Ella's Baptism

Dear Ella,

I want you to know how proud I am of you today for your decision to get baptized. I have watched you and I know that your heart is so sincere. You care about doing the right thing very much. Sometimes you get frustrated with yourself because you are not always perfect. Please know that if you do your best, the atonement of Jesus Christ will make up for the rest if you ask for help from Heavenly Father. There will be many times in your life that you will face trials and hard decisions. The gift of the holy ghost was given to you today to be your guide. At times you will feel it with you strongly and other times it will be hard to detect. When those times come, remember to pray for help and strength to be able to feel the spirit again.

I also want you to know that I have a testimony that we were sent to this earth by a loving Heavenly Father, and that Jesus Christ came to this earth to atone for our sins. I know that the atonement is the only way to draw closer to the perfection that we are each seeking in this life and the next. It is the only way to overcome our weaknesses. I know that this church was restored by Joseph Smith and I know that the Book of Mormon is a true witness of Jesus Christ. The teachings of the Book of Mormon and other scriptures are keys to learning how to return to our Father in Heaven. Lastly, I want you to know that working to gain exaltation in this life is the most worthwhile thing you can do. It will make you happy and bring you peace and joy. Living the Gospel has brought me more happiness than any other thing I have ever done.

I love you Ella. You are such a wonderful daughter. You struggle at times, but it is because you want so badly to do what is right. Don't get down when things don't go your way. Remember that we are here to have trials. Remember that you are loved by your family and by your Heavenly Father. We will always seek to guide you and protect you.

Love,
Mom

Mother's Day 2010

Today was a truly WONDERFUL Mother's Day. Last year our entire family, except Olivia, got really sick with a stomach virus. We could not go to church, we barely even open cards, and we all basically laid on the ground moaning and running to the bathroom frequently. It took both Mark and I to change Sam's diaper because neither of us had enough energy to do it on our own.

This Mother's Day was so great, though. I've decided that I really don't want or need any store-bought presents on Mother's Day. I love the home-made cards, baskets, pictures, and other items I get on Mother's Day. This year we had church at 9:00 and Sam didn't wake us up until 7:30. Mark got up and took all the kids downstairs. I stayed upstairs trying to pretend that I was sleeping. The kids delivered my breakfast (fried egg, toast, lemon poppy-seed muffins, and orange slices) along with their precious presents. Olivia gave me a basket she made at school, Ella gave me a beautiful picture she drew of a poppy that was framed with black construction paper and laminated with the sweetest little poem on it she titled My Mother. It said,
"Mom your the nicie mom I know. Only my mom macks me smile. Thank you for everthig mom. Her heart is filled with love. Evring is special to me from you. Really your the best mom. LOVE ELLA 2010". It was very sweet and of course made me tear right up. Next came a painted pot from Annie with chocolates in it that she couldn't wait to give me, along with her hand-print and the hand-print poem. They all also gave me cards. Finally, the grand finale was Mark's video. He made me a precious slideshow video, complete with pictures of me with all the kids and their births, each of them saying sweet things about me, and the song "In My Daughter's Eyes".

Then we went to church (late after all the festivities). Our ward does the best Mother's Day celebrations. For the third hour the women all meet in the cultural hall where we are served all manner of delicious desserts, made/pruchased by the men in the ward, we sit at nice tables, and the youth pour us water and clear our dishes when we are done. Usually the bishopric gives us a Mother's Day message and then the primary comes in and sings a special Mother's Day song. Also, letters are delivered to each of us from our families and usually a little gift. This year I received letters or pictures from Mark and each child along with button bracelets and soaps made by Olivia in Activity Days.

After church we headed to my mom's house. I gave her a CD I made with songs that make me think of her. It is really interesting to be a daughter, but also a mother. You realize that we are all doing our best in this life and how much everyone around you sacrifices and works to help each other along the way. My mom is an amazing woman who has given so much for her family. She is a great example to me of a nurturing, self-sacrificing woman who really endures to the end, as she has had to endure many many trials that I hope I never have to endure. Through it all she has remained true and faithful.

It was a really special day for me that rejuvenated me in my role as a mother and made me want to do better and be better for these amazing people that God has entrusted to my care. I love them each so much and, more than anything else in the world, I want to be a good guide for them while they are here on this earth.

Here is the video that Mark made me:

Movin' On

Well, I know I haven't updated in just about FOREVER, but I thought I would let everyone know that we will be moving to Spokane/Coeur d'Alene at the end of June. We are excited and sad about this. We have absolutely loved living in Issaquah and have made such good friends here. On the other hand, we have great friends in both Spokane and Couer d'Alene and we are excited to be near them as well. We have found a home to rent near CDA and we are going to try out living over the border. It is very beautiful there and close to all the outdoor things we love to do, much like Issaquah. If the commute is too hard, we will move over to the Washington side, closer to where Mark will be working, although it is hard to imagine the commute being bad compared to his commute here. We will be living about the same distance from his work there as we are now, but with almost no traffic. Right now if he gets home in 30 minutes (the actual no traffic amount of time it should take), I am surprised to see him...it almost always takes him over an hour to get home right now. The house we are going to be renting is pretty cool. It is on 5 acres and has a GIGANTIC barn on it (20 stalls). We don't have any horses, but I figure I can put a play set or trampoline in it. It also backs up to a mountain where there is mountain biking out our backdoor, hiking, etc. It should be pretty fun and we will get a chance to see if we like having that much property.


Here are a few pictures, the first of the house, the second of the crazy barn!

Annie's In Love

Today Annie was singing a sweet little song while she colored a picture for my "birthday" that made me smile...,"I'm in love with my whole family, I'm in love with my whole family, I'm in love with Jesus and Christ. I am in love with everybody." She often expresses herself by making up little songs. Sometimes she'll be having a tantrum and she will tell me in a huff that she is going to her room. She'll go up and the next thing I know she is singing a blues song about how sad she is. It is so sweet.

Wilson Week

Last week we were able to spend some time on the Oregon coast with Mark's family for our second installment of "Wilson Week"! We had an amazing time hanging out with cousins and living it up Wilson style!

We visited the aquarium...

Rocked out in matching t-shirts to live music...

Explored "The Devil's Punchbowl" with cousins...

Did some kite flyin'...

And finally, Olivia and Mark did a little crabbing...can you believe she is holding a LIVE crab!

But, our favorite part of Wilson Week has to be the sharing of the family DVD's and pictures. Every time we do this everyone puts together a slide show or video of their own family since the last time we all got together. Here is ours...

Bike Rider #3

Annie has truly impressed us with her physical agility. She was determined to ride a two-wheeler and she has succeeded, much to our surprise. She has been riding a bike with training wheels for a year now and she has always done physical stuff a little ahead of schedule. Even with training wheels she picked up pedaling on her own and was always very fast and confident. Mark had to fix a flat tire on her bike, which required taking off the training wheels. Rather than put them back on we asked her if she wanted to try and ride a two-wheeler. She was excited so we took her to a park with a grassy hill and let her ride down it. She was great at balancing and the soft grass made for easy stopping. We did this for a few days and when she had gotten the hang of stopping without falling, we set her loose in the cul-de-sac. This is the end result (see video). At age 3, she is our youngest bike rider. I guess keeping up with the big kids is good motivation!