Happy Birthday, Bear!

My little brother turned 15 yesterday, so I want to say a little somethin' somethin' about this unique kid I've gotten to watch grow... I am so very proud of him! When we were younger I couldn't stand him because he worried about everything. Getting out of the house was a mess cause everyone had to get their coats and such. Turns out, though, that this has become a very important strength of Aaron's! He cares so deeply for everyone and doesn't ever let anyone feel left out (it's no wonder he's a student body officer at his junior high). He is very intelligent, part of the school's honor program & still earning 4.0s! He's performing in the musical "Honk" at the end of March, and is a magnificent trumpet player! I have a special fondness of him since he looks & is a lot like our mom & my son is almost his twin! Yay for Aaron (aka Bear)!

On his birthday the guys had planned to go to the Jordan River LDS temple with their stake, so I met up with them for dinner there. It was a super cold day, but I loved the snow capped mountains so I had to grab the fam for a beautiful picture!

Wordless Wednesday

"More Snow"

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Listening for Lions

This book, Listening for Lions by Gloria Wheton, was recommended to me by a couple people, the only problem was that it's not really my type of book. Most of the time I felt like I was just dragging my feet in mud trying to finish it. And I had the big "twist" figured out quite early so it came as no surprise. BUT... I did love how this , Rachel, could inspire young women to have such integrity, to have enough confidence in themselves to fulfill their potential. I imagined myself as a young reading this book... learning individualism and my own hopes, dreams, passions, and talents. This Rachel had such wonderful parents that taught her to be amazing full of important morals. Because of this she was able to be honest and proud of her wise decisions. These things I can relate to, and it makes me happy. Any can have such success as long as they believe in themselves!
As a side note... I have been in a serious rut. I haven't read a real fantastic book for at least a few months now & it's really got me down. So I will gladly accept any other recommendations, please!

Ready For Spring

I meant to post these forever ago... as in Friday when the weather turned on us! Thursday the kids wanted to go outside and play. The weather was super windy, but we were so excited for sunshine. It is a real good thing that we did get out to enjoy the sunny day, cause when we woke up the next morning there was six inches & still falling snow outside our window. I tell ya, the weather has some sense of humor. Always teasing us. This winter has been a few days of jacket weather, my favorite, then a blizzard of snow. Not so kind! Those of you that live here in Utah totally understand, and it could very well be playing the same joke all through out the states... I'm just saying I'm ready for true spring & consistent warm weather!

In the meantime... I had so much fun watching the kids get to play on their playground! It was Gary's first time out there really being able to play and enjoy the toys. His sister loves having a playmate, but she forgets how little Gary is a lot of the time! Our English Pointer, Lacy, loved this warm weather more than all of us, I think! She was so happy to be able to run around, enjoy the sun on her back, and I'm sure it does wonders for her joints. What a great day to have before another snowstorm!

Wordless Wednesday

"Pressed"

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Special Sunday Spotlight

This is, by far, my favorite potty-training tool. When Liv showed that she was understanding the whole potty deal I was ready to venture outside the house. Real quick I ran into the problem of giant toilets. Liv was a good sport & would let Mom hold her there on the seat, but always without progress. So I searched far and wide & finally found this fold-up potty at Baby's R Us. It is so wonderful to be able to take along a seat discretely!

Now that Liv is down to one accident a day I am ready to give my say on the potty-training experience... The book was absolutely fabulous. I learned a lot about patience and the fact that this is a learning experience for her, much like learning to walk. It took us about ten days to go without accidents. We're still struggling with going #2, but other than that Liv is doing how well! I am very proud of my big girl!

Young Photos