A couple of Sundays ago Garrett and I watched the new LDS movie "17 Miracles". I loved it. It really made me realize how much I have to be grateful for. I am totally amazed at the strength of the pioneers. Being a mother, it made me so grateful that we have a home--so grateful that I can keep my children warm during cold nights. I cannot imagine having to bury my children (sometimes not even being able to bury them) along the trail and leave them behind. We have amazing ancestors who have done so much to bring the gospel to us. Makes me so grateful.

After we finished the movie, Garrett wanted to go upstairs and get the kids out of bed to snuggle with them. When we got upstairs, Grayson was already in our bed asleep. We got into bed and snuggled with him for about 15 minutes. I enjoyed every minute of it. After I put Grayson to bed, I went and grabbed Bella to snuggle with her. She wasn't too happy about it, so I put her back to bed relatively quick. I love my children and am so grateful to have been blessed with them.

1500 Pinochole!!!

I would say that Pinochole is one of my family's very favorite card games. Whenever there is a family get together, it usually involves a hand of Pinochole. So, on January 28th my family got together and my grandparents house to have a Pinochole night. My grandma prepared some spaghetti and treats and we all played games. Sarah, Susan, Liz and I played together on this particular night. Liz and I were almost tied with Sarah and Susan when I got dealt a pretty amazing hand. If you bid on a suit, take the bid and get every card in that suit, you win the game. A hand like that gives you 1500 point--which is the point value you play to in any game. Here is my beautiful hand and me showing how excited I was about it:




Gotta appreciate a hand like that. My grandpa told me that night that he has been playing Pinochole for 80 years and he has only gotten 1500 Pinochole once. I'm pretty sure I will remember this for a long time.

Oh, and here are all of my beautiful sisters on grandpa's couch.

Happy Birthday Bella!

Bella had her first birthday on January 27th. I can't believe that my baby girl is already one! It really feels like she was born just yesterday. We love her so much! She is such an active happy baby. These are the things that she loves:
1) The girl LOVES to eat! She eats at least twice as much as Grayson (if not more). It's a wonder that she's still so small!6)
2) She loves to play with her stacking toy. Grayson tries to help her stack the right rings on top of one another, and this makes her mad. She is determined to do it by herself.
3) She is taking steps! She will be walking in no time!
4) She still loves her binky and blanket. These things are required for naps and bedtime!
5) Bella does not like to snuggle in bed with me. She will lay beside me for a few minutes before she is done with it. She prefers being in her crib over being in bed with me.
6) She loves to give kisses.
7) She loves to be chased by daddy. She thinks it's really funny.
8) She is DEFINITELY a momma's girl.

Her birthday was pretty laid back. My dad and a couple of my sisters came over with their kids, and we just ate cake and ice cream. Everyone hung out for about an hour and a half before people went home.

Here are my favorite pictures from the night. Bella really enjoyed her cake.








Happy birthday baby girl!