More Easter Adventures

We were lucky enough to be able to go to Cardston to the temple yesterday. Talk about the perfect way to celebrate Easter! Despite my initial reservations, both boys traveled perfectly and Kayla was nice enough to watch the boys while Darreck and I and my parents did a session. It was a quick trip, but very much worth every minute.

Today we went to church and then had dinner at my parent's house. We also got to dye Easter eggs (finally), which has always been one of my favorite traditions. Max loved it again this year! I love getting to institute these fun traditions with our kids, and it makes it even better that my family can be involved.

More than the eggs and the great food, we are mostly grateful for the reason for this Easter season- our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are so thankful for the infinite Atonement and for the glorious resurrection that Easter morn so long ago. We love our Savior, and we feel privileged to celebrate His life, His ministry, and His eternal love for all of us.

Easter Tradition

It's spring break around here, and that means one very important thing- DADDY'S HOME! Yay! Today we had an Easter egg hunt at my parents house and the Easter bunny came a little early to drop off the boy's baskets. Too, too much fun :) I love this time of year as the weather gets warmer, the days get longer, and the family gets to be together more often. Bring on spring!

Gram's Birthday and a Cloth Diaper Shower

I'm still a day late and a dollar short when it comes to this blogging thing lately, but I'll try and catch up for the past week.

Monday we celebrated Grandma Necia's birthday following her return from a trip to the East coast. She got to see Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, and Washington DC. I'm a little jealous, and it sounds like she had an amazing time, in spite of having to rush in a few places. I got the honor of making her birthday cake- a coconut lemon tort- and the entire family got together Monday night to celebrate. We're so lucky to have such a great Grandma-Great. The boys absolutely adore her, and they get to spend quite a bit of time with them, lucky little stinkers. She's nice enough to watch them for me every Wednesday while I teach lessons. We just love her to death!!!

Today I got the chance to host my first ever cloth diaper baby shower for a close friend, and it went over really well. We started cloth diapering Max at 2-1/2, and we've been cloth diapering Luke since 3 weeks. It's been such a great fit for our family, and I'm always eager to share my love of cloth with all my friends. Now that I've signed on to be an Imagine brand cloth diaper Advocate, I even get to make a little money from convincing my friends to try out cloth diapers. Win-win situation for everyone involved.

Last but not least, we received our first shipment of food storage food from a company called Shelf Reliance yesterday. One of our financial goes this year was to start our food storage in earnest, and I love this company we're getting food from. It's such a comfort to know that our family is prepared in case of an emergency, job loss, or disability. I also love being in a position to help out others who may be struggling. Just another example of a principle of the gospel that positively impacts our lives.

I'll leave you with some cute new pictures :)

First Real Bath

Luke had his first bath in the big tub today, as opposed to putting his baby bathtub in the big tub and letting him sit in that. It seems kind of ridiculous that it's taken us this long, but to be perfectly honest, we don't bathe him all that frequently. Don't get me wrong, it still happens a few times a week, but it's so dry during the winter that there's no way we could do it everyday.

Another first today was getting to teach the Sunbeams at church. The phrase herding cats comes to mind...

Actually, they were really pretty good. It's a pretty sweet group of kids, and they did well during the lessons. It's hard to sit still for 3 hours of church when you're 3! Heck, it's hard sometimes when you're 25 :) Our lesson today was called "I'm thankful for fish", which cracked me up. I love Sunbeam lessons! I brought a pole with a magnet at the end of the string and let them "fish" for paper fish with paper clips attached. I was pretty much the super hero of the day, which pretty much made my day. Max did pretty well with me in there, so I think it's going to work out splendidly.

Now it's on to another busy week. Playdates and story time and even a baby shower. Gotta love life!

A Change in Callings

This has been a big year for me spiritually. I'm always amazed at the Lord's pattern for growth in our personal lives; it seems to come in fits and spurts, always at the time we least expect it. For me, the growth this year seems to have started with being called to play the organ last year, but it has continued in unexpected ways.

So, about playing the organ. When the bishop first called me to be the ward organist this time last year, it was very overwhelming for me. I knew how to play about 10 hymns, and I had only played the organ two times before. It was the first time I ever wanted to turn down a calling, even though I never would. My problem with playing the organ wasn't just with a lack of skill, it was also a battle with my own perfectionism. I hate to appear less than competent in front of others, and I knew that there would be a growing process. It takes a lot for me to make mistakes in front of others, and playing organ forced me to make mistakes over and over again in front of the entire ward.

Heavenly Father, in his infinite wisdom, knew that I needed to get over my fear of looking imperfect. This lesson was incredibly important for my spiritual growth, and this calling was the perfect medium for me to flourish. Now that I'm finally feeling comfortable with playing the organ, it's time for me to move on. Such is life. The faithful never get to be too comfortable for long- there's always another lesson the Lord is eager to teach them.

Now I'm going back to primary, which is incredibly ironic. Two weeks ago, speaking in church (another activity that stretches me spiritually), I told the story of learning to play organ and missing my calling in primary. Turn out that the bishop already had the switch in mind. Cosmic irony at it's finest!

I'll be teaching Max's class, Sunbeams, for the time being, which is going to present its own unique set of challenges. The Sunbeams are a little nutty, in a good way! They'll keep me on my toes for the time being, but the bishop hinted that I may not be in their for long. The only person who really knows is Heavenly Father, and I'm sure He'll let me know his intentions when the time is right.

Luke's 7 Month Update

Usually winter is quiet around here, but February flew by and was totally crazy! It's been such a hectic rush, but I'm glad I got the chance to take some pictures of Luke today and reflect on the past 7 months with him in our household.

Here's what the little guy is up to now:

• His sleeping is sporadic, at best. He's had a very hard time trying to transition to the crib, and he would rather be held during naps then in his own space. Some nights he'll wake up at five times, other nights he'll only wake up twice. I'm very, very ready for him to sleep!
• He's not totally sold on solids yet. We've been trying to introduce new foods into his diet, but he will only eat applesauce, banana, and oatmeal well. Max inhaled everything in his field of vision, but Luke is much more selective. Probably why he's much smaller than his older brother.
• He's perfectly content to amuse himself. In terms of babies, Luke is relatively easy to entertain. So long as he's full and well-rested, he can amuse himself with any of his toys, or just his toes, for hours. He is the observant type, and so long as there are people around him, he likes to just sit and take the world in. 
• He's ADORABLE! Everyone who meets Luke has the same comment- his eyes are huge! And they truly are! He has a full head of light brown hair, beautiful fair skin, and the biggest eyes I've ever seen. Lucky boy also inherited his father's dimples. The only mystery that remains is his eye color. They seem to be turning hazel, but they still have a bluish hue. It's anyone's guess what the final color will be. 
• He loves being a brother. Luke's favorite person in the world is Max, even though it was the cat last month. He's a little fickle like that. He thinks everything Max does is hilarious, and he'll sit and watch him all day, laughing and laughing. 

I love our sweet baby boy, and our sweet big boy :) We're so lucky to have two wonderful boys who are growing to be loving brothers. Max asks me almost every day when Luke will be big enough to move into his room so they can "share everything". They have their ups and downs, and I'm sure it's bound to get more dramatic as they get older. However, I hope that they can also grow in love and camaraderie.