Sanctify Yourselves

      If you haven't checked out www.isidewith.com/ it is a website that has a quiz that you can take and it will tell you which presidential candidate has beliefs closest to yours. You can also see what all the candidates  believe and it's a good way to become more informed on the current political issues. At the end of the quiz it shows you where you align because of the answers you put. One of the scales showed whether you are traditional or progressive and it gave a description of what that means. On mine it says, "You believe we should live in a civilized nation with traditional morals and values." It really struck me and made me deeply sad that people are turning away from God. 

      We are letting selfishness and violence overrun our hearts and our country. I don't understand how people can forget about God or deny the existence of God. More than ever, I want to teach my girls about God and how He is a loving Father and He wants to see us succeed and learn and grow. I want to teach my girls to respect everyone and be humble and forgiving and to listen to those around them, and their stories. I want my girls to be steadfast and follow God's commandments so they can recognize God in their lives and have His light. I want them to be virtuous and clean and be above the evil that is in the world.

This morning as a family we watched this little video and it made me so grateful for the knowledge that Jake and I have of God and that we are blessed with His power on earth. I'm so grateful for a husband who has chosen and who chooses every day to follow God and to be clean. It's such a blessing and a protection to our family that we are blessed with God's power in OUR HOME. So now more than ever I want to focus on teaching my little ones about God, I may not be able to change the world but I can sure change the future of my little girls and their future families.

Fatherhood

So I know that this is a little late because father's day was a few weeks ago, but it's never too late to celebrate fatherhood. I've been thinking a lot about it and specifically Jake's role in our little family. I'm so incredibly blessed to have found a man that has the desire to have a family and be an active role in our girl's lives. A lot of people today are left without fathers and might not even know what a father is because they have never had one in their life. That breaks my heart and I'm so thankful for the knowledge of a loving God, who is our Father in heaven. He loves us and will listen to the quiet pleadings of our hearts and wants to bless and care for us.

I looked up the word "father" in the dictionary and it says, "a male parent or someone who exercises paternal care over another person." That is about as basic as you can get. Fathers are so much more than that and are desperately needed in our society. I'm worried about where we are headed today as a country because the role of men (and women) aren't being taken seriously and they are skewed.  The world teaches that a real man is dominant, forceful, indifferent, strong, and other characteristics that aren't in line with a loving patient man. Today in my church we were discussing fatherhood and the need and importance of fathers in our lives. One of the leaders of our church said this about fathers, "To praise and encourage fatherhood and fathers is not to shame or discount anyone. I simply focus today on the good that men can do in the highest of masculine roles-husband and father." (Elder D. Todd Christoffereson) I love that we are taught that being a father and a husband is the highest masculine role. So today I wanted to just let my sweet husband know that he's doing a great job being a husband and a dad. He brings stability, patience, love, fun, protection, and many other things that we would be lost without. I made this fun little video of him so we can look back on all the fun memories of his being a daddy.

This is just another video from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It focuses on fathers' and the role that they play in conjunction with our Father in Heaven. It's one of my favorite little videos and my girls and I watch it all the time.

We made it!

Well we officially survived the move across the country with 2 young toddlers! I don't ever want to do that again...at least for 3 years :). We miss our friends and family that we made out in Ohio but we are so excited for a fresh new start and new opportunities here in New Mexico.

We love where we live, one of our favorite things, is that we have a pool down the street from us. I sure hope that we get to go swimming at least once a week this summer! Aliyah does really well with the water and Kailey still needs a little convincing that it's fun.

We're right by the grocery store, the dentist, not too far from Jake's work, close to our church and only a few minutes away from the Albuquerque LDS temple. We couldn't have picked a better location and we feel so blessed in our new home. We've been enjoying the warm weather with walks and playing at the park and eating Popsicles! 

