Dear Children,

I am so excited for Christmas! I have been gathering all the stuff I got for everyone and I am so anxious to give it to them! I hope Grandma and Grandpa's present comes on time, but other than that I just have to finish wrapping. I feel like I got some good ones for everyone this year!

Dear Children,

It is Christmas time! I love it. You guys are loving it! We have been watching movies and decorating and went to the Temple to look at the lights. We haven't gone overboard, we were on the cruise for a week of December and now Grandma and Dude are moving this week.
I have noticed that I don't do much with Santa Clause for you guys. I love the movie The Santa Clause and a few others, but mostly I try to focus on the nativity portion of the holidays. And giving presents. I have made sure Zach is helping with wrapping the presents (and so far not spoiling any secrets!) and understands that he is giving things to people he loves. I guess it seems a little strange to have a holiday celebrating Christ's birth and giving mixed in with Santa, but I also see the 'Magic of Christmas' being important. Not sure what I think about everything yet, I just know I haven't been big on making sure you sit on Santa's lap each year or anything. You have most years, from ward parties and whatever else, and I know Santa will play a great part, but for things like an advent calendar I would rather we did a nativity countdown than something with Santa. I think it just helps in keeping an image of Christ in our minds rather than just Santa. I am having so much fun with you! I love this season so much and love that our family gets to spend it together. Tonight Dad made pies for his scouts and the other leaders. 5 pies, plus an extra for us! Berry, since it looks the worst and apple pies look amazing. Zach helped make the pies while Elizabeth yelled to us to hand her apple slices the whole time :) We enjoyed the day with Caitlin and Mike, her fiance right now, and we are loving having Grandma and Dude live so close!

Dear Zach,

Some days it bums me out that you have to be allergic to milk. You had an episode this last weekend while we were in the temple and the primary president fed you M&Ms. Your body rejected it and threw them right up and then you were fine. It makes me worried about the cruise. Mostly about dropping you off for the children's center. Luckily you are getting older and more aware of what you can't have. You thought the M&Ms were Skittles. It is tough that you are vulnerable to a food that is everywhere. It is like poison, even to the touch for you. Luckily it is not as severe as a peanut allergy. Still, it is tough. I wish you didn't have it and could eat whatever you want. By now there aren't too many things that you can't have that you want because you are so used to not having them. I hope you grow out of this so that you don't have to be so severely susceptible to milk.

Just so you know, I don't do stuff like leave the milk in your sippy cups out. Sometimes there are crumbs in the car seats, but I try to keep the car clean as I do not like a messy car. I don't like messy anything, but that doesn't mean everything is clean. It is part of why we have a playroom...so your rooms stay clean, which they do! If I could pick between a maid or a cook I would for sure pick the cook. I would probably clean more eagerly knowing I didn't have to waste any energy making dinner!

Dear Children,

Growing up in this family you are going to learn a lot about money. We are careful with it, but we also allow for there to be enough to have fun!
Along with making sure there is enough to have fun, we always pay our tithing before paying anything else. A trial for some people is the commandment to pay tithing, but luckily this isn't one of ours (we have other trials :)). I hope you grow to understand the importance of tithing and realize that we have been given so much, and ten percent back to the Lord is a small token of showing our gratitude. Recently our ward was asked to give more for our fast offerings, so Dad and I decided to double what we were giving in order to follow what was asked and to help provide more food for those having a tough time in this economy. I have heard so many stories from people who had to choose between something like tithing or paying gas. One sister in one of our wards paid her tithing and her gas tank stayed just above empty for an entire week until her payday. I don't have any amazing stories like that, but we have been blessed and used our finances wisely.

