Carter

 

We had a big birthday in our family last month. Carter turned 8!! He made the choice to be baptized, and we decided to do it in Utah when we made our July visit so all the family wouldn't have to make the trip to AZ in the middle of summer. Carter was so focused on trying to feel the spirit on his baptism day that he forgot to smile for his pictures. ;) 

 I must admit, I love the face he is making in this picture. What a goof. 

Although Tristan had a huge meltdown right before/during the ordinance which was stressful and distracting, Carter's baptism was an amazingly spiritual experience. I did not expect to feel the spirit so strong. It made me realize what an important decision this was for Carter. I got the feeling that God has big things in store for this special guy. I was also very touched by all the family that came to support him. It meant a lot to Andrew and I, and am sure it did to Carter as well. A big thanks to all that came!

 This was the day Carter turned 8. We tried really hard to make it a special day for him. Hopefully we succeeded!

Practicality

 A few months ago my Grandparents came down from Utah for a visit. While taking a tour around our house my Grandma said to me, "This house could sure use some decorating." I groaned internally and thought, "Did my Grandma just tell me my house had no style?" She was right, of course. Love you Grandma! I have never been one to spend money on non essentials. I must admit that 95% of the decorative things that we own have either been given to us or we have gotten them for free. I even have fake plants in my house. I know they are out of date and tacky, but I like the look of green leafy things in the house and for the life of me I cannot keep a live plant without killing it thoroughly. So the fake plants stay.
But if Grandma thought my house needed help, I would give it some sort of effort. So I set out to make my home more stylish. While perusing the isle of the home decor section of a near by department store, a beautiful vase caught my eye so I checked the price tag. What?! You want me to pay how much for that? That could feed my family for a week! It better do something spectacular, like grow it's own flowers spontaneously according to the season.  I did not buy the vase, nor did I buy anything else.
 I know that there are ways to get around spending lots of money on things like vases or picture frames or artwork. Things like checking my local goodwill, or making my own. I am realizing that is probably the route I am going to have to take, but my motivation for spending countless hours doing those things sounds exhausting. So for now if you come to my house, come expecting the plain and simple. I'm okay with it.

Come, Thou Fount Of Every Blessing

I thoroughly enjoyed General Conference this weekend. It was so spiritually uplifting, a great testimony builder, and helped me intensify my love of the Savior. Oh, there is so much more to say about what I love about General Conference, my Savior and my church, but I will save that for another time. I will just say, it's truth! The last song of the Sunday morning session was Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. I LOVE this song! If you do not get chills while listening to it, then listen to it again and you will! :)

The New House

Yep, it's true. We bought a house. It is very nice to finally have a home that we can call ours. We really like the house and it was in great condition when we moved in. I find myself going crazy trying to keep it in good condition with 4 boys running around the house all day. I'm sure the boys will soon learn that shoes do not belong on the carpet and that the walls and the curtains are not their napkin, but probably not.

Living room view #1

Living room view #2

Staircase (in case it wasn't obvious)

Loft view #1

Hallway into the bedrooms

Loft view #2

View from front door

Front door

I am giddy with excitement when I think about all the fun ways I want to decorate it. Then I remember we spent all our money buying the house. Oh well, someday!
Also, I just realized I didn't take a picture of the front of the house. I'll get on that, but meanwhile you can enjoy all the other pictures you have been dying to see. Okay, so most of you probably don't even care, but I know my mom does. :)

Snow......or close to it

We had a pleasant surprise today. We had a hail storm. It was quite the storm too! It came down like crazy! The boys thought it was the coolest thing ever. Then afterwards they had fun playing in the "snow". Since we have moved from Southern California to Arizona our boys really have hardly any experience playing in cold weather. They thought it was great!

I had to throw in this picture of Asher because he is just so stinkin cute!

My Castle

The boys and I drive by the construction site of the soon to be Gilbert Temple all the time. Every time we see it Tristan gets excited about "Mommy's Castle." I really don't know what gave him the idea that this is Mommy's castle, but whenever I have tried to correct him and tell him that it is in fact the temple, he is insistent that it is my castle where "you and daddy are going to live and be happy." Recently on Pintrest I saw a picture of a temple and the words printed on it mentioned the same word, "castle". It got me thinking of how castle is really fitting. The temple is a place where I can go for refuge. It is a beautiful place of peace and comfort. A place to go to escape worldly things, where I can feel close to my savior and feel the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I also thought about the significance of it being a place where Andrew and I can go and be happy, as Tristan says. Nine years ago we went to the temple and were sealed together for time and all eternity. The covenants we make in the temple give us a happiness we could not otherwise have.
I am so grateful for the temple. I love the temple. I am so very excited for the Gilbert temple to be open! I know that I need to work harder and sacrifice more so that I can go to the temple more often. I hope my example will teach my kids the importance and significance of the temple. I want them to see that I am worthy of my castle. :)