Follow the Prophet

Symi has been packing around our April 2014 Ensign for the last few days. She keeps asking me about a prophet. 

Is he real? Does he have a family? Does he have hands? Why does he smile? Where is his favorite temple? Will I ever get to meet him? When can she teach a lesson on the Prophet.  

Tonight we graced her with the opportunity to teach us this exact article for Family Home Evening.   The kids were wild and crazy, but she took a quiet moment to tell me thank you for letting her do that. She has loved on the article so much that the pages are tattered and nearly torn out. 

She loves President Thomas S. Monson. 

I love to see the Temple!

I told them to pick their favorite flower and we'd take a picture. Jayden picked a "spiky green flower". 

Symi loved each tiny baby flower. These small pink ones won her heart!

They are standing by my favorite flower. Tulips!

We love to visit the temple. Dane and Ben stayed in the car while the other two kids and I braved the rain. We stopped breifly to smell the tulips. I just love tulips! The kids got to see a squirrel and see the water fall too. It was nice to be at the temple even in the cold rain. Symi told me that she wants to be a princess someday and go to the temple. I told her that would be wonderful and I will be there with her!  

While Ben and Dane were in the car they got to scare another squirrel to death and were still giggling about it when we had arrived back at the car. 

Our lives are so richly blessed and good. 

Being with GG

The kids got to spend time with GG while Dane and I attended the temple. They love being with her and are always excited when we tell them we are going to see GG!!

Ben with GG. 

Symi asked me if I would take a picture of her with the "beautiful baby". I told her to get GG and we'd get a picture with all of them together. I think every grand daughter has LOVED the beautiful blue baby!  We need patterns so that some day we can each have our own "beautiful baby" to remind us of our GG. 

Busy Jayden with GG. 

A picture of 4 wonderful people that I love so dearly. 

Grandpa

Symi knew what she wanted as soon as she saw her Grandpa. She was talking about sitting on him for days before we went. I wasn't sure what she was talking about, she reassured me that she would show me. :0)

Here are the boys just wanting to be near him too. 

Box Falls

Spring Break at Museum

Climbing in the clouds. 

Wind blown. 

Playing in the water. 

Making natural energy. 

Making camp fire biscuts. 

Coloring on the wall. 

A "Paint" brush horse. 

Spring is Here

Spring has started to show up all over.  

Daffodils, budding trees, spring rain, sometimes spring snow, sunshine, followed by warm sun spots, birds chirping, and of course one of my favorites I'm watching a robin build a nest right outside my new kitchen window.  Sure helps pass the time doing dishes as I watch the happy couple wiggle around in their new home trying to shape it into what they hope it will become for their chicks.

 Here's our recent list of events:

1. Jayden's poor ears didn't get better.  He ended up getting a bulging ear drum and was pretty miserable for almost 2 weeks.
2. Spent our Spring Break in Nevada with my parents.  Such a breathe of fresh air!
3. Enjoyed driving for many hours, (best trip yet with kids) 
(I think we may have finally found our traveling rhythm) making sugar cookies with Grandma JoDee, hiking with Grandpa Bryan, touring the tanks, watching blossoms in bloom, going to church with Grandparents, visited the Discovery Museum,helping Grandpa build a chicken coop, and driving home for several hours. (still good kids!)
4. Came home to no power and realizing that we'd paid the wrong power bill.  Fridge food and freezer food, GONE.  Large chest freezer still did ok.
5. Stayed a night at the bishops house, too cold to stay at ours.  Until further arrangements could be made to restore our power.  We are blessed to have such caring and loving people all around us.
6. Power came back on!  Excited to finally be home!
7. Symi got a cold and it turned bad.  She ended up in the urgent care with what we thought was Strep Throat.  She was so sick with fevers, chills, aches, and sore throat.  Strep test came back as negative.  Doubled checked her throat and she had developed ulcers all down her esophagus from the cold symptoms and drainage down her throat. 
8. Pain meds, liquid diet, and rest.  Lots of movies, books,  coloring books, hold me please Mommy, and no naps. Took her over 10 days to get over just a simple cold.
9. Took our boy cat to the vet to be "fixed".
10. Questions came from Ben about "Why we were doing that?" and "How do cat's make babies?"  
11. Spent a beautiful moment explaining to him about sex.  (Been worried about this heart to heart talk for his whole life.  And it went so well. I'm grateful for the inspiration that came with my simple heartfelt prayer to Heavenly Father that I could teach him the correct principles, doctrines, and truths.  With the beauty that he intended it to have and be.)
11. I got sick.  Now I know why Symi was so miserable!?
12. Thank goodness for General Conference Weekend!  It allowed me to take a break from my calling and rest.
13. My heart is full from a heart to heart talk with my Hubby about many things that have been tugging us apart.  Many messages shared help to soothe our tender feelings and help us to strive to help and heal each other.  I feel like we have both got back onto the same track and are striving to work together.  We'll see what tomorrow brings!
14. Looking forward to our little Easter Celebrations this week.  Both family traditions (aka: coloring eggs, getting an Easter Basket with goodies, hiding eggs, finding eggs, and yummy food!) on Saturday, and remembering our Savior and his sacrifice on Easter Sunday (we have a special activity that we do every year with Easter Eggs and scriptures.  Each egg is filled with a small symbol of the scripture read. Our kids LOVE this!)