've done something maybe twice. There just always seems to be something, like the year Tyler was born and we came home from the hospital on New Year's Eve. So I decided that we just need to celebrate his birthday on a different day. So next year baby I will throw you a party...and it will be big, because your going to be the big 30!

Happy Birthday, I love you both!

December Wrap up

What a fun Month we had, enjoying family and getting involved in the season. With Christmas parties up until Christmas day we stayed very busy. We spent the Saturday before Christmas with Kevin's family. And Christmas eve with my family. Then despite the snow storm we managed to visit with both of our families on Christmas day.

Christmas morning brought a lot of excitement from Tyler and even us. We had so much fun with him this year, he was so into unwrapping and actually enjoying his presents. He even took the time to watch mommy and daddy open a few. We had a great Christmas this year and really enjoyed being together.

Kevin took some time off between Christmas and New Year's and we were able to do some fun things together. Now that he is finally done with school we are excited to have more of this free time. Tyler especially enjoyed daddy playing in the snow with him. I'm not much of a winter person so I stayed inside where it was warm, and they had a good time.

The Halls are Decked

This past week we have been very busy getting ready for Christmas. The halls are decked, and I've been adding a few new little things this year. One of my favorites is floating ornaments..I got the idea from someone else and thought it would be fun. So they are hanging over our island in the Kitchen. And I plan on changing it each season/holiday so check back to see what will be next.

I have also been busy making homemade candies. This is something my family does every year, we usually do it altogether but I had to work the day they did it so I just did it on my own. I had my nieces over last week and they had a great time helping with it. They also helped me make tags to go on the gifts. I added a new favorite this year called pretzel hugs. I posted it on the recipe blog you can check it out, I did Christmas M&M's this time. These are the little gifts boxes I filled with the homemade candy.

Not to mention the annual Christmas cards I send out. I know these probably aren't that important since most of the people we give them to we see quiet often. But I enjoy doing it and being able to look back each year and see what we did. This year I attempted to make digital cards (with the help of Gina) it was a lot harder than I thought. I'm not that savvy at photoshop yet, but I like how they turned out.

Well in the last week I was able to accomplish all the shopping, baking, mailing, and wrapping that I had to do and now I can just sit back and enjoy the season. I have also finished Birthday shopping for both my hubby and Tyler whose birthdays are the week after Christmas. Well I do still have to help my mom wrap, I am one of those weird people that really enjoys wrapping, and I don't have that much myself so I help her every year. I am also weird in the fact that I have to have matching wrapping paper and bows for that year. So this year you can see the colors below.

My sweet husband surprised me and bought tickets to The Forgotten Carols, which I am absolutely in love with. I have never seen it, but I could listen to the CD year round. It was so good and I loved it. We have attended two Christmas parties already and they both have been really fun. We had a big family party for my mom's side with games, and a pinata for the kids. And we had a surprise visit from Santa, which surprisingly Tyler was very upset about. He has been talking about Christmas and Santa for at least a month, but once he seen him forget it he wanted nothing to do with it. Oh well maybe next year. We also did a Sub for Santa and we brought all the gifts to the party. I took Tyler shopping with me and explained to him why we were buying gifts for other people. Hopefully he understood it somewhat. Then this past Friday we went to my Work Christmas party at the Little America. (pic below) I always love going to this because it's the one time a year we get to dress up nice and go to dinner, and the best part is we don't even have to pay for it, and the food is delicious. It's just a nice relaxing evening with no kids, and I always look forward to it.

Hope you are all enjoying this Christmas season as well.

Grateful for the SEASON!

I absolutely LOVE this time of year. It forces me to recognize all the things I have to be grateful for, I wish that I was aware of it more often. But these are just of few things I was thinking of today.

Thanksgiving..I know it usually gets skipped over. It seems we are all in a rush for Christmas to come. But I am glad we take the time to enjoy a day with our family. This year we were with Kevin's family, and we had so much fun.

Family...I don't know what I would do without them. It's like the old saying "You can't live with them, you can't live without them." It's so true, but I love them all. I'm glad they listen to me complain, and they are always willing to take care of my little man.

My Husband...He works so hard for us, and he hasn't had a lot of time over the past few years with every going on in his life. But he keeps going and for that I am grateful. I love him so much, and I can't imagine life without him.

My Little Boy...He is my everything I spend more time with him than anybody else, and although some days that makes me crazy. I am so grateful that I have all this one on one time with him, and I hope some day he will look back and remember it, and be glad. I know I'm not always the best at being a mom, but I'm glad I have the opportunity that I can improve.

My Savior...I know we tend to think of Christ more this time of year, but during this time in my life I need every reminder I can get to think of the wonderful blessings I have because of him. I have made it a goal lately that if ever I am down, I try to turn my mind and heart to the spirit. It doesn't usually take away the problem, but it helps me gain a different perspective and have peace. I am so blessed to know I have a Father in Heaven who is mindful of me, and that I have a wonderful brother who suffered for my sins so I would not have to.

The Temple...We went to temple square the other night to look at the lights, and I couldn't help but think how blessed we are to have all these beautiful temples so close by. I know I don't get there as often as I would like, but I love the spirit it brings just being on the temple grounds even when you can't make it inside.

Christmas...I love the music (I have been listening to it since before thanksgiving). The spirit of giving..my family does a sub for Santa every year, and this year Ty is old enough that we can actually explains to him that we are buying clothes for other little children that don't have as many as we do. And it makes me feel so good inside to know that we are helping others, and that I can show that to him so he understands. And especially the reason for the season..CHRIST, also this year we are trying to get Tyler to understand more why we celebrate Christmas, I figure if he can understand about Santa, he needs to know about the birth of our Savior.

Trials

Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things

shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and

remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one

with another. --D&C 90:24

Life can hand you some pretty interesting things when you least expect it. I was just thinking the other day that things are finally starting to settle down for us. We moved into our new house and it's finally becoming a home. Kevin got a promotion at work that he has been trying to get for awhile, and we were feeling good about things. Then all the sudden something happens that changes your perspective in life. Naturally when challenges come our way we tend to go to our Heavenly Father for help, we try to be a better person and we commit to making changes that we know we already should be doing.

I recently read a talk by Elder Quentin L. Cook Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles "Hope Ya Know, We Had a Hard Time".

As I read the title I new that immediately this applied to me. We all experience difficult things in life, and it's okay to go to the Lord and tell him "Hope ya know I'm having a hard time." I know that he cares about me and that he will see me through this hardship that I am facing, even though right now it feels like my whole world has come crashing down. A quote in this talk gave me some comfort...


“My son (daughter), peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.”

I won't go into details of what happened, but I will say that this is one of the most difficult things I have had to face. I am on an emotional roller coaster..some days are good some days are bad. But I am comforted in knowing that I have a wonderful family and husband that cares about me and that they are there for me day and night. I have a good friend who has also been there for me, and I can't even tell her how much her friendship means to me. Life is challenging and stressful and even disappointing at times. But we must not give up we must press onward and make the best of what we have. We are often reminded that when we are struggling and when it's most difficult for us..is when we should be serving others.

President Thomas S Monson said.
“Find someone who is having a hard time, … and do something for them.”

We don't always know when other people are struggling and most likely we never will, but if we remember to be a friend..always, then we won't have regrets as to if we weren't there for someone when they might have needed us the most. This is a reminder to myself that I need to do better, and like I said most often we have to go through trials to remind us of these things. But there is a reason for all things and the Lord wants us to grow and to learn from these trials, and I hope that, that is exactly what I can do.

President Hinckley Stand A Little Taller:

Reach Beyond yourself (November 10)

And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. --Mosiah 4:16