My Thoughts on our Anniversary

I can't believe that 5 years have already come and gone since we were married. I can honestly say that these have been the happiest 5 years of my life!

As we drove to the temple that sunny day, we were in love enough to willingly take that 'step of faith.' We were ready to make sacred vows to be together for eternity, even though we couldn't comprehend it all.

But we really had no idea just how wonderful married life would be. We didn't realize how the Lord would increase our love for each other. We had no idea just how fun married life is. We didn't know how much happiness our children would bring to us. We couldn't have known what the future would hold for us. But we knew it was the right thing to do, and we knew we'd be blessed by honoring that commandment.

As life's uncertainties and difficulties come our way, we know we have a loving companion to face them with. As trials and heartache come, we can strengthen each other and see our way through. We can help and encourage each other as we strive to overcome our weaknesses. Most importantly, we can help each other to stay close to the Lord, because He is the one who helps us through life's storms. Christ will help us to overcome all things.

Just yesterday, we were in the Logan Temple, in the same room where we were sealed, witnessing the sealing of Paul's brother, Alex. What a thrill to sit hand-in-hand with Paul in that very room, and remember our sacred time there. What a comfort to know that our vows are eternal--that we are 100% committed to each other and to the Lord. In a world where divorce is rampant, where marital vows are broken with every excuse, we will not give in to this trend. We will protect our marriage from Satan's blows, for it is a sacred gift from God.

Almost Kidnapped

Claire woke up crying at 3:30 last night.
As I gave her the binky, I glanced over to see Grace sleeping,
but Grace wasn't in her bed.
I doubted my nighttime vision and checked again.
Still, she wasn't there.
So I looked on the floor by her bed and then all around her room.
No sign of Grace.
I had an empty feeling inside.
In disbelief, I woke up Paul.
We began searching the house.
Not in her room. Not in the hall.
Not in the bathroom or in Millie's room.
Not in the living room, or the kitchen.
We checked the sliding door--locked.
Not downstairs, in the garage, or out with the bunny.

All I could think of was Elizabeth Smart's abduction,
and how cute Grace is. Of course someone would want her!
She's adorable!

Then I walked back in to our bedroom
and turned on the light.
There she was!
Sprawled out on the floor, right by our bed.
What a relief!
I must have walked right by her twice!

As we got back in bed, we felt a huge sense of gratitude for our sweet Gracie. We felt for a few minutes how it would feel to lose her, and we want to do all we can to keep her safe and with us forever.

Happy Birthday, Princess Millie!

Millie's Birthday has come and gone! She had such a fun day. She got to be spotlighted at preschool, and she got to bring a treat to share with everyone. At night, we had Abby's family and Sister Lindsey over for FHE and birthday cake.

Last year, she was oblivious to birthday presents, but this year, that was the most important thing! Right when she woke up, she wanted to open her presents. I decided to give her one or two, but after each one, she asked for another. Once she had opened them all, she said, "no, I want to open another one! Just go find another gift for me." So I asked what it would be. She said, "lipstick." So, with that clue, I quickly rummaged up some old lipstick. When she opened it, she quickly said, "yes!" I learned my lesson to ask her beforehand what she would like!



Here are some things we'll hope to remember about our sweet Millie at this age

Millie...
-loves Jesus and Heavenly Father
-is so good at sharing with her sisters
-likes to do what is right
-seems to be good at everything she tries
-is learning to read
-loves to color
-sings silly songs that she makes up
-sneaks out the backdoor to play with Abby
-picks up Claire and holds her (without any help)
-wears a skirt almost every day
-loves to make people laugh
-can swing high
-plays computer games on PBSkids
-rides her bike with training wheels
-wants to bear her testimony often
-does crafty things with glue and scissors
-do tricks (i.e. swinging, hanging, snapping)
-has a sweet-tooth
-is a natural ballerina that dances daily
-loves to spell and write notes

We Are Privatizing!

