Idaho Falls Temple

We are extremely blessed to get to live in the same town as a temple. Growing up, our temple district was the Mesa temple, 7 hours away. When the Albuquerque temple was built when I was in 8th grade - I remember being so excited because we would have a temple 3 hours away. We got to work at the open house and we were even able to be in the temple during the dedication. It was awesome.
When I moved to Rexburg the temple was under construction there. I remember not being able to imagine what it would be like to see the temple every day while I was at school and knowing that I could go sit outside the temple. I would go drive and park across the street while it was under construction and imagine what it would be like when it was finished.
After Jason and I were married we would go to the Rexburg temple every single week. It was amazing. It helped our marriage, gave us time to ponder and be close to the Lord, and helped us feel closer to the Spirit throughout the week. Once kids came along it became harder and harder, but my heart still yearned for the temple.

I am lucky to have several friends that enjoy going to the temple as much as I do. We take turns babysitting so that we can go during the day. At first I didn't like going without Jason, but with his busy schedule I realized that if I waited for him to go, I would never go. Now I get to go at least once a week, sometimes twice. I love it. I feel so much closer to my Savior and my Heavenly Father while I am there and I know that they are aware of me and love me.

I LOVE having a temple in the town we live in. It is such a HUGE blessing and I know that. I can take my kiddos to the grounds and let them feel the spirit that is there. When we drive past they love to point out the temple and watch it. I know that if we ever end up moving away from here I am going to miss the temple. Hopefully we will have a temple close no matter where we live.

Morgan's Blessing

This post is long overdue! We blessed our sweet Morgan on the 19th of January. It was over the holiday weekend and it was the only time off my dad was going to have for a few months. My parents and Jason's parents were all able to come and we are so grateful they were here. There is nothing better than watching your husband, father, and father-in-law take your precious baby in their arms. The power of the Priesthood is real, it is powerful, and it is sacred. It was such a great day and Morgan looked beautiful in her little white dress. The blessing was sweet and Morgan didn't make a peep the entire time. 

I love my little family so much. They are my whole world! I'm so grateful to have the Gospel in my life and to be sealed to my family for eternity. I am so humbled at times by the knowledge that I have been blessed with in this life. I hope and pray that I can teach my children everything they need to know and can help them gain their own testimony of Christ.  

Morgan, on your special day, I hope you felt how very loved you are. Not only do your dad and I love you with our whole hearts, but your Father in Heaven loves you more than you can imagine. You are a special spirit, saved for this time. I have no doubt that you will do amazing things with your time on this earth. Stay strong, my sweet one. Remember who you are and how very loved you are. 

XOXO - Mom

Motherhood

While I was at Education Week at BYU-Idaho, I was able to attend a class called Handling the “Mother Load.”  Motherhood is something that I ponder and think about every. single. day.  The class left me inspired about what it meant to be a “good” mother and gave me hope. Hope that maybe, just maybe, I was doing an “OK” job after all. That maybe, in spite of my faults and weaknesses, my kids were going to turn out all right.

Being a mom is something that I have struggled with from the very beginning. Not because I didn’t love it and because it wasn’t what I wanted. I struggled because I DID love it and it WAS everything I wanted it to be – but I suddenly didn’t feel ready or prepared for the HUGE responsibility of raising my children. I remember being in the hospital in the early hours of the morning when Carson was only a few hours old and being overcome with the fear that I wasn’t going to be able to teach him everything he needed to know.

How could I possibly teach him everything he needed to know?

Suddenly, the only thing that was perfectly clear to me was just how imperfect I was. As a mother and as a woman, I was quick to find my flaws and almost always had this nagging in the back of my mind that I wasn’t going to be good enough or do enough. Time passes so quickly when you have little kids and with every passing month I thought about all the ways I hadn’t done everything that I wished I could do and I hadn’t taught him the things I wanted to teach him yet.

It will all get easier when I stay at home with him. That’s what I kept telling myself, over and over and over. I mean, everyone else was so quick to point out that I should be at home and not working. Never mind my own inner struggle every day as I dropped him off at daycare or my own countdown to staying home. Never mind my own feelings of being a horrible mom for having to work instead of being at home with my baby. Thank you, “supporters”, for judging me and my situation and assuming you knew better than I did about my own family. Thank you for making me feel even less of a mother than I already did.

Then it finally happened – I got to stay home! I had all these grand plans of everything we were going to do and everything I was going to teach my son. It started off really well….. but then I was in my third trimester of being pregnant and starting to get more and more tired. Housework and chores started filling up more and more of my time. Practicing living on a VERY tight income meant lots more time spent in the kitchen making pretty much everything from scratch (which is fine because I like it, but kinda cuts in to the kiddo time). Then came Brooklyn. Oh, Brooklyn. Love you, girlie, but you are kinda a hard little munchkin. Suddenly my days became all about surviving, not about teaching and learning and playing and serving. We are lucky some days if we make it out of our PJs!