One thing that is very different out in the dry climate are the lizards! We see them all the time! Kailey loves bugs and lizards and I have to be careful and watch her because she will try and touch anything. Even if they look really scary! Right now we have ants all the time in our kitchen and the girls love to play with them and let them crawl on their arms and toes and they think it is so fun. But hey, it's a free toy and they'll spend forever playing with them.  Here is a video with Kailey trying to get close to a lizard!

Easter Sunday

Today I'm feeling so blessed. I'm so incredibly thankful for my sweet little family but more importantly I'm thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ who made it possible to be with my family for eternity! Even after death, such an amazing blessing and promise as long as we live worthy of it. We watched this video today to help Aliyah learn that we celebrate Easter because of Christ and because of His blessing and promise of all being resurrected.

 She loved watching movies about Jesus today. But more importantly I was wondering if she was learning anything. But then tonight in her prayer before bed she said, "Thank you that Jesus died for us and that He lived again and that we get to live again too." I about died, she gets it :) my mommy heart was about to burst with warmth and love after she said that. Jake and I are grateful for the knowledge that we have of Christ and for the gift of the scriptures that guide us in our decisions every day. And we are grateful to be able to raise our little girls with that knowledge and the blessings we see from choosing to follow Christ. 

Our little Easter dress models all ready for church!

Aliyah was pretending to be the Easter bunny 

     Here is some fun pictures of the girls from Saturday at their Easter egg hunts.

Kailey didn't like the Easter bunny

I hope that everyone has had a good holiday and got to enjoy some time with friends and family. So some other big news for our family is that we are moving across the country in about 3 weeks! We've got orders to move to Albuquerque New Mexico. We are so excited to be closer to family and for a new adventure but we will miss Ohio and all of the wonderful people that we have met. So here's to new adventures! Happy Easter Sunday :)

Winter Crazies!

Happy Valentines Day! The Sabbath day is such a fun day to celebrate love! Especially since we were able to go to church this morning and focus on and remember our Savior Jesus Christ. He loves us perfectly and we would be nothing without him.

So it's been a few months now with the cold weather and on top of that, Aliyah has been in the "not wanting to get dressed stage". So we haven't left our house very often and the girls have gotten a little crazy! So we've been trying to come up with fun activities to do that they won't get bored with (or that I won't get too bored with ) So I thought I would share some ideas and if you have any to share with me, please do!!

We really like to paint at our house but sometimes I really don't like to clean up the mess! So I let them paint with water on construction paper and they really like that too! Another thing we like to do is play with play dough (if you click on it, it will take you to the recipe that we use.) Seriously, this recipe is the best. It will last for months and it's really easy to make. 

I have been trying to let them help me cook (which has been trying my patience!) But they love it so much and if they are helping me, they aren't destroying another room in the house. With Kailey I usually just let her have a bowl and put a little flour or something in it and let her go crazy. But Aliyah is getting really good at helping me and following directions so it's been a really good learning experience for her. One of our favorite snacks that we make are "homemade ice cream sandwiches". All you do is smash up some banana and put it between two graham crackers and then you flash freeze them (stick them in the freezer on the cookie sheet like the picture above, you flash freeze them so they won't stick together in the bag.) for an hour or 2 then you can stick them in a freezer bag and pull out the snacks whenever you want them. You can add peanut butter to the banana but we usually just like it plain. But they are the perfect little snack, especially since Kailey is teething. 

So Jake was in charge of cooking dinner tonight and he chose to use the grill in the middle of a snowstorm. He's the best valentine that I could ever ask for! And I sure lucked out that he is such a stud. :) Hope everyone has a good Sabbath day!

"Just" a mom

Last night Jake and I were filling out paperwork and one of the questions asked about our professions. Jake is an officer for the United States Air Force and I am a homemaker. His job sounds pretty darn cool and mine looks pretty plain. When I saw it I immediately smiled, I absolutely love my job. But it's tough to be a stay at home parent. One such aspect being the perspective from the world. I had some flashbacks from a few conversations that I've had with people about my job as a homemaker. As soon as people find out that I'm a stay at home home, they ask what kind of work I'm doing from home. Do I babysit other kids? Do I sell something from home? Do I do ANYTHING other than "just" being a mom? Once they find out that I am "just" a mom, their next question is usually about my schooling? What did you study and how far along in school did you get?

