Joseph's birthday

So for Joseph's birthday (back in February) we went ice skating. We went over the summer and he had a really fun time. During the month of December, almost every show on PBS kept showing people (or animals) ice skating in an episode. Joseph kept asking to go ice skating, so I told him we could go for his birthday.

He had a blast. He fell down a bazillion times, but mostly he just laughed and tried to get up again. We did get him to skate by himself a few times, but he was very insecure about that. We invited all his aunts and uncles and cousins, but the only person who showed up at the rink was Josh's sister Melanee. Joseph didn't care, he was having fun.

Here he is trying to stay upright.

Here we are (me, Joseph, and Melanee)

Believe it or not, he's laughing so hard he can't get up.

Trying to teach him he needs to put his weight on his feet, not on Daddy.

After skating, we went back to our church to have cake and ice cream. We would have done it at our house, but we don't have enough room for more than 6 people. My sister Kirsten, my brother Jeff, his wife and their girls came up for this part. Also, Josh's parents and his sister April made it too.

Sadly, this is about the best picture of the cake. I wanted a good pic of it, but left that up to Josh, He was photographing Joseph. Joseph is making a funny face at Grandpa. Luckily he had fallen asleep in the car on the way back from the ice rink. He was ready to have fun again. If you could really see the cake you could tell it's lopsided. I saw this online and I fell in love with it. It didn't lean the way I wanted it to, but it still turned out really well.


Jeff, Michelle and their girls enjoying cake and ice cream.

Michelle and my beautiful sister Kirsten. (all my sisters are beautiful. I sure lucked out)

This is his sneaky smile so you know he's up to something. My little boy is 3. I'm glad he had a happy day. He still talks about it. We'll see what happens next year.

Singing with the "Chickens"

So we've started watching "The Partridge Family" on Antenna TV. Joseph loves it. He loves the song at the beginning and will come and sing along with them. He calls them the chickens because of the birds hatching during the theme song. I've tried to explain they are partridges but he says "no, they're chickens"
Now there are two different versions of the song. One starts "Come on now and meet everybody, and hear us singing" and the other says "Come on now there's a song that we're singing. Come on get happy." Well, Joseph has heard the first version the most and he knows most of the words. It's so cute to see him singing along.
Anyway, a couple days ago they started airing episodes with the second version of the song. Joseph came in to sing with them but when the singing started he looked at me and said "Mom, this isn't the Chickens. They're singing the wrong song." I wonder if I should call David Cassidy and tell him he's singing the wrong song.

Changes, always changes

So a couple of months ago they changed the Young Women organization in our ward. They released the whole presidency and then the next week got new advisers (except for me). I asked to be left in and the bishopric was more than happy to accommodate me. I was excited to stay in. I love the girls and I've loved teaching them. Plus, our girl's camps are always so much fun. I love it.

Last night a member of the bishopric called and asked if we could come in this morning before church. They asked if I would be the new primary chorister. This releases me from being the laurel adviser. I will miss those girls so much. They have taught me so much about myself, the gospel and life in general.

I'm excited to be the primary chorister. The last time I had this calling we had between 2 and 10 kids in our primary. We have over 40 in this ward, so it will be quite different. Now I need to learn how to speak to children again. I've gotten used to talking to teenagers, I need to learn how to talk to 4-11 year olds. And our primary meets all together. So no junior/senior primary. That will be interesting. I know that just as I received help from Heavenly Father for my previous calling, I will receive help for this one.

One thing I find funny, We've been in this ward for almost three years (May makes it 3). During that time I've been to Relief Society for about a month. We got called into Primary in June and were there for a year when I got called to YW. I've been in YW for almost two years and now I'm back in primary. When I finally get back to Relief Society, I won't know how to talk to adult women.


Anyway, I'm excited. Next year Joseph will be in primary and if he doesn't do well in singing time, I'll beat him up after church ;) Speaking of the little imp, here he is with one of his best smiles.

Cold, cold go away...

So we've been dealing with sickness at our house. I have been in bed with the flu for over a week. Joseph has been sick too (not that you would know with the energy he has), Josh has even started coughing the last couple days.

Speaking of my wonderful husband. Here are his graduation pics I've been promising.



