Happy Valentine's Day

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY 

FROM OUR CRAZY BUNCH

IT IS POSSIBLE THAT WE HAD WAY TOO MUCH FUN WITH THESE LIPS!

EVEN JOE GOT TO PARTICIPATE FROM HIS REMOTE LOCATION

THE KIDS HAD A SNOW DAY YESTERDAY FOR THE 3-4 INCHES THAT WE GOT- 

THEY BETTER ENJOY IT WHILE THEY CAN, THERE WON'T BE ANY OF THAT NONSENSE WHERE WE ARE GOING!

BYE FOR NOW- MORE AMUSEMENTS LATER!

I feel grown up

I am a big girl now- I had a real pedicure today at the salon.  I am slightly lacking when it comes to doing things like this for myself, but I have had a gift certificate that a friend gave me just before I had Spencer. So, to those of you who loose track of time like I do, that means that it was a year and a half ago. Good thing there wasn't an expiration date on it. They did hassle me a bit since it is under new ownership, but I have been in there and purchased gift certificates for several friends- I had just never redeemed mine. 

Anyhow, I made it an event with my good friend Sara and it was a wonderful way to spend time with a friend. Of course we ate Matsuman Gai at Siam before going which made it even better! Sometimes I just have to get my Asian fix. Sara talks about Japan a lot since they are back here now after spending the last 3+ years in Okinawa, and it sends me right back to all the fond memories of my time in Japan! (Thanks again Anne and Ron all these years later for giving me that opportunity, I will forever be grateful!)

Well, I am feeling pampered now- so back to work right?

Other happenings:

I have a good friend here in Warrensburg who I have known for over a year now, her name is Carolyn Burris and she is one of my favorite people. She teaches me that each day can be a good day and there is no reason to hold grudges, and to just be grateful for the small things in life.  I love that about her!

We made crepes and chocolate cake to celebrate her 65th birthday and had a chance to just hang out- what a great lady! She always has such a grand disposition and we have lots of laughs together. 

My life is so much better for knowing her!

Spencer loves Carolyn, he is always waving at her and he was super excited that he got to play with her and sit on her lap near that cake!

Well, I am adding more random things here- because I can! This special moment is brought to us by Zachary, and in typical Zachary fashion, he makes me laugh!

Kaija had a project for school where she was supposed to draw the 3 basic styles of columns then add one more to the mix and talk about them as she presented it to the class. Zach got ahold of her poster and added his favorite style of column which is the Unicornish...

She totally got docked points for having that one there and not being able to explain it! 

Zach is crazy, which leads me to his math assignment. He was supposed to write a love letter using math language since it is the month of Valentine's I guess. 

 Anyway he asked his teacher if he could write a hate letter instead...

Man I love that kid! These are the moments I am savoring this week- I actually have tried to do something everyday where I think outside of myself- it is refreshing!

Christmas- Delayed Reaction

I figured that since it is nearly Valentine's Day I would post a few pics from Christmas. 

Better late than never, right????

Kaija at her band concert.

Zach and Bella both performed as well but the pictures didn't turn out well. 

Zachary was a Roman Soldier for our church Christmas party- A night in Bethlehem. It was a fun evening, but the best part was when Joe surprised us and showed up at the house later that night. 

I can't even remember now where he was... Greeley perhaps

 yep I think that is where he was.

Spencer loves to get into the kids instruments- he practiced right along with all of them, 

though he does leave some love drool behind to show how much he cares!

Bella participated in the Dress like a Chrismas Tree day at school- 

they took a picture of her too, so she was happy!

This would be the Christmas morning hair moment since we had church to attend.

 And my goodness, aren't we just gorgeous?

So Zach has this thing with those Christmas Crackers that they traditionally use in the UK and other such locations. So we decided to make that a part of the celebration, 

and here we are in all of our Cracker Crown glory! 

Spencer was delighted with the concept of presents, 

it was hard for him to wait until after church to dig in and see what it was all about.

The kids had a wonderful time choosing gifts for each other this year, 

and they chose some very practical things...

like Zach's gifts of jello, spam and prunes, or Kaija's Psych-like gift of a pineapple. 

(You would have to be a fan of the show to really appreciate it)!

It was all rather surreal this year; we enjoyed being together, but there was a lot of the magic of the season missing in our lives right at that moment. The whole quit your job, then have to work for another month thing really took the wind out of our sails. Next post I will share what fun things we did over the holiday break, the kids were so happy to get back to school!

Perspective

Sometimes God blesses us with a change of perspective.
I am so thankful that he provides those moments for me where my eyes can be opened and my perspective changed.  I have been complaining far too much about certain things in my life and circumstances which, as it turns out, are really just another avenue for a loving Heavenly Father to bless my life in ways that I could never anticipate.

Today I am thankful for people who show their example of faith in the midst of trials, which enables me to gain a greater understanding of how I should be addressing the challenges in my life.
I am ready to embrace the life I have been given and really live and savor the moments that make up each day.

This is what we have been greeted with at the back door for the last few days. The timing was perfect for me to have one more lesson about how beautiful things can spring up out of bleak situations, and I could focus on the dross of the winter or rejoice when there is the tiniest evidence of new life... 

I CHOOSE LIFE!

Last night for family scripture study we were reading in Romans 5 which talks about the atonement of Christ and I continue to be enlightened as to how I can gain peace and understanding through trials (which again, in comparison to others, are rather miniscule).

 1 Therefore being ^ajustified by ^bfaith, we have ^cpeace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

 2 By whom also we have access by ^afaith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

 3 And not only so, but we glory in ^atribulations also: knowing that ^btribulation worketh ^cpatience;

 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

 5 And ^ahope maketh not ashamed; because the ^blove of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

I am realizing this pattern in my life again and again.  Hard things come my way and try my patience, but from each of those experiences I turn again to the Lord in hope. There are times when it takes me longer to turn to Him, but eventually I always realize that I can, in fact, "glory in tribulation" because the Spirit has been given to us for guidance from on high; he has been, and will always prompt me along the way with what I need to do, if I will just recognize it and act upon it. The trick is remembering that I need to humble myself instead of being "compelled to be humble" in all these things (Alma 32). 

Today is a day to renew my desire to do the will of the Lord, and that the inward battles can all be conquered as I put my trust and faith in Him and rely upon the merits of the atonement to help me be whole when I find that there are empty places in my soul.

It never ceases to amaze me that when I need direction and comfort, I am blessed with people who come to my rescue with out knowing it, and I always receive answers to prayer from reading the scriptures, and from reading or listening to messages from our church leaders. In the January Ensign there is an article from Elder Christofferson entitled: "Recognizing God's Hand in our Daily Blessings"  Daily Bread is the link to that talk. I like that concept of asking God for our "daily bread rather than our weekly, monthly, or yearly bread"- one small thing at a time, smaller bites first!

Obviously there is a lot of refining left to do in this gal, and from time to time that Refiner's Fire is hot- like it is right now in my life! 

So much for me to learn!!