 I feel like I need to explain my credentials and let them know that I am a cool and productive human being. Sheesh, as if being a full time parent isn't enough. I feel like the professional world and conversations like this often make me feel like I'm not noteworthy at all, I have no accomplishments, that I'm "just" a mom.

But let's be real. Being a parent (no matter the situation) is TOUGH work. We are in charge of tiny little human beings. We have to feed them and clothe them and teach them and play with them  and make sure they are clean and the list goes on an on. It's exhausting work. All too often unheralded work. There are a lot of times that I am so worn and torn that I want to throw in the towel and be done. Or times when I don't know how I'm going to get through the day because I am so emotionally or physically in tatters. Or even just days that I am so sick and tired of taking care of everybody else and I just want someone to take care of me! And I know that I'm not the only one. Just yesterday I read quite a few posts of other moms talking about how they are exhausted and at their breaking points. So to those mommies (or daddies), hang in there!

Times like this, there are a lot of things that get me through it. One in particular that brings me comfort every time is the knowledge that God is our loving Heavenly Father. He cares about us and our families and He wants to see us succeed. That being said, He can't take away all the hard times and sleepless nights but He can help sustain and give us the strength we need. I know He helps us because I have felt Him in my life.

One story from the New Testament that I love is found in Luke chapter 18 (Old King James version). Christ and His disciples were resting when a group of people came to talk with Him. It was some parents bringing their children to see Christ. The disciples tried to turn them away saying that the Savior needed to rest. But Christ's response was to "suffer the little child". He then spent time with them and blessed them. Can you imagine how incredible that would be!!? To have the Savior of the world visit and bless your children??! Well we can today, in a matter of speaking. We can ask for His strength and support in our lives and if we are teaching our children to keep the commandments and to follow God, we can have His blessing as well. It's such a weight off of my shoulders because of that knowledge. So if you are a mommy or daddy that needs some strength and peace right now, I'd encourage you to get on your knees and ask for it :) it works if we are willing to listen and follow the promptings that come.

This is a video that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) made that portrays the account of Christ with the children.

                          Just remember that you are loved and you are enough :)

Birthday Girls

I'm so lucky to be able to share my birthday with this little cutie!

What!!?? I have a 3 year old!? That blows my mind, it's gone way too fast for me to keep up with. When I sit and think about where my life is right now, I am just completely overwhelmed with gratitude. I'm married to such a hardworking stud who adores his 3 girls, I have a quirky smart beautiful now 3 year old girl, and the most fun loving little 19 month old ever. My family is my world, they are my everything. And we are so incredibly blessed with such a loving and supportive extended family and friends we consider family. Seriously guys, it's all about family!

Anyways, back to that little birthday girl! She is proving to be quite the little diva. I couldn't imagine our family without her. She can be so aggravating and then turn around and get me to laugh and smile with her. On thing that she loves to do right now is to go to the library.  We have such a nice one by us that does story time and has a whole floor set up for kids, it's a blast. She also LOVES to help cook, which is proving to be a lesson in patience for me! She is a little mini mom to Kailey and she just loves her little sister so much. I could go on an on about her, but I thought it would be more fun to hear it from her! We did this little interview with her and I want to start doing every year on her birthday now. We just asked her a few questions and the ending is hilarious when she talks about giving birth :) love her! Happy Birthday my sweet Aliyah!  

The thing that kills me about this video is that she says macaroni and cheese is her favorite food. She doesn't eat macaroni and cheese very well :) The part that she said that her and Kailey are the best of friends is true! They love each other so much and Kailey just adores Aliyah, she wants to be just like her and has to do everything that she does. I can't wait to see what's in these two little girls futures.