Hope is 2!

We like to draw out birthdays at our house.  Singing and blowing out candles at lease three times is pretty normal around here.  So we started Hope's day with birthday oatmeal.  She loved the song so much, she walked around singing "Happy Birthday to me!" all day long (see last video at the end of this post).  And you'll have to forgive a mother the sheer number of pictures I'm including in this post because no matter how similar each shot may appear to someone else,  every different facial expression, every dimple and twinkly eye is precious to me.http://youtu.be/O5b-ZfXX5nU

 We are loving all that she can say and do now.  Singing "...lead me, guide me, walk beside me" on repeat.  "Let it go!" at the top of her tiny lungs, needing shoes on her feet 24/7, and keeping us all in line with her little pointer finger telling us "No!" when she doesn't approve.  But even with all her spunk, she is just so incredibly sweet.  The first to apologize and freely forgive any wrong, ready to obey with an "O-tay!", a tiny little mother-heart that oohs and as over every baby (see pic with cousin Will below), saying "Hi" to every stranger and offering hugs to the downhearted.  Oh, how we love you, Hope!  (When she introduces herself to people they think she is saying, "I happy!"--because the words are always accompanied by this huge dimpled smile and some Snoopy dancing.  But she's really giving her nickname from Darren, "Hopey" :)

 "Oh no!  A spider!"

 Our first Lefty!  Matt and Michelle, she will need pointers from you!!

 A phone call from Mama KK and Papa Stan (who woke themselves up in the middle of their night) to call and sing to her!!  Dinner cupcakes, candles and song with our own little family on her birthday....

 Then, Sunday, we had Tom, Carma, Ryan, Laura, Rachel, Conlon, Jane, Will, Spencer, Mary, Michelle, Ben, Hans, Xander, Gabe and Mary over for a big dinner to celebrate one more time!

 The theme of our dinner was our little pumpkin, so we had pumpkin, beef and black bean chili with baked potatoes and salad, Mary (Lehnardt) brought the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and I made the pumpkin caramel Italian cream cake.  We all ate very, very well, but Hope only cared about the great people who came.   (I wish I had more shots of everyone, but I'm really bad at getting pictures when there's a lot going on!!)

 Thanks to Michelle for getting a few pictures for us!

 And after all the celebrating, I just needed to capture a few more angles of this precious two-year old face so I can remember every inch.  (And for these I had to include Eden, and the blankey and fa-fa, a few of Hope's faithful companions)

http://youtu.be/oT5rntW4yX8

Some of Eden's many talents

I received a message today from Edens primary teacher while we were out playing in the fall leaves. She wanted to know five of Eden's talents for their primary lesson tomorrow. I wrote them down and I wanted to record them here for her to read later on.  

Eden, you are very brave. You try new things with excitement and you were always thrilled to learn and experience something new.

You are kind and thoughtful. You can see others needs and you try to help them. When someone is sad you try to cheer them up, when I need help you are ready to cook, clean, or help a little brother sister.  

You are so good at making us all laugh and have fun. Your laugh makes my day. And the twinkle in your eye, your little dimple by your mouth, and your one raised eyebrow can bring a smile to anyone's face.

You are obedient. You follow the rules and you try to help others follow the rules as well. This will be a great strength to you as you get older and are faced with harder situations and harder temptations. Others will need your example of obedience in order to receive the happiness that comes from obeying the commandments of God.

You are full of faith, Eden. You understand the Scriptures and the gospel principles and you try to live them 100% once you have learned them. An example of this is when we talked about praying to have missionary experiences and you wanted to pray for your friend Bella to come to church. There wasn't a day that you forgot to pray for her to come to church and your own prayers. Once you know something is the will of God you do it wholeheartedly.

What a privilege it is to be your mother, sweet angel of mine.  Thank you for all that you teach me and all the joy you bring us every day. 

