~~Peppermint Twist~~

This was Marissa's first year of dance, so hence, her first dance recital!!! We were all so super excited to watch her on the 'big stage'!!!

Happy 11th Birthday to my Jacob!!!

Jacob wanted a Lego Party for his birthday!!!

He helped me with the cake by making the topper with Lego's. He did an awesome job on it!!
Red, green, blue & yellow were the colors we went with for decorations!
I gave the boys each a set of four lego wheels and then let them go to town creating their own Lego car!!! They had a blast and it was hard to get them to stop so we could race them!
Here's our 'make-shift' race track!
Ethan wanted a piece of that pinata ...and he got it!!
It was fun to get the expression on Jacob's face when he opened his gift from us, Dragonoid Collosus (if that's even how you spell it:)!! He was very excited about all of the gifts he got from all of his friends!! In past years, he's never wanted a party, so it was pretty fun that he was wanting to have his closest friends with him to celebrate!!
He is really blessed with some great friends!
Happy 11th Birthday Jacob!!!!! We love you!! You are such a fun kid and a blessing in our family!!!

Gratitude

Today I'm home, while Marty and the kids are at church. I feel like I'm getting a sinus infection and not feeling well. For the most part, our family blogs purpose is mostly to scrapbook events...pictures...so I usually don't get too personal. ( I have a separate, private blog, that I put more spiritual experiences on for my personal record.)...But I sat and read scriptures for a while this morning and then watched one of my favorite video's, Finding Faith in Christ and my heart is so full that I just want to record some of my testimony of Christ, here on this blog.
I am so grateful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! I know that Christ lives! I know that he atoned for all of our sins and that because of his sacrifices, we are able to repent. I want to return to live with my Heavenly Father again someday....to live in his presence, and it is only by repentance and faith in the Lord, that we will be able to do that.
It's so important to teach my children the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To teach them about our Heavenly Father's plan. To teach them the purpose of life, here on earth. To teach them about love and serving others. I want my sons to know and understand the importance and truths of the Priesthood and for my daughter to know the importance of being a virtuous daughter of God. I feel very blessed to have been born to such a strong, wonderful family with parents who trusted in the Lord and taught us gospel principles. There have been several times, recently, that I have come across individuals who don't believe in Christ and who have put down Christians for our beliefs...and Mormons, in particular. To those individuals I will just say that we, as Mormons, do live stricter lifestyles than most, however, the guidelines are there for reason. Living the gospel and keeping the standards of the church is what has brought me true joy and happiness! I'm grateful for the courage that the Lord has blessed me with, throughout my life, to make good choices. Don't get me wrong...I've made my share of mistakes, but so many times in my life, I've had to stand out from the crowd and make a choice bc I believe in it, rather than make choices just because "everyone else is doing it".
I am so very blessed to have been sealed in the Temple to such a wonderful man who loves me, supports me and treats me with respect. He honors the Priesthood and is an amazing father! I love our children so very much and I know that the Lord knew what he was doing when he sent them to us and that we are on earth together as a family for a reason!!
I am so grateful for our Prophet, Pres Monson! I know, without doubt, that he is called of God and that he speaks with God daily through prayer and personal revelation! The same prayer and personal revelation that each of us is empowered to have, if we just have faith. I believe in Miracles and have witnessed many miracles in our little family and extended families! Prayer is a powerful, powerful thing!
Although it's not fun to be sick and feel crummy, I am grateful for this time that I've had to sit in the quiet of our home and reflect and study and ponder and to feel the promptings of the Holy Ghost. I'm grateful for the peace and comfort that it has brought me.
I hope and pray that all of us have a great Thanksgiving Holiday and that we can all remember to take time with our families to reflect on the things that we are grateful for and ways that the Lord has blessed our lives.

San Digo, Part 1

Mormon Battalion History Center

Our niece, Melissa...aka. "Sis. Virgin" (for those of you who do not know her, yes, Virgin is her last name...I'm not trying to tease her, lol:) ...is currently serving her mission in San Diego. She and her companion split their time between serving here, at the MBHC and the San Diego Temple. We were so excited to get to see her!! ...and seriously, she's natural! She took us on a tour and she was confident and we could tell that she has gained such a strong testimony and love of the Lord as well as the many people she is serving!


Marissa was yelling down to the street like she was having a conversation with someone. The funny thing is that, she was!! Some awesome college girl stood on the sidewalk, waiting to get in the car with her good looking boyfriend, bc she didn't want to break the conversation she and Marissa were having!! All I heard was Marissa yelling, "I like your boots!!! I got my pink princess purse!!!"
Uncle Marty and Sis. Virgin:)
That's not a gold tooth...that's pure GOLD there! We all had fun looking for gold.....
...I would seriously love having a little something like this in my backyard! It's kinda theraputic~~maybe I'll build one for my next 'big project'!
All of those pictures on the wall...talk...and move and look around at each other. We were all quite impressed!
Marissa wanted to be by Melissa's side everywhere we went. It was pretty stinkin cute!
Brant is officially TALLER than Melissa now!!
Jacob wanted to be around her too! He talked about his "cousin Melissa who is serving her mission", several times since our trip.
We're so thankful that our kids have such amazing cousins who are setting such good examples for them!! Thanks Melissa, we are so proud of you and love you tons!!

Outdoor Mall and Candy Shoppe
We're on vacation...we got some candy. It was fun:)

Jacob Loves loves to smell flowers! He has always had a very strong sense of smell (seriously...if you forget to put deoderant on, He'll let you know!:)...aw, since he could walk, he would pull any flowers he could get his hands on and smell them and rip them apart, piece by piece. He really wanted a CLOSE UP of him smelling these flowers. I figure it's "scrapbook worthy", so here's your debut Jake!
I love my Brant too, that's for sure!!!


Belmont...Amusement Park on the Beach!






Look at that studdly man running to me! He and Brant went to the Amusement Park to play video games and ride some rides while J, M & I played on the beach.
They won a few 'toys' so brought them on shore to throw around.




Marty and I goofing off while the kids played in the water.