Good life

Bry took me to Cucina Toscana on Wednesday. Wowzers! What a treat! We enjoyed an amazing dinner and of course the coversation and canoodling with the boyfriend was great too. Riki and Sunan are our new favorite babysitters. Thanks for making it possible ladies!

Last night I was finishing up the dishes and listening to that song by OneRepublic called "Good Life". I was watching Bryson working out in the backyard from the kitchen window. During one part of the song the lyrics are:

We're young enough to say,

Oh, this is gonna be a good life,
This is gonna be a good life,
This could really be a good life, good life!

In that moment, my heart swelled with happiness as I looked at my sweet husband. I thought, it isn't that we're young enough-and therefore still naive enough or not jaded yet-it is that we have the gospel. That's what gives me the optimism and hope I feel for the future. The gospel has made it possible for me to be part of an eternal marriage and family and that is what makes me say "This is gonna be a good life!" (Sorry for the cheesiness, but that was really what was in my heart.)

Lastly, I got a new calling today. I'm going to be a teacher in the Young Women's. I am super excited to spend time with the awesome youth in our ward!

Also, me, Leynie and Rock have our plane tickets booked for our first trip to DALLAS. Can't wait! :)

Feeling humbled...

...but in a funny/happy kind of way I guess. Last night we were trying to begin FHE with a prayer. Eleyna was pretty keyed up and she wouldn't kneel down to pray. After a couple of minutes of attempting to persuade her I could feel my patience wearing thin. I was pretty close to just throwing in the towel and sending her down to bed. (Late evening is generally not when I shine as a mother.)

Finally she knelt down and we had our opening prayer. Bry gave a short lesson about Nephi getting tied up by his brothers on the ship to the promised land. He told Eleyna that after Nephi was untied he prayed and the Lord calmed the storm. Bry said that we can ask Heavenly Father for things when we pray. We sang a song and then asked Leynie to say the closing prayer. You better believe it hit me hard when she said during her prayer:
"Thank you that I could have family night with my daddy and mommy," and "Please bless that I can get a treat with my father." (So funny to hear her call Bryson "father"!)

I couldn't believe she picked up on what Bry said about asking the Lord for things. It was a tender reward to hear her gratitude for family night. Before bed, Bry and I were talking about it and we agreed that it was a pretty profound teaching moment for both of us.

In other news, see the picture below for Rockwell's new favorite teething item.

So glad I discovered this!!! Rock has been Mr. Grumpypants lately. However, pop a watermelon rind in his mouth and he's happy for at least a little while. I LOVE this precious boy!
On Sunday afternoon we went up the canyon for a get-together with the White family from Bry's ward growing up. It was great to catch up with friends from Vegas that we don't see that often.(Me & my man, Aaron & Lindsey Futrell, Nikki & Jason Robinson, Preston & Taylor White)

Recap

We spent the rest of the holiday at Dave and Jesseann's house. They have a hot tub and we rented a big slip n' slide so of course the kids were occupied all day. (Which meant lots of chatting and mingling for the adults!) It was really fun to spend the day hanging out with the Minks, my cousin April and her husband Benjamin and their four boys (up from Mesa, AZ), Ken and Babata and their four girls, and our cute friends the Camerons who just moved up from California. We didn't squeeze any fireworks in this year. I think those may be on hold until we have at least one kid who can stay up past 7:30.
April, Babata (Shyannah), Jesse (Landon), Me
Last night me and Bry got to go out on a date because our awesome friends Sunan and Riki Laws came over to babysit. Riki is Eleyna's dance teacher for the summer and has become one of Leynie's favorite peeps. They braided Eleyna's hair like Rapunzel's from the movie Tangled. This morning she told me she needed to watch Tangled with her "Tangled" hair.

Happy 4th!

I ran the Freedom Run 5k this morning. I came in at just under 32 minutes. It was super fun. I thought about my dad the whole time and about all of the years we went down to cheer him on. Love ya Papa!

Lazy Sunday

Today was nice. We all went to church together. Hunter did really well and was in his wheelchair the whole time. When we got home everybody took naps-even me and Bry. We had pork tenderloin for dinner tonight and boy, oh boy, was it ever delish! Bry and I are a deadly combo on the ol' grill. I marinate, he grills, the whole family enjoys. (Eleyna ate a whole piece so you know it was yummy.)

A cute story from today: I was sitting on Bryson's lap in the La-Z-Boy rocker and Eleyna crawled up, snuggled her way between us and then said, "Make room for my head."
Family walk. Eleyna is able to ride the bike she got for her birthday really good now.
My big helper girl. Do you have a "helper" at your house?

