Anna's Testimony!

The video is dark sorry. I hope you can see it well enough. You can pause the sound on my play list at the bottom right side of the screen so you can hear Anna.

This was the cutest and sweetest thing during Family Home evening on Monday night. At the end of our lessons each week we all take a turn to share our testimony. Well, after watching Lily and Ammon share theirs and seeing how happy mommy and daddy were, Anna wanted to give it a try. She walked up to the front by Adam, just like the kids had done and started jabbering. She can't really talk, but she is trying so hard! She was so cute up there and when she was through she ran to me and gave me a hug. It was honestly the cutest thing ever and filled my heart with so much joy. I love that Lily and Ammon have a testimony and are willing to share them with us. I love to hear the things they say and learn about what they understand about God and the gospel. I love that Anna is only 18 months and already tries to pray and now give her testimony. Being a parent is so rewarding. I love it!

A Few More From Ammon...

I just remembered a few more funny things from Ammon. A few weeks ago, he and Lily were playing and he said, "You OBAMA LIAR!" To which lily was very upset and came running into me pouting saying that Ammon had called her an Obama liar. Being called a liar is mean enough, but making it a double-whammy by adding Obama to it is a total insult! I guess you can tell that our kids know what we think of Obama. During the election our kids actually thought Obama was a bad word! How funny!

The other thing Ammon said also deals with Obama. I had just brought him home from school and it was the day of the Inauguration. Ammon was telling me he watched it at school and we were talking about it and about Obama. He asked me what I thought about Obama being President because he knew I didn't like him and that I also thought he was a liar. I told him that I didn't have faith in him as our President because he isn't a good man and supports a lot of bad things, but that I would hope and pray that he would do what was right for our country. Then Ammon asked if he could say a prayer. So we knelt down and he said,"Heavenly Father, please help Obama not to do anything bad. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen." Okay, can you think of anything sweeter than a six-year-old boy pleading with his Father in Heaven for such an important thing?! The faith of a child is amazing! Just think how many prayers are offered like this. I know Heavenly Father listens and answers. He cannot make Obama do good, but through our prayers, we can certainly help make things better. Don't give up! Thank you Ammon for your awesome example to me! I love you!

The Relief Society Declaration

I read and pondered this today and it is truly amazing! How blessed I am to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am so grateful for my Savior and His love for me. I am glad to know who I am, why I am here, and where I want to go. The Church is such a strength in my life. I am thankful to have a foundation on which to build my life, my family, and my goals. The world is trying so hard to destroy the family. There is so much out there pulling women in so many different directions. I am so glad to feel united with this declaration. To be proud to be a woman and most importantly a mother! I cannot think of anything else I would rather be doing in life at this time than being a mom. It is truly the greatest and most rewarding job! I absolutely love it! I heard a mom on TV the other day who said it was good for her that her kids were at school and away form her from 8:00a.m. until 5:00 or 6:00p.m. because it didn't suit her personality to be with them more than that! Can you believe that?! I was really sad by her comment. Then last night I heard another mom say that mother-hood is really not precious! Wow! Where are we headed people?! I wish everyone could feel the way about their family that I do about mine. It is total happiness and joy, even with all the chaos and craziness. It is truly the greatest! I hope you feel this way too! Read and ponder this declaration and think about how amazing it is!

We are beloved spirit daughters of God, and our lives have meaning, purpose, and direction. As a worldwide sisterhood, we are united in our devotion to Jesus Christ, our Savior and Exemplar. We are women of faith, virtue, vision, and charity who:
Increase our testimonies of Jesus Christ through prayer and scripture study.
Seek spiritual strength by following the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
Dedicate ourselves to strengthening marriages, families, and homes.
Find nobility in motherhood and joy in womanhood.
Delight in service and good works.
Love life and learning.
Stand for truth and righteousness.
Sustain the priesthood as the authority of God on earth.
Rejoice in the blessings of the temple, understand our divine destiny, and strive for exaltation.

The funny things Ammon says...