September is fully here! I still think of your birth week as still being summer, and sometimes it is warm, but this year it was cold and windy. We had a pretty cold summer, so I should have expected it. Still, it has taken till now to accept it is fall and get out the sweaters...but it isn't quite cold enough to wear them, just jackets.
Fall is fun because it makes me think of what is coming. Colder weather, which by February I am sick of but at this time of year it is fun! I love the leaves changing color, fall clothes, warm drinks, going to bed earlier cause it is dark, snuggling, family pictures for Christmas cards, Thanksgiving, and seeing family. Note: cold weather is fun when it is a little bit cold. Not so much when it is literally freezing and there is ice involved...
Someday this will mean the start of school! That will be fun. I always loved starting school. By the end of summer I was done with no routine and was excited for some structure. And Back to School shopping of course! That will be fun. Plus father's blessings the night before school starts. I read a blog where they have a big feast the night before school starts and really honor the event. Sounds like a fun tradition we might have to have! That might help in teaching you the importance of an education. Cause by the way, you're all getting college degrees. Just FYI.

Dear Children,

We have been talking with friends about preschool lately. Zach just turned 3, so there is the question of if he will go to kindergarten in 2 years or 3.
Both Dad and I started school as the older ones in our grades. I loved that experience and am in favor of having you turn 6 a week or two after you start K rather than turning 5. I think this will give you more experience and confidence and a better start with school. So if you ever question it, there you go.

Dear Children,

I have this gene. I am incapable of putting things in drawers messy. The silverware is in a pile, not just in a little divider, and the measuring cups (four sets, which I love cause we need them all the time) are all stacked neatly. You probably got this gene. Or, you didn't and you are going to mess up all my stacks when you are big enough to empty the dishwasher. That's fine with me, cause you emptied the dishwasher!

BYU Football

OK kids. It is so sad when we lose a BYU game! Air Force just kicked our hiney.
Football is my favorite sport to watch. The catching, the tackling, the weird jumps in order to gain another yard...o man. I love it. I love football movies too, like Remember the Titans and the Blind Side. My favorite football play of all time is the BYU-Utah game, 2007. It was at Utah and we had played pretty horribly the whole game. They were ahead and we needed a touchdown to win. Something around 15 yards and 3 seconds left. We had scored a touchdown a few minutes before, so we had some hope but there just seemed like no way. John Beck gets the ball and runs around for 14 seconds. It was crazy. Just running all over. Then he threw it into the endzone. We could hardly see who was there since the camera had to turn to follow the ball. Johnny Harline was ALL ALONE in the endzone and went forward, catching the ball as he hit the ground with his knees. We exploded. It was AMAZING. My family was over and we all cheered so loud Baby Zach started to cry because it was so loud.
One of our favorite things was to go to BYU games and I hope in the future we are able to go to some because they are awesome. So excited that football season is here!

Happy Father's Day! Zach and Elizabeth, you have such a great dad. Recently, we were talking about what Dad likes to do. He likes a few movies...but isn't like other guys who have their set few that they LOVE and watch them over and over. He isn't a big fan of watching stuff over and over. Which is funny, cause that's like what we DID all growing up. Watched our favorites over and over and knew all the lines to tons of movies.
He likes playing sports, but isn't crazy like some other guys. He likes to BBQ, but doesn't need fancy tools or anything, just likes to make good steaks. He likes to watch sports, especially highlights of a good moment of any sport. He doesn't HAVE to watch everything, but he does enjoy sports. Especially watching golf and basketball.
He does like to cook. And he is good at it! He cooks every once in a while and enjoys it. Mostly because he likes to eat good food, so it's something he has pursued.
He has a few TV shows he likes a lot. It's just so late by the time they are on it is hard to enjoy them.
He likes traveling. But we don't have much money to travel right now, just going to go see family.
So what does he like to DO? I have been wondering lately. Then I realized. He loves playing with you guys! Right when he comes in the door he is greeted by Zach either hiding for him to find you or you running to him and Elizabeth smiling a HUGE smile and waving her arms around so excited. He loves being with all of us and playing and hanging out and going places and just being together. So now I have realized just being together is what we plan our time around and we are just fine with not going out as much as others. We have our fun here!

