Our Family

The good.... Jared's work had their annual ski night.  They rent out the hill for the night, so it is free for employees and family/friends of the employees.  We have awesome friends who let us borrow all of the ski gear we needed, including small skis/boots/helmets/goggles for the girls to use.  I thought we were a little crazy taking both girls for the first time at the same time.

But it was a beautiful night.  Jared took Emma and I took Maddie.  As I put her skis on, she got very nervous and whiny.  As we started down the hill she kept saying, "I'm not sure this is a good idea.  I'm not sure this is a good idea!"  I distracted her by having her sing "Once There Was A Snowman" and we learned how to make slices of "snow pizza" with our skis.  Pretty soon she was saying, "This isn't too bad!  Mom, I'm doing it!  I'm rockin' it!"  By the first time down, she pretty much had it!  So did Emma.

About halfway up the lift, Maddie wanted me to stop holding her while on the lift AND she informed me that she would be skiing down by herself next time.  Jared and I swapped girls for that run, and Maddie just kept telling him she could do it by herself and did NOT want his help.  They ended up in the lodge pretty fast with her arguing with him the whole time.

Emma did great for our next run and then it was getting late, so we headed home.  Lots of fun!  I wish I had thought to grab a picture of all of us, but I did snap one of Emma after a couple of runs, well after it was dark.


The bad.... Maddie currently has a Urinary Tract Infection.  No fun.  Poor things just started having pee accidents, which is really not like her.  After a couple of days, she cried when she went, so I took her to Immediate Care yesterday.  It took them about two seconds of looking at her "sample" to determine there was an infection.  She is now on an antibiotic, and I can already tell a difference.

More (potential) bad... The Dr. is concerned, however, that she may have a food allergy which contributed to her infection.  So once this is cleared up, we will be moving on to the food allergy elimination process.  We are working with a nutritionist, so hopefully that determines it, otherwise we will be going to see an actual allergist to run the tests.

The good... I had "the" ultrasound last week, and met with my Dr. yesterday to go over the results.  All is well.  Baby looks perfect.  Kidney, spine, lungs, heart, arms, legs, head, face, etc.  I really really love that ultrasound.  It is an amazing experience to SEE this little person who is getting ready to join our family.  We took the girls with us, and they systematically looked at themselves, then the baby and asked about each body part to make sure the baby had everything necessary.

The bad... I always get dizzy during the first trimester, if I stand up to fast I get really lightheaded and feel like I might pass out, especially first thing in the morning.  I have been surprised this pregnancy that it is still going on.  In fact, I have actually blacked out twice in the last couple of weeks.  Luckily the second time, I had a couple of friends standing there who literally caught me as I fell.  I asked my Dr. about it, and it is apparently pretty common!  I just have to be more careful when I sit or stand up quickly.  Just lots of extra blood pumping!

I've been thinking a lot about our Young Women's lesson that we had on Sunday, on adversity.  One verse, 2 Nephi 2:11, really stuck out to our class, and we spent a lot of time talking about it.  We discussed "opposition in all things" and how you must feel sad in order to understand what happiness truly is, hungry to understand the blessing of being full, etc.

So I've been thinking how grateful I am for "the bad" things (as big or as minor as they may be), for they help me appreciate and learn and grow during "the bad" and "the good", too.  Heavenly Father is far wiser than I am, I'm grateful for the opportunities He gives me to become better.

The girls and I went to an appointment today.  When we walked outside, there were some GIANT snowflakes falling.  We weren't in a hurry at all, and the girls were so in awe that we just stopped to catch/eat as many as we could.  Love the excitement of childhood and my sweet little girls.

It warmed up to almost 40 degrees last week, so the kids and I went to the park.  It was muddy and wet and messy, but they sure had fun.  Briggs got a little too close the puddle under the swing and face planted it.  He didn't care, though.  We even had a picnic.  Afterward, we ran up and down and rolled down the little hill at the park.  They called it the "mountain".  Such a fun, fun morning.

I have been in the Young Women program since last fall.  I LOVE the girls I get to work with, and the women I get to serve with.

