I love Him

Last night while I was praying I realized that I have a very strong testimony of the Resurrection. I know that Christ was raised from the dead and that He lives today.

He lives. He is not dead...He is a real living being who loves us and is aware of everything we're going through each day.

The opportunity to have a close relationship with him is there, but we need to WORK at it. I remember back on my mission and the close personal relationship I had with Him. I felt him near me each day as if He was walking right beside me holding my hand. I knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that He was REAL. I felt as if I could almost reach out and touch Him, He was that close to me.

If I want to have that again, I will need to work just as hard at my scripture study, prayers and serving others as I did back then.

It just made me think that I need to remember that He is really there each day...waiting for me to come unto Him. Just because I can't see Him does not mean that He is not a reality in my life.

I love him so much. I am so thankful for all that he has done for me. I feel so blessed to be have a knowledge of the Savior and to have tasted of the fruits of His Love, it is incredible, and it is better than any other love we will ever experience in this life.

4yrs too long.....

It feels SO good to be exercising again! growing up I was ALWAYS playing sports: running (starting at 6yrs old), swimming, soccer, softball, volleyball...you name it, I loved it! after highschool I really began to miss team sports....I kept working out by going to the gym and exercise classes......I even kept going until about 7mos into my pregnancy with Megan...but then I got too big and stopped.

Since then, my exercise days have become a distant memory.....

I have always done better when I've had a partner...you know,helps you stay motivated..So,
recently I put the word out there again and discovered 2 wonderful friends who ALSO want to get back in shape!

Honi, Erin and I have been running 4x/wk for 3wks now...it feels FANTASTIC!!! I can't tell you how great it feels to see some definition returning to my legs and to just know i'm taking care of my body and heart by doing some cardio:)

Erin and Honi are awesome!! they both have babies under 4mo's old and i'm sure they are SO tired b/c they are still up with their babies at night but they are such troopers!!

I think we make a great trio b/c we all motivate eachother to keep going. Last night we decided to add to our jogging by throwing in some all out sprints during our jog...we were BEAT by the end of it but it felt SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!

I love running....I forgot how much I love running.....

Oh...and I must say thank you to my wonderful husband for letting me get out every night at 8:30pm so I can do this. He is so sweet.

Anyway....Erin, Honi....you guys rock! thanks for keeping me motivated and being such awesome running partners...you both inspire me!!!

on a roll

Tooth number 5 is in:)
so cute.
will have to post pics later:)

what a HUGE day!!!!!!!!!!!

oh my gosh today was a Monumental day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where do I start? First of all, Rosie Fullmer was over having her makeup done for her Birthday ( happy Birthday Rosie!) so she can attest to all of this!!!!!!!
I'm NOT lieing and I'm NOT exaggerating and i'm seriously STILL in shock!
Let me preface this by saying that Erika is only 7.5mo's old and I was under the impression that most babies don't do these things til 9-10mo's.....atleast Megan didnt' and she was a pretty smart kid!

Okay here goes.....

1. Erika said "All done"...and I got it on video b/c i knew no one would believe me! after her bottle I took it and said you're all done and she said "Aahh duh"it was crazy~! Rosie was right there and was just as shocked as I was! At first we thought it was fluke but as I repeated it, she said it again and again !.
2. about 10min after that we clapped and she clappped!!!!!!!! she spent the next 4hrs clapping at everything! and I mean open handed PERFECT clap!

3. She said "Erika" about 15 times yesterday! she says it "Eeh-KA"! it is SO cute! but i'm astonished b/c this is VERY early for words and clapping! I'm thinking that fish oil really did work!(it's been proven to increase babies IQ).

4. after her refusing to go to bed ( and saying "aa duh" and "Eehka" and "dada") over and over again with a big proud smile, we put megan in there since she loves megan's voice. they laid in in their beds laughing back and forth and they actually BOTH fell asleep! i'm in shock!
this day was So overwhelming!!!!!!!!

It feels like Erika jsut totally grew up by 2mo's today...I was NOT prepared for the big things like this at all!!

anyway, HAD to share! i'm a proud mommy...not trying to boast, but still in disbelief...maybe she'll forget it all by tomorrow, but today was such a fun day!

Here's Erika in action clapping!! don't mind the lipstick....she got hold of a red lipstick and smeared it across her face before I could grab it! LOL

Tired of standing still

I have come to realize that we can come to a point in our lives where we are complacent in regards to where we stand spiritually. I have been at that point for sometime. Neither moving forward nor backward.
In Gospel Principles class at church yesterday, Danielle Logan gave a synopsis of the book she's reading by C.S Lewis "The Screwtape letters" in which Satan has a host of followers who try to deter people from their relationship with God. She spoke of how they try to break up the lines of communication with him...namely Prayer. He does this first by weakening our prayers with repetitive requests and statements, then they become less frequent and more and more less personal. I'm sad to say they have been quite successful in accomplishing this with me.
I have felt the gentle promptings of the spirit for years telling me I need to improve my prayers in order to be closer to My Heavenly Father.
So last night after the girls were in bed I watched "Special Witnesses of Christ". Then I went to my room to pray. I didn’t even know where to begin. It seemed such a struggle to break the silence and have my prayer be humble enough and sincere enough to penetrate the walls of my room and ascend to Heaven. It is not that Heavenly Father has not been listening all along but I have somehow been relying too much on my own strength. Last night I tried to release that belief and seek to have his help in my life and in regaining the strong personal relationship I miss so much.
It was the first time in years that I felt an embracing peace all around me and that my prayer had finally broken the mundane barrier I had created for myself.
There is so much more I want to BE as a mother, a wife, a friend, a sister, a daughter and I think this is the first step in becoming that person. I think I need to be personally taught and led by Him who is the author of all the good qualities I desire to have. And it is through the Atonement of Jesus Christ that I can start with a clean slate, which I am so thankful for. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father so much and I know They love me and have blessed me personally as well as my family. I’m so grateful for them in my life and I’m excited to embark on a new journey in coming to know them better.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from my missionary Journal by C.S Lewis

“Christ says, ‘Give me all. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. I want to have the whole tree down. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked-the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. Infact I will give you myself. My own will shall become yours’”.

Da da da......

So, first offthe monkey got her 2 top teeth!!! that is 4 total now.
And the big news is she says "da da"........figures.
This morning after I fed her....I'm looking lovingly into her eyes and what does she say to me?
"aaahhh....DA!....da...da da.." lol
sigh.
oh well.
I guess she'll be a daddy's girl. Steve is thrilled of course:)

my poor sick little girl.....

Little Miss Erika was REALLY sick last week...one night I was up with her til almost 6:30am ..it was horrid.....anyway, after that she started to sleep more than usual, i'm assuming so she could better.
we just couldn't resist taking these pictures...she is SO cute, even when she's sick

My sick sick baby :(:( it was so sad
no matter HOW sick she is..this girl LOVES the bath!
sleeping peacfully....
Oh...daddy...the camera woke me up.....

Megan Graduates from Preschool

So, Megan had her preschool graduation ceremony last week....it was pretty cute.....except for the fact that TWICE she came running into the audience to give me a hug lol....kind of embarassing.

Here she is once they all walked in and sat down...she was so happy to see me:)
Megan and Mrs. Fleck....the head teacher of the preschool program
Megan with some of the students (also her teachers)
Megan and "Cameron". Can you see the joy on her face?

she talked about him DAILY! she loved him! she was so

excited when he came up and gave her a post-it note

written by his mom that said:

"Cameron would like to have a play date this summer,

call us" lol....

I think he's adorable.