My Three-Year-Old

Today is Elizabeth's birthday and I wanted to dedicate a post to her today. We're actually not going to celebrate her birthday until Saturday so we didn't do anything today. I kept thinking throughout the day, though, that it was this day three years ago that she came into the world and that I became a mother. It really is true that these years seem to fly by. When you're exhausted in the middle of the day and counting down the hours until nap time it doesn't seem like it but I just can't believe she is already three. She is already too big. Here is a conversation we had today before nap time:

Elizabeth: I can wear my pretty dresses.
Me: Yep.
Elizabeth: And I can twirl and twirl and everybody will laugh and cheer. (Where does she learn these words?)
Me: (Laughing) Yes you can.
Elizabeth: And maybe a prince will dance with me.
Me: What prince? Will Daddy be the prince?
Elizabeth: No, Daddy's the king. A little boy prince will come.
Me: (suspiciously) What little boy?
Elizabeth: Maybe Tyler (a boy in our ward at church)

She then proceeded to hide her face and act shy. Eek! I couldn't stand how old she was acting. Here's another conversation we had while I was changing Natalie's poopy diaper the other day:

Me: Aren't you glad you don't poop in your pants anymore?
Elizabeth: Yeah.
Me: Me too.
Elizabeth: Did you poop in your pants?
Me: Yes, when I was a baby.
Elizabeth: (enthusiastically) And I can wipe bums when I'm big!
Me: (laughing) Yeah, when you're a mommy. Do you want to be a mommy?
Elizabeth: Yeah. And we can be mommy friends!
Me: I hope we can be. (heart melting)

Elizabeth is such a sweet girl and I'm so thankful for her in my life. She teaches me unconditional love, finding joy in the little things and compassion. She is so smart and funny and she always keeps me laughing with the things she says. Once again, I have to say how thankful I am that she is so healthy. This winter has been nothing compared to the ones before it as far as sickness goes and we feel very blessed. She is a walking blessing to me and I love my sweet Elizabeth so much. Happy Birthday Lizzie-loo! We love you!

First picture

And look at her now!
What a miracle!

Our Prophet, President Hinckley

I remember being 9 or 10 years old, sitting in a Sunday School class of other young boys and girls in Kaysville, Utah. Our teacher asked each of us to think about who our hero was. The other boys and girls mentioned many wonderful people as their heroes, such as a father, a mother, or another dear relative. I remember almost being confused as to why I felt that someone who wasn't in my family was the hero that immediately came to my mind; I told my class that President Hinckley was my hero.

At the time President Hinckley wasn't the Prophet, but a councilor to President Benson. He has, even since then, been an extremely important figure and exemplar for me personally. I have had a lot of good examples in my life, including my father, my mother, my brothers, my grandparents, and on and on. But in President Hinckley I have found someone whose spirit seems to always speak to mine.

When I think of President Hinckley, I think of optimism, and I think of love. He seems to be and embody everything I would like to become. His optimism for life and for the work of the Lord, and his love for people have affected me in a very powerful way. After hearing him speak I have felt optimistic about situations that I formerly felt unsure of. Upon hearing him speak I have felt that he loved me, and I have felt his love for others that made me love them, too. I have tried to be optimistic and loving like he is, for these qualities in him have born fruit in me.

Whenever I think about President Hinckley, I'll want to be a little better, walk a little taller, and do a little more. When I think about President Hinckley, I truly do think about the Savior, our Perfect Exemplar and Master, and want to be like Him and to serve Him.

His influence seems to have touched us all in similar ways. It seems we all feel some kind of personal and close connection to him. President Hinckley, our Prophet, the Prophet of God we love you.

President Hinckley

I just found out that President Hinckley has passed away and I wanted to get started writing down some of my feelings. I'm not sure when I'll finish this but I decided to start tonight. I think the main thing that I am feeling is happiness for him that he is finally reunited with his wife. Of course, at the same time I can't imagine having any other prophet. I was still pretty young when he became the prophet and his words inspired and lifted me during my teenage years and throughout all the years since. I remember when I first really began to enjoy going to firesides and broadcasts and I would always be so excited to hear what President Hinckley had to tell us as the youth of the church. When he spoke, I always felt such a strong desire to be better yet I always knew that he cared about me.

I remember the first time that I was able to go Conference in person--I was about 15 I think--and we actually had pretty good seats. We were down low but far to one side. It happened to be that I was near the entrance where the general authorities entered the Conference Center. I remember so clearly when President Hinckley came in. Of course everyone stood up and the entire building became silent. I was only about 15 feet away from him and I felt the Spirit so strongly confirm to me that he was indeed a prophet of God. Tears instantly came to my eyes. Then, he waved his cane right towards our direction and everyone, including me, laughed and waved back :). Every time since then when I've been able to be in his presence at BYU devotionals, and really any time I got to hear him speak, I felt the same confirmation.

I loved President and Sister Hinckley both. They truly lived what they believed and their marriage was an example to all of us. Their unshakable faith and enthusiasm for life always inspired me to be stronger and better. I was able to read his biography a few years ago and was amazed at his complete consecration of his life to the church. He worked hard and he sacrificed much and I only hope that I can have the faith to follow in his example.