His graduation was a busy day. I wish I could have had a better seat to get pictures of when he got his diploma. But I was wrestling with a two year old who wanted to go home and see his daddy. So he's all graduated and we are excited. Although, we are hoping for two more graduations in the next five years. I will graduate with my bachelor's (hopefully before my 40th birthday) and Josh will graduate with his master's in Social Work. Then we can work on getting Joseph to high school.

But back to being sick. So I have been incapacitated for the last week. I've gone to church to teach my lesson, and we had New Beginnings last week so I went to that. But other than that I've been in bed. (okay, so I took Joseph to the doctor last week but whatever). We keep our house at 69 degrees (trying to cut costs on that dreadful gas bill) but it's felt about 49 degrees to me. In our bathroom we have a "dream wall". It has pics of tropical areas, nice rooms, etc. We got the idea from "The Secret" (about the only thing I liked from that show). Every time I'm in the bathroom (been downing water to get me over my flu) I look at those pictures and imagine I'm sitting on the beach there. I need a tropical vacation. We are planning on going to California this summer, but man oh man, I need heat right now.

Josh took Joseph to run some errands with him today (thank you MLK for giving us a holiday today) So I can rest and relax a little. I love my boys, and I love where I live (not the house, but the area), but I would give almost anything to be alone on a beach with a good book right now. I'd also need someone who would bring me food and virgin daiquiris. I can't wait for summer to come. Usually I don't mind the winter. But this year I need spring. Maybe because my parents come home this summer. I don't know. Maybe I'm getting old.

Anyone know how I can get to the Caribbean on $10?

On to the Finnish

Here we are in a new year. It’s so exciting to make new resolutions. But that is not what I’m here to talk about. We are down to six months before Mom and Dad get home. Here is Joseph showing how excited he is at how little time is left until he can hug Grandma and Grandpa. He really is excited he’s just talking in the pic, so don’t take the look on his face to mean anything.

I can't believe how short this is (or how big Joseph is). The first pic of this had Joseph as a four month old and the chain had over 150 links to it. Now he's big enough to hold it and it's little enough that it's not difficult. 26 weeks left.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

The True Meaning of Christmas

Trust me, I will tie this all in.

I just got back from the viewing of my brother-in-law, Jeremy. He took his own life last week. It is so sad. He was 15 years old. No one should have to deal with that. Especially at this time of year. As I watched his sisters struggle to speak to well wishers, my heart cried for their sorrow. To see all the love that was poured out to him and his family, it is so sad he felt things so hopeless that he needed to end his life. I watched family members cry for the loss of their son, brother, uncle and friend. I held Josh's little sister, April, as she cried inconsolably. She is 13 and the closest to Jeremy in age. I whispered in her ear how grateful I am for the atonement/resurrection.

This is what Christmas is all about. Not the death and sorrow of our loved ones, but the hope that we can be with them again. Because of Christmas we can say "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" I looked at Jeremy's body in the casket and knew, he was not there. As Joseph says "he's broken". But because of Christ, he will be fixed again.

Because Christ was born, just as we are all born. Because He lived the life He lived. Because He died and was resurrected, we can all be resurrected. What a wonderful blessing. We can have our bodies back in a perfected form. And we get to keep them forever.

So long, Jeremy. I will miss you. I will miss your heart melting smile. I will miss your cute little giggle. But we will be together again some day. I hope you feel our love and realize how much you will be missed. Love you buddy.

I really am thankful...

I just wanted to update my post and let you all know how grateful I am. We really have so many blessings in our lives. So many times we overlook all of the things we receive because either they are not what we wanted or we are too focused on the things we are not receiving.

Some of our wonderful blessings include:

Josh graduating from Weber State yesterday (hopefully I will post pics on that).

Skyping with Mom and Dad today during our family fireside.

Next year they will be here for the fireside.

Having a General Authority (Elder Hinkley) come speak at our stake conference last week.

My sister Kirsten going through the temple while she visits Mom and Dad for Christmas.

Joseph almost having his own bedroom.

Family and friends who show their love for us in many ways.

A broken car that only cost $30 to fix.

A furnace that works.

A little boy who gets excited when we talk about Jesus and His part in Christmas.

The Gospel in my home.

I really have so many blessings and I'm so grateful for the Thanksgiving/Christmas season that helps us remember how blessed we are.