The Good, the Bad & the Cutie Pie?

{Landon: September 2012 enjoying a spoonful of peanut butter. These pictures have nothing to do with this post. Just thought I'd include some cute Landon photos.}

These past few days have been a bit on the difficult side for me on a very personal level. But one that I got through with the help of my incredibly amazing family and friends! I honestly couldn't have made it without them! (So thank you!!) 

I think that's to be expected from time to time...situations that come up to test our strength, growth, limits and helps you to stay focused on the truly important things that matter in life. (Like the same family and friends that got me through it!)

Here is the short note I posted on Facebook regarding this difficult time:

"When life catches you off guard and throws you to the ground (or sometimes into a ditch!)...sure makes you see the big picture and appreciate your blessings. Today I am very thankful for my husband: who loves me and our children more than life itself. Who is always always there for me! I really lucked out marrying my best friend! And I'm very thankful for my amazing friends: that support and love me no matter what! They make me laugh when I'm sad, strong when I'm weak and hopeful when I feel all alone. I love knowing I have true friends out there (that know I'm there for them too) and have the most incredible husband ever - to carry me through the happy and sad moments in life!"

I really try to focus on the positive no matter how hard things get. 

So I will be okay. :)

On a good note...we sold our van. Finally! 

Making it so we're only car-less for about a week.

And on another very good note...General Conference starts tomorrow! 

(You can find it HERE)

This seriously couldn't have come at a better time than now. I've been looking so forward to hearing some spiritual enlightenment from our living Prophet today and other amazing church leaders all week long! And this year, we will be making some delicious cinnamon rolls to celebrate the event and our time together as a family. I can't wait!

Firsts and Lasts

Landon (and his mama!) had some very BIG moments over the weekend! Some firsts happened to my last baby, which is kind of a hard deal to swallow. These days, he seems to be just growing so fast that I can't believe when some of these milestones show up out of no where! Still cute and fun nonetheless! Still so hard to see my babies get bigger!

Saturday, I got gutsy (or tired) enough and took him to the barber shop to get his first haircut. I was digging my heals to get this done for a looooong time! (I usually wait until they turn 18 months.) His curls have always been so sweet to me but here as of late they were becoming unmanageable and hard to comb through without his comb getting caught in his hair. And his hair when wet reached his shoulders. Unfortunately, it was time! John and Andrew dropped us off so they could go vacuum the van out. The girls got their haircuts at the beauty shop next door first and then I sent them over to the book store together to hang out while I focused on a cranky and tired 1 year old. I was expecting to do this deed with John with me. The original time I was going to do this was first thing in the morning but John woke up with a migraine so all plans quickly changed. 

{His curls a few days before}

Cutting off his baby hair and cute curls was sort of a daunting process for me. At first. It ended up not being as hard as I thought it would be. So thankful for that! Probably due to having done this a time or two before! ;) We took our number at the door and had a seat. Graham crackers definitely helped pass the time with him impatiently waiting his turn. When one of the barber's was finally free, I sat down with him in the chair and explained to him that this was his first haircut and that I wanted to keep a strand of his curls as well as to NOT give him a military hair cut! Haha. Just in case. You never know what they'll do! So he started snipping here and there but leaving a lot of the curls all around his head. Basically, he wasn't cutting much off. So I told him again that while I loved the baby hair, he needed a boy cut. It was time for the baby stuff to go. He then proceeded to give him his actual haircut. But because he started off only trimming, it didn't leave much hair to get the strand of curl I was hoping to keep. Just a half inch section or so. I quickly let it go. (Of course not before I kept part of it!) He held really still in my lap while the barber worked around us to give him a cute little boy haircut. :) When he'd spray his hair, he'd scrunch up his nose and laugh. At the end, he turned on a small pair of clippers to clean up around his ears and neck. The buzzing sound got him curious so he was turning towards the sound a lot, looking to figure out what was going on. He is such a goofball! 