I've been thinking about doing this for WAY too long! I keep getting comments from strangers, and that is a little spooky! So, we are going private very soon! But I don't want to lose contact with my friends, so please send me your email if you'd like me to send you an invitation to our blog!

Any other suggestions for going private?

A Princess in Training

Every time Millie draws a picture of herself, she is in a princess dress. And yesterday in her prayer, she said, "Please help me to be a good princess!" Maybe that's because she took her lipstick purse to the baptism on Saturday and spent the first 15 minutes of the meeting getting all "done up." We talked about it afterward, but she still insisted on having her purse at Joyschool this week, and went into a distressed fit when one of the lipsticks was missing! What have we done to give a 3-year old a love for lipstick! I'm a little worried she is going to become a teenager at age 6! But we love her and often teach her that princesses are always nice, like Cinderella. However, we watched a few minutes of Jasmine yesterday, and to our shock, she said "stupid"! Bad timing! Somehow the girls heard this word last week, so we've had an early lesson on "bad words" that make our mouths dirty.

"You can tell a lot about a person by the shoes they wear"

Gracie's

• referred to as "my pint ballet shoes"
• found at our Stake "give and take" last fall (what a find! I wish I could thank the donors)
• worn by both girls daily all winter long (until Millie got new shoes--see below)
• the only shoes I have been able to get Gracie to wear to church, even through the winter (I worried what people would think, but when you have to get out the door, you don't want to mess with Grace!)
• worn out in the toes by Millie doing ballet dancing on her toes
• I wish I knew where I could buy another pair!

Millie's

• Are fairly new, but already well-worn
• Were found at Wal-mart for $7
• Were purchased because 1. she wore Gracie's (the ones above) everyday, even though they were too small; 2. I was tired of breaking up fights over who's turn it was for the pink princess shoes; 3. She has been asking for "princess shoes without a strap" for months
• Before she saw them, she asked with excitement, "Are they pink?" (whew, I got the right color!)
• Originally came with a strap, but I was willing to take the risk to cut them so we could have the "picture perfect" shoe
• The bows come undone many times a day, and so after re-tying them WAY too many times, I finally glued the bows with a hot glue gun today! Yeah!
  

"All Things Testify of Him"

And this is especially true in the Springtime, when we celebrate Easter. We tried hard this year to teach our daughters that Easter is really about Jesus. We told stories of his death and resurrection. We tried to explain how the Easter egg symbolizes new birth that He offers us; but I don't think they got it! Maybe because they pictured commercialized hard-boiled, plastic, or candy eggs, instead of an egg with a baby chick.

But I realized today that all we have to do is walk outside and show them the flowers that have miraculously come to life again in a flowerbed that just a few weeks ago was brown and dead-looking...





This is an easy way to teach them what the Savior can do for each one of us, during this life and after. Some days our lives seem dark and hopeless, but President Hinckley often told us that there is light at the end of the tunnel. This hope is only through Christ, who is "the light, the life, and the way." All things truly testify of Him.


Follow up (a few days later): I took an opportunity to try to teach this to the children in the car on the way to preschool. I pointed out the flowers and reminded them of how they seemed dead, but then they came to life again. Gracie blurted out quickly, "Just like Jesus came to life again!" I was so happy--they did learn something over Easter!

Easter Egg Hunt 2010

When it comes to the Easter Bunny, this was our best year yet! We had 3 egg hunts and way too much candy. At G & G Yorgason's house, they spotted me outside the window when I was hiding eggs, but still didn't put two and two together (those years will be over soon!). Millie was SO cute and full of excitement as she we waited for the big Egg Hunt. Gracie was better able to "fend for herself" this year--in fact, she got more candy eggs than anyone! Even though they really enjoyed it, you can see from the pictures that this was a very serious endeavor. No smiles!

SO ready for Spring!

Planting the Garden
Our first seeds are in! Paul LOVES to garden, and he loves teaching the girls about it. They ask everyday if the seeds are coming out of the ground yet. We're trying pole peas this year, along with our other usual crop of beans, snap peas, carrots, cilantro, & lettuce.


