Family Pictures 2011

I had to get family pictures now that we have a larger family and I was so grateful for Emily, my sister, for taking them. And also for Emilee, Keith's sister, for helping. Lo and behold the must-have-item for making little girls smile is not skittles, but lip gloss. Fortunately my sister pulled through for us on both the shutter and the shine.

Long story short, the girls and I stayed in Utah for 3 weeks while Keith returned to AZ for a week and a half of that then came back to Utah and we all drove back to AZ together. It was a wonderful trip and I'm so glad I was able to see everyone. We miss you all!

This past month has flown by as I've tried to get everything back in order. I'm quite discouraged because I feel like I'm shoveling in a blizzard. Fortunately the girls have been playing a lot outside which has afforded me some time to clean, even if they can mess it up within their first two minutes back in.

Keith has been working a lot lately. He had a drafting class last week - I'm jealous. This week I guess is catch up for being out of the shop all of last week. I guess I just need to be grateful for the upcoming paycheck. I am certainly looking forward to Thanksgiving break.

The girls were peacocks for halloween - I was the mother peahen. It was lots of fun to make and the girls were thrilled.

LDS General Conference and Mission Reunion

We just had the most wonderful week! We were blessed with the opportunity to come to Utah for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' General Conference. I attended the Women's Session with my sisters and mother. Keith and I attended the Saturday Afternoon session with family and Keith and his father watched the Priesthood session from the Tabernacle.

It was a wonderfully uplifting Conference and I'm so glad I got to go because the sessions I stayed at home with my children were less uplifting. I take that back. When I was home I was 'uplifted' much more as I was continually getting up to calm fights, get water, change diapers, entertain, etc.

Some of my favorite thoughts are:
"Joy & protection come from keeping our covenants. Peace comes from faith in Jesus Christ." Sis. Thompson.

"Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down." Sis. Allred

Pres. Uckdorf's 5 petals of the Forget-me-nots: 1. Forget not to be kind to yourself. 2. Forget not that some sacrifices are better than others. 3. Forget not to be happy now. 4. Forget not the 'why' of the gospel. 5. Forget not that the Lord Loves you.

"It is never too late to make good decisions." Randal Bennett

And so many others.

We were also able to attend Keith's 10 year mission reunion. Here he is with some of his companions.

If all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto [these men], behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men. (Alma 48:17)

How lucky I am to be married to one of them.

Fun Weekend

"There once was a man whose life-long dream was to board a cruiseship and sail the Mediterranean Sea. He dreamed of walkin the streets of Rome, Athens, and Istanbul. He saved every penny until lhe had enough for his passage. Since money was tight, he brought an extra suitcase filled with cans of beans, boxs of crackers, and bags of powdered lemonade, and that is what he lived on every day.

He would have loved to take part in the many activites offered on teh ship - working out in the gym, playing miniture golf, and swimming in the pool He envied those who went ot movies, shows, and cultural presentations. And oh, how he yearned for only a taste of the amazing food he saw on the ship -- every meal appeared to be a feast! But the man wanted to spend so very little money that he didn't participate in any of these. He as able to see the cities he had longed to visit, but for the most part of the journey, he stayed in his cabin and ate only his humble food.

One the last day of the cruise, a crew member asked him which of the farewell parties he would be attending. It was only then that the man learned that not only the farewell party but almost everything on board the cruise ship -- the food, the entertainment, all the activities -- had been included in the price of his ticket. Too late the man realized that he had been living far beneath his privileges." - Pres. Uchtodorf

I look forward to feasting at General Conference this week and next. I invite and hope you all will join me to hear the messages God wants to give us. I know that we can receive the council and direction we need to make our lives what we want them to be - happy and full of love.

Recently we were able to go to some fun places including an aquarium and Schneff Farms - both were tons of fun.

August 2011

This picture was just taken yesterday - Savannah turned 8 months old! Crazy! She is crawling all over the place (yes- truly on her hands and knees). She is slow and steady but she will eventually win the race. She is also eating actually solid food a little and didn't complain when I gave her rice yesterday either.


We played with blocks yesterday - of course the best part was knocking the towers down - tons of fun had by all.

This was earlier last week. You will notice Savannah is pulling her self up the stairs to join in on the fun. Eliza, Rachel, and their dolls were all 'sleeping'.

Keith's birthday! We had planned a big party and camping trip, but everyone got a little cold so we kept it simple instead.

hugs

Starting to crawl. She still mostly does the army crawl, but is still trying.

Sitting - she can kinda sit for about 30 seconds or so. So cute.

My girls!

We pulled our sunflowers and were surprised how big they really were. Don't let the fact that Eliza and Rachel were holding the one fool you - they were heavy.

Some of our garden harvest. We got about three bowls of grapes and about 8 butternut squash. We're still getting tomatoes - but we've pulled the squashes and okra.

Smiles for the 24th of July

24th of July church party.

