Analia is 3!

Happy Birthday to Analia!

You are our princess! We love you!

An Eye for Goodness, with glasses

I play the piano for the primary. I'm telling you this because I spend most of my Sunday in primary behind the piano and I haven't been to Sunday School or Relief Society in over a year. Not that I'm complaining at all, in fact I LOVE seeing the children and hearing them sing. Just today, for example, I caught myself laughing as a girl yelled out the title for our next song as "If the Savior Stood Behind Us"... when in actuality it's called, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me". So cute!! I love my calling and I enjoy every minute of it. Well today we had a few minutes to spare between singing time and closing exercises, so I popped into R.S. The teachers were still getting ready, which meant I got to chat with a few other women, hold a new little baby, and meet a couple of new arrivals to Guam. I sang the opening and practice hymns without children grabbing my neckline and wiping soggy animal crackers all over my dress. Then I listened to the lesson in quietness. It really stirred my spirit and felt invigorating to my heart...I was almost breathless the entire lesson. And here is what I want to talk about...the lesson today, or at least what I learned from it. It was on the organization of the Relief Society--how even before it was organized, Emma Smith was constantly serving people around her, sewing shirts, feeding homeless and sick, boarding travelers. She and Joseph even slept on the floor at one point because all the other beds were taken. Her heart was giving all the time. So I asked myself, how can I do that? How can I give and love like she, and many other women at that time, did? An answer came to me...to have that heart, I must look around myself and see what needs to be done, who needs help, where I can put my efforts. I must open up my eyes to see more that 3 cubic feet around myself...I remember running along a trail along the Wasatch Front in late summer when I was a teenager and focusing so much on the ground in front of me that I missed the entire mountain side. Now, I must keep some watch over my feet or else I'll trip, and tripping while running on a trail is recipe for disaster, plus a few cuts to go with it. But my point is this: seeing how I can help, keeping my eyes open for opportunities to serve and jumping at the chance, is how I can become like those beautiful, faithful sisters that helped found this Church. I think it's something that takes a conscious effort, to have an eye for goodness, an eye to serve others in their time of need. Right now I definitely need corrective lenses, a few inches thick.

45 Things

I got this from my friend Denise's private blog...I thought I'd share because it's worth reading.

{45 Things}
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone...
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. 5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion, Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone and everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give it time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative – dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

China Trip Highlights

The Bund in Shanghai.

At the Yu Garden, Shanghai.

Tiananmen square, Beijing.

The greatest Great Wall of China, Beijing.

Analia next to a Buddha just her size.

"Ni Hao People!" became one of Analia's favorite phrases this trip.  We stayed for two weeks in China and had a blast!  The girls did wonderfully and only had a few minor breakdowns.  We loved seeing all around Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing, and everything in between.  We stayed with and then traveled around with my teammates and great friends from the University of Utah, Jen and Taylor.  They we're awesome hosts and fun to share our experiences with.  Thanks so much you guys.  We had a ball.  

 It was amazing to actually be standing on the Great Wall, or at the Forbidden city, knowing that these places were built thousands of years ago...we saw some artifacts that actually dated back to 2500 b.c.  Wow.  They we're spectacularly crafted and beautiful.  Why I think they should be primitive, I don't really know, but they weren't.  I know it may sound weird to say, but seeing those things kinda stirred my stomach and sent chills down my back.  The human race strives to create beauty wherever and whenever they exist.  It's pretty cool.

My favorites:  The Great Wall.  Biking around Beijing, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and exploring the Hutongs (neighborhoods).  The Bird's Nest--another spiritual moment for me.  The enormous Forbidden City.  Walking the Bund with the stinky tofu!  So so stinky.  Eating yummy food.  Talking and reminiscing with Jen about the running years.  The Water Village--seeing that their way of life hasn't changed in hundreds of years...still living in the same teeny concrete houses...washing in the water at the doorstep of their homes.  The boat rides.  Hiking up the 300 steps to Sun Yet San's Mausoleum.  The crappy Tandem Bikes in the beautiful mountainside park.   Watching our girls travel so well and adjust to new surroundings easily.

The Chinese people are a happy people.  They are always willing to help and usually want to take a million pictures with your blond haired children!  :)  By the end Analia kept saying, No more pictures please!!  We explored the Temple of Heaven park in Beijing and they had several drum circles with women dancing with their fans, people roller skating, flying kites, playing games.  It was refreshing to see.  Happy people.  Just enjoying life.  

We loved seeing China and being with our friends!  Thanks guys!  

Maya wants to tell you something...

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day all!  I just thought I would share this little video with you all.  I hope it lights up your day as it did mine!

In other news, we are heading for China in a week and can't wait.  Well, actually we can wait because all 3 of us girls are sick right now...so a week will be nice to recover and get geared up to spend 2 weeks tromping around Shanghai and Beijing and anywhere else we happen to go.  

Mike surprised me today with a beautiful Prayer Rug, from Afghanistan.  Our friends had a few rugs left over from an auction and were selling them below auction price, so we went to look at them and I fell in love with this prayer rug...Mike told me that he would rather wait until we had more of a selection, but then told our friend to hold it for him until Mother's Day.  What a sweetie!  So he snuck it in this morning...it's beautiful!  Pictures don't do it justice, but I'll post one anyway.  

Maya's up and walking around now, and saying a few words.  And Analia is talking our ears off! It's amazing how many words she picks up and how she repeats everything!  

Tomorrow, May 11th, is our 4th anniversary! I got Mike the COOLEST present, but I can't give it away now...I'll post a picture of that along with the rug!

We'll check back in with everyone in a few weeks!  

The Birthday Card

So here's what we sent out to the lucky grandparents, aunts and uncles...I'd thought I would share it with the rest of you all.

I just can't stand it

The green monster! Argggh!

My girls are TOOOOOO adorable!!

Just look at them!

Analia imitating Maya's stinkbug walk.

This is the first time Maya has stood up on her own and I just happened to have my camera on and aiming at her!  Awesome. 

Below is Analia being green after finger painting--PEACE.

Maya's stinkbug crawl.
Us at a look out point on a little hike.

Stop-Go game for FHE.

Isn't it so true--my girls are just too cute.