Things I am Thankful for...

In Relief Society they challenged us with the Pursuit of Excellence. I am not sure if this is something that is church wide, or if it something that our ward has come up with. Basically, it is for us to work on different areas of our lives; to strengthen our testimonies and to gain new knowledge. This month it was 'Keys to a Happy Family'. It is set up like a bingo board, and we were challenged to get 'five in a row' or '10 anywhere'.

This is the first month I have actually done it since we have been in this ward. A couple of the things I have done so far: Read the Family Proclamation, Take a Family Picture, Improve your relationship with a family member not living in your home (Thanks Cristin!). One that I thought would be easy to share is 'Make a list of 25 things you are thankful for'. (Sounds easy, but it is proving to be more difficult than I thought!) So here goes!

(In no particular order, for the most part! Just what came to mind as I am typing!)

I am Thankful for:

1. My Savior, Jesus Christ.

2. The Atonement of Jesus Christ. So that I can repent of my sins and also that I may live with my family forever in Heaven!

3. My Girls - Emma and Kathryn

4. My hubby - Mat (sorry you are after the girls, it was a hard decision!)

5. My mom and dad - I love you both and owe you so much!

6. My testimony - I am so thankful for the trials that have given me faith and strength

7. The health of my family! I see so many of my friends and family that have health trials and it makes me so thankful that we are all healthy (knock on wood!)

8. The lessons I learned from my sis, Bambi. I may not be very thankful that she is gone, but I am thankful for her example and all she taught me!

9. The rest of my family & friends! I love you all so much and am thankful for the impact you have on our lives! Life isn't worth living if you don't have the love of your family!

10. The Temple. The peace I feel inside and the experiences I have had make me so Thankful for the Temple!

11. Having a job and that Mat was able to find a a job down here! The economy sucks and it is a hard time for any job. Glad at least we can both say we are working!

12. Having a roof over our head and shoes on our feet! Again, times are tough. But we have what we need and sometimes what we want! Life is good!

13. Our new ward here in Henderson. They have been so welcoming and loving.

14. Our old ward in Roy. We miss the friendships we made and the fun times we had in our old ward and neighborhood!

15. Swimming. It has become a fun time with the girls and it is a lot more relaxing than I ever thought possible! It has turned into a stress reliever!

16. The Internet. It keeps us connected to friends and family!

17. Cell Phones! Again, it is all about the communication with family!

18. Diet Coke and Chocolate. My drugs of choice!

19. Sunshine. Another stress-reliever. (Unless it is too hot, which happens a lot down here! Then it is just miserable!)

20. Air Conditioning. We live in Vegas - need I say more?

21. The girls' bed time! Especially with Mat working nights! Sometimes 8 o'clock can not come fast enough!

22. Traveling! It is something that Mat and I both love and look forward to! When we got engaged, Mat promised to 'show me the world'! And he has! We have been to Mexico, Hawaii, Florida, Nauvoo, Montana, Washington, Arizona, California, and all over Utah! We have had a lot of fun and made a lot of memories together! We hope the girls will learn to love the world as much as we do!

23. Naps. It is my favorite thing to do when I have nothing to do (Doesn't happen very often!) Nothing like a good afternoon nap!

24. My camera and being able to capture all of our fun family memories! Even if Mat gets annoyed with me taking pictures! I can't help myself!

25. Quiet. Sometimes the world gets too crazy and you just need quiet! I like the quiet.

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Whew! That was actually harder than I thought it would be! I even took a couple of days off in between, just to really think about it and what I was thankful for!

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Now that you have read my list, go make one! It really makes you think. What are you thankful for? Think about it!

I love to see the Temple....

I went inside today...

(It's a Primary Song!)

I went to the Las Vegas Temple this morning. It is such a beautiful building, up on the hill and away from all of downtown! Such a peaceful escape from the world. The matrons are so loving! I had one come up to me after the session and give me hug. You don't see love like that many places anymore!

I had to wake up a little earlier than I would have preferred, but Mat had to get to work by afternoon. I went by myself, a first. I have never wanted or needed to go to the temple like this time, especially by myself! But, after the past couple of weeks, I needed it more than ever.

I have been bombarded with things that I never thought I would have to deal with. I have had Anti-Mormon literature sent to me and my testimony argued. Why? My brother thinks I am following darkness and wants me to go 'to the light'. Well, I am following the light - I saw it and felt it today in the Temple! I feel it when I go to church and see other's testimonies being lived. I see it when my girls talk about Jesus! I feel it when I read the scriptures - including the Book of Mormon!!! I see it and feel it when I serve others, do my visiting teaching, or talk to another sister about her needs or problems. I can not and will not deny my testimony!

That is why I post this today.

I know if I try to send it directly to my brother, that he will ignore it or just send other Mormon-hating articles to me. I am done fighting word for word, e-mail to e-mail, fact against fact. Because when it comes down to it, he believes what he believes and I know what I know! He wants the fight, and I don't. He wants the contention and argument. I am done feeling that evil hatred and contempt.

So, I lay down my sword and come to my brother with open and loving arms. I don't want to fight anymore. I don't want every conversation to be centered around religion and who is right or wrong. I want us to all be a family again. I am willing to accept him for believing in another religion, if he is willing to accept me for mine. Leave my religion alone and I will leave yours be. This is a truce. I have asked to not send me things, you didn't listen. This is my last attempt to reach out to you and ask a truce. I know you will read this, you usually do. I love you. No matter what, you are my brother and always will be.

Water Fun!

After work I took the girls to play at the splash pad at a park close to where I work. They had a lot of fun gettin' wet and coolin' off from the hot day! (It did take a bit of coaxing to get them to even go get wet, but eventually they were runnin' around wild!)

