Brady's 7th Birthday

Our little boy is 7, can you believe that?!  It seems like we just barely brought him home and embarked on the new journey of parenthood!  Brady has been a blessing in our lives.  He is a very smart, special boy who always has questions, can debate you nearly to the death and who loves to play!  I can't wait to see what this next year will bring in his growth as a person as he develops and continues to learn!

For Brady's birthday this year we went out to the Pizza Pie Cafe, his favorite restuarant.  I was sick with the flu AGAIN this year so luckily I was better once the weekend hit, but we rescheduled his party for the following week.

I wanted to make a special breakfast for the birthday boy, but since it was fast Sunday I didn't want to make a large breakfast.  I've also been trying to make healtheir choices with our food so I thought I'd make the kids up a fruit and yogurt breakfast.

I spelled out the number "7" for Brady's and did a smiley face for Olivia's so she could feel special too.

Later that afternoon we went to our cousins, Ben and Rachel's for the Super Bowl.  Zach and Chris were decked out to support the Patriots (but we won't talk about how that ended...)

3 months.

This post is WAY behind. In fact. Zach is almost 4 months now.

Most of the time he can be seen gnawing on his fingers or fist.  Occassionally he'll chew on a stuffed animal or his blanket.  It's pretty cute and it keeps him happy!  He is not a big binkie baby.  He'll take it when he's really tired and needs a little nudge to fall asleep.  This was how Brady was.  At four months Brady gave up his binkie- so we'll see how things go with Zach.

He has gotten SO big!!  He looks way older to me than three months in this picture below!  He is wearing almost all 6 month old clothes too!  He's not chubby, just big!  He weighed 15.4 lbs. at 3 months!!!

He still likes his swing and hangs out in there for a couple of hours in the afternoon for his long nap and usually for a bit just before going to bed at night.  We love this boy!!!

All or Nothing.

So, I am a pretty lucky girl.  I have some truly great friends.  Really, I don't think that I could ask for better.  One of these friends, Rachel and I were talking last week about life changes and goals I've been working on.  I expressed to her how challenging it is to make some of these changes and she reminded me that it doesn't have to be "ALL or NOTHING!"  I am a bit of a perfectionist (no secret for those of you who know me well!!!)  So often times I do take on the attitude of all or nothing.  This was such a good reminder to me that as long as I'm doing my best and making an effort, that is sufficient.  I don't have to be perfect, and just because I'm not, doesn't mean I have to call it quits and just do nothing! 

One of my feelings of frustration is that I never have the time to accomplish everything I want to. 

Today in my reading I in "Daughters in My Kingdom," I was reminded about the most important things to accomplish...an excerpt from Eliza R. Snow:

"God bless you my sisters, and encourage you, that you may be filled with light...Let your first business be to perform your duties at home.  But, inasmuch as you are wise stewards, you will find time for social duties, because these are incumbent upon us as duaghters and mothers in Zion.  By seeking to perform every duty you will find that your capacity will increase, and you will be astonished at what you can accomplish."

I have found this to be true!  If I focus on my family and our home first then all other things fall into place, especially if I am constant in reading my scriptures and praying to the Father for his guidance and assistance!

Sometimes I get down that I am not able to make all of the things I want to (craftiness is an outlet/hobby).  I was reading my friend Katies' blog the other day and she was expressing this same feeling.  She then turned it around by proclaiming that she realizes that her home around her hasn't changed much during the past several months from projects she's been doing to beautify, BUT she has another project that has occupied her time and has made more of a difference in their home than any decorating or organizing she could have done!  You see, she had a sweet little baby girl several months ago!  This really changed my perspective.  No matter what I am able or not able to accomplish from my list of To Do's I have three constant reminders of what really matters.  My true accomplishments are my dear children who I have MADE with my husband and my Father in Heaven!

So here are my TRUE ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

Patterns for Prayer and Forgiveness:

1 Nephi 7: 17-18  Nephi is in the wilderness with his brothers and Ishmaels' family.  His brothers and several of Ishmaels' children turn against Nephi and bind him, seeking to leave him in the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts:

But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, "according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound."  And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosened from off my hands and feet, and I stood before my brethren..."

