Sweet Moments

As many of my close friends and family know, it is not hard for me to be overwhelmed by the spirit. And today was no exception. Our ward had their Primary Sacrament Meeting Presentation. I had many tender feelings during our meeting as I sat their in utter amazement of these sweet children and their innocence. The tender feelings continued as the day went on. I would like to share some of the things that I loved about today...

I loved how this was probably the smallest primary I have ever seen, but by far the loudest! It is not a really small primary compared to what most people know, it is just small compared to what we are used to. There are only about 80 kids. But, WOW... Did they ever SING! The children were not yelling, just singing loudly with all of their hearts.

I love that my parents and sister drove 20 minutes to see my kids and listen to the program. We are so lucky to have them nearby and that they show their love and support for us on a constant basis.

I love that my children were ecstatic to be a part of the program. They were both beaming with the opportunity to show us and my parents all that they had learned. I know some kids are embarrassed or not interested in being in their programs. But mine couldn't have been more excited. I am very thankful for that.

I love that I started crying when the congregation sang an intermediate hymn as the kids got in their positions to begin the program. We sang "Dearest Children God is Near You". The spirit bore witness to me that that statement was true... especially at that moment. As the children started walking in while singing "I am a Child of God", the tears flowed and pretty much never stopped.

I love that my kids both spoke their parts perfectly and with conviction. As if they really knew that what they were saying was true.

I loved watching a sweet family in our ward... I witnessed an adult daughter with special needs lay her head on her father's shoulder as if to say "I love you". He proceeded to lay his head back on her to show his never-ending love. They sat that way only for a brief moment, but it was profoundly touching.

I loved watching my mother sing every hymn word-for-word with no hymn book in-hand. It is something that I have noticed since I was a little girl. She seems to know every word of every song... even the ones I have never heard of.

I love that our Bishop got emotional as he spoke for a few minutes about the sweet innocence of these children. I learned that I should strive for that sweet innocence of youth instead of spending my time focusing on things that don't matter in life.

I love how Spencer slept in my arms through the entire Relief Society lesson. I got to listen intently for the first time in a long time. The lesson was simple yet profound. I learned about how I need to open my heart more to the Lord to become stronger and let him shape me into the person that he knows I can be. "Be Thou Humble" was my personal resolution.

Finally, I love that I have been blessed once again with the overwhelming feeling of love for all of my children. What a tremendous calling has been bestowed upon me as their mother! I have a fervent desire to cherish every moment of their lives. I was given a renewed sense of strength to be the kind of mother that I know I can and want to be.

I hope I can remember these feelings during the days and weeks to come. I hope that I can try a little harder and enjoy the journey a little more!! What a blessing this day has been!!

Yes! on 102

Yes! on 102

If you don't already know what this propostion is about, please click on the link and educate yourself. I do not very often voice my political opinion, but I can't keep my opinion quiet on this one. If we as a society want to protect the sanctity of families, we must take a stand on this issue. VOTE YES on 102! Protect the very unit that holds our society together!

We love our Diamondacks!

Who ever said that nothing in life is free?! Oh, wait that was my High School Ecomomics teacher (yes I did pay attention :) Well, I beg to differ, because we experienced some pretty sweet FREE stuff last week...

We got two free tickets to last Thursday's Diamondback's game from Todd's cousin. The seats were awesome! First Row, right behind the backstop on the upper level. For those of you who aren't familiar, you have a great view of the field from there.

So, at first, I was going to take Chansey by myself, but at the last minute, we all decided to go. We went to eat dinner first planning on being a little late to the game. (our kids probably wouldn't be cool with sitting through the whole game anyway) So after a yummy dinner at Someburros we headed to downtown Phoenix to look for a parking space (which normally costs $10 or $15) Well, we were about an hour late for the game so all of the parking lot attendants were already gone. We ended up getting a parking space in the garage attached to Chase Field (which means you only have to walk about 50 yards and you are there) And since there was no one there to charge us, it was FREE!!

When we got to the gate to go in, we asked where we could buy tickets since we only had two and we needed five. The man at the door just handed us some tickets and said "Here you go"! Again... FREE!! We were stoked! His tickets were not great seats, so we went to see if there was room for all of us to sit in the section where our tickets were. And, sure enough, there were lots of empty seats. So we had a great view and watched the second half of the game with very few interruptions. The kids were so good and since the D-backs won, we were all a little hoarse from screaming. They are old enough so they understand what is happening during the game, so it was really fun!

A nice security guard took this picture for us... not the best, but oh well, it's for posterity right?!

Chansey and Eathan had a blast. They really do enjoy watching the games.

Spencer was enthralled with the lights and all of the noise. You can see here, he is intently watching. And the man in the backround was a grumpy Giants fan. We had fun watching him whenever he got mad that the D-backs scored.

This was the view from our seats. Even Loco Bella had fun! We had to make a few potty runs, but it was no problem because the bathrooms were right behind the section we were sitting in.

So the moral of this story is... some things in life are free! And it sure is fun when they are! We love family outings and this one is at the top of the list.

