You Know We Can Say A Prayer

The other day Sophia was at her little friends house when her mom overheard this conversation. They were looking for a specific doll and couldn't find it.

Sophia: "You know Avery we can say a prayer. Heavenly Father will help us out."

Avery: "I know but I think we will be able to find it without saying a prayer."

Sophia: "But maybe if we say a prayer we will find it faster."

About this time Avery discovers the doll.

Avery: "See we didn't need to pray to find the doll."

Sophia: "But we still could have prayed Avery. We can pray anytime, anywhere!"

Out of the mouth of babes we are reminded of the simple gospel truths. I am grateful that Sophia knows she can pray anytime, anywhere.

Sisters that make me smile☺

Through the years I have come to realize that I really like to be around older people. For a few years I visit taught Sister Golightly, she has become one of my best friends and cheerleaders. She has given me advice with the utmost love. She always lifts me up and tells me she loves me. I just love this woman, she makes me smile. We hardly make a trip to Kearns without at least stopping to see if she has just a few minutes to visit. The kids are always asking if we can stop and see Grandma and Grandpa Golightly.

Then I moved closer to my grandma, whom I have already blogged about a little bit. I have found myself finding excuses to be with her and have her teach me something new. This week she came and taught me how to crochet, which I had learned when I was little but hadn't done since then. I realized that older people have so much life experience and wisdom to offer. They have been around the block and have dealt with life. They are so willing to help and I hope that as I grow old that I will be this way.

Just the other day I went to visit a sister in our ward. I just stopped by to deliver her a birthday gift because she would be in surgery and not home yet before her birthday. I was planning on just giving it to her and leaving, but she wanted to visit. We talked about family, raising kids, church, health problems, schools, just lots of fun things. She said you sisters who are raising kids right now are just amazing. She just went on and on. I must say I felt pretty good about life when I left.

I am truly grateful for all these fabulous friends that I have made that lift me up and make me smile.

Just Try to Remain Calm

Just a little over a month ago we began finishing our basement, yeah! Oh we are so excited. Despite the excitement, I think I might go crazy very soon. Our boys who were sleeping in the basement in a partially finished room, now sleep in the living room in sleeping bags. Boys will be boys, whether they have a bedroom or the living room floor. They are driving me crazy with all the wrestling (I know they wrestle more now just to make me crazy). I get to witness every fight. Their clothes are everywhere, but only because they have no where to really be (the laundry room is the designated area). The laundry room has no floor. There is always boy stuff all over the living room. My motto: Just try to remain calm. If I can't see the laundry room floor in a month then my freaking out will be justified.

I Know Santa Claus is Real!

I am cracking up! My little girls are in their room right now getting ready for bed. For some reason they are discussing whether or not Santa Claus is real. Sophia is saying, "I know Santa Claus is real because I have never seen dad have a beard or a white mustache. You just have to believe or he won't come." Kate is agreeing, "Yeah, dad doesn't have a white beard or mustache." Besides the obvious, mom and dad don't have enough money to buy all that stuff! So funny, I am not fond of having kids think that Christmas is about Santa. However, Santa does make it magical!!

Grandma's are Great!

Throughout my life I feel like I have really missed out on getting to know my Grandma. She worked when I was little and then when her and my grandpa retired they decided to spend their time traveling. In the winter they were snowbirds down in Arizona. It wasn't until my grandpa passed away 15 years ago that I realized that I didn't really know my grandma. She was a quite little lady who let my grandpa be the center of attention.

I have since learned that she is a beautiful woman inside and out. I love her so much. I can now see why my mom was such a wonderful lady. I am truly blessed to live just minutes away from her now. I am so glad that my kids are getting to my grandma while I get to know her. She comes over for dinner sometimes and my kids get really excited when she is going to come. This summer she brought me stuff out of her garden and we shared recipes. The past few weeks have been especially fun. She has come over to dip pretzels with me. Yesterday she taught me how to make caramels. She is so cute and I am grateful to have this wonderful lady in my life.

Kate's Baptism

Last Saturday, Kate got baptized. She was really excited and a bit nervous. Earlier in the week she had been wrestling with Hope and ended up with a black eye. I didn't realized that she was actually hurt that bad until the next morning I thought she had put makeup on to go to school, and that is when I realized she would be sporting a beautiful black/green eye by the day of her baptism. The night before she was baptized, in her prayers, she asked that she would get a journal on her baptism day so she could write about how funny it was that she would have a black eye on her baptism day. That's when we had to make sure that she got a journal, because she had prayed for it and we didn't want her faith to be shaken. The next day we sent Aunt Belinda to get a journal, she ended up getting two others.

She was so proud after she was baptized and told me she felt really good inside. She was one of the last baptisms of the day and the water was freezing. She had goosebumps a mile high. She is a very sweet girl and is really trying to do the right thing all the time. I can tell she feels bad when she messes up, but she knows that she can repent. I just love watching kids learn and grow in the gospel. She has a friend who wasn't able to make it to the baptism. She saw her friends' dad a couple of days later. He was apologizing that they couldn't make it. She told him, "That's okay, it doesn't really matter who was there it just mattered that it happened." Wow, that is an impressive response from an 8 year old. I think that she is wiser than I thought.

Christmas Favorites

I absolutely love Christmas. I love the smells, the tastes, the sights, and the sounds of Christmas. I love the smell of cinnamon pine cones, Christmas trees, and the smell of cinnamon rolls baking. My favorite foods associated with Christmas are cinnamon rolls, yams with tons of brown sugar and butter, mmmm. I love holiday treats of every kind, but I really like to make and eat dipped pretzels. I also love hot chocolate, alot!!! I love seeing the lights on through everyone's windows and of course those who have them outside. I love going to temple square and seeing the lights and hearing the music. I don't necessarily love the snow, but I love the way it looks on the trees with lights underneath. I love listening to Christmas music. My family isn't crazy about the fact that I turn on Christmas music right after Halloween, but I just have to, its in my blood. I love to listen to Trans-siberian orchestra, Manheim Steamroller, and Jim Brickman. But the old family favorites...Anne Murray, Statler Brothers, and the Chipmunk's Christmas still remind of being a child at Christmas. I just love everything about this blessed holiday. But most of all I love the reason for the season and that is our Savior. How blessed we are to celebrate his birth and remember everything he stands for.