We just went on a trip to Utah and Idaho to see family, Caitlin's graduation, visit graves in Idaho, go to a wedding and a baby blessing!
It was the first time I had been to the graves in Idaho. It was nice to be in the Bear Lake Valley and see where my ancestors lived. There isn't much. But I could feel like there were lots of people there before me. Like it was busier back then. I really like going to places, like Europe or an older temple, and thinking about how people used to be there. Like at the Coliseum in Rome, we had a tour guide tell us stories about it for 2 hours and we were standing right there! In the same place they had been. The exact same place. So it was fun to be in Idaho and see the Bird Farm and see how far the distance is between each town (Leah's parents were in the next town over from where Homer's parents were, so I bet she traveled between there a lot.)
We love being around family. We try to see everyone as often as we can, and every trip we wish we lived closer. Spencer and Amberly tried to talk us into buying the house next door to them. We told them no problem if they could get rid of the snow. Like, forever get rid of it. And that's just not going to happen.

Someone posted about how they interact with their children recently and it made me want to write this down...
I have been basically getting ready my whole life for this life. I read books like The Babysitters Club. I looked forward to babysitting and took a class before I started. I LOVED babysitting and usually had a job at least one night every weekend since I turned 12. I love being around babies/kids/teenagers. I got my degree in English because of my love of reading. I figured I didn't want a degree in Elementary Ed because I knew I would be around kids a lot so I wanted to do something for me.
I get down on the ground and play with my kids everyday. In fact, just this week I accepted that I need to also actually pay attention to the entire house rather than just making sure we clean up the downstairs. I spend a lot of time playing, snuggling, watching movies, whatever with Zach and Elizabeth. We don't go out too much except to the park and then to music makers and maybe somewhere else during the week. We spend all day together and love it. Zach gets funny ideas of what he wants to do and Elizabeth laughs and squeals at everything he does. She is trying to learn how to crawl to keep up with him.
I have spent a long time getting ready to have kids, and now that it is here it is awesome. I love being home and love playing all day. I do need to watch my favorite shows and need to make stuff and design stuff and organize stuff and make things look good in order to stay balanced. But I want you kids to know I absolutely love being with you and this is it. This is what I have been getting ready for and we are having such a great time doing it!

Some days you have to remember that someday you will look back on this stage of life and be sad you didn't take more from it. Whether it is taking advantage of your classes (how fun would it be to write an essay now, since it has been 3 years) traveling, being a young mom, being a mom of teenagers, or whatever stage you happen to be in.

Sacrifice

One of my best friends was over the other day with her baby girl. She is a few weeks younger than Elizabeth, and we love getting the girls together. They are going to be roomies in college :)

We were talking about getting babies to sleep. She said it took two nights of trying this one method with her daughter, and then she has been able to sleep through the night ever since.
I think there is a fine line between what is worth investing in your future with kids. Two nights of tough sleep is SO WORTH having a baby who sleeps through the night. It just takes time and you have to make a sacrifice to get there.

For Zach, he learned how to climb out of his crib so I had to come up with something. I thought of a crib tent, but then I came up with a plan. If he got out, he had to come lay in my bed with me, with my leg over him and he couldn't have his pacifier or blanket. He would cry for a couple of minutes when I did it, then I would put him back. We had to do it three times the first time, and then twice the second day. But then it worked! It was so worth spending an hour and a half using a plan rather than fighting to keep him in there every single day. The pacifier ended up being pretty easy to get rid of since he was older (2) when we got rid of it. He kept getting out of his bed and I told him we had to throw it away because he wasn't listening. He asked for it again, but I reminded him what we had to do. The End!

Things like letting him have a pacifier 'so' long was one of those things that wasn't worth the end result at the time. It kept him quiet, it calmed him down, it helped him when he was teething. It wasn't worth just being able to say that he was done with it. Especially since he only had it at night. But the timing was great when he was done.