I'm so thankful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and to be led by a living prophet. I know that President Hinckley was called by God to lead the church and I'm so thankful for his inspired counsel throughout my life. I miss him.

New Pictures

Natalie has been doing this crazy smile lately and I caught it on camera. It's funny because Elizabeth used to do the exact same smile.

Elizabeth's version
Natalie's versions

The girls got a tent from Grandma Marsha for Christmas and I've been meaning to post about how much they love it. Elizabeth was even sleeping in it for awhile. One morning I heard laughing from Elizabeth's room and came in to find this:

Natalie is so funny because if you put a soft blanket over her she'll automatically lay down and suck her thumb. She's a blankie addict. I think that's how Elizabeth got her to lay down on the pillow.

We also discovered that Natalie loves guacamole like her parents before her. She loved it so much that Joe was feeding it to her straight in a spoon. Yummm...

Here's one of Elizabeth wearing Daddy's glasses.

Elizabeth's friend Jared came over to play and they were watching Finding Nemo for a little bit. We found them sitting like this:

That's it for the new pictures. We've all come down with colds now so I'm just hoping to survive the next few days. Wish us luck!

Gratitude

I've been wanting to record a couple things that I am grateful for as kind of a journal entry so you'll have to bear with me:

1. I am very grateful for my health. I frequently take my health for granted and I'm trying to be better at recognizing what a great blessing it is to have a body that can do so many things and that isn't in pain. There is a woman who goes to my church here who had a lot of serious complications during the birth of her last baby and has still not recovered even 6 months later. She needs women to help her during the day because she isn't supposed to even lift her baby. Despite all of this, she is a very inspiring woman and has such a positive and selfless attitude. Now that I've had two kids, it's very easy to feel unsatisfied with how my body looks (I know you moms will understand) and I need to remember what a blessing it is that my body works! I'm so thankful to be healthy.

2. I'm thankful for how easy I have it. I realize that this is kind of a mixed blessing since I know that this is our greatest challenge today as a people. We have it too easy and that makes it easy to be materialistic and prideful. Still, the current books that I am reading are the Children of the Promise series that take place during World War II and they have made me so thankful that I haven't had to live through a war like that. It has made me grateful for my grandparents and those who lived during that time as I realize all that they had to sacrifice. Even today, there are so many conflicts in the world and so many people who are struggling just to survive. I know that I don't even fully understand how blessed I am to just have a comfortable place to live and plenty of food and clothes since I've never been without those things. I hope that I can always remember my brothers and sisters around the world who are struggling and do anything in my power to help out.

3. I'm so thankful that I know the truth. I came across this scripture the other day:

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." (Amos 8:11-12)

I think that this scripture not only applies to the Apostasy, but also to our time today. So many people are seeking fulfillment and happiness through things that don't matter and that only bring emptiness. Many people think that God does not communicate with us today and I'm so thankful that I have the words of the Lord. I'm thankful to have the counsel of a modern prophet and to have all of the scriptures, including especially the Book of Mormon. I'm thankful for the gift of the Holy Ghost that teaches me personally what I need to do to find pure joy.

I'm a blogger now, too.

Ashley officially invited me to write on my own blog, so I may do it once in a while now. Some titles of future posts from me might include: "Where will Joe go to Law School?" or "This is for you Mitzi...sorry I didn't respond to your 'tag' months ago, but my wife wouldn't let me post on our family's blog." Yeah...they might be something like that.

We really do enjoy this blog, especially as it helps us to keep up with our wonderful friends and family. And, to be honest, it was more my own laziness that prevented me from doing this, rather than Ash keeping me back. (As if you all couldn't have guessed that.)

Anywho...hope all is well with all of you out in bloggerdom.

Back in the swing of things...

I wanted to post some things that have happened, completely unrelated to the holidays. As sad as it is that they're over, it's nice to be back to normal in a lot of ways.

First of all, we've been enjoying massive amounts of snow here lately and during one break in the storms I got to take the girls outside to play in it. It was Natalie's first real experience with snow and she loved it! You wouldn't think so from the picture but she really did. I'm sure she'll like it more when she learns how to walk. She even made her first snow angel with some help from Mommy.

Elizabeth's new favorite snow activity is having snowball fights (depicted in the picture below). A close second would be having me count to three and then push her over onto the snow so she can make a snow angel.

They also enjoyed snuggling up under a blanket on the couch afterwards


Elizabeth found my old karate belt the other day and tried to wrap it around herself. Of course we had to make her pose. Here she is saying "Hi-ya!"

Joe's going to hate this next picture because she looks too grown-up. Elizabeth got some dress-up shoes from her cousin Joelle and tried them on today. Unfortunately, she fell down right after this picture was taken. I guess she has her mom's coordination. :)

There have been some new milestones that I wanted to record as well. Elizabeth is completely potty-trained and has been doing great! She even stays dry during her naps and sometimes at night. After a rough start, potty-training actually went pretty smoothly. What a blessing!

