Papi's Birthday

We celebrated my dad (Papi)'s 61st Birthday yesterday. Well it was really on the 20th so last Tuesday I went over to their house and surprised him and made him a dessert that he likes. I kind of burned it on the bottom but it's the thought that counts right? ;) It was still pretty tasty.
So I just wanted to say what I love about my dad. He is a really great guy. Let's see if I can get through this without crying. He has sacrificed so much for our family. I love hearing stories of his childhood, I really really really need to get some of those on tape. He was raised so impoverished, really had so little. But nevertheless, he worked hard and it paid off, he has lived the "American Dream" in some ways. I wonder if I would have the courage to uproot my family and move to a foreign country when things are relatively "okay" where they were and by some standards even "great" I mean they had the necessities and even some comforts of life in Guatemala. Wow, that would take so much faith and determination. My dad always has great advice, which I am much more receptive to now that I am grown. He has amazing intuition! He always knows what I am feeling, even when I am trying to hide my emotions. I admire that so much and hope that I can have that gift with my kids. He is so spiritually minded and I admire his ability to put the Lord first. He has always been such a great provider and dad and I love him so much! One more random talent that he has...he is a great packer and organizer! He can pack a mean trunk on a long trip! Happy Birthday Papi! I am so glad my kids are growing up so close to their grandparents and love my dad as much as I love him. Oh and the crying thing, simply not possible...

Catch Up!

Ok this is me playing catch up. I have been working on some of the projects that I wanted to link to this blog such as my favorite link and most recently my holidays section, but in doing so I have neglected to document my everyday "musings". So what has happened....DH changed stores and is adjusting to very new dynamics there...we bought a much needed second car that we thought was a great deal, it was a '97 Dodge Stratus for $800 but it turns out it needed almost $2000 in repairs some of which just to pass emissions! They guy was nice enough to take it back and give us a full refund though, so we gave it back last night! Wow! How often does that happen!!!! So that was a blessing. And again I feel resigned to driving around like a taxi all day, it is so hard to have only one car when you are used to two. Blah, blah, blah, what a whiner I am. I guess I have been spoiled too long. Ok what else...I went to the most amazing Successful Mothering Convention on Saturday and we celebrated my dad's 61st birthday on Sunday but those are separate posts...oh and the other day S said to me..."mom, did you know that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth?"...I was thinking, and you are in K? I love his new school! Oh and it is so cold and the snow doesn't stop here!!! snow snow go away....

Belated V-day Part 2

I just realized I never wrote about my romantic dinner with Jonas, I don't have a picture of that night so I will just post a picture of us another time. I love my DH, he took me to Market Street Grill (with a gift cert from JB it was free which was even better) and we had a romantic dinner together. First of all, we have been doing a babysitting co-op on Friday nights so we have a crazy night of 10 kids once a month and then 3 fabulous nights of free Date Nights so it was great to have a babysitter that I could trust for our date. When we got there we still had about a 30 min wait but it was so cool we went upstairs where they normally have a balcony but since it was too cold no one was even going up there. There was a cute little space up there though as if it was reserved just for us and we danced to the foyer music while we waited for a table. Then we talked and talked over dinner. And it was just nice. We don't get to talk that often anymore it seems like. Which is hard. Anyway it did was a nice romantic dinner alone is supposed to do, make us closer and bond us stronger together. I have the best husband in the world!

Valentine's Day 2007!

This is two days late but I have been struggling to get this picture on the blog and since I am so behind on the computer savvy-ness, I had to rely on Jonas to do it for me. So here are my two little munchkins at a community party that I took them too, I think they look so adorable. Our Valentine's day was nice, Shayden made a cute holder for all the loot he got at school and that night we had a heart themed dinner of course and celebrated with the kids by going to Nickelcade. We also made the little Valentine's tree pictured as a family, well mostly me. I also want to start a tradition of telling the kids the story of how we, their parents, met. We haven't done that yet but see the holiday is not over for us since Jonas and I have not had our romantic date yet. That is tonight and it should be fun. It is his year to plan. I am trying to make a link to each Holiday so that I can post ideas that I find places and have them in one place instead of a million different places as they are now. I will keep working on that....

Overjoyed

Today I went to church alone with the kids because DH had to work. And all that I can say is overjoyed was my emotion when I turned to look at my two kids and they were sitting reverently with their arms around each others shoulders during sacrament. They are so cute together! It was a sweet sight and it is moments like these that make me think of what I am most grateful for, my family. I worry as any parent does that I am not doing a good job as a mom. After all, the most important thing is that they turn out to be good people. And I don't just mean spiritually although that is a big part of it. To me it also means that they be kind, respectful, caring, giving people. Full of meekness, humility, charity....on and on. I had another sweet moment last night when I put my son Shayden to bed. I often whisper sweet nothings in my kids' ears after they are long asleep, things like, "I love you so much", "I am so proud of you", etc, etc, hoping that somehow on a subconscious level it will seep into their self esteem. Well, last night as I whispered in his ear that I was lucky to have such a great son he said right in the middle of his sleep "And I have a great mom!" out loud! How great is that?

I truly have great kids. I am kind of obsessed with them having good manners though. I hate when children and teens are disrespectful, rude and not grateful. The other day the parent volunteer on Shayden's bus told me that she was impressed with how well mannered and articulate he was and I think I blushed right on the spot. So today my mantra is...Motherhood makes me overjoyed!

Saturday is Family Day!

We were supposed to go to California today so I am a little bummed. We didn’t go not because the flights didn’t look good, but because the weather there was supposed to be rainy. The weather here is also forcasted as gloomy and rainy and to top it off~yard sale season has not yet begun! Growing up Saturdays were FAMILY DAY!!! This was a important weekly event that could not be missed except under the most dyer circumstances…much to my friends dismay. Family Day was filled with shopping, shopping and more shopping mostly. It was a time for us to go out as a family and bond. We would leave early on in the day, go shopping and go eat lunch together, shop at stores and later go see a movie as a family. And I must say that while I did dread going at times, it sure beat staying home and cleaning which was what most of my friends had to do all day! Needless to say, when I went to college and had no car and no family for Family Day, I realized how much I missed it. Now that I am wise and grown (hee hee), I have adjusted to a nice balance of some shopping, some cleaning, some yard sales if I’m lucky and some family time. After all, it takes plenty of time to prepare for Sunday with two kids and a Primary calling. But it is gloomy Saturdays like this when plans got postponed that I miss galavanting around town for FAMILY DAY the most!!!

To Blog or Not to Blog...that is the question

My DH and sweet sister in law Ruth are doing it so I thought I would give it a whirl...Here are the reasons that I want to Blog:

1.One of my goals this year is to write in my journal (again!) and so I thought this a great way to document my everyday doings and share it with others.
2. I have ideas floating in my head that I want to get down before I forget them. I want to fill my home with celebrations for the holidays and the everydays! Growing up we didn't have a lot of family traditions and celebrations, I want the family traditions and celebrations that we have already started and will start to last for generations to come!
3. To keep in touch with family and friends that would not ordinarily share these tiny details of my life.
4. My Happy Place is a little nook dedicated to all the things that make me happy in life!