Dinner at Olive Garden

On Saturday, we went up to David and Kristin's. They invited us to go out to eat at Olive Garden with them and the kids. It was a very long wait...70 minutes, due to some Proms that weekend. We had a fun time keeping the kids entertained while we were waiting. All I can say is good thing for smart phones. The kids enjoyed taking turns on it.

Katie sat on my lap most of the watching a movie or reading a book. She didn't really want to share. :-) My sweet, silly, Katie already has a mind of her own at 3.
When we finally got seated for dinner, it was in a quiet corner at a round table. It was quite nice after being in the noisy lobby for 70 minutes.

Grace was sitting next to me. She was so tired
by the end of dinner she could have gone to sleep. 

Me and Kristin. We are usually taking pictures,
so we don't get pictures together. 

Mattie and Katie sat together.

Easter 2012

This year was a bit odd as Matt was on his 7 days on for his Graveyards over Easter, so he worked at night and slept through most of the day.

We did get to go to church together and have dinner with his family. We ended up going for a walk with our niece, Tali, too. She has fun running in front of us while we walk and is very inquisitive about everything. Matt's parents' neighborhood is currently being remodeled. That is to say, the Mountain View Corridor is going through their neighborhood so half of it is being torn down. We like to walk about and see what has changed from week to week. It will be interesting to see a freeway just a street and a half away from his parents.

Tali with the big backhoe.

Me and Tali

Catching Mattie...ASLEEP

Matt and I were hanging out in our room while I was blogging one day. For some reason we locked arms and Matt ended up falling asleep. I thought it was funny and cute, so I took some pictures on my phone.

Isn't he cute, while he is asleep? It was after one of his graveyard shifts, so he was tired. It took me 6 tries to get me and Mattie in the picture together.

I also caught Matt asleep at Shopko in a comfy chair. Not really, but I had found the last piece to our Nursery though...a glider. I had been searching KSL for the last 6 months for the glider I wanted, but found it brand new at Shopko. I took Matt to see it and sit in it, or fall asleep in it.

It's comfy. 

It rocks.

It reclines.

It has an ottoman.

It's made of leather, so when the baby throws up, it won't stain.

General Conference Weekend

We spent half of General Conference Weekend with our favorite family, the Elswoods.

Saturday -
Matt and I spent the first two sessions relaxing in our pajamas and listen to conference. The Saturday morning session was really comforting to hear for us as they talked about the importance of families and raising kids. It made me cry, but comforted me at the same time.

President Monson reminded us in his talk, "As We Gather Once Again":

:There is much that is difficult and challenging in the world today, my brothers and sisters, but there is also much that is good and uplifting. As we declare in our thirteenth article of faith, “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” May we ever continue to do so."

I like this reminder, because the world can seem so crazy, dreadful, and full of despair. We can't know how blessed we are without having the present of the opposite around us. It just seems hard to remember sometimes. I'm also extremely glad that spring is here with the blue skies and glowing sun to shed light on the budding Earth.


When President Boyd K. Packer gave his talk, "And a Little Child Shall Lead Them", I cried through the whole thing. His words touched my heart and soul. If you don't remember it or haven't heard it, you definitely should read it.

Some of my favorite parts were:

"These children of whom I spoke represent all of our Heavenly Father’s children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord: and … happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them.”²

Another young couple tearfully told me they had just come from a doctor where they were told they would be unable to have children of their own. They were brokenhearted with the news. They were surprised when I told them that they were actually quite fortunate. They wondered why I would say such a thing. I told them their state was infinitely better than that of other couples who were capable of being parents but who rejected and selfishly avoided that responsibility.

I told them, “At least you want children, and that desire will weigh heavily in your favor in your earthly lives and beyond because it will provide spiritual and emotional stability. Ultimately, you will be much better off because you wanted children and could not have them, as compared to those who could but would not have children.”

One of the great discoveries of parenthood is that we learn far more about what really matters from our children than we ever did from our parents. We come to recognize the truth in Isaiah’s prophecy that “a little child shall lead them.”⁴ This was my favorite, can't wait to be parents!

Family time is sacred time and should be protected and respected. We urge our members to show devotion to their families."

After the two sessions, we went up to the Elswoods so Matt and David could go to the Priesthood Session together. Kristin and I played with the kids outside. I even got to help Gracie ride her 2 wheeler. I was sore the next day from bending over running next to her, but so worth it. 

The girls were excited, because we slept over. Matt and I got the privilege of putting Grace and Kate to bed. We love when they pick us to put them to bed instead of their parents!!!

Sunday we listened to Conference, or I should say attempted to as much as possible. Young kids have a short attention span. We enjoyed our time with our favorite family over the weekend though.

I got some pictures of Matt having fallen asleep with the kids nearby of course. They love their Mattie!

Mattie and his Gracie. Mattie is asleep and Gracie
is playing the Ipad.

Mattie asleep! Parker, Katie, and Gracie
playing the Ipad.

Night at the Ballet

We took a trip to watch two of the young women, Liesel and Bryn, in my young women's group in their ballet.
They were putting on Sleeping Beauty with their ballet company. Liesel was Aurora and Bryn was in the supporting group.

Watching Sleeping Beauty being interpreted by dance without any words was kind of an interesting experience, but I can honestly say most of our group enjoyed themselves. I definitely like a ballet where they are telling a story and I know the story before hand.

Flash photography wasn't allowed so I tried taking some pictures without the flash. With the stage lights on. it was harder to get any good pictures. I only got pictures of Liesel when the stage lights were at a lower level. It was always fun to hear Liesel talk about being able to practice with her "prince", when he actually showed up for practices that is.

We waited after the ballet was over to get a picture with all of our group and Liesel and Bryn. 

Backrow: Karen, Shelby, Berkley, Amy, Krista, Destiny, Rachel, Me, Kiercy

Frontrow: Gail, Keatly, Liesel, Bryn, Hannah, Katelyn