Ammon has been cracking me up lately. I thought I should record some of his words before I forget them. The other day Adam turned on the Mormon Messages YouTube channel for Ammon and Lily and the man speaking said "the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints..." Lily said,"Latter-day Saints?" and Ammon said, "Yes, that means people who got church a lot!" How funny!
Next, I finally unpacked my box of porcelain dolls on Friday and the kids were helping me. Ammon was getting out a doll my mom made for me when I was probably about 10. My mom made her look like me and put her in the white dress I wore to the temple the day my parents were sealed. It is a very pretty doll and of course, very special to me. I reminded Ammon to be careful and he was so sweet. He was very gentle with her and as he unwrapped her from the bubble wrap he said to Lily, "Wow, this was made back in the olden days!" Am I really that old to him?!
Last, he grabbed a Halloween pencil to do his homework the other day and it had pumpkins on it. It reminded him of Halloween and he said he had eaten an eyeball before. I told him that was gross and he said,"No mom, it was a candy eyeball. It had 1200 calories of sugar in it so it was really sweet." He was so matter-of-fact about it too. That boy is absolutely hilarious! All the kids make me laugh and I wish I could remember all the silly things they have said. Hopefully they will come back to me...

My Friend

Okay, so one of my dearest friends that I honestly cannot live without is RUNNING! I kind of slacked off a few weeks ago and I started feeling all depressed and tired and gross. Then I got my act together and started running more regularly and boy do I feel better! I have decided that if I want to feel well I HAVE to run! I love my treadmill in the winter and have used it more here than in Vegas, but today it was 49 degrees out this morning! The weather was absolutely perfect and the pink morning sky was beautiful. I love the way the sun turns the snow on the mountains pink. There is something incredibly refreshing about running outdoors. I am so thankful to have a healthy body so that I can enjoy running and I am thankful for this amazing world I get to enjoy as I do it.

Lily's Birthday!

I don't know why this is taking so long to load, but if you click on view all images, it will take you to photobucket so you can see the slideshow there. Sorry!
We had a fun day for Lily. Grandpa Wayne was here to play all day and help out with getting ready for the party. He used his drywall stilts to rehang the streamers for me. The kids thought it was so cool that he was walking around with his head almost touching the ceilings, which are 10 feet high. He did a great job and they didn't fall down, hooray! Lily and Ammon decorated and filled the pinata, which turned out super-cute by the way. I didn't do any decorating on it. It was 100% kids and they loved it and so did I! Ammon drew the horse on our poster for pin-the-tail on the horse and he did a magnificent job. When Lily saw it she said, "Mom, that does not look like a horse, that looks like a dragon!" She didn't want to try to draw something better though. I am glad Ammon did it because my art skills are lacking if you know what I mean and I was afraid someone might ask which kid drew the horse when it was really me. I solved it by letting Ammon take care of it! Smart mom I do have to say. Lily cut out tails from black construction paper for the horse and got the tape all ready for them too. Lily and Ammon helped me cover cardboard horseshoes that Grandpa cut out for us with tinfoil. Ammon helped me untie the handles from his jump rope to use for our lasso the dog game. It was a lot of fun. All the games turned out great, very simple and homemade but so much fun! The kids at the party had tons of fun too! We let the kids each make their own pizzas when they got here and they loved it. The food turned out great. We had homemade pizza and bread sticks, salad, a veggie tray and drinks. I was really happy with how everything went. I decided to try something new with Lily's cake. She wanted a horse cake and so I was searching online to fine ideas and came across some cute fondant cakes. I frosted it with regular icing and then covered it with a fondant icing and fondant stars. I thought it was really cute. It took a lot of time, but was really fun and Lily loved it! She had to put her horses on it before we lit it though, it looked silly, but she thought it was the best!I love making birthday cakes. Here is the link to the recipe I used. http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm Everyone got a turn at the pinata, even Anna. She did surprisingly well. She hit it a few times and was really enjoying herself. I was hoping to let her and Lily have a second turn, but the last girl that hit it was 8 and she knocked it off the pole onto the floor and then smashed it to pieces. The kids didn't care though. It would have been fun to put it back on and the let the birthday girl break it, but they were all happy so I didn't mind too much. Lily loved her presents, Pet Shop, Polly Pockets, and "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" by Dr. Seuss which came with the brown cow. She sleeps with her cow every night and dresses her in Anna's old clothes. Lily is a sweetie! I am glad we were able to have a fun party and celebrate her special day.
Oh, daddy got Lily a bouquet of roses for her special day. She has been wanting flowers for over a month and has begged me to let her use her own money to buy some. Every time we are at Costco she has to stop and look at all the pretty flowers. She was so happy when daddy came home with a big bouquet all for her!