Anyways, it seems like almost every night I would go to bed and vow to be a better mom the next day. Tomorrow we will actually sit down and do a craft or learn something. Tomorrow we will read more than just one or two books. Tomorrow I will have more patience. Tomorrow will be better……

Then I was able to attend Education Week and a few classes on Motherhood. I was also able to teach about Motherhood for several weeks in YW. Throughout the month of August it seemed like everywhere I turned I was being surrounded by encouragement about Motherhood. It was uplifting and inspiring. I realized I don’t have to be perfect to be a good mom. I just need to love my kids and do the best I can. Yes, I am always looking for ways to improve and for things to help my kids learn. However, it doesn’t have to be all at once and it doesn’t have to be everyday. Through the guidance of the Spirit and strength from Christ and a loving Father in Heaven, I will be able to teach my kids. The key is just trying to be better and making sure I have the Spirit present in my life.

I love Jeffrey R. Holland. He was a way of speaking straight to my heart, and his love for mothers and motherhood can be felt in so much of what he says. In his talk called, "Because She is a Mother," he said the following:

"In speaking of mothers generally, I especially wish to praise and encourage young mothers. The work of a mother is hard, too often unheralded work. The young years are often those when either husband or wife—or both—may still be in school or in those earliest and leanest stages of developing the husband’s breadwinning capacities. Finances fluctuate daily between low and nonexistent. The apartment is usually decorated in one of two smart designs—Deseret Industries provincial or early Mother Hubbard. The car, if there is one, runs on smooth tires and an empty tank. But with night feedings and night teethings, often the greatest challenge of all for a young mother is simply fatigue. Through these years, mothers go longer on less sleep and give more to others with less personal renewal for themselves than any other group I know at any other time in life. It is not surprising when the shadows under their eyes sometimes vaguely resemble the state of Rhode Island...

Do the best you can through these years, but whatever else you do, cherish that role that is so uniquely yours and for which heaven itself sends angels to watch over you and your little ones...

It is clear that some of those Rhode Island–sized shadows come not just from diapers and carpooling but from at least a few sleepless nights spent searching the soul, seeking earnestly for the capacity to raise these children to be what God wants them to be. Moved by that kind of devotion and determination, may I say to mothers collectively, in the name of the Lord, you are magnificent. You are doing terrifically well. The very fact that you have been given such a responsibility is everlasting evidence of the trust your Father in Heaven has in you. He knows that your giving birth to a child does not immediately propel you into the circle of the omniscient. If you and your husband will strive to love God and live the gospel yourselves; if you will plead for that guidance and comfort of the Holy Spirit promised to the faithful; if you will go to the temple to both make and claim the promises of the most sacred covenants a woman or man can make in this world; if you will show others, including your children, the same caring, compassionate, forgiving heart you want heaven to show you; if you try your best to be the best parent you can be, you will have done all that a human being can do and all that God expects you to do."

I now realize that I'm doing the best I can - and that is all I need to do. :)

Education Week and the Rexburg Temple

The first weekend in August was Education Week at BYU-Idaho. My sister, Ashley, was so kind and agreed to watch my kids for me so I could go! Yay! I was beyond excited. We went up to Rexburg a day early and spent the night so we could all do a few things together before she was left with all 5 kiddos by herself. We took the kids to the park to eat lunch and then headed over to the Splash Park. Carson and Brooklyn both actually splashed in the water - which is a huge improvement for Carson! Normally he likes the idea of water that will splash him in the face, but when it comes down to it he would rather avoid it. This time he played in in (granted only a little) and they both had a good time.

Right next to the splash park is a carousel. We took the kids on it after they were done swimming. Carson was scared about falling off for some reason so he had a death grip around my neck. Brooklyn was ready for her nap so she wouldn't let me put her on a horse and also had a death grip on me. I was a little ready for the ride to be over by the time it finally was. :) Carson did laugh the whole time and loved it as long as I didn't move. Silly kid!

 

 I was able to attend some absolutely amazing classes at Education Week. I prayed for weeks beforehand that I would hear the messages I needed to hear, and those prayers were certainly answered. I was able to attend classes on marriage, finances, sharing the Gospel through social media, motherhood, healthy meals on a budget,  and several others. Jason was able to come up on Friday and attend classes as well. He went to different classes then I did and it was fun to hear about the things that he learned and felt while we were there.

Friday evening, Carly and Will came up to Rexburg so we could all go to a session at the Rexburg Temple. It has been a long time since Jason and I had gone through the Rexburg Temple and it brought back a lot of sweet memories for me. When we were very first married and didn't have kids, we would go to the temple together every week. We would sit in the Celestial Room for a long time and ponder. Now we rarely are able to attend the temple together (we normally go by ourselves - since the kiddos came along, ya know?) and we go to the Idaho Falls temple now. Anyways, it was good to be back "home" in the temple that will always be special to me. 

The temple session was AMAZING. It was the first few days they had changed the movie and it was an entirely different experience. I always love going to the temple, but I definitely left inspired this time in a different way.  It was so fun to be there with my sisters and our spouses. I love my family!! Saturday morning we were able to go back to the Rexburg temple and perform baptisms for some of our family, including 2 of our grandpas on my mom's side of the family. It was awesome. 

