Reflecting

I've been doing a lot of thinking these past few weeks just about stuff. Mostly about the person I was 7 years ago when I graduated high school compared to the person I am today. I came to the conclusion that I am glad I'm out of the awkward teenage/high school years. That time in my life was one I will gladly not repeat. I was fighting to gain a testimony of the gospel, fighting to figure out exactly who I was and what my values were. Struggling with my self confidence. I valued others perceptions of me. I wanted to be popular and not be the "nerd". I was boy crazy and was dealing with some of the problems that come with being boy crazy. I was selfish, rude, untrusted by my parents and on the inside torn.

My dad was the bishop and so I had a lot of people watching me. Waiting for me to do something wrong or stupid (to which I gave plenty of material). I was a crappy example of what a Mormon girl stands for. When I look back to my high school years I don't look back with fondness. I was surrounded by some amazing friends and I took them for granted. If I could go back I'd love to.

But now today I'm happy to say that I have found my testimony and am starting to understand who I am. I know what my values are and have become more assertive in keeping those values. I refuse to be pushed to the side. I've accepted the fact that I am a "nerd". I'm still boy crazy but only for one :). Everyday I strive to not be selfish and to redeem myself somehow of all the missed opportunities I had to be a good friend and a good example and never took (I did have my good moments like any teenager). I still have personal struggles and struggles between Jacob and I but who doesn't? I'm hoping that when I'm through all of my challenges and trials that I will be able to look back and be proud of the way I handled them. I now have the knowledge that I have a loving Savior who is willing to do anything for me. I just need to have faith, ask Him and then work my hardest to achieve my goal and I will make it.

I look back at my time spent in Colorado and my heart is filled with gratitude. I was dropped off there not knowing anyone and 7 months pregnant with Emma (we thought she would be Tristan but that's another story). I'd only lived in one city for my childhood and had always had family right down the road. I was scared and had never felt so alone. Jacob was gone more often than he was home so it was up to me to either sink or swim. I learned so much while I was there and am so grateful for all the friends I made there. I met some truly amazing people who became my family and helped me grow up. My bishop gave me a blessing before I moved here and in it I was told that I had been put through a refiners fire and that Heavenly Father was pleased with me. I had passed that test and was moving on to a new one.

Anyway, sorry about the wordy post, but I have had TONS on my mind lately. Even more things than I feel comfortable blurting out for the whole world to read. I am grateful for all of my angel friends who help make my life easier. I am truly blessed with the most amazing friends. I love you all!

This video has inspired me to get my butt in gear and Learn the United States Constitution.

"Mommy, I'm hungry..."

Do you know how many times I hear those words in a day? I loose count after 20. So I had a thought of genius last night when I was laying in bed. I was so excited that I told Jacob about my idea and did he get as excited as I did?? Not even close. But that's okay. So here is my thought. Emma will get 2 snacks per day. One in between breakfast and lunch and one in between lunch and dinner. In order for Emma to keep track of what snack she's had I put snacks into a tupperware container and labeled them 1 and 2. She can have a morning snack from the 1 column and an afternoon snack from the number 2 column. I explained to her once she had eaten her morning snack there would be nothing else to eat until lunch and the same with her afternoon snack. I'm sure I'll have to repeat this a few times before she gets it but I think it's worth it. I put the container in the fridge where she can get to it. I'll probably changed up the snacks after she goes through these ones. I'm wanting to get her into eating more fruits and veggies for snacks instead of crackers and granola bars. We'll see how it goes.

Warmer weather is here!

This last weekend the weather was beautiful! Emma and Linnea played outside all day Friday and Saturday while Jacob and I worked on yard work. We got a lot done and Linnea is no longer afraid of the grass!
Linnea enjoying a bottle out on the freshly seeded grass. Looks pretty good considering the see just came up!

Dora spaghetti O's on the back patio. Emma was in heaven!

After a long day outside Linnea just wanted to snuggle with her mommy. Such a sweetheart!