I think the next big sacrifice thing for me will be toilet training. Elizabeth is doing pretty good at night again, so that has been a minor one. But toilet training...o boy. I have done it a little with him, so he is getting used to the idea but not super excited about it. I kind of wish we had a couple of days to fully focus on Zach and get this done!

Holidays

I'm excited for Easter this weekend and for seeing all of the family! It is fun to do holidays and really fun to think about the activities we get to do. It will only get more fun as we go on and our family gets a little older and we can add more things. Love it.
Dude got to come play with us today :) Zach loved playing trains on the floor with him for over an hour. And I got to make dinner with both Zach and Elizabeth entertained!
For the first time Zach took one of his trains aside and said 'you in trouble, train. You sit here.' and then he let him come back a little while later. Too funny.
I think we remember holidays and want to be with family because they are special days and they are fun to be with each other and enjoy a different day. Especially Easter and Christmas where we get to celebrate Christ.
Which brings another point...not sure exactly how to make it so the kids grow up being able to separate bunny/Resurrection and santa/Jesus' birth. I am going to have to look things up on that one. One of my friends does the egg hunt on Saturday, so it is more of a spring tradition that is done near the holiday when everyone is in town. Although on Sunday everyone has their nice Easter outfits on. There has to be a good way!

Travel

Whenever we see extended family or good friends who live far away, it makes me wish we all lived closer. It is so fun to see family, and I would love it if we could be together more. I would fly out to Arkansas to see friends there, Florida for my favorite Europe friend, Idaho, Utah, Oregon and So Cal for family, and who knows where else.
I think that must be a huge bonus in the Celestial Kingdom. Being able to see the ones you want to see whenever you want. I've heard people talk about 'traveling' to other kingdoms to 'visit' loved ones, which makes me wonder if that means that travel will be important and very easy for those in the Celestial Kingdom. Kinda makes you want to stop doing anything that will keep you from there and get your family along for the ride!

Friends

I hope Zachary and Elizabeth make great friendships. Today two of my best friends came over for the afternoon. We sat around, held each others' babies and one cut my hair. It is so nice that no matter how long it has been, we can catch up easily. We have all helped each other so much over the years, I am so grateful to have such great friends.
Friends have so much influence over you, I hope they find friends who lift them up and who also need some lifting once in a while.

Consistent

Kids like routine. I started Zach on a strict routine when he was a baby, and he did great. Great sleeper, great eater, always happy. Same with Elizabeth- although I'm not as strict. I can't be. It is either put her to bed or put him to bed, so sometimes she is first and sometimes he is first. Dad is at work a lot right now for busy season, but tries to help with putting kids to bed before he has to go back.
One routine that pays off is praying together. When we have been doing consistent family prayers, then Zach is good at keeping his arms folded and likes to offer the prayer. When things are crazy and bedtimes are off and Zach eats a separate meal from us so he doesn't always have to be at the table for the prayer, things fall apart. He isn't good about folding his arms and sometimes makes noises to bug us.
One thing he loves doing is making sure you bless President Monson when you pray. He will call you out on it if you don't bless him.
My visiting teachers came today and we talked about scripture study and how sometimes just the consistency and routine of reading is what we enjoy. Some days I am getting so much out of the actual verses, other days it is about being obedient and also taking time out of life to spend just on scripture time. In a talk recently someone said that they worried their kids weren't getting enough out of their FHE lessons. Then they realized that their kids were going to remember that they had FHE every Monday night, and that was important. They needed to know that they are a family together and that they would be obedient together and have family night every week.
There's something to be said for consistency. I think we all crave it in some aspects of life.

Zachary and Elizabeth are just so darn cute.
Zach is saying a lot of phrases right now. If you go upstairs and he wants to come, he says "I'll come two minutes mom!" I keep telling him it's just 'too' not 'too minutes' but its very cute. He also turns on all the lights for me when I go upstairs or when we come in from the garage. He puts Elizabeth's pacifier in and tells her "it's okay, 'Lil-beff"

Elizabeth was laughing hysterically tonight. Dad was tickling her and she couldn't stop laughing! She is cutting her first two teeth right now and has been a little more fussy from it. It is fun for her to LOVE having her dad around.

