Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Britten is 3!!

I can't believe how fast Britten is growing up! He is talking and understanding so much. He knows all his letters, numbers, colors, and shapes. He is full of energy and never stops, but we are definitely grateful he has joined our family.

We had a small celebration with balloons, streamers, cake, and ice cream. We even had party hats!












He opened presents. We thought we would introduce him to puzzles this year, so he got a whole box full of them! Books have become a favorite of his, so we gave him a few Daniel Tiger books. He loves them! This year was his first special trip with Grandma Lori to have dinner and pick out a present. They went to McDonald's where he chose chicken nuggets. For a gift, he chose Legos, a Super Hero set! He loves Legos! 





It was his first year of understanding gifts and candles. It was fun to witness!








I did my annual birthday interview as well.

Britten's Favorites:

food: hot dogs and water
color: brown
tv show: Chuggington
book: Curious George series
candy: jellybeans
animal: giraffe
toy: train tracks, legos, Superman car (total McDonald toy)
Teachers: Daycare- Miss Carla, Church- Sis Ohmert
best friend: Luis
activity outside: basketball, play with Logan and Brayden
What do you want to be when you grow up?: just like my daddy

HOW CUTE IS HE?
















Friday, January 15, 2016

Time: You Never Get It Back and That Can Make a Mom Want To Do Crazy Things

I say it all the time, "My kids are growing way too fast!" I really don't know how this happened, or when. I have been wanting to get moments back. Like snuggling, reading, singing...they aren't coming back. So, instead, I'm just going to relish in the time I have left with my 5 kids (yes, I have 6, but I still do all those things with Baby. It's the older ones I miss).

Tonight we invited the neighbor kids over to have a movie night. We watched, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. My girls were complaining that they are the only ones who haven't seen the new Star Wars  movie. I want them to understand what has happened before I take them for a girl's night, so we are watching them. We ordered pizza and decked the ping pong table with major amounts of junk food! A kid's dream!

I love that all of the kids can watch these movies! Ryan who's 18 all the way to Britten at almost 3, each loving them for their own reasons. It makes me feel we are winning at being a family because everyone is happy, all at the same time. That's a big accomplishment for us!

Enjoy your little ones! Time is precious and you never get it back! It's sad to me that I learned this as my oldest is getting ready to spread his wings and fly. I expected him to fly well. I just didn't expect these feelings of wanting to cut his wings off so he can stay a little longer...

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Another Adult in the Household: Ryan is 18!

My oldest child just turned 18! I'm not quite sure how I feel about this. I mean, I'm happy that my kids are growing up and are starting to experience life and all it's complexities. On the other hand, it means they are closer to leaving home and it means I'm getting older, too.

I have said before how much Ryan and I are alike. We neither one enjoy being in the spotlight and are very laid back. We asked what he wanted to do to celebrate, but he really didn't want to do anything. We had a family party with the traditional cake and ice cream. He wanted some new shoes, so he got those. That was that. I now had an 18 year old. The world just got a new adult, a very fine one in my opinion. 

Ryan graduates in May and he is planning on serving a mission right after. We are getting ready to start that process as well. When he gets back, he plans on starting his education. he want to be a software developer/programmer. He loves his computers! He has a plan all in place. He will go to school and then get married around 27. I hope it all works out for him. He's smart, kind, and funny. Whatever he does, I know he'll do well. Love you, Ryan!! As I say every morning before you leave, "Knock 'em dead!"

This is probably the last birthday interview I'll get out of him. I wish I had started them earlier!


Ryan's Favorites

color: green
food: pizza
subject: computer programming
candy bar: Snickers
book: I haven't read in a while, I need to start 
TV show: Psych
video game: Destiny
fruit: pineapple
vegetable: potatoes
chore;clean the family room
 1) What would you do with a million dollars? I would save it.
2) What do plan on going to school for?
 I want to be a computer software developer/programmer.
3) If you could do something nice what would you do and for whom?
 I would feed the homeless.


















Friday, January 1, 2016

Word for 2016- DIVINE

Every year I come up with a word. This word is to remind me what I want to work on through the year. I have goals this year, I do. But, my biggest goal of all this year is to remember who I am. 
The other day as I was getting ready for church, a memory came flooding back to me. Now, my mind does this quite often. I have an extremely short short-term memory- two shorts are needed because I forget. A lot. Because of this, things come rushing into my head in a panic-like fashion. There is always a sense of urgency. This is what happened that Sunday. Only, it wasn't something recent I had forgotten, it was from 20 years ago.

When I was going through the Temple for the very first time, Dustin and I had a minute to talk. He said, "Do you know what my mom just told me?" I shook my head. I wasn't paying attention- hello, there's all this incredible beauty around! I'm not paying attention to anything! He pulled me close and said, "She just told me that when you came into the room, she felt like if Christ had a sister, she would be just like you." My eyes got huge! What a compliment! Of course, when someone pays you such a compliment, what's the first thing we do? We don't believe it. We try to cast it aside as totally false. That's exactly what I did that day, 20 years ago. That's exactly what my mind did just recently. I thought she was crazy then and I still think it's a crazy comparison now. But, this time my mind did something else. I stopped for a moment and dwelt on that thought. And as I thought and questioned, all of a sudden a light bulb went off! And after the light bulb, a rush of warm fuzzies. My spirit loudly whispered to me, "You are Christ's sister! You have the same Father He does. You are made up of the same stuff! You are DIVINE!"

Now, before you think that I was never taught this, I was. I heard this my whole years in Young Women's. Divine Nature happens to be one of the values. It's color is blue. I remember it all. But, somehow, it has never sunk into my brain the way it did a few days ago. To actually take time to dwell on the thought that I was a sister to Jesus Christ really changed me. And, it challenged me.
It challenged me to remember that I am someone DIVINE. That deep within me there lies qualities that are sleeping. My job on this earth is to wake them up! And I'm going to start doing it.

My first quality I have been working on is compassion. I'll be honest, I thought that was going to be my word for the year. I have been working on this for a little over a month. It all started in November when the church changed it's policy about children of gay parents. After I did the whole social media debates, I finally knelt down to ask how this is to affect me. The answer surprised me a bit, but it was very clear. My Heavenly Father reminded me that I knew what was right. I know why He has a prophet. But, then He asked something of me. He asked if I could just be compassionate. I thought about it and realized in all the wanting to be right I had most certainly thrown compassion out the window. Not on purpose! But, I had. So I promised I would work on it. And I have. 

I'm not sure what my next quality will be. My goal is I will be doing the things I should, so it can be revealed to me. Right now, I'll just keep reminding myself I'm DIVINE and I can be compassionate. I guess if those are the only things I improve on this year, that's enough. But, I hope not. I hope I can find those things deep within that will enrich my soul and make me who I can be.