Love the Gospel...

What would I do without the Gospel in my life? Life would be so much more difficult if I didn't have an omniscient Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ to turn to for answers and comfort. Yesterday I was reminded of how much Heavenly Father loves each of us, and is just waiting for us to accept His love and guidance.

We have had some reoccurring issues for years now, and this weekend brought about a situation where  we had to endure more frustration and rejection. I think I have been in denial and tried to give these issues the benefit of the doubt - thinking that when we really confronted them they would be resolved. It finally got bad enough that I did confront this situation directly, and so did James, and we both felt totally blown off and rejected - again. My mama bear instincts came to the surface, and I was feeling a myriad of negative feelings, especially on behalf of my children. It's funny how protective we feel as mothers!  I knew it wasn't right to have such negative feelings, but I felt I had exhausted my efforts and was tired of my children feeling hurt and disappointed. I was ready to completely distance myself and give up. I couldn't figure out what we were doing wrong, and I certainly couldn't understand why my children needed to feel the way they were.

I have prayed about this issue, and on Sunday as I sat in our Sacrament meeting listening to our Bishop speak, I felt I received such a clear answer to my prayers. The answer is that Heavenly Father is ALWAYS there with an extended hand of unconditional love - we don't have to jump up and down for His attention or go to great lengths to please Him. Of course, we should, but even when we wrongly forget about Him sometimes, we can repent and He will always love us just the same. It really doesn't matter if anyone else does, because the love we receive from Him brings us the very best feelings and can change our heart completely. It's a miraculous thing!

Also, in Primary, we had some Stake visitors there to share a message with us. The sister shared with us an incident where she was feeling very rejected and hurt, and she had turned to the scriptures to receive answers. She read about the great sacrifice our Saviour, Jesus Christ made by atoning for our sins. He went through unimaginable persecution for us, so therefore, He understands all the hurt and pain we each, as individuals, endure in this life. And, is it really unfair to expect to deal with some hurt and rejection when the greatest of us all endured so much for us?

Although I can't change anyone else's actions, beliefs, etc., I will find comfort in knowing that our Heavenly Father does love my little family more than we can understand. I am so thankful that he is concerned about my crazy problems! I am so thankful for my many blessings - my parents, my siblings, my husband, and my kids are invaluable treasures to me! I realize that more and more each day.

Cookie Monster...

James made Blaze this Cookie Monster shirt for his 1st Birthday Party, and luckily it still fits him. He LOVES it! When he sees it in the laundry he will pull it out and hug it and carry it around like a blanket. Last weekened we ate at Thanksgiving Point - outdoors - and we all loved it. The kids get really excited to eat out and try different foods, and we have learned that Blaze really likes ketchup - like enough to eat stick his face in the little cup of it and slurp it out.Maybe we should make him a ketchup monster shirt!  I think it's disgusting to eat that much ketchup, but it is kind of cute watching him do it. He also loves fruit punch out of the soda fountain, and of course, ice cream cones. As with most little kids, he hasn't quite figured out the ice cream cone thing yet. Most of it ends up around his mouth instead of inside it, but he won't have it any other way. When the ice cream mound is gone, he sticks his little nose into the cone as far as it will go to get every last drop. I just have to enjoy all of these little "discovery" moments for the last time, because Blaze is my last baby!

A Tulip Paradise...

We spent Saturday afternoon at the Tulip Festival, at Thanksgiving Point. I felt like I was in Paradise because the weather was between 70 and 75 degrees, and we were surrounded by Heavenly Father's beautiful spring creations. The kids (the 3 older) had soccer games right before we came, and it was also heavenly to sit outside and watch them play during this unseasonably warm weather. These gardens were totally kid friendly, and we really could have spent more than the 4 hours we did there. I'm glad that they are learning to appreciate natural beauty at a young age. They were really good about staying on the paths and not picking or touching the beautiful tulips and plants. It would be amazing to just be there with our little family and no one else there!

Grandparent's Day...

Jackson's school hosted a Grandparent's Day program this past Friday. The 2nd graders worked hard on many songs, memories, poems, etc., and put on the sweetest show. Jackson was SO excited to have his grandparents there! We are so glad that we live close enough for them to be there to support our kids. At the end of the program, each student got to Waltz with their grandma or grandpa. Grandma Ce-Ce said Jackson is quite the dancer! I was so impressed that the boys, especially, were so into dancing! Unfortunately, the camera I had died, and my other one was in my car. I didn't get a picture with Poppy, but he was there enjoying everything too. Jackson's teacher took a picture of them together, so I'll have to add that later. We were also excited to hear that Jackson's teacher won the Golden Apple Award this year, and her classroom will be featured on the news next week. Jackson is really excited to be on the news as well!

Dino Town...

