sunday drive.

today we went for a little sunday morning drive.

we needed to fill up the long morning with something other than movies, laziness, pajamas, whining, boredom, etc.

1:00 pm church is the worst.
{ok, 2:30 pm church is the worst, but 1:00 is still rough.}

serena still whined {"grandma's house! grandma's house!} but hey, she's 2... i had better just get used to it already. i think we will have to make the sunday drive a ritual for the next 5 months. it might just save my sanity.

what do YOU do with little kids on long sunday mornings when you have late church??? please help! seriously. HELP.

i am in love with these people.

nothing bonds a group of people together quite like spending 4 straight days with them. every waking moment. sleeping together. cooking together. praying together. crafting together. laughing together.

sure, you get on each others nerves. but you also learn to love each other like you couldn't have before.

so so happy i was able to be there the whole time.

{and a BIG HUGE thank you to my dear husband who played mr. mom so i could be where i needed to be last week! and to grandmas for taking the day shift. i'm so glad to be home again with my family.}

all in a week.

lagoon.
goofy kids.
work.
summer sun, pony tails, flip flops, shorts.
well check for serena.
choir rehearsal.
recovering from croup.
lots of not cooking and eating out.
near death experience for serena.
kiddie pool + sprinkler time.
baby shower for kirsten.
youth conference.
sun burn {farmer's tan}.
chores.
park.
another baby shower for kirsten.

and then...
something super duper amazingly fun and relaxing which is yet to be determined. but it needs to be good after this crazy week.

april third.

inSANE amounts of snow at the cabin. we woke up to another foot or so this morning. quite the adventure. and in april!
favorites from our g.c. weekend:

my girls were well-behaved. . . unlike last time!
tangled on the projector.
cute cousins playing together.
and being so patient with serena!
paul calls his son "the disaster".
kids slept better than at home.
staying up late to watch the patriot.
falling asleep to the sound of rain on the roof.
way too much good food for breakfast.
especially the cinnamon rolls...
inspired words from the prophet & apostles.
pillow fight after the first session this morning.
finding some gems in the reject cabin books.
adventures leaving the driveway.
coming home to a clean house.

loves. {christmas edition}

beautiful vocis concert.
christmas cards.
online christmas shopping.
packages on the doorstep.
amazing christmas basket from work. {can't wait to play with my new kindle!}
adorable matryoshka fleece {for serena's christmas eve blanket}.
peppermint twisted frosties.
christmas movies on tv.
christmas potpourri making my house smell yummy.
"I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade."
gift wrapping nearly done.
mom's chocolate whiffs and caramels and homemade chex mix.
drives in the car to see christmas lights.
pine scented candles.
playing and singing christmas songs at mom's piano.

singing handel's messiah, and reflecting on its message. and knowing that He is the reason we celebrate.

blessing day.

yesterday was harper's blessing. it was a wonderful day.

a beautiful blessing from her daddy.
a circle of worthy priesthood holders who love her.

it was nice to have so many of our friends and family there. little harper is loved!

sunday morning.

harper decided to be wide awake {and fussy} from noon to 9 p.m. yesterday, and again at 2-4 a.m. this morning.

serena threw up all over her bed and self in the night. {why does she not wake up & cry when this happens???}

bathed serena first thing this morning {which she was not happy about}.

put all of her bedding & stuffed animals in the wash.

dealt with her whining all morning.

she refused to eat breakfast.

she threw a fit about getting dressed.

she begged for the rest of the morning to go out to the car.

sean finally took her out to the car and waited there for 20 minutes while i got myself & harper ready.

got harper dressed in her church outfit.

picked her up to put her in the carseat and she spit up all over her clean outfit, the couch, and my skirt.

i took her to the car and she went to church in her spitty outfit.

i ran upstairs, washed my skirt, dried it with my hair dryer.

went to ward choir with the baby, and serena running all over the chapel, playing the piano, begging for dad {who was printing the programs, getting chairs, etc.}.

made it through the sacrament without having to take serena out. then she saw the kid behind us had goldfish crackers and had a slight meltdown.

sean took her to the car to get our goldfish crackers.

and then she was out.

she made it through 10 minutes of nursery, and then had to go home to take a nap.

harper, who had slept all morning & all during church, was then wide awake.

so much for mom & dad's afternoon naps.


we're tired. and praying for the day when harper gets into a decent schedule.

10 things i've done in the last 10 days.

01. woke up at 4 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. i wrote long lists of things to do before the baby comes and before we move.

02. painted a dresser for serena's new room. i hate painting furniture. i'll try to remember this next time i think i want to start such a project. four coats of white paint. FOUR. that's a lot of painting. but it turned out really cute :)

03. got a flu shot.

04. watched the same episode of mickey mouse at least 20 times {twice a day}. she loves the episode about goofy's petting zoo.

05. finished reading clockwork angel. i really liked it. eventually i will post about it on the book blog.

06. watched most of general conference. i love president uchtdorf.

07. checked the mail for the first time in like 2 weeks :) we are bad at that. and we had free tickets to a corn maze/hayride/carnival for the day before i checked the mail. boo!

08. ate out a lot. i can't bring myself to cook these days. it's pathetic.

09. complained about my giant belly and general "plumpness" {that's what sean calls it. apparently that's supposed to be less insulting or depressing than just plain FAT or CHUBBY. pregnant women are "pleasantly plump" yeah.... not a big fan of the term}. i am sooooo ready for this baby to come. well my body is.

