GIRLS!

Our girls keep us on our toes all of the time! I literally mean ALL OF THE TIME! KayDee is our emotional, moody teenager, Jenna is our drama queen, and Madisen is our stubborn witty little spitfire. It is amazing to me how different children's personalities turn out when they are raised the same way, by the same parents. I would have thought our girls would be more similar than they are. Nope! Each one is a blessing and a challenge in their own way. KD can be so much to deal with and yet so extremely helpful. Jenna drives us crazy sometimes with her "airheadedness" yet she is such a good child. Madisen is so loving and kind unless of course your name is Andrew Awtrey, and even then sometimes she is so nice so him.

As I look at other families who tell me how sorry they feel for us that we have 3 girls, I look at all of the blessings that come from my daughters. I have a special connection with our girls that I don't have with our boys. They are more emotional and understanding. When I don't feel good they instantly turn into little caregivers. I know as I grow older, our girls will always be there for me. That is not necessarily something you get from sons. Sons are special in their own way, mainly their strength. Girls are the nurturers, and are more intune with their surroundings. I love my girls so very much. I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures of our girls from the last couple of years.

 Madi wearing daddy's work clothes.

 Jenna dressed up like Cindy Lou Who for her Dr. Seuss birthday party. I take credit for her amazing hair!

 This is KayDee returning from Trek. Our YM/YW went on a Mormon reproduction of the pioneer treks out near Mosida. She was filthy, exhausted, and absolutely glowing.

 Girls Night Out! Attending the premiere of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. This woman from a local radio station was dressed up as Effie. Yes, I am a super cool mom, and this is how we roll!

 Hanging out with some Chinese food at Fong's after Jenna's orchestra concert. These two are hilarious when they are actually getting along.

 Madi was on the floor doing the splits so KayDee had to try and show her up. As you can see...it was a very poor showing!

 Our little Honor Society lady! Boy, she is such a smarty! She is a great example for her younger siblings on how to do well in school.

We are sitting in the airport to fly to Arizona for Thanksgiving. She wanted me to take her picture with her boarding pass. LOL

 Yes, that is a picture of Madisen as underwear lady! She probably had 20 pairs of underwear on! It was absolutely hilarious!!

Madi getting a squeeze from Jenna before the Dr. Seuss party!

Madi and I playing Math Bingo with Reeses Pieces. She uses "math facts" to decide with number to put a candy on. What a great way to learn math; informative, fun, and yummy!

Here's to another 60 years with these three beauties!!

Sibling Love.

Most of the time, our kids are complaining that they don't like each other. Pretty typical for siblings. But there are those moments when they really show just how much they love each other. Those are the moments I live for. I tell our kids all the time that we are a family and will continue to be a family forever! Since that is the case, we may as well learn how to like each other because we are all that we have. The greatest part about my family is that it is an eternal one. Due to my religious beliefs, and my being sealed to my family in the temple, Heavenly Father promised us that we can be together forever if we strive to live righteously. So really...at the end of the day...family is what we have. They are the only things we can take with us to the other side, and the only thing that matters in this life!

 My sweet little boy! He loves to cuddle with his mommy!

 Sledding is always funnest with a buddy!

 KayDee and Jenna in the same picture....Miraculous!!

 This two are thick as thieves! Love each other one minute, pounding on each other the next.

 I can't even tell you how many pictures I have of these two. He has been her favorite since day 1!

 Yet another miracle! Hahahaha.

 She was helping him do his homework! It was priceless. I will remember this forever.

 And another.

 Jenna always looks a little hesitant when she holds Jack but he loves her!

 My favorite person in the whole world! This was our recreated first date he did for my Christmas present this last year. He really is a hopeless romantic!

 Brothers!

She is such a great big sister! She has been a tremendous help with Jackson!

I try to help my children remember just how important they are to me as well as to each other. I want my children to have a friendly relationship when they are older, one where they can talk to each other for hours if they want to. Anything I can do to help foster that relationship now I will do. After all, they are the most important people in my life! 