Happy Birthday Lily!

My sweet little Lily is 5! Wow how time flies! She got to open her present from me and Adam this morning. She got a pink cowgirl hat and pink boots! She looks so darling. What a cutie. She had Corn Pops and Strawberry Mango juice for her special birthday breakfast. She spilled her juice on the floor. I am so glad I didn't mop last night. All her birthday decorations fell down during the night, I need to go buy some different tape today. She can't wait for her party tonight, she keeps trying to get me to let her have it after lunch. Cute girl. Happy Birthday Lily, I love you!

Grandpa Wayne

My dad got here yesterday form Utah and the kids are in heaven! We love grandpa! He came to help us fix some things around the house. Well, not really fix, but change. It is nice to have a handy dad. He told me has a magic hammer and can fix anything! He really can. The timing works out nice because he will be here for Lily's birthday tomorrow. She is crazy excited. I love how happy kids are about birthdays. By the way, I think the pinata might work! Yeah!

Lily's Pinata

You can't even see how messy Anna was. She had paste on her eyelids and all over her, including her hair. We had to change her whole outfit too!

We are trying to make a pinata for Lily's party on Thursday. I don't know if it is going to work. Yesterday the kids had a blast but made an awful mess! They kept eating the paste, flour and water, and saying it was good. They are so silly. We had paste all over the floor, chairs, and ourselves. What a crazy mess, but it is totally worth it to see them have so much fun and make it themselves.

Family Home Evening

Last night we were invited to attend Family Home Evening at a families home in our ward who live up near Pyramid Lake. They have Alpacas, goats, dogs, chickens, a cat and 80 acres! They live out really far, but it is so cool! It would be neat to live like that. Anyway, we had some awesome steak for dinner and they had this cute fhe lesson and then the husband made homemade candy and the rest of us decorated posters and hearts and then we went and heart-attacked our bishopric's homes. It was super fun! The candy was absolutely amazing. They sent us home with a a bag of caramel popcorn, toffee, and a dozen eggs! This family is amazing! They get their milk from their goats and make their own butter, wow! Can you imagine being so self-sufficient? One of the Alpacas is about to have babies so we get to go see them in a few days. The kids were in heaven up at their home and cannot wait to go back. What an amazing family. It was a great fhe! FYI, an alpaca is like a llama, but they seem fluffier. They were way cute. I didn't have my camera, so sorry no pictures.

An Issue

Yesterday Ammon and Lily were building a fort under Lily's bed and I was listening to them play. Lily was trying to get in and Ammon needed to get out. He said, "Lily, I need to get out, I have an issue." To which Lily responded, "OK, where did you get your issue?" I tried so hard not to laugh. It was too cute. Kids say the funniest things. I don't know what his issue was, but they got it worked out and went on happily playing. So fun!

This is how we store we our food...

We just bought a few bags of oats, wheat, beans and sugar and so I finally sealed them up so we don't get weevils again! That happened last year and was a gross and costly experience. They love oats! So, if you have oats, do NOT leave them in the paper bag they come in, you'll probably end up with weevils and a lot of wasted money.

