This sign actually says . . .

WATCH OUT FOR MAD DOGS!

At least, according to Mr. Cole it does. :)

There's a few of these signs on the empty lots going down our street,

so Jace & I get reminded from Cole quite often when we go on our regular walks to

be careful of those mad dogs!

He is ALL Cowboy lately since he earned & helped pay for

his Toy Story pull string Woody doll.

Just like the movie, He & Woody are inseparable.

I was actually holding Woody for Cole in my hands today as I took this picture. :)

We love our little Cowboy Cole!

The Sun & the Moon

I love the beauties of nature!

I captured these photos of the sunrise the day after our 2nd huge

snow storm pummeled us with nearly 2 ft. of snow last week.

I am grateful to say that the snow has all melted away now. :)

 As I played with the kids in the backyard last night after dinner in the

beautiful 66 deg. weather, I noticed the full moon rising so bright

in the night sky.

And this is what I captured on "Night Shot" setting

with "Macro Zoom" on.

I can hardly believe the detail & color that shows up

at about 239 hundred thousand miles away!

 Keep on rising & shining Sun & Moon!

Because I love capturing your beauty.



Through Your Eyes, HIS Light Shines

As I was driving the kids to the park this morning,

I glanced at my face for a moment in the rear view

mirror & noticed that my eyes looked especially bright

this morning; & it made me smile.

Then, it suddenly occured to me.

ANY beauty I have in me is because of HIM & his LIGHT.

Jesus the Christ.

So please, the next time

anyone ever compliments you on how great you look,

  how beautiful or pretty you are, on any quality you have

or something you do well . . .

ACCEPT IT!

Because it is His Light in YOU showing through.

Through your smiling eyes, happy face, or helpful

actions to another.

And any beauty we have or see in this life is owed to Him.

So don't deny it, down play it, or degrade it.

Just graciously say, "Thank You"!



My Savior

My Savior loves me. He knows me. He cares for my welfare & happiness.

I am grateful to know that He is always there for me, reaching out with

open arms, if I will but call on Him.

I am so grateful for His atonement.

To know, that when I trip & fall

time & time again in striving to do whats right, He is ever so merciful, ever

so patient with me, & ever

so forgiving of my failings, even though He knows that though I come to

Him with a broke heart & contrite spirit, I may mess up again.

I am especially grateful for that as a Mother.

I call on Him many times a day to shore me up when the chips are down.

And especially to know, that with HIM, the Holy One, I cannot fail

as a mother or mess up my children.

I have added to His pain in Gethsemane more than once & strive

to not add to His pain & sorrows that He already has so much of

for His children. Christ also has great, exceeding joy in His children

when they choose to follow his plan of happiness.
He is there to listen when I cry out to Him.

 When my heart aches.

When I want to throw up my hands & give up.

When my patience with my children is wearing thin.

When I'm just plain tired.

I can call on MY SAVIOR.

To lift me up.

Buoy me up.

I can share my joys & excitement with Him of

learning something new or something new

my kids have learned.

And in the small victories of the day.

The Savior is my friend.

And I don't just want to know about Him,

I want to KNOW HIM.

So I strive to come a little bit

closer to Him, each & every day.

Because . . .He is MY SAVIOR &

I am forever grateful to HIM for

His sacrifice for ME.



Look what I found . . .

In the TOILET this morning!

Oh! Grant!

This was a 1st.

I couldn't believe it. I just stood there

with my my hands over my open mouth.

And then, of course I ran & got the camera. :)

Cole used the bathroom this morning &

forgot to close the lid & the bathroom door.

Somehow, Grant just climbed right in & sat down,

because none of his upper half was wet.

 It doesn't surprise me that it would

be Grant because he is our most agile kid.

And he loves to crawl into, through, or under

anything he can.

 He was just enjoying himself. And yet, we are very grateful that he did not topple in head first. That could have turned out very scary. I wasn't upset though, in fact, I kind of laughed at the
craziness of the situation, and then I very calmly & carefully went through the steps with Cole of closing up the bathroom when we're not using it. I know he got it, because he got the look that he gets when he's contemplating something seriously. :)

And Merrill wanted in on the action too!

I had to lock him out of the bathroom with him crying to get in,

 till I could get Grant situated in the empty tub, strip his toilet water

clothes off, clean up the water on the ground, &

get them in the wash.

And course, it was then time to enjoy the real "Bath Time"!

Together!

White Out

(Yes, we know, it's actually February 1st, not March :)
 Although we can dream, right?!

Only the beginnings of the storm! It snowed like that non stop

all day long.

In the 2 winters we've had here in AR. we've never received so

much snow. Probably double what we would in one storm on average.