10. packed for our weekend in mesquite/st george! we're headed to the tuacahn on saturday. can't wait! {now i need to mentally prepare for the 6 hour drive tomorrow. oh boy. serena isn't the best with long car trips...}

have a lovely weekend! you won't hear from us til tuesday... but hey, you rarely hear from us anymore, so what's the difference?

fhe.

last night we headed downtown for fhe. we wanted to see the new temple replica in the visitors center and visit the new deseret book store {which i hear is awesome}. serena was in heaven running around the temple grounds. but wow she flipped out when we wanted to take a picture with her. i got a decent one with her and sean, but she was done after that. seriously, she needs to be running all the time. after an hour of chasing her, we decided we were too hot and sweaty and just wanted ice cream, so we didn't make it to deseret book. next monday, maybe.

a year of fhe.

have you seen this website? 52 family home evening lessons. each month has a theme and there is a lesson for every week. each lesson includes a scripture, song, lesson plan, activity and sometimes an additional coloring page or treat. i love it!

april's theme is our beautiful world and this week's lesson is about the seasons. i love this darling download:

check it out here.

i dyed some eggs.

i got the urge while i was listening to general conference. i don't believe in fancy eggs and all of those shrink wrap jackets and whatnot, so i used regular food dye. i can't wait to have creamed eggs on toast! it's a favorite and i usually only have it at easter.

easter food is the best.

i'm making this cookie salad for the family dinner tomorrow. with lots of strawberries.

also can't wait to eat my peeps first thing tomorrow morning :)

today sean and i attended a funeral for a woman in his old ward. she was a 50-something wife, and mother of 9. there is nothing like a funeral to get you thinking about your own life. i hope if i died today that people would have such wonderful things to say about me! one of her children quoted some beautiful words from this article by president monson. i love them, and i hope to make a better effort to live them.

"How fragile life, how certain death. We do not know when we will be required to leave this mortal existence. And so I ask, “What are we doing with today?” If we live only for tomorrow, we’ll eventually have a lot of empty yesterdays. Have we been guilty of declaring, “I’ve been thinking about making some course corrections in my life. I plan to take the first step—tomorrow”? With such thinking, tomorrow is forever. Such tomorrows rarely come unless we do something about them today.

Let us ask ourselves the questions: “Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need?” What a formula for happiness! What a prescription for contentment, for inner peace—to have inspired gratitude in another human being.

Our opportunities to give of ourselves are indeed limitless, but they are also perishable. There are hearts to gladden. There are kind words to say. There are gifts to be given. There are deeds to be done. There are souls to be saved."

happy easter.

come what may, and love it.

"How can we love days that are filled with sorrow? We can’t—at least not in the moment. I don’t think my mother was suggesting that we suppress discouragement or deny the reality of pain. I don’t think she was suggesting that we smother unpleasant truths beneath a cloak of pretended happiness. But I do believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life."

"If we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be times of greatest growth, which in turn can lead toward times of greatest happiness."

"That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude."

...

I loved Elder Wirthlin's last talk in General Conference. I'm so glad he was able to share these words with us before his passing.

conference weekend.

This has to have been the most amazing general conference ever! I think mostly it has to do with the fact that we were up at the cabin with very few distractions. So I actually sat down and watched every minute of the Saturday sessions {which I'm sorry to say I hardly ever do} in addition to the Sunday sessions. I loved everything I heard this weekend. Especially Elder Perry's talk about simplifying our lives and all of the other talks in the Saturday morning session. And the announcement about the new temples! I can't wait for the Ensign to come out next month. It was such a relaxing {and lazy} weekend. The weather up at the cabin was PERFECT: rainy & snowy! And the leaves up there are gorgeous. I love Fall. Too bad it only lasts for a few short weeks here in Utah :(

First Presidency

I am so excited about the new First Presidency of the church. I have always loved President Monson and I'm excited to have him as our new prophet. I was very suprised to hear that Elder Uchtdorf would be the second councilor. But I am, of course, very excited to get to know him better! I really loved his conference address entitled See the End from the Beginning.

Music & The Spoken Word

We had the wonderful opportunity to go see the Music and the Spoken Word broadcast this morning. The choir & orchestra did a special program dedicated to President Hinckley. They sang some of his favorite songs and one that he wrote the words to. The program included: How Firm a Foundation, Lift Thine Eyes, He Watching Over Israel, We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet, Danny Boy, My Redeemer Lives & God Be With You Till We Meet Again. I can't express how awesome it was to be there at the tabernacle. I didn't know this, but President Hinckley was the president of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He had overseen the program since 1971. The spirit was so strong as the choir sang. You could feel their love for the Prophet.

President Hinckley's family was also there. After the broadcast, Bro. Newell invited them up to stand by the choir. Bro. Wilberg spoke about a birthday celebration that the choir had with Pres. Hinckley in recent years. A couple of members of the choir (who were great at digital imaging) added the Prophet's face to a picture of the choir so it looked like he was a singing member of the choir (: and gave it to him as a gift. President Hinckley kept this picture in his office. The choir presented each of his children who were in attendance today with the same picture (I guess there was some debate about who would get to keep the picture from his office). And then the choir sang God Be With You Till We Meet Again to the family.

It was really so cool to be there. It is very different being in the tabernacle than it is watching it on TV. And what an awesome memory for us to have (:

Follow the Prophet

My brother-in-law posted this picture on his blog in the beginning of January. Just wanted to post it today. What a great example he was for us.

Glenn Beck on President Hinckley

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/200/5127/

President Gordon B. Hinckley 1910-2008

We love and will miss President Hinckley. What a wonderful and full life he had. We are so grateful for the many things he did for us as our prophet.