The power of moms

When I was a teenager, I learned at church one Sunday that mothers had the power and responsibly to bring the spirit into their home. My mom wasn't very excited when I brought up that little nugget of wisdom right in the middle of a moment when all of us were driving her crazy :). I think she cried in frustration, "and that's another thing!  Why does everything depend on me?!"  She laughs about it now, especially since I'm carrying that responsibility in my own home with 5 little giants clambering for love, attention, validation, justification, vindication, mediation, education, inspiration, homework help, piano help, food, drinks, diapers, naps, songs and bedtime stories AT THE SAME TIME.  

That fact is written in my heart, though.  So every time I fall short in that divine responsibility I feel it.  I've been praying for help and inspiration and have found it in so many places:

--in the temple.  God divided light from darkness.  Even though our earth and our bodies need the night to rest, there is no place for spiritual darkness--anger, criticism, sarcasm, impatience--in our home. And ridding our home of it is as simple (not easy, but simple) as the Lord's task was for Him. I decide how I act and react. And when I seek light, I find it.  And because I am the mother, it fills our whole home. 

--in prayer.  I cannot pray a lie. I cannot justify my weaknesses to Him who created me, who knows me and loves me perfectly, and who wants and works for my eternal happiness above all else. So when I pray for help, I am gently, lovingly, but with no sugar-coating shown how I can change my own heart, my own words, my own actions to make our home the sacred place it has to be. 

--in the scriptures.  We read as a whole family before bedtime, but while the kids eat breakfast every morning I read to them from the Book of Mormon. As I read aloud the truths that have changed my heart before, it is softened again. Every time. I explain to my crazy little angels why I'm crying, why these truths are so important to me and how much they have helped me as I live them. I am reminded of how much The Lord has always helped me and how he will never fail me and I testify that he will never fail them.  That kind of power has saved many a morning from a would-be frantic and crazy mom. 

--good books.  CS Lewis, parenting books, The Robe.  They all make me think and re-examine my motives and methods.  "Oh yeah, take the emotion out of discipline."  "That's right, he is knocking down walls in my heart to create something more glorious than I can imagine."  "Is this the most important thing I should be spending my time and energy on at THIS moment?"  

How thankful I am for the blessings and divine help waiting for me when and wherever I seek them with real intent.  It's a great day to be a mom :)

back to school and gorgeous hikes

I've decided hiking is my new favorite family pass time.  And really, we live in a great place for it.  These mountains, this sunshine, these souls that are so precious to me---all combined, I really almost burst with happiness.  This first set of photos was the hike to Cecret Lake that we took as our FHE activity the last Monday of the summer, right at dusk.  We had missed the wildflower explosion, but it was still breathtaking.

Hope's tiny hand found one of the many wildflowers still lining the lake and the trail.

See how happy these hikes make me?  ;)

We had our lesson on this rock above the lake and talked about being a leader.  On a hike, a good leader chooses safe paths, encourages those with him/her to stay safely on the path, warns them of slippery spots, stays positive, points out beautiful details and keeps going even when tired.  Then we talked about how they could use those same qualities to be good friends and leaders at school during the coming year.

Ryn and Elle started a few days before Eden, so here is their first day:

Ryn starting third grade and Elle starting second.

Ryn w her good friend, Annika

Ryn with her best friends after a fun first day

Eden was over the moon to get to her first day of KINDERGARTEN!!!!

Can you see it in those eyes?  

Walked to her class by her big sisters.  Lucky girls, so blessed to have each other.

Labor Day Bell Canyon hike with our little Super family and Spencer and Mary--our first time to meet her!

We made it to the reservoir where Kevin started heaving huge rocks into the water to splash the kids.  

Their facial expressions were priceless.  And so was Darren trying to protect Eden.  

When splashing wasn't enough, Kev decided to throw them in....  Just kidding :)

Love this youngest brother of mine.  He was about Darren's age when I left for BYU.  Now look at him....all grown up....

...and finding this beautiful girl to love.  

we're all kind of excited about that

jumping for joy, really

can't keep from dancing!

Happy happy days.
"You can look right through the leaves straight up to heaven, you can almost hear the voice of God in each and every breeze.  You've got to stop and smell the roses.  You've got to count your many blessings every day.  You're gonna find your way to heaven is a rough and rocky road, if you don't stop and smell the roses along the way."