Anyway, I found some info online about how to seal your food at home, here goes... You'll need mylar bags, oxygen pouches, buckets, lids, a sharpie, and an iron, oh, and a broom for when you are all done. When the kids help it gets a little messy. You can get the mylar bags ($.37/ea) and oxygen absorbers ($.07/ea) at the LDS Cannery. First you pour your food product into the mylar bag and then put in an oxygen pouch. Don't fill it too full because you have to lay it on it's side to seal it with a hot iron. I promise it won't ruin your iron. I use the same iron we use for our clothes and it is fine. After it is sealed write what is in it and where and when you bought it. Then place your bags in a bucket and write on the bucket what is inside and then put a lid on it. You will probably need to use a rubber mallet. Now your food is double-sealed and should last for a good length of time because of the oxygen absorber. Make sure you put them in the bucket when your done and not the next day because they will get hard as rocks once the oxygen is sucked out and you won't be able to squish them to fit. This has worked great for us. It doesn't take too long and the kids love to help! I think it is a great and cheap way to save your food! Happy Food Storing!

Your Opinion Please...

The sample on the far right is the one we currently have on the walls. The other samples are all shades of green.

I want to paint my kitchen and maybe the halls in my house. It already looks nice, but it is a little dark. We have dark granite, dark cabinets, black appliances, tan walls and tan tile. I need something else. I am sure it is too hard to tell with the pictures but let me know what you think.

My Awesome Messy-Maker

This is what our silverwware drawer looks like when Anna unloads the dishwasher. She is barely tall enough to reach the drawer with her hand to drop the silverware in. She can't see it!

The other day Lily says to me, "Mom, Anna is an awesome messy-maker!" Yes she is! She is also a very good cleaner though. She helps do everything, she loves to clean up! Yesterday she helped sweep, mop, vacuum, and unload the dishwasher. Anytime the dishwasher door opens she runs to it and starts pulling the dishes out. I have to be careful to snag the dirty silverware before she throws it in the drawer! She gets upset when they are dirty and I take them from her and put them back. She is hilarious. She loves to to help. Ammon and Lily never helped like she does at her age. She is only 18 months and amazes me with how much she wants to do. I love it! When I sweep, she tries to grab the broom from me and sweep my pile. I don't like that because it ends up everywhere, but at least she is learning to help. Yesterday was a first with the vacuum, but she would not let me touch it. She wanted to do it all by herself. What a big girl. How I love her! Oh, she also loves to move things from one place to another, like the library books. Off the shelve to the couch and then back. She is hilarious. She is always busy doing something. She never stops!

Way Behind

There is a huge dirt pile on the empty lot next to us and it is the kids favorite place to play. It is fun, but they track so much dirt into the house. It always falls out of their pockets and makes such a mess! I feel like there is always dirt hiding somewhere in our laundry room, at least it isn't mud!

Why do I find it so hard to post regularly? I promise I will do better! Just a few updates... Adam is the new Elder's Quorum President in our ward! We hadn't even been here a month and a half and we both had callings and spoke in Sacrament. Boy is our ward on top of things. I am the Cub Scout Committee Chair. Scouts is a lot of fun. Ammon can't wait until he is a Cub Scout! Our ward is super-friendly and we are enjoying it so far. Ammon is on year-round school and is off for February! Hooray! I love having him home. He loves it too! Lily is getting so excited for her birthday next week, it will be lots of fun! Anna is trying to talk. She only says a few words, signs a few but babbles a ton. She will have a mouthful to say soon! We are all happy and healthy and doing well. I can't wait for Summer! I have felt so cold, even though it has been really warm here, and I can't wait to have nice warm sunny days! At least it is sunny here most of the time. I love the sun!

The Incredible Edible Anything!

Anna eats just about anything, unless it is food and then she gets a little picky. She continues to try the bath soap even though she knows it is gross every time she tries it. Anything left around that she can get her hands on is fair game. Her favorite though, markers! She is always eating the markers and you can tell by her extremely colorful mouth. It seems like the kids always forget to pick one up and she finds it and we have a mess. Currently her face is stained red around her mouth because last night she got a hold of a red non-washable marker. I don't have a picture of it, but the ones I have should suffice to let you know how much she enjoys them! Why not food? At least they are non-toxic!

No more training wheels!

Sorry the picture is sideways. It isn't in my computer so I don't know what is wrong.

So one of Lily's goals for the year was to learn to ride without training wheels. About two weeks ago Adam took them off and helped her a few times and Ta Da! She caught on so fast! She is a cutie and is having fun. She still needs help getting started unless she is on a slight down hill. She is a trooper and thankfully has had only one crash! Way to go Lily!

good bye teeth!

