Happy New Year 2010....

I am looking forward to a great year this year. I know that with each year I grow personally and we grow as a family. It is hard to believe that so many new years have passed and how quickly my children are growing up!
Every year I make resolutions... I think is a great opportunity to think about how we can improve and where we would like to be in the future. Although some of my goals are more personal, some of them include daily family prayer and scripture study, continuing with the lifestyle changes I have made in diet and exersize, reading the entire Book of Mormon and the Old Testament(since that is what we are studying this year and what I am teaching my super fun teenagers in Sunday School), working towards being more focused on what is most important in my life and being Brilliant at the Basics, organizing my home, making sure that the ones I love know how much I love them, and recognizing the positive in others and the positive in life's daily situations and struggles. I am looking forward to looking back next year and hopefully seeing the progress I have made on these goals!

Here are some fun pics of the last few weeks of 2009. I truly enjoyed our vacation and the time spent with our families. We made some great memories and spent fun times together. I was not ready to hop back in to school and work and the usual "routine", but press forward we must, and make the most of each moment!

Merry Christmas....

Turn off my music at the bottom of the page... and I hope you have a holiday full of the true "spirit" of Christmas!

All She Wants for Christmas is....

Family Pictures 2009

Thanks K'Brina for the great pics! These are some of my favorites....

Thanks....

I realize this post is a few weeks late. However, I was too busy being thankful during the Thanksgiving holiday to blog about it. I enjoyed the entire weekend immensely! I loved all of the company of our family, loved all the yummy food, and the memories made. I totally loved Jacob Black in New Moon as Bella looked up at him as he tore off his shirt and said "You are kind of beautiful..." Really, Bella? ( I am definatly the dark hunky muscly kind of girl. No pasty white skinny guys for me!) Savannah already has plans to make the opening of Eclipse her birthday activity with friends since it opens on her birthday. I guess I will be standing in line with a bunch of giggly girls for that first showing!

Seriously, though, I really do have so very much to be thankful for. First, I am sooooo thankful for the gospel in my life. It brings so much peace to my heart in troubled times. I am so thankful for our loving Savior. I am blessed to have an unshakeable testimony of the gospel and grateful for those who helped me to build that testimony.

I am thankful for my parents... for the example they have been to me, for the love they give me, and for the fun we have together. I am thankful they are such AWESOME grandparents!

I am thankful for inlaws that support us and our kids. They can often be found in the cheering section even though it means they must cross over into "enemy" territory!

I am thankful for my special family who has accepted me for who I am and loved me easily. The love and acceptance they freely give makes me complete and content. What a story we have...and we must find a way to do good with what we have been given!

I am thankful for a home that is warm and safe, and a car that gets me where I need to go. I am thankful Mike has a good job. Even though it is one of my biggest stresses in life, I am thankful for the job I have, the security it provides through our extremely affordable health insurance and good benefits.

I am thankful for my church callings... for the AWESOME blessing it was to be the song leader in the primary for 4 years, and for the children in our ward that I love so much. They taught me so much, and they are the best kids in the whole world. I think I left a part of my heart down in that primary room. I think it is one of the best callings ever. However, I LOVE MY NEW JOB! I love those fun teenagers! What bright, talented, and strong kids. I hope I can tell them something they don't already know! I can tell we are going to have a great time together learning more about the gospel. I love these great kids already.

I am so thankful for my friends. I have the best friends ever and I am so glad for your sincere friendship. They are few, but they are the finest bunch of ladies around. I am so thankful for the compassion they have had in hard times, and for helping pick me up and reminding me who I am. I am so lucky to be inspired by them. You know who you are... and you are loved!

I am grateful for music and it's power for good. I must have been born to music. It's just part of who I am.

I am thankful for my early morning exercise group. You are great! We have laughed and almost cried from the pain... but we are strong! Our workouts make the day go so much better, even if I must freeze getting there and back and workout in front of the fireplace!

I am thankful for my husband who works hard to provide for us and take care of us. He loves his children in the most complete way I have ever seen a father love his children. He would do anything for them and with them. I am thankful that he is there for them and wants to be there for them and that he knows there is no better way to spend his time.

I am SO SO SO thankful for my three beautiful kids. I am amazed by them daily. They are good. They are smart. They are loving and kind. They have so much talent. I am so thankful for the testimonies that are growing inside them. Their spirits are strong. I know I am so unworthy to have them, and hope I can be the mother I should be for them.

So... I am thankful and humble. And- I am ready to celebrate the Christmas season. Christmas is a time for us to share the love God has shown to us. In some small way, I hope I can share that love this year as my gift to Him.

UEA fun....

We spent a day in Saint George over UEA and took these cute pictures while we were waiting to eat at the Pizza Factory.(YUM!) It was great weather. The kids were so fun!