It struck me as I read this how plainly and faithfully Nephi prayed to God.  He was direct and told the Lord exactly what he needed of him.  God did not answer Nephi in the same manner as Nephi had requested (give me strength that I might break these bands) but yet, he answered his prayer by loosening the bands that they fell off! We do not always get an answer exactly as we have asked for it, but we must look to see how God has answered our prayers in HIS WAY and in HIS TIME.

vs: 21:  And it came to pass that I did frankly forgive them all that they had done, and I did exhort them that they would pray unto the Lord their God for forgiveness...

How quick are we to forgive?  What are we forgiving others for?  Nephi forgave his brothers right away for trying to take away his life!  We have NO EXCUSE not to forgive others, and to do so before the feelings of hurt fester within us to the point that we are not able to forgive.  Once we forgive someone of a tresspass that they have done against us, it is just as important to leave it there and not bring it back up to use against the person.  It is crucial to develop a healthy relationship to move forward and not linger on the hurt.  True forgiveness doesn't forget (we are human), but it allows oneself to move onward.

Remember, the Lord forgives us of ALL our sins when we ask for his mercy.  It is our responsibility to afford others the same grace.  If we do not then we are not worthy to ask Christ to absolve us of our wrong-doing. 

Seek to improve your relationships.  I know I have relationships that I need to mend and strive harder in.  No feud is important enough for the loss of love, especially involving families who are sealed for time AND eternity IF we live up to our covenants.

Self-reliance.

I am really, really loving this book, "Daughters in My Kingdom!"  It is so much more than what I thought it would be and what i'm really so coincides with my current goals and aspirations!  One thing I've been working on (and more realistically, thinking about) for a long time is self-reliance and preparedness.  I tend to get a little overwhelmed when taking on a big project like establishing a one-year food supply and want to do it all in one fell swoop.  It is very hard for me to take something on little by little.  Perhaps that is why weight-loss has been such a difficult journey in my life.  I just want to see the results I envision immediately =)

This past year I have been working much harder on establishing our storage and have made some "dents."  I have established small goals each month for specific items to store.  This summer we got our water storage (although I do intend on getting another 55 gallon water barrel).  We have also gotten our stores of:  honey, 1/2 the wheat, peaches, pears, green beans, corn, applesauce, tomato soup, pastas, jellys and jams, plums, apricots, salsa, relish, ketchup, paper towels, spices, powdered milk, chicken boullion.

I'll describe in more detail my food storage plan.  I am still trying to work out a few of the details and figure out how best to continue this pursuit.  I believe strongly that you should only store what you will use and use what you store so I am also trying to decide the best way for me to keep track of what we need to buy to constantly keep our storage rotated and stocked.

Anyhow, I kind of got off track.  What I really want to write down were my thoughts from this mornings' study.  What first spoke to me was the truthfullness of this quote by President Joseph Smith:

"Search the scriptures- search revelations which we publish, and ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, to manifest the truth unto you, and if you do it with an eye single to His glory, nothing doubting, He will answer you by the power of His Holy Spirit.  You will then know for yourselves and not for another.  You will then NOT be dependent on man for the knowledge of God."

This is such a powerful truth of the gospel!  This same principle can be applied in our daily lives for important decisions we make about principles the gospel is founded on such as the Word of Wisdom and self-reliance.

No man can make a decision for another and force their hand, we each need to find the truth for ourselves and what fits us in our lives the best.  I am so grateful for the knowledge that I can pray and find answers for myself.  I need not rely on the wisdom {or ways} of others, but can gain that wisdom for myself!!!

I have felt strongly the importance of becomming as self-reliant as possible.  This chapter goes into detail about the women in the church when the Salt Lake Valley was being established.  They were asked to grow/find, harvest and store grain, as well as raising their own silk worms to spin silk!!! These were actual callings given to the women  that they faithfully carried out.  The wheat, in particular, served them well during times of great need and they were also able to help others around the world with this wheat when natural disasters occurred.  The point is, as we've been told, time and time again, we can not know what is in our future, nor the future of the world around us.  We must be prepared and then we shall not fear!!!

I loved how simply the principle of self-reliance was broken down for us on pg. 51:

Becoming Self-Reliant:

• Learn to love work and to avoid idleness
• Acquire a spirit of self-sacrifice
• Accept personal responsibility for health, education, employment, finances, food, and other self-sustaining necessities
• Pray for faith and courage to meet challenges that come
• Strengthen others who need assistance

I know that we can follow the admonition of the prophets.  I wish more people felt so strongly the urgency to store up, share with others, work hard, teach and look forward with faith!  So many are paralyzed by fear of the future and the unknown that they do nothing at all.  Don't be fearful but take courage!  Join me in taking small steps toward big goals and please share any ideas you have of organizing a system for gathering and storing your supply!

