I had such a great weekend. I feel uplifted and ready to try harder. I went to a primary presidency brunch and listened to one of the members of our stake presidency speak.  He talked about how there are two ways we can feel the spirit.  We can receive it through thoughts and our mind. And we can feel it in our hearts. He felt that it was important that we figure out how to do both.  Study the scriptures, become knowledgeable about the gospel. And also try to tune into the spirit to feel that comfort and peace.  I'm not doing it justice, it was really inspiring.
Then he went on to talk about how important it was that we teach the primary children to love the scriptures at their young age.  They are growing up in an evil, scary world and we as parents, teachers and leaders need to equip them the best we can. They are stripling warriors fighting against satan. Its not good enough that they read the Book of Mormon for the first time on their missions, they need to be doing it now. If they wait till they are through their teenage years, they won't be equipped.

Today we had a new family in our ward speak.  I was just really impressed by them.  Both talks were fantastic, but he said some things that really stuck with me.  First, if we want to be a person of character, we actually have to DO the things that build it. We have to actually study the gospel and pray to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father.   We can't fake character.  People see through that. And more importantly God sees through that.
It reminded me of another person who said college is just a bunch of people doing everything they can to avoid getting an education but still pass. I totally did that. I skipped just enough classes, did just enough work to pass without actually learning a thing.  I want to have a huge knowledge of the scriptures and doctrine. I want to constantly feel the spirit. But I have to actually do the work.  Obviously. It was just an A-HA moment I guess.
I think that's how alot of us Utah Mormons are. We go to church, we are nice, we live the culture. But are we anxiously engaged in study and prayer? Are we striving the share the joy of the gospel with our neighbors. Are we building true character?
The other thing he said that rang true was we need to be building this "character" now so that when personal or world tragedy hits, we have the tools to get through it.  The speaker told a story about how his dad, father to eight kids, lost his wife, house, and job all in a couple years.  But he didn't blame God and he didn't expect that because he had been living a righteous life that God would take his pain and troubles away. But he was living righteously. He was faithful. His "tank was full" so when tragedy struck, he was able to deal with it and get through it.

That felt really true to me. Lots of bad stuff is going to happen to us in life. And just because we are good people and even if we have all the faith in the world, that doesn't mean its not going to happen or that God will fix the problem.  It just means that we will be able to deal with it.

Six Months Old!!

Jens was aptly named. He definitely belongs to my family.  He looks and acts like us. He's already a little Mac user. And he's already grumpy.   

Jens cut his first two teeth the first couple days in January.  Poor little guy was miserable over Christmas break.

This is a face we are seeing more of these days.  He has learned pretty quickly that he can scream to get his way. He can also get Quinn in trouble that way. How do they learn this so soon!!




Quinn is VERY entertaining these days.  Last night he would NOT go to sleep and at one point he shows up in our room completely naked and jumps into our bed and pretends to go to sleep.  I always wonder if there is a thought process behind these things or if he's just living in the moment.

Quinn is constantly singing and has made up his own song. Its pretty impressive and even has an off-beat syncopation.  I'm always surprised and impressed by how much rhythm he has.  Last night we went on a walk and while he rode on daddy's shoulders they both played harmonica. It was hilarious to watch.  But while Quinn kept a rhythm on his harmonica, Thurm would try to play a melody on his.  I couldn't believe a 2 year old could do that!

Start the year off with a BANG!

We've had an exciting 2011 and its only just begun.  We came home from our 2 week holiday in Idaho on the 30th of January. I walked in our house and could smell smoke coming from our basement. Whilst we were vacationing our renters thought they could smoke in our house.  Nothing could tick me off more.  It was all I could do to hold my anger in check until they moved out, which took them an extra day, which caused our other renters to not be able to move in till the 4th, which cost us $70.  I texted them to come get their car they left at our house. He texted back "how much is my deposit return?" I texted "well, its void since you smoked in our house."  He texted "your joking, right?" Then he showed up on my porch pounding on my door. We had words for 10 mins or so. Thurm showed up, they had an altercation. There was a settlement so the guy would never step foot on our property again.  Happy New Year!

Jens cut his first two bottom teeth. They are barely peeking up, but are adorable! I don't have a picture yet. Over the holiday Jens started to roll proficiently.  He had done it a few times before, but had it perfected by Christmas.  He is now working on sitting up.  He also started eating cereal last week.  He really likes it and is a great eater. So far he's had rice and oatmeal.  He loves to lay on Quinn's bed and be bounced while Quinn jumps.  He loves "patty-cake" and "this little piggy." Quinn can just yell nonsense at Jens and he will laugh. Jens loves Quinn.  Jens laughs when you hold him upside down.  His favorite activity is being held while I one-handed try to clean and cook.

Quinn is basically potty trained!! He has even woken up in the morning with a dry diaper!  Quinn loves to watch Dora the Explorer, Diego, Backyardigans, and Super Why.  The only problem with this is that he now has a HUGE imagination.  Tonight he wouldn't go to bed because his bed was a river and there were crabs coming out of the corners of his bedroom.

He asks me frequently "mom, am I big or little?"  Because for certain things like pouring his own juice, he is little. But for putting on his own boots, he is big.  Must be confusing.  He likes to talk about when Jens gets big, then Jens will be able to do the things Quinn can do, like chew gum.

Quinn can hardly wait for daddy to come home at night. The second daddy is home, Quinn is pulling on his hand to go play in his room.  Thurm will spend a couple hours with Quinn in his room at night playing pretend, throwing balls, rough housing, etc.  Poor boy is so bored with mommy all day and can hardly contain his excitement for daddy.

I was really hoping for January to be boring so I could just relax and read a book (Thurm gave me two for Christmas that I'm excited about). But so far I've been running around like a crazy woman.  I always wondered what a stay-at-home mom could possibly do with all that time. Now I know. Now I see that working 9 to 5 is the easy life.