I must say, he looks pretty handsome with his new do! 

And I have to give myself a huge pat on the back for making it through that as well as I did! :)

Next up on my little guy's "getting bigger" agenda was to start nursery at church! Landon is now a SUNBEAM!! This is always such an exciting time for, well, the parents mostly! haha :) But an important thing for the little ones too. They start going to nursery at the age of 18 months through 3 years. Technically, he turns 18 months tomorrow but we didn't think one day would be that big of a deal. I think he was well and ready to go. And maybe I was ready too? So hard to entertain and hold and manage a wiggly child for the entire 3 hours of church. I'd be silly not to welcome this change with open arms!  

Before Andrew went to his class, he helped me walk his little brother to the nursery. His two sweet teachers helped him adjust and feel right at home as soon as we walked in the door. It was a very inviting and laid back atmosphere for the kids which I loved right away. I knew he'd love his time there as I watched him help the teachers set out cups on the table for their snack. And the fact that he didn't notice my presence after just a few minutes. After a few quick photos from my phone, I was out the door without him making a peep. One of those sad and happy moments! Happy he was doing well and not crying and hanging on me....but sad he was doing well and not crying and hanging on me! :) I checked on him from time to time through the door window for the next 1 1/2 hours (as well as when I brought him his sippy that they were looking for) and he was happily playing with toys and doing so well. He looked right at home! So proud of my baby!

When it was time to pick him up, I raced with Jocelyn and Andrew down to the nursery and this is what I found....he was so cute standing on a little wooden chair looking out the window at the birdies with his teacher cutting up a pear and feeding him. She said that so often, they have extra food from the day laying around but not today! He was happily eating anything and everything they gave him! :)

He totally tugged on his mama's heartstrings today! I'm so happy for him and this new experience he gets to enjoy. And sad too, as crazy as it sounds, not to be walking the halls or holding my baby during sunday school anymore. :( My, they grow so so fast! I'm certainly cherishing all these sweet moments with my children. Just love them all!!!!

{big brother and sister greeting Landon after church let out}

Aubrey's 1st Year @ YW Camp

With this year being Aubrey's first year in Young Women's at church...this also means she gets to attend her first year at girl's camp! Being a military family, we found a nearby military ward that she was able to connect with other girls her age and prepare and go to camp with. We dropped her off on a Monday morning and was gone until Friday afternoon. She stayed in a town called Baumholder. We missed her but also so thankful she was out having a ton of fun and enjoying the experience!!

Here we are giving hugs and seeing her off that Monday morning. Jocelyn was really sweet and made Aubrey a card and handed it to her as she was getting her things from the car. It was too cute! :) The kids cried after our group hugs and as she was leaving.

It was neat getting a few updates throughout the week from her camp leader. I was so glad she was doing well and enjoying her time with all the other girls. 

Here's a stream of photos from her week away at camp:

This year's camp theme was "Shine On." And their group was called "Orion."

A silly & serious group photo before leaving for camp!

Setting up camp!

Singing camp songs

The group in their camp shirts and next to their camp name

Making crafts

Eating homemade dinners

And better than any camp toilet "I'VE" ever had at girls camp...flushable toilets vs. the port-o-potties we had to use growing up! Lucky bums! (Literally!) Haha

 Roasting marshmallows and Starbursts

...and Rolos!

Making foil treats

Making omelets 

 Getting ready to go on their 5 mile hike

 Lit up lanterns at campfire  

 Scripture devotionals

Packing up to come home

Saying goodbye to her sweet group leader. Well, not "goodbye!" Just "see you later!" :)
All of her leaders were awesome and made the girls camping such a fun experience! 

 When she got home from camp, she showed me all of her goodies and treats and the neat things they made or were made for them.

Here is one of those things they made. Super neat!!

Aubrey is very excited to get the chance to be a part of Girl's Camp again next summer!