You can barely tell that there's a big two-story house

behind those tall trees to the left of the picture.

Which normally can be seen quite clearly (even when its been snowing

in the past).

We are fortunate to have not lost power at all.

This storm has shut the schools down for the entire week,

except for Monday.

The temps. at night have been dropping to around -3 degrees

with wind chill factors causing it to feel like -15 degrees.

The high for yesterday was around 14 deg.

There truly is something to our bodies acclimatizing to the elements.

I ventured out into the snow bundled up in snow pants, snow shoes,

& a thick jacket & was surprisingly not cold in 14 deg. weather.

Though, it did help that the sun was out & it was not windy at all.

Just my hands froze since I was taking pictures w/out gloves on.

That was one deep snow drift. It was quite neat

to see the wind whip the snow around like

you would on a sand dune.

Jace scooped up the snow off the back porch

 more than half way through the day to make it easier

to clear later on, & yet the snow still continued to dump

on us quite a bit more.

It piled up deep. From what we're used to ever getting anyway.

Snow is an amazing & beautiful thing to me since I did not grown up around it.

I agree with many when they say that its better to just go

& play in it for a few hours than to live in it.

For kids, snow = Fun!

For adults, snow = Work!

Can we say - Perfect place for snow angels!?

We're planning on taking the kiddos out to play in it

on Saturday.

The twins have never really "played" in the snow, just

touched it a few times.

We shall see how long it lasts.

I am grateful that here, the snow stays just long enough to play in it

a little & then melts away usually with in a few days to a week.

Oh, yeah!

 And this is what we were doing just 2 days before the

snow storm hit in lovely 67 deg. weather.

Warm fronts are the best!

Mr. Grant enjoying getting to toddle around &

explore the backyard with out a huge, puffy

coat on (As well as Merrill. Wondering off the opposite

direction I'm sure).

 Cole feeding the ducks at "I Street Park".

 Big boy Merrill going down the windy slide all by himself.

Grant was really "dig'n in" to that sand.

He Loved! it.

So Blessed

What do I really have to complain about?

Yesterday, as I was feeding the twins lunch, I began thinking about my life as a whole & how blessed

I truly am.

I have 3 beautiful, healthy, fun, smart, energetic boys that I get to love on everyday.

I have 1 amazing, hard working, tender-loving, helpful husband who is my best friend.

I have a beautiful home big enough to fit all 5 of us comfortably w/ all the necessities our family needs.

I have not suffered the pains that these amazing individuals & families have, & if I do someday experience similar trials, their stories of faith & hope amidst immense trail will buoy me up. ( Their stories are incredible! I promise your perspective on how hard your trials are will change if you listen to these episodes on the Mormon Channel of "Enduring it Well".)

No, life is not perfect or easy everyday, & sometimes a little crazy at my house, but I cannot be ungrateful for the life I have been given from the Lord. For he has given me much!

So I share with you what I am grateful for.

I am grateful that I am healthy & that I have a body that functions in every way that it should.

I am grateful to be a mom. To be able to stay home with my boys & teach & raise them in a gospel centered home.

I am grateful for my eternal marriage to my eternal companion.

I am grateful that my husband helps out often with the dishes, meals, the kids, & the house in general w/ out me asking quite often. And when I do ask him for help, he so willingly jumps right in.

I am grateful that Jace enjoys spending time with me. Talking with me. Going on dates with me. Just hanging out with me. And that he would rather spend his time with me, than to ever play time-wasting video games or something else of the like. ( I do not intend to offend anyone about video game playing. It's just my opinion that there is no real lasting value that comes from them.)

I am grateful that we own 2 well running cars that I do not have to worry if they'll break down any time soon.

I am grateful that my husband has a steady job w/ a steady income. That in these hard economic times, we do not worry if we will have enough money to pay the bills.

I am grateful that my husband holds the priesthood worthily. And to know that at any time, if ever my kids or I need a blessing, he's willing & able.

I am grateful to have been raised in the gospel, by two loving parents & with 3 fun-loving sisters.

I am grateful to have grown up with the priesthood in my home as well & to have benefited from my father

living worthily to bless me & my siblings throughout the years.

I am grateful for the calling that I currently am in. I know I have been blessed with inspiration from the Lord to do certain things or share certain things with these young girls to bless their lives. They are fun to be around & make me smile & laugh.

I am grateful to have danced most of my whole life & to have taught dance for a few years, to share what I love with others.

I am grateful that I've never broken a bone in my life or that I've never had to stay in a hospital, other than having my babies.

I am grateful for the modern conveniences & technologies that we take for granted everyday. Electricity, heating & cooling systems, cars, computers, phones, TVs, etc.

