Treasure the moments

To combat my grumpy mood this morning, I recalled a priesthood blessing I received a few months ago. I need (we all need) to treasure moments of happiness and love for our families. Store special times and memories in our heart to pull out and recall in the "not so happy" times. So, this morning I pulled out some mental pictures of my kids - treasured memories and moments guarded in my heart. This immediately softened my heart and I started taking more mental pictures this morning.

That is why there is no picture to accompany this post. Sometimes getting the camera out changes the dynamics of the moment, it changes the "real-ness" of the moment. So, I am taking more time to take the pictures in my head, but more importantly, in my heart.

I love my family, and I will continue to treasure and guard that love!

I love my sewing machine...

and my husband who does all the sewing! The past couple of weeks he has mended many pants - and done a great job. He has also entertained the kids WHILE sewing. Thanks, honey!

HAIR CUTS!!!

Leslie and I got hair cuts today. We each got 10 inches cut off, and plan to donate the hair to Locks of Love. We had a fun girls' afternoon out!

Chess Mania

Jonas won the chess tournament at his Cub Scout Pack Meeting. He loves to play chess! We have had several games this week. Last Saturday I played 4 mind numbing games with him... I was "chessed" out - now for a new week of tournaments! All the kids love to play with him and against each other in various ways. Micah likes to make up his own rules. Evelyn just plays without a board. We now have a chess set permanently set up for play, and several pieces randomly scattered through the house!

Sleepy Evelyn

Evelyn is cute, even when falling asleep in her high chair. This meal wasn't as messy as her pbj lunch naps...thank goodness.



She is growing up fast, even using a fork now. No napping with forks, Evelyn!

Pre-Conference Pix

We were excited about General Conference, and rightly so!
We loved the solemn assembly and sustaining Thomas S. Monson as our Prophet.
The kids were thrilled to hear that he prays for us, and that he wants us to pray for him.
We also loved the talks, and hearing some fun stories.
The kids did really well with activity packets, coloring, and occasionally listening!

Leslie's 9th Birthday

We had a great time celebrating Leslie's birthday the past two days... Leslie loves the Littlest Pet Shop toys and was surprised and very pleased with her gifts and cake. (The other kids love playing with them too!) She is a beautiful girl, inside and out. She has shared her new toys very kindly and been a peacemaker in our home. We are thankful to have her in our family!

Our spring break

The Isom Family (minus Mike, who had to work) came down for a few days. We had so much fun, just hanging out around home, visiting a park, flying kites, going on an adventure walk (and popsicle walks)! It is always good for me to be around other moms and glean ideas from them, and learn from examples. Kiersten is an exceptional mom, and she reminded me with her fun example to enjoy my kids and have fun with them. AND to remember those times. That is one reason I let her convince me to blog all this...(thanks again to Kiersten for her photography!)

Here are the hill-rolling adventures, the kids and then Kiersten and I...

We were HAPPY to have them here,

and SAD to see them go......

Thanks for the fun week!

The twins' birthday

We had a great weekend with Grandma, Grandpa, Greg, and Blythe coming up in celebration of the twins' 6th birthday. 6! Wow. I can't believe it really has been six years. Grandpa was our resident photographer, as our cameras were both out of whack.









Bob made fantastic Transformers cakes (2 cakes, 1 for each happy boy!) Thanks to Grandpa for this great shot of Owen and Troy singing and blowing out candles.

Owen is reading extremely well, and Troy is learning well, doing great at reading verses from the scriptures and favorite books.
They both love coloring, and they spend hours each day drawing and coloring their own pictures. They are both very talented - Owen's are very lifelike, and Troy's are more "impressionist"!