Some thoughts.

THE FOOD YOU EAT CAN EITHER BE THE  
           
    SAFEST          

&

MOST POWERFUL FORM OF MEDICINE

OR

THE SLOWEST FORM OF POISON

~ann wigmore (source: Pinterest)

I want to share a few thoughts from my study in "Daughters in My Kingdom."  On page 45 it reads:

"President Brigham Young taught his daughters to 'retrench in everything that is bad and worthless, and improve in everything that is good and beautiful.'  To retrench is to remove something...when President Young counseled his daughters to rentrench, he meant for them to turn from worldy, frivolous, and immodest behavior and clothing....he counseled the Saints to forsake the ways of the world...and gave practical counsel that related to matters of daily living.  He encouraged frugality and hard work.  For example, he counseled the sisters in Relief Society to reform their eating and housekeeping patterns.  Retrenchment meant more than adopting a simpler lifestyle; it meant a change of heart."

This quote from a prophet of over 100 years ago reconfirmed to me that truth does not change.  The world may change around us but God's expectations for his daughters stays the same (as is does for all his children of course).  I feel the great desire to turn from things that have no worth in my life and focus on what does have worth and will have lasting value in heaven.  I want to give my family good health as God intended with the use of the beautiful, whole foods he provided us with.  I want to nourish them with love and spiritual feeding and to be an example of service and love for others.

Yesterday we had our Visiting Teaching Conference during Relief Society and I came away with the great desire to truly administer to those who I have been given stewardship over as a visiting teacher, and also to others that I see in need.  My family has been given so much.  When I take a step back from all of my "wants" I realize how little we truly want for.  I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ that teaches me to think of others.  It teaches me to act upon my intuituion and to stay near to the Spirit so that he can guide me to those in need.

Also in "Daughters in My Kingdom"  the words from Lucy Meserve Smith:

"What comes next for willing hands to do?" (pg.37)

I pray that I can be an instrument for good in God's hands.  That I can stand as a witness and example of the charity of Christ.  I will make it a goal to be on watch for the needs of others and to lift another's burden.  I know from past experience that it is through serving others and forgetting myself that I find true happiness.  This includes serving my children and husband as I keep my eyes open to the simple joys within our home:  snuggling a sweet baby at 2:00 a.m., kissing a boo-boo, singing bed time songs, laughter, tender embraces, butterfly kisses and so on...  Each day there is joy to be found if I simply look around.

I mentioned in a previous post that I got together with a good friend of mine a few weeks ago.  If you're friends with me then it's not secret that I've struggled with my weight most of my life, especially after having babies!  My friend, Melody inspired me when we got together (as she often does!)  We talked a lot about health and lifestyle changes and I realized that I need to stop making excuses and do the things that are hard that will change what I don't like (physically) about myself.  I also expect that in making these changes I'll probably also notice changes within myself.

So, I am trying to become more accountable, and in so doing I'm going to be a little more open about my private matters on my blog.  This is something I haven't really done before and I've resisted.  Mainly because I don't like putting myself out there.  BUT, over the last several months in particular I have realized how much it helps me when I read my dearest friends' blogs as they put themselves "out there."  Many times is has been through their experiences that they share that I have felt such a connection with them, felt so lucky to have them as friends and felt confirmation that the things that I FEEL and I want to change are good and right.

Last week I started my simplified version of making some healthy changes.  I have tried and tried and tried again, but always have given up in the past. I don't want to be a quitter and I  DO want to change.  So, in order to be more successful I am putting on less pressure and making mini-goals on a daily basis that I am challenging myself to keep.  For each of these mini-goals that I accomplish throughout the day I am rewarding myself with 25 cents.  Silly?  Maybe.  But, at any rate I will be able to see how well I'm doing with a visual of coins in a jar on the counter.  And, when I reach my goal I'll have saved up a bit of money to buy myself some much needed clothes.

My goals:

-Drink 12 cups of water a day (3 liters) (This is harder than you'd think!)

-Eat 5 small meals a day (This is suprisingly difficult as I often forget to eat throughout the day as I'm busy doing other things...then I eat too much at a given meal...)