I am grateful for the opportunity to experience living in a whole other state & scenery.

I am grateful to have grown up in Arizona around so many other members of the church which provided

good friends, church leaders, seminary, institute, & the temple.

I am grateful to have lived so close to the Mesa, AZ. Temple. Only 15 minutes to get there. How simple it was then. :)

I am grateful that it is still possible for us to be able to attend the temple. The closest temple is the Oklahoma City temple, 3 1/2 hrs. away one way. And am grateful that its not days worth away from us as it is for many still. It is a long day, but it is possible to make a round trip to the temple in 1 day.

I am grateful to have direction for my life through the means of my patriarchal blessing, the scriptures, & our prophets & apostles. As well as the Holy Ghost to guide my life daily.

I am grateful that my pregnancies & deliveries have gone healthy & well without complications.

I am so grateful that Grant does not have wheat or dairy allergies. That he will likely out-grow his egg allergy & that we have the information we need to save his life in case he comes in contact with peanut products of any kind.

I am grateful to have the education that I do have & that I can always continue learning & growing no matter what stage of life I'm in or where I'm at.

I am grateful for the many ways that the church is making it easier to share the gospel with others.

I am grateful for the knowledge I have of Christs gospel & how it continually blesses my life every hour of every day.

I am grateful for the testimony I have of the truthfulness of the principles of the gospel.

I am grateful that I have not struggled with the ability to have children.

I am grateful that my eyes function w/out the aid of glasses or contacts. That I can see my family's faces everyday & the beauties of this earth.

I am grateful for the power of choice & agency. That I can choose to live the best I can everyday.

I am grateful for nature & the beautiful warm days that I get to be in it & enjoy it with my children.

I am grateful for the freedoms that I enjoy in this country everyday. To have the freedom to speak my mind,

learn what I desire, & to believe in the faith of my choice.

I am grateful for modern medical technologies to help catch any health problems quickly & early. We've been particularly blessed with that for Grant.

I am grateful for the experiences that I've had in my life to learn from in many different ways.

I am grateful for music. For it can lift me up, inspire me, make me feel happy, energetic, & loving.

I am grateful for the desire I've had to learn more about the Prophet Joseph Smith lately & how his life & example has inspired me to become a better & higher me.

I am grateful for the positive example of those around me that inspire me to serve, learn, & love in new ways.

I am grateful to know that as the world becomes more black & white between right & wrong, that I'll always have the guidance of the principles of the gospel to fall back on for support. And to know that if I follow Christ's gospel, that I will not be lost.

I am grateful for the chance to see my children learning something new every day! It truly is an amazing thing.

Especially when your child becomes very inquisitive & asks questions of "How come this or that?" or  "Why did they do that?" or "What does that mean when they say in the scriptures, ". . . there were a great number, so many that they didn't number them . . .?"."

I am grateful to see my 3 1/2 yr. old remembering the gospel principles & stories of the scriptures that we are teaching him.

I am grateful for dear friends who will listen. Who are positive examples to me. Who relate well, do not judge, & just encourage me.

I am grateful for the increased promptings of the spirit, enlightenment of some gospel principles, & an increased amount of feeling the spirit being present because of choosing to follow the counsel that our stake president gave 3 weeks ago in reading specific amounts of the New Testament & Book of Mormon daily. I can see & feel a difference in my life every single day. The Lord is real & He is there for me & you.

I am grateful for the atonement. That chance that I have everyday, to try again to be better then the last. To renew my covenants w/ the Lord every week by partaking of the sacrament. He is so merciful to give us another chance time & time again to make our weaknesses become strengths.

These are just some of my many, many blessings that I am grateful for & to be blessed with.

I realize that life can be messy, hard, chaotic, crazy, gut-wrenchingly difficult, unknown, & unkind; & it often times is, yet that does not mean that my Father in Heaven is not fully aware of me & my needs & the

needs of my family & that he does not love me. Because I know he loves me perfectly, even though

I cannot always see how & why things are.

He wants the very best for me & for me to be happy as well.

These are the things that I MUST  remember when the going gets tough.

For remembering these many blessings can give me the strength I need

to endure my trials well, if I choose it.

This life was not meant to be easy.

We are here on this earth to learn & grow. And only

He knows perfectly what I need, to make that happen in the ways

I need it most.

I heard one of the brethren of the Twelve recently say in his

interview on the Mormon Radio Channel, "Conversations" that,

"Difficult isn't bad. Difficult is just difficult."

It's in those difficult times, that we can grow the very most.

I fully believe that we are far more blessed in many ways, than we will ever know about or realize.

So I challenge you to,

 "Count your many blessing. Name them one by one. And it will surprise what the Lord has done."