I heart February.

Mondays.

Not necessarily my favorite day of the week, but today? 

The LAST Monday in January. 

Farewell January. Not a moment too soon.

Tithing Settlement

This is what happens when the bishop is running behind schedule...

Happy Birthday Cameron!

Cameron turned the big 23 yesterday- he feels old, but puhleeeze!

He still just a young-un.

We celebrated with Chantilly cake, and a Hawaiian Style cookie...

Wouldn't be a birthday without a candy lei...

...and lots of cousins just exuding birthday joy!

More joy...

and even more joy.

(Maybe a little too much joy?)

Happy Birthday Cameron. We love you.

Whaddaya know about that?

This new year has been all about surprises...not only do we have a Lacrosse player in the family, we now have a ballroom dancer! After just 5 classes at school, Elijah and his partner took 3rd place (out of 30 couples) in their competition today (even with a swollen leg, injured at his church basketball game earlier in the day). Way to go Elijah...who knew? We are now anxiously awaiting his first trumpet recital...eek.

On a Friday Morning

I went to the temple this morning. I try to go every week. Some days I am more present in my temple experience than others. This morning, my heart ached to go, it filled with joy from beginning to end, and it ached when I left. I tried to soak in every moment I was there. Sometimes when I leave the spirit whispers "hurry back" and I count the days til Friday. The last few weeks have been like that. My eyes are seeing and my ears are hearing new things and once again I am learning that preparation is everything.
He hears me.
He knows me.
He loves me.

What a beautiful Friday.

Who knew this kind of thing would ever bring me joy?

Today I bought 40 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale (1.18 lb woohoo!).

Then I canned it.

Looks kind of gross, huh? I promise it is THE best. It tastes as good as or better than the canned chicken you buy at Costco. Once I started using this in my recipes that call for chicken, I could not go back. Love it.
Simple too.
You put the whole breasts of chicken in the jars, seal, and pressure cook for an hour and a half.
Done.
It comes out of the jar juicy and just falls apart.
Ta dah.

Yay Michaela!

I love the Young Women's program. As a girl I loved it because I had cool leaders who liked to have fun. As a mother I love it because it plugs the holes of my teaching or lack thereof. Today Michaela achieved a milestone. She received her Young Womanhood Recognition Medallion for completing her Personal Progress. Not any easy feat-it took 4 years and lots of hard work.

Congratulations Michaela. We love you.

Grandpa, get that knife ready.

Have you seen this?

So good.

Who Knew?

Guess who made the Timpview Varsity Lacrosse team?

Bethany.

We are stunned. So is she.

Congrats Beth, wink, wink,

I do hate January.

I hate it because I can't eat this

until Valentine's Day...

But if I was eating this, I would hate January even more...make sense?

I hate it because outside my house looks like this.

Instead of this.

 I just plain LOATHE January.

Bring on February PLEEZE.

Hero

"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live."

                                                           Martin Luther King Jr.

You Might Be Jealous.

 Are your family home evenings as fun as this?

A Better New Year's Resolution.

     At our last stake conference, Sister Julie B. Beck spoke to us. She told us that as she pondered and prayed about what message to share, she felt that it was two-fold and almost seemed contradictory.  The message was "you are doing better than you think you are," and "you can do better."  As I pondered her words, I realized that this message was not confusing to me at all. I feel like the Lord tells me this all of the time. There are so many things that I don't give myself credit for. Many things that I am faithful  in and take for granted. I need to be more generous in my praise for what I am doing well. However, there are many things in which I have settled for mediocrity ...things that I could be doing better. So, my New Year's resolutions are summed up in just one word: BETTER.
By using the concept of "better" as a lens through which I see what I do and who I am,  I hope to become:

A better visiting teacher
A better mother
A better sister
A better housekeeper
A better disciple
A better listener
A better temple worshiper
A better scripture student

You get the idea.

 Is it too much to work on all at once? Some people subscribe to the theory of working on just one thing at a time.
But I'm not trying to be perfect in any of these areas...just better.
It's not to say that who I am and what I do right now is not valuable,
I can just do better.

Happy New Year.