Loving School!

Today Allie came home from school and says to me, "Mom I don't want to go to school tomorrow all they did today was activities and crafts for Thanksgiving! So first they skipped fundations and then they skipped math and that is my favorite! I am not going to school tomorrow!" This girl of mine loves learning :-) I am one blessed mama!!

Catching Up again!

Testing out the new camera. Pretty easy to think the camera is amazing when you get a smile like this from your little boys!

Soccer has begun for the girls! Brooklyn loves every second of it, Allie not so much! Her first came she walked off the field in about 30 seconds and through her tears said, "Them girls are called the tornadoes and them big and mean." In her defense they were big and mean. It took her about 15 min. to get back out there but she would not go near the players. I hope she will one day enjoy it because she really does have some skill.

Our first family dinner at Burger King after the girls first game night!

Our first night of cool weather! Enjoying S'mores by the fire. One of our favorite things through the holidays!

I am loving this stage with the kiddos! We play baseball as a family pretty frequently these days and the kids are so much fun. They are really starting to understand the game!

Allies first lost tooth!!!

The Girls Halloween Party!

Daddy took the boys to uncle Dons so we partied hard with all their friends all night. 

Beautiful Harper Ann Kirkland!! Jessica made me an aunt again. This baby is absolute perfection! She is beautiful and I love her parents more than I can say. She is such a blessed little girl to have such an amazing family!

Halloween!

Favorite story of the day:

Tyler and Tanner come down dressed in their costume. I see Tyler looking at Tanner and then trying to look at himself back to Tanner very deep in thought. he then looks up and says, "Oh I det it!, Tanner is Luigi before duh mushroom, and I am Luigi after duh mushroom." That boy makes me smile!

Rough night!

Tanner got stung by a scorpion tonight :-( I have a feeling it will be a long rough night. I love this little guy! I hate to see him suffer

Some things never change!

Like Brooklyn for example!

BROOKLYN"S BAPTISM!!

Brooklyn is getting baptized in 6 days! She makes me so happy. She had her bishop interview today. Of course she was nervous, but just like everything else in her life she had fun with it. I am so proud of this girl. She is sweet. She is kind. She is beautiful inside and out. She is helpful. She is confident. She loves that she is a bit odd at times(So do I). She will do anything to get a laugh. She knows who she is. She knows she is special! I am blessed to be her mother. There are those days as a mother that you think will never come. This is one of those days. We have spent the last month really trying to teach her how important baptism is and reminding her of the promises she will make with her Heavenly Father on that day. As an adult you realize the importance of such a decision but as a child you are just so eager to do good. So although I know she does not comprehend all that her decision entails I see in her a desire to be like Jesus. I see it when she reads the kids a goodnight story. I see it when I am angry at something and she simply walks over to me to give me a hug and tells me she loves me. I see it when she puts aside what she is doing to play ninja turtles with the boys. I see it in her smile. I know her testimony of her Savior will grow just as mine has over the years.   

I hope someday she and all my kiddos will read this and know that I have a testimony of my Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Ghost. I don't know when it came or what I did to deserve such a testimony but I have one. I know that I have a Heavenly Father who loves and knows me, who has blessed me continually. My blessings are obvious. They are my Husband, My children. My parents, My family. I know that my Heavenly Father sent his son to this earth. I know that Jesus set a perfect example for us. He taught us how to live. If we read the scriptures we are inspired to try to be like him. I know that after he taught us how to live he suffered for our sins. He then died for us. He died so we can experience hope. The hope that repenting give. The hope of being able to live with our Heavenly Father again. He died so that I could be a wife, a mother, a daughter, and a sister forever. He died so it does not end here. He died so our family can be eternal.  My gratitude for this sacrifice can not be expressed in any words I know, but it is felt deeply. 

Finally I am grateful for the Holy Ghost. I have never had an experience as others speak of where they actually heard a voice or had such an undeniable prompting, but I know he is there. The Holy Spirit is a constant companion of mine. He brings me peace always. He guides me in every decision I make and it is not until later that I realize that he was there with me. I know that it is because of the Holy Spirit that I am happy. I may get frustrated in difficult moments but I am a happy person. As I see others struggle with simply being happy I treasure the fact that I am. I know that the Holy Ghost has so much to do with my happiness and that is why I have such a strong testimony of him. My testimony is strong at times and weak at others, but whenever I sit down and look at my blessings I know I would not have any of them with out the gospel. If I had not been baptized, If I had not married such an amazing man in the temple, had I not read the scriptures and had a desire to be like my Savior, then I would not be happy. I would not have the beautiful children I have. I would not have the knowledge that I will be with my family eternally. That knowledge brings me such peace that I know it has to come from a loving God. It is exciting as a mom watching her little baby girl take that first big step in choosing to follow her Savior. My prayer is she will continue taking these steps and she will find happiness in it as well. 

These Pictures are with her best friend Kailyn! they are getting baptized at the same time! They are both so cute and so excited!!

FEELING BLESSED!

Vacation is over!!

In a matter of 2 days I have gone from being a carefree, lets have fun, enjoy the summer not wanting them to go to school mom to a yelling, keep things organized freak that can't wait for them to be out of the house for a while each day!! I thought coming home would be an adjustment for the kids but I think I am struggling more that they are!! I was the spoiled one this summer with very little responsibility. It is time to suck it up and be a better mom!

Summer so far!!

There is to much to blog about!! We have missed Jon like crazy this summer but nothing beats the Boise weather this time of the year! Not to mention the love we get from Grandma and Grandpa!

We started out on the long trip by heading to utah and staying with Kevin and Kathy for a few days! It was so nice!!

 

We arrived in Boise and we felt the Grandpa love immediately with big hugs and story time! I love my dad!!

Then we headed to Lindsey's who's neighbor has Gulio sized horses! (Miniature) They were adorable!!

With swimming almost all day between each excursion the kids are never bored! Max and Vann join us nearly everyday!! The kids love it!!

A few days later we went on a hike with aunt Shawnacy! Tyler struggled a bit so we turned around early but the rest of the kiddos had a blast. Minus the 10 times Tanner fell and scraped his hands and knees. But in the end he was still smiling!

We hit up a skate park by the river as well ! I wish I could post video from the phone but this is the only picture I have! The kids would use the sides a a slide to get into the pit then they would try to run up the side and grab the edge which usually resulted in missing the side and sliding back down. I think they got it by the end!! 

This is Kennedy and Kage at the park!! They had a blast playing with the kiddos! I love them :-)

Yesterday we went to the Old Penitentary! A little morbid and left me feeling queezy at times but pretty interesting! The kids enjoyed it. I don't think they had some of the images racing through their minds that I did as we looked into the "drop room" where they cleaned the body after a hanging. They remember more of the dress up and pretty roses in the yards! I love their innocence!!

Here they are in a cell!!

Awesome summer so far but sill 5 more weeks to go!! The kids are so fun this year and my back is so much better than last! Loving this summer so far!!!