-Eat WHOLE foods and pair carbohydrates (including fruit) with protein so my body can process it better.  This has been going well.  It forces me to think of healthy and whole food options.  I am phasing out WHITE in our house, much to the chagrin of my other family members.  I keep telling them that SOMEDAY they WILL thank me!  Chris has been a good sport and has been trying VERY HARD to "like" what we are eating these days....this is going to take a LONG time for our family to adjust to!

-Go to bed by 10 p.m. (This has NOT been going well.  I have always enjoyed my night time hours and often will stay up into the wee hours of the morning, which does not make me a good mommy the next day! I have a hard time MAKING myself go to bed everynight when I am getting SO MUCH done and having ME time!  Any suggestions???

-Read my scriptures daily (this just needs to happen on a more regular basis.  If I do not do this first thing in the morning it just doesn't happen...)

-Exercise (OK.  Unlike a lot of people, I actually really like to exercise.  What I don't like to do is interupt other things I'm doing to exercise.  I used to get up at 4 every morning and go to spin class.  I LOVED it once I was there. I HATE, HATE, HATE getting up early.  It just isn't right!  Especially when you're waking up several times a night with babies and small children!  I have yet to get down a good routine for this since becoming pregnant for Zach.  I REALLY need to get this one going...)

Aside from being unsuccessful in several of these areas I did lose 3.4 lbs. last week!  I just measured myself in all {scary} areas on Sunday night and now I'll be tracking my measurements as well.  I have visions of one day fiiting into a bathing suit and not scaring all of the small children! =)

But seriously, I mainly want to become fit and healthy.  I came to terms a few years ago with the fact that I will never have beautiful long legs, or any long appendages for that matter!  I am built the way that I am built, but I can look the best that my body can and feel good about that.  I want to be an example of health and confidence for my children and I want to help instill in them positive eating and fitness habits!

Thanks for bearing with me, and stay tuned for updates on my journey to health!

{UPDATE!!!}  Since I wrote this post I have lost another 4.8 lbs!!!!

Total weight lost:  9 lbs !!!

Baby Shower for my cousin Rachel!!!

My cousin Rachel is due for her first baby in the next few weeks and I couldn't let her have that baby without throwing the best baby shower that I could for her first!!!  Baby girl Hubbard we can't wait to meet you!!!

My Aunt Donna is Rachel's mother-in-law, as Rachel is married to my cousin, Ben!  Donna and my cousin Megan came down a few days before the shower to help me with all of the preparations!  It was supposed to be a suprise shower but word got leaked out!!!  Thanks for being a good sport Rach and pretending to be suprised anyway!!!

Rachel and her mom, Karen with Rachel's nephew

Our cousin Ashley came down from Montana too to join the party!!!  She got Rachel this adorable outfit!!!

This cute little crocheted hat and outfit were from Donna and Megan along with baby shampoo, lotion and another gift on it's way after baby is born!!!

I made a dozen burp cloths for Rachel out of scrap fabrics that I got from her that were leftover from projects that she'd done in the baby's room!

Megan helped me make the "poofs" hanging from the ceiling and I got the idea for the doiley garlands and the tutu table skirt off of Pinterest =)  I thought everything came out really pretty and I can re-use the decorations for Olivia's princess birthday party this summer and other baby showers I may throw in the future!

We served little cucumber sandwiches, chicken salad and egg salad in croissants, chips and homemade salsa (by Donna), veggies and dip, fruit and pink lemonade!

The centerpiece for the table was a diaper cake I made as another gift for Rachel:

And for dessert we had cupcakes and cake pops!  My sister-in-law got our family a cake pop pan for Christmas and I knew right away what I was going to use it for the first time!!  Megan helped me out a ton with these and she also decorated the cupcakes!  She did a great job!  Olivia helped with all of the sprinkles!

When I ran out of cake pop sticks but not batter we just made a bunch of "donut holes!"

It was really fun and I thought everything came together so nicely!  Donna was in charge of games as we had some people stumped with the "Candy Game," "Fill in the Nursery Rhyme" and "Mother ________."  We also played a funny competitive game between Rachel and her mother where we dumped out a laundry basket of socks that had been jumbled up to see who could get the most socks matched. 

