Happy Birthday Matt, Marc and Holli!

Happy 17th birthday to my twin brothers. I can't believe it's been that many years ago since I became a "mother." They really are good uncles to my kids (most of the time.) Who knows what they are doing today--we hope to get to see them at some point. 17-year-olds don't exactly schedule their birthday festivities to include their family. Cam and Coop have asked repeatedly if they are invited to the party. Matt and Marc will have some explaining to do if not.
I hope you have a good day, guys! We love you.
Happy birthday to Shea's sweet sister, Holli. She's not 17. I couldn't ask for a better sister-in-law. She is an amazing wife, a wonderful mother, and a perfect example to everyone! I love her so much. We hope your day is fabulous, too.

Happy Birthday, Judd!

(Judd is on the left. After the great Computer Crash of Jan. '08, this is the only photo I can find!)
Happy birthday to a wonderful, playful, loving, and strong-stomached brother-in-law! If we have any medical questions, we ask Judd. If we need band-aids, we ask Judd. If we want to have a great time, we ask Judd to come.
Thanks for being so great to us and our kids! We hope your day is wonderful!

I needed a day like this

And I'm not talking about the constant precipitation we've received today. Could it be Spring already? I'm done with coats, boots, salty cars, slick roads, shoveling, monitoring Lucy's dirty snow intake, and wearing shoes with socks.
In spite of my unhappiness with the weather, I did get a nice day to hang out at home and read.
Let me explain. I LOVE having my husband work from home. It is one of the greatest blessings in my and my children's lives. I love spending so much time together. But every once in a very long while, I like to have a day where he is busy and I can just do my thing. He always lets me do my thing, but sometimes I feel guilty for excluding him or leaving him to work while I do whatever I want.
So, today he was busy with work and gone from 9 to 5. I missed him when I had to reheat leftovers for lunch and get the boys to school, but I really enjoyed my time while I held Lucy while she napped and dove into a good book. I'm reading Pope Joan for a bookclub next month. While it is depressing because of the repression of women in the 9th century, it is informative and gripping. I remember now why I enjoy reading historical fiction. I love reading in general, and it's nice to read something outside of my normal genre. Aside from 150 pages in that book, I was also able to read my scriptures. It was so nice!
Now, it's 9:45 p.m. My whole family has been asleep for an hour. Shea always falls asleep early when he's been busy with work like this. I'll forgive him, and continue exploring another world!

photos

Lucy was so tired!

What boys do at weddings

playing catch up

Last week was a busy one. Valentine's Day, another kindergarten party, Jake and Andrea's wedding plus all that goes with that, a soccer game, and church duties pretty much filled our week. I feel like I haven't been home forever! This week will be a little slower with only a Blue and Gold cub scout banquet, donating blood, visiting teaching, and stake women's conference. That's all that's on the calendar at least. We'll see how it goes.
We took the kids to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy today. They liked it, but Shea and I thought it was pretty lame. We did get to see jelly fish, sting rays, seahorses, and small sharks. We also went to a show where they brought out a hissing cockroach (it was the nastiest thing I've ever seen), a tarantula, an empire scorpion (I don't know how you deal with those things, Jane), a nasty snake, and some birds. It was funny to hear one bird talk, sing, and burp. My boys were laughing their heads off.
After the aquarium we ate at Texas Roadhouse and watched the boys play soccer. Cooper scored three goals and Camden scored one. It was so fun to watch. They had to play on opposing teams some of the time because the other team only had a few players show up. How does a mother of twins cheer for one son on each team? It was exciting to watch anyway.
Stay tuned for some wedding pictures!

Saturday morning

Shea and I went to the 9 a.m. broadcast of the worldwide leadership training. It was all about families and living in today's world. I loved the message that as faithful members of the Church, we should not live in fear but in faith. I sometimes wonder what I'm thinking when bringing and raising children in today's times. No matter what problems we face, and there have always been problems in the world, we can be happy and have a full life when we live according to the Church teachings.
President Monson taught us in our families to
1. Make our homes a place of prayer
2. Make in our homes a library of learning
3. Live with a legacy of love
I am grateful for inspired leaders and for a newly ordained, living prophet. My advice for the day...go to the broadcast!

Now there is plenty of time to go to the store, make Valentine boxes with the boys, fold laundry, and watch Meet the Robinsons as a family.

Happy Saturday!

While the women are at book club...

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