Yes We Can!

Last summer we were here...

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Lovesac Olympics

It's always fun to be "snowed in" in Boston!

*Cutie Photos*

Tayevion's Baby Blessing

We decided to hold the baby blessing at my sister and brother in law's house since it is much bigger and Jonas wanted to invite some of his old mission companions and friends from Logan, all of which had not seen the baby yet. It turned into almost 50 people but it was nice to see everyone and have them share this special moment with us. My sister in law and niece happened to be in town from Boston so they were also able to be there. Jonas made his delicious Gumbo, so good.

New Years Resolution Update

I set a whole bunch of goals in 2008. This year I don't think I will set that many. It was a good year though, I really do feel like I accomplished a lot. I think this was mainly due to being pregnant and wanting to get so much done before the baby came.

Here goes my evaluation of how I did...

Goal #1

Be more productive with my mind--Read one book per quarter -

I more than filled my quota for the year, thanks to the Twilight series and the pregnancy. Here's the books I haven't yet reported on...

Belly Laughs,

I have wanted to read this for some time, pretty crude (I had to skip a few parts), and not as funny as I had hoped, but I'm still glad that I read it. Someone has to write about this stuff no holds barred.

HypnoBirthing,

This one was awesome!

Mind over Labor,

This one I needed to re-read because it is awesome too.

I am a Mother,

A must read for any mother!!! An inspiring, easy read.

The Naked Truth,

A very interesting and eye opening true story.

Goal Number 2
Take care of myself--Wash my face every night

Did not do so hot on this one. My face cleared up with the pregnancy so I slacked.

Goal Number 3

Learn something new--Learn 10 key - I have been practicing with the 10 Key Tutor, and since I get to practice this regularly with my job, I was able to practice a lot.

Goal Number 4
Grow closer to God--Take an institute class-done-we took a wonderful Parables class full of kids half our age that made us feel really old.

Goal Number 5
Gain a talent--Learn to knit or crochet-well back in January my friend Leah did teach me how to crochet, can't say I did much with it though.

Goal Number 6
Family History--Compile Jasmine's baby book -almost done, still need to put a few pictures in. And in my defense, I did complete Shayden's book (pathetic I know) before I started on this one.

Goal Number 7
Slow down--Take up meditating again - good thing I was practicing for labor--done! Will definitely expand on this next year though.

Goal Number 8
Increase family together time--Buy a board game and play it: Not a board game but as a family we got obsessed with Family Frenzy. It's a fun card game, and Jasmine beats us all the time so it's good for super young kids too!

Goal Number 9
Improve physical fitness--Work out consistently--Thanks to my co-workers for creating the "exercise guild" at work. I did consistently work out about 20 min 3 times per week, until the baby came. Not a lot but something.

My son the reading machine.

So I have to post about this because it is so dear to my heart.


As a kid I had this love affair with reading that I can't quite describe. It was my escape, and I loved reading anything I could get my hands on. I wanted to be spunky like Ramona and whimsical like Anne of Green Gables.

I have always known that I wanted to raise good readers. I didn't really know how to go about that though, and I think I went a bit overboard with Shayden. I started WAY early, paranoid that he would get to kindergarten and not know how to read yet! Okay, now I know that this was nutty-first-time-mom-thinking.


So he got to Kindergarten and he could read better than anyone in his class but then switched to a much harder school where he was more middle of the road. Fine. I mean he didn't really love it, and that was my goal. It wasn't second nature so it was still really hard work. He would read for 10-15 min and then let out a sigh of exhaustion because it tired him out. Then he started saying that he loved to read, which was a good sign, but I still saw no major interest change.


Then something happened. I have no idea what, but around the middle of the last summer, his interest level shot up like a rocket. I have never seen anything like it, suddenly he was reading every waking moment and I mean every waking moment. All he wanted to do is read and read and read some more! And this is how it has been. He was tearing though the magic treehouse and a-z mystery books finishing one per day and then he wanted to read Harry Potter. He finished the first one last fall. He also has started the Boxcar children books, which I loved as a kid. His motto is "I read anything that comes in my way!".

He asks to read for his free time, he has a hard time putting books down at bedtime, I can't keep up with it. Going to the library has turned into this awesome treat like never before. Now he is asking how old he needs to be to walk to the library by himself. He said he would stay there all day. I hope he doesn't run out of steam and let it go all together after a while.

It's cool because Jasmine is modeling his behavior and she is probably learning to read in a more healthy pattern because instead of my cramming her with the letters, she is developing a love for this wonderful habit by watching him. I have also found myself wanting to read more because of his example.

I love that he loves this!