Let Us Be Men

This is a nice reminder for the men in our lives, especially with Father's Day coming up.
I also thought that Mat could use a reminder of why he does the things he does for his family! I love him and know he is struggling right now with how to take care of all of our financial obligations with the lack of funds coming in!
I love you babe!!! Patience and Faith! It will all be ok! You are an amazing provider and father and husband! I hope you know it!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQIQA6s2_Hw

Getting back to normal...

Cristin flew home this morning, so it's life as usual again! I went to work, Kat went to school, Mat stayed home with Emma (his day off today). But, we all really miss Cris already! It was so nice to have her here! Emma is a bit confused as to where Cris went, but she knows she went bakc to her house! Kat is sad her buddy is gone too! They had a lot of fun with her around! Even Mat said he missed having her here!

I really enjoyed having her here because we have never really had a lot of one on one time. Going to Phantom and shopping and stuff let us relax and get to know each other even better. I am really grateful for that. I have always know that she is a sweetheart, but now I know she is silly and sincere. I really needed some 'girl time' and I couldn't have asked for a better time! Thanks Cris! I love you!!!

Cristin's Visit - Part Two!

Saturday Mat and I both had to work during the morning, so that left Cristin alone with the girls! They played outside while waiting for us to gt home!!! Such a nice Aunt!

But, during the afternoon, we headed to the 'Ethel M' chocolate factory here in Henderson. Unfortunately, being a Saturday meant that they were not making chocolates, but we still went on a little tour of the factory and got some yummy samples! Then we went out to the 'Cactus Gardens'. Which, honestly, I thought would be as exciting as, well, a cactus! But we actually had a lot of fun! Cris, Kat and I were walking along and spotted a lizard! Thinking it was just a lucky spotting, we didn't think much of it. Until we started looking closer!!! They were everywhere!!! It was amazing! One almost even ran over my foot! The girls had a blast looking for them and seeing the different kinds of lizards.

Lizards chillin' on the rocks!

There were lizards climbing up the tree behind Kat and Cris! I know you probably can't see it, but we know that it's there!

I was trying to show the girls that it is possible to touch a cactus with out getting a ton of little prickly things in you, 'cause Kat was so worried that Emma was gonna fall into a cactus! Nice learning moment! :)

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Here's the story behind these pics! (And I am sure Cris will love me for sharing!)

All week I had been telling Cristin that we could get funnel cakes at the mall by us. She had brought it up earlier in the week that she had never had one, and I was determined to have her try one while she was here! So, Saturday night, after we had been swimming and showered and were all ready for bed - I remembered that we had not gotten a funnel cake! So, the two of us hopped in the car and headed to the mall. No funnel cakes!!! NO FUNNEL CAKES!!!

We were a little upset, and still need something sweet to calm our sweet tooth cravings!

So we turned to Ban & Jerry!

Then we headed to the car. Unfortunately, we had a loss in the parking lot....

Cristin's ice cream fell off of her cone! :(

It was so sad! She said it was like watching a friend die. (A little dramatic, yeah, but after all we had gone through to get it, I guess it was deserved!)

So what did I do? Grabbed the camera - out of her purse! -and took pics to document our sad outing! Hey, she did end up eating the ice cream we had gotten for Mat, so it wasn't totally a loss! Except, maybe for Mat!

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And finally, the day before she leaves to go back to Utah, we took her to church with us!

The girls before church! So cute!

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We love Cristin and are soooo glad she came to visit us! The girls loved having her here and we loved showing her around!!!

Thanks Cristin!!! We love you!

Cristin's Visit - Part One! :)

Cristin came to visit us!!! Yay!

(For those of you who don't know, she is Mat's younger sister.)

She flew down on Tuesday and we have been sightseeing, shopping, and eating non-stop!!!

Wednesday Cristin went with Kat on a field-trip at school (convenient huh?)

After school we headed downtown to the strip to see some of the hotels that we haven't been to yet.

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Looking around at the Palazzo - the umbrellas were cool and the girls liked the big waterfall.

Wednesday night she took me (yup, just me!) to see Phantom of the Opera! It was awesome!!!

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Thursday we let Kat stay home from school (bad parenting, I know!) Then headed back to the strip! We really never go down there, but there were lots of hotels and free stuff to see that we have never been to! Cris hadn't either, so it was fun to see stuff for the first time together!

Our little diva, taking pics!

Sticking my tongue out as I take a pic of the diva!

Standing outside of the Bellagio, after the fountain show!

(Em didn't like it much - too loud for her!)

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Visiting the Bellagio Gardens - very cool!

They have a bunch of birdies in the gardens too! Em and Kat love animals!

Posing for pics at the Flamingo gardens. We had a lot of fun seeing all of the birds and fish!

And Turtles!

Family Pics!

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Thursday night Cris took the girls swimming while Mat and I got ready to go to Blue Man Group!

Cris thinks the water is too cold! (It has been very overcast lately, so the sun hasn't been keeping the pool water very warm!)
Em's new trick is to hold onto her toes and rock back and forth! So funny!

I guess we trust our little swimmer too much - she swam all the way to the other end of the pool by herself! Silly girl! She is very fast too! Just tell her it's time to go in and she will paddle her little feet as fast as she can!

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While the girls swam, Mat and I headed to see our show! BLUE MAN GROUP!!!

It was awesome!!!

I have to say that I didn't know what to expect, or what it would even be like. But it was a fun, family friendly show! Mat and I loved it and will recommend it to anyone!!

Waiting for the show to start!
(Do you know how many pics I had to take to get one that we were both looking, eyes open and decent? Let's just say, Mat does not cooperate very often!)

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I took Cris to the Outlet Mall Friday afternoon. We had a fun time shopping for shoes! Em was our little buddy and actually was quite good while we drug her from store to store!

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Part two - Saturday and Sunday - coming soon!