More smiles

Camping

Rachel helping me get ready while I put in my contacts -- it doesn't take long to get things done.

We celebrated our 9th Anniversary by going camping with our whole family.

Going on a hike - we found lots of burnt logs that were tons of fun to walk along.

Just enjoy all that dirt.

I love pictures when the girls don't know I'm taking pictures of them.

Helping Daddy set up camp.

Sand Storm

A few weeks ago I was getting ready to go to the grocery store. I'd been purposefully putting it off so I could get some fresh items for a lunch guest that I had comeing over the next day. As I was about to leave Keith said, "I don't think you should go to the store right now, it is getting stormy." I laughed and thought, "Of course I'm going to the store now, I have my guest coming over and need to get somethings. A little storm isn't going to get in my way." And then I looked outside my window and realized that I couldn't see the school next door and Keith was right. Above is a picture of the storm coming over downtown Phoenix. Google "Pheonix Sand Storm" if you want any more pictures - it was truly amazing.

So, I found myself in a pickle. What was I going to feed my guest? I have food storage - this shouldn't be a big problem; or so I thought. Fortunately, between the fresh cherry tomatoes in my garden and the pasta in my pantry I made something suitable for my guest.

It was a big eye-opener. If my food storage was barely able to get me through one meal, I needed to re-think things a bit.

So, now I'm wondering what everybody else has in their food storage that would be appropriate to feed a guest - you know, something other than bread and beans, and pasta.

We've had two more storms hit since then. . .

...Like the Full Moon

I read this this morning and the words just lept from the page - I can find so many ways to apply the message in my life that my mind is spinning:

"Being only sort of committed to the gospel can lead to frustration, unhappiness, and guilt. This should not apply to us because we are a covenant people ... Nothing can be more imporant than keeping a commitment we have made with the Lord...

Those who are only sort of committed may expect to only sort of receive the blessings of testimony, joy, and peace. The windows of heaven might only be sort of open to them. Wouldn't it be foolish to think, "I'll commit myself 50 pecent now, but when Christ appears at the Second Coming, I'll commit myself 100 percent?


Commitment to our covenants with the Lord is a fruit of our conversion. Commitment to our Saviro and HIs Church builds our character and strengthens our spirt so that when we meet Christ, He will embrace us and say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" (Matt 25:21)


There is a difference between intention and action. THose who only intend to commit may find excuses at every turn. THose who truly commit face their challenges squarely and say to themselves, "Yes, that would be a very good reason to delay, but I made covenants, and so I will do what I have committed to do. " They search the scriptures and earnestly seek the guidance of their Father in Heaven. THey accept and magnify their Church callings. They attend their meetings. They do their home or visiting teaching.


A German proverb says, "Promises are like the full moon. If they are not kept at once, they dimish day by day... Imagine how the world will be blessed and trasformed for good when all members of the Lord's Church live up to their true potential-converted in teh depth of their souls and committed to building the kingdom of God...


It is my prayer that we will have faith, move forward, face our fears and doubts with courage, and say to ourselves, "I'm committed!"

Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf, July 2011 Ensign pg 4

Sleeping Beauty

If I am ever in doubt if Eliza is sick, the main give away is that she takes a nap. This past week she was sleeping everywhere. She carried her blanket around all day and wherever she landed she'd fall asleep.


This was right after she woke up from a nap. She came to the stairs and asked Keith to bring her down. He said, "Just a minute" and just a minute later this is what we saw. Don't worry - after the picture we pushed her back and closed the gate.

More Scrapbook Pages

Please note: you can double click on the pages to make them larger. Pressing Ctrl + or - to have it better fit your screen.

Life is Good

Savannah's first food, she wasn't sure what was going on at first, but after a while she was really enjoying her peaches. My peaches are in the bowl on the table - complete with vanilla ice cream (thank you Bro. & Sis. Skinner), an ice cream cone, and caramel topping. I was really enjoying it too.

Eliza wanted to help clean the sink (aka: play in the water). I thought bringing the horse over was quite ingenious.

Life has been pretty good lately. I've been able to really sit and enjoy my girls a lot lately. It might have something to do with the fact that I have tons of laundry and whenever I sit down to do it Rachel thinks I'm sitting down to give her cuddles. If she isn't in my lap she is sprawled all over the laundry basket trying to keep me from taking anything out. She just sits there with this "I dare you" giggle across her face. Savannah has been talking, rolling and smiling like crazy and more than ever just likes me to be around. Eliza is learning that being a big girl means cleaning your room ("What? I can't change my clothes 20 times a day and have you clean it all up?"). It also means helping Mom with younger siblings and playing nice. Overall she has been very pleasant to be with. We've also been blessed with great weather allowing the girls to play outside a lot.

Mom & Dad K gave me a great book for Mother's Day/my birthday entitled "I Am A Mother" by Jane Clayson Johnson. It was simply wonderful!

Overall - life is good.