My "Tough" Job

So... I did my Bachelors degree at Utah Valley University, and during that time did an internship for the Associate Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. It was a great opportunity for me and I was soon hired by the university. That was many years ago, and I have since moved to the Office of Academic Affairs as an administrative support and program coordinator for Engaged Learning.

Program coordination is about like event planning and I get the pleasure of bringing a variety of the greatest minds to campus for keynote speeches and workshops, travel with students presenting undergraduate research, as well as attend all kinds of VIP engagements. Needless to say...I have a pretty "cushy" job! For instance:

 This is my mini "feast" done by our Culinary Arts students for an event. Crab legs, shrimp, sun dried tomatoes, gourmet cheese, fruit, and of course dessert.

 These are my $20 crab cakes I enjoyed at Chefs Table for lunch with Laurie Goldstein, the Religion Reporter for the NY Times. Tough life...I know!

And these are the amazing flowers that wait at home for me from a husband who appreciates the sacrifice I make by going to work and supporting our family.

On top of all this good stuff, I was able to take 3 months off for maternity leave, was then able to go back part-time on my full-time salary for another 3 months, and have the ultimate flexibility in my hours. I can leave early for kids school events, not go in when my sick little kiddos just want their mommy, and work from home if I am having "one of those days." Also, working for the government gives me a month off per year in sick, personal, and vacation days, not to mention every holiday that we have off paid.

Granted...it is not all glamour, and I do miss my kiddos when I am gone, but it is much better than David working construction 12 hours a day. It is worth it to come home at 4:00 pm and have dinner with my family every night, and am thankful for the time this has given David to spend with our kids. On the days that my job frustrates the heck out of me, it is important to remember just how blessed I am!

Conference Weekend and Mousse

Every April and October, my church gathers together for a televised conference session. We hear from the leaders of our church, and receive guidance through times of tribulation. It has been a long time since I have sat and watched conference, I usually just read it in the Ensign the following month. This year, I made the kids conference packets to keep them busy and sat hold Jackson while I soaked in all of the messages of love, friendship, religion, and motivation. 

I especially loved Elder Uchtdorf's talk, "Come Join With Us." He is such an invigorating speaker, and one of my favorites. In his address, he speaks to the doubters, the righteous, those who have fallen away, and those who are not members of our faith. He talks about the imperfections we have and how we are all still chosen sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from his talk:

"It's natural to have questions- the acorn of honest inquiry has often sprouted and matured into a great oak of understanding. There are few members of the church, who at one time or another, have not wrestled with serious or sensitive questions. One of the purposes of the Church is to nurture and cultivate the seed of faith- even in the sometimes sandy soil of doubt and uncertainty. Faith is to hope for things which are not seen but which are true."

"Please, first doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith."

"It is unfortunate that some have stumbled because of the mistakes made by men. But in spite of this, the eternal truth of the restored gospel found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not tarnished, diminished, or destroyed."

"I suppose the Church would be perfect only if it were run by perfect beings. God is perfect, and his doctrine is pure. But he works through us- His imperfect children- and imperfect people make mistakes."

I am one of those imperfect people; though everyday I strive to live as Heavenly Father would want me to. I thoroughly enjoyed the message of Elder Uchtdorf and you can find his entire talk here: http://www.lds.org/general-conference/print/2013/10/come-join-with-us?lang=eng

Jenna watched all of conference with me, and we decided on the break between the Saturday sessions we needed some one-on-one time at Olive Garden. ;) After some delicious pasta Jenna ordered a White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Mousse. It was divine! Here she is enjoying it!

In the end, I am eternally grateful for a Father in Heaven who knows me and knows my struggles. My life has been anything but easy, and I testify in the great redeeming grace of repentance and forgiveness and can personally attest to their importance in my life. I am thankful for the gospel and the love and importance it is to me. I have a testimony of eternal families and look forward to spending forever with mine. I know that this church is true and there is a true prophet living on this earth to lead and guide us back to our Heavenly home. I have a testimony of the scriptures and general conference, as our road maps on this journey called life. I love the Lord and the sacrifice he made for me.

Amen.

Halloween!

