my goal

so i'm not usually the type to establish "new year's resolutions" because it's yet one more thing to feel guilty about when i don't accomplish it. ew, cynical, i know. but i few days ago i read pres. eyring's talk from the last conference entitled "our perfect example" and for some reason a lot of things connected for me. this is why we have to hear things over and over, because all the sudden it connects in a special way, just for you. read on if you will...

two gospel principles have always been a bit vague for me: the push to be perfect like our Savior, and charity. both are like trying to lick your own earlobes, in my opinion. you get the concept, but actually doing it or being it gets a little fuzzy. but pres. eyring quietly pieces it all together. in order to be like our Savior, we must love. we must love our sweet Father in Heaven, which isn't too difficult considering He allows me to breathe each day. a little harder, maybe, is loving those around us deeply and unconditionally. and we can't just love those that are easy to love ie friends, family, etc. we must love strangers and be nice to them in stores even when they ask to go ahead of you in the check-out line cuz they have one item (never mind you have two screaming kids, one of which is trying to steal all the candy sitting right in front of him). also, i must love my boys when they do things like previously mentioned or demand to finally eat their lunch when it's time for their nap.

when we figure out how to love unconditionally, then everything else falls into place. we obey because we love. we take care of our kids because we love them. we give because we love those around us, those that we don't know. and we don't judge because we love. do you see my puzzle fitting together? i know this is elementary for some, but it was my special connection, just for me. go read the talk.

SO....my resolution is to love. and with love comes patience, which i need a lot of for anyone who drives besides me and ESPECIALLY for my children (MOST ESPECIALLY for my eldest). but with my special connection, i have realized my past flaw. in the past, i have prayed for more patience, then you proceed to have the worst day ever and you chuckle at the end of it and say "good one, Heavenly Father, very funny". but now i know to pray for a perfect love. and because i love more deeply, i am calmly patient.

i have prayed every day for help with this, and as always, He has answered. with His gentle help, i think i'm doing better.

jolly holidays

we had some fabulous holidays and i'm proud to say i have a few pictures to document it. although, as i think back on all that we did, i should have much more...we started the festivities with our own little christmas on the 23rd, then left for utah on the 24th. thus, the 22nd was our christmas eve so we all unwrapped one gift and got the traditional christmas pjs. jack was not impressed to say the least, but was polite about it, reassuring himself that there were many more packages waiting to be opened the next morning. but we did get a jammies picture above.
this is jack modeling my christmas present from shawn, and i dare say they look much better on me. i actually bought them myself 2 weeks previous. thanks, babe!
some of the fav presents on "christmas day".

once we packed up and made it to utah the real party began.
with grandpa and his new train.
the gals with our new aprons that cindy gave us...LOVE THEM!!! don't judge, we did not shower before the unwrapping of the gifts.
"sleeping" with cousin court at the gibbs family christmas party.

sadly i have not one picture with my family, but we partied with them a bunch as well. shawn and i were lucky enough to go through the temple with my brother mike for his first time. that was incredibly special. and there were parties, parties, and more parties and wedding receptions and family pictures and movies and hot-tubbing...we didn't want to come home.

the weather outside is frightful

this is how we "bundle up" in vegas. jack and i learned that it is a hard concept to evenly distribute the fingers into the appropriate spaces in your mittens.

family photos

aren't they yummy? these are only a handful of fantastic shots.

our good friend mckenzie is amazing. you can check out more of her work by clicking mckenzie's photos under my friends and fam.





mckenzie got a series of shots of jack "dancing" to his favorite song, jay sean's "baby are you down". that is correct, jack is a hip-hopper. and i could put sam in my pocket, he's so cute. check out those chub cheeks.

we seriously did not pose jack at all, he did this all on his own. so did shawn.

turkeylicious

so we had the most fabulous thanksgiving holiday, i truly enjoyed every second. it was the first year having it at my house, my family came to our place and my las vegas cousins joined in the fun...yup that's right, 18 people eating turkey at my house. now my house is definitely bigger than our provo shoebox apartment, yet it isn't huge. somehow, we managed to fit everyone in comfortably. luckily, i had my mom to take command in the kitchen. the weekend included lots of chatting, games, movies, shopping, naps, christmas lights, and shooting with uncle tom. for all that we did, i should have many more pics, but i'm horrible at remembering to pull the camera out, darn it.
playing darts with dad.
jack LOVED having his uncles around, i pretty much didn't see him all weekend. he was in heaven.

what a blessed life we live. hard times come, but isn't it the greatest blessing of all that Heavenly Father will always grant us the peace and strength we need to make it through. for that, i can never thank Him enough.

just some pics...

is that a purple bumbo, you ask? yes, it is. why, you ask, if you have 2 boys? because i got it at a garage sale for $10 which i feel really good about because they're normally $40 in the store.


shawn has had a serious dilemma on his hands for a while now...jack LOVES baseball and was shaping up to be a lefty, which i guess in the baseball world is pretty cool. so shawn really wanted to buy him a lefty glove but wasn't totally sure if he would be a lefty...what if he guided him the wrong way and jack would never the be the ball player he could've been if his dad hadn't forced him into a left-handed glove? this is serious, folks. but one night i left shawn to watch the boys while i went to a baby shower (a much needed break, i might add) and when i came back, jack had his first glove. he's now a for-sure lefty. whew. by the way, you should see this kid throw...and i'm not just saying that cuz i'm his mom.