"Good-bye" winter!
(I'm a bit embarrassed that I let these dead flowers stay on my porch all winter long!)

"Hello" spring!
(oh, and somehow I completely forgot to water these for the first week they were in the pot. It took me a while to figure out why they weren't thriving! Oh yeah, I have another baby to take care of everyday!)

Playing Outside
This gal has spent very little time outside in her life. We just couldn't wait to get her swing installed, but when she finally got in the swing, she didn't seem too excited about it! I think it was still too cold for her.


A Little Trip Down South
We spent the weekend in St. George for a much needed family get-away. The girls were so excited to go swimming! We made the mistake of telling them about swimming to motivate them to get dressed and get in the car. But they couldn't handle such a long wait and long drive, so by the time we got to St. George, they were SO anxious to swim, that we drove straight to the pool, even before we went to the home where we'd be staying.

We also went to the driving range as a family... The kids were cute as can be, even though I'm sure the other golfers were wondering why we brought them. Grace cued up every ball for us. Millie got some good swings in. I actually hit the ball straight and further than 20 feet, and Paul did his normal performance of "wow"ing everyone who watched. Every hit was straight, high, far, and solid! He even hit one over the fence that landed on the roof of the building behind it. Pretty amazing for only golfing a handful of times a year.





Hiked the Dixie red rocks...to where I (Jen) used to come with my high school friends. It turned out to be a good little family hike as well.





(my sister and her family made a spontaneous trip to meet up with us)


(We get smiles like this all day long from this "Claire Bear"




Went to the Dinosaur Museum at Johnson Farm...which turned out to be quite an interesting place! We highly recommend it. The girls' favorite part was the art tables with supplies to draw your own dinosaurs.





Visited the St. George Temple...what a beautiful building! I love how white it is, especially against the backdrop of the red rocks and plateaus of the city.



(found a bug at the temple!)

Beating the Winter Blues

Jungle Jim's

We are SO glad we finally discovered Jungle Jim's playland! What a place! How is that almost everyone I talk to about this place has already been there, and we'd never heard of it?

As for the rides, Millie was brave as can be; Gracie was hesitant, but finally won over, even on the fast one. It was a great little "teaser" to hold us off a little longer for the long-awaited return to Lagoon. Now, in almost every prayer she says, Gracie prays, "Thank you for we can go to Jim's Jungle Gym playground."




Gateway Discovery Museum

We have had a great year with our joyschool group! The kids all play so well together, and they have learned a lot. We finally went on a fieldtrip together, and it was great! We "discovered" this place for the first time too! We did not want to leave, so next time, we'll plan to stay all day!




We went to the little class where the teacher read "Green Eggs and Ham" and then MADE it for us to eat! All but Grace were willing to try the strange-looking food! The funny thing is, Grace LOVES eggs and ham! And another funny thing, almost every night at the dinner table, Grace first refuses her dinner, but then we get her to try it, and she says, "yummy!" and then we remind her of "Green Eggs and Ham" and she says, "Don't say Green Eggs and Ham!" She realizes that we're rubbing it in, and she has a little pride! :)



Dress-ups

A Fun Visit From Friends

Hannah and Shay are like family to us, so we have missed them since they moved to South Dakota! We really enjoyed having them here for the week, but the very best time with them was in the Bountiful Temple. It was their first time to go to the temple and it really turned out perfectly! Mike and Olivia (who were key players in their conversion) were able to come, and so it was a sweet reunion. It was apparent on their faces how much joy and happiness they felt, and we all were blessed by the strong Spirit there.


One last Hurrah in the snow!

Thought we better just enjoy this end-of-March snow storm. This was my (Jen's) first time to actually make a snowman with my girls. Usually, I'm inside holding a baby and enjoying the warmth, while Paul is out having fun. Well, I found out what I've been missing out on!