We love Halloween at our house! It is complete with the Elementary Halloween Parade, carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating, a party for KayDee and Jenna (since I am a mean mom and told them they are too old to go trick-or-treating), the Chili cookoff, and best of all...COSTUMES!

Here are some pics of our eventful Halloween. First up...costumes!

I didn't dress Jackson up, but did buy him a cute little Frankenstein shirt and pants. I figured that was okay.

Next, the Halloween Party that my sisters Tiff and Lex  threw. The kids had a great time, Lex did all the games and Tiff helped with the food. Here are some pics of her amazing cupcake and brownie creations! She is so talented! I'm jealous!!

Lex had all kinds of little game stations and activities for the kids. They had so much fun!

Every year, our Elementary school does a Halloween parade for the kids to wear their costumes on a march through the school. Parents are invited to come and watch and this year David, Jack, and myself went to check out all the unique costumes! The pics are a little fuzzy, I was trying to get them while the kids were walking by.

Jack was anxiously awaiting the parade to start!

And last but certainly not least, the chili cookoff! Our ward does their Halloween/Chili Cookoff party every year. It is our most attended event! I took my AWESOME ;) chili and entered this year. Guess what?! I won first place!! Oh yeah!!!! Here was my amazing prize:

The night of Halloween I made KD and Jen and their friends numerous snacks and treats and they planted themselves down to watch Dark Shadows in my living room. Debra, Brit, Jennye and their kids as well as Madi, Andrew and I went trick-or-treating in my neighborhood. The kids got loaded up with candy and we all had a great time! Lucky for us it was a warm year, we are usually trick-or-treating in the snow! I had a wonderful time and love seeing the happiness and excitement on my children's faces.

Jackson

October was a very busy month! We are finally getting settled into having a two month old baby. It has been a new learning experience, kind of like riding a bike, but so many things I have forgotten about having a baby. Jack sleeps 3-4 hours at a time, even at night, and it has been a big relief to be able to get some consistent sleep. He is such a great baby! Here are some of the latest pics!

 Tummy Time! He doesn't necessarily like it so much but he doesn't scream his lungs out either. Little victories!

 Hanging out with Oma. I swear, Jackson looks like a sumo wrestler in this picture! So funny!

 He smiles all of the time! It melts my heart!! Jack is very partial about laying next to us, so we get him to sleep this way and then move him to his bassinet. He is so particular! If you do things how he wants them done he is very easy going, if not...

 Mommy's HANDSOME LITTLE GUY!

 He's starting to get that very curious look as he really starts to take in his surroundings. He loves to be right in the middle of the chaos of his four older siblings, and surprisingly sleeps really well through the noise. His swing is his favorite accessory! ;)

 Picture with Grandma Susan. She was talking to him so I couldn't get a good picture of her holding still!

 Laying on daddy's chest, staring at mommy.

 Watching football at Fong's after Jenna's orchestra concert. Like father like son!

 Sleeping in his UTES jammies! You can still see his jaundice in this pic. It took months to go away! Anyway, he knows who the winning football team is! GO UTES!!

 Madi trying to prepare him for our Thanksgiving trip to Grandma and Grandpa Legg's in Arizona. This pic is priceless! She was adamant that he could not have the sun in his eyes. So cute!

 Just catching our Sunday afternoon nap with dad. Right in between watching some football.

I could write a whole blog just about Jack! He lights up my life, and I cherish his innocence; especially when my older kids back talk or fight. Boy I wish they could stay little forever. David of course can't wait for them to grow so he can really play with them. We both enjoy different stages which makes our parenting sympatico. He is such a wonderful dad, and has been a tender and calm caregiver for Jackson. He can tell the difference in Jackson's cries, knows when he just needs a nap, and is so amazing. It has been hard going back to work with a baby, but I know that Jack is in the best possible hands.

I look at my "Little" family and realize how truly blessed I am. David and I are truly grateful for all of the tender mercies in our lives. I have a good job, great benefits, a very kind and understanding boss who gives me ultimate flexibility with my hours. We have healthy, strong children who are smart and love life. Sometimes it gets overwhelming but in the end, this is our life, and we love our controlled chaos!