Linnea

Linnea has been a beautiful addition to our family. She's happy, vocal, and REALLY silly. I love that she's such a people person. She's not shy and goes out of her way to make people smile. The other week at church she turned around to some of our friends who were sitting right behind us and the wife wasn't smiling so Linnea gave her a smile. Our friend didn't do anything so Linnea gave a bigger smile... nothing. So finally Linnea musters up all her silliness and gives the biggest cheesiest smile I've ever seen her give. Finally our friend cracked a smile and Linnea left her alone. That same Sunday Jacob took her with him to his classes and said she did the same thing to a couple other men at church.

Linnea loves her big sister and loves to play with her but needs alone time too. Emma didn't really want alone time so I'm grateful to have a daughter who relishes alone time. As I'm typing this she is laying on her back in the toy room grabbing at her feet and squealing. Such a silly girl. When I think about Linnea these words come to mind: Joyful, silly, sweet, smiles. I can't wait to see what life brings her. She makes the world a better place with her smiles.

Trip to the Library

Yesterday we went to the library. I'm not sure why we don't visit more often. The girls LOVE it. Here are some pictures I took.

Emma tried to ask the little girl what her name was but either she didn't know any English or she was REALLY shy (I'm thinking she was just really shy). When I said it was time to go Emma took down her "sand castle" and placed all the pieces back in the drawer after taking apart all of them so they were back to the individual Legos. That part was kind of annoying but that's the routine at home and when we go play at friend's houses so why not the library too right?

Linnea was in heaven! Books, bead mazes and "blocks" to play with. All favorites of hers. She couldn't make up her mind which ones she wanted to play with so she kept racing from one place to the other. Silly kid. Can you believe she'll be 11 months old in just under 2 weeks!?

Emma

Living with a 3 year old makes life interesting. Emma is such a goofy kid. She talks constantly about everything and anything. She also loves to run around (if only we could get her to bend her legs when she runs... then she'd be unstoppable) and kick her soccer ball that the Easter Bunny brought her. Emma is very concerned with other people around her (she can be one of the biggest tattle tales I've ever seen) and wants to make them happy. She's a live by the rules kind of girl and likes structure and things to be tidy. When the house is not clean she will make a comment about how it's messy.
She's not one to go out and jump right into something. Emma likes to observe and then take the plunge. She enjoys playing "Pretty Princess Dress Up" and playing with her train set, reading books, coloring, and playing dolls. She is the typical girly girl and the typical 3 year old complete with major tantrums. I love her so much and am so grateful that she was my first born. She's snugly and affectionate and a great friend. Everyone she meets she calls her "friend". We go to the mall and play in the play place and as we are driving home she talks to me about all her new friends. She knows their names and what color clothing they had on. When I think about Emma these words come to mind: Princesses, orderly, silly, kind, caring, beautiful. I'm glad that Linnea has such a good example to look up to when she gets older.

5th Wedding Anniversary

We are going to work backwards in our trip because I don't feel like rearranging these pictures. Here we are our first time kayaking. The sun was shining but it was really windy and the tide was going out. But it was a blast and we want to go again soon!

Light House at Fort Worden. The Coast Guard has control over it right now but they are working on turning it over to the park so there will be more opportunities to tour it.

Messing around at the Fort

Lower Lena Lake. It was a great hike. We hit snow about halfway up and that slowed us down a bit but we were happy to reach the lake.

The view from our Bed and Breakfast looking out at the light house at Fort Worden.

The front room at the bed and breakfast. I learned how to play chess. It was really hard to get the hang of and I'm still not sure I really understand how to play.

The Dungeness Spit. We ran down the trail (it was only 1/2 a mile down hill)and I kicked Jacob's trash in a sprint. Felt so good!

This lovely burger is the Smitty Burger and Fat Smitty's. I got through half of it and felt like I was going to barf. It tasted REALLY good but dang it was big!

There's always money in a burger stand. Have you seen Arrested Development?? If you have then you'll get that line.

Jacob outside Fat Smitty's

While we were away from the girls they had a great time with their Mor Mor and Papa and Uncles Tyler and Kaleb. They went to the Zoo and down to the farm where they held lambs and rode pigs. A great time was had by all!

Emma Feeds Linnea...

I'm glad that I have a daughter who is so willing to help out her little sister... now if only she would learn how to clean up after she helps.