Ammon lost his second front tooth on Monday. It has been hanging there for a few days but he would not let us pull it out. He wanted to let it come out all on it's own. It fell out when Adam was helping Ammon brush his teeth. Sweet boy! He looks so cute! For the record, he lost his other front tooth a few months ago when he and Lily were playing around and her foot connected with his face. Oops! Lucky catch for Ammon, his tooth fell right into his hand.

Christmas

Dead Luminaries!

Kid's in their new pj's!

Ammon working on his puzzle from Lily.

Anna getting her doll from Lily.

Lily made daddy bookmarks.

Ammon made dad a can to put on his desk at work to hold his pens and pencils.

So much snow!

This is what we drove through! Yikes!

We had a great Christmas! It is so fun to watch the kids get so excited. Thankfully they didn't wake up early because we were up late putting Lily's present together. They were excited about the little things in their stockings as well as their presents from Santa. I loved the gifts they gave each other. Ammon made Lily a bracelet and necklace and gave Anna two of his toys, a train and a truck. Lily made Ammon a puzzle and gave Anna one of her dolls. It was awesome to see the kids think of what they wanted to give each other. Kids are great! Lily painted a picture of her and Ammon playing in the snow on a thin piece of wood and Adam helped her cut it into pieces. It turned out great! Anna had a blast opening presents and wanted more after we were finished. She thought it was so fun tearing the paper. Babies are so fun with wrapping paper! Santa gave Ammon a BB Gun with the soft air pellets, Lily got a kitchen and Anna got a bike/rocker. Santa also visited me, surprise! He wasn't supposed to come for me and Adam. I got spoiled! I got some awesome new running clothes, sheets, a towel and a HUGE jar of chocolate covered raisins! Santa is always so nice to me. Adam always gets me to agree that we will only get things for the kids and not each other and then he never sticks to it. I get spoiled and he gets slim pickings, this year, a box of orange sticks and a can of mandarin oranges. Next year...!

The kids also got gifts from all their grandparents, can we say spoiled?! They are so lucky to have such awesome grandparents! They help make Christmas so much fun! Lily got some pet shop animals and I think it may have been her favorite gift! Grandma Christy also provided them with their new pj's, which they all love! Who doesn't love opening a new pair of pj's on Christmas Eve? Lily got a night gown with Ariel on it and she absolutely loves it! Ammon wanted to wear one of daddy's shirts to bed with his new fleece bottoms. He looked so cute! Do you remember wearing your parents clothes and feeling so special? I used to love to do that!

Well after presents we had waffles with pear syrup, orange juice and Ammon's favorite, sausage for breakfast. It was yummy.

We also had our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve and that was tasty as well. After we went out in to the cold to set up our luminaries. The kids were so helpful, even Anna, and they all had fun. The disappointing thing is they didn't stay lit. Don't buy tea light candles form Wal-Mart! They didn't work. All that work setting them and freezing and they didn't even glow! So sad! At least we did have fun doing it though!

We got everything ready and hit the road to head to Grandma Margie's for the rest of the weekend. We stopped in the mountains to play in the snow. It took us a while to find a nice spot, but when we did it was great. I love being in the mountains with tons of snow and especially while it snowing! It was beautiful and the kids had a great time. They were like puppies in the snow. They were jumping and rolling all over the blast and thought it was so cool, and so did I! I will admit that driving over the Sierra's in the snow is really scary to me, but it sure is beautiful! Thank goodness for a truck with 4-wheel drive! The drive was slow and thankfully uneventful.

We met up with the Peterson's at Margie's for Christmas dinner and visited with them that night. They left early the next day to go to Salt Lake and we are enjoying the beautiful Sacramento weather here! It is so pretty here in the winter! Everything is green and gorgeous. I do love the snow though! I am glad we have some in Reno. I wish we would get more, but what we have is great. We love the weather.

All in all it was a great Christmas! I feel so blessed to have everything that I do. The Lord has provided so much for me. i am so thankful for my kids and for Adam. What is more special than family? I couldn't ask for anything more. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas as well!