New shoes

There is something about new shoes, a new haircut, and bright lipstick that make me feel good. (I think I need new shoes more often.)

McKenna's Birthday Party

I am horrible at birthday parties. For some reason they completely stress me out. So I tried to plan something that would be easy and low-key. It didn't turn out to be easy, but according to McKenna it was the "best birthday party ever." Success!!

I'll let the pictures tell the story...

Audra's Fancy Hair

Last Thursday I took Chloe over to Audra's house to play with Josh. While the kids were playing, we had some fun of our own. Lately I've been on a YouTube hair tutorial kick, and since Audra has gorgeous hair I asked if I could practice one of the styles I learned. It was fun!

My teenager

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MCKENNA!!!!

I cannot believe that my baby girl is thirteen already. It almost makes me want to cry. But the consolation is that I know she is going to be a really awesome teenager. It is so fun to watch her grow into herself. She still has many of the same qualities she did as a tiny girl, but all her attributes are magnified. Her beauty, kindness, sense of humor, and desire to do right have matured and I am so, so proud of her. The chance to have her as a daughter is one of the best gifts Heavenly Father has given me.

I love you, McKenna!

xoxoxo

Lucky

I feel so lucky to get to hang out with this kid all day.

The Book of Mormon testifies of Christ

Our Relief Society recently gave us the challenge of reading the Book of Mormon by January 1. We were each given a new, unmarked copy of the Book of Mormon, a pack of colored pencils, and a bookmark with questions to search for as we read. As we discovered the answers to the questions, we marked our Book of Mormon with the colored pencils.

• Red=Who am I?
• Orange=What are my responsibilities?
• Yellow=How do I fulfill my responsibilities?
• Green=Atonement: What does it mean to me?
• Blue=Joy: How do I find it?
• Purple=Charity: What is it? How should I serve others?

I am three-quarters of the way through now and my green colored pencil has been used like crazy. It is way shorter than the others, which is a testimony to me that the Book of Mormon truly does testify of Christ and his atonement. I have read the Book of Mormon lots and lots of times, but I have particularly enjoyed reading it through this time. It's been a wonderful experience searching for answers to the questions and marking the verses that contain the answers. I've been able to stay focused on what I have been reading and have gained some new and wonderful insights. My study of the Book of Mormon makes my life better and I am so grateful for it.

To learn more about the Book of Mormon go HERE.

Back to School

All day yesterday I was so excited for my kids to go back to school. But now that they are actually gone, I am missing them!! (Luckily I still have Chloe to keep me company.)

This summer went by way too fast.

One of the best things about walking my younger girls to the bus in the morning is I get to see the sunrise. The sky in the mornings is worth waking up for.

Lesson Handouts

I get to teach the laurels (16-17 year old girls) at church once or twice a month. I love giving out handouts, but I hate wasting my time on something that will end up shoved in a corner of their room somewhere. So, I had the idea to give them all soft-cover photo albums (the ones from Wal-Mart that cost $1 a piece) and then make all my handouts 4x6 pictures. It's fun for me to make the handouts, and hopefully it will be nice for them to end up with a collection of quotes and scriptures in a handly little photo album.

Here are three of the handouts I've made so far.

Summer Meili

Summer looked so pretty before church yesterday that I had to snap a few pictures of her. She put her outfit together all by herself. (Of course-- my kids don't let me pick out their clothes.)

She looked (and felt) pretty snazzy.