My Little Sisters

Amy sent me this picture the other day and it got me thinking of my little sisters. I just want to start by saying that I am very blessed to come from a large family with FIVE great Siblings. They are all pretty awesome! But these little sisters...I don't know what it is but they put a smile on my face.

I look back and think of all of the trouble that Amy and I were always getting into. And that is just it, it was always Amy and I. It was never just me or just her, it was US! Like the time we tried to run away and took a bunch of blankets, pillows, food and hid in our fort down in the woods behind the church. Or how about the time when we snuck out to play night games with the neighbors and Devin told on us. How about all of the times when my older brother and two older cousins would clear the furniture out to the edge of the room and then get us to start fighting and wrestling. We were always so super close, even through High school we were friends, we wore each others clothes (sometimes without permission), we hung out with each others friends. I remember playing intermural volleyball with Amy and having a hard time staying on our feet because we were laughing so hard we were the only girls on the team and those boys thought we were absolutely crazy! The rules were that you had to have at least two girls on the court at all times so it was never ending. I guess we did pull it together enough to be the school champions. We almost always shared a room and if we didn't share a room we would talk through the vents to one another. Speaking of vents I remember on cold winter mornings sitting on the heating vents in the front room. There was one on each side of the couch and we would sit on them and put out tee shirts over our legs while we talked and laughed and warmed up. I cherish these memories that I have of Amy and I.

Julie was always the baby sister. Her and Devin were only 18 months apart and so they were always close. She was always just a bit too young to be part of the trouble that Amy and I made. In fact she was usually the one to spoil the fun! I will never forget when she came to get Amy and I from our friend Skye's house and she called out, "Tim Tamy it is Time to Tome home!" It was so cute. She was always so cute! She had a wierd sense of style and sadly I remember Amy and I making fun of it often. Like when she went through the stage of tucking EVERYTHING into her pants. Even if it was a sweater, it didn't matter, it was getting tucked in. I think of how different it would have been if we had each been two years apart instead of three. We could have really reeked havoc! Julie didn't get to hang out with us and she recieved the butt end of the deal, but now I can look at her and I truely love being around her. She has grown into the most beautiful young lady and she is going to make some guy the happiest man in the world someday. She is loving, kind, honest, good with my kids! She is upbeat and willing to do just about anything. I am so glad that now I don't just have Amy to get into trouble with, I have Julie too!

I just want both of my sisters to know how much I love and enjoy them. I am overjoyed at the thought that Amy is now a MOM!!! I know that she will be spectacular and I can't wait to hold that little bundle of joy. Julie, don't ever give up on your goals! You can do anything that you set you mind to, you have a winning personality. I am very jealous that you two are down in Utah TOGETHER! Enjoy it while you can, as we grow and as our families grow we are most likely going to get even more spread out so cherish this special time. I love you guys!

Thanksgiving

I know that this is way past due but we had an awesome Thanksgiving this year and all of our family was able to be there. This was no small feat! It actually hadn't happened since Kendra was six months old! So that would have been 6 1/2 years. Needless to say we got some family pictures taken and they turned out great. These other pictures were just from around the house and of the cousins. Gavin LOVED the snow, although we aren't quite sure what he was doing in this picture. And who couldn't love Uncle Devin, even if he is a pirate!

Preston's first Birthday!

I thought that I would post some pictures of Preston at his first Birthday party. The other pictures are just of him super happy, isn't he precious!

Up to Speed!

So January is quickly coming to an end and I feel like I haven't done anything that I wanted to do. Kendra and Ethan both had Monday off of school due to Martin Luther King day and were chomping at the bit to get back. I clearly remember LOVING school when I was in elementary school. I can't wait for Ethan to start Kindergarten, he is going to be on cloud nine when that day comes. I, on the other hand, will most likely be an emotional train wreck. I am always a mess. HECK I teared up at Kendra's first parent-teacher conference. How embarrassing but I think that I hid it pretty well. PULL IT TOGETHER!

I have now officially read the entire Work and The Glory books! It has taken me about 12-13 years but I did it. Actually I had read the first eight volumes in high school and by the time the ninth one was realeased I had forgotten too much so I couldn't bring myself to read it. So about two years ago I started over and flew through the first five volumes but then hit a snag on book 6. I DIDN'T HAVE IT! I am not a good one to borrow things and I had already spent enough time reading so I just let it die and then around christmas my mom got me the sixth volume in paperback and away I went. I gave in a bought the rest of the series in paperback and last night I turned the final page in the Steed history. I am going to miss not reading more of their story and was left with lots of questions about what happens next. Now I want to go and find a good history book about the first 20 years or so of SLC history. So many things happened and I would love to keep reading about it.

