Turning 30

On the 26th, I reached a major milestone in life...I turned 30!  I say it is a major milestone because I remember as a kid when I heard someone was 30+ I thought, "wow, they are old!"  Now I am there...and I am here to say it's not old! :)

To celebrate (and probably as a way to feel young a little longer), I suddenly decided to go here with my girlfriends:

We rode this:

And saw this:

While my kids and sweet hubby stayed home.  Yes..I felt guilty the whole time. :)  But I have to admit, it was FANTASTIC!  I laughed, cried, and just soaked in the feelings of childhood with some of my favorite women.  I came home the night before my actual birthday feeling light-hearted, uplifted, fulfilled, and  blessed.  How grateful I am for lasting, enriching friendships.  You gals know who you are, I love you all as dear sisters. :)

Sunday morning (the big day) came the next day, and my kids decided to create their own rides since they missed out on Mickey and the gang.  How cute is this??

Kids' imagination + Ribbon + Laundry Baskets + Dad = A ride comparable to anything Disney has to offer (or at least they thought so. :))

We went to church, where M just happen to bring up the fact that it was my birthday anytime we were in a group. :)  The primary kids were so sweet singing to me for my special day, and when we got back Trev had my favorite...red, velvet cake waiting for me to devour.  

The kids sang the traditional tune to me and then tried to blow out all my candles!  This is me trying to stop them. :)

A couple nights later, I went out to dinner with my M-I-L and S-I-L's to Cheesecake Factory (LOVE) and saw the movie, "The Vow."  My S-I-L Charity and I share a birthday month so we were both absolutely spoiled with fun gifts from everyone.  It was a great night! :)

I have to admit, turning 30 was GREAT!  If all the fun and love I had is any indication of what is to come, bring it on!  But before I fully delve into my thirties, I want to take a moment to record a few things I have learned so far.

I would like to call this segment: 

Wisdom Gleaned So Far

1.  The Gospel is true.  It TRULY is.

2. Love is powerful.  Make sure to both feel it and share it.

3. Marriage and Children are FAR better than any teenage year...even though that is NOT what the media portrays.

4. Love is about serving.

5. Time heals, and forgiveness frees you.

6.  We are not alone.  Don't make yourself an island, let others help.

7. How we care for our bodies is directly connected to our spiritual well-being.

8. The temple is a need.  Make it a must.

9.  You can always find the positive in someone or something.  Looking for the negative only brings you down.  Look for the positive.

10.  There is something invigorating and rejuvenating about taking a hot bath after a long day.
11.  Hard work and A LOT prayer are the two greatest tools in creating the life you want.  Use them.

There are so many other things I have learned, but I am incredibly excited to explore my 30's.  Who knows what exciting adventures await me?  I can't wait to find out. :)

Here's to 30!

World Thinking Day

Do you ever think...how can I expose my kids to the rest of the world?  I feel like we get so caught up in our own lives that often we forget how fortunate and blessed we are.  My kids have never known what it feels like to not have a safe, happy home.  They have never experienced intense hunger.  They are so blessed, as are Trev and I, to grow up in such a beautiful, safe, happy, and abundant part of the world.  For which I am intensely grateful.  


However, I worry sometimes that if they never see how hard things can be...they will lose the appreciation, or worse yet, never gain it, for how blessed they are.


This is something that I fret over now and then, but then quickly realize two things.  


A) I can expose them to these things through a lens.  They can see these things online, I can tell them about current events going on in the world, I can take them to places close by that they will see those less-fortunate, etc.  There are ways in which they can live safe, happy lives, yet still feel humbled by it.


B) I need to make an effort to do this.  It is not something I think about often, so I need to make sure I act on the thoughts I have and impressions that come WHEN they come, not put them off to be forgotten.


Fortunately for me, one of those opportunities presented itself last weekend.  Morgan is in Girls Scouts.  They had an activity last weekend called "World Thinking Day."  It was held at a church in Salt Lake, and basically it was an event where a few Girl Scout troops from around the valley did reports on different countries throughout the world.  They each had their own "booth" and all the other Girls Scout Troops were invited to come and see all their displays and learn about the countries!  When I heard about this activity I thought, oh...that is the same day as Morgan's birthday party.  It might be too much for one day...but then the thoughts I discussed above popped into my head...I needed to take her to this!  So we signed up - and boy, I was glad I did. :)  Here is how it went:


1. Meet up and more Celebrating!  We met up with M's troop at the Registration table so that we could all go in together.  Before we went in, M's cute leaders had a fun birthday hat for her to wear and a present chock-full of crafting supplies.  They all watched her open it...it was really sweet. :)

2.  Learning about Distant Lands, Cultures, and People.  I loved watching Morgan walking around and thinking...this is one way I can teach her about the world!  Mom teaching list...CHECK! :)

Do you love this face??!!!  I sure did. :)

This was great...world exposure and family heritage wrapped up into one!  DOUBLE CHECK!  (Trev's family is from England, in case you were wondering).

This was some sort of a mask made in Israel, I think. :)  After about 2 minutes she wanted it off.  It kind of smelled funny. :)


3.  Life in the Peace Corp.  The last section of the event was a woman came who served in the Peace Corp.  She lives with a family in Kyrgyzstan.  She had pictures to show and explained to the girls how different life is this part of the world.  It was pretty neat to see for myself...Morgan was pretty tired by this point so we wound up leaving a little early.  She had woken up at 5 am that morning because she was so excited for her party.  This presentation came around 3 p.m., about the time M was crashing. :)    

Even though it was a long day, I am so glad we went to this.  The people who put this on did such a great job!  They worked hard and I am grateful as a mom for their efforts to teach my daughter about the world.  I am grateful we had and took advantage of this opportunity.  I think it will be little things like this, happening often, that will help my kids realize how great they have it.  Thank you Girl Scouts!

What was your Presidents' Day like?

Happy Presidents' Day!

After a crazy week of Valentine's, M's Birthday, our Anniversary (more on that later), Trev, Morgan, and I all speaking in church, in addition to the usual busy schedule, I was SOOO ready for PRESIDENTS' DAY!  To me this year Presidents' Day meant, I stay home with the kids, we hang out in our Jammies for a long time, we relax, and soak each other in.  And that is just what we did. :)

Here is a "picture - story" of our day together.

What a great day!  In case you are wondering if everything was cupcakes and roses all day...keep in mind I have 4 little kids. :)  I just didn't take any pictures of the not-so-fun stuff.  The one in particular that sticks out in my mind was when we all tried to go sledding, and after 45 minutes of getting snow gear on, the snow had melted on our favorite sledding hill.  We did find another, but after about 3 rides down the hill, Claire had a little "accident" so we had to go home.  Although the kids didn't seem too sad about playing in the backyard.  Sometimes I wonder why I don't just have them do that in the first place?!  oh yeah...I usually do.  I usually usher them outside...this time however, I went out with them.  It made all the difference. :)  I sure love these kiddos.