Gilbert Temple Open House - a joy!

My beautiful friend Nicole and me at the temple.
I invited a special friend to attend the Gilbert Temple Open House, and she graciously accepted the invitation! (An "open house" is an opportunity for the public to tour the temple before it is dedicated.) We had a marvelous time! The temple was absolutely stunning. Then Mike drove up to the temple with her husband (they are friends too) and Aaron the following weekend. The three of them had a great time, as well. The Gilbert Temple is breathtaking!!

I asked Aaron if he could tell me a little about his experience at the temple. He said: I felt warm inside when I was watching the video. (They showed a beautiful video, giving some background on temples and the church, before the temple tour.) Then Aaron and I talked about how those feelings help us to know that what we are hearing is true. He said his favorite part of the temple was the baptismal font surrounded by oxen.

We are so grateful that our friends could experience the temple with us, a place so meaningful and special to us. It was truly a wonderful experience. It is true how we are promised great joy as we share the Gospel. I am so grateful we have such good friends with such good hearts. We love them!

Aaron looking snazzy before heading up to the temple.

Like father, like son

Aaron has a keen interest in all things Scouts. He is especially fond of the shirt he is donning, which was Mike's shirt when he was a boy! Mike is wearing his father's shirt, so I guess we've come full circle.

A girl and her mommy

I love having a daughter! So fun. I told Mike this morning that I wish Sami could stay this age forever. She is at such an adorable age and size. She handed me her shoe the other morning, wanting me to put it on her. She loooves being outside; it completely transforms her mood. She is super fun and sweet. It's so fun to see how excited she gets to see her brothers and daddy (who called Sami his "sweetheart.")

Next time we will try to get a pic without her closing her eyes :)

Storytime?

Mike and Grant were supposed to be reading a book together. When I walked back into the living room, this is how I found them. Can't blame them! ;)

Quirks

We all have them. One of Sami's funny habits is that she likes to have the same food item in each hand. We have seen it most often with graham crackers, although she likes an apple in each hand too, apparently!

Live Nativity (backtracking a little!)

My parents came for Christmas, which was a lot of fun! While they were here, two families from church came over so all of our kids could do a live nativity. It was a friend's idea, and we had it at our house. It was so fun! My parents were very good sports about it and very helpful! What made it even more special is that my siblings and I grew up doing a live nativity each year with another family. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of Christmas Eve and acting out the birth of Jesus. So it was fun for my parents to see the tradition continue :) Afterward we served cookies and hot chocolate. The kids had a great time, and it really brought home the true meaning of Christmas.

Here are a few pics from the fun night:

Grant was a shepard.

 

Aaron was Joseph, and his friend Lydia was Mary. Aaron even had a headpiece and band from Egypt (given by a friend.)

Cute girls.

A stuffed animal was baby Jesus.

The stuff that love is made of

It's hard to put into words just how much moms love their children. My time with my children is more precious than anything else, and I'm just so thankful for each of them. Some days are fully chaotic, but I always go to bed happy. I feel so blessed. Our kids are all so different, but we all seem to mesh together well (most days) ;) What a blessing it is to be a mother! I couldn't ask for anything more. I love them so much!

 

I love how Grant crawled into bed with us last night because he was scared. I love how Sami is so happy to see daddy when he gets home from work (mostly because I get a break for a minute.) :) I love how Aaron is so curious about life and wants to be a good missionary at 6 years of age. I even love his obsession with costumes, badges, and maps. I love their sweet, sincere prayers and how they love learning about Jesus and Heavenly Father. I love their simple faith and how they want me to sing to them each night before bed (Mike thinks it's just a stalling tactic; I like to think they really like it.) :) I love their snuggles and cuddling up to read books together. I love our family dance parties--Grant's obsession. I love family bike rides. I love how Aaron wants me to volunteer at his school (I know that won't last forever.) I love how the boys recognize that they feel good inside when they are kind and good to others. We are far from perfect, but I am grateful we have this learning ground to grow and progress together. I'm grateful we have each other to help through the trials of life. I am grateful for the joy we share on a daily basis, how we can laugh together. Hopefully we are all better because of each other (I know I am better because of Mike.) The beauty of a family is that we can learn and grow together in love and offer unconditional support, despite our weaknesses and many imperfections. I love the quote "We may not have it all together, but together we have it all." So true! Now if we could just get through a day without any sibling disputes! ;-)

Recent photos of the kiddos

Here they are .... my pride and joy, the ones that keep me busy all day long. This photo shoot was mostly for Sami (since she recently turned 1,) but we wanted a few of the boys too. Sami is our sweet princess, and her brothers adore her! I love my kids so much and am so thankful for them!

 

Answers to Prayer

I love how much Heavenly Father loves us! I love how He is so quick to answer my prayers about our children; it helps me know how important this calling is and how much He loves them, too. One such prayer was when I was praying to know what activity or sport we could put Aaron in to help him to excel and gain self-esteem. The thought "piano" instantly came into my mind. We found a wonderful teacher, and Aaron seems to have found his niche. I can't believe how well Heavenly Father knows every single one of us.

Another such experience was when Sami had a clogged tear duct. She was well past six months old, and we were close to making an appointment for her to go under general anesthesia and have a procedure done on her eye that was quite risky. Anyway, before the return appointment I said a prayer and pled with Heavenly Father that her eye would please heal. I instantly had a calm feeling that her eye would clear by the time she turned one ... and it did! At her nine-month well-baby appointment, I told the pediatrician that I wanted to wait until she was one before I took her in for the surgery (knowing and hoping that it would clear up before then.) The pediatrician said something like, "Okay, but as soon as she's one you need to take her in." It totally cleared up before we needed to do that. What a blessing.

I have received other answers through prayer that have helped me know how to most effectively teach our children the Gospel. I love that we can have a personal relationship with God. I know that He knows us each individually. He knows our names, our likes and our dislikes, our thoughts. He knows how to bless us in ways that make it so obvious that He is 100 % aware of us and our thoughts and our circumstances. I am blown away by how merciful, kind, patient, and loving Heavenly Father is. He knows everything! What a blessing and comfort to know that we can communicate anytime with someone so powerful and wise and all-knowing, just through a simple prayer. I know that He is always there.

Oh, another experience! Sami had outgrown almost all of her 12-month size clothes. I basically needed to buy an entire 18-month wardrobe for her (a big expense.) I never said a prayer about it, but I learned that Heavenly Father often blesses us through other people. Several days after realizing I needed to buy her a whole new wardrobe, there was a knock at the door. A kind woman from our church dropped off a huge bag of 18-month clothes for Sami. There is no way that she could have known that Sami needed those clothes other than just having the feeling that she needed to give them to us. Blessings! :)

I am so very thankful for my role as a mother. It is so hard and exhausting at times (okay most of the time,) but there is nothing better or more important that I could be doing right now ... or ever! I am enjoying it immensely! I am so thankful that, because of prayer, I can best know how to raise these sweet children and help them to succeed and be happy. I would know no greater joy.