Preston is starting to talk and has a sweet, soft, little voice. It is so precious! He says Hi Daddy or Hi dada. He doesn't say mama yet but we are working on it. He trys but it comes out at "Hi fafa." I LOVE IT! At least I know what he is trying to say. That little boy is so sweet and he is so small too. I'm still not used to having a small child and it is rather nice I want him to stay a baby forever. I could go on and on but I better not. I hope that I will have much more interesting things to share in the future.

Tax Time

It is that time of year again and I am busy getting ready to file our taxes. I LOVE IT!!! I know that is so sad. I love gathering the right paperwork, looking over our W-2's and seeing how much we did... or didn't make this year. Seeing what we get to duduct and what credits we qualify for. This year does bring a little more worry with it since Josh is now self-employed but it looks like we are going to be fine and may even still get a refund. SWEET!!! I love getting that chunk of change back that we've never really counted on. I know that my sister has always told me that both her and her husband claim 0 deductions on their paychecks in order to maximize their return. For them it works! She says that they can always get by on a little less and that they don't really notice the difference because they have always done it this way. Then at tax time they get a nice big check that they can do something really big with like buy new furniture or something else. Yes, I know that some people are moaning and growning right now because that is just handing over an interest free loan to the government instead of investing it and earning interest. But for some that just doesn't ever happen, If the money is accessible it gets spent so that works for her. I have always passed this advise on to my coworkers when I worked in a restaurant because they always get EVERYTHING back that they pay in and I know that it is something that would be good for them. They ushually don't listen though. Just getting them to be honest enough to claim all of their tips was a huge struggle. Again- YOU GET IT BACK!!! And in the meantime you can qualify for more when it comes to buying a house or car or getting a credit card, because your paystubs and tax returns show how much you actually make. That is a pet peeve of mine, can ya tell?

Buggin!

Do you ever have those days where something or someone is just totally bugging you. I will admit that some days it might be my kids or even my husband. And there is usually no rhyme or reason to my feelings and I hate it. Today I am sitting at work and listening to my coworkers talk and they are just buggin me! I try and be patient, remind myself that I am just having some issues and that it is not their fault but it is really hard. Am I alone in this? Does anyone else ever have those days?

Aha! A Touching Moment

I just love having an *AHA* moment and yesterday while sitting in primary I was blessed to experience just that!

Earlier in church we had a close friend of ours get up to share his testimony. This guy is one that I have know since I moved to Billings and he was first married and welcoming their first little one into their family. Now she is prego with number six and they are good friends of ours. He is such an amazing dad and truly cherishes his family, whenever he shares his testimony it strengthens mine. Anyways he spoke of his family, as he always does, and told of how if he has a bad day at work and makes mistakes, maybe gets in trouble, or maybe is gone on business for an extended time, that when he walks through that door NONE of that matters! What matters is that he is home and that his family loves him. I am sure that we have all experienced this feeling even if we aren't the parent! There is a special love there that means more than anything else. Of course...this brought tears to my eyes and I knew that my family makes me feel that way everytime I come home. I love it when they stop whatever they are doing and run up to greet me with hugs and kisses.

Later that day I was sitting on the back row in the primary room (I teach the Valient 12) and we were in the middle of sharing time. The lesson was on the plan of salvation. I have to add here that Kendra has graduated to SENIOR primary and this just boggles my mind, how in the world has this happened? Anyways I could see her sitting on the front row just soaking the lesson up. It was special for me to watch her as she learned alongside the "BIG KIDS" about our Heavenly Father's plan in a very grown up way. So as we were learning about what will happen after we die the teacher was telling the kids that our Heavenly Father is going to be so happy to see us and that he wants us to Choose The Right and that he loves us more than we can ever know. Now came my moment!

I began to think of our friends Testimony from earlier and I realized that when we return to Heaven, as we all will someday, that it is going to be just as he had spoke of. It really won't matter if we were gone a long time, or maybe we made mistakes, or maybe even got into some trouble or just became discouraged. That feeling that we get when we are welcomed home from a day of hard work will be multiplied to the point that we cannot even commprehend. Our Heavenly Father will just be glad that we are home. I also began to think of my children and some of the CRAZY and even HORRIBLE things that they have done but despite all of that I love them NO LESS!!! There is nothing that they could do, even if they ignored me completely, that would lessen my love for them. Our Heavenly Father's love is perfect and greater than anyone else's. I know that this revelation is nothing new, but it hit me with such force that I was completely overcome. It was the most comforting feeling! I had to quickly wipe away my tears and pull myself together since we were in the middle of sharing time. But I will never forget those feelings and the knowledge that my Heavenly Father loves me no matter what and wants me to come home someday and when I do he will be overcome to see me, just as I will be to see him.