Lets try this again, shall we?

My parents left Wednesday morning for Texas so my dad can serve as the mission president in Dallas for the next three years.

This has precipitated the need for me to start updating the ol' blog again.

I guess since my baby is nine months old I can't use the "I'm adjusting to having three kids" excuse anymore anyway.

So here goes. My new strategy is to keep it short. Sweet.

Highlights from today were Eleyna riding around on the bike she got for her birthday, bare-bottomed, exclaiming, "I'm riding so good cause I have super powers!" (She was missing pants because we're potty training and she'd just had an accident outside while I was working in the garden.)

She's been full of hilarity lately saying things like:
"It's not your life Mommy, it's my life"
"You look amazing Mommy"
"You are working on me" (while I'm getting her dressed or changing her diaper)
"Just relax and let the pee come out"
"I am a cute child"

I think Rock is in the middle of a "nursing strike". (I'm not making this up, lots of babies around 10 months do it according to my lactation specialist nurse friend in the ward.) If he doesn't start behaving he may get weaned early. He's still not crawling but he has figured out how to roll around and can roll from one end of the living room to the other. He's so dang chubby and cute! He cut his first tooth last week and I think the one next to it is about ready to come through.

Hunter had a good day today. Seizures were more controlled than they have been in weeks. The whole family went to the ward swim party tonight.

So tired. Peace. Out.

Women's Conf, Sis. Beck & Mother's Day

I got to go to Women's Conference last week. Thanks to some wonderful sisters in my ward who watched Hunter and Eleyna, and my little sister Deanna who spent the day on campus entertaining baby Rockwell, I had the opportunity to spend nearly all of Friday feeding my spirit-which has been running a little lean lately. The morning began in the Marriott center with Sis. Julie B. Beck as the speaker. Sis. Beck is my hero. I want to be like her when I grow up. Every time she speaks my questions are answered and my soul is soothed.

I loved the part of her talk where she discussed the importance of a woman's unique identity as a daughter of God. Particularly when she said that "The identity we have from Heavenly Father can be fully understood only through spiritual confirmation.”

“An intellectual study can be made, but a spiritual confirmation teaches us who we are and what we are to do. … The identity of a daughter of God is precious beyond compare and rich and full."

There has been a lot of activity surrounding Mother's Day in the Mormon Mommy Blog world regarding the topic of (surprise!) motherhood. I've alternated between enjoyment and mild annoyance that this subject is getting so much attention under headlines such as "Why Motherhood Matters". It seems to me that even in the church there is some uncertainty on this topic or we wouldn't be so desperate to address it. (You can check out this post for more on the growing distance between MORMON CULTURE's ideas on motherhood and what Latter-day Saints actually believe about motherhood.)

This is because a spiritual confirmation is required for us to stand strong and immovable about who we are-REALLY ARE-and the the work associated with that identity. It is critically important to receive a personal testimony about our divine nature because, again, to borrow from Sis. Beck, "These are non-negotiable responsibilities. We can’t delegate them. We can accept them and live them. These are things we understood before we were born, and we can’t negotiate with the Lord whether they’re part of His plan. These are our responsibilities.”

Sometimes I look around me, figuratively speaking, and I feel alone. I am deeply unsettled by this since I am literally surrounded by members of the Church. I was grateful for the chance to be in the Marriott Center last week with thousands of women united by the power of our Relief Society President's testimony and inspired message. I know that a spiritual confirmation of the divine nature of motherhood is something the Lord would love to bless each one of His daughters with. All we need to do is have faith and ask with a sincere heart and real intent.

And just as I still experience peaks and valleys with regards to how solid I'm feeling in my faith, even after a woman receives a witness from the Spirit regarding her role as a mother there will still be moments of difficulty (like having at least one of your children sick every week since Christmas) and insecurity (like looking in a mirror a couple of weeks postpartum after baby #3). Still, the difference between overcoming these moments and being overcome by them is whether our hearts have been changed through the power of the Spirit's witness.

At the end of the day, the Holy Ghost is also the one who will help us determine the answer to the question Sis. Beck asked the sisters to consider:

"Am I aligned with the Lord’s vision of me and what He needs me to become?"

I am humbled at the mere thought of posing this question to the Lord. I know that there are areas that need improvement and that's not always a fun thing to ponder. But I am determined to do as my beloved Sis. Beck has encouraged.

I am SO grateful that when I start to feel confused the truth can still be heard from the mouths of the Lord's servants.

It is a sweet honor to care for and nurture the children our family has been blessed with and this Mother's Day I feel quite amazed that the Lord has accorded me and all of his daughters the position of partner in His great business of salvation and building the kingdom.