Rachel's Special Day

Last night I had the privilege of being with my little sister, Rachel as she took out her endowments in the Draper Temple. It was so wonderful to be in the temple with her and share in that special experience. I'm so proud of Rachel for keeping herself worthy and making the decision to go to the temple.
After the session, Nate and the kids met us outside the temple(he couldn't make it to the session because of work) and then we all went to Cafe Zupas for dinner. I'd never been there before. They have soups, salads, and sandwiches. Can you say 'yummy'?!

It was a wonderful evening.
Thank you Rachel for letting us be part of your special day!

The Draper Utah Temple

The flowers were all in bloom and absolutely gorgeous!

Rachel and Mom arriving at the Temple

Entering The House of The Lord

The view from the Temple

Nate, Jonah, & Lilly waiting for everyone to come out of the Temple

All the family members who came to support Rachel

Rachel and her friends. All four of them have now been to the Temple.

One more of my cute little sister and her wonderful friends

Gone Color Crazy!

Last August, Nate decided that he was sick of our white walls. We currently rent our home, so I told him it probably wasn't a great idea to go painting it all colorful without the permission of our landlord, but he didn't exactly listen to me.
So, he went to Lowe's and bought a whole bunch of colorful paint. He didn't get around to actually painting anything for a while.
The first thing he did was paint our kitchen marasca cherry red, which I love.

Then he painted some of the trim in the living room a bright candy apple green color, which I came to love. Then on Saturday, he got off work a little early and before I knew it I had a yellow hallway... ...and a purple bathroom.

He left some of the trim white as an accent.
I must say, I love the purple bathroom! I'm getting used to the yellow in the hallway. It's definitely bright and cheery.
The landlord will be coming over in the next month or so to do the yearly servicing of the swamp cooler, so we'll see what his reaction will be. I'm hoping that because we've been here for three years and we're never late on rent and we take pretty good care of the place, he'll be accepting of Nate's little redecorating project.
Who knows what will come next. He's still got a can of pink paint and a can of blue. I think Nate's goal is to have every room in our house painted a different color.
Overall, I like the changes. It's fun. Jonah says it's like we're living on a rainbow.

UP the stairs, DOWN the slide

The kids and I have gone to the park a few times this week. (Thank you Mother Nature for taking your meds and giving us spring weather!)
This year Jayne is so much fun on the playground! She can, and does, climb everything. She still loves to swing, and now she loves the slides too. I taught her how to climb up the stairs and go down the slide. But I guess she decided that going around to the back of the slide to get to the stairs was a waste of time. Her method? Climb up the slide, turn around, sit down, go down the slide, repeat. I keep trying to remind her to take the stairs up and the slide down, but after a while I just let her go. When that girl sets her mind on something, that's just how it's gonna be.

Jonah's Tooth

One of Jonah's bottom front teeth has been loose for quite a while. Well, on Sunday morning while I was getting ready for church, Nate decided to take action. Apparently Jonah had been bending the tooth so it was horizontal, but it was still attached. Since Jonah couldn't leave it alone and it was driving him crazy, Nate pulled out his trusty pliers and played dentist. Jonah was very brave. I didn't even hear a peep out of him, which is totally uncharacteristic of Jonah.

Needless to say, Jonah was happy to have the loose tooth out finally and excited about the impending visit from the Tooth Fairy that night.
Here's a picture of Jonah's new smile, which is now sporting 3 empty spaces, and his dollar from the Tooth Fairy.

Easter/Conference Weekend

We'll start with Easter. Ours was really nice and quiet this year. The weather was cold and snowy...yes, snowy. Don't even get me started on that one.
Anyway...on Saturday, the kids and I went up to my mom's for a little Easter egg hunt and some lunch. We had to look for the eggs and goodies in the basement because it was so cold outside. The kids had lots of fun gathering up their treasures. Once Jayne got the hang of it, she was putting everything in her bag, and I mean everything. Although, I think Aunt Rachel and Uncle Kaleb might have helped her a bit. =)

Jayne and her collection

Jonah and Lilly showing me their treasures.

The kids were so excited to find their Easter baskets on Sunday morning. I didn't really get many pictures, just a couple.

The girls in their matching spring outfits that the Easter Bunny brought.

What I really loved about Easter this year was talking to my kids about why we celebrate it. They must have asked me a zillion times and I really enjoyed being able to share with them the story of our Savior's Resurrection over and over again. I'm so grateful for my testimony of Him.

So, I guess that brings me to conference. On Saturday morning, Jonah reminded me that it was "conference day." I had a bunch of things to do and my radio wasn't working, so I turned it on the TV and listened to as much as I could. Jonah, on the other hand, sat right down on the couch and watched intently. Lilly would come into the room and ask him to come play, to which he would reply, "I can't Lilly. I gotta watch conference."
"Why?"
"Because it's important"
"Why is it important?"
"Lilly, this man just said 'jaws of death'. I think that's really important."
I had to chuckle when I overheard that conversation. But I was really impressed with Jonah's desire to listen to conference. He even requested to eat his lunch in the living room so that he wouldn't miss any.
Oh, and don't worry. He got more out of it than the jaws of death. Later that afternoon, when my sister asked him what he learned from conference, he said that he learned about Jesus and his sacrifice for us. It's so wonderful to see my children growing their own little testimonies.

Nate and I watched the Sunday sessions of conference together. I made little conference packets and bingo cards for the kids. Jonah and Lilly sat reverently through the entire 2 hours of the morning session.

It's amazing how every conference always feels so personal. It's like that particular speaker was thinking of me when they prepared their talk. A few of the things that I took away from this conference were:

• the value and responsibility that I have as a mother
• the need to show more mercy and understanding and less judgment
• a renewed dedication to my daily scripture study and prayers

There was so much more, but those are the few that stood out to me in my life right now. I'm excited to read all of the talks in the next Ensign or on the computer soon.

Sunday evening, Nate's sister Amanda came over to visit. She was up from Las Vegas visiting a couple of her mission friends that live in Provo. It was so fun to visit with her and to watch her play with the kids. Jayne especially loved climbing all over her and playing with her. Thanks Amanda for making us part of your trip. We loved having you!

So, that was our weekend. It was busy, but full of family, love, inspiration, and peace. What more could you ask for?

Springtime in Utah

Today is April 1st. April is usually a month that we equate with Spring. You know, blossoms on the trees, sunshine, warmer weather, maybe a few showers. Well, guess what we saw when we woke up yesterday morning.....

Yup. Snow. And guess what it did all day yesterday.
Yup. Snow.
And guess what we woke up to today.
Yup. More snow.

I pulled out my ruler and measured. There are 7 inches of snow on the top of our Jeep. That is 7 inches too many! Oh, and guess what is falling outside my window right now.

Yup. Snow.

It's not that I don't like snow. I just think it has it's own place in the seasons and that is Christmastime! Does snow belong in March and April? Not so much.

I guess Mother Nature didn't get the memo.