John came home during his lunch break and then we all went grocery shopping. It was so nice to go with all of us! With John working so many hours (8-12, lunch, 1-6, 8-11ish) we have made good use out of the time we have and have a lot of fun as a family.

I just took an online test, and apparently I am:

"ISFJ: Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging

ISFJ's are friendly, conscientious, and responsible. Soft spoken (ha) and committed to painstaking accuracy, you are very good at meeting deadlines and fulfilling obligations. You strive to maintain order and harmony in your life. You are also very considerate and loyal, remembering details about those who are important to you.

Best jobs for you: nurse, researcher, career adviser, teacher, lawyer, homemaker, childcare provider or early childhood developer, counselor or social worker, clergy or religious worker. "

Well kids, Dad and I went on a date last night. We tried going after you both were in bed, but Zach didn't want to go to sleep. Jennie and Ryan came over, and Ryan read Zach a book and then he went to sleep. We went bowling! I'm not a great bowler, I always went to birthday parties and my family likes to go...but I wanted to go with just us and not a huge crowd. It was fun, and nice to get out.

Have I told you what I would love to do is write an awesome book/s and make lots of money so we can just hang out and have fun together?

Happy again

Zach's been really sad lately. Shrugging shoulders, huge sighs. It's tough carrying the weight of the world.
This morning he is significantly better...I think it has to do with a good breakfast. He ate a banana, a 'bar' (like a nutri-grain, but a milk free one) and lots of OJ.

Welcome back, buddy.

Babies

Right now Zachary is upstairs sneaking out of his bed and Elizabeth is laying on the couch next to me. I can't even imagine you being older than this. Zach has gotten so big and so fun, but I can't even picture you being a cranky teenager (so let's just skip that, k?)
My life is all about you guys. We don't go out too much right now because it rains a lot and cause it is hard to get around with two little ones! We are going to go grocery shopping when Dad gets home tonight. Dad loves going grocery shopping. I will make sure Zach has had a few Nutter Butters before we go so that it is a pleasant experience! Both of you are great kids and make it easy to do things (as long as I plan ahead for toys and food) which is a lot of fun. Both of you smile a lot and have a lot of fun (well, Elizabeth tries hard to sit up, puts everything in her mouth and smiles HUGE...that's all for now.) I just love you both so much! I'm glad we get to have so much fun together.

Stress

Stressing is not worth it. I'm not one to stress about things, I have a lot of faith that lots of things will work out. In some situations, like Southwest Airlines not knowing where $180.00 of ticket vouchers are, I just know that it will be fine. There is just no way Southwest will just not give us our money, so I don't stress about it. We might even get something back from them for all the trouble they are causing us. I guess I just have this nature of thinking things will work out and then not worrying about the details of how it will get there. I can still take an active role in our lives, but I don't need to worry about what is going on.

Giving

It's hard to give up your money for someone else. Especially when you think about where that money is going, and wondering if other people deserve it. When I pay tithing I don't care at all where they money goes. Although I do know that the Church is very wise with money and there isn't much need to worry. But I feel like me giving money for tithing is about me being obedient and getting the blessings for that, not for needing a detailed description of how funds were allocated. The harder part is giving in addition to that. Your dad and I were talking yesterday about giving money and/or time for different causes. It is easier to give time, especially if we can do it together. Maybe we should think of some projects we can do together to help others.

Cleaning House

I just watched a show where they clean out homes for people and then re-design the area for the people. There is a newlywed couple who just moved into the groom's family home. His parents have both passed, and the house is FULL of everyone's stuff. He felt like holding on to everything as a reminder of them.
Children: do not do this! Your spouse deserves your sacrifices. Don't be a pig like this guy and not make any room for your spouse. Don't ever forget your mama, but don't let things rule your life.