Journaling

- Visiting teaching this week was really nice.  I really enjoy one of the sisters we visit, and my companion for that matter.  We could talk for hours.  I was responsible for the lesson and as I was reading about fellowshipping and keeping members active, I couldn't help but think about my Nana and how much she appreciated her visiting teachers.  She never said she did, in fact, she usually complained about them, whether it was that they brought something weird, didn't bring anything at all, came too early in the month or didn't come at all.  But the fact that she cared when they didn't come showed me that she appreciated them.  And I think she needed them.  I will always be grateful for them and the blessing that they were in her life.  2-25-13

- For FHE we played Shark, the game we learned from the Beckstead's.  It's amazing to me how well some of our younger kids do with that game.  We had a lot of fun!  2-25-13

- Jack went in for his 6 month well child check up on Wednesday.  He weighs 18 lbs now!!  Big boy!  I was relieved to find out that it's not real crucial to give him "baby food".  He's rejected it so heavily, I was starting to get concerned, but with how well he likes crackers or other finger foods, the doctor said he will be fine just eating those.  That eating solids at this point is mostly just to familiarize them with eating, not for nutritional value.  That was nice.  He noticed some excema on his back as well.

- One of the nights this week, Nate and I were up late talking (never good ;) and we realized that we just needed to go to Disneyland before he gets furloughed and loses all of his leave.  We've promised the kids, well, they EARNED this trip to Disneyland, with their good deeds=marbles, so it just felt like the thing we needed to do!  I HATE letting them down, and I HATE not following through with what we've promised.  I know sometimes it happens and that's life, but I just couldn't with this.  So anyway, we got talking and started planning out a trip to Disneyland!!  We thought the 13th would be a good time to go, but found out later that the girls would then miss out on 2 dress rehearsals with their play, so we moved it up a week!  Which is NEXT WEEK!!!  So crazy!!  SO SOON!!!  But SOOOOO EXCITING!!!  And I think I'm the most excited so far :).  We announced it to the kids and I wonder if they weren't just a little like "I'll believe it when I see it" kind of because they didn't seem all that excited!  Could have been the timing, but either way... We've been rallying and psyching everyone up for it, looking at rides and things online to see what it's all about, I think they're going to love it!!  The more they talk to people at school, too, the more excited they get.  They deserve a fun little trip.  And I deserve a nice little break from life :) HA! I'm kidding.  It's going to be fun!!

- We went to lunch with Steve and my Dad on Wednesday.  That was fun.  We usually go to Carl's but this time we went to Panda Express.  It's always so fun to get together in the middle of the day, just on a whim, and hang out.  They're fun.  It was nice that Nate was able to wake himself up enough to come with!  He'd worked the mid the night before.  Lots of fun though.  We told them all about our Disneyland plans :).  Fun stuff.

- Thursday, we had some things to do down town, so we made our way over to the City Creek Center for a little walk through.  I love that place.  I think it's so nice!  And it's so fun to me that it was church.  They thought of everything!  As we were walking past the kids clothing store called RUUM, we noticed that they were having a 50% off sale on all clearance items.  I wanted to go in just to see what they had (I don't usually buy childrens clothes at the mall, I am more of a Walmart, Target, even DI kind of girl, so this was unusual for me), and I couldn't believe my eyes!!  I found THE cutest clothes, and for INCREDIBLY low prices!!  I was in shock!  And apparently Nate was too, because we spent the next hour or so picking out clothes for all of our kids!  We probably got like $400 worth of stuff for $70!!  It was awesome!!  I LOVE the clothes too, not just the prices.  Anyway.  Seemed journal worthy :).  We also checked out the Disney store to spark some excitement in Noah and Erika :)  Their prices were ridiculous.  Can't wait to see the gift shops at Disneyland....  2-28-13

- Friday was our Family Jazz Game Night!!  We all went to the Jazz game together and saw them KILL the Bobcats!!  It was awesome!  We were ahead the whole game, and won by like 30 points!  It was pretty fun to watch the kids enjoying it.  Nate's taken them, but I hadn't had the opportunity to watch them (my kids, not the Jazz, we used to be pretty avid game-goers a couple years ago) before, so it was fun for me!  Plus, it was Jack's first time!!  He loved it!  Didn't take his eyes off the game.  Well, that's not true, he kept his eyes pretty glued on the popcorn and snacks and drinks around him... but he did enjoy the game, and all the people.  He's definitely a people watcher.  It was a good time!  I love those kinds of outings as a family.  3-1-13

- I had a really cool blessing the other night.  I was feeling really down.  Kind of like I needed a little pep talk, or chastisement, or just anything to get me motivated to do better.  I WANT to be better but I feel like I don't know which area to focus on first.  There's so many.  A testimony on Sunday really triggered something in me though and made me feel like I was not doing enough.  I prayed and thought about it all evening, waiting for Nate to come home and give me a blessing.  I'm so grateful for the Priesthood.  I am so grateful that Nate is worthy and willing to give me blessings when I need them.  It was SO nice to hear what Heavenly Father had to say to me and all the feelings I had during it.... it was just really neat.  I love feeling like Heavenly Father knows me and understands my Spirit.  I love that He knows just what to say to me to help me start over.  It was perfect.  I'm so grateful for that.  Now to do better :).

- I've been frantically trying to get things planned and ready for our trip, and today was SO productive!!  I was so happy!  I was able to get so much laundry done, dishes, I even made my meals for the dinner exchange and packed a few things before lunch time!  It was great!  I love feeling productive.  We had a nice evening and then for Erika's lesson tonight, we went out for ice cream.  This has become a regular with our kids... Nate and I are working on some adjustments to the whole "lesson" qualifications.  We'll see how it goes over :).  Anyway, nice day.  3-4-13