Sunday Message

In order to achieve a peaceful Sunday I wrote this scripture on the chalkboard - "A new commandment I give unto you. That ye love one another as I have loved you." - John 13:34. Every time the girls started yelling at each other I asked Olivia to read the scripture to Sophie. The scripture reading diffused the situation and brought peace to our home. Mission accomplished!

What I'm loving Wednesday...

I'm super excited to be linking up to an old favorite. Here's what I'm loving on this first Fall Wednesday... I'm loving PUMPKIN! October rolls around and suddenly I'm craving all things pumpkin. I can't wait to try some of these Pinterest recipes...

I'm loving Oatmeal. Well I'm trying that is. I feel like if I say it enough and eat it enough eventually it will be true. Here's what I've tried so far...

I'm desperately trying to mask the flavor and texture. So far no luck. Any suggestions... I'm loving that it's Conference weekend. I can't wait to lounge in my pajamas all day, eat pumpkin pancakes and soak up the words of church leaders.

I'm loving this quote from Elder Holland. I <3 this man...

I'm loving some of my Halloween Pinterest finds. Every year we have a chili dinner and carve pumpkins. I'm excited to use some of these new ideas for the cute kiddies...

As always I'm loving my adorable family...

Fridays Letters

This is my first link up to a super cute, new fave blog, Adventures of Newlyweds. I'm totes excited about it! Dear OBAGI, I know the end result will be beautiful but does the redness, itchiness and peeling of skin ever stop. I mean seriously - how much skin can a girl lose? Dear Tooth Fairy, Olivia is about to loose her first tooth! How much does a first tooth earn her? Dear Right Hip Flexor, I really wish you would stop buggin! I would love to get running again and not feel like my body is falling apart. Dear Elder Holland, you pull at my heart strings. Oh, how I love and cherish your words. "Don't you quit. You keep walking, you keep trying, there is help and happiness ahead," - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Dear Frozen Yogurt, summer has come to an end. I think it is time for us to part ways. See you next year. Dear Husband, I will miss you every night this weekend <3.

Catching Up...

I've recently come back to blogging but once again life has gotten the better of me. I need to learn better time management skills or I need about 8 more hours in my day. We recently had our family pictures taken by the wonderful Kari Sikorski. I thought I would take the opportunity to share a few of these pictures and a little update of our family. Here are some of my favorite from our session...

The fab four. We've often though about becoming the fab five but that just sounds like a lot of work:) We're not quite there...yet!

This is Sophie, my preschooler. She is sugar and spice and everything nice. I'm amazed by this girl. Life comes so easy to her. She loves to dance with the girly girls and kick the soccer ball with the rough and tough. She loves school and learning. Her middle name in Chinese means BRILLIANT and she definitely lives up to it.

And then there is my first grader. Everything that seems to come so easy to Sophie is tough for Olivia. She has to work hard at school and dance just to get by. She's my spitfire and drama queen all wrapped into one. I love how strong she is. Nobody is going to take her down. Life with Olivia can be hard sometimes but I wouldn't trade her for anything. She's going to be GREAT! She's to stubborn not to be. These pics make me smile big...

And then there is my amazing hubby. I'd be lost without this guy. He takes a lot of flack living with three girls. I'm amazed by how strong he is. Even when life isn't what he quite thought it would be and times get tough he sticks it out. He doesn't give up. We're so proud of him.

13.1

This Saturday I ran the inaugural Porter's Half Marathon. Against my better judgment I've become a runner of sorts. I've always done a little running on the side. It's good for you and I'm always my leanest when I run. However recently I've been hitting the pavement and trails hard. I've been working to get faster and I do believe it's happened. Two years ago I ran my first half marathon and this Saturday I shaved a whoppin' 30 minutes off my time. When I began I was a really slow runner. Now I'm craving more miles and a faster time. Oye! I need a sport that's easier on my body. My cute running partners and I are already scoping out our next half. I've caught the bug.

Oh how I've missed thee...

I've been agonizing over this post for some time now. It's been too long and so much has happened in the interim. First things first...I stopped blogging because life became overwhelming ad something had to give. Now that sounds a bit more dramatic than it really is but it's how I feel. Life is like that sometimes and you have to choose what is most important in life. That brings me to FAMILY! How I love mine so. They stuck with me this year and we survived. We survived buying a new house, Olivia's first year of kindergarten, my first year of teaching full time, my math endorsement, my master's in education and double tonsillectomy's. It's been a wild ride but we're still standing. I've learned that perhaps giving up on blogging was a mistake. I have all these memories and no record of them. I'll not make that mistake again. Here's the last six months in photos: In April I ran the SoCal Ragnar with some of the most amazing ladies.

I'd go anywhere with these ladies. Next up is Porter's half marathon and then the Red Rock Relay in Zion. We're crazy like that. In May Olivia turned 6 and I graduated from SUU with my master's in Education.

In June the school year was finally over and our summer officially began.

In July both girls had tonsillectomy's. Here is a before and after shot of surgery. Check out their hands. It's the most beautiful thing ever.

It's now August and we're are preparing to return to school. I'll be teaching full time again this year. Olivia will be in first grade and Sophie will be in her last year of preschool. My amazing husband is still amazing and a wonderful provider. I'd be lost without him and I'm afraid I do a horrible job of communicating just how much I need him.

I'm going to leave you now with a sneak peek of our family pictures. They're totes (you can tell I've been watching a lot of Disney this summer) adorable!

Sophie's 4th Birthday - A little Valentine

Sophie has the honor of being a February baby (she was close to being born on Valentine's). This year she had her first birthday party with friends. We themed it "A little Valentine".

The invite:

Created by Me

The Birthday girl:

Also created by Me

The Decor:

Inspired by Pinterest (with a little help from Etsy)

The food:

The Cake and Face Painting:

Courtesy of Baskin Robbins and Grammy

We had so much fun creating this birthday party and Sophie enjoyed it with all her girl friends (no boys were allowed, even Ray disappeared for a couple of hours).
I'm already thinking of a theme for Livie's 6th birthday party.