I love the temple. I love the Gospel. I am so glad that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and I know that it is the true church. I know my Savior lives. I know that He came to earth and atoned for my sins so that I can return and live with Him again someday. I know that families can be together forever through the ordinances made in the temple. I know I'm not perfect, but the Gospel gives me the hope I need to be a little better everyday.

Girls Camp

I love my calling in the Young Women program for our church. I love working with our amazing girls and getting to know them. I also work with some of the best ladies I have ever known and I am constantly learning from them. I couldn't ask for a better group! 

This year for camp we went to the Big Springs Campground outside of Lava Hot Springs. My mom was wonderful and stayed with my naughty kids so that I could go be a part of camp. Thank you, Mom! Although camp was a ton of fun, it was also FREEZING cold!! Jason came up for the day on Wednesday to help and to cover Priesthood duties, and even though I told him it was cold and asked him to bring me more warm clothes and blankets, he didn't realize how cold I was talking until he got there. I think he was a little worried about leaving me there knowing I was freezing!! We made it through and survived. :) We ended up taking the girls to the hotsprings instead of floating down the river like we originally planned since everyone needed a little warming up. It also gave us a chance to shower!! 

Jason and I right before he left me

One of the awesome crafts the girls did while they were there for the week. 

All of the leaders on the morning of the hike

The leaders and most of the girls - some of them were still getting ready in their tents

On the hike - don't we look lovely?

The hike was really pretty - but it was a lot of climbing up hills and I was pretty tired by the time we were done. 7 miles going uphill/downhill/uphill/downhill does amazing things for your calves. :)

I love going to camp. There is something about being in the middle of nature that allows the Spirit to touch your heart in a way that is hard to duplicate. I always leave camp feeling overwhelmed with the desire to be better and with an increased testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful to belong to this wonderful Church and to have a knowledge of my Savior. I hope we were able to strengthen the testimonies of the girls that week as well. 

Is it Spring yet?

This time of year is probably the hardest time to live in Idaho. Everyone is so done with Winter and ready for warm weather, but we are still getting snow. Carson has been a little pill lately (more on that to come) and I know a lot of it has to do with him being ready to get some energy out. We try and keep busy around the house to make the time pass quickly.

Apparently spaghetti night was a success....

Sometimes we will venture out to a store just to get out of the house. This is me wishing Spring was here......I turned Brooklyn into a flower.

Brooklyn loves to play with my phone. In fact, she throws a fit if she can't have it when she wants it. I was looking through my pictures the other day and found these beauties. Brooklyn knows how to work the camera!!

Jason and I have been switching babysitting with another couple and it was worked out really well. Every other week we get to go have a date for a few hours. Most of the time its all I see of him all week and he goes right back to doing homework. I sure do miss having my hubby around, but I'm grateful I get to see him when I do. :)

I have been switching babysitting with a few of my friends so that we can take turns going to the temple during the day. It has been really nice to go, even if it is by myself, and I have truly felt the blessings of the temple come into our home. Carson loves having his friends come over on the days its our turn to babysit.

Carson and Hallie

Picnic in the living room

We have had our fair share of sickness the last few months. The kids got really bad colds and Brooklyn was pretty miserable. I'm so glad they are better now!

Aunt Carly bought Carson some new shirts and he loves them. I snapped this picture of Carson looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. :)

Brooklyn is at the stage where church is extremely difficult. She wants to move and go and 3 hours is a long stretch to not have a nap. I feel like I spend a lot of time out in the hall or in the foyer. If she wasn't so darn cute.....

We got to go to the mall with Ashley and the kids one day and the kids had a blast playing on the toys. We fit all 5 of them in the school bus and turned it on, which they thought was great! Going to the mall is always and adventure. By the time we left I'm sure everyone was glad we did. Screaming kids, cranky kids, noisy kids.....

Hurry up, Spring!! We are ready to play outside!!

Ward Christmas Party

 Carson and I found a bunch of fun headbands in the Target dollar bin a few weeks ago and got them for our family Christmas party. When we got home I thought it would be fun to try them out on the kids. Let's just say they were ok with them for about...... 2 seconds and then they were done taking pictures. I couldn't help but keep going because the pictures were almost comical. 

We had our ward Christmas party and we had a lot of fun! The theme was a fiesta and we had some really yummy Mexican food for dinner. I'm not talking normal Idaho Mexican food - some Mexican food that actually tasted legit. I loved it. Afterwards they split the kids up into age groups and let them go at Pinatas. Carson remembered what to do from his Birthday Party so he wasn't shy at all. As soon as the candy started falling he was there!! Way to go, Carson!

 

 

Once the kids were done with the Pinatas they could go see Santa in the Relief Society room. My kids weren't scared at all! Carson thought it was awesome. Brooklyn just sat there and looked at him, but when it was time to go and I picked her up we realized she had a hold of his beard! Poor Santa almost got de-bearded by a 7 month old!! It took a lot of prying to get the hair out of her hands and I couldn't stop laughing. Silly girl.