Natalie is walking along everything she can hold on to and even stands by herself for very brief periods of time. She also has started to say all sorts of cute new words. She now says "ucky" (yucky), "dog-ga" (dog), "wow", and the old standard that can never be said too much, "uh-oh". It's so fun to see how fast she is learning but it is also sad because my little baby is turning into a toddler!

Four Happy Years

I haven't mentioned yet that Joe and I celebrated our 4th anniversary over the holidays. We didn't get to do anything then but we were able to go out last night. I thought in honor of our anniversary that I would post 4 reasons that I'm grateful for Joe:

1. He is so much fun! He keeps me laughing all of the time with his crazy, goofy ways. Our home feels a lot brighter and more cheerful when he comes home at night. I can honestly say that my life has been a lot more fun since we got married, not because of things we've done but just because of who he is. I love his enthusiasm for life!

2. He is a wonderful father. Elizabeth and Natalie can't help but adore him because they can feel how much he adores them. He loves spending time with them and will even frequently wake them up after they've gone to bed just to be with them. Just today, Elizabeth was having an especially hard "miss my daddy" day and after I put her down for her nap I could hear her singing "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home..." from her room. Even Natalie gets excited when he comes home: as soon as she hears the garage door open she says "Da!" and stares at the door.

3. He is constantly trying to improve. He frequently asks me what he can do better in (and actually wants honest answers!). He is always setting goals and trying hard to keep them; even when he has a setback he keeps trying. I am always getting into ruts or routines and I love how, just by his example, he is always challenging me to do more and to be better.

4. He is my best friend and the person I most want to spend time with. I love our friendship and how we talk about anything and everything. I love how we disagree and debate things but always end up closer than before.

Happy Anniversary! I love you, Joe!

Sorry for the mushy picture (and my puffiness :) but this picture has special significance to me. It was taken soon after the scary events of Elizabeth's birth and it helps me to remember to truly value all that I have, especially my wonderful husband.

Christmas Vacation Recap Part II

After our flight back to Utah from California, we drove straight up to Logan to Joe's dad's house. We had a great time there, like always, with great food, games and great people. Everyone was there except Lorna's daughter Mandy and her family. It was a packed house, too.

Here are some pictures from our time in Logan:

Jaime and Joelle

James: I promise he was smiling when I took this
Elizabeth trying to ride a scooter in the snow

Cousins squished together on a couch

This year, instead of drawing names for a present exchange we drew for a letter exchange. We each wrote letters to one person saying things we admired about them. Then, on Sunday night, we took turns reading the letters that were written for us. It turned out really great with lots of laughing and some tears, too (especially from the more sensitive ones like me :). Here are some pictures:

After we read the kids' letters, they went downstairs to watch Ratatouille.

Thanks again, Jaime, for the great idea! The trip would have perfect if our whole family hadn't gotten sick with the flu at the end of it. Luckily, it was a short-lived bug and we're all healthy again.
Back to regular life now...

Christmas Morning Pictures

My dad just sent me some pictures he took on Christmas morning so I thought I'd post them:

Natalie and her orange

The slinky was definitely a hit

Elizabeth and Curious George

Christmas Vacation Recap Part I

We had a great Christmas vacation although I must admit that it does feel good to be back home. What follows is a recap of some of the highlights of our trip first to Stockton, CA, and then to Logan, UT.

It was so fun to see how excited Elizabeth was Christmas morning and to watch her look in her stocking and open her presents. She did in fact receive her slinky and her new sticker book from Santa and was very excited about it. She also got Chutes and Ladders, a coloring set, a Curious George doll that does somersaults and a bunch of new books. Natalie liked opening her presents but seemed to enjoy the orange in her stocking most of all (she's pretty hungry in the morning). She received some books, a little people set and this big inflatable roller thing that was nice for travel purposes (we had to check three bags to stay under the 50 lb weight limit). I was excited about some gifts I found for Joe and I think he liked them. He got two different Best of the Looney Tunes DVD sets, some clothes, books and Catch Phrase music edition which we learned is really fun to play. I got a nice necklace, pajamas, a manicure set and two books I wanted: Deceptively Delicious and Math Doesn't Suck. It was a fun morning opening presents with Grandma and Grandpa Allen and eating waffles. We only got video of Christmas morning, hence the lack of pictures. Later that day, my brother Chris and my sister Katie and their families came over for a delicious Christmas meal of prime rib that my dad made.

Uncle Chris and the kids playing on the trampoline

Daddy and Natalie: it's easy to see where Natalie gets her good looks. :)

Elizabeth and Isaac playing the piano (and looking pretty funny)

Some more pictures from our stay


Elizabeth loved having Sam chase her around the house but not so much when he'd catch her and jump up on her.

Grandma trying to keep the peace
Some other highlights of the trip were going to see the Kings play the Celtics (and lose unfortunately), going out to eat with friends, Joe going golfing, and visiting my brother Brad and his family in their new house in Mountain View. We also loved just hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for a great Christmas! We love you!
Part II will follow soon...