I am so thankful for the opportunity she has to feel of the Savior's love through programs such as these, through church leaders and through the testimonies from those around her.

Girls Camp

I dropped Aubrey off in Wiesbaden for her first ever girls camp meeting. When the girls at church turn 12, they are then able to start girls camp. Aubrey has been anxiously waiting for this day for a good while now! :) They are working on camp certifications and gearing up to get things ready for the coming weeks before she's off on her first girls camp experience. Wow!! I'm just having the hardest time wrapping my head around the fact that my oldest is already old enough to be a 1st year! I hope she has so much fun...hiking, camping, learning and singing camp songs, making crafts, meeting and making friends, swimming!!! It doesn't feel that long ago that I myself was attending girls camp! What an amazing experience she's going to have - not only her first year but her first big camping adventure in Germany! She couldn't be more excited! :)

General Conference Weekend

Two times a year, we have the honor to hear from our living Prophet and many other great leaders - to uplift and inspire us to be grateful, do better, feel blessed + encouraged, to hear the things we are needing to focus and work on and to know more about the Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ and how to become more like Him. I absolutely love hearing and taking in all of the great messages! It wasn't always this way though. Not that I didn't feel it's importance growing up and listening to 4 hours of talks x 2 days. But being young, well, it's hard to sit still and listen for that long of a time. Even with quiet activities and snacks. It still IS sometimes hard to sit that long even today. But as I get older, I realize it's importance more and more and yearn for it even greater as each general conference comes around. It really is a spiritual feast for me! My brother made a good point when we were exchanging emails a few weeks ago....I hope he doesn't mind me sharing his great comment: "There have been some really great messages.  Its always easy to listen to the talks and feel inspired, but then the difficulty comes when we try to apply what we have learned and felt.  Changing isn't very easy." It's so true though! He hit it right on the nail. Change is difficult to do. Especially when it comes to important changes!

This conference, I had big aspirations to make the usual homemade cinnamon rolls. It just wasn't in the cards of things to do though so we settled on some store bought ones. It wasn't as satisfying that's for sure but it was food and that's how it goes sometimes! After breakfast and a few other things got done around the house, the kids and I spread out some blankets and pillows and set up the computer to watch and listen to conference from the comfort of our own home. Thankfully Landon was taking his nap during the morning session. I don't think we'd hear very much otherwise. I'm very flexible with the younger kids but it's hard to keep them interested and sitting even in the same room without making a run for it! I wanted to print them off some conference packets and activities to keep them interested and focused but they're still just a bit too young for it. Jocelyn is just now learning to read, so hopefully when next conference time rolls around, she'll be ready for it. I at least ask them to sit and listen to the Prophet speak. Aubrey and I can listen without much difficulty (unless said kids are whining or hungry or bored or tired or....you get the idea!) I used to sit and take a ton of notes but have found a love for the Ensign's conference edition where I can highlight and take notes there. Of course if I feel inspired by something I hear, I'll write it down but I found it to be too repetitive to write down what they say when I can read and see it in the Ensign magazine a month or so later. I think it also has something to do with three little ones? Not having the means to hear or the time to even write? Hmm...yeah, I'm pretty sure it's mostly that! In fact, for the Saturday afternoon session, the kids scattered and became uninterested. I found the time to listen as I folded laundry and went for a walk. To end our beautiful conference weekend, we made a great feast and huddled around the table as a family - this time to feed our hungry tummies (with some Ziti, corn on the cob and rolls - it was delish)!

This conference also had soooo many wonderful talks given. A lot about families which I loved! And so many uplifting words of comfort and inspiration. In fact, many talks were instantly quoted not even a day later! How wonderful is that? We really do have some amazing leaders and people very much in-tune with the spirit of the Lord. I can't wait to get the conference edition of the Ensign in the mail so I can study and apply the messages in my life. So I can learn to be better and do better for me and my family! And as always, I look forward to next conference - already!!! :)