Her favorite toy

Right now baby loves these. She carries them everywhere with her. It's so funny! She pretends to pour hot sauce on the taco and then she chews on it.

Tired Peter

1st day of school and he already had to take a nap. He said he woke up at 2:30am and couldn't get back to sleep. The life of a teenager....

...and so it begins

Back to school again today after our long holiday break. It's going to be rough getting back into a routine.

Work in progress

Luke and I are working on something. Here is what we hope the end result looks like. It might take all year to accomplish it. #heisamannow

The mat motivates

Baby randomly rolled out my mat and did a little downward dog today. Pure happiness and lots of laughing on my end. She is so smart and adorable.

BofM

After I finished reading the Book of Mormon on Christmas Eve, Peter and I were talking about it. He asked me how many times I had read the book. I didn't know for sure at the time and guessed it was somewhere around 15 times. I was a little bit off, but not by much. It's nice that I had the foresight as a 14 year old to start writing it down. 

Looking it up made me pause and ponder the significance of the number. As I've thought about it, it's not necessarily the number, but the hours of study the number represents and the special sacred moments I've had because of those hours. 

I know that the Book of Mormon is a true record of the Nephite and Jaredite people. They lived, loved, and died the same way I am doing today. They felt what I felt, were even braver than I am, and worshiped the Lord like I do. One day, I hope to be able to do as they did in 3 Nephi 17:10. As I recently told a friend - I do all that I do because I know Jesus Christ is my Savior, Redeemer, and Lord.

A bit of funny

 

With the last of our school funds I bought passes to our city rec center. I decided I would try and get the boys out of this house to exercise/swim. I have been taking advantage of them by going to all the yoga classes I can. 

This morning I was able to go to a class. With it being the first day of classes in the new year, it was packed with people. The teacher had a bunch of these little cards. As she was passing them out she jokingly said that whatever your card said probably should be the mantra you should embrace for the year. I laughed out loud when I got mine. ROFL

On the way home I went to Smith's and picked up a small container of sushi. I've been craving some for weeks and weeks. It was SO good! I ate it for breakfast. 

Jeremy Renner

Today we heard Hawkeye had been in a snow plow accident. We talked about it as a family tonight. Mostly about how thankful we are that he got help and didn't die. We prayed for him tonight. I hope it will comfort and bless him and his family. Luke couldn't remember his name so he just asked HF to help Hawkeye. It melted my heart. He has the most tender heart ever. Love that boy of mine.

Sick for Christmas

This year we drew the short end of the straw and ended up sick for the Christmas holiday. In the end it doesn't matter how we got it, but I'm pretty sure it is/was Influenza A. I haven't been that sick for a while and the boys haven't been that sick for a really long time, maybe ever. Luke is finally getting around and acting fairly normal. He has been sick for a today. Peter is still in the midst of it. He started feeling achy and having a sore throat on Monday. I'm afraid he has a bit longer before he starts to improve. Anyway, it hasn't been very fun. The one thing I am very thankful for are bedrooms that the boys don't mind living in. They also have Rex and Otis to look at, respectively, when they get tired of sleeping and playing their electronic devices. I am also thankful for fizzy drinks (EmergenC) and ibuprofen.

Boys were here for Christmas Eve and with Brandon for Christmas Day. I did manage to tell the nativity story. Since I had finished the Book of Mormon that day, I added a twist to the story. Here is the plot twist: 

Moroni 10:4

And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

I then bore my testimony to my boys. As I was finishing, Luke said, "I believe in Jesus Christ too". It was a very tender moment for me. I am so thankful for it.

Since Luke has been really sick it took effort for him to share his testimony. Peter was out in the hall not wanting to get contaminated with sick germs, so I'm not sure how he felt about this moment. I have hope that it touched his heart.