Today

I have been thinking about how I view my life lately. I am very critical of myself and sometimes that causes me sorrow. In reality I have a wonderful life, a husband who loves me and I love dearly, great kids, a wonderful family, a home I love, friends that would be there for me no matter what, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. My birthday was last week and I promised myself that I would not dwell on the things that I haven't accomplished yet, but focus on the the things that matter. Graydon took the day off of work(because he is a smart man) and I savored being able to sleep in, being able to go to the movies and hold hands with the man that I love, having kids that were so excited because it was my birthday, and just enjoying the peace of the day. In church on Sunday one of the speakers was talking about how we view tomorrow. He said we should stop looking forward to tomorrow because it will be better, or we will have more money, or we will weigh less, but to be happy today. That is something that I will be trying to focus on this year. Thank you to all of my wonderful friends who are such a great example of service and love, to my husband who is a great example of forgiveness and compassion, and to my kids who are a great example of taking pleasure in the small things. Here is to a great today!

Our Family Pictures

When I started this blog I realized that we don't have very many family pictures. Mostly that is because I am always waiting until I look better(sound familiar ladies). I realized that by worrying so much about how I looked that I was taking myself out of our family memories. I love to watch my kids go through our scrapbooks and laugh at the pictures and the memories. I don't want my kids to think that I was never there for all of our fun times. I guess that will be one of my New Year's resolutions, to get over myself and have fun. We decided to take family pictures this year and so we asked Ashlee Stone to take these pictures. She was so great and I loved how they turned out. Now we have to pick which picture we are going to enlarge for the wall. Any opinions?

Christmas with the Woods in Utah

This Christmas we were able to spend time with Graydon's family in Utah. All of his siblings were there and we had a great time. Graydon's brother Tyson and his wife Rachel graciously hosted all of us. It got crazy at times with all of those people but we had a great time and are grateful to Tyson and Rachel for letting us hang out at their house.

The kids play really well together, I don't think they had one argument the whole time. At one point during our visit they all decided to be ninjas. Graydon's sister Tara made masks for each of them because they had been tying black socks around their faces. They all looked so cute. I didn't get a picture of all of them but I did get Megan. She wore that mask everywhere until we got home. People probably thought she was an "interesting" kid.

Tyler's Art Contest

Last year when Tyler was in 1st grade his whole class must have enter some of their art into an art contest. Tyler's painting was one of the finalists for all of Boise School District. His art traveled with the other finalists and winners from school to school. We were pretty proud of him.

Megan ties her shoes.

Megan learned to tie her shoes yesterday. She got so excited. I wish I could have taught her sooner but she is a flip flop girl and I had to wait until winter. These are my favorite moments as a mother. I loved seeing my kids ride their bikes for the first time and go to school for the first time and of course tie their shoes. I love that overwhelming feeling of pride and being so excited for them. In the grand scheme of things learning to tie your shoe is not a big deal, but to see the sense of accomplishment on their faces is awesome. These are the times when all the temper tantrums and lost nights of sleep fade and you realize what it is to be a parent. It's about teaching them all these little "insignificant" things so that they can grow up and be independent adults. I love being a mom and I am so grateful for my little stinkers.

Our first Christmas Party of the season.

We went to a great party that our friends Josh and Allyn invited us to. Santa showed up and he was great. He had a magic walking stick that he brought with him with all kinds of pictures on it. He showed the kids how Rudolph's nose glows with magic. He touched the kids noses and his finger lit up. He brought a present for each of the kids and they went ballistic. The kids made ornaments and we ate and had a good time. We had a great time. Thanks Josh and Allyn for inviting us.

Tyler asked for Legos(his new passion) and that is exactly what Santa brought him. He is magic.

Megan told Santa that she wanted a soft teddy bear and a duck with a string to pull it with. Santa brought Megan some pretty bracelets she had been eyeing at the store.

Toe What Fun!

I love having a girl. Now that Megan is getting older she likes to have her toes painted when I'm painting mine. She feels grown up and I like the time to bond with her. I found these Christmas decals and thought it would be fun to paint our nails.