Papa

Sienna and Papa both with a mouthful of ice-cream. They are the bestest of buds and Sienna sure misses him.

Our Weekend with Em

The girls and I were lucky enough to spend the first four days in Utah with the Macdonalds. The kids played so well together and had so much fun. Every morning Gavin and Max would come into our room so excited to get the girls. They even tried to shower with us and sleep in our room.

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Dog pile on Andy and Max.

Sienna and Gavin were best buds and had tons of fun together while Sadie and Max just ran around like wild monkeys.

Gavin was so excited to show the girls the aquarium.

You can't hang out with Em without eating a bag of marshmallows.

Em had fun experimenting with the girls' hair and the girls loved feeling like princesses.

Andy was nice enough to watch all four kids for an entire day so Emily and I could go have some fun. We're just grateful we came back to everyone in one piece (including Andy).

Don't worry, there is a giant bean bag under her.

Best friends.

Do you recognize her?? Yes, this would be Sister Johnston now known as Steph. She is home from her mission and going to BYU. She was nice enough to meet Em and I for breakfast one morning.

I love Steph and am so happy I was able to see her! She is the best.

Going Away

I will be gone until the 21st of February doing different things. In this time I probably will not update the blog much if at all but I promise fun pictures when we return. For now, I wish I could write everything that is on my mind but I have become somewhat of a closed book recently. Even if I was willing to share everything, it would be difficult to put such emotions into words. A few thoughts that are occupying a lot of my mind include how grateful I am for my closest friends, how excited I am for the changes we are making to our home (I promise pictures when I get back), and how rewarding it is for me to watch others that I care about do wonderful and amazing things.

A couple lessons I have learned over the past little while are:

1. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Maybe we don't always understand why people do the things they do or act the way they act, but they are doing the best they can just like we are. "If we cannot forgive others, we ourselves do not qualify for the Lord's mercy and forgiveness."

2. Loving unconditionally is so rewarding and has made me a happier person. It isn't always easy but it is worth it.

3. I have always tried to be an optimistic person and have found that sincerely putting my trust in the Lord has honestly made me deal with difficult situations much better.

4. It's okay to be happy. "Life is to be enjoyed, not endured."

- President Hinkley

5. Happiness can come from material things but it will wear off and true happiness needs to be found somewhere else.

6. I have learned the difference between sympathizing and empathizing. I am so grateful to have gone through different things in my life so I can truly empathize with others. I too have been blessed with amazing friends that are always there to sympathize and empathize with me.

I came across this quote and fell in love with it.

"Faith means trust—trust in God's will, trust in His way of doing things, and trust in His timetable."

- Dallin H. Oaks

I really am trying to do things HIS way. I am far from perfect and personally struggle with a lot of things but I am "trying a little harder to be a little better." I am so blessed to have so many wonderful examples in my life that I can look up to and try to be more like. I am surrounded by friends and family that have such amazing talents and gifts that I desire to develop within myself.

Who's the Leader of the Club that's Made for You and Me?

The girls have a really exciting month ahead of them. Thursday we head to Utah for Auntie Adri's wedding and will be there 10 days. Shortly after returning from Utah we leave for Florida where we will celebrate my mom's 50Th birthday in Disney World. Getting ready for our trip, Matt taught the girls the Mickey Mouse theme song. The girls love to sing and this is heard around our house several times a day.

Honey and Vinegar

I heated up some honey and vinegar for Sienna to see if it would help with her cough. She took a sip and instantly spit it out all over the floor and continued to spit for a couple minutes. I don't blame her at all, I could barely gag a mouthful down before offering it to her. After choking on the vinegar and spitting out whatever she could, she explained to me, "I drink milk, I drink juice, I drink water. I do not drink this, it is disgusting." She said it very politely and calmly but I knew she meant business. I don't know what I tried getting her to drink it, I hated when my mom would make this for us.

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Sienna trying to avoid having to drink anymore offered it to Sadie and tried to convince Sadie that she would like it. Sadie didn't mind nearly as much as Sienna but she also didn't continue drinking it.

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Speaking of Sadie, she is growing up and changing so much every day. I think everyone is going to be blown away at the different things that she can say. Our favorite thing that she says is, "may I peas habit?" It is hilarious. The girls also learned something fun in nursery that Sadie does several times a day. They learned to say, "Enos when into the forest (while waving their hands in the air) to pray (then quickly folding their arms). Now every time we are about to pray Sadie starts to wave her hands saying Enos and then folds her arms. We have to do the actions about 5 times before we can say the prayer because the girls have so much fun doing it. They also love singing, Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam while sitting on our laps so we can bounce them really high.

Just Because We're Sick

...doesn't mean we can't make messes

...doesn't mean we can't be happy

...doesn't mean we can't be cute

...and it doesn't mean we can't play our favorite games.

"PANTIES"

After Sadie's nap yesterday I held up a diaper and some undies and asked which one she wanted to wear. She was so excited and said, "PANTIES." She surprised me and stayed dry all morning. Later in the afternoon I put her in undies again and she had an accident in the toy room but didn't care... I only found out about it because Sienna said, "Mom, I didn't have an accident but I 'kneeled' down and my knee got wet." Sure enough, I went in to find Sadie sitting in a little puddle playing with her toys.

Although I think Sadie will be easy to potty train, I don't think I want to start now. Sienna was potty trained very young and never had accidents when we were out and about and I think Sadie will do well too, but it isn't something I want to worry about right now. Sometimes it is easier to change a diaper than have to take a toddler potty in a gross restroom. I think we'll start after Disney World next month, that sounds like a good plan for the moment.