Blaze and Alanna were such great shoppers one day this week, I rewarded them by stopping by "Dino Town", in the mall. Seeing them play together brought back great memories of when Jackson was little in VA. Our mall there had a "Breakfast" playground with giant breakfast items to run around and play on. I am always amazed at how easily entertained little kids are! Blaze and Alanna are much more daring than Jackson ever was, so I have to be more diligent about following them around and making sure they aren't jumping off anything too high etc.! I love how they meet other kids here and automatically become best friends for 1/2 of an hour to play hide-and-seek or a made up game of sorts.

Rock and Gem Show...

 Grandma Ce Ce and Poppy wanted to take the kids to this convention where they had many hands on activites for the kids. It was their dream - they each walked away with a bag of rocks! Today they have been trading them like they are money. I love it!

 Here they are mining for sapphires. They are heavier than the gravel, so they pull them the rocks out of the water and dump them onto the foam. The idea is that the valuable stuff will be on top for the kids to pick out with tweezers.

 Jackson and Paul got to crack open their own geode, and it turned out to be very beautiful inside.

 "Mr. Bones", a dinosaur puppeteer was there. Alanna didn't want to get close to them, but she did make me take her around and follow them from a distance!

Jackson with his half of the geode. He also found another one in his bag of rocks, so now we get to figure out how to break it open without it shattering :) No Jackson wants to go on a vacation to dig for rocks. His grandparents will have to take him on that one!

Easter 2012

Saturday morning, before Easter, we took the kids to Smith's (grocery store) for their "egg hunt". The kids lined up on aisle according to age, and when they untied the rope to let them in, they got to fill up their buckets with candy that filled the aisles. Kids were coming out of there with more candy than they get at Halloween! They LOVED it!

They really got into decorating eggs this year. The boys made a few "BYU" eggs, and they saved those to eat until all of the other eggs were gone. For some reason, they have really been into the BYU vs. University of Utah rivalry. Paul doesn't even want to wear red - ever. So silly!

I got rid of all of our playdough a couple of years ago. I was feeling guilty thinking that Blaze wouldn't even know what the stuff was, so the Easter Bunny brought him a "Mr. Drill and Fill" playdough set. What was I thinking? The kids have had fun with it every day this week, and I have been scrubbing the table and vaccuming the sticky disgusting stuff off every day! I'm hoping the novelty will wear off soon. It has been cool for them to have a toy that all 4 of them can play with though.

I love the signifigance of the Easter holiday. I love the chance to reflect on what our Savior has done for us, and how much he loves each of us. Knowing that brings me so much peace and happiness each day!

Conference Weekend...

We headed up to the grandparent's house Saturday afternoon to enjoy watching General Conference with family. It is always fun for the kids to play with their Uncles, Aunts, Grandparents, and of course, cousin Peter!

My Little Charmer...

** I'll preface this by explaining that my kids don't call me mom, they call me Sarah. Jackson has always done it, and although initially Paul and Alanna called me mom, they wanted to be like the bigger kids and started calling me Sarah as well.

So tonight, Paul came over and cuddled up in my lap, and this was the conversation:

Me:  "Paul, will you always be my special baby?"

Paul: "Yes!"

Me: "Do you know I love you so much?"

Paul: "Yes!"

Me: "Then why don't you call me mom, instead of Sarah?"

Paul: "I just don't really like the name mom. I like to call you Sarah, because it means "PRINCESS!"

I have to say, that is the sweetest thing I've been told in a while. It just melted my heart. I think this boy is going to continue to be a "lady killer"!

Enjoying Spring...

 Blaze loves his wiggle car, though he isn't quite big enough to propel is on his own.

 Is she a girl, or a muppet?

 He is definitely a monkey!

 Alanna scares us a little going down the "firemen's pole" on her own, but she's really good at it and has been wanting to do it on her own ever since she could walk!

Spring in Utah is quite a tease! One day it will be in the 70's, and then snow the next. When we do have a nice day, we are sure to take advantage of it. We went down to Provo on Saturday to walk around the BYU campus. James wanted to show the kids the Clyde Building - his engineering building where he spent far too much time! It might be one of the most boring buildings on campus, but I think he enjoyed showing the kids the computer labs and vending machines full of electronic components. They tore down my building where I took most of my classes and have put up a huge beautiful building with an awesome courtyard. The kids really liked walking through this one. It's just so hard to believe that I graduated 12 years ago this month! It really doesn't seem like that long ago! It brings back so many great memories to be on campus, and we figure if we take our kids there enough they will be motivated to go to BYU as well.

We also went to the Olive Garden where Uncle Stew has been working. He made sure we had all the bread sticks we could handle :) Uncle Andy W. came to dinner with us, and we enjoyed hearing his campus life stories and about his mission preparations. The kids were so excited to see their Uncles!