Happy Mother's Day

I have always loved this quote by Neal A. Maxwell. I cannot say enough about the influence of righteous mothers. I was blessed to have a mother that was such a great example. Now that I am getting a little older and have children of my own, I am even more grateful for all that my mom has done throughout my life. When I was younger, I was really grateful that my mom took me to countless soccer practices and games, was always my biggest fan, always had dinner ready when I came home from practices, made sure my clothes were clean and ready, she always left notes on my mirror if I had a game or a big test, and was always supportive of my religious beliefs. Now that I am older, I am even more grateful for the person my mom is...... she is the hardest worker and continue to work tirelessly to take care of my grandma, grandkids, and other family. She never complains. Something that I realized that I learned from my mom is that she never complains. Especially when I learned about very difficult things that she went through, she never complained because she always wanted her kids to see people in the greatest light. My mom is very active and loves to run. I am grateful that my mom set the example of how to be active and have fun with your kids. She will still take the kids running, play outside in the pool with the grandkids, or play sports with the kids. My mom is very selfless. She is tirelessly trying to divide her time between family so that she can spend time with everyone and keep close relationships. Many times, she will stop whatever she is doing to come meet me, just so she can spend time with us. My mom seems to be able to endure anything. She really is my hero. She can endure so much with out breaking. She has been through some very difficult things and just seems to be able to endure it. I love that about her and I hope I can be as strong as her. I am so grateful for mothers and hope to be the mother that my girls deserve. I pray that I can teach them and help them to know who they are and their individual worth. I am grateful for all of the wonderful example of motherhood around me. Mother's have such a powerful influence on their children and it gives me hope in the future because the righteous mothers around me and their amazing children that have faith in their mothers and their Heavenly Father. I love being a mom. Motherhood has truly been my greatest accomplishment thus far. It is so difficult and rewarding at the same time. There is nothing like having your child squeal and run into your arms or talk for the first time. The feeling of knowing that only you can comfort your crying child brings me so much confidence and happiness. Motherhood is definitely the most fulfilling thing in my life. I am grateful everyday to be the mother of my beautiful girls. Happy Mother's Day!!!

Ogden Half Marathon

Well, we did it! My mom has been wanting to run a marathon or half marathon with her two girls for a long time and we finally did it. We all love to run, but it has been difficult for us to get together to run. We signed up for the Ogden Half Marathon last September and we didn't really start training until a month before the marathon. I think we did pretty good and had a lot of fun! It was great to finally run with my mom and sister.

Preschool Preview

  I can't believe our little Reesie is old enough for Pre school. I remember when we first adopted Reese and she was 3 months old and our friends told us that we needed to put her on the waiting list for the best pre-school in our area. My friends raved about the teach and her curriculum and how their kids had so much fun learning. Anyway, 3 years later, and Reese was going to her pre-school preview. She was so excited to go to school that she was ready with her backpack on an hour before we needed to leave. When we got there, Reese just clung to me and wouldn't let me put her down. Finally, she let me put her down and her cute little friend Madden held her hand and walked her in. She went for an hour and then I picked her up and she was so excited. She had made a flower and wanted to go home and sleep with it and that is exactly what she did. It's a good thing she only went for an hour so I could get used to her being gone. I know she is ready for pre-school and she will absolutely love it when she gets to go in the fall. It is so difficult being a parent. You want to see them grow and learn and become independent, but really I just want to keep them at home with me in a little bubble. I just want to protect them from all the bad in the world, but I know it can't be like this forever. I hope and pray that we can teach her right from wrong and to trust in the Holy Ghost. Reese has such a pure spirit and I promised Heavenly Father, when we adopted her, that I would do my best to keep her that way and to keep that light in her eyes! Love you sweet girl!

Happy Easter

 Holidays just keep getting more and more fun! Easter was a blast this year. The girls loved having Easter egg hunts and so we had them on a daily until Easter weekend. Sometimes I would put their lunch (string cheese, grapes, goldfish, and carrots) in the eggs and they would find them and then we would open them and have a picnic outside. It was great! The best part was that everyday that we had a hunt, the girls reaction was the same.....they would come out of the door running and screaming as soon as they saw an egg. It was awesome!

One of our first family Easter Egg hunts was at my great Aunt Mistuko's. I look forward to this hunt every year. She has been having our annual Easter Egg hunt at her house for as long as I can remember. We have pictures of me when I was Reese's age finding eggs here. I think that every year the girls get more and more spoiled. I don't think I could find a basket big enough to hold all the eggs that they found.

The girls were so excited for their Easter baskets and were very patient. Ron has meeting really early in the morning on Sundays and so Reese and Nora had to wait until Ron got home from church to open up their baskets. I think that they get more excited to show each other what they got than actually playing with their toys. Windmills were a favorite this year.

We always have an Easter Egg hunt at my mom's house and the girls had so much fun with their cousins. The best part of the day was when the kids were lined up to go find the eggs. Nora was first because she is the youngest and then Reese was next. Nora went out and found one egg and then just sat with it. There were eggs everywhere and Reese was going crazy because she couldn't go outside yet. My mom finally gave her the go to get eggs and she goes running full blast out the door, down the steps, and out on the grass and trips and goes flying in the air and lands on some eggs. I was laughing so hard and was really wishing I  was videotaping her. It was hilarious!