Another hilarious game was a baby food game where we paired up into teams; one person as the mommy and the other as the baby.  The mommy had to feed her baby an entire container of baby food and who ever finished first won!!!  Ashley and I were partners and we almost won!  Banana baby food is good but don't try eating it too fast, it doesn't go down as smooth as it is and let's just say we almost had a few people lose their lunch!!!

Thanks to everyone who helped out and who came to show their support for Ben and Rachel and their baby girl who we just can't wait to meet!

Later that night we had fun going out to Rumbi Grill and watching the football game with Ashley, Zo and Rajon that night!  Thanks for coming to visit!!!

Hanging out with the Daniels.

Our good friend, Melody came to visit us a few weeks ago with her cute little kiddos: Emma, Maddi and Briggs (4 months!)  My kids have missed her and her kids because she used to watch them several days a week when I was working.  These kiddos were practically brothers and sisters!  It was so fun to see them re-aqcuaint themselves and see how protective Brady was of Emma and Maddi when we were playing at the indoor playground at Arctic Circle!

Thanks for coming to see us Melody!  We can't wait to get together again soon!!!

SILLY KIDS!!!

Zach and Briggs- new buddies!!!

FHE- January

One of my New Year's goals this year was to have Family Home Evening (FHE) EVERY week!  This has been something that I have not been good at doing.  I have never been consistent with it and I knew that I needed to get my act together!  The first Monday in the new year we sat down for FHE and talked all about New Year's resolutions and what they mean.  Everyone in our family came up with their own goals that they felt would be important to work on and we will be reminded on the first Monday of each month what those goals are and see how we're doing on them!

We're also doing one night of service, one night of family history, one night of fun and one night learning about the prophet, George Albert Smith, as he is the prophet that we are studying this year at church!

For our first night of service we chose to serve our Bishop! His birthday was that night so we made him an ice cream sundae with a note that read: "Thankyou Bishop for giving all of your Sundays to everyone in the ward!  Here is a 'Sundae' just for you!"

The kids drew him these pictures (isn't Brady's picture HILARIOUS???!!!) and then we drove the sundae and the pictures over to his house and wished him a happy birthday!  It made us all feel reallt good to recognize him in this way for all that he does for our family and the ward family and it really took him by suprise as well!!!

When we got home we each had sundaes of our own!!!

Other activities we did:

-For Family History night: We wrote letters to all of the grandparents asking them questions that Brady and Olivia wanted to know about them!  We are excited to receive some letters back! 

other Desserts we've tried:

-Roasted pineapple with whipped cream

-Fruity Pebbles rice krispie treats

-Chocolate chip banana muffins

I'm really proud that we had FHE every Monday night this month!!!  I can't wait to have more family fun in February!

Jesus Wants Me For a SUNBEAM!!!!

Here's the cutest little Sunbeam around these parts!  Olivia was SO ECXITED to join the primary and loves to go every Sunday.  She loves her teacher, Sister Havens and sings all the new songs they learn.  She tries to teach me the words and tells me that I need to learn them so I can sing them to her at night!!!

Here's a few other things she's been up to lately:

Practicing writing her name in salt!!!! 

(She has the "O-l-i-i" down, just needs a little help on the "v, a!")

We've been trying to get to the open gym at the rec center once a week to play with friends and get our wiggles out!  This is Tevan, one of Olivia's little friends from church!!!

Sun Valley fun

On New Year's Day we got a suprising and exciting email from Mom and Dad Graf!  They told us that they had purchased a second home in Hailey, just outside of Sun Valley, Idaho!  Their plan is to retire in several years up to that area and for now we'll all just enjoy as much vacation time up there as we can!!!  CONGRATULATIONS mom and dad!!! 

We were so excited to see their new place and we had one more available weekend for the winter before Brady started basketball so we met mom and dad up in Hailey for a short weekend get away!  Their new place is part of a new community called Sweetwater that boasts such amenities as a theater room, a pool, hot tub, splach pad for the kids, walking and biking trails and a gym!  It has great views of the mountains and their unit is brand new complete with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and a gas fireplace!

We got up there late on Friday night and settled in and then we had a blast sledding the next day!  There was just enough snow on this one hill that was perfect for the kids!

Even little guy Zach joined us outside for the fun!!! 

He was all bundled up snug as a bug and slept the whole time!!!

We had lots of races!!!

B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!!

Later that night we had some nice hot dinner and toasted with some sparkeling cider before hitting the trail home!  Many more fun times to come, we're sure!!!