They are very creative and hard-working, and the result are pretty amazing activities and creations.  I need to take pictures more often, this was one I snapped of the cake and cupcakes that the 1st Counselor made for New Beginnings last week.  Those are little tiny high heels made out of fondant on top of each cupcake.  And the temple?  All cake!  She is soo talented!

Seriously, I'll do better taking pictures, and probably pinning some of their creations.

Emma bore her testimony this month.  That morning, we talked about what she could do if she needed help.  I told her we couldn't help her, but Heavenly Father would help her if she needed it.

"Noble fatherhood gives us a glimpse of the divine." (James E. Faust)

I came across THIS video a couple of weeks ago.  When I watched it, I thought of Jared immediately, this is absolutely him.  I have said many times that I have a better understanding of our Heavenly Father's love for us and more of His personality because of the example Jared sets.  I am so blessed to have such a great man in my life.

I can't write anything that would really do justice to how I feel about this man...

But Jared is one of the most hard-working men I have ever met.  Somedays I'm not sure he even had more than 30 seconds to himself, but he never complains.  He is motivated and dedicated to improving himself at work, at home and spiritually.

He is an amazing dad.  It can get a little crazy at our house- not for the faint of heart for sure.  But Jared looks at it differently, he sees all the FUN, and there is definitely a lot of that with our three busy kiddos.  He is a horse, a jungle gym, a monster, a bear... a dad.  He jumps right in when he walks in the door, helping finish up dinner, set the table, entertain the kids, disciplining the kids if needed(and oh so patiently!).

And to me, he is a "faithful husband"... when I first watched the video I assumed it meant he faithful in the sense most would think, but as I have thought and studied the word "faithful", I found some more fitting definitions for it.

"1:  Steadfast in affection or allegiance;  2:  Firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty;  3:  Given with strong assurance, binding;  4:  True to a standard."

I love those definitions of faithful because if I could just think of a few words to describe Jared- STEADFAST, FIRM, STRONG and TRUE would all make the list.

Jared, I love you!  Happy Happy Birthday!  Hope your day is GREAT!!

Elder Perry gave an amazing talk in which he said,  "Parents must resolve that teaching in the home is a most sacred and important responsibility. While other institutions, such as church and school, can assist parents to “train up a child in the way he [or she] should go” (Proverbs 22:6), ultimately this responsibility rests with parents. According to the great plan of happiness, it is parents who are entrusted with the care and development of our Heavenly Father’s children."


Emma's speech is lacking.  She was struggling to hear last fall, and her tonsil/adenoid surgery and putting tubes in her ears helped so much.  She has truly improved a great deal.

But it has become clear that there are many letters and sounds that she is still struggling with.  With pre-school registrations coming up, I have been feeling an urgency to decided if Emma needs speech therapy or a speech therapy based pre-school.  Struggling with the sounds affects all aspects of learning, especially reading, and I'm a firm believer that reading is the most important tool you can give a child to learn in all subjects.

It is so hard to decide where to begin with that search.  After talking about it, Jared and I decided to  contact a school that the school district provides to help with things like that and made an appointment for an evaluation.  

They did a full evaluation:  cognitive, motor, communication, adaptive and personal-social.  She excelled in all of them, surpassing their requirements.  I had the chance to talk with the speech therapist, who knew it was likely her speech that I had brought her in for.  She went over the sounds she SHOULD be making and said, "She does great with them after you have her repeat them a couple of times."

There are many other sounds that I was concerned that she wasn't doing, and she said that they don't actually expect kids to be saying them until 5, some until 6-7.  She said, "I can tell she doesn't have the muscle tone or ability to say them, and likely won't gain those on her own."  However, they won't work with her until she is ACTUALLY behind.  

I left so frustrated, feeling like "good enough" should NOT be good enough!  As I drove home, I felt very distinctly, "It is your job, you can't expect them to do it for you."  It is the conversation Jared and I have had over and over.  No school, no program can get the results on their own- as a parent, you HAVE to be pro-active and involved if you want your child to succeed.

So, we will find another way to help her through her speech struggles, because as parents, We "are entrusted with the care and development of our Heavenly Father's children."