The second moral of the story is that even though the D-backs lost three games in a row and now they are out of contention for the playoffs... we still think they ROCK!!

Better luck next year guys!

Not so "LABOR"-ious DAY

Why do we celebrate "Labor Day" by doing absolutely nothing? Ironic I guess...

Well, this Labor Day weekend, we got out of the heat and went camping up on the rim. We left on Friday morning and came home Monday night. It was a much needed break from the every day stresses of home.

The kids have a ton of fun especially. In fact, Bella has asked to go camping every day since we got home. We are very familiar with the area where we camp since we have been going there for so many years. As long as it is not raining, the kids can safely wander and play for hours at a time. They found a home-made zip-line that somebody made and had a lot of fun playing on it. They also looked for bugs and played in the "fort". We had a lot of other kids there this time so they also had fun just sitting around and talking and laughing with each other. The most popular activity however was riding the quads...

Two 2-year olds pretending like they're riding the quads... KODAK MOMENT!

Eathan is getting brave on the quad. This time Todd was watching him ride and before he could stop him, Eathan headed for a big jump. He went over it and got some serious air. He did a "superman"over the quad while still holding the gas full-throttle. He miraculously landed the jump, but lost control and drove down into a raveen. Todd ran after him worried about what he would find at the bottom. He found Eathan standing at the bottom with his hands above his head saying "That was AWESOME!" Who taught him that?!

Chansey loves riding, but she is a little more reserved than Eathan. (Thank heavens!) She did get a little more brave this time and she figured out that she likes to go fast!

If you read my blog often, you know that I LOVE when Todd rides his dirtbike. Besides being good at it and having fun, I think he looks good on it. It is especially cute when he takes the little ones for a ride. Bella would hardly let Todd leave without crying and wanting to get on whatever he was riding. So, he took her (and all of the other little kids) on little slow rides right around camp. So NICE!

Besides riding, us adults mostly sat around a talked and ate all weekend. It is so relaxing... no laundry, no phone, no internet, no distractions! I love this kind of "labor"! ;)

Ichi Ban - The Sequel

Do you want your kids to eat all their vegetables? Then take them to a place where

they light your food on fire!!

Last night we took our kids (yes all four of them) to Ichi Ban for dinner. We love this place!! The food is delicious and the kids have a lot of fun. The table where you eat doubles as a cook-top and after you order your food, they come cook it right in front of you. They do a cute little show which includes lighting the food on fire! (I wish I had a picture of that) The kids are so captivated by the chef slicing and dicing and throwing food around, they forget they are eating something healthy! My kids really ate a ton of food!

Bella is learning to use chopsticks. For the little kids, they put a rubber band around the ends to keep them together. Then they fold up a paper and put between the chopsticks to keep them open. The stretchy rubber band allows for kids with little hands to open and close the chopsticks without having to try very hard. Quite ingenious!

Do you think this picture is posed? Or do I just have really good timing?!

Have you ever seen Bella or Eathan sit still? Well, here is living proof that it is possible. They would stare at the chef and watch his every move! Maybe I should cook like this at home!

The chef we had last night was especially good and funny. We have had him before, but this time he really hammed it up for the kids. My favorite thing he did was...

He picked up a pea with his huge spatula. Then he flinged it at Eathan. As Eathan stared at him in utter disbelief he said... "I pea on you"!! We all cracked up!

GOOD TIMES!!!

Sugar Babies!

Since we just moved, we are in a new ward. Our new bishop does something fun after church... Every Sunday they open the clerk's office and they set out candy for the kids. So, after church, all the kids in the ward race to the bishop's office to get a handful of candy. They have tons of candy and the kids can have however much they want. It's fun because a lot of people are gathered there and you can visit or meet people for just a minute. It's not fun in a way too because I can actually hear my kids teeth rotting as they are indulging. Since we don't eat much candy at home, you can imagine how excited my kids were to get their sugar fix. The fact that everyone is starving after church only makes matters worse.

As a matter of fact, Todd and I forgot all about the candy on Sunday. That is until we couldn't find Eathan after church. Low and behold... he had already high-tailed it to the "candy office". And that is where we found him. So, we all grabbed a piece of candy and we made the kids put back most of what they grabbed. On the way to the car Spencer was grabbing for the red vine in my hand. So, when we got to the car I gave him a tiny piece after I put him in his carseat. When we got home this is what I found...

Spencer laughing in pure elation...

covered in a red sticky mess!

Now was a good time to ask myself... why did I give him that?!

One-toothed One-der

Spencer's first tooth finally broke through! Yea! (It's a good thing I am not nursing anymore ;) And since I wish I would've written down when my other three kids got their first teeth, I thought I would record this one. What I do know is that they were all late teethers, so if you are shocked that Spencer has gone 8.5 months with no teeth, don't worry... it's hereditary. And, he is also doing a speed army crawl and get from here to there in no time flat! We also should have considered the name "Hoover" for him instead of Spencer. Because he is a little human vacuum! He picks up everything on the floor and puts it into his mouth!! YUCK!